plaintiffed. i think they looked very sad, almost upset. they didn't look like big shots. i think the portrayal of judge sotomayor as a person who gave them a cursory judgment, who didn't give them their day in court is hurting her. what do you think? >> i really don't think it hurt her, chris. i think they're sympathetic characters. they always have been. but i think it's ironic that she is being targeted for not having empathy of the individuals when she's being attacked for perhaps having empathy for other groups. i think she really was not a renegade on that decision. she was in the majority. she ruled with the majority of her court. and the supreme court 4 out of 9, not the majority, but still four solid justices out of nine voted with sotomayor. they followed precedent. they really did follow a law. the roberts court has taken this case law in a very different direction. we'll see how long that persists. they're the ones that ignored

precedent. perhaps time will show they were right. perhaps the low will show that they were right. but they were the renegades, not sotomayor. i don't think it's going to matter. >> how is this going down in south philly and places like that? how it is going down in the east that you cover? who is winning this argument? sotomayor or the firefighters? >> sotomayor is winning because she did so well in the first two days. and she did so well because the thing has been a total snooze. everybody's eyes, i think, have been glazed over. >> you're killing me. >> what vargas did and what ricci did is they humanized it. >> exactly. >> no longer is it a conversation about obscure legal principles. there's that white guy denied his white job even though he did so well on the test. ask me if it's going to make a difference, i don't think it will. what the gop needed to do is thread the needle and draw a connection between the wise latina speech and this embodiment. >> please come back. joan, michael, i got to go.

thank you very much. join us tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." "countdown" starts right now. which of these stores will you talk about tomorrow? they find the funds coming to the states. but for kyle and mccain, they want the political complaints and the money, too. the obama administration's no more mr. nice guy stance with jonathan alter. >> ironing hits the sotomayor hearings. after a week of offering the nominee no slack in her wise latina remarks, tonight they let them fly a zoosy. >> we're going to do that crack cocaine thing we talked about before. >> context important to you now,

senator? ♪ shocking video 25 years past in this pyrotechnic mishap lead to an addiction of pain kelers and the subsequent death of michael jackson? and the nominee is -- >> and now i'd like to entertain everybody with some fancy pageant walking. >> tina faye earns an emmy for her portrayal of sarah palin. tonight, a special congratulations to saturday night live for amazing year in politics. all that and more now on "countdown."

republican senator john kyle of arizona recently said the government should cancel the rest of the stimulus spending because it was a failure. they acted faz he meant what he said. four different cabinets wrote to the governor of arizona asking if she agreed with senator kyle. for transportation secretary ray lahood, if you prepare to forfeit the money, we're making available to your state, as senator kyl suggested, pleads let me know. he attached a three-page list of the projects used.

>> governor, you might want to take that up with the junior senator from our own state. and john mccain tried to grab his bit of flesh in this fight quoting -- >> there's governor rick perry of texas directing his state to borrow $643 million from the federal government to cover unemployment claims. this from the man who earlier this year rejected $550 million in stimulus money. >> and what does president obama think of all this? he offered a pretty clear idea to a huge krout in warren, michigan, earlier this week.

>> my job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines. >> let's call in senior washington correspondent and political columnist howard fineman. thank you as always. >> hi, david. howard, thanks as always. >> hi, david. >> howard, as governor brewer and senator mccain called it a threat, but in that particular skirmish isn't the operative word outmaneuvered? >> yeah, i think so, in talking to some republicans here in washington and elsewhere. i think they would probably agree this was a little like general custard saying, i really executed a brilliant maneuver to get myself surrounded here, because the fact is, most governors republican and democrat in most parts of the country as governor perry really showed in the clip you had earlier, they need the money and they need the projects and they need it now. >> when senator kyl first made his comment about the failure of

the stimulus senator dick durbin let him have it reminding him only $56 billion of the $787 billion has been spent. kyl and other republicans like congressman eric canter seemed to believe that little more than five months into this administration they can get away with a new round of slamming the stimulus? >> well, i think they can complain about the economy. and they are going to do so. president obama had a good comeback, which you just heard. the fact is the risk in doing what they're doing is that the stimulus program as poorly designed in some ways as it was, that needs to be admitted. it is really just getting up a head of steam now. and as a matter of fact i think over the next six to eight months or year is really going to kick in big time. that's something the democrats are going to stress. the president is going to stress. and that may, in fact have a good affect on the economy by the time, certainly by the time election time rolls around. >> we've also seen karl rove get in on the act. the former bush senior adviser writing in the "wall street

journal" today that president obama should have implemented more republican ideas, like more tax cuts for the rich, though he did not use the word rich. obviously this is a debate worth having, but are republicans bringing anything new to the debate? >> no, they're not bringing anything new, and the problem is that the tax cut philosophy as expressed by george w. bush and the republicans in charge in the congress really didn't work. it didn't work big time in the last many years of the bush presidency, and so that gives barack obama some room to maneuver. he's got to be careful, however, i think, david, because if he piles up too much spending and too many programs, that not everybody is in favor of, the additional taxes he's proposing could become politically perilous for him. i don't think it's happened yet but i can assure even though democrats aren't going to listen to karl rove they're going to be careful on the tax front as they move forward especially on health care. >> the key question, of course, the public patience. the were plenty of republican governors to complain about stimulus money to their political detriment, and now the

public is somewhat less patient, and that it was when mr. obama first took office, but are republicans mistaken in thinking the public is already at that tipping point ready to jettison president obama's approach? >> well, the white house is fully aware of that, in talking to them they want to stress what other juice and there's a lot of it, there is in the stimulus package and they'll be pushing that day in and day out in the coming months. as president obama tries to portray himself in the clip that you showed, a guy who's really got his sleeves rolled up and is working on the problems, and that's what he's going to show you all the republicans complaining from the sidelines. >> howard fineman of "newsweek" and msnbc. howard, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, david. >> you're welcome. let's bring in howard's colleague, "newsweek" magazine

senior editor and msnbc political analyst jonathan alter. good evening to you. >> hi, david. >> republicans dare president obama to take ownership of the economy. so he does. while slamming them for being whiners and sitting on the sidelines. is that effective? >> yeah. he gets to have it both ways. he can slam the carpers and whiners that he called them and continue to make the point that he didn't create this mess. continue to dump on president bush and convey that he's really part of almost the shovel brigade, cleaning up this mess, but the at the same time, he's seen as taking responsibility. that was something that he stressed over and over in the campaign. he talked about the new era of responsibility at the beginning of this presidency, and he's not in any position to shirk that responsibility. so right now he's kind of walking a fine line between blaming his predecessor and taking responsibility. i think he's doing a pretty good job doing it. >> of course the president and his surrogates have been out there reminding the public it's still way to early to judge the effectiveness of the stimulus, but isn't this small change compared to what president obama is prepared to do or could bring on the bully pulpit, should he view the public patience as truly fragile? he hasn't addressed it head-on in a news conference yet?

>> he has not really started to expend his political capital. in a news conference, much less a primetime oval office address. when you do that, you're really going to the people, and you're putting it on the line. i think you can expect him to do that at the opportune moment when health care really ripens in september or october. you will see him cash in some chips, but it's not time for him to do that yet. >> getting back to the senator kyl, one of the various ways that i suppose we could look at this is one thing that certainly is obvious.

that is this administration was sick and tired of republican politicians and the stimulus, some of whom then go back to constituents and act like they played some part in getting the money. >> these guys really have a lot of nerve, and i think it's really also pretty appropriate that it happened to governor brewer out in arizona. you know, she replaced janet napolitano, done a very good job of running that state. brewer comes in, starts basically running it into the ground, and she slashes with the help of the legislature, slashes money for education, which is what the future of that state or any other state is based on. so for her to now turn around and get it, for siding with jon kyl and wanting to turn down stimulus money until called on by the white house, i think it's just desserts for governor brewer and mark sanford and any of these other governors who think they can score political

points by attacking obama on the stimulus and not take the money. >> it's been reported when senator kyl made his comments it was white house chief of staff rahm emanuel who directed that letter be sent to governor brewer. this after some democrats worried that the white house did not have a coordinated response to renew republican attacks. is it safe to say the white house is back on its feet? >> well, i don't think they were off their feet on this. look, howard is right, that the stimulus was not structured in an optimal way, and it was a real design problem with that and they're seeing some of the effects of that. i do think they're showing a little more toughness now politically worrying a little less about bipartisanship and more about calling out the hypocrites which is what these folks are, if they attack the stimulus and then at the same time want to take the money. >> jonathan alter of "newsweek"

and msnbc. thanks as always. appreciate it. >> thanks, david. >> you're welcome. the politics of pandering from the gop were also front and center the at the sotomayor hearings today. after begging for more time to scour the record, the week devoted almost entirely to her speeches instead of her ruling. after telling the nominee how much they were bothered by her wise latina comment, senator sessions with one giant slip of the tongue. we're going to do that crack cocaine thing you and i have talked about before, end quote. that's next on "countdown." i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life.

please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. ♪ finally lovers know no shame ♪ ♪ watching in slow motion ♪ as you turn to me and say ♪ take my breath away (announcer) ge locomotives. customers love them almost as much as we love making them. ♪ my love (announcer) innovation today for america's tomorrow. we all knew republicans weren't making headway in the sonia sotomayor hearings. but were things going that poorly senator jeff sessions announced he's going to do some crack cocaine? and the rationale for torture in your name defends his right to ignore the law so the u.s. can spy on you. that and tina fey gets the emmy

nod for playing sarah palin. that's next. this is "countdown." havin' a cuppa tea. gecko vo: takes lots of sweat to become that big. gecko vo: 'course, geckos don't literally sweat... it's just not our thing... gecko vo: ...but i do work hard, mind you. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people. is

in her duties as an associate justice in the united states supreme court, would sonia sotomayor be, a, ruling on the law, or, b, giving speeches? despite the republican fixation on judge sotomayor's speeches all that really matters is the nominee's judicial record. our fourth story in the "countdown," four long hearings in the confirmation hearings. republicans can find nothing wrong with judge sotomayor's 17 years on the bench. not that they haven't tried, no the that they didn't try some

more today. republicans extended question time to a third round of ten minutes each. the democrats all took a pass. when the ranking republican greeted the witness this afternoon, senator jeff sessions of alabama learned firsthand why the context of what you say can be so important. >> during these hearings we're going to do that crack cocaine thing that you and i have talked about before. >> hear only that portion of his remarks and it makes you wonder exactly how senator sessions planned to unwind after the hearing was finished for the day? you know, same as if you heard or only heard the part of judge sotomayor's speech in which she said, she hoped that a wise latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male. but if you give senator sessions a chance to explain himself, what he really meant to say becomes obvious.

>> we've got to -- >> thank you, senator. i appreciate it. >> i want to restate that. >> let me correct the record. >> please, rephrase it, senator. please, rephrase. >> i misspoke. >> quite all right. >> we're going to reduce the burden of penalties in some of the crack cocaine cases and make them fair. >> four days summed up by that one sound bite. four days in which republican senators have been fixated on lines taken out of context from speeches by judge sotomayor, because they can't find anything wrong with her judicial record. >> what should i tell my constituents who are watching these hearings and saying to themselves, she says one thing but at these hearings you are saying something which sounds contradictory, if not diametrically opposed to some of the things you've said in speeches around the country? >> i would tell them to look at my decisions for 17 years, and note that in every one of them i have done what i say i so firmly

believe in. i proved my fidelity to the law, the fact that i do not permit personal views, sympathies or prejudices to influence the outcome of cases, rejecting the challenges of numerous plaintiffs with indisputably sympathetic claims. >> the plaintiff, like frank richey, a firefighter who sued the city of new haven, connecticut and turned out today to testify against judge sotomayor. she was among the judges who ruled for the city when it threw out a test that would have qualified richie and others for promotions but not on african-americans. judge sotomayor base herd decision not on the personal stories of the firefighters but on the law. something today's questions made clear. the firefighters know little about.

>> do you have any reason to think that judge sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in trying to reach a fair decision in the case? >> that's beyond my legal expertise. i'm not an attorney or a legal scholar. i simply welcomed an invitation by the united states senate to come here today and, because this is our first time that we've gotten to testify about our story. so i can't comment on -- >> in the end, republicans who have indicated they're likely to vote for judge sotomayor and those who will vote against even reached agreement on her judicial views. >> you have as a judge been generally in the mainstream. >> judge, you know, i actually agree that your judicial record strikes me as pretty much in the mainstream of judicial decision-making by district court judges and by court of appeals judges on the federal bench.

you appear to be a different person, almost, in your speeches and in some of the comments that you've made. >> lots to talk about with our own norah o'donnell who contributed to the huffington post and former chief of staff of the senate finance committee when chaired by the late senator patrick moynihan. >> good to be here. >> even the senator concluded judge sotomayor's judicial record does not match her speeches. wasn't that supposed to be the focus of these hearing? >> you would think, but when you have the speeches and it has meaty stuff in it, they're going to go out. and, look, what the public has to remember about these hearings is, these are the television invention. there were virtually no confirmation hearings for the supreme court before the invention of television. all the famous supreme court justices, that you read about in the history books as a kid had no confirmation hearings at all. so this is show, and that's what

they were doing, and that's why they didn't concentrate on her judicial opinion, 17 years as a judge. they concentrated on two or three speeches here and there because this is nothing but a show and that's what these hearings always are. >> senator sessions and hits crack cocaine declaration. maybe the most ironic moment of the hearing, considering how republicans have taken judge sotomayor's remarks out of context? >> you can see why jeff sessions had a lot of trouble when he was nominated for the federal bench and came to that committee for a confirmation hearing. he couldn't make it through. so it's -- you know, look, that's what she was up against. that's the kind of ability she was up against, and she knew it going in. she'd been confirmed by that committee twice before. i think she entered confidently. i think she knew in a way how difficult it was going to be and how easy it was going to be. >> firefighters frank richey admit head could not comment on anything requires legal expertise, but nor should we expect him to be able to. what does it tell us about the republicans' case against sotomayor when this was their

star witness? >> yeah. look, he wasn't there in any sense to testify against her. they brought him in there for show. he told his story in a very articulate way, a very sympathetic witness. another hispanic firefighter who told a similar story and this was the only time they got tell their stories. it was actually quite an important moment for them in a way provided by sonia sotomayor. if she had not been the nominee they never would have gotten to tell their stories and, oh, by the way, the supreme court would have ruled in their favor, anyway. the end of their story is that the system worked very, very much in their favor, and republicans have been trying to use them as an example of the system working against people. the republicans forget that these guys won the case in the end. >> senator graham all but said again today he would be voting to confirm judge sotomayor. so when might we expect her to be confirmed and what kind of

justice do you expect her to be? >> she'll be the solid judge he's been in the last 17 years. a clear record. i think a leader on the supreme court. the majority leader is trying to get this vote in before the august recess. i think he might be able to. he might be able to get as early as the end of next week. they have to get some appropriation bills off the floor and done before that. so there's a lot of work to do. they might stretch out a little bit going into the august recess and not go into the august recess exactly when they thought. so i think she will be confirmed by the senate before the august recess, and she'll be able to start setting up her office in the supreme court in august. >> which would make this even faster in terms of the timeline that a lot of people thought initially. >> exactly. >> and chairman leahy was being

criticized for the high speed timetable earlier by republicans. they completely surrendered on that criticism. all agreed that the committee and leahy ran a very fair hearing and the time was fair. >> and at msnbc, lawrence, thank you so much. okay, ladies, question. would you say yes if this is how you were proposed to? hmm. and later, the michael jackson pepsi commercial disaster the never before seen video and why some say this was a huge turning point in the king of pop's life. come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 malibu 1lt with an epa estimated 33 mpg highway. get it now for around 21 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details. women who drink crystal light

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on this date in 1969 at 9:32

in the morning, three men climbed into a metal tower standing 363 feet tall. with the extension of the three men and a tiny chamber on top, the vast majority of the tower was filled with millions of pounds of explosives. after the men got inside, they set the explosives on fire. 12 minutes later the burning explosive that had thrown the tower so high into the air it entered orbit around the earth. that rocket would separate into pieces. the smallest of which took two of those men to the moon. let's play "oddball." we begin in osaka, japan where the washington nationals are touring and predictably playing like a bunch of old women. wait. these are old women. the team the osaka silver sisters, grandmothers all, average age, 75. former pros back in their 20s, the team never took off after scandalizing spectators with the

lascivious outfits. you can see here. a reunion in 2005 although they sometimes take on a younger male team, the grannies have advantages. namely, lighter on their feet and the benefits of one pace maker and performance-enhancing drugs like geritol. play ball! >> bristol, england, hello. whoa, buddy! i said hello, not howdy, sailor. meet pete who wouldn't be the first to tape himself in his tidy whities or the first to set it to music. might not be the man to show the video to a public audience. looking at you. he probably is the person to do it for pete simpson's reasons. the charming young woman by his side, he took her to what we he thought was an event, but it was pete in his underoos. the video was a marriage proposal. she said, yes. and then removed his garter belt.

finally, to rio de janeiro with a new twist on hanging out at home. meet the primo brothers. houses with roofs, windows and ceilings and stuff are boring. they spend time eating, reading, sleeping while suspended off the side of a building instead. using climbing gear to maneuver between a bed, desk and hammock, the brothers spent 14 hours a day with furniture nailed to the support walls. when asked if they were afraid of heights, they said, no, but it would be nice if the rent fell. coming up, in defensive spies one of the justifiers of the bush/cheney wiretapping program takes umbrage at the notion that they follow the constitution which they swore an oath to defend. and sarah palin may have taken umbrage at tina fey's portrayal of her, but she's the only one. it got tina fey an emmy

nomination.

based on bush and his justice department lawyer john hu's justification of torture rejected even by the bush administration, the obama justice department recommended disciplinary action against hu by the bar association. the number two story, latest defense of surveillance is so poorly done the guy really ought to be disbarred just for plain old ineptitude. hu is pushing back after five inspectors general singled him out for special score in his report unveiling bush's activity was far beyond the wiretapping mr. bush admitted to. mr. yoo gets three things wrong in his very first sentence. it was instantly clear after september 11, 2001 that our security agencies knew little about al qaeda's inner works,

could not detect its operative entry into the country nor predict where it might strike next. knew little about al qaeda's inner workings? in 1996 one spent six months debriefing the cia about all kind of network company, farms and port operations and told the "new yorker" magazine. for instance, could not detect al qaeda's entry into the country. on august 6, 2001, president bush was explicitly warned that al qaeda had members in the u.s. in march of 1999, german intel gave the u.s. information about al sheehy and including his phone number and asked how to track him down. the u.s. famed to do so and next picked up his trail after he piloted united flight 175 into the south tower. the cia began investigating the others in january 2000, but did not put them on the watch list until august 23, 2001, after they were in the united states. and couldn't predict where al

qaeda would strike. a year before the africa embassy bombings the cia learned about the bombing plot. when a member of al qaeda walked into the nairobi embassy and told them about it. after the first world trade center bombing investigators found an e-mail from one conspirator saying, "next time it will be very precise." no surprising you get everything else wrong claiming that the law requires warrant is obsolete, which does not mean it is not the law. despite the fact he feels that in 2003, the laws were perfectly fine. a little surprised, perhaps, today we learned the bush administration assassination squad also fell short. national intelligence director dennis blair telling "the washington post" the plan was canceled because intelligence officials had serious questions about his, quote, effectiveness, maturity and level of control." we're joined by scott, a lawyer studied abuses related to this

and serves as contributing editor of "harper's" magazine. thanks for your time tonight. >> great to be with you. >> mr. yoo goes further than he ever did in the bush administration, tossing the federal surveillance law into the obsolete pile at the geneva convention, and also argues that the presidency itself was created specifically because the founder wanted quick-moving action gear in charge of emergencies. care to respond? >> exactly right. our founding fathers obviously wanted george iii to remain at king of the kingdom of america. that's the new view. >> mr. yoo's reasoning is so bad, he actually takes the argument that you need a warrant to wiretap and it reads, you should not wiretap. is this dishonesty, or something else? >> it's dishonesty. he knows very well the statute

doesn't require a warrant in the sense of a probe, the only thing required is the government has to show relevance that there is actual reason or motivation the national security concerned that motivate request for surveillance also authorizes the president and attorney general to authorize wiretaps and surveillance for a period of time without a warrant. so it gives much more flexibility than you suggest and as that piece. when should note that john yoo he refused to carpet, when he appeared before congress and asked questions, he can't answer, but then writes these long ridiculous pieces that are published in the "wall street journal" and the "philadelphia inquirer." >> he also writes the best way to find an al qaeda operative is to look at all e-mail, texts and phone traffic between afghanistan, pakistan and the united states.

is that not a somewhat childish or at least simple approach to counterterrorism coming from one of the so-called big brains of the bush counterterror brain trust? >> the point is not to say there should be no effort between monitoring between al qaeda leadership and operatives. we want that. the point is that our constitution requires some checks on what the executive does. the executive can't use this authority to wiretap or observe a journalist or analyst or political figures. we know based on disclosures that came out of the last three year, they did all of those things. >> we've heard from other former bush administration officials who made the same defense. that the united states couldn't possibly have known what al qaeda was up to or where they might attack. is it becoming a case where it was official after officials

were sort of so out of touch or willfully wanted to ignore the evidence they before 9/11? >> i think it's really more active demagogy. a piece in giving the administration all it wanted and this sort of rhetoric was used an used very, very effectively to intimidate congress and congressional leaders to give them what they wanted. then, by the way, when they got that, they proceeded to ignore the amendments and authority they got under the amendments. they continued to illegally. >> finally the cia hit squad

plan, "the washington post" that came to leon panetta's attention because they were about to take it operational again. your assessment is there more we need to hear about this, a, never got off the ground yet and, b, because it caused such a ruckus. >> we should be skeptical that these claims never got off the ground. we're looking at the national security act of 1947 saying there was a requirement to brief an operational program. and you really believe leon panetta would have reacted the way he did, rushing to congress to brief them if, in fact, this program had never been operational? there's too much evidence now actions were taken based on this plan. >> scott horton, national security lawyer and contributing editor "harper's" magazine. thanks for your time tonight. we appreciate it. >> great to be with you. new video, the special effects disaster some say was the catalyst for michael jackson's life to spiral out of control. tina fey gets good news this morning. her portrayal of sarah palin gets her an emmy nod for "saturday night live." why the nomination is so well deserved. as rachel joins you at the top of the hour, she will go head-to-head over pat buchanan over his racially-charged column over judge sonia sotomayor. izza. sure. me again. okay, now this is the last te alright?

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you've heard about the accident for years. now see it for yourself. the explosion that sent michael jackson's hair on fire. later, sarah palin may have been the runner-up for vice president in the 2008 election, but tina fey could get a big win at the emmy for her portrayal of the alaskan governor. the shenanigans that never get old, ahead on "countdown." a los angeles police department says it will not confirm or deny it's treating it's astonishingly flexible. ♪ unbelievably soft. ♪ and has an amazing material... that's 4x more absorbent than you may need. making fluids seem to... poof... disappear. just like magic. ♪ always infinity. have a happy period.

♪ so blessed with inspiration ♪ ♪ i don't know much ♪ but i know i love you ♪ and that may be ♪ all i need ♪ to know (announcer) customers love ge aircraft engines almost as much as we love making them. innovation today for america's tomorrow. a los angeles police department says it will not confirm or deny it's treating michael jackson's death as a homicide. the los angeles coroner working on the case told the associated

press that the toxicology results that may determine the cause of death could be back as early as next week. but in our number two story, shocking new video of jackson's 1984 pepsi commercial accident that may point to the beginning of his deadly addiction to pain medication. ♪ >> reporter: it was michael jackson's final day of the pepsi commercial that changed everything. the shoot was going smoothly until take six. there was a flash on stage. the pyrotechnics exploded too early and suddenly the king of pop was on fire, in this never before seen video, you can see the flames shooting from his hair. >> my reaction when i saw this video is just absolute shock. his hair is actually on fire for about eight seconds before anybody steps in to put it out and he continues dancing oblivious to the fact his hair is elite.

>> reporter: jackson kept performing to the cameras and 3,000 fan there's to watch. still smoking as people rushed to help. >> when he suddenly realized there was a fire, he put his sequinned white glove on top of his head and tried to put it out. people surround him. >> reporter: he looked shocked. who wouldn't be? with the slowed video you can see the hair singed off. january 1984, michael jackson was at the height of his career but this would become the watershed moment of his life. >> the pepsi commercial going wrong almost pinpoints, really, the beginning of the end. when everything started to go wrong. this is when he first became addicted to painkillers. he was prescribed demerol to get over this injury. >> reporter: "us weekly" magazine obtained the video and posted the it online. to this day the jackson family blames the pepsi incident for many of michael jackson's problems. jermaine jackson spoke with matt about it at neverland. >> i had heard about it when he

had the pepsi burn. >> reporter: 25 years later prescription drugs are at the center of his death investigation. jackson's doctors have turned over medical records, including his dermatologist dr. klein and conrad murray with jackson at the time of his death. dr. murray is now in virtual hiding though his lawyer denies the doctor did anything wrong. his spokesperson tells nbc news he met with investigators twice. the final interview on june 27th, two days after jackson died, lasted three hours. they say he hasn't been served subpoenas or search warrants and that he turned over all documents requested. usc law professor jean rosenblum says prosecutors have an opportunity here to send a message. >> when the whole world is watching you've got a high profile victim, you get more bang for your buck if you go after the people criminally responsible in a situation like that. >> jeff rossen reporting. according to tmz, they're focusing their investigation on

dr. murray and asking for the additional records from the king of pop's dermatologist, arnold klein. a big day for the television industry and an even bigger day for tina fey. emmy nod for both her work on "30 rock" and portrayal of the future ex-governor of alaska. a look back at why fey is getting such high praise, next on "countdown." ddddddddd

maybe it was the fancy pageant walk or going rogue on qvc. perhaps she had it at the, "i can see russia from my house." our number one story, tina fey now emmy nominated. only ten more days until sarah palin becomes the ex-governor of

alaska. tina fey's portrayal goes on. she received the nomination for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series category. a category pitting her against two guest stars from fey's old serious "30 rock" which nabbed 22 nominations, highest ever for a comedy in a single season. meanwhile, "saturday night live" scored 13 nominations totals in part for its role during the 2008 presidential campaign season. both shows, of course, can be seen on nbc. now, as fey's fictional palin prepares for a top pop honor, does this mean sarah palin will attend the emmy? a clip courtesy of "saturday night live." >> live from new york -- >> live from new york -- >> it's saturday night! >> i'm john mccain.

i approve this message. >> what's the difference between a -- >> a hockey mom and a pit bull? >> lipstick. ♪ what i got you can't >> because i -- >> great. >> we don't agree on everything -- >> anything. >> barack obama says he wants universal health care. is that so? health care for the entire universe? including osama bin laden? >> i would like to take this opportunity to make my proponent a proposal. effective immediately each of us suspend our campaigns and instead hold a series of three pie eating contests. >> i believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy, and i can see russia from my house. >> i would now like to give each of you a chance to make a closing statement. >> are we not doing the "talent portion?"

♪ ♪ solid as a rock >> who is that under there? >> i enjoy being myself. i'm not going to change who i am just because it's halloween. >> well, that's -- that's great. love your outfit. >> well, i love your outfit. >> thank you. >> i do want the earrings back. >> oh. [ laughter ] >> do i really laugh like that? >> oh -- >> all right, all right. >> barack obama purchased air time on three major networks. we, however, can only afford qvc. >> these campaigns sure are expensive. >> they sure are. >> and who wouldn't want the

complete set of limited edition joe action figures? joe the plumber. joe six pack and my personal favorite, joe biden. you pull this string he talks for 45 minutes. >> i take the amtrak to work every day. after work i take it home. >> listen up, everybody. i'm going rogue right now. so keep your voices down. available now, we got a bunch of these t-shirts. >> i will continue what i've done for 25 years, which is to reach across party lines. somebody that pee pants over here would never even consider. >> oh, no. it's that crazy lady from the mccain rally. oh, no. >> question about obama. i -- do nothing, can't take -- obama [ mumbling ]