abc's jim avila has been following this story from the very beginning and comes to us from bellefonte, pennsylvania. >> reporter: bill, the emotions have been building in the penn state community for nearly a year. tonight they erupted on the courtroom steps. a huge crowd cheering the prosecution and cat calls and boos at jerry sandusky as his defense team. inside the courtroom i was five rows behind jerry sandusky, his shoulders were slumped, his hands in his possibility. his shoulders going deeper into his body and the head juror recited the guilty verdict hah 45 times. jerry sandusky, hands cuffed in front of him, on the way to jail tonight and possibly to prison for the rest of his life. while in the front of the courthouse, cheers erupt as the verdict is read. jerry sandusky, guilty on 45 counts of child molestation. the verdict closes the final chapter to a story that has no heroes. leaving the reputation of penn state football, one of america's most loved programs tatters. joe paterno, fired before he died. >> almost more horrifying the abuse itself, the revelation that officia

here is abc's jim avila for tonight's "nightline" investigates. >> it may not feel like it to little eve da lin ski, but her mother is just trying to do the right thing. >> julie's daughter just turned a year old. that means it's time to get the latest round of shots recommended by the federal government. vaccines that protect against 16 pretty bad, even deadly diseases. julie heard a lot of unfounded talk from friends about whether vaccines like these might do more harm than good. >> few seconds of crying, then she gets past it. >> scientists have repeatedly debunked widely publicized concerns that childhood vaccines cause autism. but the controversy scared a lot of parents. the lars thing public health officials need is a self induced vaccine crisis. but tonight, that's exactly what they have. the federal government's own investigators finding serious problems with the vaccine supply. the health and human services inspector general, the government's watchdog, made an alarming discovery. even surprising themselves when they found dose after dose haphazardly stored in resfrij ray tor

jim avila, abc news, bellefonte, pennsylvania. >> what a scene inside that court.s now, a dangerous new escalation in syria. secretary of state hillary clinton says there is evidence that russia is sending attack helicopters to the syrian government. there have been hopes the russians would be part of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. the issue is certain to increase tensions as president obama prepares to meet russian president putin next week. >>> a "wall street journal" reporter has now stepped down following revelations that she had an affair with a top u.s. security official in iraq. leaked e-mails show that gina chung was relying on him for access and information while the two were romantically involved. mcclerk was married at the time and now president obama's choice for u.s. ambassador to iraq. that nomination though certainly now in jeopardy. >>> the head of the nation's largest bank says he is sorry and the testimony he plans for a congressional hearing today, ceo jamie dimon says jpmorgan chase has taken steps to make sure a trading gamble will not ha

abc's jim avila reports on yesterday's star witness. >> reporter: a woman on a mission. dottie sandusky marches into court to save the remaining days of the man she has known and loved for nearly 50 years. taking the witness stand at a wink, directed at her husband,jerry, she capped the defense's strongest day yet with spirited testimony, to claim he was too busy to molest children. while delivering a non-too subtle attack on the boys who say the coach molested them. >> i see dottie sandusky a loyal wife. these boys were there, in the home, with frequency. and in the basement. and being tucked into bed by her husband. >> reporter: the 69-year-old dottie hails from tennessee. she and jerry met as college sweethearts. he calls her sarge because she's in charge at home. married 45 years with 6 adapted children. in a firm but soft voice, mrs. sandusky denied the state college home where she lives with jerry was a house of horrors for little boys. alleged victim number nine told jurors last night he was assaulted in her basement while she was at home and screamed for help. bu

jim avila tells why his lawyers decided there was no good reason to put him on the stand. >> reporter: too many things could go wrong, we were told, as demonstrated in sandusky's media interviews. this one with "the new york times." >> if i say i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth. i'm attracted to young people. boys, girls. to confirm that sandusky was onboard, the judge called sandusky into chambers, where his right to testify was explained again. there, sandusky agreed not to take the stand, in front of attorneys from both sides and on the record in front of the judge. >> it's a very difficult decision for a lawyer. if you lose, the client sit there's and says, if i only could have told my story, maybe this wouldn't have happened. >> reporter: if sandusky is convicted on all counts, he would have a theoretical 500 years in jail to contemplate this quick decision. the jury gets the case next. jim avila, abc news, bellefonte, pennsylvania. >>> closing arguments are slated today for a case in norway. today, prosecutors will reveal whether they think he is insane or not. and

jim avila, abc news, washington. >>> in other news this morning, the al qaeda's second in command was killed in pakistan. back in 2005, al libi was in u.s. custody in afghanistan. but he managed to escape and flee to pakistan. since then, he had become a powerful and efficient operational leader for al qaeda. the white house says his death leaves a huge hole in the terror network. >>> the u.s. has pulled funding for pakistan's version of "sesame street" after reports that the local puppet theater working on the project was involved in corruption. the state department has laid out nearly $7 million of its $20 million budget for the show. >>> a huge dock has washed ashore in oregon. and there's speculation it may have come from the japanese tsunami. the dock is now resting on a beach. and officials haven't decided how they're going to remove it. they say there's no evidence it crossed the pacific. but if it did, what a voyage. >> incredible amount of debris. millions of tons. >>> time, now, for a look at weather from across the country. cooler than normal, with scattered showers in the

abc's jim avila reports from pennsylvania. >> reporter: jerry sandusky began his uphill defense case,acked by former coaching colleagues and long-time friends. who in rapid-fire testimony told jurors sandusky is a local hero with a great reputation. and showering with boys was not unusual in the athletic world. but in the end, they were only character witnesses, shedding little light on the actual 51 abuse charges. >> sandusky has been portrayed by the prosecution as nothing less than a monster. what does the defense have? they have other people that see him own know him differently. >> reporter: the defense won't take long. the judge telling jurors he expects them to get the case thursday. he did not tell them whether the defendant will take the stand, as sandusky's attorney earlier hinted. and as sandusky left court -- >> jerry what do you think of day one of your defense? >> reporter: he refused to confirm a witness box, to tell jurors who he told "the new york times" time months ago. >> these allegations are false. i didn't do those things. >> reporter: sandusky's wife of 46 years

we begin with jim avila on the case from the beginning. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, it was a late-night dramatic emotional verdict, that left this town, penn state community, wielding from the biggest scandal in college sports history and they're now trying to recover. still ringing in his ear, jerry sandusky taken away in handcuffs. assigned jail number 120529. a football hero now trying to stay alive in the system. his wife dottie brought him supplies. he's allowed shoe, socks from home. personal photo, letters and bible. >> this is not a surprise much the surprise had been jerry sandusky been acquitted of all or most charges filed against him. >> reporter: amendola told abc news it was the about face by his adopted son that kept him off the stand. >> jerry realized if he had not testified it would destroy whatever chance he had for an acquittal. >> reporter: it was not only his life as a pedophile. but penn state promises a statement to accept a responsibility. and attempt to reach settlements with sandusky's victim. ma

here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: a final disturbing revelation. sandusky, prosecutors say, could have been stopped more than a decade ago. this 25-year-old man, who during his alleged encounter with the former football coach, remembers his mentor calling himself the tickle monster. it was deep inside the penn state showers. the boy, 13 then. sandusky, he says, bear hugging him. saying, i'm going to squeeze your guts out. the boy tells his mom immediately. and police set up a sting. sandusky and mom in one room. police listening in another. the officer tells the jury he heard sandusky say, i wish i could ask for forgiveness. i know i won't get it from you. i wish i were dead. police consider it a confession. and tell the district attorney, charges warranted. but nothing is filed. and according to prosecutors, six more boys are abused before sandusky is finally arrested in 2 2011. >> an opportunity that wasn't missed just by one person. it was missed by multiple people. >> reporter: the prosecution, all by resting its case. the final witness telling

jim avila, abc news, washington. >>> and time now to bring in abc's legal analyst. dan, it took a lot of courage for these eight young man. did they lock up the case? >> i think so. the defense has been able to point out inconsistency. but when you have witness after witness after witness offering these consistent accounts of what happened, how it happened, the grooming process, where things happened. that's what makes this case so incredibly compelling. >> what possible defense will sandusky offer? >> he will say he was misunderstood. but i don't really see how they present a substantive defense without sandusky taking the stand. i don't see how they put him on the stand, considering what we've already heard from him publicly. >> in the television interviews. remind us again how long a conviction could put him in jail? >> certainly totality of the 52 counts up to life. we're talking about 30 felonies, 22 misdemeanors, up to 20 years on each one. so it is hard to imagine a situation where jerry sandusky did not spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. >>>

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jim avila, abc news, washington. >>> now, we turn to healthy living. that aspirin alert. the growing trend among a lot of people of taking a small aspirin, low dose, every day to prevent heart attacks and strokes. today the medical association raised a red flag, saying the risks of bleeding even from low dose aspirin everyday is greater than they thought. abc's dr. richard besser is here. >> reporter: we've known for years that aspirin can cause bleeding. they looked at hundreds of thousands of people high blood pressure, high clost rale they found that the risk of leading was five times as great as we originally thought. here is why that matters. say you take 10,000 people put them on low dose aspirin, you would prevent about seven heart attacks number at the same time, you would see five people with serious bleeding, could be a stroke, it could be a bleeding to their sbesens. that's not a great tradeoff. it's very different if you take 10,000 people who had a havg. their going to prevent about 250 heart attacks. >> if you've not had a heart attack, the tradeoff is not g

i'm jim avila in washington. >> some of them store it in those mini fridges that you almost had likellege dorm room. i know i'm going to take dr. besser's advice. next time i go to the pediatrician, i'm going to ask to see them. >> if they say anything when you ask to see it with your own two eyes. >> if they won't let me, then they have something to hide and i'll see a new pediatrician. >>> we'll be back with more after this. >>> a fascinating and unusual spectacle has been viewed by millions. the transit of venus 2012. >> from the u.s. to asia, venus was seen as a tiny black beauty spot on the face of the sun. you can see it right there. >> if you missed it, you won't be able to see it again for a very, very long time. abc's scott goldberg has details. good morning, scott. >> reporter: hi rob and paula. back in the day, the 1700s to be exact, astronomers used the transit of venus to calculate the earth's distance from the sun. nowadays, it's just kind of cool. the last time this happened, it was 2004. the transit of venus. the celestial wonder happens only twice a century. two tran

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abc's national correspondent jim avila was in the courtroom. >> reporter: a woman on a mission, dottie sandusky marches into court to save the remaining days of the man she has known and loved for nearly 50 years. taking the witness stand with a wink directed at her husband jerry, she capped the defense's strongest day yet, with spirited testimony that claimed he was too busy to molest children, while delivering a non too subtle attack on the boys who say the former penn state coach assaulted them. >> i saw in dottie sandusky's testimony a loyal wife, a wife who had to concede the obvious points in the prosecution case which was that these boys were there in the home with frequency and in the basement. and being tucked into bed by her husband. >> reporter: the 69-year-old dottie hails from tennessee, she and jerry met as college sweethearts, he calls her sarge, because she is in charge at home. married 45 years with 6 adopted children. today, in a firm but soft voice, mrs. sandusky denied the state college home where she lives with jerry was a house of horrors for little boys. alleged

the judge says he'll sentence him officially in 90 day, david. >> jim avila on this case from the start. thanks to you. i want to bring in senior legal analyst dan abrams, you and i were tweeting last night. something still striking to people 20 he hours later. sandusky's own attorney asks if this proves his client a sick man after his overwhelming message from the jury. look what he said. >> does that prove to me my client is sick? the answer was no. you know, folks, there are lots of people sitting in jails across this country who are innocent. there have been people, lots of people, lots of people -- may i finish? >> nearly booed off the courthouse steps incredible to listen to. >> this is a press conference that he should not have held. he doesn't want to quite say his client is innocent. he certainly doesn't want to start pointing the finger at the victims in this case. he should have come out and made a quick statement and called it a day. i think this hurt him an his client more than it did help. >> you saw our teams reporting that dottie sandusky, his wife, didn't shed a tear wh

abc's senior national correspondent jim avila gives us an exclusive look at the s.w.a.t. teams moving in. >> reporter: they were horrifying crashes. bus drivers falling asleep on crowded freeways, their 40,000 pound coaches careening out of control. one in new york killing 14 passengers. >> sheared the bus nearly in half. >> reporter: the other in virginia, killing four, injuring 54 more when this discount ride flipped. >> the bus came to rest on its roof. >> reporter: overall, since march of last year, 22 deaths, 169 people injured on these buses. accidents the government says highlight the risk of climbing aboard the curbside budget bus. >> just must more affordable. >> reporter: picking up passengers on the street. no depot, for fares as low as a buck, but with safety records seven times worse than the higher end greyhound, says the ntsb. accidents that today led to the largest single safety crackdown in department of transportation history. and this month, surprise inspections in 13 states and the district of columbia. checking tires, lights -- >> reverse! >> reporter

jim avila is covering the trial. >>> how are you feeling this morning?s called a serial predator but says he only treated boys like a father with harmless touching and no sexual intent heard the first witness against him tell a completely different and horrifying account of years of sexual abuse that included more than 40 individual attacks at the hands of jerry sandusky. some in the penn state shower. some at sandusky's house. others on the road with the penn state football team. >> it is clear. it is concise. it meets the elements of the law and the case law against him. it sets forth that involuntary deviate sexual intercourse happened. >> reporter: prosecutors corroborated the victim's testimony with pictures of expensive gifts and love letters. one letter had a lewd title written in the third person in sandusky's handwriting on penn state letterhead. hope there will be meaning to what we had together. and finally, you seemed as if you bought into everything and were doing well. >> that letter is clearly sexually oriented. it is clearly telling this

abc's jim avila reports from pennsylvania. >> reporter: two big men on campus, the defensive coach whor u, jerry sandusky, now an accused child molester, versus the protege, a young, thick-necked red-headed offensive coach named mike mcqueary, staring each down from across a courtroom. high drama as mcqueary in a loud, strong voice, recalled another time he was in the same room with sandusky, a locker room. watching, he testified, a raw sexual assault on a little boy. this was the moment that would eventually lead to the firing of coaching legend joe paterno and tarnish the reputation of this country's most respected football program forever. >> here was the man who literally brought penn state to its knees. >> reporter: mcqueary practically barked his testimony telling his story of the assault he saw and heard in the penn state locker room. leaving him quote, embarrassed, walking in on something that i did not want to see. three quick looks before slamming a locker, quote, i made the loud noise to say someone else is here, break it up. mcqueary saying he had no doubt about what he saw

here is jim avila. >> reporter: dave landis and his family live near the centers or disease control, has for years and this is the first time it cost him sleep. >> the lab, it has a chance to affect all of us. >> reporter: the cdc is surrounded by neighborhoods. and lindis is worried that the safety labs are not secure. no one is affected but the "usa today" has discovered safety protocol. air from a secure area leaked into a clean zone and workers are concerned. >> the cdc needs to look into whether those are isolated incidents or whether that's the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: the level three labs are used to experiment with some of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases, the sars virus and even monkey pox. dr. richard besser said what concerns him is that the labs don't report to an outside agency. they police themselves. >> they would have shut that lab done. >> reporter: the cdc in a statement told abc news, the unique facilities that multiple systems in place. in fact, scientists in the lab wear scrubs and put on pressurized suits. before moving room to room, they m

jim avila, abc news, washington. >>> now we turn to "healthy living," that aspirin alert. the growing trend among a lot of people of taking a small, low-dose aspirin everyday to prevent heart attacks and strokes. today "the journal of american medical association" raised a red flag saying the risk of bleeding even from low-dose aspirin everyday is greater than they thought. abc's dr. richard besser is here to explain. >> we've known for years that aspirin can cause bleeding. here they look at hundreds of thousands of people who are on aspirin. the risk factors for heart disease and high cholesterol and they found that the risk of bleeding was five times as great as we originally thought. here is why that matters. say you took 10,000 people with risk factors for heart disease and put them on aspirin, you would prevent about seven heart attacks, not a lot. at the same time, you would see five people with serious bleeds. it could be a stroke, bleeding into their intestines. that's not a great tradeoff. it's very different if you take 10,000 people who have had a heart attack.

jim avila, abc news, washington. >> watching that "new york times" interview is still cringe worthy tono pseudonyms as the victims wanted. and as many as eight alleged victims are expected to testify starting with victim number four whose story you heard partially in that piece. >> the trial will begin on monday. but they have evidence to support the allegations. there's other evidence that hasn't been released to the public yet they say will really resonate with the jury. i sort of remember reading that grand jury testimony and just the descriptions and the skin slapping against skin and just -- it gave me just -- it was creepy. creepy and very disturbing. >> and if there's a letter, you can't imagine how that -- >> the physical evidence. the golf clubs. >> what else left to say? gifts, letters. seems like an incredibly damning case against sandusky coming up. again, we'll see on monday. >>> another huge story this morning. wisconsin governor scott walker has survived an effort to get him out of office. >> democrats and organized labor unions had targeted walker after he stripped stat

jim avila, abc news, bellefonte, pennsylvania. >>> why if money is the motivation here, why would theen now, lie about something so personal, tell me that society attaches such a stigma to, why would the stories be consistent, the sandusky interviews with "the new york times" so creepy, basically admitted attraction to a certain extent. it seems like this thing has to not be related to money to some extent. >> the evidence has been corroborated. it seems like most of these incidences if you read the grand jury testimony, months ago, a lot of the cases, started in the shower, throwing soap at one another. victim four said i didn't have a dad around, i didn't have a father figure. i am in high school. at this point, people are jealous, other people are jealous, they see him going to the games, getting the gifts that sort of thing. that is really the type of kid he preyed on with his foundation, the second mile. >> as part of the football program he was an authority figure on that campus, he was a giant on that campus. >> a father figure, and bad father figure. >>> in other news, an inte

and abc's jim avila was there for it all. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. there were 9 days of testimony and 20 hours of deliberation, leading to 45 guilty counts. but those numbers fail to capture the real emotions here in the penn state community. emotions that burst like an overstretched balloon on these courthouse steps. outside the courtroom, a crowd gathered, hungry for justice. nearly a year's worth of hostility, spilling on to the courthouse steps. >> he's going to be going to hell forever. >> i hope every day, he rots in that prison. >> reporter: jerry sandusky, his hands cuffed. the first night of the rest of his life behind bars. the jury convicting him of 45 counts of abusing little boys. a penn state icon, now just another pedophile heading to prison. >> there's no doubt that these jurors believe that jerry sandusky's a monster. that's what they said in this verdict. >> reporter: inside court, sandusky stood for the verdict. hands in his pocket, his shoulders slumping deeper with each guilty. >> jerry was saddened. he teared up a little bit. >>