>> reporter: six years earlier a journalist interviewed bin laden here in a cave turned into a command center. >> he told me that he feels safe in the caves. he knows the area very well. he knows it is very difficult for anybody to come and follow him there. >> reporter: but now bin laden is being followed. >> at that point i only had about 20 americans in the province, you know, working with a couple thousand afghans we had put online. we had paid a number of afghans. >> the journalists gathered on the mountainside there. >> reporter: tim lister was part of the cnn team for the war. >> we outnumbered the number of u.s. personnel on the ground. >> reporter: the americans call for air strikes and they come with thundering force. [ explosions ] >> we brought in spectre