together with sean hoare, paul mcmullan was one of the first to go on record alleging illegal activity. he was a features executive. whatever you think of his behavior as a tabloid journalist, is he one of the few to blow the whistle on news corp behavior. mcmullan used to work with rebekah brooks and his professional relationship with her did not end on happy terms. also, we reached out to the spokespeople for brooks, andy coulson and news corporation for their response to mcmullan's allegations. we haven't heard from them at this time, but when we do, we'll pass their response along to you. i spoke with paul mcmullan earlier and asked how being caught up in the story is affecting him. >> i've got at least one story -- and someone else keeps ringing me up. three people on twitter pretending to be me, sending tweets to my family and friends, now concerned about my mental health because other people are pretending to be me. i bought a bar six or seven months ago, it's not safe for me to stand behind my own bar. someone tried to throw a glass in my face. so many people, particularly mps,

paul mcmullan was a reporter and editor at "the news of the world" for more than a decade. >> i woulderview tell anyone i was a reporter, and i would entrap stars to either try and sell me cocaine, that was fairly standard fare. all sorts of, we call them blags, to get information out of people. >> reporter: did you at some point say, we're crossing lines here? >> very much so. but there was no -- there was no concept of, you must stop now. you had to get the story at all costs. >> reporter: we are now learning that more than 4,000 people, celebrities, politicians, victims of crime and tragedy, were targeted by "the news of the world." that reporters were bribing police officers for scoops and stealing to get its store you ares. are we talking about potential criminal charges here? >> oh, yeah. definitely. >> reporter: and tonight, we are hearing that those criminal charges are imminent. a former editor of "the news of the world" is expected to be arrested tomorrow. others will l llow. media critic peter obourn says while officials knew about what was going on, no one would take on mu

paul mcmullan was a reporter and editor at "news of the world." >> it was certainly a really common place practice. >> reporter: this scandal reaches far beyond the murdoch empire. this week, it was revealed that london police were selling the paper scoops in exchange f bribes. there are even allegations that the prime minister, a close friend of murdoch, turned a blind eye, even though he knew what was going on. >> and jeffrey there, even talking of arrests tonight? >> reporter: oh, that's right, diane. a huge criminal investigation is under way involving dozens of police investigators. we are told we should brace for an avalancnc of arrests involving police themselves, as well as reporters and editors. the first arrests could come tomorrow. one of the former editors of the "news of the world." >> jeffrey kofman reporting on the outrage in london tonight. >>> and after 997 days behind bars, casey anthony is getting ready to go home. her lightning fast release putting new pressure on the jurors who acquitted. abc's ashleigh banfield has been covering this case from the beginning and she s

but these are serious allegations and we appreciate you joining us, paul mcmullan is a former reporter with news of the world and he said everyone knew about those plastics and it was encouraged and expect. so this story is going to keep going for a while. >>> we were all led to believe that the roads in los angeles would be some kind of gridlock hellscape right now, a sea of red taillights, bumper to bumper, the 405 one of the busiest highways in the country shut down, well, the warnings must have worked. because it's not that bad right now, paul buchanan is driving from the burbank airport, and lynndie, i see you, how is it going? >> reporter: it's going really well, don, just look around me, this is wide open freeway, see all the open spaces? you just don't see that in l.a., we have made almost i would call it a 75-mile roundtrip and i would say this is probably the best i have ever seen traffic in l.a. in fact, you know, they talk about carmageddon, this is breezy and light and fluid, it's almost like that boy george song, karma chameleon because this is a piece of take. >> be safe

paul mcmullan is a former reporter and editor at the paper. >> you have to get the story at all costs. what would you stop -- would you stop at doing anything to get a ststy? you would go and do anything. >> reporter: even breaking the law? >> absolutely. >> reporter: there are even allegations that reporters at "the news of the woror" bribed police to get scoops. by swiftly killing the paper, murdoch may hope the scandal will go away. that's not likely. the indignation here is enormous. there are already criminal investigations under way. public inquiries to follow. and, elizabeth, we can expect more casualties. >> all right. jeffrey kofman, thanks so much. shocking to hear that reporter say, absolutely, we'll break the law to get the story. >> they hacked 4,000 people. okay. >> my goodness. >>> we turn to the high-stakes showdown in washington over reducing our deficit and raising america's debt limit before our national line of credit expires in the next few weeks. at a white house summit yesterday, congressional leaders and the president agreed to try to hammer out a deal before a