this is "nightline." >> tonight, for the first time in 70 years a woman put to death in georgia, despite 11th hour pleas for the pope for mercy. and tonight the clock is ticking for this man who still maintains his innocence. >> i didn't commit this crime. >> as supporters rally for a dead man walking. >> he's a perfect example of what's wrong with the death penalty. smokejumping, as wildfires blaze across california, elite team is attacking it from above. putting their own lives at risk to save others. we're right there in those planes, in the thick of things, inside their world. it was the on air moment that would change her life. >> amy is wrapping up her first mammogram here in the mammo van. >> leading to a cancer diagnosis and a new mission. tonight our own amy robach

shares her inspiring story of hope and resilience on the path to getting better. but first, the "nightline" five. >> sir, how are you doing? enough pressure in here for you? >> my sinuses are killing me. >> just wait until we hit 10,000 feet. >> i'm going to take me a sign mus max. fast. liquid gels. >> and you're coming with me. >> what? you realize i have gold status. don't i still get the miles? >> new, mucinex gels, dissolves fast. start the relief, let's end this. number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. we begin with breaking news out of georgia tonight where for the first time in 70 years a woman has just been executed.

her children, even the pope, begged for mercy. and although it wasn't enough to save her life from the death penalty it may spark renewed hope for an oklahoma man scheduled to die by lethal injection tomorrow. supporters rally to save his life. tonight tears outside the prison where kelly gisentakener became the first woman in 70 years to be executed in georgia. kelly was convicted in 1997 of conspireing with her lover to stab her husband to death. the lover who committed the actual murder is serving a life sentence because he confessed and struck a plea deal. kelly's children were kids when their father was murdered. >> from what i remember about my dad, i know that he wouldn't have wanted my mom to be executed. >> reporter: but now as adults they say they have forgiven their mother. she's not the same woman who went to prison. she's gone back to school. counseled other inmates behind bars. theybegged the state to keep

her life. but not even a message from the pope could keep her alive. he asked them to commute the sentence to one that would better express both justice and mercy. last week hundreds took to the streets to protest the decision to kill her. and a thousand miles away in oklahoma tonight in yet another controversial and highly public case richard is awaiting his execution. unless things change by this time tomorrow, he could be dead. he's set to be executed despite support voicing his innocence but he was found guilty in two separate trials. the first thrown out for an alleged murder for hire in a motel room against his former boss in 1997. there was no physical evidence found linking him to the murder, the conviction relied heavily on the testimony of justin snooed, the man who confessed to the actual murder and is currently

serving a life sentence in prison. >> i think he's totally innocent. >> reporter: sister helen has been at the poforefront. >> you think richard is innocent, yes? >> yeah. >> why? >> there's no forensic evidence at all to implicate him. >> reporter: the film version of her book "dead man walking." sarandon herself has taken up this cause. >> he's a perfect example of what's wrong with the death penalty. he's clearly innocent. and on top of that, the guy who actually killed the person is in a minimum security prison for the rest of his life. >> reporter: sarandon brought the story to "the dr. phil show" to garner support, breaking down after reading a letter he wrote. >> it's very upsetting. you believe that if you're unjustly accused that people will realize it and it's just -- i'm heartbroken for the state of

our judicial system as much as i'm heartbroken for this man. >> reporter: his family maintains he was set up, and that the prosecution failed to show the jury key evidence that could have helped his case. >> there's no way this man did this. there's not an evil bone in him. there's nothing violent about him. he's never been in trouble at all with the law before this. >> reporter: like the interrogation tape of sneed from 1997 that never made its way into the courtroom. his legal team says sneed was being baited by police. >> we know that this involves more than just you. >> reporter: but some still maintain that glossip deserves the death sentence. >> richard glossip has been convicted of not one but two juries of 12 by murder in the first degree, that he intentionally masterminded the murder of a 54-year-old father, of five children. >> reporter: richard glossip

spoke to sky news from behind bars. >> i didn't commit this crime. and there's no doubt in my mind that i may die because of this. i'm truly sorry for what happened to barry. i am. but i had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: glossip was first arrested 20 years ago. his daughter kristina was 13 at the time. >> i'm a daddy's girl so i was always with my dad. i've been up there trying to visit him as much as i can. i was mad then and i'm still mad now. >> reporter: her younger sister erica joined demonstrators at the state capitol asking that her father not be executed. >> he's accepted it. he sads where he wants his remains to be, you know, poured out at and i don't like hearing it, but we have to talk about it sometime. >> reporter: for a moment two weeks ago it seemed their prayers had been answered. >> convicted murderer richard glossip dprants granted a two-week stay of xe sugs. >> reporter: glossip was hopeful when speaking to abc affiliate

on the phone. >> it's a great feeling that the court is going to take the time to look at what we turned in. >> reporter: but time is running out. unless the governor grants a 60-day stay, glossip will die by lethal injection tomorrow afternoon. since the year 1973 there have been 155 inmates on death row who have been found not guilty and exonerated. including five this year. like anthony ray henton. for 30 years he had been a dead man walking. >> thank you, jesus. thank you, lord. >> would you believe this is the first time i've been in the rain in 30 years? >> how do you like it? >> it feels wonderful. yes, it feels wonderful. >> reporter: we were there for his first day of freedom earlier this year. what's it like now to be able to walk where you want to walk, when you want to walk? >> oh, it's -- it's unbelievable. i mean, i really have to catch

myself. >> reporter: 53 other inmates in hinton's prison was executed while he was on death row. >> my darkest memory would be to see so many people that i got to know be executed. >> reporter: today he's thankful to be alive and finally free. a feeling richard glossip is hoping for tonight but the vantrease family maintains glossip should get the death penalty, releasing this statement to the tulsa world newspaper earlier this month. execution of richard glossip will not bring barry back or lessen the empty hole left in the lives of those who loved barry. what it does provide is a sense that justice has been served. >> put put yourselves in the sh of the victim's family, his wife, his five children. i wonder what they're going through tonight. you ever heard the phrase there ain't no justice? i wonder if that's what they're thinking tonight. >> reporter: sister helen sees

justice differently. >> i've seen their eyes when they come out of the execution chamber and they're going to go home and the chair is still going to be just as empty as it was before they saw the execution. >> you've been on this road a number of times. what do you say to a dead man walking? >> that i'm fighting in every way i can to resist this death. his death is wrong. i believe it's wrong for the government to be in a position of killing even the guilty people, much less the innocent. next, what's the difference between a firefighter and a smokejumper? meet the team parachuting right into the eye of the storm or fire, as it were. and our amy robach and how a devastating diagnosis led to a devastating diagnosis led to a better life. ...but i think women would agree... ...huddling with their man after the game is nice too the thing is, about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed

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as wildfires raged across california this summer most people fled the scene. the guys you're about to meet jump right in. tonight abc gets aing loo inside their high risk, high stakes world, finding out an elite team of smokejumpers gets ready for action in a moment of notice and why they put their own lives at risk to do it. >> we go in there, usually unnoticed. sight unseen. most of the fires that we go to are the fires that you'll never hear about. they're the fires that we're going to catch. >> reporter: in the midst of one of the worst fire seasons in decades, we got a rare look

inside an elite team of firefighters called smokejumpers. their job, parachuting into the most remote areas to stamp out blazes all over california. of the 450 smokejumpers in the u.s., 40 are stationed here in redding, california, just about four hours north of san francisco. >> sometimes you look out the door and you think, this is truly nuts. i can't believe i'm doing this right now. and then you just get -- you're the next one up. the spotter calls you to the door. there's no backing out. >> your heart starts to beat pretty fast. a lot of times you have a chance to take a deep beth, whireath, really helping. look at the horizon. you're waiting for the slap on the back. >> reporter: two weeks ago i was on the front lines. this fire burning with apocalyptic fury. flames as high as skyscrapers, hop scotching the canopies, raging flames. entire families packed into cars

in flight, navigating this hellish landscape, cindera swirling in the area. more than 6,000 wildfires in this state alone. with thousands of homes burned and at least six dead, the summer has been one of the most destructive and dangerous in decades. for this crew of firefighters from riverside county, california, exhaustion was one of its greatest perils. >> you guys pretty tired? >> we're getting there. all of our resources have been going at it for a month, month and a half. >> reporter: like others out here selective about what they could save. this fire near napa valley was one of the fastest spreading and most destructive in california history. a 70,000 plus acre monster. it's burning trees like these that make it so hard for firefighters. they fall right across the road impeding their ability to fight fires like that one. time-lapse videos capture the panicked exodus. watch as this driver struggles

to find his way out. fire everywhere he turns. >> scariest thing i've ever been through in my life. we've lost all of our homes. and some pets. we're just devastated. >> reporter: but before they become monsters, these fires are born and spread from very remote areas. catching them in their infancy is the job of the smokejumpers. >> you hit the ground, take off all your gear. then we carry it's called our pg bag, our hard hat and food and water. then they cargo drops, so the plane flies over and drops out our tools and sleeping bags and more food and more water. and we collect all that. and then we go to fighting fire. i'm scared a lot of the time in this job. i think there's some word that means finding pleasure in pain, and i'm pretty sure we all have that characteristic. >> reporter: to put out fire, you need ice in your veins. but that doesn't douse the fear. >> i know more what could happen

now because i have seen a lot of things happen, whereas when you're a brand new smokejumper you don't even noah the realm of possibility is. you just go with it. >> there's lots of close calls. >> reporter: while deaths are rare it was just two years ago when the california smokejumpers lost their brother, 28-year-old luke sheehy. >> luke was killed by a limb falling out of a tree. i was looking at that fire and constantly looking up at the trees. man, am i too spooked? you kind of absorb it, i guess, as a family and you carry it with you as you move forward. luke is just kind of a part of who we are now. >> reporter: once limited to the hot and dry autumn in the west, fire season is now a nearly year long slouth. taxing the smokejumpers and those they leave back home. they know this all too well. >> you can't even count on them being home, especially during the summer. the kids probably took some steps before he even knew it or said certain words or did certain things, you know, you

miss -- you do miss a lot. it's sad. >> i would love to be home more with my kids, but this is the occupation that i have and it's how i make my living. and i love it. >> no news is good news but it would be -- you just miss hearing their voice. >> reporter: chances are soon they will be heading to southern california where conditions are prime for more fires of historic proportion. experts predict this fall santa ana winds combined with the brutal drought will likely keep the smokejumpers in the guts of those fires for several months to come. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman in los angeles. >> you can watch our full abc news digital feature on these amazing smokejumpers on abcnews.com. next, con kouring cancer. our own amy robach celebrates "better"

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finally tonight, "good morning america" coanchor amy robach opened up about her private struggle thanks to an on air medical procedure that changed her life. she shares her story in her triumph new memoir "better." >> my journey began this day, september 25th, 2013. i received what would be a life-changing phone call. i asked her if he would do a live mammogram for breast cancer awareness month. she was not interested at all. >> it's true. my reaction was visceral, no way, no how. >> she called me and said they want me to do a mammogram live on tv. i said, i don't think that's a

good idea. it seems exploitive. you have no connection to cancer. >> the truth is i feared it would look like i was trying to grab the limelight until my dear friend, robyn roberts said what i needed to hear, 80% of women who have breast cancer have no family history. that statistic sent a wave from my head to my toes. so i said yes. >> same my is wrapping up her first mammogram here in the mammo van. >> just a few days later, another call. doctors wanted to do more tests. >> i had a gut feeling that it was not going to turn out well. >> it was october 30th, 2013, after many painful tests, they needed a sonogram. the image was undeniable. >> i will remember that phone call for the rest of my life. i knew it was bad news. and then she said they found a tumor and it's malignant. >> there was no escaping my new unreality. i had cancer. but breaking that news to your children is something no mother wants to go through. >> all i remember is lily, she's like, guys, get comfortable. we all sat on the couch and then she told us and we all just started bawling. >> i know how much those girls mean to her. they are her life. but i also see they're just as strong as she is. >> what i thought about this disease threatening the wonderful life i had built with my family it made me mad, it made me want to fight back. >> i have decided to have a bilateral mastectomy. i'm going to be very aggressive. i'm 40 years old. i'm young and hopefully have a lot of life ahead of me. on november 14th, it was time. >> i remember feeling just the fragility of where we were and how quickly we had gotten there. >> as the nurses held me up on to the operating table, i became paralyzed with fear. i woke up to yet another crushing blow. the cancer had spread to my

sentinel limph node and chemotherapy, eight rounds in six months. as i was transforming on the outside and the inside, a constant fear of death wouldn't leave me. >> i can't imagine this world without her in it because, for me, she's -- she is strength. amy is like this deep-rooted tree that's not going anywhere. so a part of me can't imagine life ever take that. >> april 24th marked my final day of chemo. this is my -- the next five to ten years are critical. there's a 16% chance of cancer occurrence for me. now i try to bring the focus back to the beauty of life rather than the fear of death. >> i hope i have that strength in me when i blow up. >> today my mission is simple. to raise awareness for early detection. if my story helps save lives, helps women feel not so alone, then i've won. we've