this is "nightline." >> tonight, the race to rescue. new urgency to free the young soccer team in thailand trapped in that cave for more than two weeks now. with monsoon rains on the way, the risky escape plan and the dangerous route to safety that's already claimed the life of one rescue diver. plus liquid knowledge? >> one down. >> behind the scenes with the cast and creators of "drunk history." the show that turns sober topics into anything but. >> today we're going to talk about the mona lisa heist. hey! >> how they pour their slurred words into the mouths of superstars like jack black. >> he painted this -- he painted

this painting -- >> >> and chasing evel. action sports hero travis pastrana attempting to break an evel knevil record, jumping over 52 cars. how this daredevil is preparing to fly into danger. first the "nightline 5." >> the best way to hit the beach? >> with neutrogena beach defense sunscreen. helioplex-powered uva, uvb strong. beach-strength protection for the family. for the best day in the sun, neutrogena. imagine a visibly healthier pet in 28 days. purina 1, natural ingredients, vitamins and minerals in powerful combinations. for radiant coat, sparkling eyes, vibrant energy. purina 1.

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good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight, a sudden change in plans in the desperate effort to rescue that young soccer team trapped in a cave in thailand. it had been thought the rescue operation could wait months, but a new storm front and low oxygen levels could prompt action as soon as this weekend. abc's matt gutman is there. >> reporter: for the boys inside this cave, time has stood still. they are consumed by darkness and waiting to be saved. that as monsoon season looms. the rescue grows more urgent and more perilous than ever before. tonight we're learning that operation to extract the boys could begin this weekend. >> we're trying to set a plan, the best plan is we can bring them out. and we'll try. >> reporter: an internal

government report says the boys could start coming out in the next few hours. taking advantage of the team's relatively good health. each of the now-weakened boys being brought out in a buddy dive, shepherded through the knee-high passages by inexperienced cave divers. divers and rescuers have amassed hundreds of air tanks along the route. british divers have been teaching the boys how to dive and some of the basics of swimming. thai authorities say the boys will have to shimmy the way out they got in. but overnight the treacherousness of that tortured route became ever-more present. that massive rescue effort suffered its first loss. a former thai navy s.e.a.l., 38-year-old saman gunan died we'll working to deliver supplies to those in the cave. his dive partner found him unconscious in the water along the one-mile swim from where the boys are stranded back to the operation base in cave three. he posted this video before he left for his volunteer mission here.

"may good luck be on your side to bring the boys home," he said. according to a statement posted by the thai.e.l, gunnan, a triathlete, had rejoined the s.e.a.l.s just to help rescue the boys. the s.e.a.l.s wrote, his determination and good intention will wlds be in the heart of all s.e.a.l. brothers. today get some good rest, we will complete the mission for you. the boys are almost three miles from the cave entrance, a treacherous maze that includes chambers filled to the ceiling with water. in this video you can see that diver emerging from the water, the current so strong, he can barely grab the help line. inside the cave the boys are accompanied by navy s.e.a.l.s who are treating cuts on legs and feet, providing food and thermal blankets. they can be seen smiling, and one even flashes a "v" for victory sign. but for their families waiting outside, victory seems far away. this mother saying, "i am dying

to see him, i miss my son." but the boys, the youngest only 11 years old, have an arduous journey ahead. i was told the current there is so strong that expert divers had their masks ripped off their faces. you can see other soldiers taking in lengths of pipe, trying to pump water out. it shows you what a massive logistical problem this is. clause rasmussen is a certified cave diver assisting with logistics. >> we're talking kilometers of transport under the water, zero visibility. it's a cave. it's very difficult. >> reporter: but so much is stacked against the young athletes. >> if you don't know how to swim and you're in a black environment, inside a cave, it's not a good environment to learn in. so nobody will teach anybody full cave protocols. but keeping them comfortable, in an environment they can get away, that's fusible. >> reporter: a deluge could

begin soon, adding 5 to 8 inches to the already submerged cavern. >> it's going to be hard for the navy s.e.a.l.s to try to take a kid out. >> reporter: my colleague, james longman, spoke to a rescue worker. >> maybe one or two days and the storm is coming. a big problem with the flood in the cave. >> will they move them before the storm? >> yes. >> definitely? >> yes. >> reporter: inside the cave, the dire issue of oxygen. there's about 400 rescuers at any given time. the air supply is diminishing rapidly. >> we have to try to set the plan and find which plan is the best for the front line. >> reporter: now they are racing against time. clearing obstacles, draining water in the cave to give the boys a fighting chance to escape. they're laying pipes, building a dam. this area between the second and third chamber now passable on foot.

and they're even drilling through rock. officials saying they're taking some of their cues from the 2010 rescue of the chilean miners. that rescue took over a month to complete. this week one of those who was rescued, mario sepulveda known as super mario, sent well wishes to the team. >> reporter: at this school where six of the boys studied, morning meditation for a safe rescue. what you're seeing right now is a prayer being said for the boys in the cave. every day the 2,800 students at this school, six of their fellow students are at the cave right now. every day they sit here, and they say a prayer hoping for the recovery and the rescue of those boys. these boys who were members of the ill-fated wild boar soccer team tell me going into the cave was an adventure and rite of

passage for many in the area. is it scary at all? you're walking four or five kilometers, three miles in, were you afraid inside? i know i would be. come on. >> no. >> reporter: they would bring snacks and flashlights for the trips, traveling sometimes for hours in and out of the gave. they said they were supposed to be on that trip but they missed practice that day. one of them up late watching the world cup. what is it like did know you could have been in that cave? still, two weeks later? he says if he were in that cave, he would have been scared. so this is a practice field that the team used to play on. in fact, it's the place they set out from to go to that cave. now it's a military encampment. you can see right there is al aanding pad for rescue helicopters. i spoke with the head coach of that soccer team. he told me that he's always taught the boys to be brave and strong, just like the team's

name, the wild boars. how did you learn they had disappeared? he says he started receiving calls from the parents after their kids didn't return home from practice. how did you learn that the kids had actually gone to that cave? he says he went out searching himself, came upon the bicycles and backpacks of the boys. as the days passed, the coach says they did their best to remain hopeful. disconnecting from the news and social media, spending all of their time in front of the cave's entrance, hoping and praying that the team would be found. >> we're coming. many people are coming. many, many people. we are the first. many people coming. >> reporter: day nine. they're found. what was it like in that camp when the rescuers announced that they had found them? he tells me, it was the happiest day of his life. for now he says he can't wait for the team to come out safely,

to finally be able to hug them and know that they're okay. and the boys inside that cave sending messages to their families letting them know that they are well. now we hear from that assistant coach trapped with them who was apologizing to the families saying, i promise i will care for the kids as best as possible. i want to apologize to the parents." for "nightline" i'm matt gutman in thailand. >> our thanks to matt. and the team in thailand, of course. we'll have the latest update osgood morning america tomorrow. up next, they caught lightning in a bottle with "drunk history." later, the incredible motorcycle stunt in honor of evel knevil. f evel knevil. ♪

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you might have heard of drinking and singing. or drinking and falling. but drinking and learning? that's the crazy concept behind the hit series "drunk history." here's abc's rebecca jarvis with another look behind the scenes. >> reporter: drinking on the job is typically frowned upon. >> one down. >> reporter: not at this workplace. >> i've only just begun. >> reporter: at this airbnb in downton manhattan, while the crew ihe lights are being adjus host and this comedian are having a drink. then another drink. and, well, you get the point. equipped with plenty of alcohol, a breathalyzer, an o an o and a medic, we're on the set of "drunk history." >> microphone!

>> reporter: it's the hit comedy central show, a drunk narrator telling historical stories re-enacted by famous actors and comedians who are completely sober. >> i'm in a bloody deal with these laws. >> reporter: lip synching to their drunken counterparts. >> he painted this painting -- >> he painted this painting of lisa in florence. >> the drunk element of the show is the unpredictable. sometimes it's -- oh, hi, jack. the unpredictable happens! >> reporter: the ever-changing cast of characters has drawn stars ranging from will ferrell -- >> i'm just into preserving the union. >> reporter: to ryan gosling, and eva mendes. >> i and my cap have just settled our brains -- >> reporter: to oscar-winning stars like okay tair yeah spencer. >> whoever's down to help the union, just let me know.

>> first time i ever allowed anyone to see how we shoot "drunk history," derek waters is the host and cocreator of the show that started out as a web series. you've been doing this now for multiple seasons. >> yes. >> how did you come up with this? >> it started in 2009. just a one-time idea based off a friend of mine, chick johnson on "the new girl," he was drunk and telling a story about otis redding. >> reporter: derek and jeremy conner enlisted their friend mark. >> derek called me up, i want to do like the history channel does, you talk about a thing, then we re-enact it. i said, great. oh, and i want you to be really, really drunk when you do it. >> he was the one that i went to and said, what's a moment in history that you feel more people need to know about? and he said, alexander hamilton and aaron burr. >> today we're going to talk about alexander hamilton. >> how far in did you stop remembering what was going on? >> i remember moving from a chair to the couch.

after that, everything is a little hazy. >> reporter: the guys thought it would be a one-time video, until jeremy's former boss, jack black, saw it. >> i was jack's assistant at the time. and i showed it to him. he was like, oh my god, i want to do one! and we did the ben franklin one. then all of a sudden now we were doing a series. >> reporter: five seasons later, the show comes full circle tonight with mark as narrator once again. how do you choose which stories? >> we have a great team of researchers that just dig for those stories that were hid no one history books. this is our secret job, finding those stories that make us go, why weren't we taught that in school? >> reporter: after a few more drinks, mark is ready to tell his story. >> i'm mark gagliard it. we're here to talk about the heist -- [ bleep ]. i'm mark -- >> reporter: almost. >> hello, i'm mark gagliardi.

today we're going to talk about the mona lisa heist. hey! >> hey! >> reporter: it isn't too long before things start to take a turn. >> mark's getting some oxygen right now. i'm not sure -- definitely accelerated things a little bit. >> when energy's a little low from someone after drinking, just like 10 minutes with an oxygen mask and it's like glorious stuff on coming out from the dark. >> reporter: he wasn't lying. ♪ coming out of the dark >> i feel like i should apologize because i'm drunk, but this is how the show works. vincenzo peruchia has just stolen the mona lisa. >> reporter: these immortal words will eventually make their way across the country into the mouth of jack black. >> the lisa in florence -- >> you do have to medical rise

the lines. lip synching isn't as easy as it looks. there's an art to it. there's definitely a silent artistry involved. >> ready? action. >> reporter: a different kind of acting skill. >> you're playing the scene based on a drunken narrator's perspective. but i never play it drunk, you know. i always try to play it as straight as possible. taking it real seriously. as if this is really the way history went down. >> we shoot for so many hours to create five minutes of content. and it's really because half the time it's just -- 90% of the time it's just wrangling someone to tell the story. >> reporter: and in new york, distractions were at an all-time high. so people in history, you don't necessarily see as humans? >> exactly, yeah. we see them as almost biblical. you know, fables.

but they're all real. that's secretly the goal of the show is humanizing everybody. including people that are really drunk. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm rebecca jarvis getting my drunk history lesson in new york. up next, is he fearless? or brainless? travis pastrana revving up for a record-breaking stunt.

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i'm going to guess you probably don't have 52 cars, a t aviv-twin e r motorcycle. case, dos at here's kaynahiorth.orr: ting so his placeisry bos, aion athlete travis pastrana is ready to tackle his biggest challenge yet. >> i'd never jumped it as far as i'm going to have to jump it on the day. >> reporter: july 8th, in a three-hour special on history

channel called "evel live," pastrana will attempt to break the record established by world-famous daredevil evel knevil and successfully jump over 52 cars. >> what would evel have done? pushed it as far as he could have gone. that's kind of what we're doing. >> reporter: that stunt followed by a second one in which he'll try and fly over 16 buses. >> it's really the first time in -- since evel's day that anyone's tried to jump one of these. it's going to be a lot of fun, also really scary at the same time. >> reporter: all of it culminating in a live grand finale. >> no one has successfully jumped caesar's. more and more nervous as we get closer to this event. >> reporter: landing a jump over the fountain at caesars palace, a stunt that nearly killed evel knevil in 1967. >> i'm doing everything as close to evel did as absolutely possible. his wardrobe, his outfit,

whatever you want to call it, it does make riding a little bit more difficult. hopefully the leather, if i end up sliding across the ground, will help road rash. >> so there's that. >> there's that. >> reporter: he says he knows his time trying to break records won't last forever. at what point do you think it will be enough? >> you know -- my dad always said, ride the train till the wheels come off. >> reporter: for "nightline," kayna whitworth, los angeles. >> "evel live" ailive" ailive" i on history. let's hope he lands in the history books. thanks for watchin