but is the "real house" go on the rails with cameras roll something. >> cage fight kids, a knock-out drag out brawl but the fighters aren't even 20 years old. is it child abuse or sports with a twist? and the contenders. sparks fly in tonight's republican presidential debate. >> so speak in a got getting it straight in your book. >> i actually wrote my book. >> in case you're not glued to the set we'll give you our three-minute version with whatever you need to know. >> announcer: from tglobal resources of abc news from sinl cynthia mcfadden and terry moran. thanks for joining us. if money could buy you class, strong personal relationships and inner peace there probably wouldn't be the "real

housewives" franchise. their tabloid exploits make them a wicked pleasure for millions of fans but lately, it seems like there's seriously something amiss in new york and beverly hills. and now the reality show the dealing with a new kind tragic reality. >> reporter: from a ball at a baby christening, to a high-profile hollywood divorce, even a pregnancy scare at 50 years old! >> holy -- >> there isn't a salacious scenario they haven't live on the housewives of new york, d.c., new jersey, beverly hills and orange county. >> i love it. i can't get enough of it. it's like crack cocaine that has no side effects. it's perfectly legal and you can do it again and again. >> the series conquering the

country has become must-see tv for millions an the ladies' antics a tabloid staple. most recently, the infamous m white house crashers made headlines when tareq said his wife was kidnapped. turned out, she ran into the arms of journey's guitarist. in beverly hills, taylor armstrong opened up about her husband's recent suicide on "entertainment tonight." >> he would say i'm afraid i'm going to kill you one day. >> we see more and more sandals on "the real housewives." what do you make of that? >> out of necessity on tv they pick the most dramatic moments so it seems like everybody is crazy. >> and now a mass firing. the couple everyone loved to hate on the "real housewives of new york" but in an attempt to shake up the show they were canned, seemingly out of the blue this week along with co-stars jill, kelly and cindy. >> cindy, your former castmate

she said it was too much fighting. it was get too out of hand and that's the reason they shook up the cast. any truth to that? >> the fans definitely reacted this season about the show being darker. i'm sorry i was collateral damage. i think it was spiralling out of control so there had to be a shakeup. >> the franchise is dealing with murder, bankruptcy, cheating, and some even blame the show for russell armstrong's suicide saying he couldn't keep up with the lavish lifestyles of the other housewives. network responded saying all of us at bravo are deeply saddened by this difficult news. >> you watch the show, it's toxic. there were a lot of benefits to doing the show and there were negatives, like it being toxic. it took me months to come down

off of it. i think any show that survived this lock will have its ups and downs. they keep adding on cities. some are successful and some aren't in is a life cycle to everything and television included i think we're in the top of this life psyche snoom "the real housewives of d.c." was cancelled after one season. miami didn't fare better. the other cities remain strong drawing in at times, nearly 3 million viewers, to make it one of the biggest, most wealthy and most educated audiences in cable. some of the ladies are now wealthy thanks to the show. >> he asked me to serve the skinny girl margarita for fashion week. >> before appearing on "real housewives of new york" bethany frankel admitted she couldn't even pay the rent. after this, she scored "bethann yichlt here after."

and this year, she sold her company, skinny girl, for $120 million. >> every person said don't do it. it will ruin you. it was a 50/50 shot. it would be horrendous or the best thing and bravo to bravo. it was the best thing. >> and after losing out on a paycheck reportedly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. jill is selling shapeware. >> will you end up a millionaire on the shape ware? >> yes. >> you have? >> yes. >> i know, it's incredible. >> andy cohen, head of original programming at bravo who overseeing "housewives" empire spoke in 2009 and made no excuses for the show's infomercial tendencies or the toxic environment. >> i love sociology. i love the way people relate to each other. this is a study in affluent

human interplay. and the manners and etiquette and social moires of a certain set of people. if anyone feels guilty watching the show, that's a way to justify it. >> the ladies say the secret to the success of the show? the emotions are real. >> we are who we are. rear not trying to be anybody we're not. we shoot from the hip and we're not ashamed. >> as for simon, he says the one thing he wants the viewers to know is his love for his real housewife is real. >> heart and soul, you know, we met by chance. i -- i'm not afraid or embarrassed to cry. >> a must for any reality show cast member. for now, viewers are standing by as the real housewives gets its house in order. for nightline, andrea cannon in new york. >> the members of "the real housewives of new york" will appear tomorrow morning on good

morning america to be talk about the drama on screen and off. and just ahead -- kids fighting in cages! and the adult who is say it's all in good fun. >> announcer: ab krichblt "nightline" brought to you by -- it gets stuffed up and that means i stay up all night. good mornings? not likely! i've tried the pills, the sprays even some home remedies. then i tried something new. [ male announcer ] drug-free breathe right nasal strips. [ woman ] you just put it on and...amazing! instant relief. i breathed better, slept better. and woke up ready to face a fresh new day. [ male announcer ] get 2 free strips at breatheright.com. it's my right to breathe right! it's this... etrade's pro platform. designed bottom up? integrated top down. customizable. well, duh. no compromises. no multiple platforms. got it? get it. good. new pro elite from etrade.

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recently tested stain treatments. they rated resolve laundry number one. beating shout. try resolve laundry for amazing stain removal. satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> announcer: "nightline" continued from new york city with bill weir. in the interest of healthy competition plenty of parents encourage their kids to put on pads, knock each other down. put on mouth guards and get to the mat and get in karate robes and punch and kick and this takesite martial arts and puts it in a cage in a club, where the adults with partying and the warriors are as young as 8 pl

here's nick watt. >> ew good evening, ladies and gentlemen, how are you? >> reporter: the atmosphere is menacing. the kids come in like prize fighters. the crowd is towering over them, are all adults. and they're drinking. there's a ring girl wearing very little. two little kids in a cage. no gloves, no head gear. >> this fighter is 9 years of age. stands 4'1". put your hands together! >> yup, they're booing a 9 year old. this battle, as the ring master calls it, is streamed live on the internet. >> mortgage what these guys are going to be like in 15 years' time. >> look at that. >> reporter: we blurred one fighters' face because his parents don't want him shown. >> this is a real star of the future. >> reporter: and after less than 45 seconds, he's hurt his

opponent and he's crying. but the fight goes on. pretty soon, even the commentators have had enough. >> this is stopping. this is needs stopping. i think that's enough. i think everybody's seen enough now. >> reporter: but this video hits youtube. it went viral and caused international outrage. questions were asked on the bbc. >> it was children's as young as 8 taking part in a fight which was staged in the cage. the government's minister says -- >> it feels barbaric. >> reporter: those involved line up to justify two kids fighting in a cage. >> a child seen crying was -- he couldn't actually get the best of the other child and emotions were -- >> there's no kicks. there's no punches. there's no need for things like head guards. >> reporter: and here's kia, the

little fight we are his totally supportive parents. >> if he wasn't in this environment what would he be doing? on the street corner causing havoc? >> he wants to do it so i'm happy for him to do it. >> do you enjoy doing it? >> yup. >> what do you enjoy about it? >> everything. >> it's what we do. it's what we enjoy. obviously, the parents are there encouraging them, not forcing them. it's what the children want to do. >> he chooses to do it. only thing we do is take him and pick him up from the gym. >> >> reporter: some call it cage fighting. others call it cage fighting. these people call it mixed martial arts and they say the cage is for safety. the young kids, they say, are basically, just wrestling. >> it's a great discipline with the mixed martial arts. hopefully we'll do a lot more around here. >> it's just people, i think, that know nothing about the sport that want to -- until they

know about it they shouldn't be -- >> it made him feel like a professional fighter. >> this man knows all about cage fighting. he's a pro mixed martial artist. we showed him the tape. he has no issue with the fight, the lack of head gear. but he thinks this -- very, very wrong. >> if this was in a school you would say it's wrestling. the problem is where you've got them. in a cage in a nightclub, boos around, ring girls. if you had to bring dogs in that would be fine. but if you took that child and put him or her in a nightclub to dance, that changes the whole thing. >> these are professional models and professional ring girls. you can tell by the way they carry themselves in the cage. >> reporter: he said he would do it again and his dad said he'll let him. he wants to be a cage fighter when he grows up. >> and you get money.

>> reporter: police investigate and declare that this is legal. >> you'll find at this age they're very flexible in the joints. almost elast nick the knee joints. >> reporter: but this just looks wrong. and tonight, we hear that licensing authorities are investigating. by law, there shouldn't be any kids in the club after 6:00 p.m. which sounds kind of like getting al capone for tax evasion. i'm nick watt for nightline in london. ultimate fighting is hugely popular in this country. is this the little league version? take them out of the nightclub? or is it plain child abuse. i know you have opinions. we'd love to hear them. tweet us at nightline. go to abc news.com slush nightline and tell us what you think. up next, any fireworks tonight as the republican debate? we watched it in case you couldn't and a quick i can guide is coming up. ♪ ♪ three, six, nine

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twitter is on fire over the break after ta segment on cage-fitting kids. maple writes -- only nut jobs would put on something this stupid. some people shouldn't have kids. no way the kids are enjoying. just going along with their parents. andy writes, take away the cage

and it's like my brother 25 years ago. that debate is still brewing online but we turn now to another debate. in orlando, florida, and aspects the economy and how to fix it took center stage along with the republican presidential candidates on the fox news channel but we saw some personality not only from the men and one woman but from the giant and vocal crowd. here's tonight's installment of "the contenders." >> reporter: it was a ruckus arena of 5,000. mitt romney's response to how much an you'll income defines an american as rich? >> i don't try to define who is rich and who's not rich. i want everybody in america to be rich. >> reporter: after spends his first two debates as a self-described piñata rick perry took the first swings with the rhetorical stick tonight. >> i think americans don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're dealing with. >> where the frontrunner

ridiculed the suggestion that the texas governor wants to replace social security with 50 individual state pension plans. >> not the first time mitt's been wrong on some issues before. and the bottom line is -- we never said that we were going to move this back to the states. what we said was we ought to have as one of our options, the state employees and state retirees, they being able to go off of the current system on to one that the states would operate themself. >> reporter: and off they went. set to exchange blows been or at least, birdies. >> governor perry? >> it des different than what the governor put in his book. there's a rick perry saying that, quote, almost quote, the federal government shouldn't be in the pepgs business. it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states so you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> your hard-copy book you said it was exactly what the american people needed to have that

romney care given to them as you had in massachusetts. then in your paperback, you took that line out. so speak in a not getting it straight in your book, sir -- >> reporter: the two front runners stealing most of the spotlight. >> the two guys in the middle, romney and perry won't be around because they're going to bludgeon each other to death. >> the other seven tried to up their profiles without trying to create the wrong kind of news. michele bachmann started a problem with comparing the virus to mental retardation and used the issue against rick perry. >> i didn't make that claim nor did i make that statement. >> reporter: when delving into social issueless the crowd jeered when a now openly-gay soldier asked if his new rights would be protected under a republican president. >> this is social experimentation with the military right now and that's tragic. i would just say that going forward, we would reinstitute that policy of rick santorum as

president. >> reporter: and a new name on stage. former new mexico governor, gary johnson. he didn't make much of an impression until the very end with what may have been the most crowd-pleasing line of the night. >> my next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> nothing like a little sandal humor to leave an impression. that's our report. thanks for watching. >> dicky: up next on an all-new "jimmy kimmel live" -- ellen pompeo. >> jimmy: so, your dad's side italian? >> irish. had a drink backstage. >> jimmy: yeah, right. >> dicky: fr