this is "nightline." >> tonight -- >> free julius! >> time running out for julius jones. >> oklahoma is at risk of executing an innocent man. >> two days away from the death chamber. >> they get you in, but it takes an act of god to get you out. >> the celebrities pleading for his life, his mother desperate to see the only man who can save her son, oklahoma's governor. >> i'm believing in god and trusting in god. plus lady gaga in "house of gucci." >> it was a name that sounded so sweet, so seductive. >> letting up with oscar buzz. >> bravo. >> how did you become her? >> i spent six months working on her accent.

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commit. his case has attracted the attention of celebrities, including kim kardashian, who again today pleaded for his life. but time is fast running out. here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> in '99, when all this transpired, we were sitting in the room, "man, don't worry about it, do an appeal, be home in about six months." little did we know the system is set up in such a way that they get you in, then it takes an act of god to get you out. >> reporter: for julius jones, time on oklahoma's death row has moved slowly. for nearly 20 years. but now less than two days away from his execution date, each precious minute is slipping away. >> we think julius was wrongfully convicted and that oklahoma is at risk of executing an innocent man. >> reporter: julius was 19 when he was arrested and later sentenced to death for the murder of paul howell, a crime many believe he didn't commit.

>> julius darius jones shall not die. >> reporter: after decades of pen scrutiny, help from celebrity allies, and tireless work from his legal team, his fate is in the hands of oklahoma governor kevin stitt to call off the execution. >> julius is really at the end of the road. the clock is ticking. there are no more legal proceedings at this point. the decision really is with the governor. >> if that was your son that was unfairly tried, that has been silenced for over 22 years, god, how would you feel? >> reporter: for more than two decades, julius jones has maintained his innocence. >> i wasn't involved in it in any way, i wasn't present. i didn't even know he had been killed until after the fact. >> commutation is recommended. >> reporter: the oklahoma pardon and parole board has twice voted 3-1 to commute julius' sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole. >> put simply, i have doubts

about this case. i cannot ignore those doubts, especially when the stakes are life and death. >> three of them are appointed by the governor. one by the court of criminal appeals. and one by the supreme court. we have the board considering twice pretty extensive evidence regarding this case, coming to the conclusion that there's just too many questions about julius' innocence, and the execution should not go forward. >> reporter: julius' mother and sister, his fiercest allies, encouraged but still cautious. >> the governor of oklahoma. if he were sitting right here, madeline, what would you say to him? >> most of all, being in leadership, i know sometimes it's hard to make decisions. and you have to try to make the right decision. >> what does justice for julius look like? >> it looks like julius being able to feel the sun on his skin. it looks like him having no chains when he gets to go outside. it looks like freedom.

>> reporter: paul howell's family has maintained that julius jones is guilty. at the pardon and parole board hearing, his daughter rachel sharing her pain. seen in this video from "the oklahoman." >> i am here to warn you, he is not innocent. what if this was your family member that was murdered? >> reporter: this week the governor reportedly met with the victim paul howell's family. his daughter telling our affiliate koco, "we felt heard and the governor is taking this matter seriously." julius' mother madeline and supporters also trying to meet with the governor yesterday. >> it's very imperative that we meet with the governor. obviously time is of the essence and we would like to meet with the governor today. >> reporter: after hours of waiting outside his office, leaving without speaking with him. the public outpouring and renewed scrutiny in the case helped by the involvement of celebrities like actress viola davis, nba star steph curry, and kim kardashian. >> kim kardashian visiting your

brother. what was that like for you, and for him? >> that -- i'm not going to lie, that touched my heart. >> i felt comfortable around her. and i could see the mother in her. >> reporter: overnight, kardashian taking to instagram in a final plea to the governor and detailing the execution process. writing, "he's been on death watch alone in his prison cell, just feet away from the executioner's chamber. at 9:00 p.m. the day before his execution, julius jones' phone privileges will be terminated and he will receive his last meal. he will be checked on every 15 minutes for the last four hours of his life." back in 1999, prison seemed like an unlikely place to find julius jones. he was a champion high school basketball player. >> sophomore julius jones! >> reporter: loved by his teachers, a star student. >> julius attended the university of oklahoma on academic scholarship as well, which was big-time.

>> reporter: all that changed on a summer night more than 20 years ago. gunshots ring out in a quiet neighborhood in edmond, oklahoma, a wealthy suburb of oklahoma city. >> 911. >> my son's been shot out in the front yard, he's got no pulse. >> reporter: 45-year-old paul howell gunned down, victim of a carjacki carjacking, his suburban a hot commodity for car thieves. >> the victim's sister was the only eyewitness. >> megan tobey described the shooter as a young black man wearing a red bandana, a white shirt, and a stocking cap or skullcap. she was not able to identify the shooter's face because it was covered. >> two days after the howell murder, the police stumbled upon the suburban parked at a grocery store. >> reporter: the store was blocks away from a chop shop where police learned a young man by the name of lidle king had offered to sale suburban.

>> you mention ladell, i think "car thefts." he was involved in car thefts around the metro area. >> ladell was interviewed by lead detectives in this case. he told police on the night of the crime, a guy named chris jordan comes to his apartment. a few minutes later, according to ladell king, julius jones drives up. >> reporter: chris jordan and julius jones were high school acquaintances. chris was a suspected gang member. julius a college student who had recently been in some trouble of his own. >> my first year of school, i got into shoplifting. i stole pagers, i stole anything i could sell. >> reporter: ladell king says the two young men came to see him asking for help on how to sell a stolen suburban, but the high-profile murder made it too risky to sell the car for parts. king points the finger at julius

jones. >> he had a red bandana around his neck. he had a stocking cap on. >> reporter: king accuses chris jordan of being the driver. jordan was taken into custody and charged with felony murder, claiming he and julius were out looking for suburbans to steal but says it was julius who pulled the trigger. >> loath ladell king and christopher jordan were directing police attention to the home of julius jones' parents as a place that would have incriminating items of evidence. >> reporter: and they found them. a gun wrapped in a red bandana tucked inside an upstairs crawl space. but his attorneys say the evidence police found could have been planted by jordan the night after the murder. chris jordan denied this claim during trial the day evidence was found. jew julius jones was arrested. his defense team failed to include his alibi, home having dinner with his parents or sister. none were called to the stand to

testify. his lawyers also point out that the jury was not made aware of pthe fact that ladell king was facing felony charges in an unrelated case until after his damaging testimony against julius. >> ladell king was facing a minimum of 20 years on a check fraud matter because he had three strikes. >> it was dismissed entirely. >> reporter: chris jordan served 15 years and is now a free man. >> so they had every motive and incentive to lie, and the jury didn't get to hear all of that evidence. >> reporter: julius' defense team submitted files to the parole board which they argue proves his innocence, including affidavits and taped video interviews with inmates who served time with chris jordan and who say they heard him confess to the murder. >> like i said, i just remember us having the conversation that he admitted that he the one basically got the murder charge, you know, did the killing. and it wasn't this guy. >> reporter: in a statement, chris jordan's attorney saying

that jordan maintains his position that his role in the death of paul howell was as an accomplice to julius jones. mr. jordan testified truthfully in the jury trial of mr. jones and denies confessing to anyone. this weekend in oklahoma, an all hands on deck rally as the clock ticked forward. the pressure building each day, each hour. >> i'd like for the governor, i see taking your time, but right now time is of the essence. i believe in my heart and in my spirit that he's going to do the right thing. ♪ oh out of our gloomy past ♪ >> our thanks to juju. up next, lady gaga on her new film and the truth about what she wore at the inauguration. our a1c with once-weekly ozempic® can help you get back in it. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®!

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lady gaga found success with her eye-catching outfits and powerful voice. but she's now making her name as an actress, and she tells abc's michael strahan she has even more ambitious plans. >> it was a name that sounded so sweet, so seductive. >> reporter: lady gaga is stunning audiences once again. >> they had it all. wealth, style, power. who wouldn't kill for that? >> reporter: in the highly anticipated "house of gucci" starring as patricereyiani. >> i don't consider myself to be a particularly ethical person, but i am fair. >> reporter: the then-heiress to

the fashion empire. >> at least it's my name on the mugs, not yours. >> our name. sweetie. >> the movie's not even out but you're getting best actress oscar buzz. how does that feel? >> it's wonderful to be in the oscars conversation, and also by nature, i'm more competitive with myself than i am with other people. but i feel really blessed and very honored to be in this movie. >> reporter: the electric love story between mauricio gucci and patrice turned into a tale of jealousy, revenge, and even murder. >> when she married mauricio, he didn't have money. he didn't have a job. and when she put the hit out on mauricio, they were divorced. so there was a lot that was in the media that was sensationalized about how she was this gold digger and about how she killed for greed and money. i believe it was love. and i believe it was survival. and i think that women are often

mischaracterized as being strategic and having an agencda when i looked at her and watched her interviews and thought, this woman has been trying to survive her whole life. >> you said this is not an imitation, it's a becoming. how did you become her? >> i spent six months working on her accent, and i then filmed the movie, which is 3 1/2 months. so i was in accent for a really long time. >> father, son, and house of gucci. >> i spent a lot of time talking in her accent as stephanie, herself, then did the research on who she was as a person. i didn't want to meet her because i could tell this woman wanted to be glorified for this murder, and she wanted to be remembered as this criminal. >> you've never met her? >> no, i didn't want to collude with something i don't believe in. she did have her husband murdered. >> reporter: this proud italian-american hopes the role makes her family and italians proud. >> it's time to take out the

trash. >> i was just in milan the other day doing a television show. and i had the most wonderful time with fabio, who did my interview. and when he told me that he was so impressed with my accent and that italian people were impressed with my accent, i couldn't think of a higher honor. >> reporter: but it will be up to the academy as to whether gaga reigns supreme, hoping for a best actress nomination and win this time around. along with the star-studded cast of jeremy irons, al pacino, adam driver, jared leto, and salma hayek. what was the chemistry like on set? >> it was amazing. i loved working with everybody. and they really were empowering. on set there was a lot of men every day. and they were men that empowered a woman as well. i think that not enough people are given credit for that. >> reporter: it was 2019 that gaga took home an academy award for best original song for the duet "shallow" with bradley

cooper. ♪ we're far from the shallow now ♪ >> reporter: but no win for the remake of "a star is born." lady gaga is an unstoppable force and has had quite a year. >> please welcome lady gaga! >> reporter: starting with performing at president biden's inauguration -- ♪ o say can you see ♪ >> that was a real honor. and i have a lot of complicated feelings about this country. i think the whole country felt complicated. so we did a complicated rendition to make space for everybody. because ultimately, we still have to figure out how to do this together. >> is it true that you wore a bullet-proof dress? >> yeah. in some ways it was the safest place in the world, in other ways it seemed the most dangerous. i was in the middle of probably six or seven living presidents. i just wanted to be prepared. >> you release your sixth studio album "chromatica" last year.

you wrote it when you were going through a hard time physically and potentially? >> when i made it i was pushing myself to write music because i was really sad. i didn't even want to create. and i think that that, as a performer, is a real signal that something's off. so "chromatica" is a way i danced through all my pain. >> and i know you had an incident with your dog. >> we are back with the investigation into the shooting of lady gaga's dog walker. the suspects also stole two of gaga's french bulldogs. >> i'm curious, coming through that, did that change the way that you look at life? >> moments like that, they remind you that you're human. they remind you that the world is very flawed. in addition to being so grateful that my dogs are alive, i am so grateful that my friend, ryan fisher, is alive. the fact that he was shot was so

outrageous and painful. and i pray for his healing all the time. and it also reminds me in a lot of ways, i have it really, really good. and i need to stay grounded in that gratitude. >> reporter: before we ended, a little lightning round. what's your biggest strength? >> i think my heart. >> what's the best thing that's happened to you this year? >> love. >> i love love. >> i love love too. >> you're smiling. >> yeah. i think relationships are really important. realness is one of the best things that happened to me this year. >> got to find the one you can just be who you are. as for what's next on her bucket list? well, what's left? but change the world, of course. >> i'd like to spend the next decades of my life learning how to mobilize myself and those who are watching to build a kinder and braver world. >> our thanks to michael. up next, the wonders we found on our journey to the end of the earth.

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of the fartherest reaches of the planet. a trip to the ends of the earth, abc's ramey robach visiting antarctica, reporting on climate change, having a very rare encounter with two reclusive emperor penguins. then it was her turn to become one with nature. diving out in minus 28-degree weather. way to go, amy. that's "nightline." you can catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here, same time tomorrow. thanks for