tonight on "nightline," combat zone. 70 dead and counting in a european capital on the brink of civil war. >> bang. >> our team is on the ground and under fire in ukraine for this fast developing and breaking story. plus, we're behind the scenes with oscar nominees bradley cooper and director david o'russell. how did cooper transform from sexiest man alive -- >> anything can happen. >> -- into this. >> i've got people working for me. >> it's the late nest our series "oscar confidential." and app happy. how much would you pay for a company that's not even $5? how about $19 million.

we'll tell you what's up with what'sapp. illion. we'll tell you wha

>> good evening. and thank for joining us. it started as a peaceful protest in one of europe's busiest capitals. today, it exploded into massive violence and bloodshed. now on the brink of a civil war, at least 70 dead so far and the death toll rising. at issue, should ukraine have closer ties to the u.s. and europe or putin's russia? our team is on the ground and under fire in this fast developing and breaking news story. >> for weeks, that european

capital has been the scene of a violent uprising. today, the bloodiest day yet in more than 70 dead and counting. >> we are not terrorist. we are free people who want to live in a good country without corruption with good laws. with good standards of living. >> reporter: ukraine, once a nuclear power that was part of the soviet union is divided and at a cross roads. caught between its past and the future, pitting east against west. its president is accused of corruption and human rights abuses. trying to turn the country closer to vladimir putin's russia. >> if putin will defeat us, europe will get a lot of problems, because like the ussr, we will rise again. >> reporter: but opposition forces who have now set up a fortress say they want to follow the paths of europe and america,

craving the democracy and rites of the we rights of the west, telling us they will die for this. how do you think this will finish? >> we must do win and we must do our new country, which will be a part of basic rules and what you're fighting for 200 years ago. we fighting for this today. >> this is your revolution today. >> yes. >> reporter: just 24 hours ago, there had been a glimmer of hope as a truce was announced. but by dawn, that hope was dash ed as battles broke out once again between government security forces and protesters. >> you see their truce? they announced a truce but now they throw grenades at us. this is what we mean by truce. we don't trust them. >> reporter: this morning, abc news cameras captured brutal scenes. protesters gunned down by security forces.

fellow activists running to their aid, coming you should fire themselves. snipers lurking in windows and on roof tops. >> there are snipers firing. if we get weapons we will shoot. we will eliminate these animals. >> protesters were also firing on police with live ammunition and were reported to have captured almost 70 members of the police. journalists were not immune from attack. our own camera's vanltage point coming under assault by a sniper, bursting through the windows of our producer's hotel room. >> suddenly there was a loud bang. i hit the floor. when i turned around, i saw bullet holes in the wall. >> reporter: by afternoon, more than 70 people had been killed and makeshift clinics were filled with hundreds of dead and wounded. >> this is very surreal. this is the lobby of one of the nicest hotels in ukraine that's now been built into a makeshift

hospital. the reception has been turned into a pharmacy. today was supposed to be a day of mourning for those killed earlier in the week. instead, it became the bloodiest day in ukraine's post soviet history. >> the bullets come directly to heart, to neck, to lungs. we just were doing emergency, but we have no chance to save their life. >> the opposition movement began peacefully this past november in response to ukraine's democratically elected president strengthening his ties with russia. but what had looked like a revolution now has the makings of a civil were. with protests spreading across the country, much of which sup rt pos the president in his pro russia stance. here in kiev in recent days. independence scare has turned into a full scale war zone.

running street battles complete with bare kids, molotov cocktails and homemade bombs launched at government anti-riot forces. it is a stark post apocalyptic scene as we saw when we arrived today. this is an amazing sight in one of eastern europe's biggest and most picturesque cities. you have these beautiful monuments right next to these barricades that have been set up and maintained for months by the protesters. it's like a combination of medieval and mad max. >> the encampment works like a small village. some cooking on an open fire while others cook their gas bombs. everyone is milling about, everyone has their helmets on. >> tonight, we saw the victims of the fighting up close, their bodies carried through a surging crowd on the square as they chanted heroes. singing anthems in memory of the fallen.

>> the white house following europe in announcing tonight that the u.s. will impose sanctions on ukrainian officials it believes are directly responsible for the violence. but for now, the ukraine's president is budging. both sides are dicking in, setting the scene for more bloodshed that threatens to tear this country apart. >> thank you for that report. please stay with abc news for the latest on this developing story. now we turn to my "nightline" co-anchor, cynthia mcfadden who's in los angeles as we gear up for our oscar coverage. >> thanks, dan. good evening from hollywood. coming up, bradley cooper and david o'russell. teaming up again in "american hustle." could this be their golden ticket to a golden statue?

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welcome back. we're in hollywood right outside the theatre where in just over a week the most anticipated award

show of the year will be held, the academy awards. now, up for ten of these guys, "american hustle." director david o'russell is known for his controlled chaos on set and for bringing out the very best in his stars like bradley cooper. so we're wondering if that combustible combo just might pay off in oscar gold. here's our series "oscar confidential." >> you know where i was recently? >> it's not as though christian bale and jennifer lawrence are playing characters with a calm grip on life's realities. >> he put a canvas bag over my head. are you happy now? he's trying to kill me. >> what are you talking about? >> the aimable anarchy pervading this partly true saga. the fbi joining with his and her con artists to catch some pols taking bribes. he is the guy in charge. >> he works for the bureau but he has no power.

he's actually very smart. but then he creates this world he wants to be the head of and everything is completely out of his control. >> how did we feel the first time we saw each other. am i crazy? i don't think so. i shouldn't be talking like this. i'm breaking the rules. >> we're getting married in five hours. >> yeah. that's not going to happen. >> with character work that won him industry acclaim. >> you don't know anything about my marriage, okay, dad? playing an fbi man has earned him his second oscar nod in as many years. each in collaboration with writer/director david o'russell. >> both sets have the exact same energy. which is very alive. anything can happen. >> can somebody say hey, let's be positive. let's have a good ending to the story. >> in 2011, it was russell who cast cooper for the lead roll in

"silver linings playbook" with just days to go before shooting began. >> i thought i'm not right for this. >> despite all the bare lels -- parallels in your own life. >> everything good? >> i never had to cry on film. i never had to do that. >> "american hustle" began to come together. >> you were really in the creative process with it. >> yeah, from the begin. i'm so grateful that david sees me as somebody valuable to that process. >> russell was eager to reteam with actors who made his last films fly. for his character, cooper wanted something a little different. >> to make sure that he was first of all, not just this sort of antagonistic foil, straight laced fbi guy that you see in 100 movies. he's a petulant trial and he gets in over his head. >> i've got people working for me. >> i said to david, what if he has curly hair. we wanted him to look different from me also. he said yeah, he curls his own

hair because he idolizes black baseball player the like doc ellis. i didn't know it would be three hours to put in 1 10 rollers in and then have to take them out. it was just a whole thing. but i actually started to love it. >> you said in the stall that we weren't going to fake it. >> i'm being real now. this is who i am. okay? >> so why did you do this. >> in the who's zooming who, russell sees reinvention as a key theme of his last three films. >> since "the fighter" i've been blessed with a certain direction of stories to tell. salt of the earth, ordinary people who live kind of operatic emotions and struggles to reinvent their lives. >> he's a grown man. he can think for himself.

>> shut your mouth. >> don't call me skank. i'll rip that nasty hair rightout of your [ bleep ] head. >> you have to decide who you're going to be on any given day. your home relationships and work relationships that larger request eis what fascinated us. >> and no one in movies fascinates audiences quite like jennifer lawrence. >> i don't like change. it's really hard for me. sometimes i think that i'll die before i change. >> her character can be vexing and amazing, but they can always be -- they're always somehow deeply enchanting. that's a magic. "hunger games" hadn't even come out yet. somebody came up and i signed an autograph. she was like wow, how are you -- i was just like oh. that's nothing what's going to happen to you. but she's handled it so well.

>> do whatever. oh! >> my favorite scene in the movie, or the scene i can watch over and over and i must have seen 400 times is when she's -- they're all at dinner and she's talking about the nail polish. >> the topcoat, it's like perfumy but there's also something rotten. that sounds crazy. i can't get enough of it. smell it, it's true. the best perfumes in the world. they're all laced with something nasty. it is true. >> it's true. can't get enough of that smell. >> i mean, all of that stuff is just -- how can there be a camera there? how can these not just be people behaving. >> i think there's a lot still to accomplish. >> cooper, too, has thrived on o'russe o'russell's shoots where the director adds to the adrenaline by always staying physically close to his actor.

>> you have to talk yourself into places. in cars. otherwise you're going to be three vehicles away. i can't do it that way. >> there was a moment he was between my legs in a car. i was like what are you doing? he's holding his portable monitor. but he likes to be in there in the action. >> david had an idea of how he wanted the kiss to look. i kiss him. and david was standing there going no. you're like this is never going to feel real, dude. >> really, he's right next to the camera. >> yeah, yeah. which is the way i all want to be. i really have a hard time with directors all the way back there. i really like it. i've become so accustomed to everybody being close. >> reporter: working with russell has reshaped how cooper likes to reshape movies. for any actors who might dream of their own such collaboration, cooper has some sage counsel. >> you better have slept eight

hours. >> why? >> because it's going to be a lot of energy. i'm chris connelly for "nightline" in los angeles. "nightline" stays right here in hollywood next week. i'll be here for our oscar special. next up, the app founder who went from living on food stamps to living it up. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections,

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> how did the an app co-founder become an billionaire? the little start-up that could. >> why is facebook paying these two guys $19 billion to joan the social network when just a few years ago mark zuckerberg wouldn't even give him a job? because they founded what's app. it allows users to send

unlimited text messages anywhere in the world for free. at least the few eyres. >> it's actually twice the size of wait per . >> facebook is paying $13 million more for what's app than they did inthat cram. if you havened heard of what's a, your kids probably have. and that may be the point. >> facebook hack facing a lot of flook for losing ou on a younger demographic. they've already gone after other companies including snapshot. 450 million people are using it and a million more are signing up every day. he's connected people of the world. if there's a company that's doing that and might be doing that a little bit better than facebook, he seems to be going after them. >> just last month, the

co-founder spoke about his success. >> we're so overwhelmed by growth. it's kind of mind boggling. the simplicity of our product is really what drives us. >> he and co-founder poured their life savings into what's app growing it and catching the eye of facebook found per. >> mark zuckerberg decide head wanted to buy what's app two years ago. the ceo said no thanks. >> then on valentine's day, apparently a change of heart. koum was ready to sell. >> came over for dinner. interrupted mark zuckerberg's valenti valentine's day and the two of them hammered out the deal. >> koum signed the deal at the same where he used to collect food stamps. for now, facebook will focus on

growi growing what's app which will stay independent. promising no ads, no games and no gimmicks. but once the free-year trial runs out, the money is sure to miles an hour in. with 450 million users and growing, well, you do the math. >> thanks for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" rite here tomorrow. as always, we're on line at abc news.com. good night, america.

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