i'd start to fall ♪ ♪ that's fathers and daughters ♪ >> tomorrow, my prime time exclusive with michael jackson's brother, jermaine what he thinks really happened to michael and what he says about his brother's doctor, conrad murray. >> the first time i saw conrad murray was in the hospital. i understand that he was -- there was something with paris that he came into their lives before, but the first time i saw him was in the hospital and i just didn't have a good feeling. >> an extraordinary interview with jermaine jackson, a prime time exclusive that's tomorrow night. that's it for us tonight. "ac 360" starts right now. >> piers, thanks very much. good evening, everyone, 10 p.m. here on the east coast tonight. is michele bachmann's latest misstep the beginning of the end

of her presidential campaign? by most accounts, bachmann did well in the republican debate taking rick perry to task on his order to girls to get the hpv vaccine, suggesting he was catering to pharmaceutical manufacturer, merck. then she did this. >> i'll tell you this, i had a mother last night come up to me here in tampa, florida, after the debate. she told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. it can have very dangerous side effects. the mother was crying when she came up to me last night. i didn't know who she was before the debate. this is the very real concern. and people have to draw their own conclusions. >> that was bachmann on the "today" show accounting what some stranger said to her. now, we have no reason to doubt someone says this to mrs. bachmann, but it's incredibly irresponsible for her to repeat this as part of her argument against the hpv vaccine and then throw up her hands and say, make of it what you will.

keeping them honest, the cdc says there's no evidence that this has any link to the vaccine. bachmann is spreading all-out falsehood here. a dangerous falsehood at that. and it's not the first time she's done this by any stretch of the imagination. i want to play you some of her other statements in the past, and keep in mind, there's no political wiggle room on these statements, no gray areas, no spin. what you're about to hear is just flat-out factually incorrect statement. >> i think we know that just within a day or so, the president of the united states will be taking a trip over to india that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. he's taking 2,000 people with him. he'll be renting out over 870 rooms in india, and these are five-star hotel rooms at the taj mahal palace hotel. that's why this week, it's ironic and sad that the president released all of the oil from the strategist oil reserves. is that abortion?

does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local planned parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? mom and dad are never the wiser. the executive director of planned parenthood in illinois said they want to become the lenscrafter of big abortion in illinois. i find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu break out under another democratic president, jimmy carter, and i'm not blaming it on president obama, i think it's just an interesting coincidence. and speaker pelosi, who has been busy sticking the taxpayer with her $100,000 bar tab for alcohol on the military jets that she's flying. >> well, the latest cnn orc poll which was doen before the debate has bachmann in seventh place as behind sarah palin, ron paul,

mitt romney, rick scott, herman cane and newt gingrich. so the question is with the false -- the misstatement the false statements that she made have they caught up with her? do voters care about the truth? joining us live, david gergen and ron carey, bachmann's former chief of staff. you were the chief of staff. why does this stuff seem to happen over and over and over with her? is it willful on her part? is it carelessness? what is it? >> michelle is very impulsive from a personality standpoint. to her credit, she reads an awful lot of information, but i'm afraid she reads 80 or 90% but forgets the 10 or 20% that can change the outcome. her impulsive nature coupled with the fact she doesn't digest information as carefully as she should leads to these kind of impulsive statements that are sometimes off the mark just enough that it makes her into a more of a provocative controversial figure. >> are these things written out in advance for her or these are things that are in her head and pop out? >> no. that's one of the challenges i

found with working with her and it's consistent with what others said. she doesn't use her staff well. she's pretty much independent and does her own research. she'll be out there on the stump preparing her own remarks and speaking off the cuff with no staff intervention or involvement whatsoever. so, it's really difficult to prep her and help her kind of fact-check before she goes out speaking. she'll be out there speaking and you'll say, where did this come from and this is something she heard on tv. great example, a month or so ago when she flubbed the elvis anniversary and she didn't listen carefully. it was the anniversary of his passing and not his birthday and that's just really hard for the staff to manage her lack of ability to stay on script. >> and david, certainly, that's one of the minor things, the elvis thing. a lot of the things she's saying are serious issues with serious political ramifications and you shouldn't be making

misstatements about, like mental disabilities being brought about by hpv vaccine. it doesn't seem, david gergen, that these things stick thought, that we're constantly pointing out this is factually incorrect, but it doesn't seem, until now, to have had much impact on her? >> anderson, americans are very forgiving and often a person starts with a sizzling background and they're well-meaning, compassionate as she is. when they get into the big-time and get into -- this is the nfl, in effect, she's playing and it's a much tougher game. and you're forgiven one or two, but you get a whole string like this and particularly this last one, it's done serious damage to her campaign. in this last event about the vaccine, what she has said, in effect, has given further fuel to this whole anti-vaccination crowd that is -- claims that all sorts of vaccinations cause problems for children, especially getting vaccinated for autism.

i mean, vaccination can lead to autism, that's what the argument is. if you get vaccinated for various childhood diseases, you get autism. that's been proven wrong. a lot of kids didn't get vaccinated as a result and there's a part of the world where deaths went up for children attributed to that. so this anti-vaccination, this is sort of an antiscience view that she's embraced here and i think she didn't do it willingly. i mean, i think she just mistakenly did it. it's very dangerous because it encourages parents not to get their children vaccinated. and to go back to this centers for disease control you cited earlier, the cdc is one of the most important scientific institutions we have and they have recommended that girls, young girls, 11 and 12 years old, be vaccinated against this hpv because it is the most common sexually transmitted disease and it can be dangerous

for children. and to sort of play against that and say -- no, don't get vaccinated at all, frankly, that's irresponsible and she ought to right away say, i made a mistake on this one. own up to it and move on. >> if i can comment, david. i think is a bit off on the fact that i don't think -- in defending michelle, she didn't say don't get vaccinated. she said parents should have the right to make the decision. >> but if she's saying that -- i'm using her term, mental retardation and then throwing up her hands and saying, you know, make of that what you will, that's pretty damning stuff to be thrown out there with -- and to have it be medically incorrect information. >> well, i guess i'd like to say is that michelle's been known, ever since she was elected to congress or ran for congress, as making very provocative statements and it really has impacted her in minnesota in -- she has a history of underperforming compared to other republicans on the ballot. and i think the one thing the republicans will agree upon this

year is barack obama needs to be a one-term president. but when you look at the field of candidates as we get more serious, we're going to look at candidates as to how electable are they? michelle consistently, in 2006, she was on the ballot with tim pawlenty and in 2010 he defeated her by 6%. as the gubernatorial candidate, he defeated her in 14 of 15 state house districts. so michelle, even though she has a red district, 24 of 25 state legislatures in her district are republican, so it's a deep red district but she consistently underperforms other republicans on the ballot and my concern is that these provocative statements drive away independents and moderates who we need to have in republicans to defeat obama in 2012. >> can i come back on that? i agree with what you say. i want to say one thing. the people who warned parents

that if they had their children vaccinated they could easily become autistic did terrible damage because it persuaded a number of parents not to have their children vaccinated. and to warn that getting vaccinated for hpv causes mental retardation is making exactly the same mistake and causes -- and particularly when it comes from a leading political figure in the country. >> got to leave it there, gentlemen. ron carey, good to have you on, david gergen as well. let us know what you think. we're on facebook and follow me on twitter, @anderson cooper. accusations of a white house stimulus scandal in washington. did the obama administration rush a loan to the crown jewel of the green energy mush? and a stunning blow for the syrian opposition. a blow of anti-government leaders seized by syrian forces reportedly tortured after months of being in hidinging on the run l his death inspire even greater commitment from protesters on

the streets? we will duke a friend of the dead man who is determined to speak out, despite great risk to himself. plus, eye shah is following other stories. >> stunning new revelation groups casey anthony's father, george anthony. he says he believes his daughter drugged his granddaughter, caylee tour sedate the toddler so casey could go out and have a good time. details from the exclusive interview and much more when "360" continues. impressive resume. thank you.

you know what,ell me, what makes peterpeter ? i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and really love my bank's ise your ratcd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap uh, tuly, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spen8 days lo at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love o raise your rate cd that offers a one-ti rate increase if our currentates go up.

tonight "keeping them honest," with president obama on the job selling his $444 billion jobs' plan some are calling stimulus two, there will questions about stimulus one. a $535 million loan to a company called solyndra, a company that declared bankruptcy, laid off all 1,100 workers and was raided by the fbi last week. on top of the the failure of the business, there's growing controversy as to whether the

white house tried to rush the loan through government channels. e-mails have been uncovered "the washington post," showing in august of 2009, white house officials were consistently bugging the office of management and budget about when they were going to decide on the more than half a billion loan. the energy department had tentatively approved it but the omb, office of management budget, was still doing the review. the white house wanted vice president joe biden to announce the loan approval at the groundbreaking for the company's factory so time was of the essence. one e-mail a white house assistant mentions the upcoming event and asks if there is, quote, anything we can help speed along on the omb side and get this response where from a staffer, quote, i would prefer this announcement be postponed. this is the first loan guarantee and we should have full review with all hands an deck to make sure we get it right. now, a lot of people who work in an office might recognize or see that tone and think that they were just trying to cut through red tape and the white house is

certainly playing it -- characterizing it as that. today, white house press secretary jay carney said what the e-mails show is a, quote, urgency to make a decision about a scheduling matter. but republican investigators for the house energy and commerce committee, which held a hearing on this issue today, came to the conclusion that the pressure from the white house may indeed have changed the way omb reviewed the loan and there was also concern showing that the e-mails show there was red flags about the company's financial viability before the loan was approved. abc news obtained a particularly damning e-mail between doe staffers and the e-mails predicted, and i quote, the model runs out of cash in september 2011. turns out that prediction was true. the company declared bankruptcy late last month with u.s. taxpayers now holding the bag on more than $500 million loan. last week, the fbi and agents from the energy department's inspector general's office raided the company's headquarters in california. know one's going on record with

what the raid was all about, but the doe inspector general usually investigates allegations of fraud and wrongdoing. still, energy department officials are also defending the decision to back the company, saying the loan application was almost complete before president obama even took office. but at today's congressional hearing the republican congressman steve scalise of louisiana said that solyndra's failure could be a harbinger of things to come. >> this was a poster child of the first stimulus bill, the president right now is touting what i call, "son of stimulus," another bill to come through. spend more taxpayer money, to do more things like this. >> when white house press secretary jay carney was asked back on september 1st about solyndra's failure, he said there are no guarantees in any business.

>> the whole purpose of this program, which has a broad portfolio of many companies that are -- that are doing well, was to invest in cutting-edge technologies, with some government assistance, with some government loan guarantees, would help us establish a beachhead in the vital industries that will allow america to compete in the future. there are no guarantees in the business world about success and failure. that is just the way business works and everyone recognizes that. >> congressman tim murphy was at the congressional hearing and we'll talk with him in a moment. here's congressman murphy today in an exchange with the executive director of the energy department's loan program's office, johnathan silver. >> we talked -- this staff talked with the company on a regular basis. >> i really want you to stop throwing everybody else under the bus. i hear you throwing all your stuff under the bus. i want to know. you're in charge. you've handled loans of this size and now you're saying it's everybody's else's fault except you and you're in charge. tell me what you did, you're the one in charge, with half a billion of taxpayer's money now saying it's all my staff's fault. i didn't know. i can't do anything about it.

>> joining me live from washington, republican congressman tim murphy. thanks for being with us. the loans to solyndra represent over 1% of the loan guarantees under that energy department program. it's the only one that's gone bad. the white house says, look, sometimes businesses fail. in your opinion, what makes this bankruptcy different? >> it makes it different because in january of 2009, the credit group already voted unanimously to say this is not good. it was a couple weeks later that suddenly that decision was reversed. and also, in september of that year, you saw the e-mail that says this whole company is going to be out of money in 2011. mr. silver came on board in november. he said it wasn't my fault. everybody came before me. he also said shortly after that exchange we had that they didn't get one check. the checks kept coming, even though comment after comment was showing this company wasn't doing well, they didn't have the money. they went to restructure loans. and this is when a real bomb went off here, too. the law clearly says, we pass,

that they cannot change where their money goes to if the company goes belly-up. it was supposed to be the taxpayers get repaid first. what he said was their lawyers advised them they did not have to pay attention to the law and changed it so the private investors got their money first. so, a number of things began to occur which shows the taxpayers are out of $535 million and the other investors get their money back. we may not see any of that. so it's all these other elements. it isn't whether or not the company could survive. most of them don't. the issue was there were lots of signs before the first checks were written that it wouldn't work and lots of signs after the checks were written to say -- we shouldn't go any further. >> is it your belief that the obama administration, basically, just pushed this deal forward because they so much wanted to be seen as doing something or they wanted to promote green energy, they felt this was like the perfect company to give a large amount of money to? >> well, i don't know if it was the minds or hearts of the obama

administration, but it was clear in talking to mr. silver, here's a man that talked with the companies, he had been a major player in, they invest -- capital invested, entrepreneurial capital, he was used to loans of this size and more. and clearly, if you're involved with investing private people's money, at some point if you say, look, we shouldn't throw good money after bad because this company can't survive, you can't do what he simply said but this is all about building the building on time. you have to fill the building with people and products and make it happen. and it was clear to me from what he said is he had information before him from staff saying it couldn't work. and then he said, it's the staff's fault. and when it came time to change the law, he said it was the lawyer's fault, not his, and that's what really troubled us a lot. >> this was under the bush administration. was it a problem then or is it the way it's being executed on this particular deal? >> the program came through under the energy bill of 2005. that set it up.

the money was actually coming through later on. but what occurred is the folks before president obama took office, in january of 2009, they said, don't go any further. we're unanimously voting not to do this. and it was a couple of weeks later, after the inauguration of president obama it came through. now, let the facts speak for themself. i don't know if there's a link there or not. what i do know is pretty clear. there was substantial and repetitive evidence from people within the organization of doe, department of energy, this is not going well. this company can't survive. and they kept putting money into it. >> congressman tim murphy, thank you. >> thank you. and now we have paul begala and jim dike, president of jda frontline, former communications director of the rnc. paul, given what we just heard, how much of a potential problem is this for the obama white house? >> the truth is, it's too soon to tell. we have no idea. this is just now beginning to come to the public light.

there's peril on both sides. the facts are what they are. i think they'll come to light. congress has legitimate oversight function, whether it's a republican or democrat congress, democrat or republican white house, they need to keep an eye on where the taxpayers money goes. all voters think that's a good thing. the risk for the obama administration is if there's any wrongdoing uncovered, we haven't seen any yet, the risk for the congress, though, is if you look like you're being partisan in an investigation, it can hurt you politically. we saw this when i was in the white house and the white water and the impeachment investigations were going on. it hurt the republicans politically. but there have been other times, like when john mccain was investigating the scandal, people didn't think he was being political and i think it benefitted him. the less sort of overtly partisan you are probably the better off you'll be if you're a member of congress on this. >> jim, how damaging do you think the e-mails are? >> i think it's too soon to tell. i agree with paul on that.

i think it puts a lot of pressure on senate democrats to look into this as well. they don't want to come across as if they're trying to give the white house a pass or cover up this. i think this also provides a real opportunity for republicans and republican presidential candidates to contrast themselves with the president in the sense that they believe in empowering the private sector and this is a clear example of president obama's administration empowering the government to make decisions. you heard jay carney say it. and i think the response to jay carney is the government shouldn't be in the business of the private sector. that's not what government is for. i think that's a real political headache. if not, as things continue to come out, possibly criminal wrongdoing. >> paul, what about that? i mean, especially right now where they are looking to -- what republicans would call, you know, institute a second stimulus, could this become part of that conversation? it seems like it already is becoming part of that conversation. >> well, it is, but it seems

like a bit partisan. congressman murphy said this law passed in 2005. if memory serves, we had republican house, senate and president in 2005. so it's hard to say the program itself is somehow some liberal idea. if it was passed and signed into law, if congressman murphy's chronology is right, under a republican administration. look what happened today. president obama is out pushing his jobs bill, talking about jobs. the only issue in america today is jobs. i think today's hearing, perfectly legitimate oversight. but if, over time, it looks like it's political, then you'll have this contrast that we had every day in the clinton white house. the president is working on jobs and the republican on congress look like they're trying endless politics of investigation. i'm not saying that's what happened today at all. they need to look into this, but there is a risk of carrying it too far. >> but, jim, it could fit into the mantra of the government is not the one to create jobs and this is evidence, i'm assuming

they would say, of the government not doing a good job of trying to stimulate business. >> and it's not necessarily the existence of the program that's the problem. a lot of it seems to be the execution. and what seems to be the administration's intention to provide this company with a significant amount of stimulus funds, whether they deserve them or not. i'm on the board of american crossroads and they have -- we filed a folio request with the department of energy to find out if political appointees were sitting in on board meetings. so there's a real question as to the relationship between the government. it's not the program. the problem is that the government's relationship and involvement in directing resources to try and generate jobs. paul's right. this is about jobs. this is about dealing with regulations that the president's put in place that are strangling our economy and keeping small businesses from being able to perform. >> good discussion. we'll continue to follow it. paul begala and jim dike, thanks.

still ahead, the shocking death of a beloved syrian activist killed by government forces said to be tortured sparked new outrage from antigovernment protesters and the u.s. the real story from behind the arrest from one of his friends tonight, still on the front lines, still being hunted and risking his life to talk to us tonight. and the clock is ticking for a georgia man on death row. he faces execution in just one week. most of the prosecution's star witnesses have recanted their testimony. the story in tonight's "crime and punishment." down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking, maybe... we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ] whew! i think it's worth it. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual. let our financial professionals help you reach your goals.

got it, i'm soy. these people, huh? u kn ifound at anger the enemy of instruion. you don't know the es that i he to deal with. u're probably righ thank you! whoever you are. i'm pretty sure at was phil jason. quitfaus... milliochampionship.. iangle offense innovar. [ ale annocer ] the audi 8. named st large ly sedan. nice whes n maer. thank you...todd. ♪ whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

in syria tonight, the grisly in syria tonight, the grisly death of a much-loved opposition leader triggers human right groups and state department. the body of the key organizer in the syrian uprising was returned to his family in daraya on friday. as you can see, we're going to be showing you these images of his body. very disturbing. according to his friends, he appeared to be badly beaten and bruised, tortured, according to fellow activists. they say he was on the run for three months when he was arrested last week in a suburb of damascus. we can't independently verify the detail because syria has repeatedly denied our request for visas. they say the bloody government crackdown now in its sixth month is an effort to root out armed terrorists. the state department called on assad to end his assault singling out this man as a champion of peace, committed to the regime's, quote, despicable violence. earlier i spoke to a friend of

his and we won't use his name, we will just call him amir. he was the last person know to see matar before his arrest. he joined us by phone from a safehouse in daria. as you listen to him, remember, he is risks his life so you will hear his words tonight. >> what was he like? >> he was a very nice guy. he was very smart. very lovable. he was smart, brave, courageous. >> we're seeing video of his body. on his body, what do you see? it looks like there are bruises along his chest. what are those? >> i don't know what kind of torture they used with him. there's marks of, maybe, electrical shock or i don't know what and the abdomen, there's like a stitched -- >> why is it so important for you to risk your life to speak

out? and why was it so important for him to risk his life and speak out? >> actually, this is our weapons, to speak out. we have no other weapon. >> amir, do you worry now about you getting caught? do you worry about being taken yourself? >> actually, it doesn't matter. i mean -- to be frank, i try not to be caught by them, but if this happened, so what? my friend was killed under severe torture and my other friends are under -- are arrested now. and there is a very big risk that they will have the same

destiny as my friend has already had. so it doesn't matter for me if i'm caught, because the revolution is going on and i'm very sure of our victory. >> really? you're sure of your victory even though your friend is dead and your other friends have been imprisoned and they may come for you, you believe that you will get freedom? that syria's people will have the chance for freedom? >> definitely. there is no chance for this regime to maintain what it had already broken. but the freedom is coming. this is a belief that we have here. >> amir, i hope you see it. >> hopefully very soon. >> amir, thank you for your bravery and thank you for talk to me. >> thank you, anderson, thank you very much. >> stay strong. the latest on some other

stories we are following. anderson, a mixed message from iran about those two american hikers jailed on spying charges. today, the iranian judiciary said it was only considering a request to set bail, contradicting the iranian president's earlier statement that the men could be freed in a couple of days. in libya, gadhafi loyalists face a new deadline. the country's interim leadership today gave people in the pro-gadhafi stronghold just 48 hours to leave the city. george anthony, casey anthony's father, today said he thinks he knows how his granddaughter, caylee, died. in an interview with dr. phil mcgraw, anthony said he suspects his daughter or someone with her may have drugged the 2-year-old so casey could go out and, quote, have a good time. casey anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder in july.

and a "360" followup. gumby was last seen getting away. but they turned themselves in. no word yet on what, if any charges, will be filed. anderson, as the foreigner in these strange lands, who or what is gumby? >> it's a long story. i don't understand is how the guy can hold a gun with gumby hands. he doesn't have fingers. >> what is gumby? you can't say it's a long story and leave me hanging. >> that's like asking "what is a rainbow? what is a cloud?" >> you're getting all philosophical on me. >> you can't define gumby. gumby will not be put in a box. >> gumby is out of the box? >> that's right. >> okay. thanks for leaving me hanging, appreciate it. up next, the controversial case of troy davis set to be executed in georgia next week. legitimate concerns have been raised about his conviction for murdering a police officer. the courts have upheld the conviction. we'll lay out both sides of the story and you can see the evidence for yourself.

and a scathing federal report places the blame for the devastating and deadly oil spill in the gulf of mexico last year. an airline's job, is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map.

with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground.

♪ at great clips, quality and value have never looked more atractive. relax. you're at great clips.

"crime and punishment" tonight, the controversial case of troy davis on death row in georgia for two decades. back in 1991, he was convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer in savannah, georgia. since then, three dates for his execution has been scheduled. now davis, 42 years old, is set to be executed one week from today. what has so many concerned is the possibility that a man may be put to death for a crime he may not have committed. in the years since the trial, seven of the nine witnesses who testified against davis have recanted their testimony and no physical evidence linking him to the murder was presented at trial. in various state and federal courts have reviewed the evidence and all have upheld his conviction and even so, prominent supporters of davis are pleading that the execution be halted and he be given a new trial. here's gary tuchman. >> reporter: it's anything but a routine question. >> how scared are you of possibly being executed? but it's relevant because the man i'm talking to, troy davis, may soon be a dead man. a jury only took a few hours to decide he was guilty of

murdering a police officer in savannah, georgia. a few more hours to decide on lethal injection. brenda forrest was one of the jurors. >> he was definitely guilty. all of the witnesses, they were able to, you know, to i.d. him as the person who actually did it. >> there was no dna or physical evidence against davis. the primary reason he was convicted? witness testimony. the slain police officer's wife trusted the witnesses. >> they were just so adamant about what they saw, when they saw it. >> reporter: but this is how the juror feels today. >> if i knew then what i know now, troy davis would not be on death row. the verdict would be not guilty. >> reporter: what she knows now is this. almost all of the prosecution's star witnesses have changed their stories, some saying police pressuring them to say troy davis did it. one of those people is darrell collins, a prosecution witness who signed a police statement implicating troy davis. >> i told them over and over and

over that this is -- i didn't see it happen. they put what they wanted to put in that statement. >> reporter: savannah police officer mark mcfail was working an off-duty job here providing security at night for this bus station and for this burger king restaurant that's currently out of business. there was a homeless man in the parking lot who was being harassed and he yelled for help. the officer ran over and seconds later, the officer was shot and killed. tragic, horrifying and chaotic and two decades later, it all still is. the man that admitted to harassing the homeless person went to police and told him he saw troy davis shoot the officer. wanted posters went up all over savannah and a reward to catch the cop killer. racial tensions inflamed. after the shooting hoops, troy davis in atlanta, four hours away. his sister says scared for his life. >> they had a shoot to kill order on him.

>> reporter: derrick johnston, a pastor, got in touch with davis and volunteered to pick him up and drive him to savannah to surrender. he said troy insisted he was innocent. the pastor never told the story to a reporter and was stunned the d.a.'s office never interviewed him. >> you're with the man for four hours and you bring to police custody and they never interviewed you? >> never. >> never talked to you about your journey. >> never. >> if he admitted to the crime? >> nothing. and this is the one case where nobody wanted to know and i don't think now, looking back, that anybody cared. >> reporter: the pastor is one of many who now believe that facts be damned. troy davis was going to be arrested for murder. as for the savannah police, they always said their witness interviews were taken properly and no coersion and prosecutors stood by the conviction but a number of witnesses have signed affidavits changing their initial testimony. a former prison inmate writes -- i was scared if i didn't cooperate with the detective he might find a way of the me locked up again. so i told the detective troy davis was the shooter, even though the truth was i didn't

see who shot the officer. another witness writes -- the police came and talked to me and put a lot of pressure on me to say troy did this and made it clear the only way they would leave me alone was if i told them what they wanted to hear. during the trial, davis' attorney tried to convince the jurors that a main named sylvester "red" coles was the killer. we tried to find him to have his say. we talked to family members but couldn't track him down. >> i don't believe red coles the one that killed mark at all. >> reporter: among those that believe the case should be re-opened are politics that don't always agree with each other. from jimmy carter to bob barr. troy davis has been hours away from execution three times. he's now one week away from his fourth execution date. gary tuchman, cnn, savannah george. >> we're joined by jeffrey toobin, who has been following the case for years. what do you make of this? >> it's a hard case. this legal saga has been extraordinary. the supreme court, the only time i've heard of it, ordered a

federal district court to hold a new hearing in this case in 2010, just last year, and the judge in that case had two days of hearings and wrote 170-page opinion saying that the seven of the -- of the seven witness we have heard about who recanted, it was immaterial, that all but one of them were insignificant witnesses. and the one wasn't even believable at the time he testified in the first place. so he discounted all of the arguments that have been made over the years. and ordered -- said that davis was guilty. but in a case with no dna and in a case with -- just based on eyewitness testimony, with this much uncertainty, it's really a chilling thought to think he may be executed. >> do you think it could be postponed again? >> you know, it really seems like they're close to out of options this time. there's a hearing on monday. the execution is scheduled for wednesday. the board of pardons has a hearing but the board of pardons in georgia has never stepped in on the case before and i don't think they're going to step in again.

i don't doubt that his lawyers, who are incredibly determined, will try some last-minute gestures with the district court, court of appeals, supreme court, but this may be it. >> the burden on him is to prove innocence, not reasonable doubt? >> that's right. the courts -- one of the curious facts about our law is that, the supreme court has never said it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person. you would think they would have, but they've never held that. they say, if you get a fair trial, we are not going to disturb the verdict. i mean, our job is to see whether you got a fair trial, whether the evidence was admitted correctly, whether you got legal help. if the trial is fair, we're not going to look at the evidence. and that's the question raised by this case. >> fascinating. jeff, we'll follow it. up next, the federal government pointing the finger of blame for last year's deadly oil spill in the gulf of mexico. we'll tell you where they're pointing it. and what an honor. i'm now a wax figure at madam

tussaud's. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing? sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain.

it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. it feels like helps. is never far away. it feels like you're protected against life's little mishaps.

it feels like you'll make it home. that's what it feels like to be a member.

[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. back to anderen? a moment first, a "360" bulletin. federal investigators today lease third final report on last year's devastating oil spill in the gulf of mexico. it concludes that you bp, transocean and haliburton all shared responsibility for the explosion and ecological disaster it caused.

the report said all three companies violated federal safety regulations. 11 workers died in the initial explosion. in pakistan, heavy rains and flooding killed more than 200 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their hirnlgs cording to a disaster agency on the scene. relief workers say more than 5 million people are affected, including more than 2 million children. more than 4 million acres are under water and the forecast shows no relief from rain any time soon. and an apparent engine problem caused an evacuated of a united airlines flight at washington's dulles airport today. passengers used the emergency slide after smoke was seen coming from the plane's right engine. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg was on board. a spokesperson said she was not injured. a "360" follow, yesterday we told but a shopping frenzy that caused target's website to cramp the retailer's new missony for target collection was a huge hit on day one of its launch.

many of the items sold out. and now, some of those samite else that shoppers snapped up are being sold for up to five times the original retail price on ebay. it took less than 24 hours for missony madness to infect odd yon line auction site. that's the latest. now back to anderson. >> i have been immortalized in a wax, kind of cool, creepy, corpse-like at the same time. show what you is coming up on the ridicule list. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor!

where you book matters. expedia. [ male ] using clean american fuel is just a pipe dream. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're rolling away misperceptions about energy independence. did you know that today about a quarter of all new transit buses use clean, american natural gas? we have more natural gas than saudi arabia has oil. so how come we're not using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles

in your community. you know what,ell me, what makes peterpeter ? i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and really love my bank's ise your ratcd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap uh, tuly, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spen8 days lo at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love o raise your rate cd that offers a one-ti rate increase if our currentates go up.

time now for the "ridiculist." tonight, it's a rare occasion, though not entirely unprecedented, i'm putting myself back on the "ridiculist" for being kind of blown away by myself, at the unveiling of a wax figure today at madam tussauds here in new york. this isn't one of those things i ever expected. you know, a nobel peace prize, maybe an academy award for best jawline in a documentary. sure. but my own wax figure in the heart of times square? absolutely not. and the photo op was not connected to the publicity of my new daytime talk show, check your local listings. how dare you even think that. this is nothing more than my love of sweet, pasty, imitation flesh and i look forward to that line being taken out of context. see if you can figure out which of these pale guys is lucky enough to be the real me. it's me, ha ha.

kind of cool, right. i know what you're thinking this has gone to my head, a difficult star who talks about himself in the third person, you are wrong. anderson cooper is not that kind of guy. it's not like anderson cooper would just summon a cameraman and ramble on about what this wax figure means to his own mortality. it's surreal. i think this is what i'll look like wen i'm dead. that's a little depressing to know what you'll look like when you're dead. so i got a little bleak. i got my impromptu news report back on track and foclcus and continued with the process. >> it's amazing that they took like more than 250 photographs of my head and this suitcase with all these different eyeballs in it. i guess i have three different colors of blue in my eyes, which i was unaware of. give me a camera and a microphone and i'll tell you how steely blue my eyes are. get on board, america. get on board. it's not like i'm preoccupied with my looks or anything.

i think i have salt and pepper hair. it depresses me to think i have gray hair. in my mind i think it's salt and pepper but it's clear by the evidence that i don't have pepper left. it's all salt. me, me, me. my, my, my. i'm a little focused on my hair color. we can't all be zen about it like dr. phil is. it isn't amazing that anderson cooper is so amaze by the wax fig chur, he wants to touch himself. it's amazing that the skin, even like the, like the little razor stubble. sort of -- you want to pat him. i think i look kind of like a jerk. i'm not sure i would want to hang out with this guy. by "jerk" i mean a corpse. thank you, madam tussauds. world famous. artists incredibly skilled, grateful to be included in such a tremendous tradition that goes back many years. for example there's vintage joan collins, i believe this was taken just before she slap herd wax figure and threw it into a swimming pool. then more recently, there was the rock who clearly just bench pressed a honda civic there