this is "nightline." >> tonight justice for natalee. a shocking discovery that could finally shed light on the dpis appearance of natalee holloway. >> 12 # years and we still have nothing until now. >> possible new clues from the night she went missing. >> it would bring the first step in closure for natalee's family. >> we go inside the undercover investigation that her father says may have uncovered what the police never did. plus whitney can i be me. the new documentary revealing never before seen footage of

whitney houston. the glimpse into her clean cut image and her struggles raising her daughter bobby christina. >> i tried to talk to her at least three times a week. >> first here are the "nightline" five. >> fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest... internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have.

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>> good evening we'll start with the breaking news out of phoenix arizona where president trump held a rowdy rally tonight. when it ended police say prot t protesters threw rocks and water l bottles. tom llamas is right on the scene. >> you can see some of the demonstrators left over. there were thousands of demonstrators out here. they surrounded the convention center. the at the nixon police department had a plan in place. they were able to separate the demonstrators from the trump supporters. the supporters were coming up and the demonstrators were up in their face. there are some screaming matches. as police were trying to force everyone out. they marched the demonstrators out of

>> thank you. we'll have more on this story on gma. we turn to a new development in a year's old mystery the disappearance of natalee holloway who disappeared over 12 years ago. his father has been conducting his own investigation for years. could he be on the verge of finding answers. here's my co-anchor juju change. >> the disappearance of natalee holloway the 18-year-old who vanished while on a high school graduation trip to aruba. >> the mysterious disa peeps of an american teenager. >> her body was never found. now her family is saying a private investigation yielded stunling results. >> i was shocked out of my chair. >> human remains that could belong to natalee being tested in the united states. her father

this could bring so las to his family or even justice. >> it sounds like this feels the closest you've felt to solving your daughter's murder. >> i'm hopeful. >> the revelation one of a six part series is disappearance of natalee holloway. >> i never dreamed it would be 12 year. >> many saying natalee's parents were victims of the investigation botched by from the start. >> little did they know they weren't just looking for a kidnap er or killer. they were up the whole aye are you ban government. >> do you feel they handled the investigation well? >> no they took their eyes off the last three people who were with natalee. >> including joran van der sloot the godson of the police

at the time. >> joran van der sloot enjoyed every privilege, protection conceivable under the aruba justice system. >> holloway was a fresh faced 18-year-old with a dazzling style and college scholarship lined up. forever frozen in time. >> she was a goal setter. she knew what she was going to do in life. >> she had a bright future. >> absolutely. >> on thursday may 26, 2005 she and fellow graduates arrived in aruba. there nights were said to be full of partying and excessive drinking. >> the beach was a blast. >> just after 10:00 p.m. on their final night natalee set to return the next day captured on this surveillance tape. a witness natalee's classmate

time. >> i remember seeing natalee in a white car driving away. my impression was great she found a ride back to the hotel. >> it was the last time her friends saw the smiling blonde. >> the phone rung. it was my son. he said dad natalee missed her flight. i said she's never late for anything. knowing her i thought somebody bad happened. >> aruba authorities issued a search. her parents made pleas. >> my beautiful outstanding daughter. >> suspicion zeros in on joran van der sloot. joran admitted he had taken natalee to this beach in hopes of having sex. >> we were touching each other. i ended up -- she put her hands in my pants and i put my

in her pants. >> joran van der sloot's story kept changing. at first he dropped her back at the hotel. when pressed by police, he said he left her on the beach. in 2006 he was adamant he was innocent of any wrong doing. >> did you kill natalee holloway? >> no. >> did you harm her? >> no. >> in a twiegt hidden camera investigation then 20-year-old joran van der sloot admitted he knew what happened to natalee and said he watched her die. >> i think i'm incredibly lucky she's never been found. if they found her i'm in deep [ bleep ]. >> in july 2005 racked with questions and few answers dave holloway hired private investigator t.j. ward seen here in oxygen's new series. >> i have a picture in my office of natalee holloway. i put it up in 2005 and it

resolution of this case. >> years later that new lead. >> dave got a phone call from an individual who said he had a roommate that started talking about joran van der sloot and said they were running around together in 2010. he was telling me things not public. we started putting this puzzle together. i told dave something was there. >> a man came forward and said i'm living with this guy who knows where natalee's remains are. >> do you believe the information he told you? >> 100%. >> cameras followed the search. they encountered john lud wig who told them something they never heard before. >> did he go with you to dig remains up? >> yes. >> did you do something with the remains? >> yeah. >> what did you do? tell me

told him about the climb. later he said he helped hide the remains. that couldn't be confirmed by abc news. >> he goes grab that cactus and that will cover everything up. he said don't you ever tell nobody. nobody. he told john. >> dave and his team go on the hunt eventually recovering some evidence. he tells abc news lab resulting confirm they're human remains. rue ban authorities contradict. during an investigation by police we found remains. they were found to be from animals. now even more questions whether the remains were illegally taken out of aruba. if so could they ever be used as evidence in court. >> this is by far the most credible lead i've seen in the last 12 years. >> why do this on television? >> i've been involved with the

because if we hadn't we would have been at home twidling our fingers. 12 years we have nothing. >> skep ticks are wondering about the timing. >> can you address the skepticism this is all for show? >> i don't know there's skepticism. >> we didn't do this because of a show. we did this and i did this because his family and bringing closure to them and prosecuting those who are responsible for natalee holloway's disappearance. >> if the dna is positive where do you put that in your mind and your heart? >> it will be the end of a long long journey. we're not there yet. >> for "nightline" i'm juju chang in new york. >> next. ♪ i want to dance with somebody ♪ >> her squeaky clean image was all the public could see in

somebody, but who is the reel whitney houston. new details and never before seen footage from her life behind the scenes.

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>> could whitney houston ever truly be herself? that's the question posed in a new documentary exposing the private life of the pop secret who struggled with drug abuse and a strained relationship with her daughter. here again my co-anchor juju chang. >> she had low

she was worried about her hair. she wore wigs and weaves. >> you're looking at never before seen footage of private whitney houston battling her public persona captured during her 1999 world tour. >> this is this big super star. she never had that security she needed. >> the star's personal and professional decline is chronicled at the time film whitney can i be me. the film's title suggests whitney never could. that perhaps is what destroyed her. she first met this director at a screening of his rolling stones documentary. she asked him to film her own tour. >> i said we can start tomorrow. she said okay tomorrow 12:00 noon. there was no contract, nothing. i came with my film crew. >> filming backstage at over

of whitney's concerts and giving him a front row seat to her troubled marriage to bobby brown and their young daughter bobby christina. >> the couple first met in 1989 # at the "soul train" awards. >> he was the hot act. he was the guy everybody wanted to sleep with. >> at the same event whitney was booed by the audience a trauma that would haunt her for the rest of her life. >> that was the time the african american audience thought she was too middle of the road, not urban enough. >> her union with the my prerogative singer was controversial from the start. bobby cultivating a tough image. it all clashed with whitney's cleaned cut i want to dance with somebody persona ♪ i want to dance with somebody ♪ >> bobby was misunderstood from day one.

was tabloid fodder. >> i saw that bobby and whitney really loved each other. >> whitney's fans blamed bobby for her downward spiral. >> why do you think he still gets vilified. >> because he was an an easy answer. bobby was an expert in alcohol. whitney was an expert in other things. maybe the combinations of the two made the disaster bigger ♪ i found the greatest >> whitney's innocent image in songs like the greatest love of all was crafted by the man who discovered her. >> when the world first met whitney houston she was a church girl gospel singer. >> absolutely, but she came from the hood. >> he's referring to newark new jersey while their mom was on tour whitney was

her older brothers. >> we played together. everything you do together as you're growing up. when you do drugs, you do that tot too. >> it was whitney's childhood friend robin crawford that kept whitney. >> she was is the the star's best friend. >> whitney didn't have a closeness and feel safe with many people. robin provided a safe place for her. robin loved her, cared for her. >> i had people call from radio stations and be on the conversation with program directors. they said hey man is whitney gay? i would say huh. i don't know. >> ever describes her relationship with robin crawford as special. >> robin was very special. robin was probably the most important relationship together with bobby brown. >>

publicly about their relationship with katie couric. >> this wasn't her world. i have brought her into this madness. she have said why am i the target? i said you're my friend. i couldn't play basketball. >> because she plays basketball people think she's a lesbian. >> she's a very tall woman. i don't know. just stuck it out. >> whitney's mother addressed their friendship with oprah. >> do you believe that whitney and robin were in a gay relationship? >> i don't know. >> would it have bothed you if whitney was gay? >> absolutely. ♪ and i >> despite the rumors whitney and bobby stayed together. she performed her iconic song while pregnant. with the child cementing their bond robin wouldea

side forever. >> what drove her away? >> she saw after the child was born the only way whitney can get to peace is in the marriage and that the child needs a father and a mother. i think robin left because she loved whitney and she still does. >> the life of this working mother on grueling world tours proved too challenging. >> i'm really dying to get home to see her little face. she's dying for me to come home. i try to talk to her at least three times a week. it's very hard to talk. it's worse to talk sometimes than not to. you feel that longing. you feel that passion, that love between a child and mother. >> she was an absentee mother. >> yes i think with all the negative parts that that means. sometimes you just have to be there ♪ tomorrow is judgment day zmoet. >> when bobby

her mother on tour he was there to capture it. >> when the song is over whitney doesn't know what to do with her daughter. >> the film suggests the combination of whitney's struggle with her public image contributed to her defend did he know si on dugs. >> whitney died and the toxicology results showed cocaine xanax and marijuana in her system. >> if robin would have stayed i think whitney would have been alive today. >> the sentiment is echoed by bobby brown himself. he wrote i feel if robin was accepted in whitney lease life she would be alive today. >> what goes through your mind when you think of bobby christina's tragic death. >> it's heart breaking. >> for some her legacy maybe clouded by tragedy he sees it clearly. >> she was an outstanding talent. that will never go

one reason for doing this film she was one of the greatest singers on earth. >> for "nightline" i'm juju chang in new york. >> thanks to juju for that report. we'll be right back. >> announcer: abc news "nightline" brought to you by geico. ♪ w come you have cheese in your beard? because switching to geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance. oh! ok. geico. because saving 15% or more on car insurance is always a great answer. whoa! gross! the ultra-fine mist startstoms working instantly to deliver up to 12 hours of ahhhhh get fast relief with vicks sinex.

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>> thank you for watching abc news tonight. as all we're on-line 24/7 on abc ne news.com. thank you again for watching and good night. >> this show has had a lot of amazing moments over the past 15 years. will today be another one for the highlight reel? let's find out. this is "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ welcomto

"millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] our returning contestant started reading dictionaries and encyclopedias when he was only two years old. what took him so long? and he is in the middle of a great game right now. from newark, california, please welcome back michael rankins. [cheers and applause] michael. good to see you, buddy. [cheers and applause] ♪ [applause] come on. come on. two years old, you're reading? >> two years old. i was reading at the age of two. other kids were picking up dr. seuss. i was picking up the "encyclopedia britannica." >> and so you have always had this love and fascination with facts and reading? 'cause that's what's interesting. you were reading the encyclopedia. it's not like you were reading advanced kids' books. >> no, i've just always been one of those people that just liked to know stuff, and if i hear about something that i don't know about... >> right. >> i like to go and look it up and find out more about it. >> but where and when is that ever gonna pay off for you? >> you know, i don't really have