this is "nightline." >> tonight, it is the ordinary final moments caught on dash cam before that deadly encounter. the police officer's mother now speaking out. >> it's very heartbreaking. >> while the man who caught the fatal shooting on camera says he never saw a fight for a dayser and he feared for his own life. they're known as the brad and angelina of little people. meet the family who call themselves the real-life seven dwarfs. adopted children from all over the world. how they confront challenges with grace and humor. and their big dreams for little people everywhere. masters of the universe. star wars episode vii is on the way. tonight the series filmmakers

are spilling their secrets. >> the emperor is not as forgiving as i am. but first, the "nightline 5." it's macy's super saturday sale. with all-day specials friday and saturday. diamond studs $199. 40% off when you buy two or more clearance handbags and wallets. men's designer suit separates $199.99. take an extra 40% off all clearance shoes for her. and coffee, tea, and espresso makers 40% off. macy's super saturday sale. plus bion line and pick up in-store. >> number one in just 60 seconds.

thank you for joining us. tonight the mother of that

police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in the back is being out for the first time. after a son became one of the most talked-about people in america. this as the witness who filmed the disturbing video comes forward with new details about what he says really happened those minutes that changed so many lives. >> reporter: tonight, newly released dash cam video shows the moments before the tragic shooting of walter scott, first seen here in cell phone video now making headlines around the world. the gunfire was not captured on the dash cam. instead, we see a standard traffic stop. officer michael slager pulls over scott's black mercedes for broken taillight. >> license, registration and insurance card. >> reporter: scott tells the officer he doesn't have a registration card or insurance. >> all right, be back with you. >> reporter: officer slager walks back to his patrol car. moments later scott gets out of the driver's seat. >> stay in the car! >> reporter: 18 seconds later,

routine gives way to man on the run. and soon scott, an unarmed father of four, is shot dead. the officer now arrested and charged with murder. tonight two mothers are grieving. judy scott, scott's mother. >> i pray that this never happens to another person. this has got to stop. >> reporter: and slager's mother karen sharp. >> i want her to know that this is also hard for me. and i would never, ever want there -- i would never have wanted this to happen to their family, her. >> reporter: speaking out for the first time she tells my colleague, steve osunsami she can't bring herself to watch the video that shows her son killing an unarmed black man. >> i've purposely not watched it. i've purposely not tried to hear people's comments about it. i don't -- i -- i just can't

watch it. i can't read the papers. i just can't. maybe to some people that's oh you're being in denial. but i'm sorry, i just can't. >> reporter: she says slager is not a racist, he's a loving son, a father to be. >> i want everybody to know he's a very good person. he's not a -- he's not a hater. he's a very good person. he's a -- he's a sweet, sweet kid. he's my kid. he's my child. >> reporter: a sharp contrast to the man seen in this cell phone clip, firing eight rounds at scott. disturbing, graphic images captured by santana, 23-year-old dominican-born barber who was on his way to work. today he shared new details about what he witnessed that saturday morning. >> what drew your attention? >> well the chasing of the police, the officer. >> the police officer chasing -- >> yeah to mr. scott. i saw him running.

i didn't know what was going on. maybe five seconds later i saw the cop after him. >> reporter: santana said he started recording just after officer slager fired his taser. >> trying to get away from the taser. >> reporter: he contradicts the claim scott tried to grab the stun gun. >> did you ever see mr. scott take the taser away from the police officer? ever have control of the taser? >> no, no that never happened. >> reporter: in the video, after scott goes down slager appears to drop an object near his body. >> on the video you see officer slager at one point walk back and pick up something off the ground. did you notice that? >> yes, i noticed. >> what was it? >> i can't say it was a taser, but -- i don't know. >> reporter: following the shooting police wrote in an

incident report they continued to perform first aid and cpr until e.m.s. arrived. santana says from what he saw, that's just not true. >> did you see anyone perform cpr? >> i didn't see any cpr. >> breathe into his mouth? >> no. >> compress his chest? >> no. >> try to revive him? >> nothing like that. >> reporter: santana says he waited a few minutes before telling slager and another officer at the scene he had recorded everything on his cell phone. >> did he attempt to say anything to you, look at you? >> he look at me. >> reporter: he says the officers asked him to wait at the scene but he left. >> i just got away from there. >> you walked away? >> yeah. >> no one followed you? >> no. >> an officer, hey, come back let me talk with you? >> no. >> reporter: within days he'd make the video public prompting police to charge slager with murder and re-examine his old cases and complaints. >> in mr. scott's case we only have video and a dead witness. but today we have a live

witness. >> reporter: in one account, 33-year-old mario gibbon in a press conference today, detailed how in 2013 slager tased him in the stomach with a stun gun even though he had his hands up. he said he's planning to sue. >> what came to my mind yeah if he even tried to listen to me or investigated he'd probably be alive because he wouldn't have been an officer in the field. >> reporter: he was mistaken for a burglary suspect. all charges against him were eventually dropped and investigators cleared officer slalger of any wrongdoing. slager used a taser in that case. in the last five years police in south carolina have fired their guns more than 200 times and in every case they were cleared. no charges. until now. tonight the south carolina law enforcement division released a statement saying the cell phone video confirmed their early suspicions. "there were inconsistencies. we believed early on there was something not right about what happened in that encounter." if convicted slager could face the death penalty.

santana's cell phone video may be the most compelling evidence against him. but it almost didn't see the light of day. >> i thought about erasing the video. >> why? >> because it was dangerous. dangerous to keep that information on me. >> because you were concerned for your own safety? >> yeah. >> to expose his identity to police officers who are supposed to protect the community, but who he watched execute a man and tell lies about what they had done afterwards, it was dangerous for him. living in that community. he's got to watch his back. >> reporter: slager has yet to enter a plea and his new attorney says it's too soon to issue a statement. >> it's heartbreaking for everybody, our family, the scott family. i would hate for this to happen to anybody. >> reporter: karen sharpe is still waiting to learn the fate of her son. >> i just -- i say prayers for both families. but we just take it one day at a time.

>> we'll have much more on the case in the morning on "gma." next, just like brad and angelina, these famous parents have adopted children from around the globe. tonight the johnsons talk about changing the world from home. later on "nightline," can't wait for the new "star wars" movie? we asked the filmmakers to spill their secrets. what's the deal with those new light things? but for people with copd sometimes breathing air can be difficult. if you have copd, ask your doctor about once-daily anoro ellipta. it helps people with copd breathe better for a full 24hours. anoro ellipta is the first fda-approved product containing two long-acting bronchodilators in one inhaler. anoro is not for asthma. anoro contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. it is not known if this risk is increased in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers

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you're about to meet parents confronting the same challenges any family faces raising a house full of rambunctious children. what makes them different?

here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> do you want short dresses? >> reporter: buying a fancy dress for a school dance is tough for anyone. but when you're just 4 feet tall it presents a whole different set of challenges. as you can see, trent and amber, along with their five children are all 4 feet tall or shorter. they say they're the largest family of dwarfs in the world. ♪ heigh ho heigh ho ♪ >> reporter: they even call themselves the seven little dwarfs from the classic disney movie "snow white." >> why would you want to be known as the seven dwarfs? >> we happen to be seven dwarfs. and, you know. >> call a spade a spade? >> i wouldn't say it's who we are, it's -- >> it's literally what we are. >> reporter: they're okay being called little people short-statured dwarfs. but certain names are hurtful. >> what are the names that are used? >> midget. that's most offensive.

people ask, what do you want to be called? frankly, we want to be called our names trent and amber. >> reporter: they may be the newest reality show stars with tlc's "seven little johnsons." they're bringing the world into their hectic, three-story home which they're renovating all by themselves. they refuse to modify their house to accommodate their small stature. >> you get average-sized furniture furniture, why? >> when they walk out the door, nothing is modified for them. i want them to go to their friend's house and know how to adapt. >> we're teaching them independence and we call it in-house training. >> reporter: they may be little but they have big hearts. and are raising their five kids including three adopted from the other side of the world, drawing comparisons to another famous couple. >> so i love that you were dubbed the brad and angelina of the little people. >> we definitely take that as a compliment. we think they're -- >> pretty amazing couple definitely. being in the limelight all the time and that they stay strong

and that's something that we definitely strive for as a couple and as a family. >> reporter: they had son jonah and daughter lit beth soon after getting married. but two difficult pregnancies took a toll on amber. at just 48 inches tall she grew 51 inches wide, making everyday tasks excruciating. since she and trent have the same dwarfism gene the probability of losing a child was high. >> your pregnancies were tough but they weren't horrible? >> pregnancy was very tough. i think, you know my body just didn't really like the whole idea of it. >> reporter: so the couple decided to expand their family through adoption. bringing home daughter anna from russia, emma from china, and son alex from south korea. >> the social acceptance for dwarf children over in most foreign countries, you know, is -- their future is not

great as your american typical child. >> you were saving them from a pretty bleak existence overseas? >> we don't necessarily see it as maybe we saved them. they gave us their presence. they're our children. >> i mean the least we could do is to be able to give them opportunity and give them education. >> reporter: a home full of little people comes with difficulties. all seven johnstons have dealt with multiple surgeries. >> back and brain stem surgery, then of course c-sections all the way down. >> common in a lot of little people. >> when you're a little person you can have back surgery, like my sister did, or you could have corrective ankle or leg surgery. >> because of the bowing of the legs? >> because of the bowing of the legs. >> have you had it done on body legs? >> both legs. >> i see. >> he had leg surgery. >> i see. that straightens it? >> yes. it straightens it.

>> reporter: even though dwarfism is classified under the americans with disabilities act, the johnstons say they don't accept disability. they don't see themselves as disabled. amber is an active stay at home mom. while trent works as a ground supervisor in charge of a group of big burly guys who do landscaping and maintenance at a local college. for trent he talks about his size that spilled over into his professional life despite 22 years of experience. >> do you think you've been discriminated against from a job perspective or in your career? your wife is nodding. >> i have. >> in what way? >> all our resumes are the same. but when that 4-foot man walks in that door, after the seven or six applicants before him have walked through that door, he's going to remember me. >> reporter: as the family grows up amber and trent have a whole different set of hurdles. raising three hormonal teenagers. which means learning how to drive, trying out for sports

against average-sized kids -- >> come on keep the ball moving! >> reporter: and awkward talks about the birds and the bees. >> if you want to go to the dance you're going to listen to my rules. >> what's it like being a teenager, normally developing there's boys there's peer pressure. what have you encountered? >> like we don't know if they're just wanting to date us because we're sized, or they really like us. my dad wants to wait till we're 16. >> what do you mean they'd only like you because of your size? >> maybe they want to date us because we're funny-looking. >> reporter: through it all they've learned not to take themselves too seriously. >> what went through your mind? >> that i'm going to be getting a lot of people staying home. funny, watching two little people fall. >> i get the sense you don't let your size get in the way of your ambitions? >> none of us let our size get in our way. and we instill that on the kids

too. we tell the kids at home when they come up and tell us, i can't do that or that. don't bring us "i can't." let's go back and figure it out. >> every parent is afraid to watch their child get hurt. >> absolutely. >> and we are too. >> or fail. >> we are too. >> and we are too and it's very difficult to watch the kids you know -- >> come in last place in a race. >> but the way we look at it, you tried. and without ever trying, we would never know. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm juju chang in forsythe, georgia. >> "seven little johnstons" airs tuesday nights on tlc. next the creative forces behind the "star wars" movies reveal how they got darth vader's ship to sound just so. and you'll never believe what those asteroids are made of.

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one after another the "star wars" movies have blown our minds with special effects. you might be shocked how some of them were achieved. tonight nick watt asked the moviemakers for their secret. sometimes high-tech tricks can't compete with good old human ingenuity. >> reporter: the terrifying drone of darth vader's star destroyers. it's a busted hotel ac unit. you can download episodes 1 through 6 for the first time and your bonus -- filmmakers are

finally laughing. >> you'll find them full of surprises. >> the air conditioner's broken or it's moving slightly. so i put the microphone on top of the air conditioning. i get this great mumbling sound. that ends up being the sound. >> fantastic. >> reporter: that beautiful sound is actually a movie projector motor from an ancient tv set. >> this is the projector motor hum. then this is the sound of the picture tube. the blend of those two is basic bed that's under every light saber. >> reporter: that's asteroids far, far away? they're potatoes. and the massed storm troopers on parade? >> so there are some real storm troopers on the set, and then the rest were added by artists. >> reporter: doug chang worked

on the last trilogy and is the concept artist for "the force awakens." >> the light sabers with the bits coming out the side. >> what are they for? >> i can't tell you. i can't even tell my wife what i'm doing. >> reporter: if he told us and not his wife? she might get a little mad. >> use the force, luke! >> reporter: nick watt for "nightline" in san francisco. >> the "star wars" franchise is owned by disney abc's parent company. so what's your favorite "star wars" movie? head to our "nightline" facebook page and let us know in the comments. it was george lucas who said you can't do it unless you can imagine it. thank you for watching abc news. and as always we're online at abcnews.com. good night, america.

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