am dan ashley. for tonight on "world news," worldwide manhunt. breaking news. those bin laden files from his hideout contain the names of al qaeda terror operatives. and tonight, the race to track them down. an abc news exclusive. heaven and earth. congresswoman gabby giffords undergoes delicate surgery, just as 200 miles up, her husband, the astronaut, pulls off a flawless operation of his own. no fair. employers openly refuse to hire people who don't have a current job. we'll give you the tips that break down that barrier. and, who's right? legendary physicist stephen hawking declares, there's no heaven. but a little boy takes him on, saying, he's been there.

good evening. we are just learning tonight that an urgent worldwide manhunt is under way, including in this country, triggered by the documents found in osama bin laden's hideout. it turns out that he surprisingly kept a list of al qaeda operatives by name, discovered in those files brought back home by navy s.e.a.l.s. and pierre thomas now brings us his exclusive new reporting on it tonight. pierre? >> reporter: diane, sources tell us the entire u.s. intelligence network is per suing leads from the bin laden files, including names and phone numbers, as officials work to see if the plots that bin laden was working on had gone beyond simple discussions. sources familiar with the journals and computer files tell abc news, names of suspected operatives have been discovered and an effort is under way to find them. an international manhunt has been launched to determine if the names are real, or aliases, with the u.s. calling on al lis

like great britain and canada to help. >> they're under a lot of pressure to resolve and identify these people as quickly as possible. >> reporter: travel records are being searched to see if any of these people have entered the u.s. already and trip wires are being set up at border entry points, just in case any operatives try to come here. a special task force set up on the grounds of cia headquarters to explore the bin laden files is working 24/7. one reason there's so much concern? analysts pouring over the bin laden files have found a number of references indicating he was pushing his organization to launch an attack on or before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. and some analysts are worried that such a plot may already be in motion. >> al qaeda historically does not impulsively throw a plot together. they tend to work on them for several months and sometimes even several years, if you look at 9/11. >> reporter: officials emphasized so far they have found no evidence of a specific or imminent plot. bin laden and al qaeda discussed

not only attacks against commuter trains, but airlanes and airports, buildings and vehicle bombs, and attacks like the ones in mumbai. >> it's still so surprising to me, pierre, that he actually had a list that had names on it and phone numbers. give me a sense of the level of concern tonight. >> reporter: right now, they're simply trying to find out, who are these people? and they need to know as soon as they can, because, obviously, that would tell them if there is a specific plot. they found no evidence of that. but they are racing against time to try to figure that out, diane. >> the manhunt under way. thank you, pierre. and, now, congresswoman gabby giffords took another huge step forward in her recovery today. doctors worked hours to replace the part of her skull they had removed after she was shot in the head. while 200 miles above her, a different delicate operation was under way as her astronaut husband maneuvered the space shuttle. and bob woodruff has one remarkable day. >> reporter: today, nasa

commander mark kelly docked the shuttle "endeavor" at the international space station while his wife, congresswoman gabby giffords, but as memorial hermann hospital in houston for what could be her final surgery. after being shot in the head four months ago, gabby's brain began to swell, dangerously, pressing against the bone. for relief, surgeons removed a section of her skull to let her brain expand more freely. today, with swelling down, doctors performed a procedure called cranioplasty, covering that hole in her head with a plastic cast using small titanium screws to attach it to her skull. >> it's a quick surgery, generally about an hour and a half, two hours at the max. the risk is really low. >> reporter: this is the same surgery i had exactly five years ago. like her, the same left side of the head. almost the same spot. the helmet, which had become a fixture in my life, and part of gab gabby's too, after the surgery,

it was gone. and surprisingly, so was much of the pain. >> she's going to look in the mirror today and see, you know, a person who's well on the mend. somebody that's really recovering. and that's going to go a long way toward her recovery in the future. >> reporter: but why did she have the surgery now, while her husband mark is so far away? >> the expectation is that she's going to do beautifully. so, i think the timing was right, i think she's ready for this procedure. >> reporter: according to the doctors who replaced my skull, this almost always speeds up our healing. >> we've seen improvements, both, not only psychologically in patients, but also documented improvements in terms of motor response, verbal response, cognitive response of the brain function. >> reporter: for gabby giffords, this is a major step on the long road back toward normalcy. >> big day for her. and, of course, remembering looking back with you, bob. but take us again through exactly what they did. >> reporter: well, this is what they did. this is actually the way they do it. they take this, what they had

already cut off, probably four months earlier, they put it on like this. they only want to do it once the brain's swelling has gone down so they can fit it on without a lot of pressure. so, they'll do that as fast as they can. but they have to wait until that moment. they can't do it earlier than that. >> and heals quickly? >> reporter: it really does. once it's attached, there's no chance some people are coming off. in fact, some people told me that it's about seven times stronger than my other side. >> is it strange for you to look back at those days from here? >> reporter: you know, it's been five years now. it's very strange. but i know so many people that have this same kind of thing. if people learn more about it and they see it, i think it's well worth it. >> and you've brought so many great reports on them. thank you, bob woodruff. and when we came on the air last night, we were talking about the shutdown of a stretch of the mississippi river, and now 24 hours later, the river is back open for business tonight. in the big cities down river from natchez, baton rouge and new orleans, the river has crested. the levees are holding. but new estimates show that by

opening the morganza spillway, nearly 30,000 acres of farmland have been sacrificed, costing farmers hundreds of millions of dollars. and here in new york, the hotel maid who accused the powerful international monetary titan of a violent sexual assault was in court today telling her story to a grand jury. meanwhile, some of the people who know her are painting a portrait of a fearful, fragile widow, single mom. "20/20" anchor chris cuomo has the latest on her story and the case being built against dominique strauss-kahn, the suspect from france. >> reporter: new details are emerging about the background of the 32-year-old hotel maid. her lawyer says she's a muslim. a widowed mother of a 15-year-old daughter who came here seven years ago, seeking asylum from guinea. >> she's extraordinarily vulnerable here. basically having her life taken away from her. >> reporter: but in france, there's growing sympathy for strauss-kahn. in fact, an informal poll in

france shows that almost 60% of those surveyed believe that strauss-kahn was set up by the maid as part of a conspiracy to ruin his political career. strauss-kahn's lawyers have also challenged the maid's account, suggesting that any sexual encounter was consensual. >> forensic evidence we believe will not be consistent with a forcible encounter. >> reporter: but a close friend of the alleged victim says she told him it was not consensual, and told him she had no idea who strauss-kahn was at the time of the alleged brutal attack. >> she's recovering, slowly. >> reporter: off-camera, the friend also told abc news of a call made by the alleged victim from the hospital, saying, quote, she called me and said, something really bad happened. and i said, stop crying, stop crying. she was devastated. devastated. sources tell abc news that evidence including hotel electronic card key records, security cameras and interviews support the victim's claim of being attacked. perhaps for as long as 15 minutes. >> there was nothing that took place in that hotel room which

in any way could be construed as consensual. >> and another development tonight? >> reporter: there has been. we've been waiting for friday for the next move, but it turns out, an application for bail has been filed. tomorrow there will be a hearing. there's a good chance that mr. strauss-kahn will be at that hearing. and we believe that the new bail package is $1 million as security and electronic monitoring to make sure that they know where he is. the fear, however, is that, will he fly to france, will he try to escape? we'll have to see. it's a new judge. could be a new day for mr. strauss-kahn. >> see if the judge gives it to him. thank you, chris. and on the other story so much in the news, we learned today the identity of the woman with whom arnold schwarzenegger has admitted fathering a child more than a decade ago. mildred patty baena, as we reported, a housekeeper in the schwarzenegger home for 20 years, who apparently gave birth the same week his youngest son with his wife was born. and, one of the big republicans in the race for president is in full damage

control mode tonight. newt gingrich, just a week after kicking off his presidential run, the former house speaker walked into a buzz saw of controversy he seems to have fired up. jake tapper on the pummeling 48 hours. >> reporter: former house speaker newt gingrich has generated a lot of buzz in this first week of his presidential campaign. unfortunately, it's not the kind of buzz candidates generally want. last night in minnesota, he was assailed with glitter by a gay rights protester. and on fox news, he refused to explain the up to half a million dollars owed to high end jeweler tiffany's. >> i frankly don't want to play the gotcha games in washington and i'm just not going to participate. >> reporter: but it was a comment gingrich made on sunday that really riled republicans, when he was asked about the house republican medicare plan. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering. i don't think imposing radical change from the right or the

left is a very good way for free society to operate. >> reporter: gingrich's harsh words for house budget committee chairman paul ryan's medicare proposal upset many conservatives. >> calling it radical and right wing social engineering is deadly. >> reporter: including, as you might imagine, ryan. >> with allies like that, who needs liberals? >> reporter: and this dubuque, iowa, voter at the first stop of gingrich's kickoff 17-city tour. >> why don't you get out before you make a bigger fool of yourself? >> reporter: all but four house republicans voted for the medicare plan. democrats are already attacking them, saying, "even newt gingrich opposes" the ryan medicare plan. gingrich has since apologized. >> any ad which quotes what i said on sunday is a falsehood, because i have said publicly that those words were inaccurate and unfortunate. >> reporter: some conservative pundits say gingrich has committed political suicide by alienating both republican officials and tea party activists. one thing is certain, diane. this has been a rough campaign kickoff week for gingrich. and it only wednesday. diane?

>> and this is the kickoff week. thank you, jake tapper. and, still ahead on "world news," potential employers add another obstacle for the unemployed, and it's legal. but tonight, how you can fight back. healthy cholesterol. lessons from the man who ate 25,000 big macs. and, a debate about whether heaven exists. the world's most famous scientist versus a boy who says he has proof heaven exists. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: would foghorn leghorn make a really bad book narrator? foghorn (stammering): it was the best of times, it was the wor - i say worst of times. and by worst i'm talkin' as bad, i say, as bad as my aunt ginny's corn puddin'. that stuff'll sink you like a stne. engineer: ok that was a little... foghorn: you gettin' all this in there son? i just added that last part it's called "adlibbin..."anyway...it was, isay it was... vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are switching from tylenol to advil. take action. take advil. save on advil with our special coupon in select newspapers on may 22. can become romantic just like that. a spark might come from -- a touch, a glance -- it can come along anywhere, anytime.

and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right even if it's not every day. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. the best in nutrition... just got better. now with even more of the vitamins your body needs. like vitamin d. plus omega 3's. there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste.

[ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. the better egg. tonight, across america, nearly 6 million americans are unemployed and have been for more than six months. the long-term unemployed, their ranks have exploded in the last decade. but as ron claiborne found, they are also caught now in a kind of catch-22. >> reporter: it's thursday morning, and there are 300 people gathered at this church outside of dallas. 300 people with the same story. how many of you here today have been out of work at least six months? how many have been out of work at least a year? they're here looking for job leads, leaning on each other for support. >> looking for a position in auditing hr. >> reporter: but they have collided head-on with one of the cruelest of ironies -- employers who refuse to hire the long-term unemployed. >> i am being challenged more and more about the length of my

unemployment, and what i've been doing in that period of time. >> reporter: scott nelson was laid off his job as a computer mapping specialist in january 2009. >> there is a trend in some job listings. there is a statement in there -- only employed people should apply. >> reporter: he's right. some companies openly discriminate against the long-term unemployed. we found these ads, which put it bluntly. >> they just see their resume go into a black hole. they send out hundreds of resumes and get no response. >> reporter: and as outrageous as these ads seem, they are legal in every state except new jersey. being unemployed does not make you part of a protected class like race, gender or age. we called a job placement agency whose online ad included exclusion of the unemployed. you're excluding millions of americans who have been out of work for a long time. they told us that's what many employers do. and when we called a restaurant directly about their ad for a manager, they told us it was a mistake. >> there's a stigma that if you

haven't been hired yet, then why should we be talking to you? >> reporter: there are some basic things the long-term unemployed can do to fight back. number one on the list -- plug the hole in your resume. >> it really looks bad on your resume. you have to fill it in with something. >> reporter: she recommends doing volunteer work in your professional field. put it at the top of your resume. you don't have to say it's unpaid. >> reporter: tip number two -- never, ever do this. >> one of the first thing i go into is why i've been unemployed for so long. >> you are a product. are products being sold by going out there and telling them that nobody's bought or looked at the product in the last six months to a year? >> reporter: tip number three -- no sad explanations. just say you've used your time as an opportunity to train up. using these tips, in his next interview, scott nelson emphasized only the positive, by talking about how he's kept his job skills up to date. and after 27 months out of work, he got the job. ron claiborne, abc news, south lake, texas. >> and good for him.

and there are other tips, like, knowing if you're good in an interview. you can find out right at home. if you want to know how, go to abcnews.com. and, coming up, you're going to meet a man who ate 25,000 big macs. what his cholesterol teaches us about our health. if you have gout, high uric acid can lead to more attacks. ♪ to help reduce attacks, lower your uric acid. uloric lowers uric acid levels in adults with gout. it's not for the treatment of high uric acid without a history of gout. uloric reduces uric acid to help you reach a healthy level. [ female announcer ] don't take uloric if you are taking azathioprine, mercaptopurine, or theophylline. gout may flare when starting uloric. don't stop taking it. your doctor may give you other medicines to help prevent flares. a small number of heart attacks, strokes, and heart-related deaths were seen in studies. it's not certain uloric caused them. certain tests to check liver function may be required.

tell your doctor about liver or kidney problems, or history of heart disease or stroke. the most common side effects are liver problems, nausea, gout flares, joint pain, and rash. [ male announcer ] if you have gout, ask your doctor about uloric. so i've got to take care of my heart. for me cheerios is a good place to start. [ male announcer ] to keep doing what you love, take care of your heart with cheerios. the whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. love your heart so you can do what you love. to london starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. imagine a day free of worry, a day when we can eat what we want, drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. finally that day has arrived with prevacid®24hr.

just one pill helps keep you heartburn-free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. now we are free. happy. with prevacid®24hr, happiness is a day without heartburn. with prevacid®24hr, delicious gourmet of gravy. and she agrees. with fancy fest gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast, the best ingredient is love. and now, a kind of milestone. one avid mcdonald's fan consumed 25,000 big macs. but his cholesterol is defiantly

low, confounding all of us who thought it had to be the other way. those burgers packed with all the calories and cholesterol. so, here is jim avila to tell us what this means. >> pretty close to 90% of my diet is probably just the big macs. >> reporter: he is a freak of nature. wu wi's wisconsin's don gorske. able to eat big macs every day and everywhere. >> this picture is my 19,000 big mac. >> reporter: more than 25,000 in all. >> they haven't killed you? >> no. not even close, so -- i'm doing really good health-wise. >> reporter: and he has the checkups to prove it. his cholesterol level is shockingly low, with little exercise. >> one mac a day is not negatively impacting his numbers. >> i feel great. i never get sick. >> reporter: still, it's not a diet most of us could get away with. one big mac has 540 calories. 29 grams of fat. the equivalent of an entire

large cheese pizza. or, on a more personal note, a nine-mile walk to work it off. don's genetics are freakishly rare, say doctors, who remind us there are two important factors in cholesterol. family history and lifestyle. there is no genetic test to see if we, too, could eat like don and live. >> i'm very concerned that this behavior is actually being portrayed as heroic. >> reporter: the facts are that a majority of americans have cholesterol that's too high, doubling the risk of heart disease. and it should be checked every five years. as for wisconsin's walking contradiction, he survives against the odds. >> let's keep in mind this is the exception to the rule. >> reporter: 25,000 and counting, never knowing if his next could be his last. jim avila, abc news, new york. and coming up, join in on the debate. does heaven exist? the world famous physicist versus the boy who says he has proof. to keep in balance after 50,

i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has gingko for memory and concentration plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's. i see you're flatulent in three languages. graduated op of your gas. [ male announcer ] got gas on your mind? your son rip is on line toot. [ male announcer ] try gas-x. powerful relief # from pressure and bloating in a fast-acting chewable. gas-x. pressure's off. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications.

omnaris. omnaris. to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nosebleed and sore throat. [ inhales deeply ] i nipped my allergy symptoms in the bud. omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com. oh. see that? great job. ok, now let's get ready for the ball... here it comes... here you go. good catch. perfect! alright now for the best part. let's see your pour. ohhh...let's get those in the bowl. these are way too good to waste, right? oh, yea. let's go for it... around the bowl and... [ male announcer ] share what you love... with who you love. mmmmm. kellogg's frosted flakes... they're g-r-r-reat! good catch dad. [ laughs ] they're g-r-r-reat! [ male announcer ] wonder where the durango's been for the last two years? it toured around europe,

getting handling and steering lessons on those sporty european roads. it went back to school, got an advanced degree in technology. it's been working out -- more muscle and less fat. it's done more in two years than most cars do in a lifetime. now lease the all-new 2011 dodge durango express all-wheel-drive for $359 a month for well-qualified lessees. and finally tonight, weighing in on the existence of heaven. two unlikely opponents on opposing sides in this debate. here's dan harris. >> reporter: you could hardly find two less likely debating partners. one of the most famous scientists on the planet.

and a boy from nebraska who turns 12 tomorrow. on one side, physicist stephen hawking, who provoked a firestorm recently when he said that heaven is "a fairy story for people who are afraid of the dark." he went on to say, "i regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. there is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers." on the other side, young colton burpo, who says he knows heaven is real, because he's been there. >> i got to see jesus, and then two of the apostles, peter and john. >> reporter: he says this happened at age 4, when, nearing death, he underwent emergency surgery. his father, a pastor, has written a bestselling book about colton's story, called "heaven is for real." he says when his son came to, he knew things that he'd never been told, including that his mother had had a miscarriage. >> and that day that my son described to me my daughter that i have waiting for me in heaven,

it was an incredible day. >> reporter: and colton's reaction to hawking? >> i'll say that, i can believe what i can believe and, if you don't believe it, okay. >> reporter: hawking may have written more books and may have more advanced degrees than young colton, but here in this country, at least, it's more than likely the winner of the debate would be the 12-year-old. while there is some disagreement among americans about whether heaven is a purely spiritual setting or an actual physical place, the bottom line is, roughly three-quarters of us agree with colton that heaven is real. >> science measures things that are visible, that are measurable. and because it does, it starts to assume that that's all that exists. >> reporter: as one person told us today, this debate brings to mind that line from isaiah -- "a child shall lead them." dan harris, abc news. >> and we thank you for watching tonight. we are always there at

abcnews.com with the latest. and don't forget, "nightline" later. gayle king, oprah's friend, will talk about times of transition. and we'll see you here tomorrow. @ >> former assembly speaker fabio nuniz talks about the a son. >> and police misconduct charges and planning to fight back with video came ras of his own.

>> and opening of a east bay supermarket . improving national economy. >> hardware porpporpoises. and for the first time. a former top politician in california is talking about his son's prison sentence and the role arnold wart swart played in changing it. >> schwarzenegger cut the sentence by more than half. they are live in sacramento tonight. >> the former assembly speaker tells us about the remorse and guilt he has over his son's crime. fabio nuniz thinks his kid got a raw deal. >> his pay a