this is "nightline." tonight, breaking news on the alleged hate attack involving empire actor, jussie smollett. police in chicago questioning two persons of interest, one, an extra on the show. now investigating what their role may have been and whether the attack happened at all. the actor and singer giving his account in his own words. >> they called me [ bleep ]. they called me [ bleep ]. then the free solo climb, no ropes, no harnesses, no problem. the rocking documentary now up for an oscar. and freshly frozen. the brand-new trailer of "frozen two" cracking records from the

highest-grossing animated film ever. but first, the "nightline" five. five. that leave therea lasting impression. like the feeling of movement as a new journey begins, or the sight of soft fur, warmed by the morning sun. you might remember new flavours, the sound of an old friend's laugh, or a view that defies all expectations. these are the memories that stay with you,

long after the moments have passed. good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with breaking developments illeg smollett. chicago police questioning two

persons of interest, raiding their homes overnight. investigating whether they played a role or if the attack happened at all. the new details streaming in. these two persons of interest caught on surveillance camera now being questioned by chicago police in connection with the investigation into a possible hate crime against actor jussie smollett. >> i can only go off of their words. i mean, who [ bleep ]. this maga country. [ bleep ]. ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you. >> reporter: police now vetting whether the two individuals were involved in the attack or whether the attack happened at all. >> i've never been some stunt queen. i'm not a media whore. that's not who i am. i don't look for that type of attention. >> reporter: authorities revealing one of the persons of

interest had appeared on the hit show "empire." tonight alex perez is in chicago. >> reporter: investigators were able to track them down using cameras, transportation record the and information provided by jussie smollett himself. authorities say they've nope abo known about them from some time but haven't been able to talk to them until they returned from nigeria. they carried out a raid at is there home, taking shoes, electronic devices and other things that could be key to the investigation. both are cooperating. investigators say they once again he interviewed jussie smollett. so far no one has been charged. >> reporter: tonight the attorney for the two persons of interest, say they know smollett and are baffled why they are persons of interest, adding they are not guilty. smollett sat down with abc news. the 36 year old describing what

he says happened two weeks ago when he says he was violently attacked around 2:00 a.m. near his chicago apartment. >> what happened that night, jussie? >> as i was crossing the intersection, i heard "empire". and i don't answer to empire. my name ain't empire. and then i kept walking and i heard [ bleep ] empire, and i turned around, and i said did you just say to me, [ bleep ], and i saw the attacker, masked. and he said this maga country and punched me in the face. i punched him right back. we started tussling. there was a second person involved who was kicking me in the back and then it just stopped. and they ran off. it felt like minutes, but it probably was like 30 seconds, honestly. i can't tell you, honestly.

i noticed the rope around my neck and i started screaming and i said there's a [ bleep ] rope around my neck. they put a [ bleep ] rope around my neck. >> reporter: within days, police released that image of the persons of interest, the actor saying he was sure those were his attackers. >> i was like, okay, wore gat w' getting somewhere, know what i'm saying? so yeah, i don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them.'s t never did. >> reporter: the actor is best known for his break-out role on "empire", now in its fifth season. he plays jamal lion, the middle son of a musical dynasty. the character, like smollett, is an openly-gay singer. tonight's developments only adding to the swirl of questions surrounding the reported attack, including why smollett refused to turn over his cell phone.

>> we had to get the phone records, which they didn't originally ask for my phone records. they asked for my phone. they wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. i'm sorry, but i'm not going to do that. >> why? >> because i have private pictures and videos and numbers. my partner's number. my family's number. my cast mates' number, my friends' number, my private e-mails, my private songs, my private voice memos. i don't now what that's going to be do hand over my phone, and honestly, by then, inaccurate false statements had already been put out there. >> reporter: tonight police confirm record the show he was on the phone with his manager at the time he says the attack happened. other speculation involved the fact that there was no video of the attack despite it taking place in an area filled with

surveillance cameras. >> it's like the camera facing north, how is that my issue? i don't own the camera. i'm not a detective. how would i know that? what part do i have to play in which way the camera is facing? how? how that's my burden to bear? >> reporter: as a high-profile, openly-gay black man, smollett says this wasn't the first time he's been targeted. >> i get threatened all the time on twitter and instagram and things like that. but, you know, i'm a public figure. i'm very outspoken. sometimes maybe too outspoken. >> reporter: one week before the attack on january 22nd, police confirm a letter was sent to the studio in chicago where empire is filmed full of threatening language and laced with a powdery substance later to be

determined to be crushed tylenol. >> there was no address, but the run address said in big, red, like caps, maga. >> reporter: for now, police are working to cover every angle of what smollett says happened. >> i will never be the man that this did not happen to. i am forever changed. >> and of course our alex perez in chicago will have the very latest on this case on gma in the mourng. when we come back, the peak performance. the record-breaking climber who could be climbing the stage at the oscars, next. sweeper and dusters. heavy dutyr for hard-to-reach places, duster makes it easy to clean. it captures dust in one swipe. ha! gotcha! and sweeper heavy duty cloths lock away

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it's known as free soloing. climbing up the sheer face of a mountain without safety gear. we had the story on el captain, now the movie pulling back the curtain on that remarkable feat is up for an academy award. here's t.j. holmes, with another look at the rock-u-mentry. >> reporter: imagine, 3,000 feet in the air. no ropes. no harness. no safety net. just you and the mountain. this is the world of free solo climbing. and, in this world, one climber is on top. alex honnold. >> if you're seeking perfection,

this is as close as you can get. >> reporter: at 33 years old, he's broken records around the world. last year he set his sights on the impossible, el captain, a 3,000-foot, vertical, granite rock face in yosemite national park. >> it is the most impressive rock in the world. 3300 feet of sheer granite. i get questioned about it all the time. oh, would you like to do that? oh, yes, for sure. >> reporter: it is the subject of a new national geographic film. >> people who know exactly what he's doing are freaked out. >> reporter: put that in better perspective for me if you can. a lot of people watching this may have known your name, may have heard of el cap before. >> it's like two and a half times as big as the empire state building. >> reporter: you're climbing up an almost flat sheet of rock. >> yeah. >> reporter: how far would we have to go where we finally got

to a point where you thought, okay, this might actually be something i could do? >> as a kid and going camping and looking at the wall, it looms immu looks immense. there was a moment in 2015, and i remember when i was climbing on el cap, where i was like, hmm, i could sort of imagine doing this without a rope. >> reporter: he spent the better part of two years practicing, practicing with ropes. every detail, even every hand and foothold, meticulously planned. one wrong move on the climb could mean certain death. >> you drive off the left foot into the thumb press. that's the worst hold in the route. in some ways, it makes good sense to do the jump. >> reporter: inevitably, adding to the stress of the climb, alex agreed to do it all requewith cs

rolling. how much of that was getting used to camera crews? >> we refined our processes to a point with it was perfectly done. >> as alex is moving up the wall, are you literally shooting next to him and tracking him and, as he climbs past you, you need to then put your camera equipment away, clip in and move up the rope into another position so you can shoot him again. >> reporter: for the husband and wife duo, this film was a technical challenge and a personal one, as evidenced in this new behind the scenes footage. >> alex is doing a few laps on the top part of free rider and we're rigging in, actually skoutdi skou scouting our locations for when he solos it. >> every member of our team sat with this risk, sat with this commitment, and had entered into

this circle of trust with alex and ourselves. >> filming alex is extremely emotional, very taxing. it's very scary. >> reporter: the film pulls back the curtain on the danger and the tension of their endeavor and the inherent danger for everyone involved. >> i put my foot on this, what looked like part of the wall. and a piece about the size of a small backpack launched. and jim is below me. dave is below me. >> it flew, like right here. and then another one went like right here. >> the foremost challenge in everybody's mind is the risk and the risk of death. >> when he told us, i want to free solo el cap, we actually took a step back. you know, we had to answer some very tough questions for ourselves. >> reporter: what was the first moral question hundred? >> what's the effect of the film maker on the subject. >> and if it causes him to die or pushes him to do something he wouldn't normally do because there's a camera rolling. >> okay, everybody know what is

to do if something should go wrong. who should make the call? >> 911. we'll get kicked into gear and tell them what you know. >> all right. >> no mistakes tomorrow. >> reporter: now did you deal with that question, can we live with ourselves if something happens? >> it comes down to the idea of a life well lived. >> i'm a professional climber. i know the mind set. we believed in his ability to do it. but we also knew that if we were going to do this, we also had to execute perfectly. >> reporter: while training, alex enlisted the help of friend and fellow professional climber, tommy caldwell. >> everyone who has made free soloing a big part of their life is dead now. i've had 30 or 40 friends that have died. >> reporter: you described breaking off a hand hold and a little slip. those things would have resulted in your death. you call it risk and consequence. >> yeah.

yeah. >> reporter: explain that to us. >> so i like to separate risk and consequence, consequence be being what will actually happen if you fall. when people say free soloing is risky, not all of it is risky, some of it is as easy as walking on the sidewalk. >> reporter: that's what you do. you mitigate a risk as best you k on can. >> i think that's the appeal of free soloing. make it feel comfortable and controlled. >> reporter: it explores whether he is built differently than all of us. >> several ex-girlfriends say i have personality disorders. >> is my brain in tact? >> your brain is in tact. you have no act administration in your amygdala.

it needs a much higher level of stimulation. things that are typically stimulating for most of the rest of us are not really doing it for you. >> i took that to mean that basically over time i've desensitized myself to a certain stimulus. i've been climbing for over 20 years. a lot of things in climbing used to be a lot more scary for me, and over time i've gotten desensitized. >> reporter: the emotional toll on answer's friends and family in the lead up to the climb is at times difficult to watch, especially when it comes to his girlfriend. >> it's awesome. makes life better in every way. >> it's really hard for me to grasp why he wants this. what if something happens? >> reporter: how did you prepare differently? did you find that it was a different experience being in such a serious relationship this time around? >> the reason it sort of worked out is sonny, my girlfriend told me, you don't need to break up with me. you can have both.

and in some ways, it was the first time that had been presented to me, like really? can i do that? >> reporter: one part that stands out is when your girlfriend is sitting by herself in the car, and she's in tears, like why does he have to do this? >> it is hard to watch, for sure. it is hard when somebody you care about deeply is going to be so affected by it. >> reporter: in the end, against all odds, alex overcomes heartache and injury and accomplishes the impossible and does it in less than four hours. >> we're on the edge of our seats watching alex make his way up el cap, achieving something no human had ever done before. >> woo-hoo! >> oh, god! >> oh, my god. >> i'm so glad this is over. >> reporter: will you ever give up knfree soloing?

have you thought about retiring at all? >> yeah, if i never do anything more grand than el cap, i'll still be honored. >> reporter: is this the greatest feat ever accomplished in climbing? >> oh, i mean, i think, yes. i think it's one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, ever, really. i mean, perfection or death. very unbelievable. >> reporter: you got a front row seat for it. >> yeah. >> reporter: got to feel pretty good. >> it was beautiful. absolutely beautiful. >> exquisite. our thanks to tj holmes. up next, "frozen two", on fire. even the trailer is setting records tonight. records tonight. of 1-2-3 medicines with trelegy. ower the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy. the power of 1-2-3 ♪ trelegy 1-2-3 trelegy

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and finally tonight, the "frozen" return. the team mibehind the highest-grossing animated film of all time releasing a new trailer. getting over 100 million views in 24 hours, with queen elsa taking on a brand-new challenge.

water and massive waves. the directors hinting the upcoming adventure will be bigger and more epic in scale with the original characters and stars all returning. let the adventures begin. "frozen two" set to hit theaters on november 22nd. that's "nightline." if you're ever just chillin', you can catch episodes of "nightline" on hulu. good night, america.

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