this is "nightline." >> tonight, tears for paris. >> oh, my god. >> notre dame cathedral, the heart of france, the beloved landmark, burning as the world watches in horror. >> i thought oh, my god, this isn't really happening. ♪ >> parisiennes breaking out in song of solidarity and grief as the structure crumbles before them. what we're now learning about the damage. plus, tiger's triumph. >> the return to glory. [ cheers and applause ] >> remarkable comeback and return to greatness. after so many years sidelines by injury and scandal, our vintage chat with the champion way back when. >> a lot of black kids started to take up the game now. and winter is here. the dragon-breathing final season premiere of "game of

thrones." were you one of the millions watching? record numbers fit for a queen, but first "the nightline 5. ". >> i don't keep track of regrets and i don't add up the years but what i do count on is boost.

♪ [ crying ] ♪ you protect them at home. we help protect them online. this is beyond wifi. this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. good evening. thanks for joining us. notre dame cathedral is considered the soul of paris and so much more.

one of the most sacred landmarks in the world, the working cathedral nearly nine centuries old, sufficient vifg the french revolution and nazi occupation. today millions around the world watching in horror as it burned. abc's david wright is on the scene in paris. >> reporter: tonight in paris, heavy hearts. ♪ the city, the whole nation really in mourning. >> the biggest symbol of paris. >> to see all the preeshiers here who came here to gather, to mourn. >> i don't know what to say for me. the most beautiful monument of paris. >> notre dame, our lady of paris to those who live here, a landmark ravaged by flames. today the spire of this 850-year-old landmark burnt like a torch and finally collapsed. >> oh, my.

>> reporter: caving in the roof. >> did you see that? >> no. >> reporter: engulfing the very center of this cathedral in flames. john dickas watched it all from his apartment. >> my partner and i were standing on the balcony, and that was moment that she started crying when we watched the spire fall down. it's such like an iconic part of the paris skinline. >> reporter: french president emmanuel macron tearful, called the blaze a terrible tragedy. president trump had these words. >> the fire that they are having at the notre dame cathedral is something like few people have witnessed. it's one of the great treasures of the world, and it's burning very badly. looks like it's burning to the ground. >> reporter: some of the first images from inside notre dame have now been released. the altar where thousands would have flocked to celebrate easter sunday this week now covered in

ash. it took 500 fire fighters to battle the flames, at times they were powerless to stop them. >> there's no question. i'll tell you that for me the most heartbreaking moment is when i saw about 20 minutes after i -- i started watching the fire, i saw the -- the ladders go up and the hoses start spraying, and it was just heartbreaking to watch. the ladders were not tall enough. the hoses were not strong enough. >> the first reports surfaced at 6:50 p.m. paris time, an ominous billow of spoke coming from notre dame. >> me hand my mom are going on a sunset cruise on the seine, like a champagne cruse and when i got on the boat one of my friends texted me saying that notre dame is on fire, and we couldn't see it at that point, but we were kind of shaken up and everyone was like are you sure? are you sure that's what's happening and then our boat started going down the river, and could you see the smoke just raising up, and then eventually

you could see the flames going up and eventually the tower came down. >> just a fire in the background. >> wow. >> the horror of onlookers flames then burst through the ceiling. the inferno raging out of control. rescuers scrambled to save some of the cathedral's precious art and priceless relics, among them a tiny piece of christ's crown of thorns housed in the spire to protect against lightning and other harms. miraculously the main structure of the cathedral appears to have survived. those two iconic towers at the end still standing. it took more this a century to build this church. construction began in 1163. the two massive towers finished around 1245, considered a triumph of french gothic style. the building is french history carved in stone and watched over

by gargoyles. >> this is one of the most important landmarks in france still standing tonight but smouldering as well, and a full assessment of how bad the damage is, we'll have to wait until first light. meantime, there's a feeling of great sadness here, and all along the seine people are singing hymns. ♪ >> reporter: notre dame survived the french revolution. this is where napoleon was crowned emperor of france. it survived two world wars, and the nazi occupation. the heart of france. its cultural significance cannot be underestimated. victor hugo immortalized the notre dame with his hunchback, a story that hollywood has told and retold over the years. >> i have chores to do. it -- it was nice seeing you again. oh. >> reporter: notre dame is said to be the most visited location in all of france. 13 million tourists a year.

that's nearly double the foot traffic at the eiffel tower. the cathedral was undergoing a $6 million renovation project. just days before statues of the apostles were taken off the rooftop to be cleaned so tonight they were spared. while the cause of this fire is not yet known, authorities are investigating if it might have been linked to the construction work. now the reconstruction work will have to begin all over again with how much more damage to undo. macron has vowed to rebuild, but what stood for centuries could take a generation to restore. can they rebuild? >> i don't know if i will be alive when they will finish to rebuild it. it will be very complicated. >> reporter: complicated, yes, and tragic, too. ♪ >> reporter: but notre dame is the heart of paris, and the

french people are determined to do what they can to save it. ♪ >> reporter: i'm david wright for "nightline" in paris. >> our thanks to david. we'll have coverage throughout the night and first them on "gma." up neing of the green once again. inside tiger woods' spectacular comeback. plus, the return of winter. the fantasy epic "game of thrones" storming to record ratings. touch shows how we really feel. but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz, the first and only treatment of its kind offering people with moderate to severe psoriasis a chance at 100% clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of people quickly saw a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms,

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tonight in major league baseball, every player wore number 42, a tribute to the late jackie robinson, the man who broke the color line in baseball. sunday another noteworthy moment in sports, another athlete who broke the color line in his own way, in his own game, made history again. tiger woods won his fifth masters championship. he last won it 14 years ago. it was both a record and redemption. we don't have kings in america, but we sure do love a comeback. >> the return to glory.

>> it wasn't so much that tiger woods won the masters. it's the fact that he got knocked down and on the holy grail of golf he got up. >> it's been alost. . the body, the game, life. it just all evolved in -- it all moves forward. >> this is the greatest comeback in sports history. coming from behind to do it on the last day. that's what sports is all about. that's what greatness is all about. >> and there are reasons why this win, this comeback transcends sport. sunday we watched a family go full circle. tiger the father embraced his boy. 22 years earlier the same thing, same red shirt, tiger the prodigy embraced by his father. private whispers then and now, not just about the win but all that it took to get there. >> they only know me as dad. they saw all the tough times, and so they didn't realize how much that golf meant to me in my life and all the good times, because they always saw golf hurt their dad, but thankfully

in the last couple of years, i've certainly evolved and changed and they have seen the joy that the game of golf brings me. >> woods has done more than enjoy the game. he changed it. i first met eldredge woods in 199 is. he was 16, tiger was his nickname and eknew then that golf was more than a game. he came to boston to win a golf tournament and first put on a clinic for inner city kids who had never seen anyone like him do what he was doing. >> it means a lot to me that a lot of black kids are starting to take up the game now, and i'm not the only one now. >> i asked tiger afterwards why someone so young was doing so much. his response. forecast of what was to come. >> i'm not your average 16-year-old. >> tiger woods has never been average. he was playing golf by the time he was 11 months old. >> tiger woods and his father earl woods. >> a prodigy by 2.

he showed his playing prowess on "the mike douglas show." that's incredible at age 5. earl woods functioning as his son's coach, his publicist and his manager, and more compelling than the boy's game was the bond between father and son as clearly evident in a 1993 interview with abc's john quinones. >> how would you describe your relationship with tiger? >> best friend, no ifs, and or buts about it, he's my best friend. >> together they built a brand. with his father's blessing tiger dropped out of stanford and into the world of professional golf, winning tournaments and endorsement deals, soon he made more than money, history, bick becoming the first black man to win the masters and the youngest of any race at 21. >> what drew people initially to tiger woods the winning and the wing and the winning. when you watched tiger woods, you thought you were watching history. it was like watching michael jordan every time you watched

tiger woods. you thought something special was going to happen. >> by the time he was 30, tiger woods was the most dominant golfer on earth, like few sportsmen in history. his impact went beyond the arena where he played. on the short lives iconic athletes recognized simply by one name. think jackie as in jackie robinson, ali, the babe. tiger rose that high. his significance that grand. >> he established for a young generation of people of color that, hey, we can play this game. we can be great at this game. tiger woods did it. why can't? i what's riveting about yesterday is those very people he was playing against fighting tooth-and-nail to win the masters are the very people he helped bring to the game. they played in large part because he played. >> but like heroes before him, his epic rise was followed by an epic fall. in 2006 he lost his father, and by 2009 the spiraling death of his good name.

that now infamous car crash in front of his florida home, infidelity would cost him his marriage and so much more. >> all that came crashing down, and so i think there was that period from 'a 09 through say '13 or so where everyone is kind of asking who is tiger woods? >> the messy details of his private life spilling out not tabloids. a number of extra marital affairs, rehab for sex addiction. that tiger swagger was gone. replaced by shame. >> i am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior. >> the public scandal also cost him millions of dollars in sponsorships. >> this was like this guy who set this up perfect image and all of a sudden we realized it's just a sham and that's what people thought. they thought here's a sham. this is a guy who isn't real. he never was what we thought he was. >> by 2013 he was well on his way to his first run at a comeback winning five tournaments and named the pga tour player of the year.

but soon thereafter woods was shrined again, first by injury and then once again by scandal. >> i'm trying. i'm trying everything just to be able to get back and play. >> in 2017 woods talked to abc about his ongoing battle with back pain which required multiple surgeries. >> i need to get back physically. the mind is sharp. i just need to get the body willing to do it. that's the hard part is getting the prep time in and i haven't been able to get as much prep time in, haven't been able to train like i used to, practice like i used to so it's been harder. >> a couple of months later in may, this infamous mug shot. police arrested woods for suspicion of driving under the influence. >> right over here. >> everyone saw it. everyone couldn't look away and then the video, the dashcam video and tiger is having trouble walking that straight line and he's clearly -- clearly in significant trouble. >> a police officer found woods asleep at the we will around 3:00 a.m. another his florida home. tests showed there was no

alcohol in his system. in a statement woods apologized to his family and said what happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. i didn't realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly. >> it was breathtaking how far tiger had fallen. it was sad. it was troubling. it was devastating. >> by now his body had betrayed him. his actions had diminished him. the whispers had become a chorus. too much bag and, too many injuries. tiger woods was washed up. but last year his first pga win in more than five seasons. >> the evolution we've seen of him over the past year or two, we see a man that's more humble, a man that gives to children's charities, a man that does more pubically but more than that you saw his love for his family, and that i think is turning the tide of public opinion with tiger woods. i think people are now seeing in tiger woods at 43 a more mature, a more open and a more think thg

to attract a lot of fans to him. >> all of this leading to him, woods striding up the fairway in his signature red, the now 43-year-old no longer the freshest face on the tour, no longer the number one player. back when tiger woods was the best golfer in the world, he wasn't the most beloved. viewed as arrogant, aloof. now that old hubris is replaced by humility, a man softened by hard times. >> what will he do next? that remains to be seen. he can still be great, but even if he's not great, i think he's proven himself as a legend. >> woods' longtime sponsor nike releasing this ad right after sunday's victory. >> i'm going to be jack nicklaus. >> woods is chasing that dream with 1/5 majors and nicklaus has 18. he may never get there, but few golfers, few athletes have never risen higher, fallen further and come back forran core. >> 15th major today. 18? >> we'll just 15.

15 has been a long time coming. >> president trump tweeting tonight he'll present tiger woods with the presidential medal of freedom. when we come back, how about that "game of thrones" final season opener. our next story is dark and full of spoilers. i'm mildly obsessed with numbers. so, i started with the stats regarding my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. like how humira has been prescribed to over 300,000 patients. and how many patients saw clear or almost clear skin in just 4 months - the kind of clearance that can last. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. numbers are great. and seeing clearer skin is pretty awesome, too. that's what i call a body of proof. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and

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and finally tonight, the fantasy tv drama riding into its final season, smashing >> i don't know how to ride a dragon. >> nobody does until they ride a dragon.

>> what iffy doesn't want me to? >> then i've enjoyed your company, jon snow. >> after nearly two agonizing years of anticipation, "game of thrones" is finally back with a moment fans have been waiting for since the show began nearly a decade ago. hbo reporting the long-awaited "game of thrones" season eight premiere hit a record 17.4 million viewers, up more than a million viewers from season seven. the pay channel says its streaming app posted the biggest night in its history. plenty of water cooler recaps in realms far and wide. here's an interesting stat of the non-spoiler variety. since the medieval fantasy epic premiered in 2011, the show based on george r.r. martin's best-selling books has won 47 emmy awards, the most of any primetime drama in television history. that's impressive. it was muhammad ali who said it

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