from high-altitude parachute jumps, to rescues, meet the real-life active duty navy s.e.a.l.s on their strangest mission yet. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline." february 17th, 2012. good evening. i'm terry moran. and earlier today, a daughter said good-bye to her famous mother. bobbi kristina, the daughter of whitney houston. and cissy houston, the car's mother, paid their respects at a private wake in newark, new jersey. a crowd is gathering to say farewell to a talent the world will not soon forget. that talent carried whitney houston away from home young. but talent alone cannot count for the trail-blazing figure she became. here's abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: it's fitting that the last song whitney houston performed on stage just last thursday, would be "jesus loves me." after all, whitney houston was a product of the gospel tradition. her service tomorrow is being called a homegoing. and in this case, the term is as literal as it is figurative. it's a nod to the return to heaven, for the voice so often described as a gift from god. in her hometown of newark, new jersey, a celebration of her religious roots. the service will take place at the church where it all began. the new hope baptist church. ♪ >> reporter: in the sanctuary tomorrow, a choir of celebrated singers are expected to perform. including her godmother, aretha franklin. and icon, stevie wonder. gospel great, marvin winans, will give the eulogy. houston mentor, clive davis, is also slated to speak. among the invited guests, oprah winfrey, mariah carey, and alicia keys. they're all expected to be part of a celebration of a life of an extraordinary woman who touched so many lives. for me and many other women of color, she was a woman who broke barriers. and an inspiration. >> whitney really transcended race. you didn't really think of her as a black singer. you just thought of her as whitney. >> reporter: one mourner tomorrow was there when houston broke one of those barriers. two decades after starring opposite houston in "the bodyguard," kevin costner is again expected to play a leading role. >> have you ever liked anybody? >> reporter: it was costner who played a pivotal role to the big screen, in "the bodyguard." a role that boosted her wattage as a megastar. >> i knew whitney before she was in the movie. and i looked at her. this girl, she just really has it. >> reporter: in a 2002 interview with diane sawyer, she described just how fearful she was to do it. >> you said you were scared to death on "the bodyguard." >> scared to death. terribly frightened. kevin costner, i said why me? he said because you can sing. >> reporter: it was a megahit, making over $400 million. it not only featured that iconic love ballad -- ♪ i will always love you >> reporter: but there was that dizzying, 360-degree shot of this unforgettable kiss. a black woman and a white man. >> it was interesting that "the bodyguard" also came out the year of the rodney king riots, when tension between the races was very much in the news and very much a concern of everyone. then, there was "the bodyguard," where this interracial romance occurred. and really, no one discussed it. >> reporter: of course, there had been others. including the ground-breaking and first-ever interracial kiss on the big screen in the movie "guess who is coming to dinner." and there were subsequent kisses, to name a few. but those movies made interracial love their pivotal plot points. this film seemed to transcend race. >> two stars. it was not a white man and a black woman. and that speaks to the power of whitney houston. >> reporter: it was one more moment in a career of breaking barriers. in 1981, she was one of the first black models to grace the cover of "seventeen" magazine. and her mentor, clive davis, molded her into a crossover sensation. she holds the most consecutive number one singles. seven in a row from 1985, through 1988, including "saving all my love for you," and "so emotion." ♪ i get so emotional, baby >> reporter: in 1995, she took the movie "waiting to exhale," to number one at the box office. it grossed more than $67 million. still, a record for a black film featuring an all-black female cast. >> she really succeeded in breaking down barriers. and that's what's most important. >> reporter: and while race continues to tear at this nation, her accomplishments might suggest the line between the races has, in part, been bridged by houston. whether it was her unmatched rendition of the national anthem. ♪ for the land of the free >> reporter: or this searing and soaring single note, that this week, seems to define a lifetime. ♪ and i >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm linsey davis, in new york. ♪ will always love you >> a true trail blazer. thanks to linsey for that. just ahead, we have exclusive interview with a man made famous from a video with a nasty run-in with his mother-in-law. brad needs car insurance, but, uh, brad doesn't want to spend too much. who's brad? 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[ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city, with terry moran. well, maybe you've seen this in some of the most hair-raising video ever recorded. the man in a confrontation with his mother-in-law. that suddenly turns into a scene out of "gunsmoke." criminal charges have been inc. but the alleged victim has never given an interview as to what really happened that day until now. here's abc's matt gutman. >> when i get there, i have my normal routine. >> reporter: it was supposed to be routine. sal miglino, waiting to pick up his 3-year-old son, outside his mother-in-law's house. but instead, you can see and hear a bitter custody battle turning bloody. the chilling sound of a man being shot at pointblank range. all caught on sal miglino's iphone, still in his hip hollister. three shots from a .22 baretta. three bullets, ripping into the 32-year-old's chest and shoulder. >> i can't believe you did that. >> reporter: neither could sheriff's deputies in broward county, who days later, they finally sorted out who the shooter was. this woman, 67-year-old cheryl hepner, the potty-mouth grandmother of miglino's 3-year-old son. >> you shot me. >> reporter: you had no idea that cheryl hepner was going to come out. >> i don't talk to her. there's no reason to talk to her. i didn't know why she was stepping out. i didn't know why. i thought she was going to keep yelling at me. >> reporter: which is why he hit the record button in the first place. he tells "nightline" in an exclusive interview, heppner was holding miglino's bag and pillow. from behind it, she pulled a gun. >> she shoots, my reaction, as i came around. grabbed the gun. >> reporter: wow. >> grabbed this way. pushed her all the way back to the grass and was on top of her. and i was trying to take the gun away from her. >> reporter: miglino says he swats the gun away, grabs it and bolts. you can hear him wheezing, as he races back to his car. >> what's your emergency? >> she shot me. >> reporter: but heppner wasn't through yet. >> what's your emergency? >> someone just shot at me. >> reporter: police say lying, bold-face to a 911 dispatcher. >> did he pull the gun on you? or you pulled it out on him? >> reporter: and then, some of the truth. >> i don't know. he and my daughter are in the middle of a horrible divorce. >> reporter: all the while, in his 911 call, miglino keeps repeating that he caught it all on tape. >> i recorded it. i knew something stupid was going to happen. we're going through a divorce. trying to settle. >> reporter: miglino's ex, vicki, who still has custody of their son, had taken him out for pizza. both for unharmed. but police charged her mother of first-degree murder. her attorney tells us, clearly, ms. hepner is distraught over this incident. and the circumstances leading up to it. hep ne er's family has disintegrated since the shooting. her husband died of cancer in january. her brother, who gave her the gun, is now being sued by miglino. and her daughter, vicki? what about vicki, your ex? do you think she's involved somehow? >> we made that allegation in the lawsuit we filed against her. >> reporter: to think that the ex-wife, the mother of your son, was somehow in a plot to kill you. >> it's hard to explain. i only wanted to be with my son. that's the only thing i want to do. that just puts it in a whole other thinking mode, in my mind. i can't believe that someone would do that because it's -- you know, what i've been going through, the divorce, that wasn't in my mind. let me get rid of the ex-wife. >> reporter: police say the case isn't closed yet. they're investigating a pair of text messages between vicki and her mother the morning of the shooting. miglino has only seen the viral video three times before i showed it to him. >> i can't believe it happened, in my mind. i can't believe that, you know, i got a second chance at life, to be honest with you. i got a second chance, to be with my boy. >> it's okay. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm matt gutman, in miami. >> a harrowing experience. thanks to matt for that. next up, the navy s.e.a.l.s team that can do and has done it all. but now, are they facing their biggest challenge yet? 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[ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. they're the real-life action heroes that took out osama bin laden. and a lot of what the navy s.e.a.l.s do seems like it's out of a movie. well, now there is a movie, of actual s.e.a.l.s, in real training for future missions. and you just couldn't make some of this up. here's abc's martha raddatz. >> reporter: what you're watching here, a yacht on a seemingly tranquil sea, some covert surveillance. then, a surprise assault on the boat by men in uniform -- >> get down. get down. >> reporter: action that could be ripped from recent headlines. but it's a hollywood movie. with a twits. those men in uniform are real navy s.e.a.l.s. lieutenant commander rorke denver has been a s.e.a.l. for 13 years. >> very strange to go from real-world missions where the consequences are as high as anything they could be in the world, to one where you could walk away from it. >> reporter: his real-life experience with his fellow s.e.a.l.s, gives the rest of us a firsthand look at how these commandos operate. >> there would be a training activity, that we're doing with the navy aircraft vessels and so on. >> reporter: s.e.a.l.s get their name from sea, air, land. and we see them do it all. from the high-altitude parachute jumps. to the silent and deadly assault from the sea, depicted in the movie. to the take-no-prisoners attack on land. the movie, "act of valor," is a fictional story. but as close to the truth as you can come. these high-impact scenes are all based on real-life missions. >> these men are such a complexity of character, that it would be really hard for an actor to authentically portray them. it would be better to see if we could just get the real guys to do it. >> reporter: for two years, filmmaker scott waugh, and mouse mccoy, worked around field deployments in order to get the real guys in the movie. >> you're going to see some things in this film and say, no way that guy went through that. but it actually happened. we didn't create any fantasy elements there. >> reporter: that was the deal-breaker for the s.e.a.l.s. if they were going to star in a hollywood movie, they were in control over scenes that they thought had good evening too hollywood. >> in a mission, it's calm and collected. in "act of valor," you see calm and tempered communication. and that's the way it really happens. >> all clear. >> you look at the scene and they say, i would never do this. i would do it like this. and i would say, that's better than what we thought of. >> reporter: for an extra shot of danger and adrenaline, the s.e.a.l.s wanted and got live ammunition. not blanks. for lieutenant commander rorke and his fellow s.e.a.l.s, they didn't need rehearsing. >> we call in and talk to each other on missions when bullets are flying. it wasn't new for us in that part. and that made it a lot of fun. >> reporter: fun has a different definition for the s.e.a.l.s than for mere mortals. s.e.a.l.s say they're having fun running for miles in wet sand. carrying logs into the ocean and back. being sleep-deprived for days. all part of the rigorous training that prepares them for those jaw-dropping missions. >> there were 21 originals who are left from that 220. >> reporter: eric greitens loved being a s.e.a.l. he's written a book about his s.e.a.l. experiences. and relishes relating the agony he went through. >> one of the toughest pieces underwater is an exercise called drunk. you jump into the pool. and with your feet and hands tied behind your back, you have to swim 50 meters. >> reporter: what's the secret to success there? >> the secret to success is calm. everyone's afraid as you go through training. you're afraid when you have to land small, rubber boats on jagged rocks in the middle of the night. but the key is to be able to control your fear and focus on what you have to do in order to be successful in that moment. >> reporter: some do worry the movie may reveal too many secrets of a community where surprise is key. >> it's absolutely critical that certain things remain secret. that's essential to the safety of the s.e.a.l.s themselves. and essential to our ability to continue to conduct operations in the future. >> reporter: so, while the movie does offer a glimpse into the lives of these dedicated warriors, we'll just have to imagine how the next real-life raid will go down. for "nightline," i'm martha raddatz, in washington. >> man. those guys are studs. the movie "act of valor" opens