tried to rescue american photo journalist luke somers and south african hostage pierre korkie. they were being held by the al qaeda group in the arabian peninsula. they say the navy seals team hiked six miles from their drop zone and were spotted just 100 yard away from the militant's compound. that's when a feergs firefight broke out. u.s. officials say one terrorist immediately ran inside the compound and then shot the hostages. the navy seals were able to evacuate somers and korkie and a u.s. medical team spent a half an hour on the ground in yemen trying to save them. one guide on the way to a monita u.s. ship. the other died on the ship. no special forces were killed in the operation. cnn joins us now from the white house with more on this. len, what more are u.s. officials saying about the timing of this rescue mission and why they had to take action when they did?