Bush opens up on bin Laden: No "jubilation" at his death
Updated 4:45 p.m. ET
Former President George W. Bush is speaking candidly for the first time about the death of Osama bin Laden in an interview for the National Geographic Channel for a special which will debut next month.
"I felt a sense of closure. And I felt a sense of gratitude," Mr. Bush said when asked about Bin Laden's death for the National Geographic Channel's special tied to the 10th anniversary of September 11th, according to a press release.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the former president agreed to the interview after four months of negotiations under the condition it be limited to activities surrounding that day's tragic events.
Coincidentally, the interview was scheduled to happen just two days after news broke that Navy Seals had successfully shot and killed bin Laden in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.
Mr. Bush, who reportedly received 500 interview requests immediately following bin Laden's death, refused them all - all except this one.
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"We thought: 'Oh no he's either going to cancel the interview because he's going to run off to Washington or he's going to start talking to everybody,''" New York filmmaker and interviewer Peter Schnall told The Hollywood Reporter. "And to our surprise, that didn't happen."
Schnall, who previously knew Mr. Bush from work on the documentary "Onboard Air Force One," described his relationship with Bush as "friendly".
Though Mr. Bush's official statement following Bin Laden's shooting included phrases like "victory for America" and "justice will be done," the new account gives a fresh and decidedly less straightforward take.
"I didn't... feel any great sense of happiness. Or jubilation," he says in the special according to the channel, which also includes personal stories and sentiments about the traumatic events surrounding 9/11 from the president who receded quickly from the spotlight.
"George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview," which airs on August 28, covers everything from his morning jog on the day of the attacks, to his panicked thoughts of his family's safety, to the pain he felt when catching his first glimpse of Ground Zero.
"From the air it looked like...a giant scar. But when I actually got to the site, it was like walking into hell," the former president tells Schnall.
The special will also include never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive photos and videos given to filmmakers directly from the George W. Bush Presidential Library.