james longman takes us there in a moment.win the lawsuit, but everybody knows i wrote that song. flo? gosh, it's been forever. you look fantastic. it's jon. hamm, from the blind date we went on years ago. ah, the struggling actor who didn't believe he could save with snapshot based on how and how much he drives. i'd love to talk about it over dinner sometime. well, i usually don't talk on the phone during dinner, but for potential customer tom hamm, i will make an exception. oh, boy. [school bells] when pain says, “i'm here,” i say, “so are they.” ♪♪ aleve - who do you take it for? [acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] aleve [acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives me better breathing and helps prevent flare-ups. before breztri, i was stuck in the past. i still had bad days, [coughing] flare-ups, which kept me from doing what i love. my doctor said for my copd, it was time for br

here's abc's james longman. >> reporter: before reality television, before social media, she defined meant to be a modern celebrity. [ cheers and applause ] >> can you describe what people call "the diana phenomenon"? >> when she walked into a room, she lit the place up more than any other royal i've ever experienced. >> reporter: at just 20 years old, she married the future king in what many called the wedding of the century. it was a global television event. one-sixth of the world watched live. [ cheers ] diana dazzled the world as the new royal princess. but it was her human, common touch that set her apart. >> well, we'd had royal walkabouts before. the queen was pretty good at doing them. >> in new zealand, she mingled with her subjects. >> when she does a walkabout, it's sort of staying back from the crowd. she won't go right up to the barrier and reach in. she'll stand back and extend her arm out and take some flowers. it would be very, "i'm here and you're there." with diana, it was completely different. if there was a small child with some flowers, diana would go down low to

>> james longman, our thanks to you tonight. >>> next here, a u.s. airman is now charged in a recent insider attack on an american base in eastern syria. the tech sergeant, seen here during explosives disposal training, accused of injuring four service members during an explosion in april. the pentagon believes explosive devices were placed on the base. he's being held in confinement. no word on a possible motive. >>> to the emotional scene in parkland, florida. today, the jury in the death penalty phase in the nikolas cruz trial walking the hallways of marjory stoneman dough last high school, retracing the steps cruz took when he killed 17 children and adults in 2018. the building remains a crime scene now. it's been closed since the shooting. it will be demolished at a later date. prosecutors are resting their case. >>> when we come back here, details just coming in on a fiery crash outside l.a. at least five people dead, several others hurt. with wayfai. sometimes i'm a homebody. can never have too many pillows. sometimes i'm all business. wooo! i

here's abc's james longman. >> reporter: tonight, the u.s. military in an escalating battle with iranian-backed terror groups in syria. the pentagon deploying more firepower against militia in the northeast of the country. just 48 hours after these precision strikes targeting facilities used by the iran-backed fighters. they have been targeting u.s. installations and personnel in the region. >> as a general matter, we're not going to hesitate to defend ourselves. >> reporter: the pentagon says the new counterstrikes killed four militia members, destroying seven enemy rocket launchers and three vehicles. the u.s. deploying apache helicopters, ac-130 gunships, and m-777 howitzers. several u.s. troops suffered some injuries from the incoming militant fire, but they've been described as "very minor." we saw for ourselves the small but significant u.s. presence in the deir el zour region of syria. there there to keep isis from re-emerging and maintain security along the iraqi border. iran has denied responsibility, but tonight, a u.s. official has

our foreign correspondent james longman is at the extraordinary site of one of them in spain. good morning. michael. this is the dolmen of guadalperal, the spanish stonehenge. it is something like 5,000 to 7,000 years old. it's absolutely extraordinary, but we shouldn't be seeing it. it should be underwater. this entire area should have a much higher water level and that is because there's a massive drought in europe at the moment, the worst in 500 years, but it has meant some extraordinary discoveries. monuments from the past warning us about our future. the lmntonolit ste datisome years before christ. made up of 150 granite stones famous stonehenge, there are all kinds of theories on what this mysterious place was for. [speaking non-english] >> oh, it's a human. this is the main stone at the front of the tomb and it's anthropomorphic so it's supposed to be in if form of a human and on the front is a serpent and that is thought it was on all kinds of tombs in the prehistoric era and it was for protection. it's possible it was used as a solar temple or as a burial ground by pr

foreign correspondent james longman has the story. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, george. it was a noticeably heavier security presence around brittney griner when she appeared in that moscow court this morning. the basketball star is being held on charges of drug smuggling after cannabis oil was found in her luggage in february. physical evidence was shown in court today. a green/yellow vape cartridge and two tubes of some kind of brown liquid substance. the defense called a technician from the lab where the cartridges were tested. griner's team is trying to poke holes in the argument for how that hashish oil was tested. they called into question both the methods used to test it and the competency of the state's employee who carried those tests out. griner was in the prison cage. we've seen her in it before in the courtroom and held up once again -- she does this every time she appears -- photographs of her loved ones for the cameras to see. george? >> what kind of prison time could she face? >> reporter: well, ten years is the pos

foreign correspondent james longman has more. james, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit.s rodman said he's been given permission to go to russia to help secure the release of basketball star brittney griner, and it is not clear who has given him this permission. it's not the white house. they're actively discouraging this trip. in a statement senior administration official has told abc news, it's public information that the administration has made a significant offer to the russians, other than negotiation is likely to complicate and hinder release efforts. the state department has a warning on russia, not to go there. it is at level four. dennis rodman has been to north korea before to speak to kim jong-un. he says he knows vladimir putin. he's been to russia and knows the leader. brittney griner has been in jail for six months, found guilty on those drugs charges. faces nine years in jail, whit. >> that's the sentence. where do things stand now on the efforts to bring her home? >> reporter: well the united states has offered to exchange a convicted arms dealer viktor bo

james longman joins us now with those details. she's paid them all already. if the two sides can't agree, this goes to trial. ♪ whenever forever ♪ this morning, global pop superstar shakira is facing an eight-year prison sentence if convicted for failing to pay taxes in spain. ♪ i'm on tonight ♪ ♪ you know my hips don't lie ♪ >> reporter: the "hips don't lie" singer has been accused by spanish prosecutors for tax fraud, failing to pay the spanish government $14.8 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014, asking for an additional $24.5 million in interest. a rep for shakira firing back, saying, the singer has always cooperated and abided by the law. saying the spanish tax office continues to violate her rights and pursue yet another baseless case. >> the spanish government has made no secret of going after celebrities for tax evasion. we've had lionel messi, cristiano ronaldo and now shakira, and often times the government wants to make an example of them. >> reporter: the pop star rejected a settlement deal and opted to go to trial

foreign correspondent james longman has the story. good morning, george. sanctions on russia have been piling up for months. the united states and its allies trying to find ways to force russia out of ukraine. but this latest round is getting personal. focusing on vladimir putin's alleged girlfriend. this morning, the u.s. is closing in on putin's inner circle now sanctioning his reported longtime girlfriend who is also believed to be the mother of some of his children. >> to putin it says essentially that now all bets are off. >> reporter: the u.s. freezing alina kabaeva's access to property saying the 39-year-old olympian has a close relationship to putin, something she's previously denied and is the current head of a pro-kremlin media empire. >> alina kabaeva is believed to be one of the people where he essentially stashed away his wealth, and so going for her essentially trickles down to the young children as well, any kind of assets that might be in their names, in her name. this is getting to the tentacles of putin's inner circle

james longman is in london with the details for us, good morning, james. >> reporter: good morning, >t series. it has to be said this has been a bit of a long time coming harry and meghan signed an $18 million deal with spotify two years ago. nevertheless, the first episode has a very special guest, serena williams. >> people should expect the real me in this and probably the me that they've never gotten to know, certainly not in the past few years. >> reporter: meghan markle looking to change perceptions as she launches her new podcast, "archetypes," part of a multimillion dollar deal with spotify. >> i'm just excited to be myself and talk and be unfiltered and, yeah, it's fun. >> reporter: the duchess left the uk of royal duties with prince harry in 2020, and revealed the pressures she says she felt to keep calm and carry on, during a scary close call. she spoke all about it to serena williams. >> i'm giving this speech to women and girls and we finish the engagement and get in the car and they say there's been a fire at the residence. what? there's been a fire in the baby's room. w

our foreign correspondent james longman is tracking the latest. morning, james. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, michael. hours after nancy pelosi left taiwan, china has for the first time launched massive military drills using live fire all around the island. chinese state media showed these pictures, they show beijing launching their missiles directly into waters east, northeast and southwest of the island. taiwanese military saying china launched 11 ballistic missiles in just a two-hour period. these are long-range weapons capable of traveling hundreds of miles. it's thought these military drills are likely to last three days. some flights are being canceled. commercial shipping had to be rerouted and we're hearing reports of cyberattacks inside taiwan as well. a chinese spokeswoman said they were in response to what she called collusion between the united states and taiwan. this is a self-governing democracy, but china claims it as part of its own and nancy pelosi is the most senior u.s. official to visit since the late 1990s. all this is conc

foreign correspondent james longman has the latest on this. good morning, james. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, cecilia. this really is like something out of a spy thriller. u.s. prosecutors are now charging an iranian man they say attempted to hire a hitman to kill john bolton. he was the national security adviser to donald trump. the justice department says shahram poursafi is a member of iran's islamic revolutionary guard and that he offered $300,000 in november 2021 to eliminate bolton. now, all this an attempt to avenge the death of quasem soleimani. he was killed by the u.s. in a drone strike in iraq in january, 2020. according to an fbi affidavit, poursafi is alleged to have approached a u.s. resident on social media asking him to take photos of bolton for a book he was said to be writing. he spoke to another u.s. resident via an encrypted messaging app and that person became an fbi informant. the fbi hacked their communications and found that poursafi had suggested an assassination by car as bolton often took walks in the park. iran h

our foreign correspondent james longman joins us with the latest. ning, james. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, michael. this is such a tragic story. a 20-year-old u.s. service member has been arrested in italy for driving under the influence and then killing a 15-year-old boy who was walking along a cycle path. the woman is understood to have been driving home from a night out and was four times over the legal limit when she lost control of the car. she was coming off a roundabout at 2:30 in the morning and she hit giovanni zanier as he was walking home with two of his friends. now, this woman has not been named, but it's understood she works at the u.s. aviano air base in northeastern italy. she's now under house arrest and has now been charged with vehicular homicide. police say the results of blood and alcohol drug tests are going to be made available soon to the public. an air force spokesperson has told abc news they are cooperating with this investigation fully. robin. >> full cooperation, james. all right, thank you. >>> now to those updated