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Protesters Take to Streets in Iraq about Vote; Legal Challenges in the Works over Domestic Spying Program; Israelis Trade Some Freedom for More Security; Enron's Top Accountant Makes Deal to Testify Against Ken Lay; Mother Drops Her Baby out of a Burning Building to Safety;

Aired December 28, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Standing by, CNN reporters across the U.S. and around the world to bring you the top stories. Happening now, it's 4:30 a.m. in Afghanistan. Did the U.S. bungle the battle of Tora Bora, allowing Osama bin Laden to escape? I'll speak with a former CIA operative who helped lead the hunt for that the leader.
In Northern California where it's 4:00 p.m., there is water, water everywhere. Heavy rains are causing flooding and mud slides, and there may be more to come.

And in Southern California, a mother relives the frantic moments before she dropped her baby out the window of her burning room. I'm Tom Foreman in for Wolf Blitzer and you are in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Around Iraq today, protesters took to the streets, venting their displeasure with the early results from this month's vote. But early indications are they will have to live with those results. CNN's has the story now from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Baquba, students demanding another vote. In Baghdad, a threat to boycott the new parliament before it even meets. In Samarra, demonstrators cry fraud. Across central Iraq, protesters rejecting the preliminary results of the December 15th elections which show the religious Shia bloc currently in power with a strong lead.

The strongest voice to call foul, former interim prime minister Ayad Allawi, himself a Shia and head of the secular Iraqi Nationalists. He says his party played by the rules.

AYAD ALLAWI, FORMER INTERIM IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: The others used different tactics. They used religious symbols, intimidations, assassinations, rigging of boxes.

DAMON: Pointing a finger at those in power and provoking a predictable response.

ALLAWI: The most unfortunate thing is the government of Iraq never paid any attention to these violations.

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQ NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: See, what I call these -- some of them are bad losers.

DAMON: The view of the U.N., imperfect elections in an imperfect scenario, but...

CRAIG JENNESS, U.N. ADVISER TO THE IEC: The United Nations is of the view that these elections were transparent and credible.

DAMON: Official results are due in less than a week, at which point comes the step of political horse trading between the groups that win seats. The crucial question remains, will the Sunnis and the secular groups agree to partake in Iraq's new parliament?

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: That is indeed the crucial question. In remote regions of Afghanistan, U.S. forces are still trying to win hearts and minds. CNN's Becky Diamond went out on patrol with the troops and brings us this report, which that you can see only here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. MICHAEL GEORGE, U.S. ARMY: OK, right now we're heading to a new city called Tahog (ph).

BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lieutenant Michael George (ph) is on a different kind of combat patrol.

GEORGE: It's kind of like rolling the dice. We talk to people, we may get one teem to come into the FOB.

DIAMOND: The FOB is short for the forward operating base, where this 29-year-old Florida National Guard trains Afghan army soldiers. Today's mission, a walking patrol to help the Afghan army establish a presence in a remote village. It's part of an area where the lieutenant says bomb makers and rebel fighters likely live.

GEORGE: Do you have anything that you want to share with us, any kind of information, you can always come to us. We are located at the (inaudible) FOB.

Instead of just driving around, we actually get to talk and deal with the people. And they actually see us walking around. We might get lucky and find somebody who actually wants to tell us something.

DIAMOND: The lieutenant says about one in 20 people they visit on patrols like this will show up at their operating base, offering information about possible terrorist or criminal activity. This man says he feels safer with the Afghan army patrolling and says there are foreign fighters coming into the area. No bullets fired on this front line, but encounters that could prove decisive in the war on terror.

Becky Diamond, CNN, Gardez, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: Back here at home, but still in the war on terror, new legal challenges are in the works aimed at the secret domestic spying program authorized by President Bush. That may only add to the uproar over this program and to the fallout for the administration. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has more on the maneuvers by lawyers for some of the top terror suspects.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Tom, some of the first of those challenges could come within the next few weeks when a lawyer for one man charged along with Jose Padilla is expected to file a motion in Florida. Padilla is the enemy combatant charged with terrorism last month. But that is likely to be just the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Muslim scholar Ali al-Timimi is serving a life sentence after being convicted for inciting his follows to wage war against the United States overseas. His lawyer is going to federal court so he can try to determine if some of the evidence used against al-Timimi was developed from National Security Agency wiretaps conducted without a warrant and if any evidence favorable to his client was withheld.

JONATHAN TURLEY, ATTORNEY FOR ALI AL-TIMIMI: The government's not allowed to do a type of legal three-card monty where you have to guess where the evidence is, under this card or that card. It has to turn over all the cards.

MESERVE: Truck driver Iyman Faris is serving 20 years in a maximum-security prison after pleading guilty to plotting to bring down the Brooklyn bridge as an Al Qaeda agent. His attorney says he also will be asking a federal court to force the Justice Department to tell him how the NSA program was used in his case.

Government officials familiar with the program have confirmed that NSA eavesdropping helped authorities move against Faris. A civil suit against President Bush for illegal wiretapping could be in the works.

DAVID SMITH, LAWYER FOR IYMAN FARIS: I think that there's a good likelihood -- I mean, I believe that he would be happy to bring such a lawsuit.

MESERVE: But legal experts who agree with the White House that the NSA program was constitutional and legal do not believe it will undercut the government's terrorism prosecutions.

DAVID RIVKIN, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I really do not see how any of all the criminal convictions that have taken place so far and resulted in indictments would be undermined by that. So, I mean, I would call it fishing. I would call it grandstanding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: The Justice Department declined comment on the legal maneuvering. A White House spokesman says no one should be surprised that defense attorneys are looking at ways to represent their clients -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Thank you very much, Jeanne Meserve, on a story that will stay front and center, no doubt. Kimberly Osias joins us now with a closer look at other stories making news -- Kimberly?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Tom. An immigration judge has ordered the deportation of an alleged Nazi concentration camp guard. John Demjanjuk has been fighting for nearly 30 years to stay in the U.S. Now, he's 83 years old. An immigration judges rejected his claim that he would be tortured if sent back to his native Ukraine. He has 30 days to appeal that.

At least four people were killed and 100 homes destroyed by wild fires which swept through parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Flames raced through grass dried out by the region's worst drought in half a century. One small town in Texas lost 50 homes. Two elderly women died when they couldn't get out of their house.

A fire in a Christmas tree forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 guests at a Disneyland hotel early this morning. No one, fortunately, was hurt. The guests were back in their rooms within four hours. The fire started after employees changed some light bulbs on the 35-foot tree.

And an unusual tourist joined holiday sightseers on the Mall in Washington today. At least one witness says this young deer has visited the area before. But animal control officers feared it would wander into traffic. They shot it with a tranquilizer. Take a look at this. Even then, the deer had to be wrestled to the group. You just saw that. It was returned to a local park and then released -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Thanks so much, Kimberly.

Coming up, fear and panic at 20,000 feet. We'll take you inside a plane as everything started to go wrong.

Plus, how Osama bin Laden got away. A CIA agent tells us how it happened. He's in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And tornado warnings in affect. Find out if you need to head for cover. Stick with us right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: It seemed like the wetter in this country just won't calm down these days. In the Southeast tonight, people are dealing with the threat of tornadoes. Our severe weather expert Chad Myers is live in the CNN Weather Center with the latest on that -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We may have to change of threshold for calm -- I'll tell you what -- because it has just been kind of wild all across the country. One storm coming in from the west, another one bringing the wind from the fires yesterday. And now it's moving off to the east, bringing tornadoes. In fact, three tornadoes have been on the ground. Gordy, Pineville, and Pellam (ph), Georgia, that's just west of Multree. Right now, the warning is for Atkinson and Coffee (ph) County. And the storm is going to be near Douglas, Georgia, here in the next 15 or 20 minutes. There's the big red county there that's under that tornado warning.

There's more weather moving into the low country of South Carolina and on up into the Piedmont of North Carolina. And the big spin of the storm, all the way back to Indianapolis with some showers. On the north side of that spin from Ottawa back on down even into Detroit, there could be some snow tomorrow.

And then we look out to the West where it has been raining for so long. That rain completely gone. Probably a beautiful sunset across the West Coast. And 36 hours of no precip for you, and then another bigger storm comes in from San Francisco all the way up through the Sierra and into the Cascades, as well. We already know many rivers out there, Tom, are out of their banks, and snow now is up to 50 inches in some spots in the Sierra around Tahoe.

FOREMAN: You're absolutely right, Chad. From San Francisco to Seattle, rivers are rising and the surf is pounding all along the coast. And a series of storms continues to sweep through the region. CNN's Jen Rogers is live for us in San Francisco with a look at the unusually wet weather, which where you are right now, it looks unusually lovely actually.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I promise you, Tom, it did not look like this earlier this morning. We were absolutely getting pounded by rain here in the Bay Area. Right now, though, it is right. We are getting a glimpse of something we haven't seen in quite a few days, and that is the blue sky. We have some surfers taking advantage of it right now.

But we have another storm that's going to be moving in here pretty quickly. Right now, this evening, we are just between storms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: Waves up to 25 feet high are pounding the coast near San Francisco, keeping all by the most daring surfers at bay and providing a spectacular show for those willing to venture out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is amazing. I had no idea. The water is just incredible.

ROGERS: The series of storms sweeping across the West Coast are not only churning the ocean, they're also dumping inch after inch of rain. And with the ground already saturated after a week of wet weather, rivers are fast approaching flood stage. Officials in Napa County say they're ready. They've been working to restore the Napa River to a more natural state, leaving it better able to handle high water.

NEIL O'HAIRE, NAPA COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES: We've raised the bridges in Napa, which has kept debris from piling up against them. We've widened the river. We've done marine and flood terraces on both sides of the river. And that's given the river room to grow and breathe like a real river would.

ROGERS: To the north, the rain is causing street flooding in Portland, Oregon. And the waters seem to be coming down as fast as road crews can work to remove it. All that precipitation is bringing heavy snow to the western mountains. Up to a foot of snow was forecast today alone in the (inaudible) outside Seattle.

Heavy snow and a series of accidents close a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 90 here yesterday. So far today, clouds have been able to keep up with the snowfall. Those who live in the area know to pay close attention to conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED: We kind of keep an eye on it and watch the roads. And if the weather's going to get really bad, then, you know, we'll adjust our times a little bit, come back a little bit earlier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: The next storm is expected to move in late tomorrow with rain in the forecast all the way through next Tuesday -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Thanks so much, Jen.

A scare in the air that passengers describe as absolute panic. They were on an Alaska Airlines flight when the cabin lost pressure shortly after takeoff. CNN's Kimberly Osias is here again with that story and some gripping pictures.

OSIAS: Yes, it's absolutely amazing, Tom. I mean, this plane was an MD 80 that was about 20 minutes into its flight from Seattle to Burbank, California, yesterday when it became really clear that something was very, very wrong. One passenger captured pictures of the incident. He calls it a terrifying scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY HERMANNS, PASSENGER: You know, a loud bang, and then a rapid decompression. Extremely loud.

OSIAS: As the pressure inside the Alaska Airlines jet plunged, oxygen masks fell. And Passenger Jeremy Hermanns started snapping pictures with the camera on his cell phone. He says no one knew what was happening, and he says the scene inside was horrifying.

HERMANNS: A lot of panic. I mean, there was just fear in everybody's eyes because we didn't know what was going on.

OSIAS: Neither did the plane's crew, who Herman said performed admirably nevertheless.

HERMANNS: They were walking up and done, you know, trying to help people put the masks on babies and elderly people who had twisted them. OSIAS: The plane managed to return safely to Seattle's Seatac Airport where the problem was soon discovered, a 12 by 6 inch hole in the plane's side between the front and middle cargo holes about four feet below the passenger windows.

A ramp worker later came forward saying his vehicle had bumped the plane earlier, an incident he failed to report immediately. Federal investigators say that bump dented the plane. In turn, that dent opened into a gash as the jet gained altitude. Both the NTSB and the FAA are investigating in the incident.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSIAS: Alaska Airlines is investigating the incident. It reported that to Seattle police as a possible hit and run, if you can believe that, Tom. The airline says it's reviewing safety procedures and protocol with ground crews, emphasizing the importance of immediately reporting any incident involving the planes.

FOREMAN: Thank you, Kimberly.

Still to come in THE SITUATION ROOM, a CIA agent's inside story. Find out how Osama bin Laden got away.

Plus, two children thrown from a building burning. You will meet the fireman who made the very big catch. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: After terror attacks this year in London and Aman, security is once again being stepped up in this country. But it falls far short of steps taken by Israel, where people have lived with this sort of terror for many, many years.

Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena went there with a group of U.S. law officers, part of a visit sponsored by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. In her final report of the series, she looks at whether America is ready for a large-scale effort to thwart suicide bombings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Live in Israel and random car checks become part of the routine. But this is not a police officer. He's a civil patrol volunteer.

ARENA (on camera): Do you have the authority to take somebody in under arrest?

UNIDENTIFIED: If it's necessary, yes.

ARENA (voice-over): The civil force in Israel is 70,000 strong and a good illustration of the population's commitment to fighting terrorism. As they made their way through Jerusalem, these U.S. law enforcement officials got to feel what it's like to live with intense security measures. While in Israel, the terror threat is hard to ignore here. In the United States, law enforcement officials say it's easy to forget.

SHERIFF JEFF WILEY, ASCENSION PARISH, LOUISIANA: At some point, I think, in America, we'll react. We'd like to say we are going to proact, and certainly us being here on this trip is part of that proactivity.

ARENA: It would be jarring to see young soldiers on American streets with M-16s, but to many Israelis, it's a comfort, especially to those victimized by terror attacks before. Ronit Tubul was on this bus when it exploded. She survived. Her message to this group and to all Americans, the terror threat is real and it can destroy lives.

RONIT TUBUL, SUICIDE ATTACK VICTIM: They will see what there is behind the numbers and hear the human stories about families, about babies, about people, that losing their families, their children, and they can see how hard it is.

ARENA: The group met up with Ronit the next day at the mall, a place where many Israelis congregate without worrying. The Israelis that we spoke to actually welcome the security measures. They say they'd rather spend their day at the mall than downtown, for example, because they know that this environment is safe and secure. Not only for them, but for their families.

Officials say this mall spends a third of its budget on security, compared to less than 5 percent on average in the United States. Security officials in Israel don't see that changing unless Americans witness more devastation at the hands of terrorists.

GIDEON AVRAMI, JERUSALEM MALL SECURITY DIRECTOR: They're not ready yet. They did not make the connection between the terror threats and their ways of leaving. They're not willing to live with less privacy, with less freedom.

ARENA: The balance, of course, is difficult. And this group represents the front line in that struggle. They say they'll go home with a strong sense of obligation to make sure the U.S. doesn't lose its focus on the war on terror.

WILEY: There's countries out there, and there's religious leaders and political leaders that wake up every day trying to kill Americans and trying to kill Israelis, and others to be sure. So from that standpoint, you carry that passion (ph) and reality back home.

ARENA: Kelli Arena, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Just ahead, how Osama bin Laden got away. A CIA agent's inside story. He's in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Plus, a baby and a 9-year-old thrown from a burning building. The big catch that saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOREMAN: This is the time of year when we often take stock of what various world leaders, both infamous and famous, have been up to. Osama bin Laden used to send out frequent communiques to all the world. But the silence from the Al Qaeda leader is getting a bit deafening. So is he still alive, and if so, where is he? CNN's Brian Todd has an update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Late last December, the Arabic language network Al Jazeera broadcast an audio tape from Osama bin Laden. He praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and named him as his deputy in Iraq. We haven't heard from the Al Qaeda leader since.

The last time we saw him was two months earlier, a videotaped jab at President Bush on the eve of the U.S. election. Last week, as he headed off to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld took note of bin Laden's silence.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't know what it means. I suspect that in any event, if he's alive and functioning, that he's probably spending a major fraction of his time trying to avoid being caught.

TODD: The closest the U.S. may have come to catching bin Laden was at the battle of Tora Bora, Al Qaeda's mountain redoubt in eastern Afghanistan. There, in December 2001, U.S. aircraft pounded the bunkers, tunnels, and caves where Al Qaeda fighters had retreated.

But the ground assault was largely left to local warlords, supported by a relative handful of U.S. special forces. Tora Bora was never really sealed off, and many of the Al Qaeda fighters were able to slip away. By many accounts, Osama bin Laden and senior commanders were among them.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: U.S. officials say bin Laden may still be in the rugged border area, and they suggest he may no longer be in actual command of Al Qaeda's worldwide operations. Was the U.S. ever really close to capturing bin Laden? Why has be managed to be so elusive?

Gary Berntsen spent more than 20 years as a CIA operative and played a key role in the hunt for the al Qaeda leader. He's the author of a new and fascinating book, "Jawbreaker," about the attack on al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Gary Berntsen joins me now from New York. Gary, thanks for joining us, and why do you think we were ever so close to getting bin Laden?

GARY BERNTSEN, FORMER CIA OPERATIONS OFFICER: Well, good evening, Tom. We were close to getting bin Laden, because from intelligence sources, we were able to track him down into Nangarhar province after Kabul, the capital fell and we took control of Kabul. Our team went to Jalalabad, which is the capital of Nangarhar, and then moved down to the border areas. We were receiving a steady stream of intelligence from northern alliance sources, that he had moved, his force had moved in that direction. And that had gone up into the mountains. We sent a team in, behind him.

We were able to get four men up onto a mountain, identify the motherload of al Qaeda that had fallen back. And those four men, with 10 Afghan escorts bravely conducted air strikes on that very, large group of maybe 800-to-1,000 people for 56 hours straight, alone up there. Two CIA officers and two officers from the U.S. military that were sent onto my team.

Also, we were fortunate enough to pick up a radio off of a dead al Qaeda member and we were able to listen to bin Laden. We listened to him apologize to his men, we listened to him pray with his men. We listened to the men constantly speaking with one another, asking if the Sheikh is alive.

FOREMAN: Gary, did you have any idea what the range was on this radio to know that you were in some vicinity of him?

BERNTSEN: It was pretty close.

FOREMAN: What's pretty close?

BERNTSEN: I'd say within a mile, and a half. But we were able to pinpoint a location where he was at. We threw a Blue 82 at him, that was a 15,000-pound device. We also had B52 strikes. You know, CENTCOM was not shy about using air power there.

FOREMAN: I want to interrupt you for a moment, Gary. We're going to bring in a map here that will give people an idea of the area we're talking about. Talk to me about the difficulties of this region, as we fly in to look at the Tora Bora area. Why is it so hard, if you were within a mile of this guy, to grab him?

BERNTSEN: Well, the issue was this. He had a lot of people with him, there was a lot of gunfire. I mean, he had -- all of his men were heavily armed. He had machine gun in placements, there were pieces of armor. They had tanks that were in there, there was artillery. There was a lot of firepower in there. And we had very few Americans that were there. Initially, special forces teams went in. First, the agency team went in. Special forces behind them, and then eventually Delta Force came in.

FOREMAN: Let me interrupt you again because I want to read a line from your own book. Page 314, you say, "The biggest and most important failure of the leadership, the military leadership, came at Tora Bora when they turned down my request for a battalion of U.S. rangers to block bin Laden's escape." What do you mean?

BERNTSEN: Well, you know, early in December, within the first two or three days, I requested back to CIA headquarters for the introduction of U.S. rangers. I wanted them dropped behind bin Laden before he was able to get too close to the border. FOREMAN: In this situation you were describing, where you knew where he was, you felt you knew where he was and a few people were trying to pressure him.

BERNTSEN: I didn't understand the question.

FOREMAN: The situation you were describing earlier, where you said you were right on him, you knew where he was, that's when you needed support.

BERNTSEN: Well, we needed the support, but the issue was is we were getting the air support, but there was no desire to introduce large numbers of ground forces or even a battalion of ground forces at that point. We had Northern -- not Northern Alliance, but soldiers, what we called the Eastern Alliance, which we had formed out of Afghans from that area. We had lined them up there to try to block some of the escape routes but we couldn't block them all.

FOREMAN: Why did you not get the troops you need? Why do you think?

BERNTSEN: Well, a question of casualties. Question of the speed with which we needed them. This was a very rapidly breaking situation. He was constantly moving. I'll have to say this. We made every effort to kill him. We made every effort to destroy that force.

And, you know, if you look at the number of air strikes, it was quite amazing. But Osama bin Laden was constantly willing to throw young Muslims out in front of him to defend him as he escaped.

FOREMAN: General Tommy Franks said, and I know that you know this. He said, quote, "We don't know to this day whether Mr. Bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives, any of whom were killed or captured. But Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp." If the former commander Tommy Franks says we don't know if he was there, why should we believe you, when you say he was?

BERNTSEN: I was the intelligence chief on the ground. I provided CENTCOM with all their intelligence. I provided everyone in the U.S. government with their intelligence.

FOREMAN: So this means Tommy Franks didn't believe you?

BERNTSEN: Well, I don't think that's the issue. The issue is -- it was a question of casualties, I believe. And I wasn't in the meetings with Franks. I communicated back to CIA exactly where he was. Provided the grid coordinates, and they were able to coordinate with CENTCOM to try to kill him with a Blue 82. You know, we made efforts, we made lots of efforts.

FOREMAN: Was there a point at which you think he left this area?

BERNTSEN: Oh, we knew when we left the area. It was about the 15th, 16th of December. And he was on the radio, we listened to his discussion, we listened to him praying with his people and then he went off the radio. And that was it. And we thought -- I believe it was 15, 16 December is when he crossed.

FOREMAN: But it's fundamentally this radio thing that makes you believe that it was him?

BERNTSEN: Well, I had the senior Arabist in CIA with me. He had listened to bin Laden's voice for four years. Anytime we ever had anything on bin Laden, he listened to it. And he was listening to each of those, you know, transmissions from bin Laden. And it was a push-to-talk radio, it was unencrypted.

FOREMAN: You say in your book that this is the book the CIA does not want you to read. I want to show you something here very quickly. The book has many, many pages in it, like this, with giant blacked out sections in it, which we're showing to our viewers right now. Lots and lots of words blacked out on any given page, that you can't even read. Why does the CIA not want this story out?

BERNTSEN: Well, we had a little bit of a fight over this. There were supposed to redact-- you know, normal procedure is 30 days, they took more than 135 days to clear my book.

FOREMAN: Maybe they just think you're wrong.

BERNTSEN: No, I don't think they think I'm wrong. They know, and history will tell that I am right. Eventually, Tom, people will get to read all the intelligence, and that will include debriefings of detainees in Guantanamo, and you will get to read to confirm everything I'm saying.

FOREMAN: Let me ask you something about this, Gary. Something that I'm just puzzled about, I'm sure some of our viewers are too. I thought when you became a CIA officer, you had to kind of take an oath of secrecy. And you wouldn't tell all these things later on. Now, frankly, it seems like everybody who comes out writes a book. What's the deal?

BERNTSEN: The fact is, even federal criminals are allowed to write books. But CIA, you have to submit to CIA your book, and they have the right to redact those things which they believe are sensitive. And they did redact some. Some of what they redacted from the book was published in other books, was open-source information. They just didn't want me to write the book.

FOREMAN: Do you think we're going to ever catch Osama bin Laden?

BERNTSEN: I think we will.

FOREMAN: How?

BERNTSEN: I know the CIA's working very hard at it. They have human sources they're putting into the areas. Eventually we'll have success. But this is tough business and he is working very hard to avoid capture. The area of the Afghan/Pak border is very large, 25 million batons. They've taken an oath, most of those people, never to turn in anyone who asks for sanctuary. So it's the best place in the world for him to hide. FOREMAN: Well Gary Berntsen, it's a terrific read. "Jawbreaker" is the name of the book. Thanks for your time, we appreciate it.

BERNTSEN: Thank you, Tom.

FOREMAN: Hope you all check it out.

Up next, two children tossed from the window of a burning building. The big catch that saved their lives.

Also, corporate fraud, billions of dollars down the drain. The plea deal that may put a few suits behind bars. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Well, tonight, a mother is opening up about her desperate, and thankfully successful, attempt to save her baby's life. She dropped her child out her window of a burning home. We recently saw a story like this out of New York. Remarkably, it has happened again out in California. CNN's Kareen Wynter is in Los Angeles. Kareen?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tom what are the chances of this happening. Two sheriff's deputies happening to be driving in the neighborhood of this fire, where they were actually flagged down, called to the scene for help to help this teenaged mom who had to make a gut-wrenching decision to save her family's life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (voice over): Her baby's cry. Music to this mother's ears. But it wasn't little Therea's (ph) voice that woke her mother Tuesday morning. It was her grandmother's scream. Their home was on fire.

WILSHAWNDA WATKINS, MOTHER: I was crying, I was scared. Man, my baby's not going to make it out.

WYNTER: Other family members got out before the flames erupted, but while Wilshawnda Watkins, her 9-year-old brother, and her baby had just one escape route: a second story window. That's when this mother made a desperate leap of faith. She dropped her one-year-old baby from the second floor, into the hands of a sheriff's deputy who had been flagged down for help.

WATKINS: I just hung her out. When I heard the OK to drop her, I didn't even look, I didn't want to look. I just let go.

WYNTER: Wilshawnda says it was just weeks ago, she watched as a mother, also faced with a life or death decision, dropped her infant from a burning building in New York.

WATKINS: And I know what she went through and I know exactly how she felt.

WYNTER: Wilshawnda jumped next, but her brother Jermaine would not. After frantic appeals from deputy John Kim, the boy finally made the leap.

JOHN KIM, SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: I couldn't see anything. Just the smoke and flame. At that time, he just came up from no where out of the smoke and just drop into my arms.

WATKINS: As you can see, we -- everything is gone.

WYNTER: Wilshawnda says they lost everything: their home, precious. belongings. But Wilshawnda says this ordeal has brought her closer to loved ones.

WATKINS: To have people realize that family is everything, because a blink of an eye they can be gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (on camera): You saw Wilshawnda still in her bathrobe. She says she and her family literally escaped with just the clothes on their back. As for Deputy Kim, he's been with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for about seven years, and Tom, he says this is the greatest thing he's ever done.

FOREMAN: This is just unbelievable. Did she tell you that she saw this on TV and that gave her the idea to do it or made her think it would work or what?

WYNTER: Tom, she absolutely said she felt it, she realized what was going on, and she was able to basically draw from what she saw on TV. It was a desperate move, thrusting her child from the window. But she said nothing would have stopped her from doing what she did. She felt the flames on her back and there was one way out and it was the only way her baby would be able to go.

FOREMAN: Unbelievable. Thanks so much, Kareen.

Let's find out what's coming up on the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Heidi is checking in New York.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Tom. You know, when you fly, do you sometimes automatically tune out the flight attendant's little speech about what happens if there's drop in cabin pressure? At the top of the hour, see what it's really like.

I'll be talking to passengers that took pictures of their wild ride. And I'll be asking them what were they thinking.

And we'll also tell you about a sleep disorder that could effect one person in five and turn your nightmares into terrifying and dangerous experiences.

Also, how do you reduce your chances? We'll talk mob about that, at the top of the hour. Tom, for now, back to you.

Thanks so much. Heidi Collins in New York.

Up next, allegations of billion dollar fraud and corporate malfeasance. Is justice finally being served in the Enron case? The deal that may put a few suits into the old iron barred Hilton.

Plus, time to make the doughnuts. How an average guy became an American icon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: There have been some major developments in the Enron case. One of the key defendants has agreed to work with prosecutors in exchange for a guilty plea. Ali Velshi is here with the bottom line on what amounts to a dark day for Ken Lay.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: We are three weeks away from the beginning of the trial that was supposed to have Ken Lay and his two co-defendants, Jeff Skilling and Richard Causey. That all changed today. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI (voice over): Once worth $63 billion, Enron's 2001 bankruptcy was at the time the largest in U.S. history. Average investors lost billions; 4,000 people were laid off and many employees lost their life savings. There was at least one suicide. And it was all because the books were being cooked.

The government wants someone to account for that. And who better than the former chief accountant. Richard Causey, who faced more than 30 charges and the chance of life in prison changed teams today.

He was going to stand trial in just three weeks, alongside Ken Lay and Enron's former CEO Jeff Skilling. But today Causey agreed to plead guilty to a single charge that he cooked the books in 2001, and he'll cooperate with the government in exchange for five to seven years in jail.

Both Skilling and Lay say they are innocent. Lay's lawyers says Causey's out to save his own hide.

MICHAEL RAMSEY, ATTORNEY FOR KENNETH LAY: Speaking for Ken Lay, it is a tragic day for Mr. Causey, his heart goes out to Mr. Causey. Ken's been under the same stress that Causey's been under and can understand and sympathize with a man with a family who is broke and making peace with the government.

VELSHI: With this surprise twist plea, Lay and Skilling's whole plan could all fall apart, just like their united front has just fallen apart.

JACK BURKMAN, SECURITIES ATTORNEY: This is about accounting and finance. And he is the Chief Acounting Officer. You couldn't have a better star witness for the prosecution.

VELSHI: Ken Lay insists that his only crime was being a bad CEO, not keeping his eye on the ball while his underlings looted the company. This securities attorney says the prosecution sees Ken Lay as the face of corporate crime. BURKMAN: He really is the kingpin. This is the granddaddy of them all. This is the big one, and if you -- you really have to send a signal. That's it. This is the godfather. You really have to send a signal with Ken Lay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right. So as a result of the fact that three men were going to face the trial together -- one of them's dropped out, gone over to the other side. The lawyers for Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling asked for an extension. The trial is not going to start on January 17th, this much anticipated trial. They've got until the end of January. But it will be back on, and not a good day for Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling.

FOREMAN: Huge case, just seems like it's never going to get to trial, but I guess it will eventually.

VELSHI: It will eventually.

FOREMAN: Hey,you are a computer guy. You do computers all the time. I have got a quiz for you. Guess how many spam e-mails America Online blocked today alone? Not looking at the prompter.

VELSHI: Not including mine?

FOREMAN: Are you looking at the prompter?

VELSHI: No, I'm not, but I mean, it's got to be billions. I mean, it's going to several million -- tens of millions.

FOREMAN: You don't have a clue -- 1.3 billion messages in 24 hours. And half of them went to you. But the question is, is the government any closer to canning all that spam? Well, the news is both good and bad and Jacki knows all about it -- Jacki.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: The numbers, guys, are truly astounding. Take a look at this. That didn't circle for you, but you can see it there. AOL which is also a Time Warner Company like CNN, says that the numbers aren't going down. It's just the nature of your spam that's changing.

People are now sending e-mails more targeted. Playing on the fact that Donald Trump has a show "The Apprentice," it's headlines like "Donald Trump wants you" or more personalized spam, like, hi, it's Lisa. I must have sent you to the wrong site.

Now, we also talked to Barracuda Networks, another company that monitors and tracks spam, and take a look at the numbers here. The adult spam, 22 percent of that. Stuff asking you to buy pharmaceuticals, that's at 32 percent, those being the top two.

Now, the government is all over this, as well. The FTC has a Web site that teaches you all about spam. It's got the top scams, things like weight loss, work at home. Be very, very careful. And guys, there's another question people have been asking me. What happens if your account spams somebody without your knowledge? Well, go to the Web site. The FTC will teach you how to protect your computer so that somebody can't get into your account and send spam on your behalf.

VELSHI: I get those ones from Lisa. I don't want to stop those, necessarily.

FOREMAN: And you answer every one.

Still ahead, time to make the doughnuts. How an average man not unlike Ali became famous. Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Here's a look at some of the hot shots coming in from the Associated Press. Pictures likely to be in your newspaper tomorrow. Fort Stewart, Georgia -- a sweet homecoming. A 3-year-old tries on his father's helmet after dad was away for a year in Iraq.

Cross Plains, Texas -- Firefighters search through a home there, destroyed by grass fires. That home belonged to an elderly woman by the way. She's still unaccounted for.

Prior lake, Minnesota. Waist deep in icy water, this towing company worker is trying to remove six cars that went through thin ice there.

And Mombasa, Kenya, an odd couple -- look at this. A baby hippo walks with his adopted mother, a giant male tortoise. They have been together for a year now, since the hippo was orphaned in the tsunami. And that's a look at today's hot shots, pictures worth a thousand words.

We're getting in some sad details now of a crash of a private jet in California. The Lear Jet crashed and burst into flames as it tried to land at an airport north of Lake Tahoe. An FAA officer says both people aboard were killed.

He says the jet had taken off from Twin Falls, Idaho and was due to pick up two passengers at Truckee Tahoe Airport. Officials have not yet identified a cause for that crash. An investigation, of course, is underway.

You may not know the name Michael Vale, but you'd probably know him if you saw him. He is the actor who played Fred the baker in Dunkin' Donuts commercials that ran for more than a decade. Vale was 83 years old, and as CNN's Michael Schulder explains, he hit the jackpot by finding time to make the doughnuts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL VALE, ACTOR: Time to make the doughnuts. I made the doughnuts. MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How did he get the job? Of the hundreds who auditioned for what would become one of the most popular TV commercials of the 1980s, how did this unknown actor named Michael Vale land the roll of Fred the baker?

VALE: Time to make the doughnuts!

SCHULDER: To get the answer, we tracked down the ad man, Ron Berger, who back in 1983, wrote those first commercials that created the face of Dunkin' Donuts.

RON BERGER: We went through, you know, hundreds of people, because the roll was so, you know, so defining. We felt like he needed to have that feeling that when you got up in the morning, he had the weight of everyone who wanted a great cup of coffee and a great donut every morning. And as soon as he did the line, he got up and he just walked into the bathroom in his pajamas, mumbling "time to make the doughnuts, time to make the doughnuts." And we were just sitting there just hysterical.

VALE: I was riding on a train, going to Boston, and a young Chinese kid walked by, and he said, are you Fred? And I couldn't believe it. But that's television.

SCHULDER: But what was it about this character and that line, "time to make the doughnuts," that cut through the clutter, that made us want to watch it again and again? Could it be there's a little Fred the baker in all of us?

BERGER: The audience saw in him themselves, you know. The reason why the line became so popular wasn't because it was about doughnuts, it was about everybody. It's sort of a symbol of the routine of having to get up and fulfill a responsibility.

SCHULDER: And so we mark the death of an actor who brought to life what it's like to get up early every day and care.

Michael Schulder, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: He was 83 years old. If that line, "time to make the donuts," takes you back, well wait till you see what our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, has discovered online.

SCHECHNER: We got bit by the nostalgia bug today. Found a couple of Web site where you too can watch old 1980s commercials, two of them, retrojunk.com and xentertainment.com. Let me show you some of the most popular ones, according to these sites that we found. Let's see if you remember these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's find out. One, two, three.

SCHECHNER: Let me know you the next one now. This one will also take you back. See if you can figure out what this one's for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... strong enough to hold this man suspended in mid air. Right ...

SCHECHNER: Well, that's going to do it, but you can check out all of these, Tom, online at those two Web sites.

FOREMAN: Thanks, Jacki. We have no more time to make our doughnuts. Thanks for joining us. Heidi Collins is in New York.

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