this is "nightline." >> tonight, oscar pistorius, not guilty of murder. >> how do you feel? >> the shooting of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp -- >> hi. >> all a terrible mistake, according to the judge. but that doesn't mean the blade runner's out of trouble. more verdicts to come could still mean up to decades behind bars. plus these daredevils are racing into dangerous surf on a quest to conquer world world's biggest waves. seconds in this killer wave can be the difference between life and death. so can they capture it all on camera and come out alive? britney's back. and working it.

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more verdicts expected on additional charges that could still land him behind bars for many years. abc's matt gutman is in pretoria, south africa. >> reporter: today oscar pistorius walked into court a man facing life in prison. >> you feeling confident today? >> reporter: for shooting and killing model girlfriend reeva steenkamp. in a controversial ruling, the judge found the former olympian not guilty of the most serious charge, murder. >> there's just not enough facts to support such a finding. >> reporter: as she laboriously read the decision, which at times outright supported the

defense, pistorius began weeping in the front bench. and reeva steenkamp's family hanging on every word. but their tragic ordeal not over yet. pistorius will return to court tomorrow to hear the judge's final verdict on the lesser charge of culpable homicide. in effect, manslaughter. and three additional weapons and ammunition charges. if convicted on all those counts, he could still end up sentenced to as much as decades behind bars or the blade runner could walk away not serving a single day in prison. >> whether he sees a day inside a jail after he's been sentenced i think is actually quite unlikely. >> reporter: it was a trial that spanned seven months, punctuated by tears. recriminations. >> you tilled a person, that's what you did, isn't it? >> i made a mistake. >> you killed reeva steenkamp, that's what you did. >> reporter: even a remorseful

admission. >> yes, i shot and killed reeva? >> i killed my lady. >> reporter: friends can't believe she's gone. >> it still feels surreal. it just feels like it didn't happen. it feels like it can't, couldn't have happened. >> reporter: since valentine's day last year, spotlight ceaselessly on pistorius. he may have broken the world's record for the most emotive defendant, filling the courtroom with his countless wails and whimpers. >> why would this question make you emotional? >> because this is the person i cared about, i don't know how people don't understand it. >> reporter: the trial had another center of attention notable for her absence. >> i'm the next reeva. >> reporter: this u.s. exclusive, an audition video of reeva steenkamp. >> tell me about your fitness. what do you do? >> i'm a gym bunny. >> reporter: she grew up riding horses, went to law school, but was lured into modeling.

when you first saw her audition tapes what was your impression? >> gorgeous. >> reporter: her agent tomlinson speaking for the first time says her easy-going demeanor belied her grit and focus. >> she was magnificent. she was gorgeous. she was talented. >> reporter: soon she graced magazines and on november 4th, 2012, captured the attention of south africa's top bachelor, the blade runner. that night, their first date. >> he needed a date at the last minute, so throw your stuff together, come and be my date. >> reporter: oscar told a court that he was immediately smitten. >> i was very keen on reeva. i think i was more into her than she was at times with me. >> reporter: within weeks they had pet nicknames for each other. >> boo. angel. rock star. >> reporter: by february 2013,

their relationship appears picture perfect. their stolen smooches captured on closed circuit camera at the supermarket. the day before valentine's day, reeva tweeted, what do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow? for pistorius the answer was murder, according to the prosecution. the prosecution's version is, this is argument, he knows exactly who it is in the bathroom. she didn't go in to use the toilet, she went in because she was fleeing from him. >> reporter: legal expert matt murphy walked me through a scale model of the scene of the crime, pistorius' bathroom, to demonstrate the prosecution's version of events. reeva in a corner, defenseless. >> tiny, line shooting a fish in a barrel with exploding bullets. you're in here, and there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere to hide. >> she has no chance. >> reporter: four bullets later, reeva is dying. pistorius puts on his

prosthetics and returns to the bathroom and bashes down the door. the defense countering it was not a woman screaming that night but rather pistorius' voice high-pitched in hispanic after accidentally shooting reeva. a neighbor testified what she heard. >> what was the crying time? >> waaaaah! >> reporter: in her ruling the judge discounted that testimony and almost all the so-called earwitnesses, saying the only witness who mattered was pistorius, who testified that his disability and his traumatic childhood had influenced his response that night. and that he was convinced an intruder had invaded his home. >> it was at that point that i was overcome with fear and i started screaming and shouting for the burglar or intruders to get out of my house. >> reporter: as the prosecution seized upon during the trial, pistorius did have an infatuation with guns. >> you are a gun enthusiast. you come from a family with lots

of guns. >> that's correct. >> 50 or more. >> reporter: prosecutor showing a video aired by sky news of pistorius on a gun range shooting a 9 millimeter pistol, the one that would ultimately kill steenkamp. and then there's pistorius lethally blasting away at watermelons. >> it exploded. am i right? >> that's correct. >> reporter: he was using the same hollow point exploding bullets that killed reeva. the distraught pistorius unravels. >> as i picked reeva up my fingers touched her head. i remember. i don't have to look at a picture, i was there. >> reporter: that side of pistorius, the raging, sometimes irrational, and highly emotional young man, something trish taylor, the mother of his ex-girlfriend sam taylor, saw so much of. >> there was a lot of commotion in our relationship. >> reporter: in her book, excerpts of which abc news has exclusively obtained, reveal

that she says he would scream at his 17-year-old girlfriend sam taylor for failing to take her dishes to the sink. >> i think oscar was an accident waiting to happen. >> reporter: melinda ferguson co-authored the book. >> he was the bullet in the chamber, the nike ad. the guy always something was going to happen. in a sense it was all leading up to some tragedy. >> reporter: something pistorius may have foreshadowed in e-mails he purportedly wrote to trish taylor. most of my adult life i've had moments i sabotage the good that i have. in a country where domestic violence is epidemic, court watchers worry about the judge's messaging. >> is this going to be controversial in this country? >> it's going to be very controversial. i was on my way here. i tuned into a local radio station. he said simply, "this is going to be the excuse every man uses to shoot his girlfriend. it's going to be legally justifiable. it is a terrible, terrible decision for our country. >> reporter: even as pistorius left court, he heard a sound

perhaps already heralding renewed acceptance for the fallen sports icon. >> we love you! oscar! >> reporter: the question now, whether he will walk free again tomorrow. i'm matt gutman for "nightline," pretoria, south africa. next, why surfers are flocking to one of the most dangerous spots in the world. nv. it's the first of a new kind of prescription medicine that's used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. invokana® is a once-daily pill that works around the clock to help lower a1c. here's how: the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body. invokana® reduces the amount of sugar allowed back in, and sends some sugar out through the process of urination. and while it's not for weight loss, it may help you lose some weight. invokana® can cause important side effects,

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most sensible people try to steer clear of really dangerous places. but not the adrenaline junkies you're about to meet. they're after one of the world's biggest waves, on a life-threatening quest to do something that seems impossible. ride it and photograph it from the inside. here's abc's chief meteorologist

ginger zee. >> reporter: inside the barrel of one of the most dangerous waves in the world. >> just raw, out in the middle of the ocean, kind of nastiness. >> reporter: elite surfers are about to attempt something that has never been done before. getting inside that, an infamous swell, almost two miles off the coast of australia call ed the right. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: it's a wave so powerful, even if you are lucky enough to get in it, the pressure of the break alone could kill you. >> definitely life-threatening, 100%. >> right next to him! >> reporter: and these guys aren't just going to surf it. they will surf in together, with a 20-pound camera, attempting to capture what could be the most dangerous surf photo in history. >> the normal photographers shoot from a boat or they swim

with a camera. this was totally out of the ordinary. mark wanted to ride a wave behind me and he had this big camera and it's pretty heavy, it's like a wrecking ball. >> reporter: the entire journey unfolds in a new red bull documentary. but i met mark on a slightly less intimidating sea in rockaway beach, new york. i thought some of the words in the documentary were very cool, like, heavy. this is not heavy? >> this is not heavy, no. in big wave serving, this is not heavy. this is fun, though. >> reporter: fun is not what most would call the right. >> when you say big, how big is it, how tall? >> we'd be looking at, like, 25 feet tall, i'd say, to four, five-story building. but the size isn't the thing. it the volume of this wave. it's like, as powerful as, like, an 80-foot wave. >> the most dangerous things, just getting held down for such a long time that you basically run out of breath and pass out. >> reporter: to conquer this wave, the team has to

strategize. >> on the back shooting video. >> right, and kind of -- >> yeah. >> reporter: one wrong move could cost them everything. >> by mbiggest concern is that i'll do something and it will take the camera away and i'll go -- >> reporter: they have little time to plan their approach. >> rather ride a board like this that's been put through its paces. we just get on the jet ski and we start heading out into the middle of the ocean just on sunrise. it's still dark. basically heading out into the middle of the ocean. >> reporter: this wave hits miles offshore. so, mark and taj have to be pulled out by jet key. >> away are both planning to be pulled in by one jet ski rope, which is not really done, either. it's freezing cold. i'm terrified. >> reporter: they manage to catch the wave on the first try. what is the feeling white when you get in? >> everything is terrifying, but when you are inside the wave, you completely are surrounded by the ocean.

it's like the roar of a plane and this weird air pressure going on in there. it's kind of surreal. >> [ bleep ], that was it. >> reporter: the first run is solid, but mark wants to go deeper. the word you keep using over and over, let's get deep. what does that mean? >> it's not in the washed out part. it's the positioning on the wave. we needed to be, what we say, deep inside the wave. that way we'll get the perspective of the amazing photo. >> reporter: they decide to go for a second run. mark and taj ride the wave, just feet apart. >> i was trying to stay, like, kind of high and fast because i didn't want mark to hit me because obviously he's behind me. i didn't know how fast he was coming in behind me and the last thing we wanted was to get tangled together. >> reporter: mark has just 15 seconds to snap the photo before everything goes black. >> as i'm nearly coming towards the exit of the wave, i just end up, my board catches and i'm

going too fast to handle the speed and i got cart wheeled and i got held down for, like, the longest i've ever been held down. just doing big strokes to the surface. >> reporter: taj fights his way above water. >> i eventually popped up and i was seeing stars. >> reporter: but mark is missing. >> the jet sees are coming in and we're looking for mark. mark hadn't come up yet. and obviously he was in a more dangerous position than me, because he was further back on the reef. >> reporter: the team is frantic. finally mark coming up for air, 45 seconds later. >> almost blacked out. >> reporter: the longest time under in his life. mark suffered a ruptured eardrum and a torn up face. taj injures his shoulder. >> [ bleep ], i just went so deep. the camera was flying around. i couldn't swim anymore. i was just like, that it was just like dark and black in my eyes. >> reporter: it was the longest you've been under? >> yeah, that was the longest i've been done. >> my ears are [ bleep ]. >> you're crazy, man. >> holding onto the camera, it

stopped me from being able to use my arms to get to the surface, so, i had to rely on a life vest and it just took that little bit longer to get up. so, it was pretty scary. >> reporter: but to them, capturing the shot and surviving it was worth risking it all. >> pushing the boundaries of photography and the angles you can get and just give people that perspective of what it's actually like to be inside the wave like that. definitely nothing like that's been attempted. the ride itself was probably only 10 to 15 seconds long. the memory lasts a lifetime. >> reporter: forginger zee in n next, she's a slave to the music. and now britney spears is showing us the moves, too.

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britney spears inc is a business worth billions. and tonight, this mogul is adding a whole new hat to her collection. oh, and gentlemen -- she's single. here's abc's michael strahan. ♪ let's go >> this is in slave. hip, hip -- no, on your hip. >> reporter: if you get the chance to dance with britney spears, you take it. but as i learned, dancing like the pop princess is no easy feat. >> okay, so, we'll just do that much, just for right now. >> that much? that was ten steps further than i can remember. britney, play football, i got hit in the head for a long time, girl. i can't remember anything but two steps. >> you show me yours. >> reporter: mine? yeah. >> i love that. that's -- that's -- i'm speechless. >> reporter: that's all i got.

in her indelible words, you want to dominate the dance floor, you better work. spears has been hard at work in las vegas, bringing the iconic moves and unstoppable anthems to her two-year residency show, "piece of me." ♪ i know you want a piece of me ♪ >> reporter: it's been challenging for you? >> it has been. there's a lot of days where i'm like, okay, i don't want to do a show today, i make myself get up -- >> i know that feeling. >> it's fun. i'm vk a lot of fun doing this show. >> reporter: offstage, brit's been deeming with the end of a relationship with david lucato. the two have been together since march of last year, and she's been open with her fans about the breakup. you spoke about being single and breaking up on stage, and then you tweeted, ahh, the single life. >> the single life. >> reporter: give me some of that. bravery at its best right there. >> yes. >> reporter: now spears is putting her own spin on the mantra, work hard play horde. how is it being single in vegas of all places? >> it's mind-blowing, like, you

know, my mom is like, you need to date three or four different guys at one time and just have a lot of fun. and i'm like -- mom. we're not that old school anymore, you know what i mean? i guess i could try to do that, but -- i don't know. it's fun. it's a lot of fun. >> reporter: so, what's a single girl's best weapon on the battlefield of love? great lingerie, of course. >> tomorrow is a promise awaiting to be kept. >> reporter: it's her new line called, what else, the intimate britney spears. >> this will look good on me. >> reporter: that would look good on me? what side of your creativity did you have to tap into for this new line? >> ten years ago, i was in europe and i went to this vintage, artsy, really cool small boutique store of all these lingerie and sleepware lines, and i was like, i want to do this. >> reporter: fitting for a woman who has made us a slave for her music. and whose most famous looks involve the least clothing. now, the mother of two, music

mogul and perfume per say your is doing it again. ♪ expanding her empire so we all can get a little closer to britney, while we wait for her next album. we need some new anthems. are we going to get some? >> yes, you are. yes. >> reporter: can't come soon enough. for "nightline," i'm michael strahan in new york. >> thank you for watching abc news. "world news now" is coming up. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow and als always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night.