TPM’s Jill Rayfield was at Ground Zero tonight and just filed this report, along with video from the scene.

Senior administration official describes key details of how the raid went down.

Our reporter describes the scene on the ground outside the White house this evening, interviews with celebrants.

TPM’s Susan Crabtree was on the White House conference call that ended a short time ago. And she’ll be filing a report shortly. But we’re getting some basic details on how today’s operation in Abbottabad, about 35 miles north of Islamabad.

Here are a few key details that have emerged.

The entire operation took roughly 40 minutes. There was no advance notification to any Pakistani authorities. US forces used two helicopters in the operation. And one of the two apparently went down due to mechanical difficulties during the operation, though without casualties. The special operations forces destroyed the helicopter.

The key thing is that bin Laden was living in a very big, fortified compound. The compound had no phone connection and no Internet connection. And that apparently was one of the many facts that initially led US intelligence to think bin Laden really might be there.

More details here.

Huge crowds at Ground Zero in New York as well as Times Square.

TPM Reader PN reports in from Upstate …

I live in Cold Spring, NY, across the Hudson from West Point. At one point about an hour ago, the cheering coming from the military academy was clearly audible–a roar in the distance, a mile or more away downwind.

Someone’s gotta get a camera on those cadets.

12:41 AM: TPM’s Jill Rayfield is down at Ground Zero, reports crowd now breaking out in ‘We Are the Champions”