Attorney General Janet Reno told lawyer Aaron Podhurst at 3 a.m. Saturday that he had until 4 a.m. to get Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives to agree to turn over the boy to his father at a location outside Florida.

 But after months in which Reno had set one deadline after another without enforcing them, the Miami relatives' lawyers didn't realize how serious Reno was. They didn't even wake Elian's great-uncle Lazaro to discuss the situation until the deadline had passed.

 '' 'We're running out of time,' '' Reno said, Podhurst recounted Sunday. ''She said, 'I need an answer at 4 o'clock.' ''

 When 4 a.m. came and went without a firm answer from the Little Havana home, Reno polled her advisors and authorized the raid.

 Podhurst, who had been serving as the go between from his Miami Lakes home, had Reno on one phone line and family lawyer Manny Diaz on another, when at 5:15 a.m. federal agents stormed the house.

 ''Manny Diaz says, 'Oh my God, Aaron, it's the marshals,' '' Podhurst said. ''His line went dead. I saw this horrible thing on TV. I was shocked. I hit the hold button, and the attorney general was still there.''

 In the end, the frenzied and fragile negotiations to unite the boy and his father without force fell apart amid missed deadlines and missed opportunities, a reconstruction of the last hours of negotiations shows.

 Podhurst, who said he was not an advocate for either side, said Sunday that he believed lawyers for the family were acting in good faith and were working toward a workable reunion of father and son.

 ''I think our government made a mistake, because we had on our hands a peaceful turnover,'' said Podhurst, who entered the negotiations only last Thursday when Miami civic leaders asked him to try to mediate a settlement.

 But his view was not shared in Washington, where officials said a proposal the Miami relatives had faxed to Reno on Friday afternoon discussing a Miami reunion was far from convincing.

 The proposal failed to state simply that the Miami relatives would transfer custody of Elian to his father, Carole Florman, Reno's spokeswoman, said Sunday. Instead, it read: ''We understand that you have transferred temporary custody of Elian to his father. Elian and all members of the Gonzalez family would remain in residence at the [meeting] site until the resolution of all pending legal proceedings.''

 Reno ''had some very serious problems with it. First and foremost, there's not a commitment in here that the child's custody would be transferred,'' Florman said.

 ''We had gone through this drill more than once,'' Florman said. ''We were dealing with people who had not responded to other deadlines and who had not demonstrated a willingness to follow through on statements they made publicly or to us.''

 Podhurst said Sunday he realized at 3 a.m. that Reno was serious about her demand for a meeting outside of Florida. He strongly urged the Miami relatives' lawyers that they agree.

 But the lawyers spent most of the time remaining before the 4 a.m. deadline debating among themselves whether to recommend the out-of-state meeting. The lawyers were not happy. They thought Reno had changed her position, Diaz said.

 ''Obviously the family was very distraught. They felt this was heavy handed,'' Diaz said.

 Podhurst relayed to Reno that the lawyers were working to convince Lazaro that he should agree to meeting with Elian's father near Washington.

 At 4:21 a.m., with Podhurst still trying to work out a deal, and still talking on both lines, Reno gave her final deadline.

 ''She said, 'You've got five minutes. Not six,' '' Podhurst recounted. ''I'll never forget 4:21 a.m.''

 He called the Little Havana house again, again stressing the need to move -- and quickly. But still no firm answer.

 THE RAID

 At about 5 a.m. -- with the raid by then set in motion -- Podhurst said Reno told him that the family had to make the boy available immediately. At the house, there was more discussion.

 Then at 5:15, the raid. Family lawyer Kendall Coffey said the raid interrupted what was a discussion of whether to agree to move the site of the meeting out of Florida.

 ''As of 5:15 when the door broke down, we were all telling Aaron the same thing: We [the lawyers] agreed to a location out of Florida. We were going to relate that to Lazaro. We were in the process of talking to him. We were just sort of minutes away,'' Coffey said.

 Podhurst said he never suspected a raid was afoot. He said Reno, whom he still respects and considers a friend, for security reasons did not tell him the raid was en route. He and the attorney general spoke for two hours after the raid.

 Had he known, Podhurst said, he would have notified the family and advisors so they would not be in harm's way. He said he understands why Reno didn't tell him.

 ''She said it was the longest 10 minutes of her life,'' he said. ''She said, 'I tried as hard as I could. I ran out of time.' ''