BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
The president has made his decision. The United States will not release photos showing Osama bin Laden after death. The White House knows this will mean no proof of death, and that's already fueling doubts and rumors and conspiracy theories. But the president says he has his reasons, he made those clear today. At the same time, all of the Americans in uniform who were on that successful high-stakes raid are now being debriefed. As they tell their version of what happened in that compound behind those high walls, the story of bin Laden's death continues to change around the edges. We want to start off tonight at the White House with our chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd.
Chuck, good evening.
CHUCK TODD reporting:
Good evening, Brian. Hoping to shut down what was becoming a divisive debate, the president cited national security concerns in deciding against releasing those dead bin Laden photos.
Honoring wounded warriors at the White House, the president again praised US forces for taking out Osama bin Laden.
President BARACK OBAMA: When, thanks to the courage and precision of our forces, 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.
TODD: But for those who want to see the evidence of that justice, they'll have to wait. Press Secretary Jay Carney quotes the president from an interview with CBS today.
Mr. JAY CARNEY: "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."
TODD: The photo issue has divided the president's national security team. CIA Director Leon Panetta said this to Brian Williams yesterday.
Mr. LEON PANETTA: 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.
TODD: There's also division on Capitol Hill.
Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM: A picture is worth a thousand words.
Senator JOHN McCAIN: My initial opinion is that it's not necessary to do so.
TODD: And there was no shortage of opinion online, where news of the president's decision stirred the debate on the NIGHTLY NEWS Facebook page.
Overseas, the case for releasing the photos goes to credibility.
LEE COWAN reporting:
Here in the Middle East, the Internet is already buzzing with doubt, and so are the newspaper headlines. There are Facebook groups that are popping up as well, with names like "Osama bin Laden is Not Dead." All of this just in the last couple of days.
TODD: And for some back home, an argument to release those photos.
Mr. STEVEN CLEMONS (New America Foundation): Osama bin Laden has been a phantom for a decade, and I think not releasing that photo allows him to remain a phantom lurking out there.
TODD: Speaking of the photos, three senators who had said they had seen the bin Laden photos yesterday now are backing off that claim of a photo that was shown to them by an Armed Service Committee staffer. I can tell you this, Brian, administration sources tell me no senator has been shown a photo so far.
WILLIAMS: All right, Chuck Todd starting us off at the White House. Chuck, thanks.
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