she often told about dark forces. >> there were allegations sgmpt all tonight date line investigation. the life and death of princess diana. >> i will be seeking hopefully a more private life. >> she transcended fame. >> it was absolutely extraordinary. >> to icon she was a powerful

pioneer. >> she stood up to this huge institution of british monarchy. >> 20 years after her death new details about that fateful night in paris. >> what did you see as you entered the tunnel? >> tonight, french investigators speak out for the first time on american television. >> is there anything that still bothers you to this day. >> revealing stories from close friends. >> she told me on the last night of her life. >> and secret con fidaunts. >> she was sure her phones were being listened to. >> she was desperate to be sure people knew the truth. >> a riveting new look at the ultimate royal revel. i'm lester holt. this is dateline. here is andrea with the life and death of princess diana. it was getting late in the

city of light that last saturday in august, 1997. but sidewalk cafes in paris were still bustling. the moulin rouge was aglow. the paparazzi were out in full force because a special visitor was in town. in fact, the most famous woman in the world, princess diana. for years cameras had tailed her like sharks follow blood. and now on this late august night the hunt was still on. as diana and her new lover sped away from the paparazzi who were in hot pursuit. suddenly the driver made an unexpected turn into that tunnel.

>> breaking news. >> princess diana has been seriously injured. princess diana has died tonight. >> it's been two decades since that fateful night yet princess diana remains as famous in death as she was in life. being a princess doesn't always have a fairytale ending. >> she would be the first to agree with that. >> tonight we go behind the palace gates and reveal that behind every iconic image of diana there was a story, often a secret. >> diana didn't have this full fledged romance that people think, definitely not. >> secrets she shared only with a select few. >> i had to protect her. our relationship was a very private one. it was a secret one. >> she was beautiful, magnetic

and misunderstood. >> diana wasn't paranoid. she was very unhappy with her marriage. questions with her secret love affairs and what really caused that horrible crash in paris. >> we had to look at whether there was a real reason why someone would want to murder princess diana that night. >> over the next two hours we will hear from close friends, con fidants, insiders, people who offer insights about the woman who will always be remembered as the people's princess. diana francis spencer was born in 1961. the daughter of an earl, she was raised at this country estate.

we got a rare look inside diana's stunning childhood home which few have seen. her brother charles and his wife gave cynthia mcfadden a tour. >> this is the room i associate with diana tap dancing. she used to do endless tap dancing in here. that is my main connection in this house of her. >> inside the grand house was not always warm and friendly. the parents divorced and her mother lost custody of the children but their father remarried a woman. diana and her brother called her acid rain. she kept them at arm's length in one of the smallest rooms. >> we were put up in the attics. for a house like this i would say very modest rooms. it's just the way it was. >> diana's unhappy childhood would manifest itself in a big way. >> she was very needy. >> written extensively about the

royals including books on prince charles and diana. >> she was constantly looking for love. the love that she felt she had never had from her mother. that tainted her entire life. >> date line consultant met her on a ski trip and snapped these rare shots. >> she just blended in with the whole group. she was amusing, got plenty of attention. >> in the late 1970s diana moved to london. it was her sister who was dating the future king of england, prince charles. few knew he was on a mission. >> it was time he was under pressure. >> the editor at rge.

later became close friends with diana and covered prince charles. >> he felt pressure from his family, his friends. pressure from himself. he knew his duty was to have a son to secure. he had to find someone with whom he can have a family. >> someone like lady diana spencer. at that time it was absolutely imperative for the heir to marry an aristocrat who was not a roman catholic and who was a virgin. she was on paper absolutely 100% perfect. >> so perfect that behind the scenes charles and diana's grandmothers were helping move things along. >> so the stars were in alignment. diana was almost plucked and chosen for charles. >> the two began dating in that royal kind of way. >> when she referred to him she

had to call him sir. it was a really different kind of dating that anyone else would do. >> the british press was eager to discover just who prince charles might marry. here is the very first public photo of diana back then. she was just 19. there is an intriguing straer behind that historic shot from the newspaper photographer who snapped it. we found edwards in london and he remembers that day back in 1980 when he got a tip from someone attending charles' polo match who told him -- >> he is here today with a girl called lady diana spencer. i saw this girl. she was wearing a necklace. i said are you lady diana spencer. she posed that for me. >> this casual photograph is what introduced young lady diana spencer to the world. there would be thousands more pictures to come, of course.

and diana's life would never be the same. when we come back, engagement or arrangement? >> of course. >> he appeared to have someone else he was interested in. >> the romance that captivated everyone except for the couple at the center. >> diana said i can't go through with this.

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if you remember one thing about charles and diana's whirl wind engagement it's probably this photo opwhen we met them as a couple for the very first time. >> just delighted and happy. i am amazed that she is being brave enough to take me on.

>> and i suppose in love? >> of course. >> the real story behind that rather awkward interview goes much deeper. charles was hesitant to propose to diana so much so that his father, prince philip, sent him a letter. >> look, you have been seeing this girl. you can't lead her up the garden path, so to speak. either marry her or let her go otherwise she will be a damaged young woman. >> charles under pressure and diana just 19 years old decided to take the plunge into what was essentially an arranged marriage. >> she was very much in love with him and he was not yet in love with her. he was bounced into asking diana to marry him before he was ready. >> charles was almost 13 years older than diana, more worldly, more educated.

even so, the two told the media they were the perfect match. >> what do we have in common? >> sense of humor. every outdoor activity. lots of things really. >> in reality diana and charles didn't seem to have much in common. >> she didn't like horses and dogs. she hated those sporting activities that he went in for. she was a young 19, 20 year old who was into romantic fiction and shopping and lunching and about with her mates. >> right away diana discovered someone who was important to charles, a person from his past. >> there was another woman in this dynamic, cumilla parker bowls. >> a lover of his long before he met diana but she and charles remained good friends.

>> there was a sense i think from almost the beginning that charles wasn't entirely diana's own. >> the royal editor for the sunday express in london. >> charles had insisted that his relationship with plutonic. there was a sense that diana realized mentally charles wasn't with her 100%. >> most people believed she was the villain in the story. cumilla early on actually supported diana, advised her about charles and loyal life. >> she liked diana and thought she would be a lovely wife for him so she was friendly to her and diana was friendly to camilla. >> diana just 19 was insecure says her friend. >> she wassa naive young girl. he appeared to have someone else he was interested in.

it would have made anyone question themselves. she was beautiful, gorgeous, fantastic to have on your arm but maybe struggled to have a rigorous conversation with him. >> diana was giving charles more the beauty and camilla was giving him more the brains. >> i think that is it. >> just weeks before the wedding diana's concerns about camilla suddenly explod in an incident that wasn't reported at the time. >> she came across a present between the two. it was a bracelet. it had g&f. g was the name gladys which was nickname charles had for camilla. >> f stood for fred which was camilla's pet name for charles. >> diana flew into complete rage and stormed out of the room. diana got it into her head that camilla and charles never

stopped having an affair. she became absolutely obsessed by camilla. charles realized during the engagement that there was something really badly wrong and didn't have the courage to call her out to it. >> now concerned about camilla the pressure on diana according to author was beginning to take its tol. >> literally overnight having been the sunny, easy happy go lucky smily girl. she turned into this dark, at times, girl who went into rages, absolute rages. temper tantrums, tears, jealousies, kicking furniture and he just didn't know how to cope. >> by now the wedding was just weeks away. >> at every turn she was a different way. >> sarah elson is a special correspondent for "vanity fair"

magazine who has written about princess diana and her relationships. >> she said she wanted to get out of getting married to charles. >> no one ever called off a wedding. >> just about the perfect bride. >> diana had lunch with her sisters and said i can't go through with this. her sisters said too late your face is on the tea towels. >> it was too late. >> more than 60 bbc television cameras will produce pictures for a world wide audience of about 700 million. >> the royal wedding would go on whether the bride and groom wanted it or not. coming up, a surprise at the ceremony. >> diana managed to spot camilla. >> and a few more on the honeymoon. >> charles opened his diary and there was a photograph of camilla in it.

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the british royal family celebrates the wedding. >> summer 1981. lady diana spencer was about to become princess diana in one of the most eagerly anticipated

weddings in the world. >> good evening from london where we have come to cover the royal wedding. charles prince of wales takes lovely diana spencer as his bride. >> the royal wedding was fantastic. it was british pomp and pageantry at its best. a lot of people could see the carriage procession and glass coach like cinderella. >> i was 9 years old. i set my alarm 4:00 a.m. got up to watch the wedding. i was one of 750 million people watching that wedding. >> it was like a fairytale. diana fulfilled all of our childhood negotiatiotions of wh fairytale princess should look like. >> there was something else going on at the wedding, a story no one knew. sooet crowd in the church, diana happened to spot one particular

face. >> diana managed to spot camilla and saw her. >> did she talk to you about that moment? >> she just said i knew from that moment that this woman was never going to go away. >> so long as you both shall live. >> i will. >> i will. >> but the show wentn in front of hundreds of millions around the world. >> now prince and princess of wales, possibly the future king and queen of england. >> before leaving on their honeymoon charles and diane agave everyone another picture perfect moment. >> photographers in a pit below the palace shouting out to him kiss her. and the crowd picked up on this. kiss, kiss. diana said why not? it was an electrifying moment.

>> the royal newly weds set off on a romantic cruise. but in the honeymoon suite it wasn't smooth sailing. >> charles opened his diary and there was a photograph of camilla in it. i mean, how stupid is that? he wore cuff links that had cs entwined that camilla had given him. how stupid. >> for diana it went from bad to boring. >> he read books. she wanted to lie on the sun deck with him, drink lovely cocktails with him. i know she didn't want him to be buried in a book. that was his idea of a lovely holiday. >> back from their cruise the newly weds once again put on a happy face.

but behind the photo ops a very different story was playing out. >> their interests simply did not coincide. they didn't know this until it was too late. >> it may have been a marital mismatch but their adoring public couldn't get enough. >> diana was immediately embraced as the new princess. >> people began to realize this was a very spirited young woman. she was going to be somebody and make the monarchy something very interesting. >> diana became a supernova. they called it diana mania. >> she is turning out to be one of the most popular and most sought after members of the royal family. >> diana had found herself a superstar absolutely overnight. >> it was very easy to see that she was very different from other members of the royal

family almost immediately they started to photograph her let alone talk to her. >> photographer jane fincher covered diana from the beginning. >> she was so much more casual and informal and human. she wasn't afraid to show she was human. that was evident straight away. >> diana was a natural in the spot light. she did it in style. >> we can get these -- >> one of diana's designers at the dress shop in london. >> this is the place where we made all the dresses for the prince princess. she was very game to do that stuff. she understood what a good dress could do. she knew it had power and knew it would get on the front page. >> power that enabled diana to change the culture.

>> growing up as a british girl in the '80s and '90s everyone's mother was getting princess diana haircuts. i remember my mother wearing skirts, suits and jackets and emulating this look that diana used to portray. >> soon diana would feel the heat from life in the royal spot light. >> she was a school girl basically. >> i think it was just way too much for her. >> and way too much for prince charles who would soon discover troubling secrets about his new bride. coming up -- >> from joy to despair. >> do you believe that was a suicide attempt? >> that was an attention. >> a dangerous affair. >> her body guards knew about it. charles knew about it. they were playing with fire. ♪

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catastrophic flooding as tropical storm harvey remains at a virtual stand still over the texas coast. the national weather service says some areas of houston could see a 50 inches worth of rain by the end of the week. president trump will travel to texas tuesday. more than 300,000 people are without power across the state and flash flood emergencies are in effect for multiple counties in southeast texas. for now back to the life and death of princess diana, a date line investigation. in the early days of their marriage charles and diana looked every inch the picture perfect royal couple. >> what was going on behind closed doors was different than the diana we were seeing. >> it was in the world of the

media just didn't know. >> didn't know that behind palace gates diana was often miserable. >> she had terrible mood swings, terrible rages, terrible tantrums, terrible jealousies. >> while charles was often distant. >> what she found at home was not the loving home life that she wanted. she wanted a husband to take her in his arms and embrace her and tell her how marvelous she had been. charles was either too busy or too uninterested to do that. >> feeling neglected by her husband, diana struggled to adapt to the rigors of royal life. >> the exuberance that had been there before was not thriving. she really didn't want to let the queen down. she really wanted to do the job. >> diana's other friends saw first-hand that she needed help so they arranged lunches in hopes of cheering her up.

>> maybe we would try to regenerate contact with the past and see if that could help support her. >> he would take on another role helping diana especially when she asked his advice about an upcoming charity appearance. >> i think it was the charity. what do you think of the speech? i said it is dull. she said you write it then. >> diana had an ambitious agenda and sometimes called him ten times a day. >> i wasn't creating anything that i didn't think was absolutely in her spirit. the aim was to coax her into owning herself again. >> the two had to be careful and not blow his cover. >> with so many calls there was a need for discretion. she was pretty sure her phones were being listened to. i would go to a call box and call the number she was at which was often the call box, too. we didn't this can there was

time for anybody to intercept the call. >> diana seemed to become more comfortable and started to excel in her charity work. >> here she was with a whole bunch of people who valued her. that did so much for her self-este self-esteem. >> filling the void that she wasn't getting at home. >> even then behind the scenes there was conflict. diana's choi of causes wasn't always in sync with her powerful mother in law, the queen. >> she felt that the monarchy was stuck in the past and that she, diana, was trying to change it by doing things like aids and leperacy and diseases. >> diana may have been a rebel with too many causes. >> she felt that somehow the queen didn't appreciate what she was doing. she used to refer to her only to me as the top lady. she never called her the queen or her majesty. >> one day the top lady and the

princess had a conversation which diana shared with her head of security. >> she said i donwant toget involved with finding cause. she said why don't you get involved in something nice. >> diana persisted and her compassion made her the most popular member of the royal family casting a long shadow over her new husband. ken wharf told us about a conversation in which she offered to accompany charles. >> do you want me to come with you. no. they will only be interested in you. >> charles had his nose put out of joint. the papers the next day are filled with what his wife was wearing. could she be pregnant? nothing about the speech. >> with diana's soaring

popularity came increased leverage as she struggled to cope with the constraints of the monarchy. >> diana is pioneering because she did break down preconceived ideas proving she is one of us and not one of them. >> diana may have been carving out a new role for herself but there was still one traditional job that she absolutely had to do, produce an heir. >> the prince of wales has given birth to a baby son. god save the queen. >> june 1982 prince william was born. >> and two years later a little brother. >> his name is henry charles albert david but they will call him harry. >> once again two outward

appearances. they seemed the perfect family. what few knew at the time was that the marriage was fracturing and diana at least to charles seemed unstable. in fact, when she was pregnant with harry, diana threw herself down a flight of stairs. do you believe that was a suicide attempt? what was that? >> i think she might have been disspirited. she might have just tripped. i don't see it as a suicide attempt. >> whatever it was the palace never went public with it. same with the issue when diana's past that had now resurfaced, bleemia. >> i believe it was a consequence of her royal life. >> she said it was awful. she was gorge on ice cream and lots of cream and milk and then go and throw up. >> charles didn't know how on earth to cope with it.

charles organized for her to see a psychiatrist. charles was sympathetic to start with. but when he met these tantrums day after day after day he became immune to it. and it was a real vicious circle. she was craving love and attention. but by her behavior was pushing him away. >> two years after prince harry was born diana began taking riding lessons from a british cavalry officer named james hewitt. this photo became notorious when hewitt revealed they had an affair. >> itas nevery intention to fall in le with me and certainly not myention to fall in love with diana. >> do you think that james hewitt was kind of everything that charles wasn't? like an escape for her? >> i think absolutely it was an

escape for her. he didn't judge her. he didn't have expectation for her. >> the affair with hewitt carried real risks for diana, risks peculiar to a princess. >> it is treasonable for the wife to the heir to the throne to have an affair. it is on par with being accused of being a traitor. her body guards knew about it. >> did charles know about it? >> charles knew about it. >> but perhaps he was inclined to look the other way tw towards diana's old nemesis, camilla. >> camilla pretty much was a constant feature of charles' life. >> how did diana really feel about camilla? >> she called her a rottweiler from the start. a rottweiler is one of those dogs which when it holds on to something it never lets go. >> the once fairytale royal

marriage was now on the rocks and later diana would share all her dark secrets outside the palace gates in a way no one ever saw coming. coming up -- >> there were people who were listening and watching and epintabsn her. >> spies at the palace? >> she was angry. she had the feeling they were pushing her aside. >> diana launches a plot of her own when date line continues. olay regenerist

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gay disease and something misunderstood that could be caught by shaking hands, kissing and hugging. >> that day diana helped change the world's thinking. >> she knew she guaranteed to get on the front pages to say it is all right. i am not worried about my own personal safety was really a seminal moment. >> privately, diana was waging another battle, this one on the homefront trying to cope with her troubled marriage. >> diana was pushing charles away. charles was getting more and more profound to the press. he didn't confide in anyone. there were one or two people who had remained in his circle so they went to camilla and said we think charles needs you. she gave him a ring and the friendship reignited. >> that phone call also reignited their romance which was not exactly a secret. >> london newspapers continue to

speculate about charles' friend ship with the long-time lady friend. >> but reporters weren't privy to a deeper issue boiling beneath the surface. diana wasn't just worried about losing her husband, she had far bigger concerns about camilla entering the picture. >> big fear was this is not a substitute mom for the boys that she would try to sideline diana. >> that was a fear? >> a big fear. >> diana became convinced the palace was quietly plotting to move her aside because she wasn't fit to raise the young princes. she believes she was being watched and her phones tapped. >> who was keeping tabs on diana? >> i think the government was just watching her for her own safety. i think when things became so contentious between her and charles there were people listening and watching and keeping tabs on her.

>> diana called them the gray men. some people openly questioned whether she was imagining them. >> i don't think they were all imagined. i think there was a group that thought they were doing the right thing and may have convinced she wasn't suitable for the role. >> who were these people? >> unknown. she had a strong sense there was a group not necessarily with sanctioning by prince charles. >> by now rumors of diana's problems and instability were appearing in the press. so once again diana turned for advice. he cautioned her to stay quiet for now. >> she was angry. she was very angry. she had the feeling right or wrong that they were pushing her aside to remove her from the role of mother. and therefore they would then control the two princes in the way that they wanted to do it without her there. >> the things she loved the most in the world were those two

boys. >> that's exactly right. >> diana wanted to set the record straight by telling her version of the story in a way that she could control and without the palace finding out. an author who had writt a book on sarah ferguson and started one on diana. so a daring plan was launched. diana agreed to answer questions written. >> her first excursion into confronting the demons inside herself. it was a cathartic experience for her. >> he would act as the go between taking questions to diana and then secretly recording her answers. >> the point was to separate her from it. blame was her big thing. she didn't want to be blamed for it. so fine someone had to be a foreguy. >> this could tarnish the monarchy. >> not doing it would have because i think there would have been the uncontrolled release of

anger. i think that would have been much more serious. >> so he pedalled to the palace and behind closed doors tape rolled. diana let loose about everything including her arranged marriage to charles. >> so you say will you marry me? i laughed. i remember thinking this is a joke. >> she even addressed her alleged suicide attempts and frequent bouts of bolemia. >> anything i could find gobble up and be sick. >> after each recording session he delivered the tape. >> she brings out the despair she felt. >> it would be months before the world would finally hear diana's explosive story. but the fuse had been lit. coming up -- charles goes public and returns fire. >> 'twas a terrible --

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it was just a simple snapshot. a solitary diana sitting in front of the taj mahal. there's a story dehind this famous photo. a not so secret signal about the state of the royal marriage. it was february 1992. the royal couple was in indwia n a rare trip together. >> they were clearly unhappy in each other's company. >> richard kay reported on the trip. >> diana famously went to the taj mahal which is one of the

most romantic buildings on the planet and charles, who had said that one day he wanted to bring his wife to this place didn't go. diana was there alone. >> you think she did that on purpose? >> she knew what she was doing. and that picture, it just said it all. one of the most significant photographs of the entire marriage because it showed this picture of an unloved, beautiful love woman. >> a lonely wife. >> a lonely wife sitting in front of this monument to love. >> two days later, diana put an exclamation point on that picture with yet another defining moment in what the media was calling the war of the wales. diana presented him with the winning prize. >> as he went to kiss her, she turned her head away. and ended up kissing her on the ear. he was blood red with outrage. and it was a page one picture

but for the wrong reasons. >> she knew the impact that picture was going to have. >> she was publicly documenting her sort of kiss-off to charles? >> she was. >> soon after, the world got the real story behind the pictures. the whole messy saga of charles and diana's 11-year marriage. in june of 1992 her explosive sprues were published in andrew morton's groundbreaking book. diana's public disclosure was a bombshell that rocked the monarchy. at the time, no internet, no social media. the main source of news came from newspapers, and here in london where there are several dailies and tabloids, diana's troubled marriage made for blaring headlines. >> bulimic, trapped in a loveless marriage. >> serious bouts of depression. >> princess diana broke down in tears. >> slashed her wrists. >> there had never been anything like it in the history of the

monarchy. >> royal families always had the mantra, never explain. never complain. keep it zipped. well, she drove a coach and horses through that theory putting everything into a book wearing your heart so firmly on ur sleeve you can see it beating. >> i think charles was flabbergasted when diana went public with all of this. and i think he was devastated. >> soon, letters were pouring into the palace. >> she had letters of support, mainly from women, but masses of them. >> did it accomplish what she wanted, where she wouldn't be sidelined, she could protect her sons? >> history has shown that, absolutely was the case. she retained her two sons and her role was certainly not reduced after that. >> but when it came to her marriage, diana's book only hastened the inevitable. >> it's announced from buckingham palace that with regret, the prince and princess of wales have decided to separate. >> of course, it was only a

formality. the two had already been living separate lives. then diana decided to make another change. >> over the next few months, i will be seeking a more suitable way of combining a meaningful public role with hopefully a more private life. >> the most popular woman in the world was withdrawing from public life. diana went into semiseclusion allowing her to spend more time with her young sons william and harry as they told matt lauer in 2007. >> as children, to sort of spend time with her but the time we did spend with her was amazing. as a mother, as anybody would say, just amazing. >> one of the memories we had was when we went to america and went to disney world. >> but diana couldn't protect the young princes from all the fallout from the war of the wales. >> we had to tell her she was

the best thing ever. >> she was under a lot of pressure throughout her life. >> pressure that seemed to increase after her separation from charles. diana's security chief ken wharf says she expressed concern for her own safety. >> she often talked about dark forces. but i don't quite know where these dark forces came from. and she had put on paper and letters to people that she was concerned and worried about certain things. >> he says diana's fears also caused her to seek out a new circle of friends. >> diana was introduced to a set of what i call mystic madness people. the tarot carded arers, modern day crystal ball gazers. i said why are you wasting your money seeing these people because actually they're not going to predict what's going to happen. >> one of diana's new friends around this time was a self-described healer named simone simmons. >> we were like best friends. she'd read the ring stones for me and i'd read the tarot cards

for her. we used to give each other reading ss. >> simone soon became a constant in diana's life. >> we'd have marathon phone calls. >> she also sent christmas cards and left phone messages like this one. >> hello, it's diana. i'm on my way. i've got very much to tell you. i think you might have gone ghost hopping in the house. anyway, i'll have things switched back at one. whatever, whatever. i'll catch you later. bye. >> by now, prince charles was back with old flame camilla parker bowles. the prince had never publicly responded to diana's bombshell book. but in 1994, to mark the 25th anniversary of his appointment as prince of wales, charles allowed an itv crew to follow him around at a time when his public image needed a boost. but the plan backfired when charles was asked had he been faithful in his marriage. his answer made news around the

world. >> yes, until it became irretrievably broken up. us both having tried. >> it was a terrible miscalculation. media didn't help because they immediately focused on, yes, yes, adultery. >> and diana's response to charles' big moment was this. >> the princess wasn't watching. she was at an art gallery. >> once again, upstaging her husband on the very night of his contrite confession. by wearing what came to be called the revenge dress. diana's fashion designer bruce oldfield got the point but didn't care for the dress. >> she'd never been seen in a dress like that before. to me, that dress looked like somebody got out a pair of sk scissors and went clip, clip, clip. >> there was still one more

bombshell coming in the war of the wales. and this would be the biggest one of all. coming up -- diana's turn to tell all. >> it was very powerful tv. >> razor sharp remarks, then lightning quick remorse. >> diana really, really regretted the interview. >> she's being sacked. she's been fired from the royal firm. >> when "dateline" continues. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪