this is "nightline." >> tonight. she is the sole survivor of the shooting that cost two young journalists their lives. now as vicki gardner recovers her husband shares her harrowing story. >> they never saw him coming until the shots were fired. >> celi. nechlt -- celine dion's return to the stage. she juggles her las vegas residency and taking a ]. to care for her husband. why famous ballads like "power of love" are more heartfelt than ever. >> may look like black market ivory. but trojan tusks have been tracking illegal poachers why. there is more than the elephants' lives at stake. but first, the "nightline" 5. >> i'm lucky to get through a

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good evening. tonight the lone survivor the only person who witness what happened offscreen after the gunman in virginia began shooting at his former colleagues on live television. as vicki gardner recovers from a medically induced coma her

husband sharing her gripping account of the tragedy. here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: this is where 17 shots rang out early wednesday morning. killing two journalists. today new planks, highlighting the exact spots of a crime scene that played out in front of a live tv audience. vicki gardner on the other side of the microphone survived the shootings. her husband gave us her eyewitness account of the surprise attack. did she get a feeling who was the targ sunset? >> allison was the target. >> adam was hit next. >> he shot three times at my wife. she was trying to dodge everything. he missed twice. she dove to the ground. curled in a ball. he shot her in the back. >> her husband watched the mayhem unfold. >> i saw what happened. i started getting phone calls from people who had seen that. wondering if it was live. i said, i don't know. i don't know.

>> reporter: his wife fighting to stay alive picks herself up and walks to help. >> a fphone call came in. my wife calling from the ambulance. she called me and said she had been shot. and that -- that she loved me. and she would see me at the hospital. >> reporter: all three victims of a deranged gunman. vester lee flanagan, a former tv reporter with an embattled past with the local tv station. leading to the premeditated killing of two of its employees. >> 24-year-old alison parker was a sharp and bubbly reporter who covered everything from bacon fest to a recent special on child abuse. >> experts say neglect is a form of child abuse that is just as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. >> reporter: she had just moved in with boyfriend, chris hurst, an anchor at the same station. >> we would go to station events. appearances together. as reporter and anchor.

not as boyfriend and girlfriend. but we couldn't even really hide it there either. because we were so in love. >> reporter: adam ward, her cameraman, was a big personality known for his sense of fun. >> they were a team. they worked together over a year. day in, day out. >> reporter: crossing paths years earlier at the same station, the former colleague who would eventually take their lives. >> talking oil prices. >> reporter: flanagan a reporter who struggled in small tv markets around the country for years unable to work well with colleagues. by 2012, flanagan made it to roanoke, virginia after having disappeared from television for more than seven years. >> bryce williams -- >> reporter: now with a new name, bryce williams, shielding his past from news station wdbj, jeff marks is the general manager. did you know he had trouble at his previous station? >> he filled out his application as vester flanagan.

the people hiring him were looking at his resume, history as bryce williams. as bryce williams he had a relatively clean history. rancheros so . >> reporter: soon, history would repeat itself. >> early on it started to be, use reported. conflicts between he and his co-workers. it was one after another. >> reporter: flanagan began to complain about harassment in the roanoke newsroom. his trouble with the station seemed to be mounting. >> there was a series of complaints that he was just not behaving in a, in a pre questofl manner. >> reporter: he add issues with several staff members of wdbj, including alison parker and adam ward. >> we thought he had come in with an agenda to find things that he could beat us up with. >> he threw a newspaper article on my desk. looked at it. from tallahassee. indicated he had sued his previous, one of his previous employers.

>> reporter: it was not an idle threat. williams filed another discrimination lawsuit this time against his new bosses but not before he was fired in early 2013. and escorted from the station by police. >> he slammed his fist down on the table and threw a wood cross at me and said you will need these. >> reporter: instead of leaving town, this time williams stayed put for two years andso somsoms began setting a deadly plan in motion. 6:00 a.m. wednesday. parker and ward are out on location atop the scenic smith mountain lake for their live report about tourism. >> allison parker is live in bedford county to show us how the lake has grown over the year. good morning, allison. >> good morning. it has grown in so many ways. >> reporter: 6:43 a.m., allison begins interviewing vicki gardner. unbeknownst to them, a predator was lurking. the young journalist at their most vulnerable state focused

completely on their interview. there is no warning ach g ining with a sneak attack, unloading 17 rounds in all. one after another. the stunned local an con kimberly mcgroom unsure over what just happened. >> i heard this pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. it did not register it was gunshots. >> reporter: the freeze frame caught in the dying cameraman's lens reveals the shooter's image. police quickly arrive at the scene but the gunman is long gone. flanagan drives about 25 miles to this fed-ex where he faxes abc news a 23 page manifesto and suicide note. citing the june charleston south carolina church massacre as motive. he writes the church shooting was the tipping point. in his note to abc news, williams cites other mass shooters from columbine and virginia tech. that's my boy right there. meanwhile, back at the station --

>> we are following breaking news this morning out of franklin county. news that affected our wdbj family deeply. >> reporter: the rest of the news team struggles to balance grief and reporting. >> it is my very, very sad duty to report that allison and adam died this morning shortly after 6:45 when the shots rang out. >> reporter: flanagan is on the run. >> suspect believed to be armed and dangerous. use caution. >> reporter: he takes to social media posting videos of himself shooting his victims on facebook and twitter. bryce williams had carefully produced his final act. at 11:20. the police identify the car he is traveling in. >> confirmed as a silver chevrolet sonic 2015. >> reporter: when they try to pull him over, he refuses. and careens into the median. a lone trooper approaches. but the gunman had already taken his own life. >> he died at approximately 1:30

p.m. today. >> reporter: in his getaway car police discover a wig, sunglasses, a shawl, black hat, and three additional license plates. along with two glocks and six magazines of ammunition. during all of this, the third victim, vicki gardner is at the hospital, doctors struggling to save her life. she awoke from a medically induced coma. according to her husband is now in good condition. >> shy e is going to make a ful recovery, minus a kidney and other small parts. >> tonight tight-knit community and family, mourning two promising lives cut short. >> it's just -- the whole thing, it crushes my soul. >> reporter: for "nightline," jim avila, in roanoke, virginia. next, a raw, emotional interview with celine dion, behind the scenes of her return to las vegas. how her heart will go on as she cares for her sick husband.

♪ my heart will go on ♪ and on >> plus tracking illegal ivory trade. a firsthand look at how poachers can have an effect far beyond the animals they kill. e? i love the jetta. but what about a deal? terry, stop! it's quite alright... you know what? we want to make a deal with you. we're twins, so could you give us two for the price of one? come on, give us a deal. look at how old i am. do you come here often? he works here, terry! you work here, right? yes... ok let's get to the point. we're going to take the deal. get a $1000 lease 2015 jetta s get a $1000 r $139 month

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celine dion changed the face of las vegas when she first took the town by storm. she made headlines when she left it all behind to take care of her husband, battling cancer once again. tonight, abc's deborah roberts is there for her bittersweet return, sharing candid moments backstage as she juggles public success with private heartache. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: that heart stopping voice, alive again. celine dion back on stage for the first time in more than a year. >> let's do it. >> reporter: we are getting a sneak peek behind the scenes just moments before she hits the stage. a final touchup. and a tender moment just before

her big reveal. ♪ sunset i know you can feel it too ♪ >> reporter: stirring ballads taking a back seat to her personal life. caring for her 73-year-old husband renee, father of three children, battling throat chancer again. >> the songs are having a meaning now. i have been singing them for so long. but now i mean it the word will become alive more than ever before. >> reporter: and though rene was too ill to attend last night's performance, his wife sending him a message as he watched from home. >> we love you. promise me something, just enjoy. >> reporter: celine shared her personal heartache with me this past spring. >> it was our wedding anniversary. i was rehearsing for the voice. after the rehearsal i went back

in my dressing room. i saw him looking pretty devastated and in shock. i was like, what is going on? and he said, he said i have chancer again. the doctor called me, and i have cancer again. and at that moment, honestly, my heart started to beat faster. but my body shut off. and i was like, i am going to go put makeup on and i am going to go sing incredible and i am going to forget how i feel right now. ♪ incredible >> and i went on. i sang the song. ♪ we were incredible >> then we went to the hotel. and then reality started to strike. it took a toll on me. >> reporter: celine was 12 when she and rene met, he became her manager and mentor and later the love of her life. helping her turn the early songs like "the power of love." into gold. ♪ cause i'm your lady

>> reporter: her husband's devastating diagnosis making her las vegas residency a struggle. torn between two passions, the stage and her family. >> i had to leave him behind. he wanted me to start the shows again. >> how do you do that? >> sometimes, i think i am used tight. don't feel what you need to feel. just do it. >> reporter: go on stage. >> i did. >> reporter: because you are a show biz veteran? >> no, because i love him. and i did. and it was very hard. >> reporter: she knew last year it was time to step back to focus on what mattered most her family. what about our kids. what happens? he can't hear well because of the radiation. his hearing isn't very well. he can't use his mouth. he can't eat. so i feed him. he has a feeding tube. i have to feed him two times a

day. >> reporter: and you did so much of this yourself? >> i do this myself. and so i feed my husband. and i feed my kids. and unfortunately i had to say, listen, i can't be half here and half over there. please, allow me to stay home. >> reporter: what kind of a toll has it taken on you on the marriage? >> i stopped. we healed. we focused. we live a day at a time. nobody knows what the future is holding for us. >> reporter: how, how did you explain it all to the children? what did you say to them about daddy? >> you know, i really believe the children know it all without asking so much. and i also believe that us parents, adult, we try to put a stop to what we are afraid of e ex- -- explaining because we are scared and worried. >> reporter: behind the stages and costumes, raw pain so many

of us feel. struggling. vulnerable at times but growing stronger through suffering. >> millions of people in the world they go through this dra trauma. a lot of them worse they don't have time to say good-bye. and you know what, i am amazed how fortunate we are. i think the fact that i have had this open book type of personality and share it all it's me. it's the person i am. i think it helped me in my life to sing my songs better. >> reporter: month as go celine and rene offer me a tour of the las vegas stage built just for her. >> this is where i will stand right here. ♪ forever >> reporter: celine dion standing strong moving once again that love and the show will go on. ♪ my heart will go on and on ♪ >> reporter: for "nightline,"

i'm deborah roberts in new york. up next -- what investigators are learning from trojan tusks. tricked out with gps trackers and sent off to infiltrate the black market. ell this... febreze air effects heavy duty has up to two times the odor-eliminating power to remove bathroom odors you've gone noseblind to use febreze air effects till it's fresh. and try febreze small spaces... ... to continuously eliminate up to two times the odors for 30 days febreze small spaces and air effects, two more ways to breathe happy. when heartburn comes creeping up on you. fight back with relief so smooth and fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. tum-tum-tum-tum-tums smoothies, only from tums.

finally tonight, getting an inside look into the world of illegal poaching. a very inside look. because investigators have come up with an ingenious way to infiltrate the black market. >> this is not real ivory. they're synthetic. >> you have -- for.

>> call me urgently. >> reporter: it may look like investigative reporter brian christie is trying to smuggle illegal ivory through tans -- tanzanian security. these tusks are fakes. tracking where the ivory goes after the elephant is killed. brian is released and headed to central africa to place gps devices into the illegal ivory trade. >> this is exactly what a tusk looks like. it has the the sound that ivory has. the balance of this is perfect. >> reporter: each year, 30,000 african elephants are killed by poachers who sell their precious tusks for big profits on the black market. >> it's just such a waste. >> just opened. >> in front, you know.

>> it's crazy. >> reporter: brian makes his way to a location in central africa to drop the decoys. >> let's go. >> and then, the satellites get a ping. >> what direction? >> reporter: most illegal ivory end of in china. but this bounty is headed somewhere unexpected directly into territory known for rebelifiederebel fighters. instead of east they went north. the most violent path ivory can take in africa. >> reporter: the lra, is run by the warlord accused of kidnapping children turning them into soldiers and sex slaves. the decoy us tick tusks. >> the house where the tusks communicated. if the batteries are alive. for now their trail has gone cold. >> reporter: the investigation continues with more trojan tusks being prepared. >> i'm not done. the problem is not solved.

>> reporter: explorer, warlords of ivory premieres sunday on "national geographic" channel. thank you for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. as always we are online, 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page and on abcnews.com. good night, america. have a great weekend. thanks so much for doing this, you guys. and you both know if you ever need anything moved, you can always call robert. it's good to be married, isn't it? and peter... coming all the way from pennsylvania just to help us move a couch. hey, any day out of mom and dad's house is a good day. and you know what? everyone on the bus really loved my harmonica. they clapped when i got off.

you guys want to hear a tune? i really gotta go. yeah, you know what? i should probably get down to the bus station, too. peter, don't bsilly. we should all sit and have dinner and relax. come on, ray, you, too yeah, ray. i'll stay if ray stays. then it's a party! gotta go! how 'bout that? ray had to go. awww...i'll stay anyway. great! i'll go get dinner started. ( ays harmonica ) ( playing harmonica )