and other stories are buried in its wake. >> so many things got over shadowed that day. >> the past few days have been some of the most violent in iran. >> actress fairau faucet has lost her three-year battle with cancer. >> and mark sanford revealed he was in argentina to visit his mistress. >> i'ver been unfaithful to my wife.

♪ jackson aunse noed a series conert ises in london. >> there are periods where there's not a lot going on and then it begins to happen and it's usually two things he, it's three things and there you go. we were covering a tragedy in iran and the attempts at revolution. >> what's going on in iran is massive, mostly peaceful protests over the alleged stealing of an election. >> a political storm erupts over ground breaking climate change bill. >> we've been talking about this issue for decades and now is the time to finally act. south carolina has literally lost its governor. >> once you get to a certain level of importance, particularly in public service it's hard to disappear. that makes the disappearance of

governor sanford extra weird. >> we have covered that governor mike sanford ordeal. fairau faucet returned to hospital this week. >> for the last few years, ferreh faucet has been fighting for her life. >> june 25th, 2009 was one of those days that things quickly got eclipsed. >> is she okay? >> how's she doing? >> she's gone. >> what turned aught to be farrah's last night, we knew it was likely to be some time that night or early the next morning and shortly after 9:00 in the morning she passed away. >> actress farrahfawcett has died. michael. >> andrea, as many of our viewers recall, she was diagnosed with age cancer in

2006. she had a reprieve and unfortunately that same year a doctor found a malignant pall. >> even though people knew she was going through a battle for her life, when it happened you were hit with the weight of the actual event and in this case it's an icon of the '70s. >> as fawcett's death begins to dominate the news cycle, on the east coast a south carolina paper breaks startling news about governor mark sanford. >> south carolina's governor mark sanford aed mitts to an extramarital affair with an argentine woman. >> governor sanford has had no contact with his staff or his security detail since he was seen last thursday leaving the governor's mansion in a big

black suv. >> i get a call from a source saying the govern is missing and i said how missing? >> we know law enforcement has said they lost track of the governor and did so thursday. nobody, even his security team knew where he'd been. >> when governor is elected, republicans immediately view him as someone who could run for president down the line. he's a reformer, big g looking, big family. lots of kids. >> he had developed the reputation of being a congressman who fought a little differently about things. >> this kind of outsider iconoclast person who was willing to be the one person in congress voting against something everyone else was voting for. >> it was hard to understand how somebody in his position. a guy who had been targeted as being a potential presidential candidate would implode the way he did.

>> the governor's wife has also said she doesn't know where her husband is. >> how can you know? he's the governor of a state? no one knows where he is. >> as the sanford story picks up steam. the death of farrah fawcett continues to be the lead. >> in case you're just joining us, former "charley's angel" actress has just died after a long battle with cancer. >> that was obviously going to be the major story of the day until that afternoon. >> the news had broke about farrah fawcett fairly early in the day and suddenly the news breaks about michael jackson. >> sometime around very close to 3:00, it's been reported that an adult in his home is unconscious. >> the 911 call came into the

emergency system in los angeles saying there was a man at the house unconscious. they believe he a cardiac arrest and that's when paramedics rushed to the scene. >> we hadn't confirmed that whoever had been raced through that house to the hospital was in fact michael jackson. nobody was prepared for it because we were in farrah fawcett mode at that point. >> we were in shock that not only michael jackson, a huge star but farrah fawcett died the same day. >> governor mark sanford faced a wall of cameras and reporters.

what's going on in iran is absolutely a fight over the alleged stealing of an election. we have confirmed actress farrah fawcett has died. >> at any given day the face of a story can change the news. >> there are several reports that he was discovered unconscious in his home. >> there was a bit of skepticism when the news first broke, not only because he was a big star but because the initial source was tmz because at the time was not a huge credible news source. is there there are unsubstantiated reports floating around but the l.a. times is reporting that he is in a coma. >> suddenly we are racing in a car. i'm driving with a producer on the way to the ucla medical center. we get there and all of the media is now descending on this location.

suddenly the news starts to get out there somehow that michael jackson may be dead. and it seemed like everyone who had ever cared or listened to a michael jackson decided this is where they were going to go. i couldn't help but wonder how did they know this was happening? they were on their facebook page. >> in 2009 facebook and twitter are not yet five years old but growing at furious pace. >> i was home when reports started coming in that perhaps michael jackson had died. there was still a lot of confusion and you start to see things on twitter and i think the country was sort of like no, don't let this happen. we're hearing these reports of terrible things and maybe this will be another one of those things where the first report is terrible and then he's not dead.

>> in iran, protesters have been using the same social media to stream news of their struggle out to the rest of the world. >> it's been 10 days since the presidential election which many opposers say was rigged. the supreme leader who has signed with the president warned protesters that there would be violent retribution if they continued to protest. >> that was one of the first international conflicts to the eyes of a totalitarian regime where social media said we will get around you. >> despite the crack down, video, most of it taped by amateurs is still finding its way out of iran, mainly through the internet. >> so they began sending these messages out and one of the images that strike us all very deeply yenosotan.

>> in south carolina. more detailsmerge about governor sanford's bazar disappearance. >> he has had no contact with his staff since last thursday. >> we started to get very strange signals out of the governor's office. he's out. he's been away for a couple of days now. >> this is not the first time the good governor has gone awall. a spokes person told nbc news quote after the session winds down it's not unusual for him to go out of pock toot wind down his head. >> at the time it's important to remember that aervbody in the office thinks this is true. >> then comes the he's hiking in the appalachian trail which has become this way that you describe everything like what happened with that marriage? he was hiking with the

appalachian trail. >> if he had been hiking the appalachian trail, it's pretty easy to get him to ashville orrer to wave in front of a camera and say this is a silly story. so, pretty quickly my editor and i said what about those emails? >> those emails are a batch of correspondence that had been unanimously leaked to his mistress in argentina. >> there were details about his personal life we knew to be true but we had doubts whether this could be an elaborate hoax. we had already started checking flight schedules between atlanta and boins ayres argentina. i get a call from the chief

of staff, governor sanford's plane has just landed and i say plane? and he says governor sanford was in argentina. and judith smith caught him at the airport. sounds like we're going to have a lot of explaining to do today. >> inside the beltway the president goes in front of cameras to push his historic energy bill. >> this will finally make clean energy the profitable kind energy that will lead to the creation of new businesses and that will lead to american jobs that pay well and can't be out sourced. now i urge every member of congress, democrat and republican to come together to support this legislation. >> global warming and climate change is a scientific story but it's also a political story and that has, at times kind of handcuffed us in terms of where we go with it.

>> after obama won, a bunch of republicans suddenly looks like they might not back the bill. it's sort of the whole general change in politics have nothing to do with the bill but opposing anything the administration was doing. >> congressman pence, why is the president wrong? >> this is nothing more than a national energy tax that will literally cost millions of american jobs. >> this showed that this has become an irredeemably partisan issue. >> you can't cut down on emissions unless you cut down on energy. >> you want to know something -- >> more on the apology from south carolina. >> by the afternoon of the 25th, governor sanford's problems are growing. >> democratic representative todd rutherford is already calling for his resignation. >> he disappeared for five days and tried to orchestrate an elaborate cover up.

>> the state newspaper had printed steamy emails, a far cry the stand stanford took vokally calling for president clinton's impeachment after his affair. >> they said he should leave office. >> is the king of pop alive or dead? >> all of this media that had descended, multiple cameras. as we were waiting to get confirmation that michael was dead, you just hear that michael jackson looks like he passed away and you don't even think about it. it's huge. >> word from the los angeles times newspaper that michael jackson has died at the age of 50. >> you could feel that you were in the middle of history. that this was a big news event. >> legendary singer, michael jackson has in fact died of cardiac arrest. >> the world stopped and all eyes were on los angeles and

michael jackson.

past three days have been some of the most violent in iran since the protests over the presidential elections began. >> he left santa monica hospital alone. >> even big stories can be pushed off the stage when other major headlines steal the lime light. >> michael jackson dead at the age of 50. death was apparently declared at ucla medical centerer where our own michael ocue is standing outside. >> reporter: there seems to be a collective shock as passers by continue to gather by the hundreds. >> the tribute started fairly early on. it went from a surreal situation where a pop icon who was now gone. it went from being stunned by that to suddenly celebrating the life that this guy had.

>> as the news spread, fans spontaneously joined together, many in inseeno, california. >> these were parasocial relationships become very real to us and in a 24-hour us weekly culture to have this person removed after he's such a part of your mind is very painful. >> the sidewalk outside the hospital quickly became a memorial too. the strange mix of grieving for a loss and celebrating a unique brand of music. >> as news spreads and spontaneous tributes to michael jackson breakout across the country. >> iran's government is ramping up the pressure on opposition leader. but mew sauvy says he won't withdraw his challenge, incuraging iranians to continue with protests. >> demonstrations have been escalating since a ying protester was killed.

>> she was shot and she died in a protest in iran. >> she was antidemocratic iranian elections. she had been driving to a protest and her car over heated, so she parked it and in a paramilitary official shot her and killed her in front of multiple witnesses. [ speaking foreign language] >> the video continues beyond that point showing ultimately a great deal of blood. two different witnesses on the scene captured her last moments on video. those images have now rocketed around the world. >> and to see that was just so difficult for a lot of people but it really, really helped people understand the depth of what was happening there. >> the video of herrer choking out and dying while people rushed to her aid went viral on the internet.

it became a symbol of the uprising generally in the middle east for more democratic government and so we paid a lot more attention to these stories for a time. >> south carolina's governor mark sanford says he will reinbrs the state for his trip to argentina. he was there to visit his mistress. >> the state newspaper has been sitting on intimate copies of emails between him and his mistress from an anonymous source. >> we did not publish a story saying mark sanford was having an affair. because we couldn't prove it. >> the state has the proof it needs to run the story. >> it was a case of we want to get this in our paper before anyone else does. >> the day before the emails are released, governor sanford calls a press conference to get ahead of the story.

>> i developed a relationship with a -- it started as a dear, dear friend from argentina. >> with that governor mark sanford faced a wall of cameras and reporters. >> i was going bananas. you're like oh, my -- you can't believe it's happening. >> we've seen politicians have press conferences to admit affairs before. i've never seen one like this. we had very poented questions like was there public money at use but he told us information we didn't want to know. >> it started innocently as these things often do and recently developed into something much more than that. >> it was an awkward experience for those of us watching. >> he proceeds to do this long

introspective press conference. i remember him calling to his friends in the back of the room, very emotional. >> i hurt her. i hurt you all. i hurt my wife. i hurt my boys. >> the amazing thing to me was how long it went on. i kept thinking to myself when is he going to stop? >> if you're in a situation like that, stand up there with the wife looking down at her shoes you apologize to the world from this rogue prepared statement that you are never go doing it again and just walk off stage and he didn't do any of those things. >> it was 10 minutes before joe sawyer finally grabbed him and pulled him away from the podium. >> it's still the single best piece of political theater i've witnessed. >> we published march.

>> they were released on the front page, some read like a harlequin romance novel. >> he was a sapy romantic. >> my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips. >> i felt a little bad for the guy because nobody's love letters sound good in pub allic. >> he's trying to reconcile with his wife and she says he's earned a chance to resurrect their marriage if he shows true humilitity. >> it becomes the but of many a late-night talk show host. they guess what might be able to push sanford off the front page. >> the king of pop is dead. >> at the apollo theater, where jackson first performed with his brothers in 1969 fans poured into the streets. >> was michael jackson essentially the poster child for

it doesn't matter what you say about me as long as you spell my name right? because there was an enormous amount of negativity of what happened or didn't at neverland. >> in 1993 a 13-year-old boy claimed that jackson had molested him. the case was settled with jackson never admitting any guilt. >> no matter what you might have thought of him personally and he appeared to have deemens. but regardless who he was behind closed doors there's no debating who he was in the public. >> he's such the best entertainer that i know. >> people wanted a piece of michael jackson. so they're downloading the videos and the music and the internet couldn't handle it. i think twitter crashed. >> governor sanford will return to the capital for a cabinet meeting. >> some are calling for his resignation.

>> the house expected to vote on landmark lez ujilation. >> we are helping the tyrants to export their terrorism.

this is nothing more than a national energy tax that will literally cost millions of american jobs. >> some of the protests over the last few days in iran, this has

become if thought the most the single most iconic moment of this uprising. >> i'm still numb and stunned at the reports that michael has died. >> in the wake of michael jackson's death al sharpton hold as press conference in front of the apollo theater. >> michael loved the apollo. and by then, all of the press was there and droves of people started coming. yard known michael for 30 years. we'd done work together in the civil rights. >> he learned how to sing and dance and be creative against his worst critics. >> i think the media was at first shocked at michael's passing and i think that there was the battle between how they were going to handle all of their tabloid depictions of

wacko jacko and the depth and gravity of what this man really was. >> he was a historic figure that people will measure music and the industry by. >> a short time later on the west coast, germane jackson addresses the crowd at the hospital. >> my brother, the legendary king of pop, michael jackson, passed away on thursday, june 25th, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. >> when germane made the announcement, it was shocking. you have this hope that michael is a prank, it's a joke. he's going to be fine. he's going to moon walk out the hospital and say welcome to the greatest illusion of all times and to hear his brother make that statement, it was heart wrenching, crushing, it was final. >> amid all of the spontaneous tributes, questions over jackson's death begin to emerge.

>> just outside the jackson home. >> so i was assigned to cover his home and even though he was no longer there and the huge scene was really now at the hospital, the station wanted me to stay there because that's where the l.a.p.d. was. >> within the past hour we've seen several robbery/homicide detectives going into the home that michael jackson has been renting. he says do not read anything into this. they routinely investigate murders -- sorry, i apologize. did not mean to say murder. routinely investigate deaths that do not occur at a hospital. >> this michael jackson news follows the sad news we received earlier today what was going to be a major story on this broadcast tonight as it is that actress and icon farrah fawcett died this morning. >> well thought of, curages. talented, beautiful, all these

things he but was she given the degree of remembrance that she would have been given had she died another day? she did not. >> farrah fawcett's end is as well documents as her life. >> she never wondered why me and not someone else? she always knew this is what she had it do and that's why she picked opcamera and said i'm going to make a documentary about this. >> i told you we had to get that hair. >> i've seen a lot of people fight battles and they're all heroic in their own way but this woman, farrah fawcett, she was like no other warrior. >> her long time companion, actor ryan o'neale was by her side. their son redmond didn't get to say goodbye in person. >> i remember going home and feeling badly for her and her

family that she did not get proper remembrance or recognition on that day because another big star had died the same day. >> as a new day dawns on june 26th and the nation continues to mourn the death of michael jackson, in washington d.c. an important legislative battle barely registers with the public. >> the house expected to vote on landmark. >> will this kill business competition and raise energy costs for everyone? >> it was called the cap and trade provision. >> you have a combination of caps on emissions of greenhouse gases and then you allow businesses to spend money to emit more and then there can be a trade in the alounss. so, that's the trade part of cap and trade. instead of just banning it out right, you're deincents having.

>> is this for job creation or a tax that will crippal the economy? >> our shows all day were still doing significant coverage of this bill as it was working its way through the house. >> every time we put our pump to our gas tank we are helping the tyrants in iran and saudi arabia to export their terrorism. why do we keep doing it? >> this says to china from the u.s. congress. that's what is inside is u.s. jobs. >> there was a lot of drama and arm twisting. >> in the words of another californiaen, nancy regan, just say no. >> his transformation, his contributions to american pop culture. >> sometimes there are stories so big we go on rolling coverage and i remember nightly news that night was a little seat of the

pants and i was doing some reporting and we were reflecting on his impact. >> i remember being a 10-year-old kid watching this 10-year-old kid on tv one night and it would become this overnight sensation and we would watch his career blossom. >> it's one of those things the more you talk about it, the more you realize how big this impact was. i don't know to this day i've met anyone who didn't like his music. >> eyes are glued to the wall to wall coverage of michael jackson. >> michael jackson. >> you talked publicly about him possibly over medicating. >> the autopsy expected to be performed later on today. it's expected to also include a toxicology study. so it could be some time before we know for sure.

i'm stunned at the reports michael has died. >> this is the equivalent of elvis passing away. >> some are calling for his resignation. >> he was beloved by fans all around the world. >> the death of michael jackson seems to over shadow everything. >> news of his death is dominating the headlines here in england and around the world. >> even venezuelaen president. >> there's always intense interest in someone that high profile because that's what the audience is interested in. >> now his fans will have to make due with the music he leaves behind. >> in south carolina the sanford scandal creates it's own media storm. >> governor sanford will return

for a cabinet meeting insisting he has no plans to step down. >> he had to squeeze pass a huge throng of reporters. >> generally those things are pretty dull but that was significant because that was the governor trying to establish that he was getting back to work. >> the governor began with more apologies. >> i have never seen a human being who was more focussed on the idea of contrition than mike stanford. >> in as much as i have not yet had a chance to apologize to you all personally, i wanted to do so. >> he apologized again and again and again. >> what i find interesting is the story of david and the way in which he fell ---ing. >> what sanford was able to do was use the christian able to his benefit. >> fell in very significant ways but then picked up the pieces and built from there.

>> his point was to bring up these christian notions of sin and redemption. >> it really began with a larger quest that i think are well expressed on the notion of humility. >> king david cheated on his wife and eventually was forgiven by god and allowed to ascend to power again. i've talked to lot of religious people and his use of the parable. to him he never seemed contrite. >> sanford was exit and stroll to his office turned into a media frenzy. >> guys, guys. guys, come on now. >> dam it. >> let the governor talk. >> there are several calls for your resignation. >> i wouldn't say anything definitive at this point. i would say my hunch at a

variety of different levels would be to continue on. >> most people thought it would end his governorship, it didn't. >> but his political woes get less attention than they might have. because of the ongoing coverage of michael jackson's death. as the l.a. county's coroner conducts an autopsy, tributes give way to speculations of drug use and child custody. >> he's got three children. what will they inherit? >> the moment of michael's death brought out everything you're going to see in media. some people chose and still choose to fixate on the tragedy around the death. >> tell us the last time that you saw michael and how he seemed to you physically at that point. >> looked like he had been beaten up physically and mentally. there was a reason why he took

these medications and i think that anyone who was in that condition has a tough time gauging and measuring how much is too much. and it was my concern that he was doing too much and i feared this day and here we are facing it. >> we're going to be talking about michael jackson's death of course just as the community was absorbing the death of farrah fawcett. we will honor their legacies this morning. >> she didn't go out as the girl on "charley's angels", in a red bathing suit, she went out as a real person. >> cancer is my own private war. >> for the past three years, videotaping her fight in an extraordinarily intimate documentary. >> she didn't hide the fact she was dying of in aal cancer.

>> she was pretty shocked to learn about how few treatments were available and how little research had been done in this arena. there's now a vaccine that can vaccinate you against the nine most common strains of hp that cause cancer. >> hpv vaccine most famously prevents servical cancer and it can prevent anal cancer and throat cancers, both kill a lot more people than you'd think. >> the foundation she started has given millions of dollars to fund hpv cancer related research. >> the house set to vote on that climate bill today. the legislation expectsed to deliver huge challenges. >> if we don't do anything now, you could see a lot of florida disappear.

coastal cities flooded. you could see super storms that take place. and it's going to be a very difficult environment for human beings to live and flourish in. >> on this vote, yea's are 219, nay's are 212. the bill is passed. >> it was a call to arms for the environmental movement. and it was a call to arms for that portion of the energy industry that felt threatened. it was the first time that you got legislation through either house of congress of how we were going to begin to deal with co 2 emissions. so, it was the hallmark.

michael jackson dead at the age of 50. >> actress farrah fawcett has died after her 3 year battle with cancer.

>> i've been unfaithful to my wife. >> the question is whether mike sanford can still remain governor of south carolina. >> in the weeks following michael jackson's passing, the controversy only intensifies.. >> it's an acute over dose. >> the end of michael jakszen's life was just the beginning of a legal battle and logistical and custody challenge that continued today and is going on as we speak tonight. >> as the days rolled on, it became a media fire storm within itself. >> eight months after jackson's death, his personal physician will be charged with involuntary manslaughter. >> the verdict is in in the trial of dr. conrad murray. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, conrad murray guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter. >> purp fall was administered to

michael jackson and everybody who was brought to bare in this trial says serious breach of medical ethics. >> one thing interesting and a question not answered on that day. did he still have it? did he still possess the gifts that made him so internationally famous? and the footage, the rehearsal footage from "this is it" conclusively proves he still had it which is remarkable and makes his death even sad. >> this is it. this is really it. this is the final -- the final curtain call. >> the bill is passed. >> the passage of the climate change bill is a fleeting victory for environmentalists in a trugal that will only intensify with every year.

>> environmentalists won a landmark policy victory but it got over shadowed in the grand scheme of things by the horrendous news about thdeath of michael jackson. >> bill passed the house of representatives. it then went to the senate where it never reached a vote. >> the fact that americans can pass a climate change bill is going to be remembered by future generations as i think our moral failure of our generation. we already have scientific consensus and it's already happening. the effects are already causing conflict around the world, causing shortages of water, it's causing crop problems. it's just going it get worse. >> by the time it formally failed, we knew it had happened. we didn't give up. everyone worked harder. >> europeans are leading the way in climate change preventative measures. [ speaking foreign language]

>> in december 2015, 195 countries met in paris and entered into an agreement in which 185 of those countries committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions significantly and agreed to a long-term goal of zero net emissions of carbon. and it givers the world a structure in which they can address climate change. >> i've been unfaithful to my wife. >> his career is not a concern of mine. i'm worried about my family. >> governor mark sanford's international affair. >> jenny sanford said later that when she saw the emails printed in the state newspaper, that's when she knew she had to divorce mark. that's a hard thing to know you have to deal with.

>> his wife left him and he ran for his old seat in the house of representatives, which is where he is today. >> just like that he went from someone who everyone thought would run for president in 2012 without question and would have been in the top tear to run for president to someone who became a laughing stock. >> would the same kind of effect occur today in the political arena that we have right now where nobody can figure out how we got this to point? >> if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. although the second amendment people, maybe there is. >> donald trump has rewriten the play book when it comes to using twitter feeds to expound on things. on an instantaneous basis. >> the rules of news coverage continue to be rewritten thanks to the power of another force on june 25th, social media.

>> that social media is no longer in the hands of people in just western countries. it was everywhere and in some places like iran, it was their end around to the rest of the world, to get around the government sensors. >> even as cell phone networks continue to be disrupted, you can still share videos and images device to device using blue tooth. >> during the spring of 2011, facebook and twitter allowed egyptian protesters to connect to each other and the world. >> we want to change all the rules of the game. >> americans paid a lot more attention to the protests across the middle east, iranian protests more than i think they usually do. >> i'm from virginia from the united states. i came here so i could be with the people. >> we all forget how quickly this digital and social media came along and how it's advanced

in only a few years. >> i know when i found out osama bin laden died, i found out on twitter. >> michael jackson. >> michael jackson. >> michael jackson has died. >> perhaps there's something slightly heartless about covering this event. people pivoted to michael jackson and never even looked back to farrah fawcett. for the most part i don't think that the public would say to anyone making that call in a control room you got it wrong. >> june 25th, 2009, we saw how fast the news cycle can move. at one moment where we're still talk about this horrible killing captured on tape of a young woman in iran, that is farrah fawcett has died. there's no bigger story right now at that moment. and then michael jackson dies. there's no bigger story. >> but we've been watching him since he was 10 or 12 years old.

>> does it mean we have short attention spans? i don't know. >> south carolina governor -- >> i think we've all become accustomed now that there's another big story on the heels of the one before it. los angeles is bracing for a second night of burning, killing and looting. >> the stories you're about to see were reported in the news between april 29th and may 1st 1992. >> it was a stunning thing to see. tanks rolling down the streets in los angeles. >> beatings, riots, and flames consumed the headlines and eclipsed other national news. >> jeffrey dahmer came back to face justice. >> 15 human bodies preserved in a refrigerator. >> the fbi's biggest kidnapping investigation in years. >> it happens all the time. there are lots of other really big deal stories.