♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, missing in ukraine. russian-controlled media releasing images of captured americans. the message from one of those men. >> mom, i want to let you know that i'm alive. >> and the third american now confirmed missing as well. plus elvis. the icon reimagined on the big screen. ♪ >> elvis has left the building. the all-star cast, including tom hanks, and the actor stepping into elvis' blue suede shoes. >> you can just feel his spirit so deeply, you know? >> those who loved elvis best on why this film gets it right. >> god, i wish you could see this, it was perfection. >> i think he would have been very proud.

>> and "sound of freedom." prince's historic right to own the rights to his music. >> why do you think it was so important for prince to own his masters? >> you know, you don't own your masters, your masters own you. >> how he blazed a trail for black artists like ciara. >> i was like, this is my chance.

♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. since the war in ukraine began, some americans have felt compelled to go to the country and join in the fight. but now some of those americans are missing. new video from russia-controlled media showing alex drueke and an andy huynh delivered from ukraine. drueke delivering a message to his mother. >> mom, i want to let you know that i'm alive and i hope to be back home as soon as i can be. >> the men, both from alabama, both veterans, went missing about a week ago. the third american missing is retired marine captain grady kirpai. his family hasn't heard from him since april. president biden saying he's been briefed on the situation. >> we don't know where they are, but i want to reiterate, americans should not be going to ukraine. >> the kremlin denies having any information about the americans.

we'll continue to stay on top of this story. we turn now to the new film showing a different side of the king, elvis presley. nearly a dozen actors have previously swiveled their hips to portray the rock 'n' roll icon, but elvis' own family says this latest iteration gets it just right. abc's chris connelly sat down with the presley family and the film's all-star cast at graceland. >> reporter: the world has seen plenty of performers go from rebel to road warrior. ♪ >> elvis has left the building. >> reporter: but when elvis presley did it, the world took note. ♪ >> reporter: as director baz luhrmann's film celebrates, the swagger and scores of hits only hint at elvis' exalted place in american culture. the man who turbo-charged the dreary 1950s and looked dangerous doing it. ♪ you looking for trouble you

came to the right place ♪ >> i can't get over it. i honestly -- i've tried to compose myself many times, and then i just end up feeling like a kid on christmas. >> reporter: dressed to thrill, moving like it matters. that's austin butler playing 19-year-old elvis, who blended gospel, blues, and country, and a little of that, to herald a new and exalted multi-racial youth culture. >> as you were imagining being elvis, what one thing did you try to hold on to that was your talisman, your true north in terms of who elvis was? >> it's hard to just break it down into one thing. there was these moments where things shifted. i learned that his mom passed away when he was 23. and i was the same age when i lost mine. and it was these moments where i got past all the iconography. then i just saw this really sensitive, spiritual, kind,

funny man. and a lot of my talismans were bits of footage of him where i would just -- i'd laugh or i'd cry. you just feel his spirit so deeply, you know? >> reporter: those who loved elvis best say austin butler's performance captures that spirit in ways even the king himself would appreciate. >> so i'm sitting here watching this movie and going, god, i wish he could see this. it was perfection. >> priscilla presley, outside graceland where she and elvis lived as husband and wife, welcoming their daughter, lisa marie here as well. >> i think it's a movie elvis would have always wanted to do. because it shows him in his -- probably his most sensitive time, later in life. austin was just unbelievable. everything he did in that movie really, really, really was elvis. >> reporter: one of the three

daughters watched the film with her mother. >> i could immediately see the work austin put into it and baz as well. austin particularly had gotten it right. and that was really emotional. >> reporter: the familiar tale of elvis' career, the one your grandparents share, gets freshened up by the man telling it as played by tom hanks, elvis' manager, colonel tom parker, the yin to elvis' yang. his carney past always a factor. >> there have been no colonel tom parker without elvis, there would have been no elvis without colonel tom parker. >> your future, mr. presley, blazing before you. recording contracts, television, even hollywood. >> so many images of elvis, tom, very few images of colonel tom parker. >> you couldn't pick him out if you didn't know what he looked like. you'd think, who's the creepy tourist trying to get close to elvis? what he saw, not just the girls, but the girls' mothers, and also

the men who suddenly became like, oh, this only comes around once in a generation. i know what to do with this. >> to mark the elvis presley anniversary, colonel parker is playing host in the elvis suite -- >> reporter: much mystery surrounds the colonel's life. one of the few tv interviews he wanted was with "nightline's" ted koppel. >> elvis' success was part elvis, part colonel parker. >> reporter: using this as source material for the role. >> the trope is he was an evil guy who manipulated elvis. even priscilla said, elvis could have said no. there would have been a price, but he could have said no. >> reporter: when the colonel got elvis into living rooms across america, his moves practically melted the screen. thereafter the colonel made him a film star. but mediocre. "blew hawaii," anyone? >> what was it like if he didn't get to record the songs he wanted to record or be in the

movies he wanted to? >> not good at all. he let us all know when he was upset. he'd go on a rampage. cursing certain people. then he started realizing colonel was messing with his life as far as music choices. >> reporter: elvis illuminates how the king's musical success was rooted in his love of black culture, something daughter lisa marie sought to be included. >> i was very interested in having, you know, the fact that he loved gospel music and would sit outside of the blues bars. me and riley both, we had this conversation with baz. it was shown that that's where he got his influence from. that's where it started for him. >> reporter: recording artist yola is an electric guitar wizard and a key influence. >> very much the rain he got into it, the reason elvis runs home from school, to listen to sister rosetta.

and also, she's inventing rock 'n' roll. >> reporter: later, it was elvis bringing rock 'n' roll to vegas, former haven of frank sinatra's rat pack. at first elvis shines in front of a live audience. do you remember seeing him in las vegas on stage? >> yes, i do. walking to the stage, holding his hand. then going out to my seat. lights went down. then it didn't matter. i was just with him and it didn't matter that he was my father, i still was -- would yell and get up in my chair and scream. >> reporter: yet what began as a residency became something onerous. ♪ >> when austin is singing on stage as elvis, i've got a new song and the line "i'm caught in a trap, i can't get out." the colonel is signing him for a lifetime, eternity inside this golden cage. >> we always kept in touch with each other, always. you know. he'd call at all hours of the night, 2:00, 3:00, from his

bathroom or his dressing room. and kind of tell me his woes and what was going on and what he didn't like. or a great song that he played that he loves that he wants to do. >> never met anyone like you. >> i hope not. >> reporter: she's portrayed by olivia deyoung. >> it was you guys against the world. sort of bonnie and clyde. they were best friends. >> reporter: his creative frustration and inability to be truly free is ultimately what family say led to his demise. colonel parker working alongside presley until his untimely, tragic death at age 42. you've had a lot of tough times in that house behind you there. how has your feeling about those days changed? >> so much more understanding. in the middle of, say, an upset that elvis would have, i didn't quite put the pieces together yet where it was going, you know? that his anger and frustration was his lack of his being able to do what he wanted to do. >> reporter: presley's family members have rallied around this

film, which they feel finally captures their beloved elvis with grandeur and sensitivity. >> i think elvis morphed into his body, his mind. this is the movie that he would have really loved. showing who he was, what he was striving for, what his dreams were. >> reporter: granddaughter riley keough carrying on the family legacy, a filmmaker herself, watching the film debut alongside her mother and grandmother in memphis. does it feel like you're carrying a special legacy in addition to the wonderful work that you've done? >> i haven't actually felt that. i think because i'm a generation removed, it's been a little bit different for me than for my mom. i mean, you can't compare yourself to elvis. >> our thanks to chris. you can watch more of his interview with the presley family and the film's cast in the primetime special "exclusively elvis" airing tuesday on abc. and next, prince's enduring legacy. how he's still empowering a

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♪ the artistry and talent of generations of black musicians have never been in doubt. but having ownership of their music has been a struggle. prince blazed a new trail when he demanded to own his masters. changing the blueprint for artists of today like ciara. here's abc's janai norman. >> music tells a story of humanity. it's always been anthropology of black culture. most recording artists, they don't own their original

masters. a master recording, it is the copyright. you have the ability to grant permission to remix it, rerecord it, to determine where and how it's played on streaming platforms. >> what does it mean to be a black artist that owns their masters? >> economic empowerment. >> an amazing position of strength and power. >> it's freedom. a radical act unto itself. >> with regard to owning one's e own sound, one's own masters, the most influential in the history of music is prince. >> why do you think it was so important for prince to own his masters? >> as he said, you don't own your masters, your masters own you. the music industry up until that point never had a free agent that was a superstar. and definitely not a black one. >> prince felt as if, you create

your art, you should own your art. >> he went to warner brothers and said, i want to be able to put my art out whenever i want to. and they said, no, you're going to do things the way you're contractually things. prince me feels like slavery. >> prince in concert. perfectly free. on record, slave. >> the music industry normally likes to do things on a schedule. they prefer to releasal e album every other year in order to maximize profit and to quote, unquote work an album. part of prince's battle was on the masters, absolutely. but that battle was also about his ability to release it how he wanted to. >> i have a clip that we want to show you. it's prince at the soul train awards. >> check this out. as long as you're signed to a crashes you're going to take a

minority share of the winnings. >> i just think of what a powerful moment that was culturally. everyone was standing. >> imagine what we'll all be like in our own game. peace and love for one another. >> prince fought for years and ultimately sought to resolve with warner brothers where he ers.movingward he did ol of his partnershipsedp warner b after that whole thing was done to the kind of contract i think he always desired to have. >> that next weekend, the slave was gone. and it never showed up again. >> you see prince in almost every contemporary artist that is fighting for their masters. rihanna owns her masters now. a lot of that comes from what prince did to allow the importance of it. >> her. she owns all her stuff. >> chance the rapper. chance has always been independent. always understood the importance

of owning your masters. >> ciara. >> you obviously already have had a long career, going back to goodies when you were a teenager. ♪ i bet you want the goodies ♪ >> signed with a major record deal. what was that experience like? >> well, you know, being signed to a major recording label, you know, when you're young, they give you the opportunity, it's like, this is amazing, this is so exciting. my dream is coming true. but the reality is that when you get to do it over and over and over you start to go, okay. am i really reaping the benefits of the fruits of my labor? >> you describe feeling creatively handcuffed. >> they hold the power to tell you when your next song can come out, when your next album can come out. if they're not happy with it, they decide they want to stop in the process. >> when did you decide, at some point i want to own my masters? >> i had this song "level up."

♪ five four three two one level up level up level up level up ♪ >> i had the video for the song as well. i had a whole vision for my project. and i sat down, i talked to them, to the ceo at that time. it was like he made up his mind before i came in the room that he wasn't checking for it. in a matter of 24 hours, the most frustrating thing happened, but one of the biggest blessings in my life happened. i was like, this is my chance. i'm going to ask for my masters, run my own label, go and do it my way. amazingly enough, they gave me my masters, they gave to it me for free. lets you know they didn't believe at all. >> wow. wait a second. >> yeah. >> okay, was it really that easy? >> it was that easy. and i was ready. i was like, let's go. we gonna level all the way up. ♪ i'm so so level on another level ♪ >> the greatest thing for me is now seeing it on the other side and owning my masters, really understanding how much you're missing out by not owning your record. by not being able to participate

in a bigger way in the piece of the pie. especially being a woman. >> yes. >> you know? and a woman of color. i'm starting to see a lot more of my peers do the same. i think that the landscape is going to change. >> what gives me hope about black people leaning more into owning their own masters, owning their own sound recordings, is just the resilience and the strength and the creativity of black people in general, and specifically, black people in music. we continue to evolve. we continue to create. we continue to take it to the next level. we continue to demand what's ours. so my hope is high. >> our thanks to janai. for more about the contributions of black americans through music, watch "the soul of a nation: sound of freedom," a juneteenth celebration, now streaming on hulu. next, beloved and historic

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♪ finally tonight, "general hospital," the soap opera that's been going strong for 59 years, made history today. >> you know, i should know better than to visit port charles. >> it's the longest-running american drama still in production. the show has featured doctors and nurses and, of course, romance. 30 million viewers tuned in to watch the star-crossed lovers luke and laura tie the knot in 1981.

that's still the highest-rated episode for a daytime drama ever. before becoming a household name, ricky martin and demi moore both called port charles home. congratulations, "general hospital." that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time next week. thanks for the company, america. have a good and safe weekend. good night. ntastic things start to happen when you step aboard a princess cruise. doors open up for you. your favorite drinks start finding you. and everything seems to be... just how you like it. how does it all happen? it's no secret. it's our job to discover what makes you feel special. yes, you! and you. and you, too. making sure you feel taken care of.