this is "nightline." >> tonight, trump on the brink? >> they let you do it. >> the skating backlash to newly leaked reportings of donald trump making lewd comments about women. the presidential candidate characterizing the moment 11 years ago as locker room banter. tonight further damage control. >> i said it. i was wrong. and i apologize. plus, a ground-breaking arrest. the ceo of what authorities call the world's top online brothel. backpage.com. charged with multiple counts of pimping a minor. "nightline" confronting him months ago. >> underage girls are trafficked on backpage.com, your company -- >> a young woman who says she was sold for sex on the website at 15 years owes telling her story. >> how often did you work?

monster storm. hurricane matthew wreaking havoc up the east coast. destructive flooding and exploding power lines. mass evacuations and states of engine declared across several states. but first the "nightline 5." >> hey, guys, what's up? >> the new recipe of beneful is really excellent. the first ingredient is chicken. >> wow this chicken is spectacular. >> i had to start hiding the bag because he would try to put his face in it all day. you love it so much! i feel he again. it's protein, vegetables, grains. that sounds like a dinner i'd make for myself. >> it's a big bag, just have some of my opinion. >> beneful now with real chicken as the number one ingreed yent.

good evening. th thanks for joining us. donald trump's presidential campaign in turmoil, facing withering political fallout and harsh criticism from top gop brass. republicans calling his leaked vulgar recorded comments about women indefensible. and inexcusable. after dismissing it as locker room banter, late tonight a rare apology. but trump still defiant and vowing to fight on. here's abc's nick watt. >> reporter: late tonight, donald trump posted this apology on these words don't reflect who i am. i said it. i was wrong. and i apologize. >> reporter: here's why. >> down below, pull the handle. >> reporter: it's 2005. donald trump pays a visit to the set of "days of our lives." >> hello, how are you? you know billy bush? >> nice to see you. >> reporter: notice their audio is good, we hear everything. you see trump and billy bush

so let's roll the tape back and listen to what they said before getting out to meet actress ariana zucker. >> sheesh, your girl's hot as [ bleep ] in the purple. yes, yes, the donald is good! whoa my man. you've got to look at it. >> who sets this up? >> okay, you are a [ bleep ]. >> you've got to give the thumbs up. >> i've case i start kissing her. i'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- i just start kissing them like a magnet. i don't even wait. when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> yeah, those legs, all i can see is the legs. >> it looks good. >> come on shorty. >> nice legs, huh? >> reporter: shake hands, say

star? >> let's get ready. >> how about a little hug for the donald? >> absolutely. melania said this was okay. >> there we go. excellent. we don't yet know who gave the tape to the "washington post." tonight strong reaction from both sides of the aisle. >> you have paul ryan saying it's sickening. you have john mccain saying it's inappropriate. at what point do they say, enough? >> reporter: republican senator kelly ayotte in a statement, his comments are total inappropriate and offensive. democrat barbara box over twitter, beyond vile and disgusting. mitt romney also on twitter, hitting on married women, condoning assault? such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt america's face to the world. >> this is the true donald trump. you saw him speaking candidly in private. only ten years ago when he was married. the exultant way in which he says these offensive and almost

will shock a lot of the people when they hear it. >> it's just -- i mean, it makes me sick to my stomach. >> reporter: hillary clinton tweeting, this is horrific, we cannot allow this man to become president. >> the story is a problem because it is offensive to a lot of different types of voters. vote there's donald trump is going to need in just weeks. and it's also the october surprise that this campaign definitely did not want. >> reporter: an abc news/"washington post" poll taken september 25th, before this video leaked, showed trump voters by 19 points. >> he needs moderate voters, undecided voters, female voters. >> reporter: mr. trump issued a statement, this was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. bill clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course, not even close. >> that statement does bring in bill clinton. i don't think that is really a smart strategy. but at this point, when the campaign is really in crisis

>> reporter: brandon morrow's take of the san diego padres, i've been around locker room banter, those are a few of the guessi disgusting things i've heard a man say. >> locker room banter occurs in locker rooms with 15-year-olds, 25-year-olds. not 68-year-old men making comments about women's looks. >> donald trump >> we know donald trump does not like to apologize. it does seem he had somewhat of a pressure from his damn pain to respond swiftly. >> reporter: not enough for some. tonight republicans, congressman jason shall have vets, governor gary herbert, both from utah, pulling their support. in trump's defense, bill o'rei o'reilly, anti-trump forces release a private conversation where trump talks about women and sex, what happens when you run for potus. trump has a potty mouth, seen

rapist. i apologize is not a phrase the gop candidate uses often. he recently explained his poll 80 policy. >> i think apologizing as great thing but you have to be wrong. >> reporter: mr. trump has demonstrated a potentially damaging tonal problem when it comes to speaking about women. take his spat with megyn kelly. >> you've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs -- >> reporter: when she treatment of women. >> there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> reporter: at the first presidential debate mrs. clinton raised alicia machado, a miss universe win where mr. trump owned the franchise. >> he called this woman miss piggy. then he called her miss housekeeping because she was latina. donald, she has a name. >> where did you find this? >> her name is alicia machado. >> where did you find this? >> she has become a u.s. citizen

>> she's going to vote this november. >> okay, good. >> reporter: donald trump doubled down on fox. >> she was the worst we ever had. she was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem. >> reporter: this hot mike moment on the bus -- >> you can do anything, grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> reporter: this isn't the first time we've heard trump use the "p" word. he used it in reference to ted cruz. >> she said, i'd never expect to hear that from you that's terrible. terrible. >> reporter: trump retweeted what he seemed to think was an unflattering photograph of cruz's wife alongside a picture of his own spouse. and on another primary opponent, carly fiorina, he allegedly told "rolling stone" "look at that face, would anyone vote for that?" it's a tonal issue the clinton camp has expoited. >> i'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers.

e-mails highlighting these comments. >> i moved on her and i failed, i'll admit it. i did [ bleep ]. she was married. >> reporter: tonight on the trail trump's veep nominee mum on the matter. >> how do you respond to him bragging about groping women -- >> this has been a critical stretch in his campaign, a campaign in crisis, the only thing that could turn it around is a really amazing >> reporter: that debate, town hall style encounter, is sunday night. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in los angeles. >> of course you can watch the second presidential debate between donald trump and hillary clinton live on abc sunday night at 9:00 eastern with our very own arth may raddatz. next we chase down the ceo of what authorities call the world's top online brothel and confronted him over allegations of underage sex trafficking on his website.

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with its listings, the website backpage.com has long been targeted by loft as a hub for prostitution bookings. the ceo of the site has been, up to now, untouchable. when "nightline" confronted him months ago he argued his business is protected by the first amendment. but tonight a ground-breaking arrest. here's abc's gloria riviera. >> reporter: today, karl f

the man behind what authorities are calling the world's top online brothel, facing criminal charges for the very first time. >> it is incredibly unique. there are thousands of children who will not be sold, to be raped by adults off of that website. >> reporter: similar to craigslist, backpage is a classified ad site. but with racy adult sections. like escorts, body rubs. technically legal services that law enforcement prostitution. >> the majority of children sold for sex in the united states today was trafficked using backpage. >> reporter: now ferrara's charged with multiple counts of pimping a minor and conspiracy. the moment that tom has been waiting for. >> he's just as accountable as the pimp that sold her, in my mind. >> reporter: this is tom's daughter, we'll call her natalie, when she was in seventh grade.

a doctor. >> reporter: they are the sweet dreams of a seventh grade girl. but what lay ahead was a nightmare her parents never saw coming. >> it took everything from that little girl. >> i live in an american town, how can my kid be sold on the internet? >> reporter: a few short years after this video was taken, the 15-year-old, who we'll call natalie, would be sold for sex. >> how many encounters do you think you had during that time? >> over 150. >> over 150? >> yeah. >> would without backpage? >> no way. >> this valuing ga led natalie to join a major lawsuit against backpage with other girls like her. today, natalie is 21 years old and a mother herself. why your decision to speak publicly? >> i don't just do it for myself. i do it for other families. >> reporter: this is one of the last photos taken of natalie before she made the choice that would change her life forever. she ran away from home.

us to his house. and then that's when i got raped for the first time. >> you were a virgin? >> yeah. >> reporter: this first traumatic encounter sent natalie down a dark path that eventually led to this man, 32-year-old berudi hobson. she says he was kind, offered her a place to stay. but soon the dynamic dangerously changed. >> he'd ask me if i had ever worked before. then he told me that i wouldn't be on t play. >> reporter: through ads titled "well worth it, $150 an hour, it won't take long at all," natalie started earning $4,000 a weekend for sex, handing over all the cash to hobson. >> how often did you work this. >> every single day. >> it tore our family apart. >> reporter: natalie's father tom would spend his days driving around seattle, searching desperately for his missing girl. >> day after day, yeah. >> reporter: later, natalie's parents found out she wasn't

sold online. >> you're thinking, okay, how many of these is she having to answer? how many times a day is my child being raped? >> reporter: backpage, based in dallas, says they voluntarily put in place a multi-tiered system for screening ads employing moderators, a filter for key words, a user-reported flagging system. 2012 their attorney told "nightline" -- >> online child exploitation exists and the best tools to fight it are also online. and one of the very best cools to fight it. >> age 18 -- >> reporter: seattle's police department vice squad tells us they find underage girls listed on backpage all the time, including natalie. who they rescued in a hotel sting set up through her backpage ad 108 days after she went missing. >> he says, i know who you are, natalie. instantly i saw storms of cops outside. i remember meeting detective

. >> reporter: detective guyer formed a special bond with natalie. hobson, sentenced to 26 years for promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor. today detective guyer is still on a mission with seattle vice squad. they've agreed to take us inside a backpage sting. we're here so see what happens when you post a backage ad that suggests an underage girl is involved. the detective creates an ad for an 18-year-old named angel adding the mention friend." >> you can figure out what they want as far as that goes -- [ phone ringing ] >> we've gotten calls nexts, they're really coming in. >> reporter: earlier this year, "nightline's" quest to find the ceo behind all these ads took us to amsterdam where ferrara seemed to be running other escort sites here, ooun eerily similar to backpage called

ferrara has turned down our interview requests so we came here, we found there's a conference he's scheduled to attend. karl ferrara is an active member of the classified ad industry. he attends a networking conference every year. it dent take long before we spot him. >> karl ferrara? hi, we've been looking for you. do you have a second? i'm gloria riviera with abc news. >> yeah? >> we want to ask a few questions. >> oh, i'm -- >> underage girls are trafficked on backpage.com, your company. >> no comment. >> we saw a real-life example of this last week -- >> i'm sorry. >> you're a father what would you want to say to him? he wants to know why this is going on. >> please -- >> initially when he saw us he said hello, how are you? as soon as we brought up law enforcement and the underage trafficking of young girls, he said he didn't want to talk to us. but now he's facing even tougher questions.

crime by earning revenue from prostitution. and soliciting clients. and because of his alleged role, ferrara faces up to 22 years behind bars. his defense attorney says he's looking forward to his day in court. >> mr. ferrara looks forward to vigorously fighting these charges we believe are trumped up. >> reporter: tonight backpage attorney liz macdougal sent "nightline" a statement saying prostitution backpage.com's policies and backpage.com removes ads when contacted by law enforcement. for at least one young woman and her family, today brought gratitude and they say for the first time peace, after so much pain. >> there's a lot i'm looking forward to. >> our thanks to gloria riviera. up next the latest updates on hurricane matthew.

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finally tonight, hurricane matthew still menacing the southern coast with life-threatening storm surges. abc's eva pilgrim is reporting from inside the storm zone. >> reporter: hurricane matthew continuing to wreak havoc, pummeling the florida coastline. >> you see just how bad it has gotten -- >> the category 2 hurricane showing its force. torrential downpours and powerful winds per hour. in haiti the death toll soaring. the storm leaving close to 300 dead. here in st. augustine, florida, devastating flooding. >> more than 1 million without power in florida. we are part of that group. we're staying in a holt, no power here. you can see they used glow sticks to light the way to the hallway. >> reporter: the storm's dangerous center as it moves north. states of emergency declared in georgia, south carolina, and north carolina. matthew tearing through

in its aftermath, water taking over the town, swallowing park benches, streets, tearing up roots and tearing down trees. over 3 million fleeing their homes from florida up the north carolina coast as matthew sets sights on georgia. >> thanks to eva pilgrim. we'll keep tracking the storm and political turbulence 24/7. tune into "good morning america." as always abcnews.com a "the insider," tracking the biggest stories making news today. number one, inside the kardashian' media blackout. is it costing them a fortune. >> kim kardashian needs to think about what's next. >> how this could affect their celeb nomics in the future as we