tonight on "nightline," table for 20. meet the bates family. mom kelly, dad gil and their 18, yes, 18 children. we go inside the family that could one day be the largest in america. plus, hero of wall street. when gordon mour ray found out he was dying, he decided to reveal to the world the hidden ways wall street makes money. what the insiders know that the rest of us don't. and, the playboy prime minister. drugs, underage girls, sex and scandal. put them all together and what do you get? just another day in italian politics. and that's a "sign of the times."

>> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," january 19th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, we begin with a story about family values. big family values. we'll take you to tennessee an introduce you to a christian family named bates. mom kelly, dad gil just celebrated the birth of their 18th baby. and they're praying for more as they move closer to becoming the biggest family in america one day. ryan owens goes 1-on-20 for this look inside an american family. >> reporter: you've probably heard the term organized chaos. but you've likely never seen it in action. until you meet the bates family. all 20 of them.

there's dad gil, mom kelly, and then there are the 18 children. at 22, zach is the oldest. >> every year, you know, add another person, so it doesn't feel abnormal to me. >> reporter: the youngest, judson, is just 4 months old. i have what, to me, is a very difficult question, and that is, name your children. >> i have all the years -- >> reporter: however. >> zach, michael, aaron, nathan, alyssa, tory, trace, krarson, josie, katie, jackson, warden, isaiah, adele, ellie, callie and judson. >> reporter: wow. all living together in a five bedroom, 4,000 square foot home in rural tennessee. think brady bunch on steroids. this is like going into a dry cleaning business or something.

everything this family does is big. take their laund dry room. five washers and four dryers. >> we try to do a load at breakfast, lunch and supper. >> reporter: and more clothes than a gap kids. >> everybody has their spot. >> reporter: even with the system, finding clothes can be a challenge. >> these are my brothers. >> reporter: so, that's it for the clothes, but then, there are those dreaded socks. >> remember the rules. you have a pile of whites, a pile of colors, a pile of darks. >> reporter: sorting those, as i found out, is a family affair. >> reporter: there you go. i got a match. >> i found a match! >> reporter: it's not just laundry, of course. it's cooking, cleaning, dishes and getting the younger children ready for the day. everyone pitches in. >> i pray lord today -- >> reporter: you might have guessed by now, gil and kelly do not believe in birth control. ♪ still, the evangelical conservative christians didn't

really want a big family when they married 23 years ago. >> we both came to the conclusion that we wanted to trust god. we never really thought we'd have 18. we thought one or two. maybe three. >> reporter: in fact, gil says he didn't really like kids and kelly, she was more concerned with career than children. a lot of women have had one child and say, i never want to go through that in my life. i have literally been pregnant and/or giving birth for a huge amount of your adult life. >> it feels more normal for me to be pregnant than not pregnant. i'm happy holding a baby. i talk to so many parents who, their children are lonely. they don't have -- >> reporter: that's not a problem. >> it's not a problem. it's very fulfilling. >> reporter: even with 18 kids, gil and kelly insist they do have time for each child. and for each other. >> actually now, we probably have more time together than we ever had, even when we just had

one or two, because we have our children, always are saying, and the ki they say, are you taking mom out? >> reporter: the bates say, the more children they have, the more they can minister to others, like this bible study and concert they held at a nearby nursing home. but wait a minute. how did they all get there? that's another challenge. they just got this bus to carry the well gang. >> driving a 15-passenger van and a seven passenger van. we put half in each car and then we just recently got the bus. we're looking forward to being all in one car again. >> reporter: it's not the whole gang today, it just looks like it. half of the bates children have the flu and are home sick. >> reporter: seven or eight have fevers. >> reporter: having one sick kid is hard enough. try eight. here we go.

but even the worst cough can't keep kids inside on a snow day. when's the last time you guys had snow? >> about a month ago. >> reporter: and the bates are no exception. all of the younger kids took me out to make snow ice cream. >> don't fall. >> reporter: thank you. that's pretty good advice. >> reporter: one of many family activities. >> i think we're going to have plenty of snow ice cream. >> reporter: in fact, they do just about everything together. from bible study -- >> rejoice! >> reporter: to brushing the little kids' teeth before bed. to family meals around this massive dining table. >> we can fit us all. >> reporter: thank you. i joined them there for a chilly lunch and couldn't help but wonder, how do they pay for all of this? gil is not wealthy. he runs a tree service. >> honestly, god just kind of directed our steps into the tree work. the tree work, we can make more money with less time and it just turned out to be a blessing.

>> reporter: still, it is expensive. 18-year-old lawson is in charge of food shopping. he says he's at the walmart almost every other day. the bill for this trip? more than $250. >> how about some of his inventions? >> reporter: kelly home schools the kids. >> without the nutrients, which is like our vitamins, it's no good. >> reporter: the older students study on the computer. even the college-age kids live at home. this bedroom sleeps eight of the ten sisters, from age 20 down to 16 months. >> they like it that way. we gave them the choice, when we were designing it, we thought, oh, now is your chance, because they had been all squeezed together for so long. we said, now is your chance, you can have your space and they all just -- >> almost cried. >> we want to be together. >> reporter: don't you miss privacy? >> well, we do have privacy if we want it but for the most

part, it's like, the way of life so we don't mind -- >> reporter: how do you get privacy if you want it? >> well, we have our bedrooms -- >> there are six people in your bedroom. >> usually during the daytime the bedrooms aren't used. >> okay, everybody. it's supper time. >> reporter: this home is equipped with an intercom. >> thank you. >> reporter: and a camera system to keep track of everyone. >> when i'm up here, i can look and see what's going on in the living room, in the front yard, on the side of the house. when i'm up here, i can tell if the kids are getting into trouble. >> reporter: but this high tech house has no televisions and the computers are only for studying. so, what do the kids do if they aren't watching tv, texting or surfing the internet? they spend a lot of their time practicing music. and it shows. they are all talented and most play more than one instrument.

from piano to guitar to violin, it seems to child is too young to tick the ivories. with 18 kids there are 18 different personalities. oh, my gosh. within ten minutes of meeting me, some of the youngest locked me away in their jail. help me! i'm surrounded by kids, help me! believe it or not, the bates are not the only megafamily in this country. their closest friends are the duggars, with 19 children. the bates are occasionally guest stars on their reality show, "19 and counting." the bates say they have no interest in a reality show of their own, but there is something they do want. more children. kelly is 44, but hopes to have two more boys, for a total of 10 girls and 10 boys, and, yes, a

bit more of that organized chaos. i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in lake city, tennessee. >> i'm just still trying to get my mind around that laundry. our thanks to the bates family. when we come back, one man's legacy, the secrets of the street, wall street, that is, revealed. etfs? exchange traded funds? don't just give me ten or twenty to choose from. come on. td ameritrade introduces commission-free etfs with a difference-- more choice. over a hundred etfs.... ...chosen by the unbiased experts at morningstar associates. let me pick what works for me. for me. for me. the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information.

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so, what would you do if you only had months to live? wall street insider gordon murray was faced with that very question after being diagnosed with a brain tumor for a second time. murray, who had spent his career on wall street working for goldman sachs and lehman brothers, set off on a mission to level the investment playing field by bringing the knowledge of wall street to the little guy on main street. as david wright reports. >> reporter: for 25 years, gordon murray was one of those wall street masters of the universe. managing huge institutional investments for goldman sachs, lehman brothers a s and other f. >> i wasn't the kid you wanted your daughter to date. i got in touch with the important things, integrity, work ethic. but on the trading floor at goldman sachs, i was -- i slammed phones and was

egocentric. i still wasn't a role model. so, we evolve. >> reporter: gordon has long wanted to atone for the sins of wall street. to share the secrets that no one seems to want to tell the little guy. the guy who is just trying to build that nest egg, to have enough money to pay the kid's college education and maybe retirement. so, where did wall street go wrong? >> wall street went wrong -- i think there's a confluence of things. but in the late '70s, illegal an unethical were the same. your word was your bond. the client comes first. those expressions started to be replaced, as you know, by liars and loans. we can hide debt. >> reporter: greed is good. >> greed is good. >> reporter: when we met him last night, gordon was living on borrowed time. this might be your last interview on camera. raises the takes. >> so you better be kind to me. >> reporter: i will do my best.

>> reporter: six months ago, his doctors diagnosed him with a malignant brain tumor. gordon's second. he decided to forego any treatment. >> you go through an initial period of sadness, but then you realize, okay, can't do anything about it, so, let's just make the most of what we have. >> reporter: he set to work co-authoring a how-to guide to investing. i hope you take this question the right way. but how can you care about investing when you know that the long-term is not there for you anymore? >> because i care about helping people. and i've met nurses, teachers, so many innocent, hard-working americans who have lost everything because they're broke or, even mutual fund has overcharged. >> reporter: the investment answer is a 66-page book in plain language. what you need to know to succeed long-term in the markets.

you get the sense that there are more opportunities for people to put their money in play now than there ever were before. but there's a great amount of naivety to people. it's almost like you walk into the casino the rule let wheel is shiny and you put all your money on number seven. >> that's investing as entertainment. honk the horn and say booyah. >> reporter: one of the main goals of the book is to arm investors of the fundment ams that the whiz kids on wall street would probably just assume you would ignore. first, don't do it yourself. hire a professional, who is not just in it for the commissions. >> finance is complex. the odds are stacked against you. you need help. >> reporter: second, asset allocation. some bets are better than others. choose carefully. >> risk and return are related. don't just look at returns. >> reporter: third thing, diversify case. but that means really diversify. >> a lot of people think, yeah,

i need that. i sold my one tech stock and bought ten others. >> reporter: fourth, active versus passive investing. don't try to beat the market. try to follow it. growing your nest egg at the rate the global economy grows. >> that's what we call investing. as opposed to speculating. >> reporter: finally, don't just sit back once you made those initial decisions. you have to make adjustments. rebalance now and then. >> reporter: one of the most surprising aspects of the book is that we've had billionaires, hedge fund managers, s sophisticated investors say, you know, i didn't know this or that. >> reporter: how is that possible? >> read it and you'll see. >> reporter: but what's so extraordinary is that gordon felt such a burning desire to share this knowledge when he knew he had such little time left. >> this is something that really gave my life meaning and every day you just pick up the paper today and you're going to read

about a ponzi scheme or somebody who, if they had read this book, could have preserved their money. >> reporter: we met gordon the week before christmas. a month later, he's gone. gordon died saturday at home. he told us he had accepted it. >> am i ready? yeah. i mean, i've never been afraid. i'm not religious, but i just think -- it's like investing. you focus on what you can control. and i can't control, you know, how fast this tumor is growing. all you've got is each minute. the minute you and i have right now. and you just go from minute to minute. staying here at home and just doing the normal stuff and enjoying tv and enjoying the easy conversations that come with your kids in and out and the laughter and -- you know, i'm rich. >> reporter: rich indeed. >> yeah. >> reporter: i'm david wright for "nightline" in burlinggame,

california. >> gordon murray's book, "the investment answer" is available online and hits stores next week. when we come back, sex and politics, italian style. so you have five brothers. tough being the only girl. aw, there's the man of the house. who's this ? this is rufus. hey, rufus. he's actually pretty talented. you wanna see him do a trick ? ok. hey rufus. who do we love ? we love our bank. we love our bank. we love our bank. we love our bank. yes, yes. you really love your bank don't you. ally bank customers love our 24/7 customer care that allows you to talk to a real person anytime. ally. do you love your bank ? because they have 20% more calcium per chew than viactiv or for the delicious flavors like chocolate truffle and vanilla creme? mmm. -mmm. -mmm. [ female announcer ] hard to say really. new caltrate soft chews,

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prime minister's alleged misdeeds are a sign of the times. >> reporter: he's the prime minister so hated by some he was attacked and bloodied with a statue. he remained defiant. ♪ the man who started out as a cruise ship crooner and went on to build a media empire is loved by others. he's also the guy who, on a state visit, had no problem keeping german chancellor angela merkel waiting while he took a phone call. she waited, and waited, and waited. finally, he's more than once repeated a less than tasteful joke about president obama having a good tan. but this week, berlusconi seemingly made of tough lon, caked with makeup, was on the defensive like never before. he went on national television, offering up a point by point rebuttal of every headline, every detail of a prostitution sex scandal that could finally

end his political career. "it's absurd to think that i paid for sex," he says. "never in my life has that happened. i would consider that demeaning to my dignity." at the heart of the scandal, a scandal that has all the makings of a soap opera, money, power, politics. is this young woman. ruby, the heart-stealer. ruby told prosecutors she went to wild sex orgies at severalle of berlusconi's villas. she insists she never had sex with the prime minister. even for italians, perhaps even a little outrageous? >> probably primarily because as far as we know they are including minors. and i think italians will draw the line when it comes to young girls taking part in orgies with

70-year-old men. >> reporter: but in transcripts of phone conversations leaked to the italian media this week, ruby, now 18, allegedly told her friend she was only 16 when she started attending the parties. and that she asked berlusconi for almost $7 million to keep quiet. she claimed berlusconi told her, ruby, i'll give you whatever amount you want. i'll pay you, i'll cover you in gold. but the important thing is to keep everything under wraps. don't say a thing to anyone. this real life soap opera gets soapier. tonight, ruby went on national television. a channel owned by berlusconi. again, she denied the prime minister ever touched her. still, in the last year, gunga bunga has taken italy by storm.

his second wife wants $55 million a year in a divorce settlement. she accused him of frequenting minors. and just last month, berlusconi's hold on power was cut to a razor thin three votes in parliament. the stress is clearly starting to show. but don't count him out quite yet. >> berlusconi's like one of the mythological figures in sort of greek myth, that you never -- you can never say it's politically dead. so, he'll go with a bang. but he'll -- he'll go fighting. >> reporter: it may be berlusconi's toughest fight yet. bunga bunga could be his swan song. for "nightline," i'm miguel marquez in london. >> we'll be right back, but first, here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next. >> jimmy: tonight, don rickles, wilmer valderrama, music from new politics and together, we mourn the return of "american

idol." "jimmy kimmel live" is next. cbcb

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