for "nightline," i'm jim avila in state college, pennsylvania. >> what a disturbing and sad story. we'll keep up posted on it. thanks to jim avila. >>> just ahead, we're going to shift gears altogether, take you inside the house that shaq built. he lets us in on his secret plans for life after basketball. i heard they found energy here. it's good. we need the jobs. [customer:] we need to protect the environment. [worker:] we could do both. is that possible? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs. less emissions. a good answer for everyone. well, if it's cleaner and affordable. as long as we keep these safe. there you go. thanks. [announcer:] conocophillips. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> on the court, he was dominant, the big man in the middle. and somehow ore 19 years in the nba, shaquille o'neal kept up an offcourt profile to match, acting, rapping, fill los fizing all over. above all, entertaining. now, at 39, he's hung up his sneakers for good, and the que

and here's abc's jim avila in los angeles with the latest. jim? >> reporter: bill, the houston cardiologist brought to los angeles at a whopping $150,000 a month to try to put michael jackson to sleep tonight sleeps in the los angeles county jail. conrad murray, a friend and personal doctor to one of the most famous men in the world found guilty of killing his one and only patient. michael jackson's parents, two of his sister, two of his brothers rushing to court with high hopes. la toya tweeting en route verdict is finally in. i'm shaking uncontrollably. promising followers that michael would be with them in the courtroom assuring the right verdict. once inside, the family sat just a few feet away from the stoic dr. conrad murray. the moment's tension broken by a scream from la toya as the verdict was read. >> we, the jury, in the entitled action find the defendant, conrad murray, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. >> reporter: outside the courtroom -- hundreds erupted in shouts of justice as back inside prosecutors were asking for conrad murray

abc's jim avila was there and has the latest tonight. jim? >> reporter: bill, there was no holding back from either side today in closing argument. this was street fighter litigation, with the prosecution blasting conrad murray as incompetent, saying his mistakes and his negligence led directly to michael jackson's death. while the defense contended that, in fact, it was michael jackson and his terrible lifestyle that killed michael jackson. >> for michael's children, this case will go on forever, because they do not have a father. >> reporter: it was the jacksons not in court that dominated the emotional opening act of the district attorney's closing argument. the prosecution searching for a sympathetic victim, turned away from michael jackson's mess of a life and instead to the nenls of children. >> they do not have a father because of the actions of conrad murray. >> reporter: the prosecutor weaving a story of a michael jackson who wanted to clean up his life and hit the concert tour so his children would see him perform and he could settl

here's abc's jim avila. >> it was unnatural from the beginning. >> reporter: she knows jerry sandusky all too well. debra long shares a child with him. hers by birth, his first as a foster child and at age 18, adopted as an adult. after a relationship that began when matt was just 10 years old. >> when it first started, you could see that he was, like, excited to see jerry show up. and as it progressed, it got to the point where he would look out the window, see jerry pull in and hide behind a bedroom door. >> reporter: matt has said publicly he was never molested and to this day has aligned with his adopted father. but his mother does not believe it and says coach sandusky stole her son's affections from her with the same predatory skills prosecutors say he used on eight alleged victims of sexual assault. meeting her son at the children's charity, second mile, mentoring him. a mom giving insight into what she and prosecutors contend are sandusky's grooming techniques. >> it was jerry sandusky. any 10-year-old kid is going to be impressed by penn state football. it's a game here or a

jim avila, abc news, los angeles. >>> the texas judge shown on videotape beating his disabled daughter with a belt will not face criminal charges. police say simply too muff time has gone by to go forward with the case. william adams, who actually presides over child abuse cases, is being investigated by the state judicial conduct commission and the family protective services. he told a texas tv station that the video, quote, looks worse than it actually is. >>> the 20-year-old woman who is suing teen idol, justin bieber, for child support, could be in hot water herself. she says he fathered the son two years ago. but bieber was 16 then. the two issues are totally separate and that bieber has a duty to provide for his son. >> wow. >>> time, now, for your sports news. here's the gang at espn news. and mr. will selva. >> good morning. and with one win, florida state would become bowl-eligible. but standing in their way was boston college. florida state came out pumped up. b.c., oh, boy. this isn't good. calvin smith all over it, as florida state takes possession. then, they take full adv

abc's jim avila reports from state college. >> it was unnatural from the beginning. >> reporter: shenows jerry sandusky all too well. deborah long shares a child with him. hers by birth. then, first at a foster child, then adopted as an adult. after a relationship that began when matt was just 10 years old. >> when it first started, you could see that he was excited to see jerry show up. and then, as it progressed, it got to the point where, he would look out the window and see jerry pull in and hide behind the bedroom door. mom, tell him i'm not here. >> reporter: matt has said publicly he was never molested. and to this day, is aligned with his biological weather. and his mother does not believe it. and said coach sandusky stole her son's affections from her, with the same predatory skills prosecutors say he used on at least eight alleged victims of sexual assault. meeting her son at the children's charity, second mile, mentoring him, a mom getting insight into what she and prosecutors contend are sandusky's grooming techniques. >> it was jerry sandusky. any 10-year-old kid's going

jim avila, abc news, los angeles. >>> how much time will murray serve? we'll get into that with our legal experts on "good morning america." >>> and some sad news from the sports world this morning. boxing great, joe frazier, has passed away. smokin' joe was the first man to defeat muhammad ali. his career will ever be linked to ali's. they fought three times, including epic bouts in the so-called thriller in manila. he lost twice to ali. until late in his life, he always resented being ali's foil. he was diagnosed with liver cancer a few weeks, actually. frazier died last night. he was 67 years old. >>> now, some "monday night football" highlights. we get those from espn news. >> good morning. my name is todd grisham. this is your espn news update. let's show you some "monday night football." are you ready? eagles, hosting the bears. second quarter, bears up 10-3. jay cutler hits matt forte, who was great all game, except for this one, glaring mistake. he is stripped by brian roll, who returns the fumble for a touchdown. we're tied at 10-10. later in th

i'm jim avila, in pennsylvania. >>> to presidential politics. and possible trouble ahead for newt gingrich. bloomberg is reporting that gingrich earned much more in his consulting role for freddie mac than he initially said. thes or sources say the speaker was paid up to $1.8 million for his work. gingrich said the figure was much less, like $300,000. back in may, the campaign suffered an embarrassing disclosure that gingrich had wracked up $500,000 in debt at tiffany's. >>> the international space station is welcoming three, new residents. a russian soyuz capsule docked successfully this morning. it carriy eied the astronauts. they will remain until march. >>> a stormy day in the south, with gusty winds, hail and a chance of tornadoes from montgomery to atlanta and the carolinas. rain from new orleans to nashville. moving later to cincinnati in the northeast. up to a foot of snow in the cascades and northern rockies. and also some rain from seattle to portland. >> 46 in salt lake city. 73 in phoenix. the coldest air of the city from montana to

abc's jim avila is on the case once again for us tonight. jim? >> reporter: diane, abc news has learned exclusively that at least two of the eight victims of the prosecutors say were assaulted by sandusky are in fact ready to stand up and testify against him in court, including victim number one, who told me exclusively, whose mother told me exclusively that he is ready to go. we can only identify her as the mother of the boy the charging indictment against sandusky calls simply victim number one. he said he was repeatedly assaulted in coach sandusky's basement. is your son anxious? >> well, he's scared, but he's ready. he wants him to go to jail and pay for what he's done. >> reporter: now, a second boy is ready to testify, who claims sandusky raped him. >> he's not going anywhere. he intends to testify. >> reporter: his attorney items abc news this afternoon that his client was outraged by sandusky's portrayal of what happened to him as horse play. >> i think he would like to see mr. sandusky assume responsibility for the horrible acts he commi

>> jim avila on this story tonight. >>> across the southeast, new pictures coming in after the rare and deadly autumn tornadoes. 24 of them in 24 hours across six states. one tornado, reportedly 50 miles wide. yunji de nies is in rock hill, south carolina. yunji? >> reporter: good evening, david. the winds here were so strong, they moved this house 50 yards off its foundation, tossing these appliances like toys. you can see there is little left. from the sky, you get a sense of the damage. this home video shows just one of the two dozen tornados to strike the south in the last 24 hours. the violent weather is expected here in the spring, but not fall. so, why now? it all comes down to warm and cool air. when the two collide, they instigate thunderstorms and twisters. mild autumn air here in south mixed with a cold push from the northwest made perfect conditions for deadly storms. rescuers had to dig through this debris to get to the man who lives here, but they tell us he is expected to make a full recovery. david? >> incredible pictures. yunji, thank you. >>> now to made in america thi

jim avila, state college, pennsylvania. >> the plot thickens. guy says he went. filed a report. police say they can't find it. >> he said he had discussions with police. that could mean that he spoke to them, but no formal report was filed. i don't think the statements are inconsistent. >> if i go to the police and say there is no obligation on the police part to file some kind of paperwork. >> not necessarily. sometimes a detailed witness account is found in notes. not necessarily, a filed police report. so he could very well have met with police. just means that a report may not have been generated. >> very interesting, always. switching gears now to talk about the occupy wall street protestors. from new york to california, they are now vowing to dramatically expand their demonstration tuesday. more than 1,000 protestors, in fact, planning to shut down streets in downtown l.a. during morning rush hour the they also plan to drop large banners from the freeway overpasses. meanwhile here in new york, protestors say they'll clog bridges and subway

david. >> jim avila back from penn state tonight. jim, thank you. >>> we move to another blockbuster case making headlines all day today. the hollywood mystery that captivated the nation 30 years ago back in the news tonight. actress natalie wood who decades ago famously spoke about her fear of water drowned in a boating accident off the coast of california. abc's abbie boudreau. >> reporter: we fell in love with her as the wide-eyed girl in "miracle on 34th street." >> go ahead, pull it. >> reporter: as maria in "west side story." but, natalie wood's glamorous life would be overshadowed by her mysterious death. wood drowned in the chilly waters off catalina island boating with her husband robert wagner and fellow actor christopher walken. her death, ruled an accident, but the questions began almost immediately. and today, 30 years later, los angeles sheriff's detectives announced they are re-opening the investigation. >> recently, we have received information which we felt was substantial, enough to make us take another look at this

jim avila is there. >> rep up of seven men and five women, near perfect are flexion of los angeles, tvshow aficionados, return to the ninth floor of the courts building in los angeles 8:30 tomorrow. most observers expect a quick verdict, only one count, involuntary manslaughter but here is the kicker, jurors historically don't like to convict doctors, some people on that alone we could get an aquick at or hung jury but does little good to geese ges when and what the jury will do. stay tuned, perhaps a verdict tomorrow. remember inside that jury room there is a buzzer to communicate with the judge. it's two buzzes if they want to walk around or ask a question, the one we're listening for, three buzzes, they have a verdict. >> jim avila waiting for the buzzer in that courtroom. >>> in florida owners with exotic animals as pets flocked to sea world to gim up the animals without getting into trouble h hundreds exotic pet owners took advantage of the one-day amnesty with pythons to mini marsupials, the program set up for those who can't or won't take care of the pets from releasing them int

jim avila, abc news, penn state. >>> overseas to egypt, where the arab autumn erupted today. tens of thousands protested in tahrir square to demand an end to military rule in a twist, three american students are under arrest. abc's la ma hasan was at the center of it all. >> reporter: they were running out of space in the square today as egyptians poured in, angry that military has broken its promise to hand over power to a civilian government. after four straight days, the violence here is intensifying. you can see the army firing this potent tear gas. it fills the air, it hangs thick in the air and it's very difficult to breathe. you can see people wearing gas masks to protect themselves. ambulances ran in and out of the square. a coffin was carried through. caught up in this melee, three american college students studying at the american university. gregory porter, luke gates and derrik sweeney were arrested, accused of throwing molotov cocktails. we reached sweeney's mother on the phone. >> i can tell from the pictures that he's terrified. >> reporter: before his arrest,

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abc's jim avila has covered this case from the beginning. >> reporter: conrad murray leaving court for nearly two years in los angeles county jail. blows kisses to his mother and girlfriend. but he had none for the judge, who had just sentenced him to the maximum for killing michael jackson. >> the judge was -- i thought he was openly hostile. >> reporter: judge michael pastor became the story today, not just for rejecting conrad murray's plea for probation and instead sentencing michael jackson's former doctor, seen in today's booking photo, to four years. no electronic monitoring or house arrest. a judgment that, because of jail overcrowding, is automatically cut in half. but because of that harsh tone in which that judgment was dealt. >> dr. murray created a set of circumstances and became involved in a cycle of horrible medicine. >> reporter: judge pastor called conrad murray a disgrace to the medical profession, who performed a medical experiment on michael jackson that killed his patient. and even with his medical license taken away, remains a danger to society. especially since

jim avila, abc news, los angeles. >>> well, as jim avila said, michael jackson's fans were overjoyed at the verdict after gathering outside the courtroom for six weeks. the atmosphere was jubilant with cheering, singing, dancing to the superstar's hit songs. kabc's john north was there. >> reporter: as soon as the guilty verdict was announced there was cheering. those who thought conrad murray was unkninnocent left the crowd they left behind crowds that felt conrad murray was guilty on charges. the two crying women brought flowers for the jackson family and started sobbing as they heard the verdict all. up awe love michael since our youth. we are around his age. we grew up listening to his music. just so many things about him. philanthropy work, like no other human being on earth. >> reporter: dozens of reporters and cameras to capture the moments. crews representing media outlets from around the world. some of the fans had been outside the courthouse every day of the trial. like felicia wilson. >> i am happy, doctors are supposed to heal not kill. it shows us the justice system is o

>>reporter: that's jim avila reporting. back live to the berkeley campus where former labor secretary and current cal professor robert rice is speaking to hundreds of occupy protestors who have shown up at sproul plaza on the cal campus tonight. raze has been talking about the importance of free speech to the moment. he has been on the podium a couple minutes. >> supreme court of the united states about -- there are few supreme court decisions that said that essentially money is speech and corporations are people. now when you think that money is speech and corporations are people then it becomes extraordinarily important to protect the first amendment rights of ordinary americans of regular citizens of students of everybody else who doesn't have the money and who is not a corporation. [applause] about by the way i will believe that corporations are people when georgia and texas execute them. [applause] about now the first amendment right to speech that is not always convenient. it is not always inexpensive. it is sometimes

for "good morning america," jim avila, abc news, los angeles. >>> all right.s get more on this now with our "gma" legal analyst, dan abrams. thanks for coming in. we really appreciate it. you have said, there's a real danger for a hung jury. why is that? >> this is a tricky case. there's a lot of evidence that the prosecutors presented that conrad murray did things that he shouldn't have done. there were a lot of things he should have done that he didn't do. but i don't think there's any question he was grossly negligent here. the question is, cause of death. what if the jurors believe there is a chance that michael jackson could have injected the fatal dose. >> reasonable doubt. >> exactly. they could believe that. but there's a potential the jurors could get caught up and in fact, disagree. >> i thought it was incredible they are not sequestered. does the fact they're home with their families, have an impact on this? >> srnly. you don't just sequester. you very rarely sequester juries. the defense asked for sequestation over the weekend. the judge said no. t

for "this week," i'm vim jim avila, state college, pennsylvania. >> an appalling story. >>> up next,g presidential pardon tops agenda next week. we'll explain next. >>> it's been more than a week since the last presidential debate. much more of that kind of fun coming up. here's a look at what's in store for next week in politics. new hampshire is ground zero in the campaign early next week. newt gingrich travels there monday to roll out his plan for entitlement tuesday, president's jobs tour. that night we'll be on gasp control as the republicans hold another debate. wednesday, of course is d-day for the super committee. miss that deadline and heads will roll. not for one lucky turkey who gets a presidential pardon later that afternoon. now for a little something to tide you over until thanksgiving. the sunday funnies. >> another republican debate on saturday. and listen to this, ron paul only got 89 seconds to speak. seriously, rick perry gets more time than that to try to remember something >>> here's now what happened to herman cain's brain. watch. >> okay, libya? >> here to comm