>> larry: thank you so much, jesse. >> always, larry. my pleasure. bye-bye. >> larry: jesse ventura. time now for anderson cooper and "ac 360." anniversary? >> hey, larry. thanks so much. moments ago the sheriff in pensaco pensacola, florida, announcing new arrests at the home apparently in a robbery with nine of the kids in the house. this woman, pamela longwiggens sought and then brought in for questioning now under arrest. we have details ahead. also, video seen for the first time of the accident that set michael jackson's hair on fire. was it a turning point for him? did it set him on a path to drug addiction and eventually death? new details on that and showing you the tape. it is frankly unbelievable. also, a powerful, emotional journey. we trace the roots of michelle obama back to the great, great grandfather and rice plantation in south carolina. we begin with breaking news.

another shocker in the florida double murder that horrified the nation. the sheriff just minutes ago making the brief announcement. listen. >> tonight, we are taking into custody miss pamela longwiggens and she will be charged with accessory after the fact for felony murder. again, tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. we'll hold a joint press conference. we'll fill you in on the specifics of these charges and miss wiggens. >> pamela long-wiggens. authorities located here in alabama where he was apparently keeping a low profile. she allegedly rented property to one of the six suspects. one is a juvenile. the tenant gonzalez jr. with a long record of criminal violence. first, david mattingly with more on the key suspect. >> reporter: watch the chilling video of masked intruders breaking into the home of billings just minutes before the

violent deaths. authorities say you will see leonard patrick gonzalez jr., the man allegedly organized the well-rehearsed and deadly attack. county authorities say this is the same man teaching children martial arts in a special program came aimed at protecting kids from abduction. >> if they grab your wrist you -- >> reporter: we met a number of people who met gonzalez. they say he made a great first impression. >> he looked like a confident young man but that was very honest. >> reporter: they say they rented the gulf breeze home to gonzalez and his family in 2004 after gonzalez claimed to have lost his family's home in hurricane ivan. gonzalez seen here with his family and his current myspace page even introduced someone as the county's top law enforcement officer to vouch for him. it turns out the couple says none of it was true. >> they didn't even have a house of their own. they had no real e snat this

area. >> reporter: and the man who vouched for him wasn't a police chief or a sheriff at all. they say they only recently learned it was actually his father leonard patrick gonzalez, sr. who's now one of the codefendant's charged in the billings' double murder. >> he had his father posing as the chief of police. >> reporter: he was posing as the chief of police the. >> and told us he was wendell hall and we believed him. he was sitting down on the couch next to me. >> reporter: gonzalez jr. was articulated and seemingly credible in stating the innocence but not enough to get a county judge to lower his million dollar bond. >> there is no hard evidence that links me to the scene of the crime. all i ask for is an opportunity to clear my name. >> david, gonzalez jr. had a previous history including prison time. how did he fool the community so easily. >> reporter: you saw how comp e composed he was in laying out

the case saying that this case is built on circumstantial evidence and doesn't belong in prison. we know of at least ten arrests, one for including violent crimes, some robberies, some drug possession and has has a long history on the wrong side of the law. when the sheriff asked today what he thought about the remarks before the judge, the sheriff said, people in hell want ice water. >> all right. appreciate it. the sheriff morgan said the complexity of the case in his words is staggering. we have been getting new developments almost hourly in the case but for every arrest, every question answered, a new one comes up. was robbery the only motive? what were the killers after? what wasn't the surveillance system disabled and what was in the safe that was stole snn more now on what we know and don't know from ed lavendera. >> reporter: thursday evening they're at home with nine of their children, the time approximately 7:00 p.m. outside, a red van pulls into

the end of the driveway, three individuals exit the vehicle and burst through the front door. from the woods, more cross the lawn and enter through an unlocked utility door. they're inside the house less than four minutes. within the brief time span, they confront bird and melanie, several shots are fired at point blank range. both husband and wife now dead. so what were they after? >> i think the safest, easiest, clearest thing to say that primary mote nif this case is robbery. home invasion, robbery. >> reporter: but it doesn't seem that simple. authorities say a medium-sized safe was taken from the home but won't reveal the contents of the safe including how much money may have been inside. and as for any connection to narcotics, a federal law enforcement source tells us, quote, this was not a drug hit. there's no connection we know of to the mexican mafia. it appears to be money driven. why didn't the killers disable the billings' security system? the suspects allegedly planned

the operation for weeks. two had military training. others were familiar with the property. how, then, could they let themselves be recorded on tape? the answer, it seems, reveals the group's gaping mistake. >> i believe that they entered that compound and this is the theory we're working on to conclude the case, they entered the compound with the belief that they were not under surveillance. >> reporter: sheriff morgan said the crime was planned out the the smallest detail except they thought the system was off and it wasn't. what happened? authorities believe the person assigned to the task abandoned the mission. >> we are now looking at anyone that may have had involvement with the security system. everyone from the company that installed it on back. >> reporter: the final question, the future with their parents gone, what will happen to the children? the family attorney says they're in a safe, undisclosed place and well cared for. a trust is set up and the oldest daughter promises to keep the family intact. >> i feel like my mother's working through me.

she -- everything i do i can feel her there with me. and if i have to be a matriarch, then that's what i'm prepared to do. whatever to do to keep our family together and keep these children happy and in their every day lives, i'm prepared to do it. >> reporter: edvenderalavendera pensacola, florida, cnn. >> text questions to ac360 or 22360. later, the michael jackson video you have never seen before. filming the pepsi commercial and the moment that is followed when the hair caught come and some say marked the beginning of depend on painkillers. the video and latest from the jackson investigation. they're not calling ate homicide investigation. we have the details ahead. what ' colon health has made? it's the probiotics. the good bacteria. that gets your colon back in balance.

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continuing with our breaking news coverage in the brutal murders of bird and melanie billings. in an operation, chillingly so, with robberies the alleged motive a. short time ago, the sheriff david morgan announcing the arrest of pamela long wiggins. sheriff morgan joins us now. thanks for your time tonight. you arrested this woman, a local realtor, pamela long wiggins. accessory after the fact. what was her involvement? >> she had a long association

with one of our primary suspects patrick gonzalez jr. and why she became a suspect as a landlord and through her realty company. and she also was very good family friend, transporting him and his wife and children around. and so that's how she became a person of interest. we wanted the find out exactly what was that tie between the two of them and, of course, she was with him we have developed on up through the day of the murder. we'll be holding a joint press conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. central time with the state attorney's office and release the suspects on that. >> can you say if she turned herself in? >> yes, sir. she did. she was located in orange beach, alabama. at a marina there. we put out earlier today a be on the lookout order and the orange beach pd received a call-in tip and also i want to thank you, mr. cooper and your station.

you were one of the station that is published the photo and put it on the air. people are watching this newscast as others and a maintenance man called the tip in and got the pd down there and she was held for us pending the arrival of the investigators and she complied i want to add. she complied in coming back to florida. >> you say there is a distinct possibility of people involved. do you know who they are? you are talking of somebody who may have had knowledge of the security system because it seemed that those who were the accused in this case believe the security system was off. it didn't. so maybe somebody was turned to turn that off and didn't fulfill that part of the mission. is that correct? do you know who that person might be? >> that's true, anderson. we have at this time we have developed two persons of interest along those lines. and again, at this point in the investigation, it's something that we can share with the press, with the media, i should say in that, again, when you review this operation, the one

gaping hole in this is why was that system left on? and we are of the opinion that they thought upon entering the billings compound, in fact, the system had been disabled. >> are you in touch with those persons of interest or searching for them? >> no, sir. not at this time. we hope to begin the interviews of these persons of interest very shortly. hopefully within the next day or so. >> but you know where they are? >> yes, sir. we do. >> okay. >> yes, sir, we do. >> we have looked at some of bird billings business documents filed with counties and they indicate a shielding of assets from taxes. there are those that believe he was hiding cash in that safe. a, can you confirm that. and b, is that what was taken from the safe? >> no, sir. we cannot. and i want to state here and refocus for the public what we have done throughout this investigation. people need to understand that the focus of our investigation

has been the murder of bird and melanie billings. specifically that. who are the perpetrators of this crime and we believe we have got the seven suspects that are involved this violent crime in custody today. we are working on those folks now that worked on the periphery of this with involvement and aided and abetted the commission of this felony. we have not and i repeat not investigated any member of the billings family. we have received no complaints and this time in this investigation, we have no reason to do that. >> some interviews you said robbery was a motive, maybe a syntax thing. you didn't say the motive. are there other possible moti motives? >> yes, sir, we believe there are. we're developing those with the state attorney's office. >> there's the dea had said that someone had -- from your office or from a law enforcement had contacted them for help in this investigation. you've said you did not do that.

do you have any knowledge of any other agency that contacted the dea? >> i believe mr. cooper, there was some confusion in that. last week we held a joint conference in my office in my conference room where we brought in the bureau, the dea, atf, i.c.e.. during the conduct of this investigation, one of the things that was intriguing to us and also very frustrating was the amount and volume of information developed on other individuals, other crimes that may have been committed, et cetera. and so i have both the legal and ethical responsibility to pass that information on to the appropriate agency. now, we have, in fact, briefed agencies along the way during the conduct of this investigation as a courtesy to keep them updated on the investigation. i think somehow it was confused that the dea somehow was involved in our investigation and i want to state here that to the best of my knowledge as a sheriff of escambia county, they

are not. >> we are getting e-mails from viewers scratching the heads saying, if these folks were out to rob this couple, a, why kill them? and also, why have this military operation? we have got one question from a viewer from text 360, why kill the parents if this was just a simple robbery? from candace in georgia. >> well, againf you're not present at the crime scene, or not involved with the crime, you're not really sure what spins out of control. i can tell you in law enforcement there's many things that start out as a simple street buy on drugs that turns violent very quickly and a death occurs so unless someone was actually in that home at the time of the robbery, you're only speculating as to why it deinvolved into a murder. >> finally, at this point, do you feel like you have your hands around the overall -- i mean, what happened and why it happened and at this point you are kind of just trying to put the pieces together or is there and has that information been released or do you feel like there's more to this story that

the public has yet to learn? >> there will be more to the story, in florida, sir, because we work with the prosecution at this stage in the case. we have deferred to the state attorney on the release of much of this information but it will kochl out at trial when they begin the case and defense also, and so the elements we can't speak to today will, of course, come out during the trial but what i want to assure the public of is this. we have the seven individuals that entered the billings compound and committed this violent crime. they're in custody in the escambia county jail today. we're working on those folks that may have had peripheral involvement with this and had a key component or element to play and chose not to but we are staff from that perspective. we don't have offenders at large to the best of my knowledge. >> it's been a long couple of days for you. i appreciate your time tonight. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you, sir.

>> conversation continues online. i'm about to log on myself. just ahead, journeying through michelle obama's past. she is descended from slave owners and slaves. we will show you the world of her great, great grandfather. also, the video behind the picture. that picture. the video of michael jackson, hair on fire. did his injury set in motion the chain of prescriptions and addictions that may have led to his death? that and more when we continue. welcome to the now network. population 49 million. right now, 1.5 million people are on a conference call. 750,000 wish they weren't. - ( phones chirping ) - construction workers are making 244,000 nextel direct connect calls. 1 million people are responding to an email. - 151 accidentally hit "reply all." - ( foghorn blows ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network bringing you the first wireless 4g network.

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still ahead, big bonuses totalling more than $1 million for government secretaries in texas. their boss says they deserved it. was it legal? gary tuchman is keeping them legal. >> we begin with breaking news out of michigan. a highway in detroit is shut down after a fiery crash. a police official told cnn

affiliate wdiv two tanker trucks crashed on interstate 75 in hazel park north of downtown sending flames and smoke shooting hundreds of feet into the air. authorities believe the smoke could be toxic. on the third day of her confirmation hearings, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor strongly asserted her had heerns to the law while dodging questions about her personal beliefs. sotomayor was questioned today by republican and democratic senators including al franken. she faces one more day of questioning tomorrow. secretary of state hillary clinton says the united states is appalled by iran's crack down on protesters after its disputed political election but says direct talks with the republic on the table for now. secretary clinton's remarks came in a wide-ranging speech on the administration's international policy priorities. >> the question is not whether our nation can or should lead but how it will lead in the 21st

century. rigid ideologies and old form a formulas don't apply. we need a new mindset about how america will use its power to safeguard our nation, expand shared prosperity and help more people in more places live up to their god-given potential. >> that's what the secretary says. and in thailand, a fashion show that literally went to the dogs. dogs strutted their stuff in fetching outfits from swim suits to evening wear. the company hopes to sell the products to people that treat their pets as family members. i don't know, anderson. we think our dog is a family member but i would not make her wear one of them. >> looks like a punishment. tom, thanks. another reminder. join the live hat now at ac360.com. i just posted another comment. michelle obama, graduate of princeton, harvard university

and december sen dant of slaves. also ahead, never before seen video of the accident that some say might have triggered michael jackson's alleged drug addiction. see what happened after his hair caught on fire. the video is stunning if you haven't seen it coming up.

we promised a report last night covering the trip of president obama's trip to ghana. technical difficulties prevented it. we fixed the problem tonight, i

hope. a report too fascinating not to air. i want to set the stage a little bit first by playing a portion of the interview with the president at the cape coast castle which is a haunting place where countless numbers of enslaved africans were killed and even more held before being sent off on slave trips to america and the rest of the new world. mr. obama talking about his wife's heritage and her reaction to the visit. >> it's something you reference during the campaign in your speech on race about your own life, mrs. obama, you said that she has the blood of slaves and also slave owners. >> right. >> how did she respond to being here today? >> i haven't had a chance to process it yet. i think we were both listening and talking to the children but i -- i can't imagine that for her, for her mother who's with us, our children's godmother who's with us, all of whom are direct descendants of slaves that seeing that portal doesn't send a powerful message.

>> well, we don't know where the an ses sos came from but her great, great grandfather was enslaved on a rice plantation in south carolina. joe johns picks up the story. >> reporter: humid, wet, mosquito infested, overgrown. it was a sprawling south carolina rice plantation in the 1800s. this is where michelle obama's family believes her great great grandfather jim robinson spent his life and where he toiled in the relentless carolina sun. it's called friendfield plantation but the fields would hardly have been a friend to michelle obama's great, great grandfather or to the other 350 slaves here. it was a hard life. farming rice was back breaks. alligators, snakes and swamp fever every. sun up to sun down six days a week. historian toni carrier.

>> it was a terrible slave regime. it was a slavery itself was oppressive and it's left a very deep wound in our society because it's so unpleasant. >> reporter: slaves here likely spoke their own dialect and grew their own food. typically, most had roots in the rice growing countries of west africa. today, this is what's left. it was called slave street. their cabins whitewashed, bare bones, no plumbing, one or two families in a cabin. >> shall we go in? >> reporter: ed carter manages the plantation property. he's been here 20 years. so this is it, huh? >> yeah. this is the inside of the cabin. it would have had a fireplace instead of a stove there at one time. that was covered in. but the walls have been redone. >> reporter: there's not a lot of change in here. so the rice plantations would have been back here? >> right. when you come through the back door, the trees would not have

probably been here and goes on back to the water line where the rice field starts at. >> reporter: the original master's mansion burned down and rebuilt in the 1930s. old census records show michelle obama's great great grandfather was born about 1850. his parents were born in south carolina, too. jim robinson married a woman and had several children. neither he nor his wife would read or write and would be the last generation of the robinson family born into slavery. and the last illiterate generation. michelle obama's great great grandfather was born a slave but died a free man. he came back to the plantation, though, buried here in all likelihood with his parents and many other relatives. you won't find his grave, though. most of the graves out here are unmarked. >> about seven or eight marks, tombstones and the rest of them are impressions in the ground to see they're buried at and most

of the time people couldn't afford a cement stone, they would do it out of wood or cypress. >> reporter: that's what we know about michelle obama's ties to the robinson family of georgetown, south carolina, but there's a lot we don't know. we don't know how many generations of slaves were or what route they took to this hemisphere in the first place. a research group traced the first family's history in the u.s. but could not make the link back to africa. >> that would take a lot of time to do and certainly not a shred of documentary evidence right now which would even suggest to us what the african origins would be. >> reporter: in georgetown, margaret that knots attended this church with jim robinson's grandson and wife but the told ties to the plantation kind of got lost. >> been around all of your life and don't even -- it doesn't

cross your mind. you just live for today, i guess. >> reporter: and in that way, it probably never crossed jim robinson's mind that one day his great great granddaughter, too, would be living in a white house so very different from his own. joe johns, cnn, georgetown, south carolina. >> a white house built in part by slaves. you can watch my entire interview with president obama and the exclusive walk and talk through the cape coast castle at ac360.com. over the week, we looked at the increase increasing number of people that visit to ghana. it's still vivid and raw. tomorrow you'll see the full story but here's a preview of a woman who now makes ghana her home. what about the experience of being in that room made you want to live here? >> i don't know.

it was something that just came over me. that when i -- after i'd gone through that experience and after i had felt my ancestors, i felt -- i felt as though people were -- i felt as though people were putting their arms around me. they were comforting me. they made known that this was my place. and that i had a responsibility in being here. and that i belonged here. that's what it says. that you belong here. >> you can see the full report. over the weekend we are running

an hour special, president obama's african journey. repeated saturday and sunday night with more stories like that. still aheada texas lawyer giving his secretaries six-figure bonuses. government secretaries. is he just a generous boss or stealing from the public to pay his private payroll? keeping them honest. never before seen video of the accident that may have changed michael jackson's life forever. see what happened after his hair caught fire in the taping of that 1984 pepsi commercial. the video you will see for yourself coming up. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay. you'll find low straightforward pricing on remaining '08 and '09 models. including eight that offer an epa-estimated 30 miles per gallon highway or better. now get an '09 cobalt xfe with an epa estimated 37 mpg hwy for under 15 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details.

as the investigation into michael jackson's death continues, so does the speculation about his addiction to painkillers. tonight for the first time we are seeing what that -- where that addiction may have begun. video obtained by "us weekly" of the 1984 pepsi commercial that went horribly wrong. it was the sixth take and it caused sparks to hit jackson's hair and explode into flames. take a look. at the time, he doesn't seem to notice. keeps dancing. the hair on fire for more than ten seconds. finally, crew members put out the fire. it is a chaotic scene. the security detail quickly surround him. finally, someone lifts him from the floor. you can see the burns on the scalp and taken off to a hospital. joining us now, jackson's former publicist. just so you say this moment really did change things for michael jackson. how so? >> truly believe that.

it was a seminole moment in his life, really, because that pepsi commercial created such a painful situation, obviously. as the scalp was scalded. he couldn't grow his own hair. he had to wear wigs after that but the most important part of that was that he was prescribed demonstrate roll to mitigate the pain. >> he's publicly said that he became addicted to painkillers to soothe the pain from that. >> that's right. i mean, when you think about it, as we just witnessed he had a fire on his head in essence and the scalp was scalded badly and in deep pain and initially his prescription drug situation started out in a very innocent way in a sense by virtue of him trying to mitigate that deep pain. >> how important was the physical image to him? clear he must have thought about it. >> as a celebrity and a person who unfortunately wasn't really secure in his own skin,

nonetheless, you know, he felt he had to look good. and so his visual image was very important to him. >> jeff, seeing this video for the first time, you have covered -- >> it was just astonished. this is true that when you talk to people about michael jackson, this event was considered the biggest event of his adult life. the implications of it, not just physically, but emotionally, and his life really did change after that. >> do we know how? >> well, it just -- he became more with drawn, more paranoid. more isolated from other people and physically. this was something that, you know, did not heal quickly or well or totally, and it just scarred him in every sense of the word for the rest of his life. >> what do you make of the lapd has come forward, jeff, and said this is not a homicide investigation or we are not considering this a homicide investigation? >> i never understood why anyone was talking about this in terms of a homicide anyway.

if you define homicide in the traditional way of an intentional killing, this doesn't seem like anyone tried to kill michael jackson. sure, latoya was talking about it but she often doesn't make a lot of sense. there's no one who had any access to him who seemed to want him dead. you know, maybe the doctors didn't treat him as well as they should have. they should have done something else but the idea that someone killed michael jackson always seemed preposterous to me. >> if someone misprescribed medication or oversaw the administering of medication that he should not have been receiving they could be up on charges. >> they could be civilly charged -- there could be a civil lawsuit for malpractice. there could be medical disciplinary proceedings. the idea that you could criminally prosecute someone even for mans slaughter for giving drugs to someone who himself had tremendous access to drugs -- >> someone overseeing the, you know, i.v. use of diprivan,

isn't that -- >> you know -- >> criminal? >> you know, i think you would have to know the circumstances. if you had, say, an individual who demanded diprivan, who said i have used it in the past and showed you records that he used it in the past, i mean, you just don't know what the circumstances are. this does not seem like a criminal case to me. and the lapd which by the way has a record not so great in celebrity cases they might want to stay away from a criminal case unless they have it dead to rights but i don't think they would in this circumstance. >> stewart, given your experiences in working with jackson, i don't know how many interactions you had with the family, does it surprise -- it shouldn't surprise many people but i'll ask anyway. latoya is paid for an interview, joe jackson's receiving, i guess, $200,000 from abc allegedly for the use of video. but also an interview went along with it. it does seem like people are making money off of this. >> doesn't surprise me to tell

you the truth. i remember a time we were in las vegas and michael jackson called to say joe jackson was on the way with a videographer who wanted to sell a documentary to a network and he told me, it's all right. you can tell my father to come up to the mirage where i was staying but between you and me, i won't be there. he didn't want to play a game anymore. he knew his father was in essence using him as a prop to, you know, procure, acquire moneys for -- at michael's expense basically to joe jackson's benefit. i'm sorry to say that but that's the truth. >> appreciate you coming on. jeff toobin, as well. there's much more on michael jackson, his family on ac360 including the parents, their relationship with each other and with their son. next dramatic storiesa former texas d.a. using moneys seized from crime suspects to pay his secretaries. shark attack survivors

headed to capitol hill and the mission may surprise you. specifically, which side they're taking when it comes to humans and sharks.

former attorney in texas use public funds as a private piggy back? it is a story we broke and tonight new details and surprises. in texas, and several other states, it is legal for police to spend money seized from crime

suspects but did this d.a. go too far? he used the cash to pay the secretaries to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. gary tuchman tonight is keeping them honest. >> reporter: joe frank garza was a district attorney in south texas who gave his secretaries shockingly large bonuses. he says he had good reason to write them checks totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> they were my eyes and ears in the community. >> reporter: he wrote the three women checks worth more than $1.1 million saying they were loyal and exceptional workers. the money came from a so-called forfe forfeiture fund. many states including texas allow police and d.a.s to spend the money so law enforcement can benefit from such arrests. but they're supposed to spend it on quote official purposes. the current district attorney of the county beat garza the past election day. >> most of the money that was used by him was for three

secretaries. >> reporter: most of the forfeiture money? >> most of it. >> reporter: an audit indicates that's correct. more than half of the money went to the secretaries. the report saying between 2004 and 2008, the former d.a. wrote one secretary checks totalling $378,000. as for garza, he wrote himself $81,000 worth of checks which he says were for expenses. look at the checks for just 2007. one secretary received an extra $103,000. another $108,000. the third, $98,000. county officials say the secretaries received base annual salaries around $35,000 a year. when we net former d.a. two months ago, he acknowledged paying them a lot of extra money. >> i saw nothing wrong with it. >> reporter: it's for official purposes only but garza says that's not as clear cut as it sounds. >> there's no definition anybody

can tell you what an official purpose. >> reporter: in a written statement to cnn, following the release of the report, the former d.a. said -- we've been providing 1099 forms showing the secretaries did report income to the irs. cnn's repeated attempts to interview the three women were unsuccessful. garza said he talked to hem about a report and none of them want to talk to us. he say it is aud it was a witch hunt politically motivated. the new d.a. and the auditor deny that and the d.a. says he's sent the audit to the texas attorney general's office to investigate. >> so how did the d.a. pay the money? was there a regular schedule for the additional paychecks? >> well, anderson, mr. garza spent a lot of time writing in checks. in 2005, we counted the number of checks to the three women. more than 300 checks, 100 checks

to each of these women roughly. that's about one check every three or four days. i asked reasonable people think he didn't want to write a huge amount and write smaller checks more times and i said, why did you write so many checks? he said, it depended on the account. i would write if there was a lot of money in the account. if there wasn't, i wouldn't write a lot of checks but it is fair to say the public is surprised and shocked from what they're learning of us and the local news media there. >> it is stunning. did it again. thank you. next, coming up, the story of churches under attack. cnn's michael ware inside a renewed wave of violence targeting christians in iraq. extremists ratcheting up the efforts to drive out what's left of the christian minority. an unlikely defense team, shark attack victims lobbying congress in support of sharks. where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world?

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tonighta fresh reminder of the uncertainty and bloodshed in iraq. bombings in baghdad and ramadi killed at least 12 iraqis and the uptick in violence included a renewed wave of attack on christians. michael ware has more in tonight's "360 dispatch." >> reporter: church bombs in baghdad. one of six struck by islamic militants in less than 24 hours. here, in catholic bishop rectory, the curtains shredded by shrapnel by a car bomb.

part of attacks with a single, clear message from the extremists. christians are not welcome in iraq. attacks that began not under saddam hussein's regime, but only after the u.s. invasion . >> this is a question of just attack the church. why? we don't know. so all this sudden actions against christians, sure, it will be not so easy for christians. >> reporter: on sunday evening, dozens and dozens of iraqi families fill these chairs here in the our lady of the sacred heart catholic church in baghdad. they come for 5:00 p.m. mass as they do every week. when mass finished, they came out here into this court yard. this church's protected by iraqi check point. closest one just outside there on the corner.

when the car detonated, two young men had just stepped outside to collect their cars and take their families home. those two men lost their lives and according to the iraqi government so did two others from the muslim family living nearby. and among the congregation, the church says at least 25 people were wounded. attacks virtually certain to continue. >> they are almost doing against us. we have no job. we have no security. >> reporter: with u.s. troops now restricted to bases outside of iraq cities, able to operate only at the invitation of the iraqi government, the security the bishop seeks must now come from the iraqi security forces. those forces are being trained by americans led by this man,

lieutenant general frank helnik and the lieutenant general said it shouldn't be an indication of how the iraqis are faring. >> the combat forces left the city. it's been two weeks, if you will. so again, these quote attacks, these high profile attacks are not unexpected at all. >> reporter: in the end, there will be one true measure of success, how well the iraqi forces can protect iraqis. >> in some cases, they are reverting back to the iraqi way but that's not the wrong way. it is the iraqi way. and what our goal is and our mission is to leave a credible security force in this country to provide the protection for the iraqi people. so the western way may not be the right way for the iraqi military. >> reporter: no one knows the exact figure but most agree that the time of the u.s.-led

invasion, iraq's christian community was about a million strong. now, almost seven years later, most believe there's only a few hundred thousand left. after years of sustained attacks on their communities by muslim militant extremists, a witness to another recent attack on a church here in baghdad said that if this continues there will be no christians left in this country. >> i, for myself, i will stay here until the last drop of my blood. >> reporter: courage he will need for the fate of iraq's remaining christians and churches will be one of many barometers of the new iraq's success or failure. michael ware, cnn, baghdad. let's check on the other stories following right now. tom foreman joins us. tom? hi, anderson a. russian-made airliner with 168 people crashed in northwestern iran today

killing everyone on board. among the passengers, ten members of the country's youth judo team. some witnesses say the plane caught fire before crashing into a field creating a huge crater. the plane's flight data recorder and voice recorder have been found. the space shuttle" endeavor" on the way to the international space station, a beautiful launch this afternoon. seven nauts on boert bringing equipment to japan's space station science lab reaching it on friday. strange allies on capitol hill. nearly a dozen shark attack victims urging congress to protect the animals that hurt them. the group wants to strengthen laws protecting sharks from finning. the growing market for fin meat which is a popular ingredient in asia threatens many shark species around the world. smokers know that cigarettes are not cheap but wait until you hear this. this new hampshire man said he swiped the debit card at a gas station to buy a pack and

charged more than $23 quadrillion dollars. to add insult to injury, a $15 overdraft fee and just -- just to get an idea here, anderson of what his bill looked like, here's the number. $23,148,855,308,184,500. luckily, he called the bank, anderson, and they fixed it. >> they believed him, luckily. >> that is quite a bill there. >> i was once charged a google plex for a beer. do you remember a google plex? kindergartner number. >> giant numbers when you were kids. not real, just made them up. >> right. all right, tom. up next, a debate -- a debate to dance to. a few lawmakers, a bill, music,

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i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. tom, for the shot, making laws and getting down. a couple of guys had the auto tune the note we electronic mix to the vocals.

they've made the debate over the climate bill fun to watch. check it out. ♪ just remember these four words of what this legislation means ♪ ♪ jobs jobs jobs and jobs ♪ let's vote for jobs ♪ and jobs ♪ vote no vote no ♪ the fight we have comes down to one word freedom ♪ ♪ freedom freedom ♪ ♪ the freedom to allow the american people to live their lives ♪ ♪ that will allow guns to flourish ♪ ♪ and freedom to flourish >> i love this. >> more cow bell, huh? >> i know. boehner should get a record from that. >> we should do that every night. >> that's right. we should. >> certainly simplify the coverage for about 30 seconds.

>> it's from auto tune the news to check it online. thank you for your help tonight. appreciate it. you can see the most recent shots at the website and the beat 360 which we didn't have time for tonight will be on the website later. breaking news. an out and out tragedy a. new arrest in the case of the florida couple murdered. we'll get much more when we continue. that isn't going to break the bank. you're in the right place. only progressive gives you the option to name your price. here. a price gun? mm-hmm. so, i tell you what i want to pay. and we build a policy to fit your budget. that's cool. uh... [ gun beeps ] [ laughs ] i feel so empowered. power to the people! ha ha! yeah! the option to name your price -- new and only from progressive. call or click today.

tonight, we begin with breaking news. moments ago the sheriff in pensacola, florida, announcing new arrests at the home apparently in a robbery with nine of the kids in the house. this woman, pamela long wiggins sought and then brought in for questioning now under arrest. we have details ahead. also, video seen for the first time of the accident that set michael jackson's hair on fire. was it a turning point for him?

did it set him on a path to drug addiction and eventually death? new details on that and showing you the tape. it is frankly unbelievable. also, a powerful, emotional journey. we trace the roots of michelle obama, descendant of slaves and slave owners, back to her great great grandfather to a rice plantation in south carolina. we begin, though, with breaking news. another shocker in the florida double murder that horrified the nation. the escambia county sheriff just minutes ago making the brief announcement. listen. >> tonight, we are taking into custody miss pamela long wiggins and she will be charged with accessory after the fact for felony murder. again, tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. we'll hold a joint press conference. we'll fill you in on the specifics of these charges and miss wiggins. >> pamela long wiggins. authorities located here in alabama where he was apparently

keeping a low profile. she allegedly rented property to one of the seven suspects. six shown here because one is a juvenile. the tenant gonzalez jr. with a long record of criminal violence. we'll talk live with the sheriff in a moment. first, david mattingly with more on the key suspect. >> reporter: watch the chilling video of masked intruders breaking into the home of byrd and melanie billings, just minutes before their violent deaths. authorities say you will see leonard patrick gonzalez jr., the man who allegedly organized the well-rehearsed and deadly attack. county authorities say this is the same man teaching children martial arts in a special program aimed at protecting kids from abduction. >> if they grab your wrist you -- >> reporter: we heard from a number of people who met gonzalez. they say he made a great first impression. that's what jo ann and larry thought, too. >> he looked like a confident young man but that was very honest. >> reporter: they say they rented the gulf breeze home to

gonzalez and his family in 2004 after gonzalez claimed to have lost his family's home in hurricane ivan. gonzalez, seen here with his family and his current myspace page, even introduced someone as the county's top law enforcement officer to vouch for him. it turns out the couple says none of it was true. >> they didn't even have a house of their own. they had no real estate in this area. >> reporter: and the man who vouched for him wasn't a police chief or a sheriff at all. tell gers say they only recently learned it was actually his father leonard patrick gonzalez, sr. who's now one of the codefendant's charged in the billings' double murder. >> he had his father posing as the chief of police. >> reporter: leonard gonzalez, sr. was posing as the chief of police? >> and told us he was wendell hall and we believed him. he was sitting down on the couch next to me. >> reporter: gonzalez jr. was articulated and seemingly credible in stating the innocence but not enough to get a county judge to lower his

million dollar bond. >> there is no hard evidence that links me to the scene of the crime. that occurred that night. all i ask for is an opportunity to clear my name. >> david, gonzalez jr. had a previous history including prison time. how was he able to fool the community so easily? >> reporter: you saw how credible he was, how composed and articulate he was in laying out the case, saying that this case is built on circumstantial evidence and doesn't belong in prison. we know of at least ten arrests, one for including violent crimes, some robberies, some drug possession and he has a long history on the wrong side of the law. when someone asked the sheriff today what he thought about the remarks before the judge, the sheriff said, people in hell want ice water. >> all right. appreciate it. the sheriff morgan said the complexity of the case in his words is staggering. we have been getting new developments almost hourly in the case but for every arrest, every question answered, a new one comes up. was robbery the only motive?

what were the killers after? what wasn't the surveillance system disabled and what was in the safe that was stolen? more now on what we know and still don't know moment to moment from ed lavendera. >> reporter: thursday evening byrd and melanie billings are at home with nine of their children. the time, approximately 7:00 p.m. outside, a red van pulls into the end of the driveway, three individuals exit the vehicle and burst through the front door. from the woods, more cross the lawn and enter through an unlocked utility door. they're inside the house less than four minutes. within that brief time span, they confront byrd and melanie, several shots are fired at point blank range. both husband and wife now dead. so what were they after? >> i think the safest, easiest, clearest thing to say that primary motive in this case is robbery. home invasion, robbery. >> reporter: but it doesn't seem that simple. authorities say a medium-sized

safe was taken from the home but won't reveal the contents of the safe including how much money may have been inside. and as for any connection to narcotics, a federal law enforcement source tells us, quote, this was not a drug hit. there's no connection we know of to the mexican mafia. it appears to be money driven. another big question -- why didn't the killers disable the billings' security system? the suspects allegedly planned the operation for weeks. two had military training. others were familiar with the property. how, then, could they let themselves be recorded on tape? the answer, it seems, reveals the group's gaping mistake. >> i believe that they entered that compound and this is the theory we're working on to conclude the case, they entered the compound with the belief that they were not under surveillance. >> reporter: sheriff morgan said this crime was planned out to the smallest detail except they thought the system was off and it wasn't. what happened? authorities believe the person assigned to the task abandoned the mission. >> we are now looking at anyone that may have had involvement

with the security system. everyone from the company that installed it on back. >> reporter: the final question, the future with their parents gone, what will happen to the children? the family attorney says they're in a safe, undisclosed place and being well cared for. a trust is set up and the oldest daughter promises to keep the family intact. >> i feel like my mother's working through me. she -- everything i do i can feel her there with me. and if i have to be a matriarch, then that's what i'm prepared to do. whatever i need to do to keep our family together and keep these children happy and in their every day lives, i'm prepared to do it. >> reporter: ed lavandera, cnn, pence sacol pensacola, florida. >> text questions to ac360 or 22360. later, the michael jackson video you have never seen before.

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continuing with our breaking news coverage in the brutal murders of byrd and melanie billings. in an operation, chillingly so, with robberies, the alleged motive or an alleged motive. just a short time ago, escambia county sheriff david morgan announcing the arrest of pamela long wiggins. sheriff morgan joins us now. thanks for your time tonight. you arrested this woman, a local realtor, pamela long wiggins. accessory after the fact. what was her involvement? >> she had a long association with one of our primary suspects, mr. patrick gonzalez

jr. and that was why she became a suspect as a landlord and through her realty company. and she also was very good family friend, transporting him and his wife and children around. and so that's how she became a person of interest. we wanted the find out exactly what is that tie between the two of them and, of course, she was with him we have developed on up through the day of the murder. so one thing led to another. we'll be holding a joint press conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. central time with the state attorney's office and he will release the specifics on that. >> can you say if she turned herself in? >> yes, sir. she did. she was located in orange beach, alabama, at a marina there. we put out earlier today a be on the lookout order and the orange beach pd received a call-in tip and also i want to thank you, mr. cooper, and your station. you were one of the station that is published the photo and put it on the air. people are watching this

newscast as well as others and a maintenance man called the tip in and got the pd down there and she was held for us pending the arrival of the investigators and she complied i want to add. she complied in coming back to pensacola, florida. >> you say there is a distinct possibility of people involved. who are now out there. you are talking of somebody who may have had knowledge of the security system because it seemed that those who were the accused in this case believe the security system was off. it didn't. so maybe somebody was supposed to turn that off and did not fulfill that part of the mission. is that correct? do you know who that person might be? >> that's true, anderson. we have at this time we have developed two persons of interest along those lines. and again, at this point in the investigation, it's something that we can share with the press, with the media, i should say in that, again, when you review this operation, the one gaping hole in this is why was that system left on? and we are of the opinion that

they thought upon entering the billings' compound, in fact, the system had been disabled. >> are you in touch with those persons of interest or searching for them? >> no, sir. not at this time. we hope to begin the interviews of these persons of interest very shortly. hopefully within the next day or so. >> but you know where they are? >> yes, sir. we do. >> okay. >> yes, sir, we do. >> we have looked at some of byrd billings business documents filed with county courts and they indicate an attempt to shield his assets from taxes. there are those that believe he was hiding cash in that safe. a, can you confirm that? and b, is that what was taken from the safe? >> no, sir. we cannot. and i want to state here and refocus for the public what we have done throughout this investigation. people need to understand that the focus of our investigation has been the murder of byrd and melanie billings. specifically that. who are the perpetrators of this

crime and we believe we have got the seven suspects that are involved this violent crime in custody today. we are working on those folks now that worked on the periphery of this with involvement and aided and abetted the commission of this felony. we have not and i repeat not investigated any member of the billings family. for any crime nor have we even looked a the that. we have received no complaints and this time in this investigation, we have no reason to do that. >> in some interviews you said robbery was a motive, maybe a syntax thing. you didn't say the motive. are there other possible motives? >> yes, sir. we believe there are. we're developing those with the state attorney's office. >> there are other -- there's also the dea had said that someone had -- from your office or from a law enforcement had contacted them for help in this investigation. you've said you did not do that. do you have any knowledge of any other agency that contacted the dea? >> i believe, mr. cooper, there

was some confusion in that. last week we held a joint conference in my office in my conference room where we brought in the bureau, the dea, atf, irs, i.c.e., almost every federal investigative agency was there. during the conduct of this investigation, one of the things that was intriguing to us and also very frustrating was the amount and volume of information that we had developed on other individuals, other crimes that may have been committed, et cetera. and so i have both the legal and ethical responsibility to pass that information on to the appropriate agency. now, we have, in fact, briefed agencies along the way during the conduct of this investigation as a courtesy to keep them updated on the investigation. i think somehow it was confused that the dea somehow was involved in our investigation and i want to state here that to the best of my knowledge as a sheriff of escambia county, they are not. >> we are getting e-mails from viewers scratching the heads saying, if these folks were out to rob this couple, a, why kill

them? and also, why have this military operation? we have got one question from a viewer from text 360, why kill the parents if this was just a simple robbery? from candace in georgia. >> well, again, if you're not present at the crime scene, or not involved with the crime, you're not really sure what spins out of control. i can tell you in law enforcement there's many things that start out as a simple street buy on drugs that turns violent very quickly and a death occurs. so unless someone was actually in that home at the time of the robbery, you're only speculating as to why it devolved into a murder. >> finally, at this point, do you feel like you have your hands around the overall -- i mean, what happened and why it happened and at this point you are kind of just trying to put the pieces together or is there and has that information been released or do you feel like there's more to this story that the public has yet to learn? >> there will be more to the story in florida, sir, because

we work with the prosecution at this stage in the case. we have deferred to the state attorney on the release of much of this information but it will also come out at trial once the prosecution begins their case and, of course, the defense also. and so the elements that we can't speak to today will, of course, come out during the trial but what i want to assure the public of is this. we have the seven individuals that entered the billings' compound and committed this violent crime. they're in custody in the escambia county jail today. we're working on those folks who may have had some peripheral involvement with this who may have such as with the security system had a key component or element to play and chose not to but we are staff from that perspective. we don't have offenders at large to the best of my knowledge. >> it's been a long couple of days for you. i appreciate your time tonight. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you, sir. >> conversation continues online. i'm about to log on myself. just ahead, journeying through michelle obama's past.

and that of countless african-americans. she is descended from slave owners and slaves. as the president pointed out in the campaign. we will show you the world of her great great grandfather. also, the video behind the picture. that picture. never shown before. the video of michael jackson, hair on fire. did his injury set in motion the chain of prescriptions and addictions that may have led to his death? that and more when we continue.

still ahead, big bonuses totalling more than $1 million not on wall street but for government secretaries in texas. their boss says they deserved it. was it legal? gary tuchman is keeping them honest. first, tom foreman joins us with a "360 bulletin." >> we begin with breaking news

out of michigan. a highway in detroit is shut down after a fiery crash. a police official told cnn affiliate wdiv two tanker trucks crashed on interstate 75 in hazel park north of downtown sending flames and smoke shooting hundreds of feet into the air. authorities believe the smoke could be toxic. on the third day of her confirmation hearings, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor strongly asserted her adherence to the law while dodging questions about her personal beliefs. sotomayor was questioned today by republican and democratic senators including al franken. she faces one more day of questioning tomorrow. secretary of state hillary clinton says the united states is appalled by iran's crack down on protesters after its disputed political election but says direct talks with the republic are still on the table for now. secretary clinton's remarks came during a wide-ranging speech on the administration's international policy priorities. >> the question is not whether our nation can or should lead

but how it will lead in the 21st century. rigid ideologies and old formulas don't apply. we need a new mindset about how america will use its power to safeguard our nation, expand shared prosperity and help more people in more places live up to their god-given potential. >> that's what the secretary says. and in thailand, a fashion show that literally went to the dogs. dogs strutted their stuff in fetching outfits from swimsuits to evening wear. the company hopes to sell the products to people that treat their pets as family members. i don't know, anderson. we think our dog is a family member but i would not make her wear one of them. >> looks like a punishment. tom, thanks. another reminder. let us know what you think. join the live chat now at ac360.com. i just posted another comment. michelle obama, graduate of princeton, harvard university

and as the president pointed out descendant of slaves. what we learned about her family history, we'll show you. also ahead, never before seen video of the accident that some say might have triggered michael jackson's alleged drug addiction. see what happened after his hair caught on fire. during that infamous pepsi commercial. the video is stunning if you haven't seen it coming up. but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself.

we promised a report last night covering the trip of president obama's trip to ghana. exploring the first lady's ancestry. technical difficulties prevented it. we fixed the problem tonight, i hope. in any event, a report too fascinating not to air. i want to set the stage a little bit first by playing a portion of the interview with the president at the cape coast castle which is a haunting place where countless numbers of enslaved africans were killed and even more held before being sent off on slave ships to america and the rest of the new world. mr. obama talking about his wife's heritage and her reaction to the visit. >> it's something you reference during the campaign in your speech on race about your own

life, mrs. obama, you said that she has the blood of slaves and also slave owners. >> right. >> how did she respond to being here today? >> i haven't had a chance to process it yet. i think we were both listening and talking to the children but i -- i can't imagine that for her, for her mother who's with us, our children's godmother who's with us, all of whom are direct descendants of slaves that seeing that portal doesn't send a powerful message. >> well, we don't know where the michelle obama's ancestors came from. only that her great great grandfather was enslaved on a rice plantation in south carolina. joe johns picks up the story. >> reporter: humid, wet, mosquito infested, overgrown. it was a sprawling south carolina rice plantation in the 1800s. this is where michelle obama's family believes her great great

grandfather jim robinson spent his life and where he toiled in the relentless carolina sun. it's called friendfield plantation but these fields would hardly have been a friend to michelle obama's great great grandfather or to the other 350 slaves here. it was a hard life. farming rice was back breaking. alligators, snakes and swamp fever everywhere. sun up to sun down six days a week. historian toni carrier. >> it was a terrible labor regime. slavery itself was oppressive, and it's left a very deep wound in our society because it's so unpleasant. >> reporter: slaves here likely spoke their own dialect and grew their own food. typically, most had roots in the rice growing countries of west africa. today, this is what's left. it was called slave street.

their cabins whitewashed, bare bones, no plumbing, one or two families in a cabin. >> shall we go in? >> reporter: ed carter manages the plantation property. he's been here 20 years. so this is it, huh? >> yeah. this is the inside of the cabin. it would have had a fireplace instead of a stove there at one time. that was covered in. but the walls have been redone. >> reporter: there's not a lot of change in here. so the rice plantations would have been back here? >> right. when you come through the back door, the trees would not have probably been here and goes on back to the water line where the rice field starts at. >> reporter: the original master's mansion burned down and was rebuilt in the 1930s. old census records show michelle obama's great great grandfather was born about 1850. his parents were born in south carolina, too. jim robinson married a woman and had several children. neither he nor his wife would read or write and would be the

last generation of the robinson family born into slavery. and the last illiterate generation. michelle obama's great great grandfather was born a slave but died a free man. he still came back to the plantation, though, buried here in all likelihood with his parents and many other relatives. you won't find his grave, though. most of the graves out here are unmarked. >> about seven or eight marks, tombstones and the rest of them are impressions in the ground to see they're buried at and most of the time when people couldn't afford a cement stone, they would do it out of wood or cypress. >> reporter: that's what we know about michelle obama's ties to the robinson family of georgetown, south carolina, but there's a lot we don't know. we don't know how many generations of slaves there were or what route they took to this hemisphere in the first place. a research group low country

africana traced the first lady's history in the u.s. but could not make the link back to africa. >> that would take a lot of time to do and certainly not a shred of documentary evidence right now which would even suggest to us what the african origins would be. >> reporter: in georgetown, margaretta knox attended this church with jim robinson's grandson and wife but the old ties to the plantation kind of got lost. >> been around all of your life and don't even -- it doesn't cross your mind. you just live for today, i guess. >> reporter: and in that way, it probably never crossed jim robinson's mind that one day his great great granddaughter, too, would be living in a white house so very different from his own. joe johns, cnn, georgetown, south carolina. >> a white house built in part by slaves. you can watch my entire interview with president obama and the exclusive walk and talk through the cape coast castle at

ac360.com. while we were in ghana with president obama over the week, we looked at the increasing number of people who visit ghana and decide to move there. it's still vivid and raw. tomorrow you'll see the full story but here's a preview of a woman who now makes ghana her home. what about the experience of being in that room made you want to live here? >> i don't know. it was something that just came over me. that when i -- after i'd gone through that experience and after i had felt my ancestors, i felt -- i felt as though people were -- i felt as though people were putting their arms around

me. they were comforting me. they made known that this was my place. and that i had a responsibility in being here. and that i belonged here. that's what it says. that you belong here. >> you can see the full report. over the weekend we are running an hour special, president obama's african journey. at i think 8:00 p.m. and also 11:00 p.m. repeated saturday and sunday night with more stories like that. still ahead, a texas lawyer giving his secretaries six-figure bonuses. government secretaries. is he just a generous boss or is he stealing from the public to pay his private payroll? keeping them honest. never before seen video of the accident that may have changed michael jackson's life forever. see what happened after his hair caught fire in the taping of that 1984 pepsi commercial.

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as the investigation into michael jackson's death continues so does the speculation about his addiction to painkillers. tonight for the first time we are seeing what that -- where that addiction may have begun. video obtained by "us weekly" of the 1984 pepsi commercial that went horribly wrong. it was the sixth take and it -- the pyrotechnics went off early, causing sparks to hit jackson's hair and explode into flames. take a look. at the time, he doesn't seem to notice. keeps dancing. the hair on fire for more than ten seconds. finally, crew members put out the fire. it is a chaotic scene. the security detail quickly surround him. finally, someone lifts him from the floor. you can see the second and third degree burns on his scalp and then he was taken off to a

hospital. joining us now, jackson's former publicist. and jeffrey toobin. just so you say this moment really did change things for michael jackson. how so? >> i truly believe that. it was a seminole moment in his life, really, because that pepsi commercial created such a painful situation, obviously. as the scalp was scalded. he couldn't grow his own hair. he had to wear wigs after that but the most important part of that was that he was prescribed demorol to mitigate the pain. >> he's publicly said that he became addicted to painkillers to soothe the pain from that. >> that's right. i mean, when you think about it, as we just witnessed he had a fire on his head in essence and like i mentioned his scalp was scalded badly and in deep pain and initially his prescription drug situation started out in a very innocent way in a sense by virtue of him trying to mitigate that deep pain. >> when you were representing him, how important was his physical image to him?

i mean, clearly he must have thought a lot about it because of the surgeries he underwent. >> oh, it was important to him. as a celebrity and a person who unfortunately wasn't really secure in his own skin, nonetheless, you know, he felt he had to look good. and so his visual image was very important to him. >> jeff, seeing this video for the first time, you have covered -- >> i was just astonished but this is true, when you talk to people about michael jackson, this event was considered the biggest event of his adult life. the implications of it, not just physically, but emotionally, and his life really did change after that. >> do we know how? >> well, it just -- he became more withdrawn, more paranoid. more isolated from other people and physically. this was something that, you know, did not heal quickly or well or totally, and it just scarred him in every sense of the word for the rest of his life. >> what do you make of the lapd has come forward, jeff, and said

this is not a homicide investigation or we are not considering this a homicide investigation? >> i never understood why anyone was talking about this in terms of a homicide anyway. if you define homicide in the traditional way of an intentional killing, this doesn't seem like anyone tried to kill michael jackson. sure, latoya was talking about it but she often doesn't make a lot of sense. there's no one who had any access to him who seemed to want him dead. you know, maybe the doctors didn't treat him as well as they should have. they should have done something else but the idea that someone killed michael jackson always seemed preposterous to me. >> if someone misprescribed medication or oversaw the administering of medication that he should not have been receiving they could be up on charges. >> they could be civilly charged -- there could be a civil lawsuit for malpractice. there could be medical disciplinary proceedings. the idea that you could

criminally prosecute someone even for manslaughter for giving drugs to someone who himself had tremendous access to drugs -- >> but if someone overseeing the, you know, i.v. use of diprivan, isn't that -- >> you know -- >> -- criminal? >> you know, i think you would have to know the circumstances. if you had, say, an individual who demanded diprivan, who said i have used it in the past and showed you records that he used it in the past, i mean, you just don't know what the circumstances are. this does not seem like a criminal case to me. and the lapd which by the way has a record not so great in celebrity cases they might want to stay away from a criminal case unless they have it dead to rights but i don't think they would in this circumstance. >> stewart, given your experiences in working with jackson, i don't know how many interactions you had with the family, does it surprise -- it shouldn't surprise many people but i'll ask anyway. latoya is paid for an interview, with a british tabloid. joe jackson's receiving, i guess, $200,000 from abc

allegedly for the use of video. but also an interview went along with it. it does seem like people are making money off of this. >> doesn't surprise me to tell you the truth. i remember a time we were in las vegas and michael called me to say joe jackson was on the way with a videographer who wanted to sell a documentary to a network, and he told me, it's all right. you can tell my father to come up to the mirage where i was staying, but between you and me, i won't be there. michael didn't want to play that game anymore. he wanted to avoid his father because he knew his father was in essence using him as a prop to, you know, procure, acquire moneys for -- at michael's expense basically to joe jackson's benefit. i'm sorry to say that but that's the truth. >> appreciate you coming on. jeff toobin, as well. thank you very much. there's much more on michael jackson, his family on ac360.com including the parents, their relationship with each other and with their son. more details on that.

next dramatic stories, a former texas d.a. using moneys seized from crime suspects to pay his secretaries. did he go too far? we're keeping them honest. shark attack survivors headed to capitol hill and the mission may surprise you. specifically, which side they're taking when it comes to humans and sharks. (announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours. all day or night. new tums dual action. bring it on.

did a former attorney in texas use public funds as a private piggy bank? it is a story we broke and tonight new details and

surprises. in texas, and several other states, it is legal for police to spend money seized from crime suspects. but in this case, did this d.a. go too far? he used the cash to pay the secretaries to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. gary tuchman tonight is keeping them honest. >> reporter: joe frank garza was a district attorney in south texas who gave his secretaries shockingly large bonuses. he says he had good reason to write them checks totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> they were my eyes and ears in the community. >> reporter: over a five-year period, garza wrote the three women checks worth more than $1.1 million saying they were loyal and exceptional workers. the money came from a so-called forfeiture fund. certain people suspected of serious crimes must forfeit cash and valuables to the state. many states including texas allow police and d.a.s to spend the money so law enforcement can benefit from such arrests. but they're supposed to spend it on quote official purposes. the current district attorney of the county beat garza the past election day.

>> most of the money that was used by him was for three secretaries. >> reporter: most of the forfeiture money? >> most of it. >> reporter: cnn received a report from an auditor hired by the county indicate thg's correct, that more than half of the forfeiture money went to the secretaries. the report saying between 2004 and 2008, the former d.a. wrote one secretary checks totalling $378,000. as for garza, he wrote himself $81,000 worth of checks which he says were for expenses. look at the checks for just 2007. one secretary received an extra $103,000. another $108,000. the third, $98,000. county officials say the secretaries received base annual salaries around $35,000 a year. when we met the former d.a. two months ago, he acknowledged paying them a lot of extra money. >> i saw nothing wrong with it.

>> reporter: it's for official purposes only but garza says that's not as clear cut as it sounds. >> there's no definition anybody can tell you what an official purpose is. >> reporter: in a written statement to cnn, following the release of the report, the former d.a. said -- we've been provided 1099 forms showing the secretaries did report income to the irs. cnn's repeated attempts to interview the three women were unsuccessful. garza said he talked to them about a report and none of them want to talk to us. he says this audit was a witch hunt politically motivated. the new d.a. and the auditor deny that and the d.a. says he's sent the audit to the texas attorney general's office to investigate these huge paydays for the three secretaries. >> so how did the d.a. pay the women and was there a regular schedule for these additional paychecks? >> well, anderson, mr. garza spent a lot of time writing in checks. in 2005, we counted the number

of checks to the three women. more than 300 checks, 100 checks to each of these women roughly. that's about one check every three or four days. i asked him, reasonable people may think he didn't want to write a few checks with a huge amount and rather like to write smaller checks more times. i said, why did you write so many checks? he said, it depended on the account. i would write if there was a lot of money in the account. if there wasn't, i wouldn't write a lot of checks but it is fair to say the man is in a county where members of the public are very shocked and surprised about what they're learning from us and other members of the local news media there. >> it is stunning. did it again. thank you. next, coming up, the story of churches under attack. cnn's michael ware inside a renewed wave of violence targeting christians in iraq. extremists ratcheting up the efforts to drive out what's left of the christian minority. an unlikely defense team, shark attack victims lobbying congress in support of sharks. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need?

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tonight, a fresh reminder of the uncertainty and bloodshed in iraq. bombings in baghdad and ramadi today killed at least 12 iraqis and as you know the uptick in violence included a renewed wave of attack on christians they're being marked for death. a message to the faithful. michael ware has more in tonight's "360 dispatch." >> reporter: church bombs in baghdad. one of six struck by islamic militants in less than 24 hours. here, in catholic bishop wardoni's rectory, the curtains shredded by shrapnel by a car bomb. part of attacks with a single, clear message from the extremists.

christians are not welcome in iraq. attacks that began not under attacks that began not under saddam hussein's regime, but only after the u.s. invasion. >> this is a question of just attack the church. why? we don't know. so all this sudden actions against christians, sure, it will be not so easy for christians. >> reporter: on sunday evening, dozens and dozens of iraqi families fill these chairs here in the our lady of the sacred heart catholic church in baghdad. they come for 5:00 p.m. mass as they do every week. when mass finished, they came out here into this court yard. this church is protected by an iraqi checkpoint. closest one just outside there on the corner. when the car detonated, two young men had just stepped

outside to collect their cars and take their families home. those two men lost their lives and according to the iraqi government so did two others from the muslim family living nearby. and among the congregation, the church says at least 25 people were wounded. attacks virtually certain to continue. >> they are almost doing against us. we have no job. we have no security. >> reporter: with u.s. troops now restricted to bases outside of iraq cities, able to operate only at the invitation of the iraqi government, the security the bishop seeks must now come from the iraqi security forces. those forces are being trained by americans led by this man, lieutenant general frank helnik and the general says these

church bombings shouldn't be taken as an indication of how the iraqis are fairing. >> the combat forces left the city. it's been two weeks, if you will. so again, these, quote, attacks, these high profile attacks are not unexpected at all. >> reporter: in the end, there will be one true measure of success, how well the iraqi forces can protect iraqis. >> in some cases, they are reverting back to the iraqi way but that's not the wrong way. it's the iraqi way. and what our goal is and our mission is to leave a credible security force in this country to provide the protection for the iraqi people. so the western way may not be the right way for the iraqi military. >> reporter: no one knows the exact figure but most agree that at the time of the u.s.-led invasion, iraq's christian community was about a million

strong. now, almost seven years later, most believe there's only a few hundred thousand left. after years of sustained attacks on their communities by muslim militant extremists, a witness to another recent attack on a church here in baghdad said that if this continues there will be no christians left in this country. >> i, for myself, i will stay here until the last drop of my blood. >> reporter: courage he will need for the fate of iraq's remaining christians and their churches will be one of many barometers of the new iraq's success or failure. michael ware, cnn, baghdad. let's check on the other stories following right now. tom foreman joins us. tom? >> hi, anderson, a russian-made airliner with 168 people crashed in northwestern iran today killing everyone onboard.

among the passengers, ten members of the country's youth judo team. some witnesses say the plane caught fire before crashing into a field creating a huge crater. the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have both been found. after more than a month's delay, the space shuttle "endeavour" is on its way to the international space station. a beautiful launch this afternoon. seven astronauts on board are bringing equipment to japan's space station science lab reaching it on friday. strange allies on capitol hill. nearly a dozen shark attack victims urging congress to protect the animals that hurt them. the group wants to strengthen laws protecting sharks from finning. the growing market for fin meat which is a popular ingredient in asia threatens many shark species around the world. smokers know that cigarettes are not cheap but wait until you hear this. this new hampshire man said he swiped the debit card at a gas station to buy a pack and charged more than $23

quadrillion dollars. he went online to check his balance and saw the 17-digit charge. to add insult to injury, a $15 overdraft fee. and just to get an idea here, anderson, of what his bill looked like, here's the number. $23,148,855,308,184,500. luckily he called his bank, anderson, and they fixed it. >> they believed him, luckily. >> that is quite a bill there. >> i was once charged a google plex for a beer. do you remember a google plex? kindergartner number. >> giant numbers when you were kids. not real, just made them up. >> right. all right, tom. up next, a debate -- a debate to dance to. a few lawmakers, a bill, music, what do you get? it's our shot of the day, coming up.

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i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. tom, for the shot, making laws and getting down. a couple of guys had the auto tune, they put an electronic mix to the vocals. they've made the debate over the climate bill fun to watch. check it out.

♪ just remember these four words of what this legislation means ♪ ♪ jobs jobs jobs and jobs ♪ let's vote for jobs ♪ and jobs ♪ vote no vote no the fight we have between the two sides comes down to one word ♪ ♪ freedom ♪ freedom freedom ♪ the freedom to allow the american people to live their lives ♪ ♪ that will allow guns to flourish ♪ ♪ and freedom to flourish >> i love that. >> more cow bell, huh? >> i know. boehner should get a record from that. >> we should do that every night. >> that's right. we should. >> certainly simplify the coverage for about 30 seconds. >> it's from auto tune the news to check it online. thank you for your help tonight. appreciate it. you can see the most recent shots at the website and the beat 360 which we didn't have time t