goodness of, you know, some of the reporters and the producer from nbc who came and brought me rum, guyanese rum, and i took swigs of it to get through that night. >> reporter: shortly after the attack jim jones sent more than 900 of his followers at the georgetown complex to their death. he ordered them to drink a cyanide laced beverage. >> i walk around now with the scars and baggage of that tragedy. >> what troubles me most as i look back at it is we had a state department that failed us. we had local law enforcement that failed us. we had local government that failed us because there were so many telltale signs of illegal activity. and that alone should have prompted scrutiny. >> reporter: spear says jones town taught her that we have to be suspicious of groups that operate in secrecy while claiming the first amendment right of freedom of religion. they need to be reported if they commit crimes. >> i'm a roman catholic, and and looked at the catholic church and how they allowed these priests who were pedophiles to just be recirculated into another parish when they had an obligation to go to