here we are, ten years later, so fast it seems. >> larry: thank you, sasha, thanks for joining us. >> you're so welcome. >> larry: sasha chermayeff. more breaking news and lots of things happening on "ac 360." \s this is cnn breaking news. one, possibly two explosions in american-branded luxury hotels in jakarta, indonesia. one confirmed is at the ritz-carlton. another at the j.w. marriott. the ap saying that two bombs went off, first at the marriott, they're quoting police reporting at least four foreigners are dead. local tv reports, this is the first video we are starting to get in. you see the damage. this, the damage, i believe to the -- this is to the ritz-carlton hotel. one witness, according to the ap

reported seeing bodies torn apart. that's at the marriott. then a blast five minutes later, tearing away the hotel's facade at the ritz-carlton. you're watching local television. that's not our reporter. so we're not bringing you what she's saying because she's not speaking in english. you see the ritz-carlton behind her. we're trying to get someone out to the marriott hotel. you see the damage, the facade literally torn off. with us by phone is cnn producer, andy ceputra and peter bergen joins us. andy, where are you now? >> reporter: hi, anderson. i'm right in front of the ritz-carlton and a block away from the j.w. marriott as well. as i'm standing here, i can see the damage, the blasted windows out of the restaurant and second

floor here. there's a lot of emergency service officers around here. we have the bomb squad, the military is here. the police is here. fire truck in front of the marriott and a lot of ambulance here. >> do you have any reports of injuries and/or fatalities? >> reporter: not right now. anderson, because officials are not saying anything until they assess the situation. we've seen a couple ambulances gone by, presumably with victims inside, yes. >> how close are vehicles able to get when driving up to these hotels. the j.w. marriott was bombed in august of 2003, killed 12 back then. did they then restrict vehicle access to the facades, the fronts of these hotels? >> yes, yes, the marriott and the ritz-carlton, access to the

lobby. both hotels are on the side of the road. there are people driving outside. they can still be well within range of the blast. >> manufacture the blasts we've seen in the past in indonesia have been suicide attacks, car bombs. you're saying a vehicle could drive up relatively close to the front of both these hotels? >> reporter: yes, yes, yes. not directly to the lobby but 5 meters from the lobby. >> at this point, do you see any sign of where the blast actually took place and/or what detonation it was? was it a car, was it a person? >> we have no idea about that right now. all i can see in front of me is the blasted windows. it looks like it's -- the blast came from inside, because all

the debris was pointing away from the windows. >> you think the blast came from inside at the ritz? >> yes. at the ritz-carlton. >> we're seeing a local television -- >> reporter: damage on the j.w. marriott right now. >> we're seeing a local television, large numbers of what looks like hotel staff lined up in sort of a grassy area. is that -- have they evacuated, i sul, the hotel and that's everyone they've been able to get out? >> reporter: yes, i think in the ritz-carlton they have evacuated all the personnel inside. but the j.w. marriott, we can see hospital and emergency response teams coming in with stretchers. >> so you see people entering with stretchers to the j.w. marriott? >> yes. >> i want to bring in peter bergen, who's watching this along with us, who rushed into the office as soon as word of these blasts began to appear and

we'll continue to look at the pictures. peter, your initial impression of this? >> anderson, i would say there are three things that are important about this. one is western-owned hotels or western-brand named hotels around the muslim world where al qaeda affiliates have a presence have been a consistent target for these groups going back. you mentioned the august 2003 attack on the j.w. marriott hotel in jakarta. there have been others, one in karachi, the best western in amman, jordan. an attack on a hilton in egypt, very recently. i'm sure you recall the attack on a marriott hotel in islamabad in the last several months in pakistan. hotels are in the hospitality business. by definition they can't turn themselves into for tretresses. they're soft targets.

western businesspeople will be targeted. they're going to be attractive targets for those groups. the second point is, the group that is almost certainly carried this out is al qaeda affiliate in indonesia. it attacked in 2003 on the same target. it did the bali attack in 2002, killing 200 people, mostly westerners. it's done a second round after tacks in 2005. what is interesting about these attacks if it is jamal islamia, this is somewhat surprising. . they have more or less taken themselves out of circulation in indonesia. the government has had an aggressive campaign against this al qaeda affiliate. they've arrested a lot of the top leadership. the indonesian public has had a great deal of revulsion against the tactics of these groups.

any legitimacy or support they might once enjoyed has evaporated. what this indicates to me, anderson, this is really a show of strength, we're back in business and we can do the multiple kinds after tacks on significant western targets in the capital of a major muslim country. >> the name means islamic organization in arabic. we've seen them rear their head elsewhere in the region, in the philippines. we've certain their personnel, i believe, operate in cambodia, in thailand. trying to have this sort of be all across southeast asia. do we know at this point what their connection to al qaeda is? >> in the past it's been very strong. sometimes these kinds of links between al qaeda affiliate groups are, you know, somewhat obscure. in the jail of jamal islamiyya,

he's now in u.s. custody. so the links between al qaeda and this southeast asian affiliate were quite strong, have been in the past. they may be less strong today. certainly historically, many of the leaders of these groups fought in afghanistan alongside osama bin laden. >> andy, the last time there was -- that i can remember a suicide bombing was in october of 2005 in bali. killed 20 people, injured 129 people. of course, there was an even larger attack in bali in october of 2002, the nightclub bombings that everyone remembers. how surprised would you be to hear that jamal islamiyya is back if that is the group which is responsible for what seems to

be two near simultaneous attacks on western targets? >> reporter: yes. we are very surprised here. as you can imagine, because in the wake of re-election, a possible re-election of the president, he's been touted as one of his achievements is to crack down on terror attacks in indonesia. they've gone four years without an attack. this is definitely a big shock to people here and also -- >> andy, i assume you've been to these hotels, the j.w. marriott and the ritz-carlton. what is security like as you enter? >> reporter: well, j.w. marriott and ritz-carlton are one of the two best, well-guarded hotel here in indonesia, especially in the wake of the bombing in 2003

at the marriott. they upped security significantly. as we can see now, apparently not enough. >> i assume -- peter befrgen, when you go to other hotels, for instance, the hotels you and i have stayed at in islamabad and pakistan, vehicles are stopped well before they're able to get to the front of these hotels, all guests go through magnetometers. all bags are screened going in. i would assume that's the same situation here? >> i've spent some time in jakarta in the 2005 time frame. and stayed at the four seasons, which was not attacked in these set after tacks. part of the reason is, the four seasons is pretty setback from the street and is quite secure from what andy, our producer in jakarta is saying, both the ritz-carlton and the marriott do not have sufficient setback from the street. one of the attacks appears to be coming from inside the hotel.

that point may be moot. clearly after 2003 there was a much more serious effort in indonesia to protect the hotels. i wanted to pick up on the point that you made, anderson, in the 2005 attack in bali. indonesia tourism is an important business in indonesia. the 2005 attack bali was just recovering from the attack three years earlier. this attack didn't kill a lot of westerners. it killed mostly indonesians. as andy said, this attack is so surprising. jamal islamiyya had seemed to have shot itself in both feet with the bali attack of 2005 where almost all the victims were indonesian. >> this video back from the bali bombings. is this the 2002 video or 2005? do we know? 2005. so this is the last suicide bombings in bali, killed 20 people, injured 129 people. and that's what peter bergen was referencing, this really kind of turned the tide against jamal islamiyya.

we'll continue to follow this throughout the hour. as you can tell, these are early reports. our producers just now on the scene. we're going to let you go, andy, andy saputra, on the scene, trying to find out any more information, casualties, fatalities. peter bergen will also stand by. major new developments in the murder of byrd and melanie billings. the sheriff hinting at unrevealed information about the case that will surprise people. later, president obama's tough love message. the african-american community, a powerful, at times thundering speech he made today. the message and how it was received just ahead. plus, extended clips. judge for yourself. that and more when "360" continues.

you see the aftermath on local television in jakarta, explosions at two western branded hotels, the j.w. marriott and the ritz-carlton. the associated press reporting them as bombings, coming five minutes apart. the ap quoting jakarta police who say at least four people have been killed, all of them foreigners. we've not independently confirmed the fatalities. our producer on the seen at the ritz-carlton says it appears to his eye that the explosion may have taken place inside the ritz-carlton. but at that point, that is unconfirmed. we're trying to gather more information and we'll continue to follow that throughout this hour, probably all the way through to the midnight hour, live. back home, new details on the

double murder that's horrified the nation. melly and byrd billings who adopted 13 kids, murdered in their house with nine of the kids inside when it happened. authorities called it a well executed, kel planned operation. tonight, the investigation picked up its pace with new details about the evidence and new very manies on the latest suspect taken into custody, a woman, thatple would, who police found on her yacht. we'll talk life with escambia county sheriff in a moment. let's get you up to date. >> reporter: leonard patrick gonzalez jr., the alleged organizer of the home invasion that left byrd and melanie billings brutally murdered used to practice commando -- in his backya backyard. he watched him run his wife and kids through drills with toy

guns and fatigues. was it serious? >> it was serious. the reason why i say that, they did it and went back in the house and did it again and again and again and again. >> reporter: o'donnell says gonzalez also once grabbed a real gun to complain about the placement of a pile of hurricane debris. >> he told me don't ever do it again. he was holding the gun when he said this. actually he had it right -- he was going one of these numbers. >> reporter: it's not the first time he tried to intimidate. picked up intoxicated in 1996, gonzalez threatened the officer who arrested him. the deputy wrote he stated that he knew my mother, my family and where i lived. he said when he got out, they were through. later that same night, gonzalez put a jail guard in an arm lock. he spent almost a year behind bars. gonzalez says he's innocent of the double murder charges against him but authorities say they have just about wrapped this case up. they've recovered the safe that was taken from the billings home. they also recovered guns, one of

them they believe is the murder weapon. but they won't say who pulled the trigger. the latest arrest, the eighth in this case is free on bond. pamela long wiggins, owns a van allegedly used in the getaway. the safe was allegedly hidden behind a house she owns and as the many billings children prepare to bury their mom and dad, authorities are promising future details will make this case seem even more shocking. david mattingly, cnn, pensacola. >> a lot of questions and new developments. for answers, let's turn to the man in charge of the investigation, escambia county sheriff, david morgan. you said there was a hum dinger part of this case that we simply won't believe. can you tell us more on that point? >> we believe, anderson, what that's going to be is all the associated crime that comes out of the current suspects we have. we've had several meetings with our fellow law enforcement officers on the federal side and passed this information on to them.

we believe that there will be a numerous -- excuse me, a lot of cases that will come out as a result of them being arrested, sadly, for this homicide. we actually during the conduct of this investigation had to remain focused on the homicide at hand and to not get distracted by the ancillary crimes we had come across. >> can you tell me what federal agencies would be involved in those crimes? >> absolutely. the federal bureau of investigation, the atf and the dea. >> the atf, the fbi and the dea, that sounds like serious stuff these guys were involved in. atf, weapons, dea, drugs, fbi, could be anything. >> yes, sir. crossed a lot of state lines. it's far reaching. >> today you said that you're nearing the end of the investigation as far as escambia county is concerned. are you confident at this point that you know exactly what happened? >> yes, we are.

we're confident also that we have the individuals incarcer e incarcerated that committed this terrible crime. we want to assure the public in escambia county that we can return as much i guess as can be expected to normal after suffering through this thing. those who participated in that are where they should be. the individual that's out on bound is one of those ancillary suspects in consultation with the state attorney we felt it was appropriate to take the action they did. we agreed with the state attorney's decision. the case will continue. we have folks that are persons of interest. >> those are people involved -- may have had knowledge of the security system, is that correct? >> that is correct, sir. we have about three of those. >> i'm sorry, you said you have about three of those people? >> yes, sir. there are three individuals. >> and those people you've identified, you know where they are but you haven't talked to them yet or have you? >> no, sir. we've spoken to these three individuals. >> they remain persons of interest. >> yes, sir, they do. >> are they being cooperative?

>> to this point, yes, sir. >> you said you recovered valuable evidence, stolen safe, several weapons, including the murder weapon. at this point do you feel you have enough evidence to send the billings murders to jail? >> we do, sir. that's the state attorney's call. we believe the combination of the physical evidence than been recovered at the scene and statements taken by other suspects and witnesses, i feel assured that the state attorney will have a successful prosecution of these individuals. >> you released the security camera, some of the security camera video, the images where these folks, you see them raiding the house. i believe earlier on, a couple days ago, i read somewhere you said there was also video inside the house. were the murders caught on tape? >> we've been asked not to release that, anderson. but let me make this statement. there are interior cameras in that home. >> that give you an idea of what happened? >> that is correct, sir.

>> all right. we'll have to leave it there. again, i appreciate your time. i know it's been a busy several days for you. thank you. >> thank you, sir. coming up, the latest on the breaking news of the two bombings in in jakarta. and president obama speaking at the naacp convention tonight. he talks about things the country must overcome. a

we'll continue to bring you the latest on the deadly bombings in indonesia. the ap is reporting at least six have been killed. the story still developing. they talked to jakarta hospital doctors who confirm 6 dead, 18 injured in the blast at the ritz-carlton and marriott hotels. suzanne malveaux reporting that she has got an e-mail from white house spokesman bill bird that president obama has been notified of the jakarta hotel bombings. randi kaye with the "360" bulletin. in a speech tonight in chicago, robert gates scolded congress for trying to force more f-22 fighter jets into the defense budget. money has been put back into a

defense spending bill designed to scale back or eliminate big ticket programs like the f-22. he wants to increase spending on counterinsurgency programs and irregular warfare in iraq and afghanistan. how many f-22s do we really need? tomorrow, an in-depth look on the defense battle and a reality check on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. and tough questioning for sonia sotomayor. republican senators grilled her about controversial speeches she has given but also promised judge sotomayor a quick confirmation vote, possibly as soon as next week. monday is the 40th anniversary of the man's first steps on the moon. today, nasa released newly restored videos of that historic moment. the images are much clearer than the fuzz did i pictures people saw on their tv sets the first time around. after six years of sharing a

burrow at the san francisco zoo, pepper and harry, two male penguins who hatched and raised a chick together have split up. we understand it was harry's idea. a couple months ago, he hooked up with linda, a female penguin. she was newly widowed. according to the zoo, at first pepper was upset but now he seems to be just okay with this new arrangement. anderson. >> randi, thanks. just ahead, president obama's rousing speech at the naac pmt. 100th anniversary event in new york. what he said about race and where raw politics factor in. also ahead, the latest on what's happening in jakarta. be two bombings, the american-branded hotels, the marriott and the ritz. details.

president obama's speech tonight in manhattan, safe to say this was not the rose garden obama or the state of the union. it was a return of the obama people remember from the campaign trail. after giving a speech for new jersey's jon corzine, he spoke at the naacp's 100th anniversary event in new york. >> make no mistake, the pain of discrimination is still felt in america. by african-american women paid less for doing the same work.

by latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. by muslim-americans viewed with suspicion, simply because they kneel down to pray to their god. by our gay brothers and sisters still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights. on the 45th anniversary of the civil rights act, discrimination cannot stand. not on account of color or gender, how you worship or who you love. prejudice has no place in the united states of america. >> president tonight, he had a lot more to say in the way presidents have not been able to say before. >> you know, anderson, we saw the different kind of obama. you mentioned that before, the cadence, the rhythm, the style,

the energy from this president that we saw in the campaign for two years but essentially turned the corner in that tone when he turned the president, that things were a lot more serious. he has a familiarity with had this audience. a couple of things he wanted to do was acknowledge that discrimination still exists. a lot of people have tough times. but that most african-americans have it tougher, have it worse. having said that, he wanted to put that into context and say, look, you have control over your future. it is time for accountability and responsibility. he does this because he feels that he has the familiarity, but he also has the credibility to deliver this kind of message more so than you had with president bush before. when we saw president bush go before this group in 2006, allot of tension, he ignored this group for five years or so. the message was similar. he talked for the need for accountability, responsibility. he didn't have the same kind of credibility president obama has. >> when i was talking to the

president this past weekend, you ask him questions about african-americans, the african-american experience, he treads very carefully when talking about this. and so to see him focusing on it tonight in a speech was interesting because i think it was ann compton who asked him several weeks ago at a press conference about his experience in the white house as president as an african-american. he quickly moved off it. >> it's not something he's comfortable addressing when you're talking about mainstream media or town hall events. he has been asked about this. folks will come up and say, congratulate him. we're so proud. being a biracial president or being an african-american president. he will quickly turn the corner. this is not something he wants to focus on. he uses these occasions to focus on it. but we saw in the campaign, i mean, the way that he talked about race was over the hole reverend wright issue. he had to. >> president obama also spoke

tonight about his visit to africa's former slave coast. listen. >> last week in ghana. michelle and i took malia and sasha and my mother-in-law to cape coast cass until ghana. some of you may have been there. this is where captives were once imprisoned before being auctioned. where across an ocean so much of the african-american experience began. we walked through the door of no return. i was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage from slavery to freedom. >> now, thousands of americans of all races make the return voyage. they go to feel the echos of history and heritage. for some, this is so vivid, they decide to move to ghana.

>> this wall tributes our african leaders. >> when she first visited ghana in 1987, she had no idea the trip would change her life forever. first trip, you hadn't been here more than a couple days. >> never. >> you decided this is it, this is home? >> i knew it. to have that sense of being a part of something as opposed to being a colored person in america, going through the things we went through in america. this was different. this gave me a total sense of belonging. >> reporter: imakis and her husband left their home in new york and settled near in ghana. they built a place call ed one africa. for african-americans who move to ghana, the transition can often be difficult. often they are viewed as

foreigners. >> they use it to describe white people, bruni. >> reporter: they also use that to describe you? >> when i question that -- i didn't know what it meant. when they said it meant white man or stranger. i said how do you view me as a white man? they said, because you sound like a white man. >> reporter: do you warn them, you know what, you might get called a white man? >> sure. i tell people, don't take offense. >> reporter: tourism has become big business in ghana, some 10,000 african-americans come here every year to reconnect with their heritage. many make a pilgrimage to cape coast castle, one of several fortresses with dungeons where millions of americans were held before being forcibly sent to the free world.

this woman has been coming here since 1995. he had she works at princeton university and brings groups of students here. for her, the most difficult part of the trip is standing by the door of no return, through which so many enslaved africans passed before being forced on to slave ships. >> all the slaves went through, the rape, the bloodshed, the deaths, the babies that were born and unborn. and i think about their final moments, leaving the shores of ghana, some who made it and some who didn't. that's what brings about the emotional aspect. >> reporter: it was visiting this dungeon where enslaved women were once held that made

imakis move to ghana. more than 150 women would be crammed into this room, sometimes for months before being shipped off. every time she visits, she prays for the souls of those who died here and those who passed through. it's a painful pilgrimage but one that also gives her strength. and the pain is what? what is the feeling? >> have you ever had a knot in your stomach? like something is just gripping you in here? that's what it feels like. >> reporter: and 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 had 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 me know that this was my place. and that i had a responsibility in being here. that i belonged here. that's what it said. it said you belong here. >> reporter: i'm glad you feel that you found a home. >> yes. >> reporter: it's a good feeling. >> right. you got that right.

>> she now makes ghana her home. see more images at images from ghana at ac360.com. an hour special, president obama's african journey. that's home at 11:00 p.m. two bombings at hotels in jakarta. the associated press reporting that at least six have been killed. the hotel is popular with americans and other westerners. we'll have the latest. call now to get the proven technology of a broadview security system installed for just $99. day or night, broadview is on the job, ready to respond when trouble strikes. i'm sending help right now. (announcer) the same professional monitoring you expect from brink's home securi, you can now expect from broadview security - for home and business. broadview secuty - the next generation of brink's home security. call now.

breaking news and a rising death toll. more information coming out of jakarta, indonesia. a site of explosions, likely bombings, reportedly five minutes apart at the ritz-carlton and the j.w. marriott. earlier reporting that four of the six deaths are foreigners. we have not independently confirmed the fatalities. these are early reports, as you well know, often those change. the ap is attributing it to a doctor at a local hospital. the marriott, the site of a bombing in 2003 that left a dozen dead. the terror network, jamal islamiyya was blamed in that blast. there's been a massive crackdown on the group since then. we spoke earlier about it with peter bergen. we now are talking to kathy, on the phone. where are you, kathy? >> reporter: i'm in front of the

j.w. marriott in jakarta. what i've seen, an explosion happened on the ground floor, the same site where the bomb in 2003 went off. there are ambulances and police in front of the hotel. earlier, security guards at the hotel told us they evacuated several bodies out of the hotel. as you mentioned earlier, the reports are saying at least five or six people died in the blast. we don't have independent confirmation on this yet. and as you say, the details are sketchy right now. >> you're saying the blast occurred inside the hotel, is the cafe inside? >> reporter: it looks like that from here. we can see that large parts of the windows are cracked. and i think we believe that because of the blast in 2003, the j.w. marriott is heavily fortified right now. no cars can even go through the

lobby. cars have to go through at very front of the building. but it seems like from what we see, the explosion did happen from inside. >> our producer on the scene at the ritz-carlton earlier, andy saputra said he thought the situation was the same at the ritz-carlton, from what he could tell. again, this is just one eyewitness report. he said it seemed as if the blast may have occurred inside the ritz-carlton as well. that would seem to indicate either somebody walking a bomb in or planting one and getting out in time. peter bergen, again, jamal islamiyya, the most likely suspect. the name means islamic organization. as you were saying at the beginning of the program, it would be a surprise only in that they have effectively been suppressed for several years now. >> yes. well, they are the leading suspect, it would be surprising if it wasn't this group, jamal islamiyya. they've take be a lot of hits

over the last several years. the indonesian government has had aggressive set of operations against them, with the help of the australian government. a number of australians have been killed in these attacks. also help from the united states government and the indonesian public. this group has taken heavy hits, a number of its senior leaders, a number of its bombmakers have been arrested. this is the way, if it is them, they're saying we're back. >> how could they be back if senior leaders have been arrested, some were put on trail, bombmakers have been apprehended? do they recruit new people? who would still be recruiting? >> i understand as you mentioned earlier, this is a pan southeastern organization. it's not just in indonesia. it's in singapore, malaysia. they're able to recruit people

from around the region. one, you could have people from outside indonesia coming in to do these things. two, you know, small groups of people can do quite a lot of damage. if you go back to the 1970s in europe, the italian terrorist group or the german terrorist group, had small numbers of recruits but they were able to inflict a huge amount of damage to those in society. indonesia is a country with a population of almost 200 million. the largest muslim country. even if tiny percentages of this country engage with these sorts of groups, you can continue to find recruits. >> it's interesting to me that the strategy that has interested me is coordinated attacks. instead of planting bombs elsewhere, we have seen in mumbai, kabul, lahore, small

groups of commandos going in and reeking havoc with a simple amount of weapons, holding large numbers of people at bay and kind of in the case of mumbai, paralyzing a city. >> that's true. so called fedayeen attacks. i don't go in knowing that you're likely to be killed. you extend the life of the operation as it were by going in and doing a series after tacks with guns and grenades, thereby, garnering more media coverage. obviously there will be a fair amount of media coverage. if you can do these attacks that we saw in mumbai, they had coverage for about four full days. so those attacks are often attractive. in this case, we're just seeing two bombs. the life, the kind of media life of this attack is going to be smaller than the one in mumbai.

>> manchester united was supposed to be playing in jakarta this weekend and it was being hailed as a victory for indonesia, that a team like manchester united would come and show the best of jakarta. clearly, whether this was timed in some way, but clearly if terrorism is theater, this is trying to send a different message about what's happening in indonesia. we'll continue to follow it. we'll be live through to the midnight hour. still ahead, just days before madonna's concert in france, tragedy strikes. a stage collapsing. details coming up. we'll have the latest from jakarta as we said, the associated press reporting at least six dead. we'll have another update shortly. we'll be right back.

just ahead, breaking news. the ap reporting at least six deaths. we'll have an update in a

moment. first, randi kaye. madonna is speaking out about the stage collapse that killed a man in france. madonna issued a statement saying i am devastated to have received this tragic news. my prayers go out to those who were injured along with their families. police have a man in custody in connection with the killing of his wife aboard a cruise ship at sea. his name is robert mcgill, now charged with murder. authorities in the saying how his wife, shirley was killed. she was found dead after an alleged domestic dispute during a five-day mexican cruise. fighting words from defense secretary roberts gates. he scolded congress for trying to force more f-22 fighter jets into the defense budget. lawmakers have deified the white house in recent days by putting money back into a defense spending bill designed to scale back or eliminate big ticket programs like the f-22. gates wanted to instead increase

spending on counterinsurgency programs and irregular warfare in iraq and afghanistan. just how many f-22s do we really need? we're keeping them honest with an in-depth look at the battle and a reality check on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. anderson, i know you'll be on the "late show with david letterm letterman" tonight. maybe he was tempted when he did a little cooper name dropping. >> the president's in africa tonight. cnn's anderson cooper, landed an exclusive interview with president obama in ghana. exclusive interview. yeah. so now obama's challenge will be to somehow pick anderson cooper out of a crowd of africans. no, no. ah. no, no. >> i blend in. >> silver hair, yeah, right there. >> new developments in the

michael jackson story to tell you about on the custody front. his kids may have their own ideas about who they'd like to raise them. and we'll bring you the facts in the jakarta bombings as they unfold. (announcer) because active protection matters. because certified professionals matter. because rapid response matters. brink's home security is now broadview security - for home or business. and now you can get the standard system installed for just $99. broadview security - the next generation of brink's home security. call now.

so who should get custody of michael jackson's kids? monday we may get closer to an answer. that's when the family and debbie rowe head to court for a hearing. tonight there's word that his kids may want someone else to raise them.

randi kaye join s us with the nw information. what's the new name in the mix? >> janet jackson, anderson. there's word tonight that michael jackson's children may want their awn to the raise them. "ok" magazine is reporting that she reads to them at night and they melt in her arms. michael jackson said he wanted his mother katherine to be the children's guardian. and if not her, then singer diana ross. now jan set possibly in the mix. i spoke to a close friend of the jackson family's tonight. he told me janet is "the most similar to michael" adding he wouldn't be surprised if the kids related to and connected to her. janet has been spending a lot of time with them, anderson. there really is what he called a genuine connection. >> there's another report out by

tmz suggesting that dr. conrad murray is at the center of the investigation. >> they're reporting that he made incriminating statements to authorities. he was at the house and said he performed cpr on michael jackson. weness know he was interviewed twice by investigators. his spokeswoman told me whatever was said during the interview was not made public at all. it's part of an ongoing investigation. unless they, meaning tmz, which was reporting this were sitting in the room, it is bogus. i asked how dr. murray was holding up. he said he's optimistic about the toxicology results, looking forward to hearing about this. dr. conrad murray is still being treated as a witness, not a suspect. his attorney's office told me he has not been subpoenaed or there haven't been search warrants issued. >> there was a picture of paris jackson at a gathering for

jehovah's witnesses. >> yes. he told me that michael jackson was raised as jehovah's witness but shied away from it as he grew up. now you have this photo, paris jackson spotted at los angeles' kingdom hall with her brothers, earlier this week. actually on tuesday. if you look at the picture, she's holding the book, it's entitled "sing praises to jehovah." i asked a family friend if this is how michael jackson wanted them raised? he said, absolutely not. he said michael jackson never embraced a single religion. all of it reminded him of his traumatic childhood. >> again, the toxicology reports made public when? >> well, now the latest we were hearing was actually midweek next week. now the coroner came out today and confirmed to cnn that now it could be within the next two weeks. the deadline keeps stretching out. >> they have said this is not a homicide investigation. they're not considering it a

homicide investigation at this stage. >> not yet. it depends on who you talk to and which statements you read. we spoke to the district attorney's office in los angeles. they gave us a statement today. it reads there have been conversations by district attorney personnel with police and coroners' officials in connection with the ongoing investigation. here's the interesting part. it goes on to say, "it is common for law enforcement agencies throughout los angeles county to be in contact with the d.a.'s office during criminal investigations." there you have the d.a. spokesperson using the word criminal investigation in connection with the jackson investigation but the lapd told me just the other day that the investigation is ongoing and it has not been determined if it's criminal yet. like i said, it depends on who you ask, which statements you read as to what really is going on here. we can tell you that the d.a.'s office did tell us the jackson case has not been formally presented to the office. >> i'm skeptical from any report

from quality ok" magazine. >> i know you are. we talked to the family. >> randi kaye, appreciate it. ahead, update on the breaking news. the bombings at two western hotels, state-run media reporting six fatalities. they've confirmed that in jakarta. we'll have the latest when we continue.

this is cnn breaking news. we're remaining live following the breaking news. the rising death toll in jakarta, indonesia, explosions, likely bombings just minutes apart at a pair of western branded luxury hotels where americans frequently stay. the marriott, the site of a deadly bombing in 2003. those images you're seeing are from the ritz-carlton. the blast took place in the exact same location inside the hotel as the last time. indonesia state-run media reporting six fatalities. the associated press earlier reporting that four of them are foreigners. the terror network jamal islamiyya blamed for the 2003 marriott blasts and implicated this time by our national security analyst, peter bergen. he joins us again, cnn producer andy saputra and kathy quiona are on the scene at the ritz-carlton and the marriott.

also with us on the phone are john engliemby. john, i want to start with you. where are you right now? >> reporter: i'm standing outside the ritz-carlton hotel, the location of the second explosion, windows have been blown out. there's twisted metal. certainly people believe victims are inside. there are ambulances that are still in there. what one person told me who's here, he was running past the marriott hotel about 7:40 when there was an explosion. he was afraid sew ran away, about 100 meters outside the ritz. there was an explosion there. he ran away again back to the marriott and found four

foreigners outside, one of them not moving. three of them are broken bones and their guts was spilling out. he could see inside there were at least four more inside, barely moving. also badly injured. he helps them into taxis and off to the nearest hospital. >> state-run media has -- is saying that six people are known to have been killed. as many as 29 injured at another hospital. john, from what you can tell, i don't know how close you can get to the ritz or what you can see, do you have a sense of where the blast occurred? earlier, andy saputra said he thought it seemed to come from inside the hotel. >> reporter: yes, i believe it came from the first floor, the one above the ground floor. it blew out one, two, three, four windows and other damage. so certainly, it doesn't look like it was as big as some of the other bombs here in jakarta.

it wasn't a small explosion. speaking to terrorism analysts here, they say the big question mark is whether it was suicide bombers or not. if it was suicide bombers, it's likely to be the usual suspects, jamal islamiyya or their affiliates. if it was not suicide bombers, they say it could be absolutely anyone and we'll have to start from there. >> john, stand by. on the phone joining us right now is greg wolfstinkrof, an eyewitness. you live across the street from the ritz-carlton, correct? >> that's correct. i live across the street. i just came back from a walk. i saw the first bomb went off. and then i -- because i work for a local television station as a chief technical officer. i ran downstairs with my iphone. as i was going downstairs, the second bomb went off at the ritz-carlton. i was able to get quite a number of shots. i was able to get inside the

restaurant where the second bomb went off. i notice what appears to be a suicide bomber. by the looks of the body, it was badly mutilated body. and the inside of the restaurant has been totally devastated. the bomb has blown out on two sides of the building. it's actually gone both directions and totally devastated the restaurant. >> sorry, go ahead. >> there's been a second bombing at an apartment complex close by which was where the first bomb was. you can see where there are massive amounts of windows blown out in there as well. i think in terms of the bombing at the ritz, it was very extensive bombing. when you got inside and the level of damage that was done on both sides of the building. >> you say you saw a badly mangled body.

you believe to be the actual suicide bomber. could you tell the nationality of the person? >> i cannot, because i saw the body just before it was covered. it was so badly mutilated, you couldn't tell, in all honesty. the body was then covered up. i saw other people basically carried out for treatment in that point in time. >> how large a restaurant is that? >> sorry? >> how large a restaurant? how many people would have been in there or could have been in there? >> the arlanger restaurant, the size of the restaurant would hold in excess of 100, 150 people. it's a large restaurant, one of the main restaurants in the hotel. given the bomb went off at 7:30, it would be at a time when a lot of people would be down there having breakfast. at that point in time of day. i suggest it was timed to cause the most impact to people in the

restaurant. >> this is the restaurant at the ritz-carlton ritz-carlton, yes? >> that's at the ritz-carlton itself. the second building, probably it looks like it was on the first or second floor of the other building, the bomb went off. i haven't been able to get inside that building. >> i can tell you, greg, our producer on the seen, kathy quiano believes that bomb was in the cafe, on the ground floor of the marriott. >> that could have been correct, the back of the building, yes. >> how could a person -- i don't know how -- you live across from the ritz. i assume you've eaten in this restaurant, entered the hotel. >> i've actually lived at the ritz-carlton for 12 months. that hotel probably has the highest security of any hotel in indonesia. i just don't know how someone

could get in there -- with a bomb, given the level of security, the level of screening people have to go through. i don't know how that person got that bomb in. >> to get into the hotel, what sort of levels of screening do you have to go through? >> given the bombing that happened at the marriott previously, you can't actually drive into the lobby. you have to come through what effectively is the back of the building to get into the front of the building. there's major metal barriers. the vehicles are searched. there's armed guards at that checkpoint. once you go up to the lobby, there's metal detectors. your bags are searched before you go through the metal detectors. now, there is another area where you go into the basement and the vehicles are checked, once again, before you go into the basement. so i -- that's the sort of level of security there is, you know. so i just don't know how a person would be able to get that bomb in, unless there was some level of cooperation. i don't know. >> we're talking to greg

wollstencroft who went into the restaurant we believes and other on the scene, you don't producer believes, the explosion may have occurred. he believes he saw the suicide bomber. we have to take a short break. we're getting a report, the ap is saying 36 wounded, including 11 foreigners. state-run media said six people had died. earlier had said four of them were foreigners. we don't know nationalities at this point. we're going to take a short break and our coverage continues. she wants to make up.

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don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. announcer: cialis for daily use or 36-hour cialis. ask your doctor if cialis is right for you, so when the moment is right, you can be ready. we're following the breaking news out of jakarta, indonesia. six dead in the bombings at the two hotels, the ritz and the

j.w. marriott. locationed, hotel restaurants. with us on the phone, greg wollstencroft, lives across from the ritz. he saw the blast in the ritz. greg, when you saw the blast, what did it look like? >> well, actually from where i was, i was partly on secured. there was just a massive noise and a cloud of smoke, a brownish smoke coming out. there was -- the first one was -- the first bombing which was -- i think was in the marriott. it produced a huge brown smoke cloud coming out at that point in time. but -- there was a similar sort of a cloud coming out from the ritz. i couldn't see much more from that from my location until i got down to the scene. >> you went into the ritz, to

the second floor, there could have been a second bombing there. you're in the news business. you knew you were taking a risk. what was the scene like? >> the scene was total devastation. as i walked in further, i saw the body, very mangled bodies, which could have been that of a suicide bomber. it was then covered up. within inside the restaurant, the feeling was just total devastation. >> the -- how many other people did you see there? >> i actually by the time i got this there, i didn't go right in there to see if people were laying on the ground. there were people that were partly injured. then i was very quickly shuffled off and told to get out thereof. >> i know you have to deal with your images. i hope you're able to file that i-report.

we'll let you do that now. peter bergen, interesting report to hear from greg. both of these bombings apparently at least, again, these are early, sketchy reports based on his eyewitness account and the account of our producer, judging from where she believed the blast occurred inside the marriott, seemed to be in the cafe, on the ground floor. he was saying it was in a restaurant in the ritz on the second floor. it would seem to be both were restaurants, the site of the attacks if those reports are in fact true. >> i don't think we've seen that kind after tack before. i'm racking my brain. usually at tacks on hotels that we've seen have been suicide bombings, either driving a car or somebody coming in with a bomb. this seems to be sort of a new modus operandi. we have seen these attacks in indonesia, not on hotels but the nightclubs that were attacked in bali in 2002, where suicide bombers went into a crowded area

and blew themselves up. in the bali 2002 attacks, two straight attacks, on nightclubs, requindted by westerners. >> 202 people killed in those bali bombings. >> right. and mostly western tourists. so that is somewhat reminiscent. we haven't seen, as i said, these kinds after tacks on hotels before. we have seen them on nightclubs and restaurants. >> peter, i have to jump in. peter toomey is joining us on the phone. he was staying at the marriott at the time the blast occurred. what did you see, what did you hear? >> i was in my room on the 17th floor, sometime between 7:30 and 7:45. and i heard a huge explosion, a huge blast. and the building shook. so i went to the window, looked out and on the left-hand side as i was looking out in the corner

of the building, groudown on th ground floor there was a big plume of smoke. >> at that point what did you do? >> it was clear in my mind, my instinct was explosion. there was no doubt in my mind about that. so i just took what i had and went downstairs, waited for the lift. the lift came, the lift was full. so i then walked down the stairwell and on to the street. >> where are you few? >> i'm now actually standing outside the ritz-carlton. >> one eyewitness report, our producer, said she thought the blast in the marriott occurred on the ground floor in the cafe. does that seem accurate to you? >> that's what staff was saying

as well. i spoke to some people, some people who were with me on the street at the time. they had shrapnel industries and so forth. and they said it was in the lobby, one man said that he was having breakfast at the time. in fact, there were about 20 people around, that all of those were injured in some shape or form. >> the -- do you have any sense of how many people you saw who were injured? or how many people you may have seen injured? >> well, from the -- from the marriott, i guess i saw maybe four or five. four or five.

>> tell me about the security of the marriott. what was it lake going in and out? >> i'm sorry? >> how tough -- how tight was the security at the marriott prior to this incident? you've been staying at the marriott. what security checks did you have to go through to get into the hotel? >> the standard security checks. the last six or seven months i've been going through jakarta's maybe once or twice a month. i typically stay in the marriott. and the security is the same as every other hotel near in jakarta. everything is checked. >> can a car drive up right to the entrance of these hotels? >> no. all the hotels have security barriers.

in front of them. so you can't actually drive right up to the lobby in any of them. certainly in the case of the marriott or the ritz-carlton. >> in terms of physically entering, are all bags searched? >> yes, yes. so -- i arrived yesterday and i had a laptop bag and a suitcase and both of those were opened. you go through an airport-style metal detector or security screen, if you know what i mean. >> were you nervous about traveling to jakarta? >> no. not in the slightest. and ironically, staying in the marriott and knowing the history

there, it never entered my mind. >> the j.w. marriott was hit in august of 2003 with a car bomb, killed 12 people back then. obviously, if this -- these early reports are correct, the modus operandi of these terrorists seems to be different this time around. what we're looking at, it seems at this point again, these are earlier reports of twin bombings in the restaurants of these -- of the marriott and the ritz-carlton. peter, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. i'm glad you are okay. and stay safe. i appreciate you talking to us. peter poumey who was staying at the marriott heard the blast. just a few minutes ago we talked to a man named greg who lives across from the ritz-carlton, heard the marriott blast, ran to his window. he works in the business and then actually saw the ritz-carlton blast and went into the hotel with his camera, took

some pictures of what he believes and, again, this is one person's report, could be a suicide bomber based on the condition of the body. peter, there's a book, which i'm sure you have seen as well which basically documents every suicide attack and with photographs of the suicide bombers afterward. i'm familiar with it and i particularly have look at the condition of bodies of suicide bombers in sri lanka, tamil suicide bombers. it's often distinctive the way the bodies end up looking. >> yes. no doubt. and judging from what greg said, it appears that one of the attackers at least was a suicide bomber. one question i have, anderson, i don't know perhaps we can ask or you can ask somebody that we interview next, this is friday. it's the muslim day off.

the muslim holiday. if indeed it was jamal islamiyya, part of that calculation might have been that observant muslims would have taken the day off and be at the mosque. i don't know if that's the case in indonesia. it's a quote, unquote, muslim country with an observant population but not a fundamentalist population like you see might in saudi arabia. the fact that it happened on a friday morning might be a factor here to consider as we look at the kinds of people who might have done this. >> that's an excellent point. next time i'm talking to someone, i want to bring you in so you can directly ask questions. suzan suzanne malveaux has talked to someone from the national security council who says the president has been notified. the administration has reached out to the u.s. embassy in jakarta. u.s. officials are in the fact-finding phase of this. i'm reading this off my blackberry. they are trying to get information if there with any

american casualties. white house is monitoring the situation, won't put out a statement until they get more information. peter, as you point out, indonesia is a relatively moderate secular country, hugely populous, largest muslim population in the country. yet, there's this dichotomy between the vast majority of the people there and this hard line terror group which has been operating at least was operating, with devastating results through much of early 2000s. >> yes, this group really came to the fore in christmas of 2000 in a series of attacks on christian churches around indonesia. didn't get a huge amount of attention. but these were multiple attacks directed at christians. and then, of course, the first bali attack of 2002, an attack on the australian embassy in 2003, an attack on the same j.w.

marriott hotel in 2003, and a second wave of bali attacks in 2005. so a group that has had a fairly bloody history in indonesia, a group that as we've said earlier, had taken significant hits. but may have been trying to send a message here. it's not perhaps completely coincidental, attacking american brand names at a time when you have an american president who actually spent part of his childhood in indonesia, might be part of the calculation here, to show the flag, attack american targets, something this group has done before. >> we'll continue with our coverage. peter bergen standing by. we're talking to a number of eyewitnesses. we're getting these reports coming in, 36 wounded, 6 fatalities according to the associated press who quoted a doctor in one of the hospitals. also, state media reporting that as well.

we'll check back with our sources for the latest on the bombings in jakarta at the ritz and marriott hotels.

we'll continue to bring you the latest on the deadly bombings in indonesia. two american branded hotels targeted. state run media reporting at least six have been killed. earlier reports that four of those are foreigners. 36 people at this point believed to have been wounded. let's quickly check some of the other stories we're following. fighting words from defense secretary robert gates in a speech tonight in chicago. he scolded congress for trying to force more f-22 fighter jets into the defense bubblingette. lawmakers have deified the white house in recent days by putting money back into a defense spending budget bill. gates wanted to increase

spending on counterinsurgency programs and irregular warfare in iraq and afghanistan. here's a question. how many f-22s do we really need? tomorrow, an in-depth look on the defense battle and a reality check on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. and tough questioning for sonia sotomayor. republican senators grilled her about controversial speeches she has given but also promised judge sotomayor a quick confirmation vote, possibly as soon as next week. monday is the 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon. today, nasa released newly restored videos of that historic moment. the images of neil armstrong and buzz aldrin walking on the lunar surface are much clearer than the fuzzy pictures people saw on their tv sets the first time around. after six years of sharing a burrow at the san francisco zoo, pepper and harry, two male penguins who hatched and raised a chick together have split up.

it was harry's idea, apparently. a couple months ago, he hooked up with linda, a female penguin. she was newly widowed. according to the zoo, at first pepper was upset but now he seems to be just fine with this new arrangement. anderson. >> randi, thanks. just ahead, president obama's rousing speech at the naacp convention. another update from jakarta. the death toll now stands at nine. 50 people wounded in the twin hotel blasts. our breaking coverage continues.

updating the breaking news. the associated press now reporting nine dead at least 50 wound in bombings at the ritz-carlton and the j.w. marriott hotels. the two bombings appeared to be five minutes apart with the breakfast time, perhaps designed to cause mass casualties. the location, the hotel restaurants.

36 wounded in the attacks. the report on the 50 wounded is from the indonesian security minister, according to the ap. no claims yet of responsibility. though peter bergen, our terrorism analyst, considers jamal islamiyya the leading suspect. president obama was informed of the attacks according to our own suzanne malveaux. his national security team coordinating with the american embassy in jakarta, trying to find out if any americans have lost their lives or have been injured. new details as they come in. they are coming in every few times. >> yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood you will face

challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. but that's not a reason to get bad grades. that's not a reason to cut class. that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. no one has written your destiny for you. your destiny is in your hands. you cannot forget that. that's what we have to teach all of our children. no excuses. >> joining us now, cnn political analyst, roland martin, kenny mccallister and back with us, cnn's suzanne malveaux. that's been criticism that president obama has essentially put the issue of race on the back burner. do you think he addressed that tonight? >> it's interesting because the one thing that it seems like a long time ago but in the black community people are asking whether or not barack obama was black enough, he had to win over their support. >> early days in the campaign. >> very early days in the campaign. he always thought that was a

ridiculous notion. of course he gets it, he understands it. his background is different. what you heard today, there are different avenues, different opportunities he has where he can show, of course i get it, i understand this. he paid homage to the civil rights leaders. he talked about the reality that african-americans face when it comes to discrimination, barriers, institutional barriers. but at the same time turning the corner and using that and saying, look, i have the familiarity. i have the credibility within the black commune to the say, it's time to be accountable. it's time to be responsible as well to kind of have that message of tough love as well. >> it's interesting, roland, you were in the room when the president was making the speech. it was a different president we saw speaking to that crowd than we saw the last several months. >> that's how it is when you talk to black folks. at one point during the speech, he med a comment and someone repeated what he said. he said that's the amen corner. the reality is, we are speaking

in front of african-americans, in many ways it resembles this church setting, this sort of call and response. when he says something, the audience responds and all of a sudden he begins to feed off the audience, the audience feeds off of him. >> we heard enthusiastic response. was that unanimous? >> yes. here's the reality. what he said today is a continuum of the african-american experience. before brown versus the board of education, black parents said i may not be able to read, trust me, while we are fighting for you to have books in the schools, you are going to get an education. he said itten to. while we're sitting here enacting policies to improve schools, we also make sure our kids are learning. it wasn't tough love. he is saying, everybody has a role, government has a role, you have a role in terms of the naacp and you as parents. >> from a republican perspective, what did you think of the speech? >> i think it was an okay

speech. i think it was full of a little bit of dichotomy. you look at his record, he let down the hpcu from an african-american perspective. he let down school vouchers from an african-american perspective. and looking at kids being ready to get into school, in kindergarten, being ready to learn, it misses the point. we lose african-american boys in particular between the ages of 8 and 13. we're still not going after the problems of where we lose these boys. one of the things i would have liked to have heard from the speech is the president speaks a lot about personal accountability during father's day and during the speech, but we did not hear from him as relevantly or as loudly during black history month as the first african-american president throughout the month of february. >> i don't know what speech you were actually watching. the reality is when you talk about the issue of education, what he said was we have to

recognize when it comes to economics in terms of the job numbers that it's directly tied to education. sure, it wasn't specifically what happens when there are 8 and 10-year-olds, but what he's saying if we do not improve primary and secondary education they're not going to be able to get a job, they're not going to be able could care for their family or afford health care. it all ties together. >> there's a balance he stuck. he's extended the no child left behind from president bush, the bush administration. he also, too, i say part of the message is tough love. he also said that children should have higher expectations, that inpas should expect more of themselves in their involvement with their kids. that you should expect more from teachers. i think it had a balance of both here. the bush administration when president bush had said before about the soft bigotry of expectations, we heard a different version from president obama this evening. essentially a talking about the

same thing in a different way but it was the same message. >> lenny? >> i would agree with that. there were semblances of what conservatives have talked about when it comes to education. if you look at what he mentioned about the gran in the pennsylvania, it focuses more back on getting kids ready. he said it specifically in the transcript, getting kids ready being ready to learn going into kindergarten. do i agree with what you're saying, roland. we have to look at education all the way through. 2 they are not prepared for the 21st century jobs where a college education more often than not is going to be what they need, they're foot going to be able to do everything, provide for their families and have health cares. we're not going to be able to keep the fathers in the homes and reunify and raise up black america moving forward. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. still ahead, the latest in the breaking story, the bombings in jakarta. the death toll rising, both targets hotels, the ritz-carlton

and the marriott. death toll rising. new evidence in new suspect in the florida double murder case. my interview with the sheriff in charge of the investigation when we continue. and gritty; soothe the itch, irritated, burning and watery. visine totality. no other drop does more.

before we bring you the new developments in the shocking florida double murder, we want to update you on the bombings in jakarta. the ap reporting nine dead. new video here of the destruction just coming in. this is video reportedly from the ritz-carlton. two bombings minutes apart at breakfast time. no imclas yet of responsibility. president obama we're toll was informed of the attacks earlier tonight. his national security team trying to find out if any americans have been wounded, who they are and to notify their families. back home, new dough tails out of florida. melanie and byrd billings, the couple who adopted 13 kids, the couple murdered in their house with nine of the kids still inside when it happened. authorities call it a well

executed, well-planned operation. tonight, the investigation picking up pace, new details out, new developments on the latest suspect take noon custody. this woman who police apparently found on her yacht. david mattingly brings us up to speed. >> reporter: leonard patrick gonzalez jr., the alleged organizer of the home invasion that left byrd and melanie billings brutally murdered used to practice commando-style drills in his backyard. damon o'donnell tells me he watched gonzalez in 2004 run his wife and kids through drills with toy guns and fatigues. was it serious? >> it was serious. the reason why i say that, they did it and went back in the house and did it again and again and again and again. >> reporter: o'donnell says gonzalez also once grabbed a real gun to complain about the placement of a pile of hurricane debris. >> he told me don't ever do it

again. >> reporter: he was holding the gun when he said this? >> he was holding the gun when he said this. actually he had it right -- he was going one of these numbers. >> reporter: it's not the first time he tried to intimidate. picked up intoxicated in 1996, gonzalez threatened the officer who arrested him. the deputy wrote he stated that he knew my mother, my family and where i lived. he said when he got out, they were through. later that same night, gonzalez put a jail guard in an arm lock. he spent almost a year behind bars. gonzalez says he's innocent of the double murder charges against him but authorities say they have just about wrapped this case up. they've recovered the safe that was taken from the billings home. they also recovered guns, one of them they believe is the murder weapon. but they won't say who pulled the trigger. the latest arrest, the eighth in this case is free on bond. pamela long wiggins, owns a van allegedly used in the getaway. the safe was allegedly hidden behind a house she owns and as

the many billings children prepare to bury their mom and dad, authorities are promising future details will make this case seem even more shocking. david mattingly, cnn, pensacola. >> those poor kids. a lot of developments and questions. for answers, i talked to escambia county sheriff, david morgan, earlier. you said there was a humdinger part of this case that we simply won't believe. can you tell us more on that point? >> we believe, anderson, what that's going to be is all the associated crime that comes out of the current suspects we have. we've had several meetings with our fellow law enforcement officers on the federal side and passed this information on to them. we believe that there will be a numerous -- excuse me, a lot of cases that will come out as a result of them being arrested, sadly, for this homicide. we actually during the conduct of this investigation had to remain focused on the homicide at hand and to not get distracted by the ancillary crimes we had come across.

>> can you tell me what federal agencies would be involved in those crimes? >> absolutely. the federal bureau of investigation, the atf and the dea. just to name three. >> the atf, the fbi and the dea, that sounds like serious stuff these guys were involved in. atf, weapons, dea, drugs, fbi, could be anything. >> yes, sir. crossed a lot of state lines. it's far reaching. >> today you said that you're nearing the end of the investigation as far as escambia county is concerned. are you confident at this point that you know exactly what happened? >> yes, we are. we're confident also that we have the individuals incarcerated that committed this terrible crime. we want to assure the public in escambia county that we can return as much i guess as can be expected to normal after suffering through this thing. those who participated in that are where they should be. the individual that's out on

bond is one of those ancillary suspects. in consultation with the state attorney we felt it was appropriate to take the action they did. we agreed with the state attorney's decision. the case will continue. we have folks that are persons of interest. >> those are people involved -- may have had knowledge of the security system, is that correct? >> that is correct, sir. we have about three of those. >> i'm sorry, someone was speaking in my ear. you said you have about three of those people? >> yes, sir. there are three individuals. >> and those people you've identified, you know where they are but you haven't talked to them yet or have you? >> no, sir. we've spoken to these three individuals. >> they remain persons of interest. >> yes, sir, they do. >> are they being cooperative? >> to this point, yes, sir. >> you said you recovered valuable evidence, stolen safe, several weapons, including the murder weapon. at this point do you feel you have enough evidence to send the billings murders to jail? >> we do, sir. that's the state attorney's call.

we believe the combination of the physical evidence that's been recovered at the scene and statements taken by other suspects and witnesses, i feel assured that the state attorney will have a successful prosecution of these individuals. >> you released the security camera, some of the security camera video, the images where these folks, you see them raiding the house. i believe earlier on, a couple days ago, i read somewhere you said there was also video inside the house. were the murders caught on tape? >> we've been asked not to release that, anderson. but let me make this statement. there are interior cameras in that home. >> that give you an idea of what happened? >> that is correct, sir. >> all right. we'll have to leave it there. sheriff, again, i appreciate your time. i know it's been a busy several days for you. thank you. >> thank you, sir. still ahead, new information. new information out of jakarta, two bombings, the ap reporting nine deaths, 50 people wounded. we'll have the latest in this

breaking story.

new information, reports of americans injured in the bombings at two luxury hotels in jakarta, indonesia. shows a hotel employee injured at the rits carlton, a hotel employee receiving medical employment at the site of ritz-carlton. joining us on the phone, cnn contributor, former fbi assistant director, just off the phone with sources in jakarta. in washington, joined by cnn national security analyst, peter bergen. what are you hearing? >> we are hearing we have a large number of casualties there, the death toll may be higher than what's been reported so far. they have confirmed two u.s. businessmen were being treated for minor injuries at a local

hospital. the expectation is, the high likelihood of additional u.s. casualties by the nature of the clientele for the two hotels there. >> do you have any knowledge or have you heard reports of u.s. fatalities? >> not yet. there's been no direct reports of that. again, it's going to be a little bit early. there's a lot of -- a lot of effort to find out that right now. >> you've actually, when you were with the fbi, you coordinated fbi efforts regarding the mumbai attacks. you also have spent time in jakarta. is that correct in. >> that's correct. i've been there on several occasi occasions. in fact, last summer the indonesian national police hosted an fbi conference for graduates of the fbi's national economy. i've met with the head of police on several occasions. we have a very busy office. the fbi has a very busy office in jakarta working on a number of matters with the indonesians, not just counterterrorism, a

close-working relationship going back to the last marriott bombings. criminal investigations. cyber investigations. other matters. so it's a very extensive working relationship with the indonesian national police and also the australian federal police have a large number of police officers that also work jointly with the indonesians and with the fbi in indonesia. >> any time there's a coordinated attack in indonesia, i assume that's your opinion as well. if they are, in fact, involved in this and nobody has claimed responsibility at this point, would it surprise you given the fact they have been relatively quiet for the last three or four years? >> actually last summer i mentioned they hosted a conference with the fbi the week before the conference they made an arrest of i think was about 20 people on one of the outlying islands that were planning an

attack. they werecovered a great cache weapons a s in addition to maki the arrests. they have thwarted plans in progress to do attacks. a while since there's been a successful attack. attempts have gone on. the challenge with indonesian, it's a country with 17,500 islands and it's almost impossible to provide law enforcement on all of these islands. >> i want to bring in peter bergen, terrorism analyst, i'm not sure if you know. >> peter and i have met before. >> do you have any questions for tom? >> i guess one thing, you know, we've talked about a claim of responsibility. it's my recollection that jamar has really never made a claim of responsibility. we may not get one of those in this instance. >> correct. >> also on the issue of the thousands of -- indonesia i

think has three time zones or five time zones? it's an enormous place. even though there was this very aggressive campaign, it is pretty easy for them to go to one of these remote islands and height out for a period of years and then come back and do something in the capital. would that be correct? >> yes. about 2,500 of the islands are not even those supposed to be inhabited. you have limited law enforcement, limited media coverage as well and internet on the outlying islands. so it's very fertile ground for them to recruit people who can commit these bombings and would not be recognized. >> we've gotten our own live signal from the marriott hotel, walking local indonesian images from local media. this scene from outside the marriott. we'll continue to show this and other -- actually this is pictures outside the hospital. right now we are just getting in -- we are watching these as you are watching them.

obviously people trying to get information, tom and peter, trying to find out who are among the wounded, who may be among the dead. at this point six fatalities confirmed by -- according to the associated press, quoting a local doctor, as well as indonesian state authorities, 50 wounded according to the ap, quoting indonesian minister. tom, you say as we look at these pictures of indonesians and again, now, this is on tape. these are images of people being removed from -- that looks like a wounded westerner with some sort of -- certainly a facial wound on the left side of this face. we are getting these images are you are seeing them. we'll continue to show them to you. tom, any sense of when we may have our hands around how many people may be wounded in this or injured in some capacity? >> that could still take several hours as they go through the crime scene and try to rescue people that may be injured.

i don't know the extent of the damage inside that building, whether you have any parts that maybe collapsed on somebody. it will take a while to dig people out. >> still under way. tom, appreciate you talking with us on the phone. our breaking news continues of the bombings throughout the hour and into the night on cnn international.

these pictures of people coming to the hospital waiting for word on their