to an inconvenient truth for governor perry and our nation entire nation and that is that cameron todd willingham was in all likelihood innocent joining me now are two filmmakers who recently finished a movie on the story of cameron todd willingham steve numbs and joe billy jr they're going to tell us what really happened take a look at scenes from stephen jones film titled incendiary willingham case. the road to national signal somewhere. it's no media the city was smothered by need money. is a monster who killed his to. become a death penalty to. fight it he said well if there was a really innocent person executed the name of the show if. people are going to do want to leave that says you. know it will be. different you principles and you don't need those things to say. in the city really it's hard for average to you that's all. it's what i call witchcraft scientists here have rejected your sources are god. but god gets you through our. thing has not gone away by. stephen joe brilliant filmmaking i don't think it's a much more. well it was charged after fire investigators concluded that there w

to an inconvenient truth for governor perry and our nation entire nation and that is that cameron todd willingham was in all likelihood innocent joining me now are two filmmakers who recently finished a movie on the story of cameron todd willingham steve numbs and joe be able jr and they're here to tell us what really happened take a look at scenes stephen jones film titled incendiary that willingham case. in the womb a chanel suit now somewhere in the list didn't. even know me he needed he said he was rather funny body. this is a monster who killed his to. become a death penalty great musical why did he said well if there was a really innocent person executed today we're going to know if. people are going to do it that he says you. know the role of movies or defend your principles and you don't need those things to say . it's all fabricated that's all. it's what i call which. science is here through the cure is yours are not true this is. cause you get your. thing has not gone away. stephen joe brilliant filmmaking i don't think it's a much shorter program william was charged after far investiga

the other surprising thing she tried to use against rick perry is the case of cameron todd willingham, executed by the state of texas in 2004 despite a lot of rather troubling flaws and the evidence used to convict him. despite until the very end he said he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. kay bailey hutchison is a supporter of the death penalty. she raised in her campaign against rick perry, though, the fact perry had intervened in a panel looking into the evidence against cameron todd willingham. hutchison in messing with that panel rick perry both made a mistake and was, quote, trying to ramrod a covering up. this was not in the general election. this is not rick perry running against a democrat or running against somebody who is anti-death penalty. this was a race of two vehemently pro-death penalty republican candidates in texas. which made it a surprising choice for the kay bailey hutchison campaign that they would go after him on the case of cameron todd willingham and whether or not he should have been executed. neither of those surprising choices worked

killing cameron todd willingham, that's us. no one really loses and election over stuff like this. it's true. especially on the right. there really is no compassionate conservative voting bloc holding politicians accountable on issues like this. kay bailey hutchison tried it against rick perry and lost to him by 20. these political fights do not decide elections. these political fights, every bit as much as who we elect in the next election will write what history says about who we are as a country. i habe a cohd. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while l

far beyond the borders of texas now for perry's part the two thousand and four execution of cameron todd willingham who you see right there has raised questions about whether perry did in fact allow an innocent man to be executed willingham was executed for an arson that many fire experts believe he did not commit perry denied a stay of execution for this man based on new scientific and. alice says that there was no evidence of arson at his house so there is a clear case for that that's perry for the mainstream media's part we applaud them a little no kind intended for finally devoting some headlines to perry's death row record after the spectacle of the g.o.p. debate last night but that it took a sensational moment for them to devote any attention to an issue they have been missing while other innocent lives are possibly being lost that is what the mainstream media missed. all right we're coming up here on the ten year anniversary of nine eleven and though we know about osama bin laden's death and wars that have cost the country one point two trillion dollars at least that's according to the natio

killing cameron todd willingham, that's us. no one really loses and election over stuff like this, true. especially on the right. there really is no compassionate conservative voting block holding politicians accountable on issues like this. kay bailey hutchison tried it against rick perry and lost to him by 20. these political fights do not decide elections be it these political fights every bit as much as who we elect in the next election will write what history says about who we are as a country. but you go in pieces. [ female announcer ] you can't pass mom's inspection with lots of pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. its diamondweave texture is soft and more durable so it holds up better. fewer pieces left behind. charmin ultra strong. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine

or by the other republicans who share the stage with him in those debates as the case of cameron todd willingham a man accused of killing his three daughters by study his house on fire what do we need to know about this case. well this was the most chilling part of that debate because when governor perry was asked if he ever worried about killing an innocent person he said he didn't worry at all he had no doubts he was absolutely didn't even give it a second thought and yet in the case of cameron todd willingham. after well before he was executed i should say there was very strong evidence that the forensic.

. >> reporter: cameron todd willingham still haunts rick perry. try to shutdown an embarrassing investigation in how willingham was convicted? >> i cannot see any way he would be convicted. i cannot see how a prosecutor would bring the case forward. >> reporter: the innocence project brought the case forward to the science commission. they started looking into whether bad arson techniques were used to convict willingham. sam bassett was head of the commission. he was told the investigation was a waste of state money. >> i could not believe they were injecting themselves into the commission business so directly and confrontationally. >> you got the sense they wanted to influence the outcome? >> yes. that was my sense. they wanted us to stop the investigation. >> reporter: the commission kept working. more fire experts agreed the investigation relied on junk science. seven months later, bassett was told he would not be recommissioned. >> i saw the actions to stop the investigation. >> reporter: why do you think you were taken off the commission? >>

follow the procedures and they found this man guilty every step of the way. >> reporter: cameron todd willingham'sick perry, the question is not only did texas execute an innocent man, but did perry use his power to try to shut down a potentially embarrassing investigation into how willingham was convicted. if there was no arson, willingham would not have been executed. >> if this case went to trial today, i cansee any way that w l willi willingham would be executed. >> reporter: the innocence project brought it to an obscure state agency called the texas forensic science commission which started looking into whether bad arson investigative techniques were used to convict willingham. >> that the science was, indeed, junk science. >> reporter: sam basset was head of the commission and said he was call under to a heated meeting with two governor's aides and said the investigation was a waste of state money. >> i couldn't believe they were injecting them selves into the commission business so directly and so confrontationally. >> they wanted to influence the outcome, i guess? >> yes. that was my sens

cameron todd willingham i think that was an area. i don't i it's almost like there's a conspiracy of silence and it's quite remarkable here's ron paul was asked the question by c.n.n. you know what if a guy is dying he's in a coma he's thirty years old he's uninsured what do you do. this why did you have to. thank you. are you saying society should just let him die. you know. yeah just let him die it's comically bad the way these people react on this stuff and yeah i you know i again i think that the impulse there is you know. conservatism is a lot about you know if somebody gets something they always feel it's at their own expense you know they don't see the we you know society that takes care of itself the way you know we sort of ernie's benefits you know we we earn you know a certain safety net because. you know the companies that are can flourish in our system you know if they don't provide health care you know the seating that steps in and helps people out. but the thing that blows my mind is i mean you think back to like the si

cannot simply be allowed to just go away like governor perry is trying to have happen with cameron todd willingham execution another innocent man so we i think in the abolition movement see to it that it is our job to see to it that the rate of the people of the united states wake up to the fact that we are viewed as barbarians by people around the world as a result of our continued use of the death penalty when life in prison without the possibility of parole is is as. effective if not more effective deterrence and as effective if not more effective a punishment for grievous comment and an even less about side which i was and oh so incredibly less expensive we're wasting one hundred four hundred eighty four million dollars a year here in california as an example every year we have an executed anybody in six years and every year we're wasting hundred eighty four million dollars to simply keep alive this death penalty system and i organization that definitely focused on what you mentioned earlier is going to be part of a coalition that will put on the ballot for the next year's election. an alterna

when it came to the case of duane edward buck we told you about yesterday or the case of cameron todd willingham who also could have been innocent but has been executed now there are hundreds of cases like this and expose the reliance on bad testimonies in our court systems expose a racial injustice and we see what we can with our resources to bring them to you to shine a light on that injustice to try to make includes not only a week before an execution to take place but americans hear about people lecturer davis but the mainstream media the cable channels that have massive budgets affiliates all across the country that have resources to actually investigate what they choose to pass they'd rather bring on aghast and talk about celebrity gossip executions especially executions where there is no way for certain itself to convicted guilty now that we'd rather miss. well today we have yet another unfortunate anniversary you could call it the third birthday of the financial crisis that's right three years ago today lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy the new markets tumbling lending basically the e

bones about it he feels completely comfortable putting inmates to death even the case of cameron todd willingham where there is ample evidence of perry executed an innocent man now the state executing another man just a few days ago execution would bring the state's record to two hundred and thirty six deaths that's a statistic that is completely mind boggling and according to lubbock avalanche journal a newspaper based in lubbock texas the average cost of indictment to execution alone adds up to one point two million dollars per person sometimes a trial team for these cases are over two hundred thousand dollars so it's a lot of newspapers reported it's far more cost effective and safe to instill a life in prison punishment and it's something death penalty and in fact this looks like preparing just doesn't play that way. i'm talking about the revolving door corruption cronyism whatever you want to call it it's rampant in our political culture these days and so we have another piece of evidence to prove it according to a study conducted by ledger storm nearly five thousand four hundred former con

one is of course the case of cameron todd willingham that you have covered which deals with a man thatvernor perry executed based on unreliable arson evidence and now what is shown to be the perjurious testimony of the jailhouse snitch. everybody -- most disinterested legal observers believe that there's powerful evidence that willingham was innocent and executed. but what's even worse about it is governor perry has been engaged in a concerted campaign to cover up the fact that the arson evidence in that case was unreliable. now, that's extremely serious issue. there is also a case, the last person that george w. bush executed, claude jones, we went back and found hair that was the key legal evidence in the case, post-execution dna test was done on that and showed that it wasn't his. so these are very troubling cases. >> barry scheck, i appreciate your time tonight. ari melber, "the nation" magazine, thank you so much. thanks for joining us.

cameron todd willingham's carrying has been examined.hing that he's going to have to explain in this campaign. >> let's go back to this case. you have intrigued me there, but let me go to this case. how -- i understand they were at a hamburger joint, it was late at night, they were all inside looking out the window, just imagine looking out the window into the dark. how do you see something like that happen? did they all come out and watch it? how close were these nine witnesses? >> they were from varying different distances. as you have accurately been saying all day, seven of them recanted and were subject to suggestive procedures. the eighth is the guy that everybody said committed the crime, certainly the defense's theory, but the ninth witness, right? he was almost like 110, 120 feet away, and i can show you scientific analyses that even that far away, you did hot see the features on somebody's face. >> i continued it outstanding. it was it is mid sell of the night, right? you're sitting in a blurringer joint before you go home, som

the one name you should remember is cameron todd willingham was convicted of a triple homicide of his children? e in texas and put to death on governor perry's watch. this was a guy about whom it was an arson case allegedly. the science was later questioned. people often asked is an innocent person, someone that there is a consensus that this was an innocent person, has an innocent person ever been put to death and after the new yorker had a 16,000-word story written by david grant, many think that's the one. it will be interesting to see because in texas, there may be an adjudication where the legal system said that guy was innocent and governor perry will have to answer for it. >> we're will see what happens if that question is brought up to the candidates and if it gets the horrible reaction that it received the last time around. stunning reaction none the less. greatly appreciate your time. we are watching wall street as the stocks plunge. take a look at this. the dow is down 448 points. the sell off blamed on mounting fears of a global recession as new data showed a slow down in

one is the case of cameron todd willingham which deals with a man that governor perry executed basedd now is the testimony after jailhouse snitch. everybody -- most disinterested legal observers believe there is powerful evidence that willingham was innocent and executed. what is worse about it is governor perry has been engaged in a concerted campaign to cover up that the arson evidence in that case was unreliable. that's an extremely serious issue. there is also a case, the last person that george w. bush executed, claude jones, we went back and found a hair that was a key legal piece of evidence in the case. post execution dna test was done on that, and showed it wasn't his. so these are very troubling cases. >> barry scheck, i appreciate your time tonight. ari, the nation magazine, thanks so much. thanks for joining us. our coverage of the execution of troy davis continues. [ carrie ] i remember my very first year as a teacher, setting that goal to become a principal. but, i have to support my family, so how do i go back to school? university of phoenix made it doable. i wouldn't

called david graham who wrote a lengthy story about a man who was executed one of the 234 cameron todd willingham, and my hunch is that brian williams had that case in mind, because there is a school of thought out there that a innocent personb was executed in texas and look out if that emerges in the state of the election. >> thank you, both. >>> next on "newsnation," newly released audiotapes offer a chilling new glimpse into the morning of 9/11. >> we have several situations going on here and it is escalating big time, and we need to get the military involved in it. >> what is going on? >> get me somebody who has the authority to get military in the air now. >> and chuck schumer made an emotional speech on the floor this morning remembering the victims of 9/11. >>> and jury selection begins in the trial of michael jackson's doctor conrad murray. >>> and olympian arrested, paul hamm for assault. details ahead on "newsnation." r, r, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever thin

case that i hope you will be covering as the president campaign continues, and that's of cameron todd willinghampoke of that earlier tonight. there's so much there. we do know this. that if we did not have the death penalty in this country, only, we wouldn't be in this situation tonight. we'll find out if this is a turning point for this country in the way we view this. this has been gut-wrenching to watch and i think that there are, as i speak tonight, i think that there probably are a lot of americ americans really wondering if this man is guilty and did our system really fail? is this the number one case to point to in our judicial system and in our country's history that tells us that we are going down the wrong road? barry scheck, we've got to move along, of the innocence project, we appreciate your time tonight. and thank you so much. we'll have more on this breaking news, the united states supreme court has denied the request for a stay of execution of troy davis. stay with us. it's nice 'n easy colorblend foam! permanent color with tones and highlights. now in a delightful foam. just thr

. >> reporter: cameron todd willingham's execution still haunts rick perry, and the question is not only a innocent man, but did perry use his power to shut down an investigation. if there was no arson, willingham would not have been executed. >> if this trial went to case today i cannot see any way willingham would be connected or a prosecutor would bring the case forward today. >> it brought the case to a texas forensic science commission and it started to look into whether bad arson techniques were had. there was a heated meeting with two governor aides and told the investigation was a waste of state money. >> i could not believe they were injecting themselves into the commission business so directly and confrontationally. >> you got the sense they wanted to influence the out come? >> yes, that was my sense they wanted us to stop the investigation. >> more fire experts agreed it was junk science. and then basset was suddenly told he was not being reappointed because the governor wanted to take it in a different direction. >> i saw a drum beat to stop the investigation. >> why do you t

. >> reporter: cameron todd willingham's execution haunts rick perry, the question is not only did texasnt man, but did perry use his power to try to shut down a potentially embarrassing investigation into how willingham was convicted? if there was no arson, willingham would not have been executed. >> this case went to trial today i can't see any way he would be convicted. i can't see any way that a prosecutor would bring this case forward node. >> reporter: the innocence project brought the case to the texas forensic science commission, which started looking into whether bad arson investigative techniques were used to convict willing ham. >> the science was indeed junk science. >> reporter: sam basset was head of the commission. he was called into a heated meeting with two governors aides and told the investigation was a waste of state money. >> i couldn't believe it. they were injecting themselves into the commission business so directly and confrontationally. >> you have the sense they wanted to influence the outcome? >> yes, that was my sense they wanted us stop the investigation. >>