this is "nightline." >> tonight -- oscar pistorius, not guilty of murder. >> how do you feel? >> the shooting of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. >> hi, i'm oscar's date tonight. >> all a terrible mistake, according to the judge. but that doesn't mean the bladerunner's out of trouble. more verdicts to come could still mean up to decades behind bars. plus, these daredevils are racing into dangerous surf on a quest to conquer one of the world's biggest waves. seconds in this killer wave could be the difference between life and death. so, can they capture it all on camera and come out alive? and, britney's back and working it. she shows our michael strahan how. on tour and newly single in vegas.

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good evening it was a stunning verdict to many.

south african oscar pistorius found not guilty of murdering his model girlfriend today. even though he admits he shot her through a bathroom door. but this case is not over yet. more verdicts expected in the next few hours, on additional charges that could still land him behind bars for many years. abc's matt gutman is in pretoria, south africa. >> reporter: today, oscar pistorius walked into court a man facing life in prison. >> oscar, you feeling confident today? >> reporter: for shooting and killing his model girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. but in a controversial ruling, the judge found the former olympian not guilty of the most serious charge, murder. >> there's just not enough facts to support such findings. >> reporter: as she read the decision, which, at times, outright supported the defense, pistorius began weeping in the front bench. and reeva steenkamp's family, craning forward, hanging on

every word. but their tragic ordeal, not over yet. pistorius will return to court tomorrow to hear the vujjudge's final verdict to culpable homicide and hall anything charges. if convicted, he could still end up sentenced to as much as decades behind bars or he could walk away not serving a single day in prison. >> whether he sees a day inside a jail after he's been sentenced, i think is actually quite unlikely. >> reporter: it was a trial that spanned seven months. punctuated by tearstears. recriminations. >> you killed a person. that's what you did, isn't it? >> i made a mistake. >> you killed reeva steenkamp, didn't you. >> even a remorseful admission. >> say yes. i shot and killed reeva steenkamp. >> i did my lady. >> okay. >> reporter: the spotlight

ceaselessly on pistorius, who may have broken the world record for the most emoive defendant. filling the courtroom with his countless wakes and whimpers. >> why would this question make him emotional? >> because this is a night i lost the person i care about. i don't know how people don't understand that. >> reporter: the trial had another center of attention, notable for her absence. tonight, this u.s. exclusive. an audition video of reeva steenkamp. >> and tell me about your fitness. what do you do? >> i'm a gym bunny. >> reporter: she grew up riding horses, went to law school, but was lured into modeling. when you first saw her audition tapes, what was your impression? >> gorgeous. >> reporter: her agent, speaking for the first time, says her easy going demeanor belied her grit and focus. >> she was magnificent. she was gorgeous. she was talented. >> reporter: soon, she graced "fhm" magazine and captured the

attention of south africa's top bachelor. that night, their first date. >> i'm oscar's date tonight. he needed a date at the last minute. throw your stuff together and come and be my date. >> reporter: oscar told the court that he was immediately smitten. >> i was very keen on reeva. i think if anything i was maybe more into her than she was at times with me. >> reporter: her friends, like stacy holland, can't believe she's gone. >> it still feels surreal. it feels like it didn't happen. it feels like it can't -- it couldn't have happened. >> reporter: within weeks, they had pet nicknames for each other. by february 2013, their relationship appears picture perfect. their stolen smooches captured on a closed sir cucircuit camer super market. the day before valentine's day,

reeva tweets what do you have up your sleeve for your sweet tomorrow? >> this is argument and he knows exactly who it is that fled into the bathroom. and she didn't go in to use the toil toilet. she went in because he was fleeing from him. >> reporter: matt murphy walked me through a scale model of the scene of the crime to demonstrate the prosecutor's version of events. reeva was backed into a corner, defenseless. you see inside this bathroom, this is tiny. it's like shooting fish in a barrel with exploding bullets. i mean -- you're in here and there's nowhere to go. there's nowhere to hide. >> she has no chance. >> reporter: four bullets later, reeva is dying. pistorius puts on his prosthetics, returning to the bathroom and breaks down the door.

a neighbor testified about what she heard. >> what was the crying like? >> waaaa! >> reporter: in her ruling, the judge discounted that testimony and of almost all those so-called ear witnesses. saying, the only witness who mattered was pistorius, who testified that his disability and his traumatic childhood influenced his response that night. and, he was convinced an intruder was in his home. >> it was at that point that i was just overcome with fear and i just started shouting for the burglar to get out of my house. >> reporter: as the prosecution seized upon during the trial, pistorius did have an infatuation with guns. >> you are a gun enthusiast. you come from a family with lots of guns, am i right? >> that's correct. >> 50 or more. >> reporter: prosecutor showing a video aired by sky news of pistorius on a gun range shooting a .9 millimeter pistol.

and then there's pistorius blasting away watermelons. >> it's a lot softer than brains. >> it exploded, right? >> that's right. >> reporter: he was using the same exploding bull lets that killed reeva. pistorius unravels. >> my fingered touched her head. i remember, i don't have to look at a picture. i was there. >> reporter: that side of pistorius as a raging, highly emotional young man, something trish taylor, the mother of his ex-girlfriend, sam taylor, saw so much of. >> there was a lot of commotion in our relationship. >> reporter: in her book, which abc news has exclusively obtained, revealed he would scream at his 17-year-old girlfriend, sam taylor, for failing to take her dishes to the sink. >> i think oscar was an accident waiting to happen. >> reporter: melinda co-authored

the book. >> he was the guy that was -- always something was going to happen. in a sense, it was all leading up to some tragedy. >> reporter: something pistorius may have foreshad doped in e-mails he reportedly wrote to trish taylor. most of my life, i had moments that i sabotaged the good that i have. and, in a country where domestic violence is epidemic, court watchers worried about the judges message. is this going to be controversial in this country? >> it's going to be very controversial. i was on my way here. i heard a local radio station that said, very simply this is going to be the excuse that every man uses to shoot his girlfriend. it's going to be legally justifiable. it is a terrible, terrible decision for our country. >> reporter: even as pistorius left court, there was renewed acceptance for the fallen sports icon. >> we love you! >> reporter: question now, whether he will walk free again tomorrow. i'm matt gutman for "nightline,"

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most sensible people try to steer clear of really dangerous places. but not the adrenaline junkies you're about to meet. they're after one of the world's biggest waves, on a life-threatening quest to do something that seems impossible. ride it and photograph it from the inside. here's abc's chief meteorologist ginger zee.

>> reporter: inside the barrel of one of the most dangerous waves in the world. >> just raw, out in the middle of the ocean, kind of nastiness. >> reporter: elite surfers are about to attempt something that has never been done before. getting inside that, an infamous swell, almost two miles off the coast of australia call ed the right. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: it's a wave so powerful, even if you are lucky enough to get in it, the pressure of the break alone could kill you. >> definitely life-threatening, 100%. >> right next to him! >> reporter: and these guys aren't just going to surf it. they will surf in together, with a 20-pound camera, attempting to capture what could be the most dangerous surf photo in history. >> the normal photographers shoot from a boat or they swim with a camera. this was totally out of the ordinary. mark wanted to ride a wave

behind me and he had this big camera and it's pretty heavy, it's like a wrecking ball. >> reporter: the entire journey unfolds in a new red bull documentary. but i met mark on a slightly less intimidating sea in rockaway beach, new york. i thought some of the words in the documentary were very cool, like, heavy. this is not heavy? >> this is not heavy, no. in big wave serving, this is not heavy. this is fun, though. >> reporter: fun is not what most would call the right. >> when you say big, how big is it, how tall? >> we'd be looking at, like, 25 feet tall, i'd say, to four, five-story building. but the size isn't the thing. it the volume of this wave. it's like, as powerful as, like, an 80-foot wave. >> the most dangerous things, just getting held down for such a long time that you basically run out of breath and pass out. >> reporter: to conquer this wave, the team has to strategize. >> on the back shooting video.

>> right, and kind of -- >> yeah. >> reporter: one wrong move could cost them everything. >> by mbiggest concern is that i'll do something and it will take the camera away and i'll go -- >> reporter: they have little time to plan their approach. >> rather ride a board like this that's been put through its paces. we just get on the jet ski and we start heading out into the middle of the ocean just on sunrise. it's still dark. basically heading out into the middle of the ocean. >> reporter: this wave hits miles offshore. so, mark and taj have to be pulled out by jet key. >> away are both planning to be pulled in by one jet ski rope, which is not really done, either. it's freezing cold. i'm terrified. >> reporter: they manage to catch the wave on the first try. what is the feeling white when you get in? >> everything is terrifying, but when you are inside the wave, you completely are surrounded by the ocean. it's like the roar of a plane

and this weird air pressure going on in there. it's kind of surreal. >> [ bleep ], that was it. >> reporter: the first run is solid, but mark wants to go deeper. the word you keep using over and over, let's get deep. what does that mean? >> it's not in the washed out part. it's the positioning on the wave. we needed to be, what we say, deep inside the wave. that way we'll get the perspective of the amazing photo. >> reporter: they decide to go for a second run. mark and taj ride the wave, just feet apart. >> i was trying to stay, like, kind of high and fast because i didn't want mark to hit me because obviously he's behind me. i didn't know how fast he was coming in behind me and the last thing we wanted was to get tangled together. >> reporter: mark has just 15 seconds to snap the photo before everything goes black. >> as i'm nearly coming towards the exit of the wave, i just end up, my board catches and i'm going too fast to handle the speed and i got cart wheeled and

i got held down for, like, the longest i've ever been held down. just doing big strokes to the surface. >> reporter: taj fights his way above water. >> i eventually popped up and i was seeing stars. >> reporter: but mark is missing. >> the jet sees are coming in and we're looking for mark. mark hadn't come up yet. and obviously he was in a more dangerous position than me, because he was further back on the reef. >> reporter: the team is frantic. finally mark coming up for air, 45 seconds later. >> almost blacked out. >> reporter: the longest time under in his life. mark suffered a ruptured eardrum and a torn up face. taj injures his shoulder. >> [ bleep ], i just went so deep. the camera was flying around. i couldn't swim anymore. i was just like, that it was just like dark and black in my eyes. >> reporter: it was the longest you've been under? >> yeah, that was the longest i've been done. >> my ears are [ bleep ]. >> you're crazy, man. >> holding onto the camera, it stopped me from being able to use my arms to get to the

surface, so, i had to rely on a life vest and it just took that little bit longer to get up. so, it was pretty scary. >> reporter: but to them, capturing the shot and surviving it was worth risking it all. >> pushing the boundaries of photography and the angles you can get and just give people that perspective of what it's actually like to be inside the wave like that. definitely nothing like that's been attempted. the ride itself was probably only 10 to 15 seconds long. the memory lasts a lifetime. >> reporter: forginger zee in n next, she's a slave to the music. and now britney spears is showing us the moves, too. turn the trips you have to take,

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britney spears inc is a business worth billions. and tonight, this mogul is adding a whole new hat to her collection. oh, and gentlemen -- she's single. here's abc's michael strahan. ♪ let's go >> this is in slave. hip, hip -- no, on your hip. >> reporter: if you get the chance to dance with britney spears, you take it. but as i learned, dancing like the pop princess is no easy feat. >> okay, so, we'll just do that much, just for right now. >> that much? that was ten steps further than i can remember. britney, play football, i got hit in the head for a long time, girl. i can't remember anything but two steps. >> you show me yours. >> reporter: mine? yeah. >> i love that. that's -- that's -- i'm speechless. >> reporter: that's all i got. in her indelible words, you want

to dominate the dance floor, you better work. spears has been hard at work in las vegas, bringing the iconic moves and unstoppable anthems to her two-year residency show, "piece of me." ♪ i know you want a piece of me ♪ >> reporter: it's been challenging for you? >> it has been. there's a lot of days where i'm like, okay, i don't want to do a show today, i make myself get up -- >> i know that feeling. >> it's fun. i'm vk a lot of fun doing this show. >> reporter: offstage, brit's been deeming with the end of a relationship with david lucato. the two have been together since march of last year, and she's been open with her fans about the breakup. you spoke about being single and breaking up on stage, and then you tweeted, ahh, the single life. >> the single life. >> reporter: give me some of that. bravery at its best right there. >> yes. >> reporter: now spears is putting her own spin on the mantra, work hard play horde. how is it being single in vegas of all places? >> it's mind-blowing, like, you know, my mom is like, you need

to date three or four different guys at one time and just have a lot of fun. and i'm like -- mom. we're not that old school anymore, you know what i mean? i guess i could try to do that, but -- i don't know. it's fun. it's a lot of fun. >> reporter: so, what's a single girl's best weapon on the battlefield of love? great lingerie, of course. >> tomorrow is a promise awaiting to be kept. >> reporter: it's her new line called, what else, the intimate britney spears. >> this will look good on me. >> reporter: that would look good on me? what side of your creativity did you have to tap into for this new line? >> ten years ago, i was in europe and i went to this vintage, artsy, really cool small boutique store of all these lingerie and sleepware lines, and i was like, i want to do this. >> reporter: fitting for a woman who has made us a slave for her music. and whose most famous looks involve the least clothing. now, the mother of two, music mogul and perfume per say your is doing it again.

♪ expanding her empire so we all can get a little closer to britney, while we wait for her next album. we need some new anthems. are we going to get some? >> yes, you are. yes. >> reporter: can't come soon enough. for "nightline," i'm michael strahan in new york. >> thank you for watching abc news. "world news now" is coming up. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow and als always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night. hey, good mornin'. hey. when did you finally come to bed? 'cause ihought you were coming right up, but then i fell asleep. yeah, the game, it went into double overtime. it was amazing. oh... 'cause...i thought we had plans. sorry. god... did you catch the end of that game? oh, it was amazing. see? all right. well, i'll let you boys talk about your exciting sports.

i just hope there's not a game on tonight. huh. what? i think she just gave me the look. what do you mean? you know... sex. that face means "sex"? i thought it meant "gas." she does it better, okay? yeah, i know when amy's in the mood, 'cause she always gives me thisis sexy little sideways smi. i think amy's sayin', "hurry up and get it over with." your mother' got a look, too, which is why after sunset, i avoid all eye contact.