this is "nightline." >> tonight, breaking news. panic and death at an ariana grande concert. at least 19 dead, 50 injured, following an explosion just moments after the singer stepped offstage in northern england. frenzied concertgoers fleeing the stadium. the stories from inside the chaos. >> there was a lot of screaming and a lot of parents trying to sort their families together. >> now the investigation across europe. police treating this as a terrorist incident. reportedly exploring the possibility of a suicide bomber. are there additional threats to other cities tonight? and who could be responsible for this attack? "nightline" will be right back.

good evening. thank you for joining us. breaking news out of manchester, england tonight. a deadly blast outside of an ariana grande concert, killing at least 19, injuring at least 50. police treating this as a terrorist incident. the leading theory? a suicide bomber. we turn now to abc's chief foreign correspondent terry moran in london. terry? >> reporter: byron, it was right at the end of the ariana grande concert tonight in a stadium filled with her fans including

so many teens and young girls and their moms. that's her fan base. when this huge explosion rocked not just the arena but the whole surrounding neighborhood. felt blocks away. arena officials saying that the explosion happened just outside the venue as people were coming and going. eyewitnesses saw many dead and injured on the ground. inside the lights went up, panic set in. people headed for the exits. they helped the wounded. they helped each other get out as law enforcement swarmed the scene and set up a perimeter. anguished parents took to social media looking for their loved ones. tonight manchester police are investigating this as a major terrorist incident and the city is on edge. byron? >> terry moran, thank you. tonight, eyewitnesses describing a scene of panic. a night that was supposed to be about music and fun. >> reporter: that's the sound of the explosion that rocked manchester erng manchester, england tonight. [ explosion ]

>> oh, my god. what just happened? what's going on? [ screaming ] oh, my god! >> reporter: an unidentified blast outside the manchester arena. bringing bloodshed to an ariana grande concert. 19 confirmed dead and around 50 injured. many still missing. >> we heard this bang. >> a big flash and then a rush of air. and just thought what the hell is that? >> and all i could hear was screaming. people crying. everyone was just running everywhere. it was complete madness. >> take your time and keep exiting the building. >> reporter: and tonight the city is shaken. authorities are treating the event as "a terrorist incident." a u.s. law enforcement official telling abc news the leading theory, a suicide bomber. >> we are currently treating this as a terrorist incident until we have further information. >> reporter: the mayor of

manchester saying this is a terrible night for our great city. and british prime minister theresa may calling this "an appalling terrorist attack." >> there was a lot of screaming and a lot of parents trying to sort their families together. >> there's a lot of children there without parents. there was no one to calm them down. so everyone was just screaming and crying and pushing. >> it's shocking what happened. just carnage everywhere. >> the ground shook. it was like bang, bang. >> reporter: panicked concertgoers sprinting to the exits after the boom. [ screaming ] authorities rushing to the scene. the cause of the explosion still remains unknown. an investigation is under way. >> we are working closely with national counterterrorism policing network and uk intelligence partners. this is clearly a very concerning time for everyone. >> reporter: the concert began at 7:5:00 p.7:35p.m. local time. part of the pop singer's

dangerous woman arena tour. the crowded arena, one of the largest in europe with over 20,000 seats, was packed near capacity according to witnesses. ivo delgado rivero was in attendance. >> everything was going perfectly. and then the concert ends abruptly and then the lights came up and everyone started to go to the exits. >> reporter: at around 10:33 p.m. after the concert had ended fans in the arena surrounded by pink balloons heard a loud noise. >> ariana grande had left. the lights had come up. everyone was just getting out of their seats and walking toward the stairs when awful a sudden this huge sound which sounded like an explosion went off. >> as i was waiting, an explosion went off and it threw me through the first set of doors, about 30 feet to the next set of doors. when i got up from the ground there was about 30 people scattered everywhere. some of them looked dead. >> then we hear a loud bang and everybody started running to the opposite direction. we opened the door going on the main corridor.

it was full of smoke. so we were trying not to push. and everyone was trying really to protect the kids. >> reporter: that police dash cam video capturing a faint flicker of light and a loud noise. >> you must take your time and keep exiting the building. there's no need to run. take your time. >> reporter: the p.a. announcer trying to prevent a stampede. reassuring the crowd to keep calm. many in attendance children and teens. the chaos spilling into the streets of manchester, just over 160 miles from london. family and friends taking to twitter posting dozens of photos, searching for missing loved ones. shawn campbell says her 15-year-old daughter olivia hasn't been heard from in hours. >> i don't know if she's going to walk back through the door or not. i feel sick to the bottom of my stomach. i love her so much, and i just want her home. >> reporter: local hotels reportedly taking in children separated from their chaperones.

several hours later police alerting those nearby of a potential secondary item and to stay clear as it was destroyed in a controlled explosion. >> let me just tell you where we are. as we were saying before -- [ explosion ] >> reporter: authorities later confirming it was abandoned clothing, not a suspicious item. tonight just the latest incident to shake europe. manchester adding to the growing list of cities threatened by terrorism. the united kingdom has been on high alert since last march, after the attack in london near the house of parliament. 52-year-old khalid massoud drove a car into pedestrians on a bridge before exiting and fatally stabbing a policeman. four people were killed. representatives for grande confirmed tonight that the singer was unharmed. tonight she tweeted, "from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words." the support online reaching around the globe. the message, "pray for manchester." the investigation continues. emergency services still working the scene as day breaks on this somber city. and for more we now turn to

former new york city police commissioner ray kelly and former national security official richard clark. gentlemen, we've had these conversations too many times before. where do you think law enforcement was focusing their attention at this hour? >> oh, there's a lot of things they're focusing on. obviously a suicide bomber. the bod yit of the bomber is going to give them an awful lot of information. a lost forensic work will be done, trying to collect information to see any signature on the bomb. cameras. cameras are ubiquitous these days. they'll be looking at cameras. any informants that they have that might be able to give them real-time information. any ongoing investigations that may or may not have evolved. this individual or someone close to him. >> are there any fingerprints of who this might lead to do you think? >> once they know who it was, they will check the cell phone, mobile phone records. they'll check the internet records. and they'll do a web. they'll go out to say who was

his friend? who was he talking to? who was he talking to? the third and fourth level. and they'll try to find out is there an ongoing threat, is there an ongoing network that could do it again. >> a public place. another soft target. but this seems different. this involved a concert where there were young girls. they were with their moms. young families, teenage girls. this seems different to me. >> maybe. or it just might have been the venue that's in this city. it's a big 21,000 capacity stadium. so it just might have been a target of opportunity. but that will come out hopefully in the investigation as to why this target was picked. >> and what we saw here was you can take a venue and you can lock it down. you can pat everyone down. you can make everyone go through magnetometers. but just outside that perimeter there are going to be lots of peop

people. and those people are a target. >> does this point to isis, do you think? it is early on. >> you have investigative premises. and this is obviously something put into the equation. but you don't want to rule anything in or out at this juncture. >> but this is the kind of thing that isis teaches. go for the soft target. go for just outside the perimeter. go for the individual. the individual who's activated and told online how to build a bomb. >> richard clarke, ray kelly, gentlemen, thank you so much. we'll be right back with more "nightline." proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can take on psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis.

humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira. what's your body of proof? beneful grain free is so healthy... oh! farm-raised chicken! that's good chicken. hm!? here come the accents. blueberries and pumpkin. wow. and spinach! that was my favorite bite so far. (avo) new beneful grain free. out with the grain, in with the farm-raised chicken. healthful. flavorful. beneful. i've gotta hit the loo. we can't stay here! why? terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean! way ahead of you, big daddy. aww.

(avo) charmin ultra strong. it's washcloth-like texture helps clean better. it's four times stronger and you can use less. beautiful view. thanks to charmin. and you, honeybear. awwwww. (avo) we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin? ayou don't have to choose just one thing. choose your trio with any 3 of 9 selections for $15.99. like new creamy lobster pasta toasted parmesan shrimp and southern-style crab cakes. come create your trio before it ends.

♪"my friends know me so well. they can tell what i'm thinking, just by looking in my eyes. but what they didn't know was that i had dry, itchy eyes. i used artificial tears from the moment i woke up... ...to the moment i went to bed. so i finally decided to show my eyes some love,... ...some eyelove. eyelove means having a chat with your eye doctor about your dry eyes because if you're using artificial tears often and still have symptoms, it could be chronic dry eye. it's all about eyelove, my friends. we built our 100% fiber optic network because we knew that in the future everybody would need fast, powerful internet and lots of it. and now we're introducing the fios gigabit connection with

download speeds up to 940 megs that are 20x faster and more powerful than most people have. you want to run 100 devices? go ahead. and the really incredible part, it's $79.99 a month for one year, and you'll also get tv, hbo and multi-room dvr service. comcast only offers 200mg speeds with their $89.99 triple play. switch to the most powerful internet at the most revolutionary price. get fios gigabit connection for $79.99 a month and we'll give you tv, hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for 2 years all with a 2 year agreement. so act fast. go to fiosgigabit.com ♪

if you had the time of your life watching the orange the "dirty dancing" you'll flip turn and leap for this news. a reimagined version is coming to television. here's abc's abby boudreau. ♪ i had the time of my life >> reporter: it's the iconic music. and those unforgettable lines. >> nobody puts baby in the corner. >> reporter: made the world fall in love with "dirty dancing." now 30 years later baby and johnny are back. >> what's your name? >> baby. >> reporter: but he's not patrick swayze. and she's not jennifer gray. >> i think for most people who i at least talked to about it who are skeptical, one being one of my best friends, celine -- >> friends are like openly skeptical. >> she was like if you mess this up i will kill you. i was like, oh. >> you played baby. it's an iconic role. were you at all intimidated by that? >> yeah. to say the least.

>> nobody puts baby in a corner. come on. >> reporter: abigail breslin is baby and colt prattis is johnny, leading the star-studded cast of abc's remake of the 1987 classic. >> my mom was a huge fan of the original. it's like her favorite movie. she used to say like, if only you could play baby one day. when i got the call i called my mom and she was just like crying. >> reporter: a new generation of fans about to experience the timeless tale all over again. >> they don't know who jennifer gray and patrick swayze are because they're young, they're babies, they're not running around watching classic movies yet. >> reporter: the remake staying true to the original storyline. set in the 1960s. about a young woman, baby, a feminist, finding summer love for the first time with her bad boy dance instructor, johnny castle, played by the late patrick swayze. a role that turned him into a sex symbol and one he told barbara walters he almost turned

down. >> so why did you do it? >> i felt something for johnny. a guy from the streets. >> johnny castle, yeah. >> yeah. a guy from the streets that is fighting to like himself, to believe in himself. to believe he could be something more than what society will allow him to or what mommy and daddy taught him he could be. >> reporter: but it was the chemistry between swayze and co-star jennifer gray that even they couldn't deny. >> we had our screen test on the same day, and we did it and it felt right. you know, you could tell. like two minutes into the screen test. that it was going to work. >> reporter: and it worked so well. that even 30 years later baby and johnny's love story lives on. >> i want to talk about baby as a feminist. is that part of the reason maybe that you were interested in this character? >> even though she really is infatuated with johnny and you know, clearly has a crush in the beginning or you know, that soon

develops into love, she shuts him down when he is getting out of line. and i think that that's important just because you like somebody doesn't mean you let them treat you badly. >> do you think those storylines still ring true to younger people today? >> you have to tackle social issues. abortion. you've got race relations. you've got women's rights. how far we've come but how far we still have to go. >> reporter: but one major difference. unlike jennifer grey, who acted like she didn't know a thing about dance -- >> i'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa. >> reporter: abigail, who showcased her offbeat dance moves in "little miss sunshine" -- ♪ you don't take home to mother ♪ -- was not acting. >> i'm not a dancer. i'm not graceful. i can't even walk in a straight line. >> wow. she's so poised. like nobody's ever said that about me. >> did you ever consider not taking the role because of the

fact you weren't a good dancer? >> yes. >> reporter: luckily for the "scream queens" star her on-screen love interest colt pratt sis a real dancer in real life. known for this sensual music video alongside pink for her hit song "try." >> you're coming in and having to fill some serious shoes here. >> absolutely. it was everything. because i grew up watching this. so when i found out that he had been a dancer before, i was like, wait a second. i can do this? like this is a real thing? i can be a dancer? and like then i can also act? it just -- it changed everything. >> reporter: and that iconic lift. ♪ i had the time of my life now it's up to abigail and colt to pull up. >> now it's time to learn the lift. >> what lift? >> reporter: it took months of training. >> i would literally -- i would lay on the ground and put my arms up and she's put her hips here. >> you were lifting me off of

the floor. you would think i was bungee jumping out of an airplane -- >> guys. guys. you can't fall anywhere. you're right here. >> did you ever hear from jennifer grey? >> i actually met her a couple months later. she was like, hey, baby. and i was like. >> heart stop. >> real baby. >> reporter: in the dance studio with colt -- i mean johnny. >> this is your space. you've got to hold this strong. >> hold the frame. >> hold your frame. look at you. >> i channel my inner baby. but of course steer clear of the lift. >> so were you happy with the way it came out? >> yeah. we had such a fun time making it. and i think there are so many dark things that go on in the world. so i think that for three hours to be able to watch something where you can just have fun and see dancing, i think that's kind of necessary sometimes. to just have something that makes you feel good. >> for "nightline" i'm abby boudreau in los angeles.

>> "dirty dancing" premieres wednesday night at 8:00 right here on abc. and next, students at the u.s. naval academy completing the traditional rite of passage. ♪ if you've got a life, you gotta swiffer whimper yap yap yap yip is your dog trying to tell you something? allergic itch in dogs is a medical condition that's more common and treatable than you think.

that's why there's prescription apoquel: the revolutionary medicine that's giving millions of dogs the relief they deserve. apoquel goes to the source of the itch to provide relief in as little as 4 hours. woof and apoquel is safe without many of the side effects associated with the use of steroids. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis and the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. do not use apoquel in dogs less than 12 months old or those with serious infections. apoquel may increase the chance of developing serious infections and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to worsen. do not use in breeding, pregnant, or lactating dogs. most common side effects are vomiting and diarrhea. don't wait. ask your veterinarian about apoquel today. apoquel. it's itch relief worth barking about. bark

finally tonight, the outgoing freshman at the u.s. naval academy are officially plebes no more. >> damn the torpedoes. full speed ahead! >> reporter: it's a time-honored tradition at the naval academy. freshman plebes trying to scale the monument to remove a plebe known as a dixie cup and replace it with the hat of a mid-shipman. it represents the class transition from plebes to mid-shipmen and symbolically ends their first year at academy. the catch, the 23-foot obelisk is greased with lard. upper classmen are standing by with hoses. the pyramid bringing to mind the zombies in "world war z." this year's attempt was live-streamed. thousands tuning in to the

riveting spectacle of teamwork, tum sxblz ultimately triumph. the fastest recorded time was the class of 1972 who clocked in at 1:30. but back then the monument was not greased. the slowest was the class of 1998, who took just over four hours to complete. as for the class of 2020 -- >> punsh, push. >> the challenge lasted two hours 21 minutes and 21 seconds. a valiant effort for these unrelenting underclassmen. >> good for them. as they say in the navy, not for self but country. thank you for watching abc news. tune in to "gma" tomorrow for much more on the events in manchester. and as always, we're online at abcnews.com and the "nightline" facebook page. thanks for the company, america. good night.