>>> there is a big new book coming out. we were able to purchase a copy of it early. it was called "no easy day" and details the raid to kill osama bin laden . it's written by a member of the navy s.e.a.l. team that did the job. among s.e.a.l.s, it is considered a violation of their rules of operating in silence. for the rest of us, there were details in it not known heretofore because it was a secret operation. our report on it tonight from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski .
>> reporter: it's the most detailed account yet of the mission that killed osama bin laden , written by a navy s.e.a.l. under the pseudonym mark owen who helped take down the al qaeda leader. it was pitch black as they crept upstairs to the compound. the author says he was second in line when the lead s.e.a.l. saw bin laden poke his head out of the doorway and the lead s.e.a.l. opened fire. we were less than five steps from getting to the top, he wrote, when i heard suppressed shots. bin laden disappeared back into the room. the s.e.a.l.s found bin laden on the floor. he was unarmed and fatally wounded. two women wailing over his body. bin laden had been shot once in the head. as he convulsed on the floor, the author writes, he and another s.e.a.l. trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds until he was motionless. the account appears to contradict white house claims that this was a mission to kill or capture bin laden . in fact, the next day white house officials claim bin laden was killed after engaging the s.e.a.l.s in a firefight and using one of his wives as a human shield .
>> there was a female, who was, in fact, in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield, to shield bin laden from the incoming fire.
>> reporter: but the author reveals that bin laden , the most wanted terrorist in the world, did nothing to defend himself. the weapons found in the room were not loaded. he had no intention of fighting. he asked his followers to wear suicide vests and fly planes into buildings but didn't pick up his weapon. five days later at ft. campbell, kentucky, president obama met privately with the s.e.a.l.s who took down bin laden .
>> there was a chance for me to say on behalf of all americans and people around the world, job well done. job well done.
>> reporter: the author writes, however, the s.e.a.l.s resented that president obama would win political points for the raid. as one s.e.a.l. joked, we'll get obama re-elected for sure. i can see him now talking about how he killed bin laden . in response to the book, the white house praised the s.e.a.l.s for their valor but avoided any of that criticism and asked if this was a kill or capture operation. military officials will tell you any time these s.e.a.l.s go on a mission, somebody dies. brian.
>> jim miklaszewski on duty at the pentagon. jim, thanks.
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