♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, mom on trial. shocking moments inside a michigan courtroom where a jury will decide whether jennifer crumbley is responsible for a son's school shooting. >> i wish he would have killed us instead. >> byron: plus secret struggles. >> wow, anna cook relevant went

blowing by. >> byron: shining in competition, suffering behind the scenes. >> doing all the things you were supposed to do and still felt terrible. >> byron: managing the personal mental health challenges of everyday life. >> i got to a point where i had to start realizing i was deteriorating. >> byron: the paths they found to feel better, the advice they have for others. and glamor and betrayal. >> do you not worry about about it, truman? >> oh, sure. money, aloneness, calories. >> byron: the star-studded cast of the new show that tells the dark story of truman capote. >> he made her feel seen. he made her feel heard. then he betrayed her. >> byron: lifting the curtain on the new york city high life of the legendary writer and his famous friends. >> you have a new best friend. >> byron: his stunning fall from grace. >> i think his demise is part of his fame and lore. >> byron: also, from "rocky" to

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of a school shooter accused of bearing responsibility for the deadly acts of her son. here's abc's trevor ault. >> reporter: the fate of the first parent on trial for their child's deadly school shooting will soon be in the hands of a jury. carly fiorina crumbley charged with four unprecedented counts of involuntary manslaughter, the prosecution claiming she was too wrapped up in hobbies and extramarital affairs to pay attention to her son's cries for help. crumbley took the stand in her own defense. >> i've asked myself if i would do anything differently sxrngs i wouldn't have. i wish he would have killed us instead. >> reporter: in closing arguments prosecutors telling the jury, this case is about what crumbley knew and did not do. >> she walked into that school walked out of the that school when the smallest of things could have saved, could have helped hanna and tate and madison and justin. >> the first thing i want to do --

>> reporter: crumbling's defense attorney countering, claiming the prosecution cherry picked evidence to turn the jury against her, slamming piles of pages on the podium. >> you don't have to like her. it's important to set aside your opinions of her. >> reporter: the defense arguing this case is very dangerous for parents in this country, saying crumbley was hypervigilant mother but her son was a skilled manipulator. >> i am asking that you find jennifer crumbley not guilty, not just for jennifer crumbley but for every mother who's out there doing the best they can, who could easily be in her shoes. >> byron: our thanks to trevor. we turn to a conversation about mental health andla amica. michael strahan sitting down with three pro athletes so share their stories of struggle and triumph and how they hope to change the community's narrative. >> reporter: a small gathering of some of america's greatest black athletes competing at the highest level, but underneath it

all, privately struggling with their mental health. >> i'm learning how to live a new life in this new pain in this journey of grief that's like a roller coaster. >> what a play by solomon thomas! >> reporter: 2018, new york jets defensive lineman solomon thomas had just finished his rookie year. shortly after, his sister ella died by suicide. he said his mental health struggles began then. >> i grew up in the mentality, be a man, be tough, push through it. after my sister tied, i had emotions and feelings i never felt before. deep depression, deep blit. >> reporter: for olympian track and field athlete anna cook relevant, it was her third year of college when she began to struggle. >> a lot of the typical depression symptoms didn't apply to me. i was doing all the things you were supposed to do and still felt terrible. >> reporter: three-time nba all-star -- >> towns, no hesitation. >> reporter: karl-anthony towns.

it was after losing multiple family members, including his beloved mother, to covid-19, that his world came to a standstill. >> it was the first time. in a way, the world was silent. in that silence i realized in this whole process, i never took time to take care of myself. i got to a point where i had to realize i was deteriorating. >> reporter: their struggles as unique as their paths to healing. >> my college coach pulled me into her office, "what is going on? you're smiling, and there's no light behind your eyes." >> reporter: someone else recognized it before you wanted to acknowledge it? >> absolutely. i broke down. she called a therapist that day, "when is your earliest appointment? anna is going to come in." >> my general manager said, we have help did you need. i faced myself in the mirror. from that, i started going to therapy. >> reporter: you did what people did it the unconventional way, you didn't go to therapy? >> no. if it wasn't for arnie, head of

the medical connection, he knew my mother, he's known me so long. he'd talk to me two hours a day and i'd tell him how i feel. the mental struggles, the thoughts i'm having. i felt very comfortable in having those tough conversations with someone familiar to me. >> reporter: there are many barriers to having tough conversations in the black community, among them stigma, access, high cost, and shame. statistics show that only 1 in 3 black adults with mental illness obtain treatment. how did your teammates react, how did you family react? >> i told them after the fact. once i started going and feeling better, that's what opened the door to the conversation. because there's a noticeable difference. therapy is great when you're in the crisis. but i found the most benefit from it when i was going consistently. because sometimes you need to get to the root of the problem and not just treat the symptoms. i think at first, my parents, they just didn't quite understand. i think there was a lot of struggle for them of thinking,

what did we do wrong? did we make a mistake? having to reassure them. >> reporter: almost a new era. i didn't have parents who were going to be into therapy. it was like, if you're feeling that way, you suck it up. you get through it. >> yes. >> reporter: you figure it out. >> old-school route. >> reporter: not that they don't care about you're feelings. they didn't know how to handle it themselves. >> absolutely. >> for me, my mom really encouraged me to go to therapy. i was resistance, reruck tant. the goal is to be the best you you can ever be. therapy helped me find out who i was. >> reporter: 2024, we're having this conversation. i came into the nfl 1993. it was definitely a totally different world way back then, as far as your mental health. it wasn't even addressed in so many ways. it was definitely a stigma of shame. was there any embarrassment that was struggling? >> i felt a lot of shame. i was really embarrassed. >> when you're stuck in that cycle, you feel so empty, you feel so alone, like you're the

only one going through it, to the point that you feel crazy. you're not, you're human. >> reporter: what are the biggest misconceptions when it comes to mental health in the black community? . the weakness of showing vulnerability. >> speaking broadly, as a black community, we are very protective of our image as a community. i think there's some shame and stigma of wanting to keep things in-house for fear it what it will look like if it goes beyond our homes or families. >> i think it's generational. >> i think so, too. >> something that has plagued our community because of how strong we had to be for so long just to get the rights. we refuse to allow anything to ruin what we built. >> reporter: seen as a weakness. if one person's weak, the community is weak, i guess. what can we do to change it? >> things like this. >> moments like this. >> just like this. being able to have four african americans on a couch, here, talking openly about our struggles and how we've dealt with it. >> reporter: we know for black

women that their pain is truly often ignored. how does this play into your mental health journey and your advocacy? >> that's a big reason for my advocacy, to speak to black women's experiences, letting them know, you don't have to take everything on. your pain, your experience, your voice, your struggles, your success, they all matter. >> reporter: why is it important for us sitting here today, athletes, successful, to share and talk about mental health? >> because i feel fans think we're the most "got it together people" in the world, got absolutely no problems. >> if we can have this conversation, have people see they're not the only ones feeling like this, these conversations can sair lives. >> i would say, as i got older, you realize self-care truly is the biggest gift you can give yourself. in a way, it's the cheapest, most expensive gift you could be gifted. >> reporter: sometimes a tough topic, but i look at this conversation as celebration.

>> yeah. >> reporter: a celebration of being free enough, confident enough, strong enough, supported enough to share how you truly feel to the world. you're serving a greater good by being here. >> byron: our thanks to michael. if you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. call or text the national-line at 988. hear when a hollywood who's who as the star-studded cast of hear when a hollywood who's who as the star-studded cast of "feud." to h otect from hiv. i prep without pills. with apretude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of hiv without daily prep pills. with one shot every other month, just 6 times a year. in studies, apretude was proven superior to a daily prep pill in reducing the risk of hiv. you must be hiv negative to receive apretude and get tested before each injection. if you think you were exposed to hiv

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a doctor or an engineer. those are good careers! but i chose a different path.

first, as mayor and then in the legislature. i enshrined abortion rights in our california constitution. in the face of trump, i strengthened hate crime laws and lowered the costs for the middle class. now i'm running to bring the fight to congress. you were always stubborn. and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message. ♪

>> byron: welcome back. the new series "feud: capote versus the swans" is a time capsule look at the life of truman ka peat toe, known almost as much for his high society as his feature works. spilling the tea on all things capote with abc's rhiannon ally. >> you told more lies -- >> never let the truth get in the way of a good story. >> it's a classic story of love and betrayal. >> that's the recipe that never goes out of style, and it never will. >> reporter: high society, manipulation, art, and scandal. all fodder for ryan murphy's latest provocative installment of "feud" on fx. >> this is the best thing i've written. >> you have to pull this. these are portraits of things that weren't shared, their deepest secrets abused. why would you want to hurt them?

>> i find it refreshing how much nerve ryan murphy has. >> reporter: the super producer acclaimed for hits like "glee," "pose," "american horror story." ♪ hush ♪ >> reporter: now pulling together a superstar cast for a deep dive into renowned author truman capote's very own "swan lake." >> i'm not a person who can forgive and forget. i never forget. >> reporter: the world of 1970s new york's most glamorous, powerful socialites dubbed "the swans." >> these ladies are swans. why? >> because they are beautiful and predatory. >> reporter: and capote's long, hard fall from grace after losing their favor while in the throes of addiction and self-doubt. >> yeah, it's all around you. >> it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. >> there was no kicking back. >> reporter: the swans played by

luminaries like naomi watts, diane lane, calista flockhart. what was it like working with the other swans? >> everybody so is talented. i just was so blown away by the talent. >> reporter: the swans joined by molly ringwald and demi moore in their first on-screen appearance together. >> to kind of be a part of something that's also celebrating women is a really wonderful feeling. to be amongst that. >> reporter: tom hollander, who play the one of 2022's biggest villains in "the white lotus." >> i'd also die for beauty, wouldn't you? >> reporter: now embodying capote himself. part villain, part victim of his own undoing. >> everything about it was challenging. getting his voice plausible and his physicality. >> hi, honey. >> oh, hi. happy thanksgiving. >> i was very, very thrilled to

be doing it. so for once in my life, i tried to do my best every day. >> reporter: what was it like working with tom? >> in a situation like this where an actor just is so in character, that now that we're meeting in promotion times, i feel like i'm saying, "hi, nice to meet you, tom." because he was so in it. in it to win it. >> reporter: the esteemed writer, known for "breakfast at tiffany's," capote shot to fame with his book, "in cold blood," one of the best-selling true crime books of all-time. >> i mean, he really stepped outside the box. what he did in "in old blood" had never been done before. >> it just got bigger and bigger. >> reporter: by the '70s, capote was living the high society life, surrounded by new york's elite, where this season of "feud" picks up. >> you have a new best friend. now let's have a cigarette. >> i think from babe's

perspective, when truman came along, it was a different relationship than i think she ever allowed her to have before that moment. >> babe was a woman who lived in the shadow of her sister, jackie. and he made her feel seen. he made her feel heard. >> and then he betrayed her. >> reporter: in 1975, he published a chapter from his upcoming novel in "esquire" magazine, a salacious unveiling of the swans' private affairs. >> you're telling people that i murdered my poor late husband? that's slander and libel. >> well, if it were not true, it would be libel, but it is true. >> he was so wounded himself, and i think he was good at seeing the wounded around him. he could tell that people were playing roles. and he wanted to call out somebody's fakery. >> i need your word. we stand united, and we destroy him.

>> reporter: forced into social exile, capote eclipsed his illustrious writing career with drugs and alcohol. >> no, i think his demise is part of his fame and lore. the collapse and watching it happen so publicly. >> i think that's so much about the conversation we're having today, too, separating the artist from the man. >> babe, don't you see? a mistake's what makes us interesting. >> do you not worry about anything, truman? >> sure. money, aloneness, calories, perfection. >> hello, my name is truman capote. >> reporter: this isn't the first time his story is memorialized. in 2006, philip seymour hoffman won an oscar for his portrayal in "capote." >> four matisses hanging on her

wall, two are upside down. >> reporter: the same year, toby jones took on the role in "infamous." >> a whole generation of people don't know who truman capote is. for me it's for him to be exposed to the richer parts of his creativity. >> reporter: "feud" now commemorating the swans and the man they once called a friend for his successes, betrayals, and everything in between. what is it about him that you think makes people want to root for him? >> he was such an incredible writer. also, he was someone who had incredible courage. >> that's what i was going to say, yeah. >> for a time when, you know, you really couldn't be out. he was out. i feel like he's admirable for how he put himself out there. >> byron: our thanks to rhiannon. "feud" is now streaming on hulu. remembering a force among actors, "rocky" star carl weathers. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis

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two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican,

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, the sad news of the passing of carl weathers.

>> damn, come on, what's the matter with you? >> tomorrow, let's do it tomorrow. >> there is no tomorrow! >> byron: on screens for more than five decades -- >> it's apollo. >> who did you expect? >> i was hoping he wouldn't show. >> byron: carl weathers first tried his luck at football, taking drama lessons on the side. his first big break, landing the role of apollo creed, at first rocky's foe, later his friend and his trainer. weathers portraying creed in four "rocky" movies and later for a new generation, "mandalorian," earning him an emmy nomination. today his family saying he was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. carl weathers was 76. and that's "nightline" for this inc. catch our full episoded on hulu. see you back here same time