♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, olympic controversy. the russian skating phenom taking to the ice today despite a positive test for a banned substance. >> the integrity of the games is completely lost. >> the scandal that's dominating the winter games, especially after a u.s. olympian was banned last year. >> when it came to shaqiri's case to begin with, it was really disappointing. >> some say russia needs to be stopped now. >> it's like a cancer. now the cancer has just swallowed up these olympic games. plus "rust" lawsuit. the family of halyna hutchins who died on a shooting of the film set suing alec baldwin, among others. >> but for him shooting, she

would not have died. >> the actor has denied any wrongdoing. >> alec baldwin's position is, i didn't even pull the trigger. >> but the family, seeking justice.

♪ thanks for joining us. tonight, russian skating

sensation kamila valiyeva is in a dominat spot and favored to win the individual competition on thursday. but it's what's happening off the ice that's drawing headlines and threatening to overshadow her athletic achievements. abc's maggie rulli is in beijing tonight. >> reporter: russian figure skater kamila valiyeva, currently in first place in the women's short program in beijing, today with this stunning performance. after making history last week as the first woman to ever successfully land a quad jump in the olympics. but if she places in the top three on thursday, she won't get a medal. neither will the second and third place finishers. because of a doping scandal surrounding the 15-year-old. >> it is a catastrophic failure of the system to protect clean athletes and the integrity of the largest, biggest games of the year. >> reporter: it's the latest example in a years-long saga involving russian athletes illegally using performance-enhancing drugs.

it all started after valiyeva tested positive for a banned heart medication that can increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance. in interview with russian tv 1, valiyeva more, saying these days have been very difficult but she's happy she can perform. the international olympic committee, ioc, deciding there will be no medals or award ceremony for the competition until the investigation of the doping case is complete. >> every single woman, instead of being asked about her prom, it's going to be, what do you think about kamila valiyeva? their olympic moment is being robbed and that is a sports tragedy. >> reporter: valiyeva's test sample was taken by the russian anti-doping association on december 25th at the national championships in st. petersburg. but her positive test results were not reported until february 8th, after she'd already competed in the olympics twice and won gold in the team event. the testing company suspended her that day, but immediately

reversed the ban the next day. >> she was still practicing and still, from what we understand, had her accreditation still at the games. if they truly provisionally suspended her, all of that should have been taking away. >> reporter: monday, the court of arbitration paving the way for her to compete. >> the charter have decided to let miss valiyeva continue her competition in the olympic winter games 2022. >> reporter: cas citing exceptional circumstances, saying at 15 years old she's a protected person under the anti-doping association's rules and preventing her from competing would cause irreparable harm. wada expressing disappointment saying it found the test was not flagged as being a priority sample. this meant the laboratory did not know to fast track the analysis of the sample. blaming the pandemic for the delay. the russian olympic committee saying valiyeva passed doping tests since december 25th.

valiyeva claiming the medication was ingested accidentally after a mix-up with her grandfather's pills. >> she presented the elements which brought some doubts about her guilt. >> reporter: the russian olympic committee has called for a full and impartial investigation. top figure skaters expressing their shock and disappointment with cas' ruling allowing valiyeva to continue to skate, including 2018 bronze medalist adam ripa. >> is it overshadowing these games, do you think? >> totally. this is completely unpress scented that there's an athlete in the competition who's tested positive. it's completely against the moral code of being an olympian. >> reporter: taylor lipinski of the 1998 winter games in nagano, japan, saying she should not be allowed to compete regardless of age or the timing of the test result. i believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport. there is precedent for athletes using stiff penalties for using the same drug as valiyeva.

2018, the russian bobsledder was disqualified after admitting to the doping violation. some athletes left wondering if there's double standard at play in valiyeva's case. u.s. sprinter shaqiri richardson captivated america as a rising star during the 2020 tokyo olympic trials. her dreams dashed over a failed drug test for marijuana ahead of the summer games last year. she also voiced her outrage at yesterday's decision on social media tweeting, can we get a ■ solid answer on the difference of her situation and mine? my mother died, and i can't run, and was also favored to place top three. the only difference i see is i'm a black young lady. >> when it came to shaqiri's case to begin with, it was really disappointing. president biden said with shaqiri, the rules are the rules. >> compare and contrast to russia, our friends the russians, who of course, literally no rule means anything to them. >> reporter: russia's blatant disregard for clean sport became

apparent before the 2016 summer against after evidence surfaced that russia created and implemented an lob rat doping scheme for its athletes while hosting the 2014 games in sochi. >> russia had pulled off the single biggest fraud in the history of sport. >> reporter: the explosive story chronicles in the 2017 netflix documentary "icarus." >> big boss vladimir putin saying, we have to show the best result in sochi. >> reporter: russian scientist dr. gregory rodchenkov, who ran russia's anti-doping lab, blowing the whistle on his country's government-run cheating program. according to him, during the sochi games, russian intelligence agents posed as maintenance workers, entering the athlete testing lab, breaking into tamper-proof collection bottles, swapping out dirty urine from russian athletes for clean samples. >> because they controlled everything about those olympic games. they had the lock, they had the key, they ran the bank, they

operated the vault, they could essentially facilitate, you know, whatever they wanted. >> reporter: 15 of the 33 russian medal winners at the 2014 sochi games were later found to have doped. how important were the 2014 olympics to russia? >> putin spent $51 billion. that's how important it was. everything we're doing here, it all began in sochi. it was the russian pride, to try to win medals. >> reporter: the world anti-doping association, wada, would back up rodchenkov's claims about the sochi doping plan in a 2016 report. >> the russian ministry of sport directed, controlled, and oversaw the manipulation of athletes' analytic results. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin denied the allegations. the ioc disciplinary commission stated at the time there wasn't any documented evidence confirming that the russian president was directly involved. the ioc would limit russia's

participation in the 2016 rio games, then ban them as an official team from the 2018 pyeongchang winter games. wada ban the russian flag and anthem from major olympic sports for four years, the court of arbitration for sport reducing it to two years. russian athletes not allowed to wear anything represent their country. now competing in beijing and tokyo last summer as the neutral russian olympic committee, roc. >> there's no chance you can trust a russian investigation into their own handling of this sordid affair. we haven't seen any correction in behavior. at the end of the day it's because there's been no meaningful consequence put into them. >> we've been here before. will anything ever change? >> the only answer for this is to ban russia from the paris olympics in 2024 and ban them again from the milan olympics in 2026. it's like a cancer. you have to cut out the cancer. >> reporter: valieva is set to

compete in the second day thursday. the investigation into her doping case could last months. the timing of the scandal coming as all eyes have already been on russia as tensions build with ukraine. >> russia sees their athletes as symbols of their nationalism, as a strong statement of the power of russia. it's not by chance that a few days after the sochi '14 winter olympic games, they invaded crimea. and it's coincidental to say the least, here we are once again on the verge of russia invading ukraine. >> reporter: it may feel like we've been here before, but for the athletes competing in these games, the need for resolution couldn't be more urgent. >> the system only works if athletes believe that those who are enforcing the rules have their back. and the moment that they lose trust, that's when they say, wait a minute, i either need to cheat because that's the only way i'm going to win, or i need to leave this sport. is acceptable.e of those option- >> reporter: for "nightline,"

i'm maggie rulli in beijing. >> our thanks to maggie. up next, the family of helena hutchins files suit against alec baldwin and others on the "rust" set. es zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck,

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♪ the family of halyna hutchins breaking their silence through attorneys, filing a lawsuit placing blame on alec baldwin and others on the "rust" set for the death of the 42-year-old cinematographer. here's abc's kimberly hartung.

>> reporter: the family of cinematographer halyna hutchins, shot and killed while filming the movie "rust," taking action. >> the lawsuit names alec baldwin and others whose reckless behavior and cost-cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of halyna hutchins. >> reporter: attorneys filing a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of hutchins' husband and 9-year-old son against actor alec baldwin, production companies, and certain personnel associated with the film. >> there are many people culpable, but mr. baldwin was the person holding the weapon that, but for him shooting it, she would not have died. >> the fact that the family filed a lawsuit isn't that surprising. what's surprising is how aggressively they're going after alec baldwin. they're not just suing alec baldwin in his capacity as a producer. they're suing alec baldwin as the person who recklessly fired

that weapon. >> reporter: baldwin has repeatedly insisted in the past he never pulled the trigger of the gun and it accidentally discharged while rehearsing a scene on the new mexico set. officials say that without baldwin knowing, the weapon, a colt .45 revolver, was loaded with a bullet. in a statement an attorney for baldwin and other producers of "rust" disputed the lawsuit's claims that they didn't follow safety protocols, saying, any claim that alec was reckless is entirely false. he, halyna, and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun. that it was a cold gun, meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. >> no one should ever die with a real gun on a make-believe movie set. that should never happen. >> reporter: the latest twist in the tragic saga comes nearly four months after the shooting that shocked hollywood. an investigation by the santa fe sheriff's department is also ongoing and no one has been criminally charged as of now.

baldwin recently returned to acting on a film set in england. the actor called returning to work strange in this instagram video posted last week. >> i haven't worked since october 21st of last year. when -- this horrible thing happened on the set of this film and -- the accidental death of our cinematographer halyna hutchins. i even find that hard to say. >> reporter: the lawsuit filed states, defendant baldwin and the other defendants in this case failed to perform industry standard safety checks and follow basic unsafety rules while using real guns to produce the movie "rust" with fatal consequences. >> alec baldwin's going to have a two-prong defensed. first of all, there's a legal argument that this case doesn't even belong in the courts because it's a workplace incident. but assuming that this case makes it into a courtroom, i'd

presume that alec baldwin is going to say, this was simply an accident. >> do you hope that this is able to impact the film industry moving forward? >> there are regulations and guidelines in place today that should prevent something like this from happening. but they need to be enforced. >> reporter: attorneys also shared text messages from crew members sent to production staff relaying safety concerns on set in the days ahead of the shooting. lawyers also unveiled an animated video rendering of what they say took place from the moment baldwin received the gun to when it goes off, in an effort to show that he was reckless. in an interview with abc's george stephanopoulos last december, the actor gave his account of what happened that fateful day, saying he was pointing the gun at hutchins at her instruction and it went off without him pulling the trigger. >> i think the big question and the one you must have asked yourself a thousand times, how could this have happened? >> all of what happened on that day leading up to this event was

precipitated on one idea, and that is that halyna and i had something profound in common. and that is, we both assumed the gun was empty. other than those dummy rounds. that day, i did exactly what i've done every day on that movie. >> reporter: baldwin explained he was preparing for a big shoot-out scene when he was handed the gun. >> i'm handed a gun, and someone declares, this is a cold gun. in my years on the sets of film, hot gun meant there was a charge, cold gun meant there's nothing in there. when he's saying this is a goco gun, what he's saying to everybody on the set is, you can relax, the gun is empty. >> that's what cold gun meems? >> no charge in there, there could be dummy rounds. >> reporter: a dummy round looks like a real bullet but is completely inert, contains no explosive charge. baldwin, director joel souza, and hutchins were rehearsing the scene. >> i'm going to cock the gun, do

you want to see that? she said yes r. i stake take the gun and start to cock the gun, i'm not going to pull the trigger. do you see? tilt it down a bit. i cock the gun, can you see that? can you see that? i let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. i let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. >> at the moment? >> that was the moment the gun went off, yeah. >> it wasn't in the script for the trigger to be pulled. >> well, the trigger wasn't pulled. i didn't pull the trigger. >> you never pulled the trigger? >> no, no, i would never point a gun and pull a trigger at them, never. never. that was the training that i had. you don't puoint a gun at a man and pull the trigger. >> the family is saying alec baldwin should have checked that weapon, alec baldwin should have done better training before trying this move. that's very different than the way alec baldwin has been portraying himself, as -- up to this point, alec baldwin has almost been portraying himself as a victim. >> reporter: hutchins' family

isn't specifying a number for how much they want to be compensated for their loss, but they are clear that they want accountability. >> realistically, what do you hope the end goal is here? what are you hoping to achieve? >> when we hear about the celebrity and things involved, don't lose track, it is a boy who will never have a mother. and it's a man who lost his wife. and we need to hold the people responsible. >> our thanks to kaylee. up next, one little boy's ver special bear and how the internet brought them back together. ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen...painful. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks.

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♪ finally tonight, any parent or child will know the pain of losing that special stuffed toy. so maybe that's why the milwaukee airport went to such great lengths to reunite this bear with its official owners, taking photos, posting on social media. and today reuniting the treasured bear with the young boy from texas who lost it at the airport while traveling with

his family during thanksgiving. his dad says they were shocked to see the bear again, but so very grateful. and that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episode s s on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.