mr. byrd's family reported him missing. ch 19 the body believed to be otis byrd was found hanging from a tree. now, what can this timeline tell authority authorities, jim? >> well, they've got to go back to see everything about mr. byrd including that immediate aftermath that you just described, reverend al. the casino did somebody try to rob him? did they follow him home? were they trying to make it look like a suicide? or did they try to rob money that he won at the casino? did he lose money and was despondent. they've got to talk to people in his life friends, relatives. the did he say anything about wanting to harm himself. and where did the sheet come from? is it from mr. byrd's home or from the grand wizard of the local klan? they've got the find out those answers. but one thing in suicide, remember persons can kill themselves in a lot of strange ways, and you know you got to be prepared that that could be a suicide. but it's a very suspicious death at the moment. >> now, the special agent in charge was asked about rep

mr. byrd's life. we are trying to paint a picture as to what was going on both personally and professionally to help us further identify potential reasons. that's going to be done in conjunction with all other aspects that are potential evidentiary value. the autopsy report et cetera. >> are you aware of any personal problems that he had? >> i'm not going to discuss the nature of his personal life so far because again, that wouldn't be fair to him or his family. we are really going to wait until we find anything that's of evidentiary value. >> reporter: can you talk about [ inaudible ]? >> excuse me? >> reporter: can you tell us whether or not he had been shot in the head? >> so that is not anything that i'm aware of but if there's things that we can provide to you, we will provide that at a later point in time. but no i have no information that there's any type of gun play involved. >> reporter: can you confirm -- >> reporter: let me make sure [ inaudible ]. i want to make sure i understand your comm

mr. byrd's life. we're trying to paint a picture of what was going on both personally and professionally to help us further identify potential reasons. that's going to be done in con conjunction with all other aspects, the autopsy report, et cetera. >> have you discovered any personal problems? >> i'm not going to discuss the nature of his personal life because that wouldn't be fair to him or his family. we're going to wait until we find anything of evidentiary value. >> can you tell us whether he was shot? >> excuse me. >> can you tell us whether or not he had been shot in the head? >> that is not anything that i'm aware of but if there's things we can provide to you, we will provide that at a later point in time. but no i have no information that there was any type of gun play involved. >> we've been listening to officials in mississippi giving an update on the investigation into the death and hanging of a black man. there are 30 people working on the investigation, but they have no conclusions to d

mr. byrd's body was found. told me that as soon as he saw the scene for himself, a black man in mississippi hanging from a tree that he immediately called federal and state investigators to help him with the scene and to help process the scene and he knew that this would be a very tense situation. we spoke with the sheriff just a little while ago earlier today here in the town of port gibson. is that your biggest fear that this was racially motivated? >> yes. i don't want the community to get excited saying it was a white on black thing. that's the worst thing that could happen is people making it into a race issue. that's my biggest fear. i don't want that to happen. that's i want the federal bureau of investigation and the justice department to come out here and help me get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: brooke let's be abundantly clear here. nobody knows exactly for sure just yet what exactly the authorities here are dealing with whether this is a murder or whether this is a suicide, no one knows for su

mr. byrd's bird's life, what was going on personally and professionally to help us identify potential reasons. >> around otis bird's criminal past. in 1980 he was convicted of murdering a woman who lived this this community. he spent some 25 years in prison and was paroled back in 2006 so he has been part of the community for the last eight or nine years and according to the sheriff he had been check income on a regular basis with his parole center. they are looking into his criminal past. we spent time talking to people in the community. it seems that people are hoping for a complete and thorough investigation, they are not jumping into catalogs but many do feel this is foul play considering the circumstances where this happened and how it happened. again we really won't have any answers surrounding the death until an autopsy comes back the preliminary autopsy expected sometime in the last three or four days. antonio. >> thank you jonathan. port gibson mississippi. >>> investigating congressman aaron schock. illinois republican announced his resignation tuesday after an ethics investigation

they are focusing on looking at a storage unit that was owned by mr. byrd waiting for the results of that autopsy. and they are seeking surveillance video from the casino where he was last known to have spent the last day that any of his family and friends saw him. so they are seeking that surveillance video as well. and just continuing to talk with people in this area in a claiborne county. they have spoken to members of the family, with neighbors and anyone who may have seen or spoke with mr. byrd before he obviously disappeared and then lost his life. >> absolutely. talk about the history that he had. because he did spend time in prison. but what i've read people who have come out and say things about him, say he was a quiet, gentle man post that time. >> reporter: yeah. we actually spoke with someone this morning who knew him and said he was quiet and kept to himself. back in 1980 he was involved in an armed robbery in which he shot and killed a store clerk. he spent 26 years in prison in that case but came out of prison in 2006. and those who we spoke

investigators are holding off on saying whether he was killed or if mr. byrd took his own life. >>> stephen king says the governor of maine should man up and apologize in his words for claiming in a radio address that the master of horror does not pay state income taxes in maine. king lives in maine and says he and his family have put out $1 million in state taxes each of them for the past couple of years. > >>> bobbi kristina brown has been moved into a rehab facility, according to a source close to the family. the daughter of whitney houston and bobby brown had been hospitalized since january 31st when she was found unresponsive at her home. >>> unspeakable loss in brooklyn, new york. the city's fire commissioner today calling this the city's worst fire tragedy in nearly one decade. one family losing seven children overnight and it happened in a closed jewish orthodox community in brooklyn that has been hit so hard. we have the details from the newsroom. >> reporter: the new york city fire commissioner says a malfunctioning hot plate left on in the kitchen c

mr. byrd's life. we're really trying to paint a picture as to what was going on, both personally and professionally? >> reporter: evidence recovered from this area close to where the body was found is now at the state crime lab. scott, investigators are hoping to learn more next week when an autopsy is complete. >> pelley: manuel, thanks very much. the fatal shooting of a black man by police in philadelphia led to a community meeting that was supposed to keep the peace. but protesters scuffled with officers when they learned there will be no charges in the death. one protester called police commissioner charles ramsey a pig and told him "black lives matter." >> black lives. hell i've been black longer than most of the folks in the room here, you know. it's not like i just came from mars or something. >> reporter: commissioner ramsey called the crowd embarrassing. 10 people were arrested. eccentric millionaire robert durst is due back in a courtroom on monday. his lawyers want him released before he's

the family identified him as mr. byrd but officials have not released a name or identification of the victim. >> you spoke about the battle taking place in d.c. for his confirmation of loretta lynch. >> it was an interesting conversation and first time he's spoken out at length over the situation over the nomination of loretta lynch. one thing he did say, he's committed to staying as long as it takes, much to the shagrin of republicans who have long criticized him and many who were biding their time for his exit from the department of justice. but he said again, he's there to do the continued work. but he also said that as this battle this debate gets nastier, they are concerned whether race is a factor. that it actually looks bad for as people who are now inside washington and not following this as a sport are sitting back and it looks bad that all of the dysfunction exhibited in congress and senate over the last few years is seeping out once again and it's not good for america in the long term. he said again he's commit

. >> i knew mr. byrd and his family. i had dream in this world they would found a black man hung in a tree. >> reporter: authorities still trying to determine the identity of the body but strongly suspect the deceased is byrd a man they say had a violent past of his own convicted of murdering a white woman in 1980. but authorities are adamant it's too early to know exactly what this is. >> we don't know what happened out there. we don't know if it's a suicide, homicide. >> reporter: the naacp concerned it might be a hate crime is demanding a full scale federal investigation. the fbi is launching a preliminary civil rights probe, but the sheriff was trying to calm concerns and urging a shocked community not to speculate. >> there's no proof that this sis in retaliation for anything that happened in 1980. there is no evidence pointed towards that so let's not make this out to be something it's not. >> reporter: fbi agents now hunting for clues that would reveal what happened. authorities say they knew of no threats against

. -- that mr. byrd did in fact commit suicide as opposed to it being a homicide.ulation and rumors but at this point many in the community, including the head of the naacp say they are withholding judgment including waiting for the autopsy report. hopefully we'll see that in the coming days, back to you, thomas. >> joy reid, thank you so much. the supreme court is set to decide the fate of confederate flags on license plates. at issue, can the dmv prevent a specialty plate featuring the civil war era flag? the texas division of the sons of confederate veterans wanted it but the state blocked it several times. francis is back with more. >> really interesting when you boil it down. it's a free speech challenge here. this is the play here that texas refused to issue as far as the controversy on that. you've got to keep in mind specialty plates are big business in the state of texas. drivers spent $17.6 million on them last year alone. almost 900,000 cars and trucks and motorcycles, it's not first state to jump into the mix when it comes to the controversy here. take

. >>> joining me now is christopher byrd, former senior assistant general counsel for the florida department of environmental protection. mraying climate change or global warming was communicated to you? >> yes, shortly after rick scott was elected in 2010 and was inaugurated at the beginning of the next year, 2011, the general counsel's office called a staff meeting with all the lawyers to warn us that things were going to change under the new administration and within those changes were certain policies that would prohibit us from using these terms, climate change, global warming, sustainability and even sea level rise. >> wait a second. they told you you could not use the phrase sea level rise in your official capacity for the florida department of environmental protection? >> that is correct. it was a clear direction that this administration was not on board from a partisan position with science regarding climate change. >> this was verbally communicated to you by your manager? >> by my superiors in the office of general counsel, yes. >> did they explicitly say this is coming from the governor? >> no, they did not, but