this is "nightline" -- >> tonight, oscar pistorius sobbing on the stand describing how he shot his girlfriend. >> the first thing that ran through my mind i needed to arm myself. that i needed to protect and i needed to get my gun. >> will his breakdown make the judge sympathetic or more skeptical? plus it started with this. now our brian ross goes face to face with the controversial coal boss. >> a lot of people despise your views. >> 29 people died in his mine now. he is furious about taking the blame. >> he is a liar. >> he is a murderer.

>> he is the devil. >> the kissing congressman, the politician caught on tape with a married staffer. now asking for forgiveness from his wife and children. >> but first, the night line top five which starts right now. ♪ i know a thing about an ira ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ from my google phone ♪ i need some help i'm not alone ♪

♪ good evening. it was a spectacle in the courtroom today as oscar pistorius took the stand and for the first time told his version of events from the night he shot and killed his girlfriend. midway through his testimony, the olympic star broke down. actually he not only broke down he fell apart completely. weeping so hard that the judge actually got up and left the room. abc's matt gutman reports now for "blade runner on trial." >> reporter: a gut wrenching moment. you couldn't see oscar pistorius testify but you didn't have to. accused of murder, pistorius began sobbing as he described for the first time publicly the moment he found his girlfriend, the model, dead in his bathroom

by his own hand. >> i sat there and i cried. and i, i don't know, i don't know how long. emotional testimony by inconsoleable man. could it sway the judge, that he mistook the model for an intruder. on valentine's day he fired four bullets into the bathroom in his pretoria home, killing her instantly. abruptly the judge suspending proceedings apparently to give pistorius the opportunity to compose himself. but his howls intensified. pistorius would come back into the court but wouldn't say another word. >> i cannot responsibly ask the court to carry on today. >> reporter: oscar pistorius

walking out of court after crumpling on the witness stand. in court we watched as he started to sob and then wail. the question in the courtroom and around the country were the agonized howls helping or hurting his case. the man known as the blade runner, ascended olympic heights. for the past month. sitting in the front bench in the packed pra tore yal courtroom. for days on end, testimony about the body or blood spatter that had pistorius doubled over, wretching and heaving. often seen wrapping his hand around his head. plugging his ears with his thumbs. today it was the blade runner's turn to describe the scene that night. >> i thought that there was an intruder into my home. the first thing that ran through my mind. i needed to arm myself. i needed to protect reeva and i and get my gun. >> reporter: he says he grabbed the gun beneath his bed. it was pitch black.

>> if the curtains are drawn. >> reporter: testifying he didn't see reeva but called out to her. >> just as i left my bed. i whispered for reeva to get down. phone the police. >> reporter: he testified he kau out to her three times but was focused on imagined intruders. >> at that point i was overcome with fear. started screaming, shouting. for the intruders to got out of my house. hearing something in the bathroom he said he saddled in from. >> i conceived somebody coming out of the toilet. before i knew it i fired four shots at the door. i kept on shouting for reeva to phone the police. >> reporter: she would never answer. she knew she was dead before he found her body. >> i was kreg ocrying out for td to help me. skrechl i screaming. >> the defense argued that he felt more vulnerable.

then pistorius' lead attorney stunning the courtroom. >> would you take your prosthesis off and stand next to the door. >> showing what pistorius looks like without his prosthetics. >> how uncomfortable would some one like that feel when they don't have their prosthetics on? >> i think quite, quite uncomfortable. >> reporter: tonight we exclusively interviewed the man who has been building pistorius' prosthetics for over 20 years. >> so how mobile would oscar be on his -- >> if it is stony ground or anything look that. sharp objects. he is not going to be mobile. >> trevor brockman helped make pistorius the fastest man on no legs but his prowess on prosthetics made him feel vulnerable self-conscious without them. all this drama playing out on a 24-hour cable station which hangs on every word from the now disgraced national hero. >> he has given very little

information to bolster his case. he has the a lot of work to do. >> david o'sullivan is a legal analyst with the pop-up pistorius news channel. >> wailing and anguish will be felt by some as being incredibly painful, and others as an act. >> earlier in testimony, the defense had pistorius read messages be tween him and reeva, revealing intimate details of a passionate three month long relationship. >> it says, kiss, kiss means a lot. >> often loving. some times mundane. she sent him sexy selfies. he called her my angel. sometimes she made him sound menacing and angry. >> i'm scared of you some times and how you snap at me. >> pistorius breaking down as he read. >> i'm the girl who fellen lo ie with you and wanted to till you this weekend. >> the goal to undercut prosecution assertions she was afraid of him.

when he first took the stand he expressed sadness even remorse for what he calls a tragic accident. >> i can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness i have caused you and your family. o'sullivan is convinced emotional testimony is hurting pistorius. >> didn't think he did that well. he need to rein him self in. he will have to do something, pretty severe now to ensure he doesn't keep breaking down. >> reporter: after all pistorius has but one person to convince. the judge. who must look beyond remorse to determine whether reeva's death was a horrible accident or cold-blooded killing. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman in pretoria, south africa. >> up next here on "nightline," the man who once threatened our producer on camera, now sits down with abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross. why this coal boss shouldn't be blamed for the 29 men who died in his mine. le,

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when we first tried to interview him he threat tuned have our producer shot. don blankenship, a powerful, widely despised businessman accused of skipping on safety measures on his coal mine where 29 men died. despite our unpleasant run-in, the other day blankenship agreed to go head-to-head with chief reporter brian ross. >> reporter: before his company was accused of cutting corners

on safety that led to the death of 29 miners. don blankenship -- the ceo of massie energy was already a despised feared figure by many in america's coal country. this is how he greeted an abc news producer six years ago. but now, facing possible federal criminal charges in the investigation of the mine disaster, blankenship showed up at abc news seemingly gentler but still full of venom to make the case he has been misunderstood. >> i think everybody is despised by some. >> how about yourself? >> like yourself. a lot of people despise your views. so it is normal. >> reporter: why do you think you are despised? >> because i do the right thing. >> reporter: because you do the right thing? >> yes. >> reporter: not because you do the wrong thing? cut corners on safety? >> never did. >> reporter: never did. >> never did. >> reporter: that is not what state and federal investigators

found in the investigation of the disaster and what was called the upper big branch mine. >> officials said the men, age 20 to 61 were trapped 1,000 feet underground after a massive explosion of built up methane gas and coal dust. the federal safety report concluded if basic safety measures had been in place there would have been no loss of life at upper big branch. >> i believe, you know that don has blood on his hand. and i believe that justice will be done. i have got to believe that. in my heart it will beef done. >> reporter: to defend himself, blankenship has paid hundreds of thousand of dollars to produce this 50-minute film called never again that presents him as a champion of mine safety. >> this documentary is further evidence of his taking his responsibilities seriously. even at great risk and expense to himself. >> reporter: families of the miners killed in the disaster in

west virginia are jut raged at what they call blankenship's shameless self promotion. >> i think he is a liar. >> he is a murderer. he is the devil. awe off the film repeats blankenship's long held contention the fire in the mine was caused by a natural gas like that could not have been prevented. >> i don't think anything in place in the industry at that moment would have prevented it. >> state and federal investigators say they took a close look at blankenship's natural gas like theory and dismissed it as an effort by hem to shift the blame away from the allegedly lax safety practices at this company. >> made the suggest in june 2010. his characterization is simply a sham. >> it was production ahead of safety. >> the film include interview with joe mansion who now says he was lied to and never would have appeared if he had known it was for blankenship. >> don is taking in millions of dollars that he made off the

sweat and blood of the miners and using it now frying to turn things around and vindicate himself. talk about a cynical approach to something that is heartless. that's about as the bad as it gets. >> blankenship's film takes on the news media. >> we now see reporters, unions and the government ignored the evidence that supports a theory that makes sense. >> especially abc news. >> america's coal mining country. >> of bias before i asked him the first question. >> i've don't mind talking to you. we know it will be biased. >> you think it will be by yalsed? >> you will have time to cut the tapes up and make this look the way you want it to. >> blankenship, you need to pay. >> reporter: in west virginia last week many relatives of the minors that died, appropriate tested outside the federal building demanding the government quickly bring criminal charges against blankenship. the united states attorney, booth goodwin told abc news, the investigation is of the highest

priority. >> we are committed to prosecuting anyone that is responsible for -- for the conditions that led to this horrible tragedy. >> so far, four former massie company employees have been convicted in the investigation. and one, david hugart, the man on the right told the court that blankenship was part of of a conspiracy to evade federal save inspections. >> ape very powerful person. a conspiracy to violate mine safety and health laws. that has been evident at most recently in the prosecution of mr. hubert, you mentioned. and that conspiracy was very pervasive. >> blankenship denies any role in that. >> absolutely not. i am not part of any type of behavior like that. >> have you been told that you are under investigation

yourself? not directly. i think that, it's -- obvious that that is probably the case. that they have looked at -- everything. >> do you expect to be indicted? >> i've don't know. >> you don't? >> no. >> while blankenship appears in his own film and made the round of media outlets. awe off the king of coal its here. welcome, don. >> thank you. >> reporter: he refused to testify during the investigations of the mine disaster. >> reporter: you took the fifth amendment? >> i refused to show up. if i had been compelled by a court to show up. i would have showed up. >> reporter: your lawyer said you were invoking your right not to incriminate yourself. what was it you were afraid offen krof of incriminating yourself with. >> the only thing don blankenship is trying to do is build his image up again. >> i feel dishonored. >> it breaks my heart we have to go through this again. >> reporter: for many of the families, the final outrage is how blankenship's film makes extensive use of the names and

photos of their loved ones with violin music in the background. supposedly to show his concern for their fate. >> it is all just, i can't believe he is doing this. he is just -- like, rubbing our noses in it. hurting, hurting all these families again. >> have you manipulated this tragedy for your own benefit? >> i don't see any benefit in this to me. >> do you have any sense of shame? >> no. >> to use the images like this? >> i think a lot of the families appreciate what is being done. and some maybe not. i don't know. >> reporter: you think some of the families appreciate this documentary? >> yes. >> reporter: have you talked to them? >> no, i haven't. >> reporter: how would you know that? >> well because i know how high would feel. >> whatever don blankenship does. all of these families, he is just making us tired. he is making us stand together harder and firmer and we are going to fight longer and harder. he might have more money, but he

ain't got more fight. >> now the families are fighting for what they say would be justice. criminal charges brought against blankenship. for them that would be a powerful message to hold corporate executives accountable for the safety of the 90,000 americans who go to work in coal mines every dave in this country. dan. >> brian. thank you for the fascinating report. of next here on "nightline." why this surveillance video of the congress maybe and the kiss is causing a stir tonight. a little hint. that's not his wife. event, get a great deal on a jetta tdi. it gets 42 highway miles per gallon. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. volkswagen has the most tdi clean diesel models of any brand. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models.

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a family values congressman is speaking out after being caught on camera kissing one of his staffers. so, what is he saying now to his wife, his children and his constituents? >> i'm vance mcallister, business owner, family man and proud son of this community. >> now this republican from louisiana will add politician embroiled in scandal to the

list. a married father. he was caught on surveillance video in his very first year inside his congressional office kissing a married staffer. vance mcallister emphasized his christian values when running for office. >> i believe louisiana values, faith, family, hard work are sorely missed in d.c. he promised voters could count on him. >> if you will trust me with your vote you can count on me to take the values to washington, defend the christian way of life, and be back here every sunday to do the dishes. >> sitting down with ak mcallis, promised not to lose soogt of his values. >> i've had a dollar for every time they said you are a good guy. don't let them chap j ychange y. the congressman is determined to run for re-election. stating. there is no doubt i have fallen short. i am asking for forgiveness.

as for the woman caught on tape with him. she resigned. a story we will continue to cover here on abc news. we want to thank you for watching tonight. and "world news now" soon with overnight breaking news. tune in to "gma" first thing in the morning. we are online, 24/7, at abcnews.com. thank you for joining us. good night.

to ] when i said that...we weren't ready to have a baby, we're actually eight-weeks pregnant. [women] shut up! [brother-in-law off camera] we're pregnant! [woman] you're kidding me! [man] shut up! [woman] shut up! [screams] take the kid,take the kid,take the kid! [woman] oh my god! [everyone laughter,crying]