80%. national figures are 50%. >> it takes in about 3,000 pets per year and open door shelter policies for strays. >> and that is going to do it for us. >> from all of us here, thanks for watching. welcome to "world news." tonight, amazing raid. the navy s.e.a.l. team that raced to the rescue, parachuting in to save an american woman held hostage. tonight, just how did they pull this off in the darkness of night? the secretary speaks. warren buffett and his secretary, who pays a much higher tax rate than him. he says, not fair. she's now the center of a huge debate. what does she think? an abc news exclusive. sick at sea. what happens if you get sick on a cruise ship far out to sea? tonight, the incredible lengths the coast guard will go through to save you. dramatic, new picture. prying eyes? that controversial, new

headline. the search engine, now searching your e-mails. and fighting fat. what is this high-tech suit? and what is this woman standing in? it could help you burn off your dinner tonight. the secret weapon and the new science revealed. good evening. diane is on assignment tonight, set to interview the president. we'll have more on that later here. but we do begin this evening with that secret rescue mission, once again pulled off by that elite navy s.e.a.l. team 6, parachuting in under the cover of night, to save a 32-year-old american woman held hostage by pirates in somalia. here's a video the pirates took of her to prove they had her. jessica's family fearful she'd never come back. and then, at last night's state of the union, this first clue. the president seen congratulating his defense secretary. you can hear the president say great job. we now know, even as the president stepped up to the

podium last night, the secret mission was still under way. and tonight, here, how did the s.e.a.l.s pull off this high-stakes 50-minute mission? why go in last night? the situation so dire they had to get to her. and we'll take you inside the training that prepares the navy s.e.a.l.s for unthinkable rescues like this one. abc's martha raddatz starts us off tonight. >> reporter: it was heart-pounding. one of the toughest kinds of missions. not only was s.e.a.l. team 6 facing enemy pirates, they had to get the hostages out alive. at about 1:40 in the morning, somalia time, 5:40 p.m. in washington, the s.e.a.l. team huddled in dead darkness in the back of a c-130, as it approached the target. a remote encampment in northern somalia. one by one, the s.e.a.l.s hurled themselves out of the plane at high altitude, parachuting silently to within a few miles of the hideout. within minutes after sneaking into the encampment, the s.e.a.l.s were facing a barrage of gunfire. the s.e.a.l.s moved quickly,

killing all nine heavily armed kidnappers. and there, in the darkness, with explosives littering the compound, were the hostages. 32-year-old jessica buchanan, and danish aid worker poul thisted, both outside, separated by 30 to 40 yards. at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. in washington, the hostages were moved onboard blackhawk helicopters. a few minutes later, at 6:45 p.m., in the white house, the president was preparing for his state of the union address, when he was told the hostages were in u.s. hands and headed for djibouti. by 8:45 last night, as he walked into the capitol, the hostages had still not arrived in djibouti. but cameras caught this moment, president obama congratulating secretary of defense leon panetta. >> leon, good job tonight. good job tonight. >> reporter: buchanan had been

a dedicated aid worker, focusing on demining. she suffers from an undisclosed medical condition, that after three months in captivity, was deemed life-threatening, triggering the mission. back in washington, at 10:32 p.m., with the hostages confirmed safe, the president called jessica's father to tell him his daughter was free. jessica's family received the good news, as well. >> it's such an answer to all our prayers. i can never tell them how thankful i really am for what they do and what they did. >> reporter: the family hopes to reunite with jessica in the next day or two, after final medical evaluations. but she's said to be doing well, david, considering all that she has been through. >> we're all glad to hear that. martha raddatz in washington. martha, thank you. it's been nearly eight months now since members of that same team took down osama bin laden. the mission that led so many of us to ask, who are these men? and how do they train? "20/20" anchor chris cuomo on that part of the story tonight.

>> reporter: we all remember the mission that made s.e.a.l. team 6 famous. elimination of enemy number one, osama bin laden, in the dark against an unknown number of enemy fighters. a small team escaping without a scratch after just 40 minutes. but s.e.a.l.s tell us this mission in somalia was even tougher because a rescue requires the ultimate battle skill, restraint. >> every action that's taken on the battlefield is designed for one objective alone. and that's to bring that hostage home to their family. >> reporter: and that demands more than physical toughness. so, it's not the freezing water, nor the teargas, not the jumping from planes 11 miles up. the toughest training for a mission like this is mental. >> in the mind of a navy s.e.a.l. during any operation, and especially during something as high-stakes as a rescue operation, they're aware of where's the hostage? how do i need to react in order to accomplish this mission? >> reporter: s.e.a.l.s are recruited from the best and winnowed down from there.

holding their breath underwater for two minutes without releasing a bubble, then swimming with hands and legs bound. 75% of s.e.a.l.s fail. for the rest of us, forget it. how did i do? barely half. they have to do the whole length. make it through, and the result is obvious. >> a self-contained unit that can go any place in the world and literally do nothing but kick. >> reporter: they may be supermen. but they are men. and mortal. last august, 22 team 6 members were killed when their chinook helicopter was shot down in a firefight in afghanistan. but success or failure, these men stay in the shadows. remaining silent as we mourn or as we applaud. thankfully, they are on our side. true. i have been with these men. and to see them in person doesn't really do them justice. david, what it is that makes them so special. not their might. not even their skills. it's their dedication. they surrender everything, even their own lives sometimes, to

carry out missions for us. >> extraordinary in every way. chris, thanks so much. we're going to turn, now, to politics and "your voice, your vote" tonight. the president and that moment last night during the state of the union, the preview of what's to come. how he'll make his case for re-election. >> we will not setting for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, and where a growing number barely get by. we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> and one of the faces of that debate is this woman. warren buffett's secretary. debbie bosanek, so often spoken of and so rarely seen. buffett says he pays a lower tax rate than she does. something he calls unfair. we go to bianna golodryga in omaha tonight, with an abc news exclusive. bianna, good evening. >> reporter: david, good evening. debbie bosanek says she still feels like cinderella at the

ball, given the 24 hours she's had. she spent her entire life here in omaha. and started working for warren buffett at age 17. she never thought about taxes and the rate she pays compared to her boss until the last few months. well, now, she's at the center of a nationwide debate. a hero's welcome, for a secretary thrust into the spotlight. after a whirlwind ride to stardom, that began when her famous boss, warren buffet, said he pays a lower tax rate than she does. her seat next to the first lady, for the one next to her boss. the one she's worked for for 19 years. you said you felt as if you're representing secretaries across the country yesterday. >> right. i just feel like an average citizen. so, maybe i should say i was representing just the average citizen, who, you know, needs a voice and wants to be treated fairly in the area of taxation. >> deb is typical. she's right in the middle. >> reporter: she pays a 35.8% tax rate. while her billionaire boss pays

a 17% tax rate. which is why buffett and now the president, are pushing what's being called the buffett rule, requiring millionaires to pay at least 30% in income tax, including that money earned through investments. it comes just 24 hours after republican candidate mitt romney revealed he made almost $43 million over two years, paying a tax rate of 13.9% in 2010. not debbie's 35.8%. today, on the campaign trail, mitt romney's wife, ann, appeared frustrated that they were so pressured to release their taxes. >> you all know he's been successful in business. unfortunately, that was made abundantly clear yesterday when our tax forms were released. >> reporter: opponents argue raising the capital gains tax for millionaires like romney will stifle job creation, something this billionaire disagrees with. >> capital gains rates have been much higher in the past. >> reporter: buffett does have this question for the governor. what is your challenge to him? what is your question to him? if he did nothing illegal?

>> is it a moral obligation if he has the power to do it to change, try to change the tax law? if you become president of the united states, do you really think that you want to have a tax code that results in your tax rate, when the same tax code results in debbie paying 35.8%? >> reporter: and, david, we reached out to the romney camp with buffett's question. they said, they didn't care to respond to warren buffett. but that the governor's committed to cutting taxes, particularly for the middle class. david, i should also note that warren buffett doesn't blame romney for anything of the tax rate he paid. he blames congress for that low tax rate. >> going to be a huge debate in the year to come. abc's bianna golodryga, thank you. i want to bring in our senior white house correspondent, jake tapper, traveling with the president today in phoenix. we heard from warren buffett's secretary there. we heard from the president last night, using the word fairness. why is his re-election team convinced this is going to resonate with the voters? >> reporter: put yourself in the obama campaign shoes. the president has a 57%

disapproval rating when it comes to his handling of the economy. but these two items about taxation, increasing taxes on wealthier americans, the so-called buffett rule, and also changing the tax code so as to encourage, manufacturing here in the u.s., what the president is talking about right now at this construction site in phoenix. these are popular. the problem with the obama campaign, the conundrum, is his signature achievements, whatever their merits, health care reform, financial reform, they're not popular. he cannot campaign on them before a mass audience of independent voters. so, he's trying to talk about these stark defenses he has with the republican nominee, whoever he may end up being. david? >> all right. jake tapper on the challenge ahead for the president. thank you. and diane sawyer will be sitting down with the president. his first network interview following the state of the union, now that the countdown to the election is on. diane's interview with the president, right here on "world news," tomorrow night.

we turn, now, to a firestorm brewing this evening, sparked by a provocative letter from a convicted murderer. a death row inmate, who calls himself a gentleman of leisure. bragging about his comfortable lifestyle on death row. in a state that hasn't executed a prisoner in six years. here's abc's pierre thomas tonight. >> reporter: danny hembree jr. sits on north carolina's death row for the murder of 17-year-old hather catterton two years ago. he's found a way to add to the suffering of her family. saying in a taunting letter to a local newspaper, life on death row is a life of easy living. he writes, is the public aware that i'm a gentleman of leisure? watching color tv, reading, taking naps at will? i spit in the face of your so-called justice system. and he says the chances he will ever be executed are very slim. there may be some truth to that. north carolina hasn't executed anyone for six years. like several states, it has put an informal hold on executions because of questions about whether lethal injection causes pain and whether the death penalty is imposed more on

people of color. the father of the teenager hembree killed said the letter was tearing the family apart. this has nothing to do with the national debate over the death penalty. it's just personal. >> a huge debate on this at abcnews.com. pierre thomas, tonight. thank you. we turn, now, to texas this evening, facing a historic dry spell. tonight, images of the other extreme. a deluge, over nine inches of rain in san antonio. and in dallas, you see the cars there under water. there were reports of three tornadoes. all that rain won't be enough to put an end to the crippling drought that's stretched on for more than a year now. and today, a moment of unity in washington. a 3 1/2-minute standing ovation, republicans and democrats alike, saluting a congresswoman who's become an example for us all. gabby giffords, stepping down. we all watched that moment last night. the president embracing the congresswoman, who courageously fought her way back this last

year. and rocked back and forth on the eve of her good-bye in washington. today, she was back for her final day on the house floor. her colleagues, republicans, democrat, celebrated her strength and her spirit. >> gabby, we love you. we have missed you. >> reporter: giffords, mouthing the words, i missed you, too. and when her mother was singled out for standing by her daughter's side, a wave, a gentle kiss blown her way. there were tears in the chamber. >> i am so proud of my friend. >> reporter: giffords' friend, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, reading giffords' resignation. >> i will recover and i will return. and we will work together again. for arizona and for all americans. >> reporter: and then, that moment, giffords handing in that letter to the speaker of the house, who, like that entire chamber, was overwhelmed by the moment. up in the gallery, her husband, astronaut mark kelly, watching another moment of bravery, from his wife. congresswoman giffords saying,

she'll be back. still ahead here on "world news" this evening, the incredible lengths the coast guard will go when you're sick on a cruise ship. what happened in the middle of the pacific ocean? we'll show you the dramatic pictures. and the new science this evening. at the end of the broadcast here, the secret weapon inside your own body that might help you burn off your dinner calories tonight.

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more than a week, now, after that cruise ship capsized off italy, we learned of a different emergency on the water today. this one in the middle of the pacific. a passenger severely ill on an ocean liner, hundreds of miles from hawaii. triggering a dramatic and daring response by the coast guard. here's abc's lisa stark, tonight, with pictures. >> reporter: it was the carnival spirit, bound for hawaii, that sent the coast guard scrambling. onboard, a seriously ill passenger. a 63-year-old woman. >> it was a time-critical issue. so, we were able to get on scene, basically a first flight. >> reporter: the cruise ship was initially 900 miles offshore, too far for a helicopter evacuation. so, the coast guard in honolulu launched a c-130 airplane instead, to deliver critical medical supplies, so cruise ship doctors could stabilize the patient. supplies, including blood and plasma. >> we grabbed ice from our cooler to keep the blood cold.

and we just kind of rolled with the punches. >> reporter: it all went like clockwork. with 12 million americans cruising every year, medical emergencies happen. plucking someone off a ship is dangerous. but sometimes, it's the only option. cruise ships do have doctors and nurses, 24-hour medical care. there's an exam room, x-rays, defibrillators, portable oxygen. >> and those facilities are professionally staffed, professionally run. and are quite capable of stabilizing patients in an emergency. >> reporter: but it is not a floating hospital, as passenger dan adams found out. he suffered an acute appendicitis, and had to be evacuated by two navy blackhawk helicopters to save his life. as for the woman on the carnival cruise ship, after the air drop, she was stabilized and is now back onshore, in the hospital. lisa stark, abc news, washington. when we come back tonight, two astonishing numbers. if you buy a cup of coffee, you want to stay tuned. and what would you save, if you carried one of these to work?

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congress blocked changes that would have limited french fries and pizza. if you use google, and so many of us do, the web giant is about to know much more ab all of us. google announced it will track the activity of users across all of its sites. that includes its e-mail, or gmail. the company will track your e-mails, track the youtube videos you watch. it will keep a record of your searches and combine that data, to target ads to your tastes and your interests. some privacy advocates say they plan to fight this. and a number today that really caught our eye. a new survey finds that half of all american workers buy coffee every day. i'm one of them. it costs on average of $1,000 a year. two-thirds of workers buy lunch at an average cost of $2,000 a year. the takeaway, they say the little indulgences add up. pack a lunch. carry one of those bags and you can save a couple grand a year. and that's a lot of money, especially in these times. when we come back tonight, if you're eating dinner right now, how to burn that fat with a secret weapon inside your own body.

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the bulge. burn calories simply by cooling off. >> over a long period of time, that would be a significant advantage in our fight against obesity. >> reporter: in a new study, male subjects wearing suits designed for jet fighter pilots, were exposed to 39-degree temperatures for several hours. their metabolism jumped by 80%. and while lounging around for 3 hours, their bodies burned an extra 250 calories. the equivalent of 30 minutes on the treadmill. >> i said, wow. that is almost unbelievable. >> reporter: the secret weapon? the cold. it appears to activate certain fat called brown fat, which acts like a furnace, heating up the body, causing it to burn calories. scientists believe just standing here in this ice-cold water could activate this tissue. as my body tries to maintain its normal 98.6 degrees, i'm actually burning about as many

calories as i would during a brisk walk. former nasa scientist ray cronise is convinced the cold water helped him lose 50 pounds. >> you still have to exercise. it's sort of a multiplying effect. >> reporter: more research needs to be done. and experts caution against going into extremes. but now, winter, may be a great time to get out for a brisk walk. linsey davis, abc news, new york. diane sawyer and the president tomorrow night here. and we leave you with that dazzling sight in the sky, the northern lights. good night. an a man who took other peoples' money and blew it.

>> she bolted from the courtroom because she couldn't bear the testimony. her son is the only one that can identify a triple murder suspect. >> an uproar over the san bruno pipeline explosion. the controversial choice of who will oversee pg&e's punishment. >> tonight new rules to ensure that you're covered when disaster strikes. >> good evening, everyone. i'm carolyn johnson. >> an east bay man pleaded guilty to charges involving a multi million dollar real estate scheme. >> authorities made a federal case out of it. it's a story the i team broke. >> it's a story you'll see only on 7 tonight. >> this is a step for investors but they're still feeling impact with savings, gone, and credit ruined. jim used to call himself the leftas