tonight, pushing back. is the me too tide turning? controversial groups now defending the rights of college men accused of sexual misconduct. >> you were immediately found guilty. >> immediately. >> how the trump administration is changing the rules and why some survivors' advocates say the debate over due process is disturbing. >> we consistently see that survivors are telling the truth. plus, david guetta. we're behind thecenes r's lon r in vegas, his newest album with star-studded collaboration and

how "titanium" has changed his life. and tonight, cardi b. and dk. >> it's like, oh my gosh, could have had you when i was a teenager. >> last night, she was talking mommyhood with jimmy and tonight, something very different. we think you will like it. but first, here are the "nightline" five. " five. >> number one is coming up in

good evening, and thank you for joining us. it has been a year of women's voices being heard. the astonishing watershed of me too with prominent people, mostly men, being held accountable for alleged sexual misconduct. and tonight, we have a view from the other side. controversial groups that are defending college men who they say are falsely accused. here's abc's kiiara phillips. >> i never thought i would be back here, man. >> reporter: joseph roberts is back in savannah, his college town, for the first time in five years. the homecoming is hard. so what's it like to be back here, joseph? >> it's spooky. >> reporter: in fact, he's not even sure what will happen to him if he steps on savannah

state's campus. >> i still don't feel safe. >> reporter: after serving in the navy, joseph was on track to become the first person in his family to receive a college diploma. instead, he received this e-mail that derailed his dream of graduating. >> the e-mail said you'reyou'ree summarily suspended. there was a picture, and it was like a mug shot. >> reporter: the reason? two students filed complaints, making what joseph says were false allegations of verbal and online sexual harassment. and according to documents obtained by abc news, he was suspended the same day the first complaint was made. and no one had reached out to you, interviewed you, asked you what happened? anything before that e-mail went out? >> no. no. >> reporter: you were immediately found guilty. >> immediately.

just off the mere accusation. done. done. >> reporter: joseph says he and others just like him have been denied due process on campus because of title ix. >> the federal government today announced new guidelines for ending sex discrimination. >> reporter: the groundbreaking federal civil rights law enacted in 1972, improving equality in education, strengthening women's sports programs, and calling for stricter procedures on how schools respond to allegations of sexual misconduct towards students. but controversial groups have argued that those procedures have caused an overcorrection, making schools quick to accept allegations of sexual misconduct and sometimes unfairly punish the accused. how rock bottom did it get? >> i woke up nonresponsive surrounded by emts and

firefighters with an empty bottle of alcohol and a bottle of pills. suicide attempt. that was the worst. >> reporter: under the trump administration, which roberts ardently supports, organizations pushing for the rights of mostly male students accused of sexual misconduct are receiving unprecedented attention. >> do you swear that the testimony -- >> reporter: as well as a huge shot of momentum from the he said/she said debate that played out in front of the nation. a case of two diametrically opposed accounts, a day of reckoning for the country. >> we believe dr. ford. >> reporter: and reawakening of painful debate. >> kavanaugh has got to go. >> i say that it's a very scary time for young men in america when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. >> we felt like somebody was finally recognizing. >> reporter: cynthia garrett is

a co-president of families advocating for campus equality and sits on the board of s.a.v.e., stop abusive and violent environments. both groups that say male students accused of sexual misconduct often don't receive fair treatment from their schools. >> i started to hear about these cases. when people told me that the students weren't allowed to see evidence against them or even know what they're accused of before they're questioned, i said, this is america. you can't do that. >> reporter: amid widespread demonstrations and a government report saying only 12% of students report their sexual assault, the obama administration toughened rules for schools responding to allegations of sexual misconduct. >> campus sexual assault is no longer something we as a nation can turn away from and say, that's not our problem. >> reporter: but when secretary of education betsy devos entered office, she scrapped the obama-era changes. >> it's an incredibly difficult

topic. >> reporter: holding a series of listening sessions on title ix, hearing from members of sexual assault survivor groups as well as advocates for the accused. >> had you ever sat down with a presidential appointee about your cause in the past? >> no, never. >> until you can see somebody tell their story, it's very easy to disregard. >> reporter: joseph was one of the students garrett brought along to the session to share his story. >> title ix is supposed to protect students, and if you are accused, you're supposed to be given certain rights that i just wasn't given. >> reporter: savannah state university told abc news they could not comment on any student's case specifically but that they give every student due process in accordance with title ix. acting as his own attorney, joseph sued the university but the case was dismissed. however, he did complete his degree online and is now

enrolled in a california law school. what was it like to sit before betsy devos and tell your story? >> the only thing i can do is present my story and just hope and pray that she listens. >> one rape is one too many. >> reporter: and she did. >> i also think of a student i met who honorably served our country in the navy. this young man was denied due process. >> reporter: two weeks later, devos announced rollbacks to the obama administration's implementation of title ix. >> the era of rule by letter is over. >> reporter: further proposed changes leaked to the media would not only limit liability on universities but would require victims to present stronger evidence that a sexual assault occurred. the department of education declined to comment on any potential changes, saying nothing has been finalized. but it was a definitive turn in the tide for garrett and her

cause. >> my favorite book and movie growing up was "to kill a mockingbird." i feel very strongly that you can't ruin somebody's life based on nothing. >> reporter: though garrett and her groups may paint themselves as atticus finch, fighting for an unpopular cause for the sake of righteousness, opponents say the organizations have a troubling core. >> these groups have way overblown the impact of their issue and their concerns. between 2% and 8% of all sexual assaults that are reported are false. i think that the goals of these groups certainly seem to be more concerned with poking holes in survivors' stories. >> the southern poverty law center has been very direct about how it feels, saying you use male grievance propaganda and a narrative that the, quote, out of control women's movement

is taking away equality. >> there is some truth to that. >> reporter: there's truth to that. >> there is some truth to that. it's this radical ideology that treats all men as potential rapists. and i just don't see that. >> one in five undergraduate women will be sexually assaulted on campuses and of those, 88% are not reported. >> reporter: patel is a former attorney for the u.s. department of education. >> i came into an administration, this was the obama administration, that recognized and understood the many ways that students are impacted by discrimination based on sex and gender in schools. and they cared. >> reporter: does this administration care about survivors? >> i wish they did. >> reporter: and that, patel says, is why she quit. >> it was troubling because what i saw was so much more access to the administration for groups that worked with accused students than for groups that

worked with survivors. >> reporter: does title ix give the accused due process? >> yes, it does. the 2011 and 2014 guidance documents that devos rescinded last september explicitly stated that title ix does protect the due process rights of students. but something that we're not talking about are the due process rights of complainants, of survivors of sexual violence that are also not being recognized. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the department of education told abc news they met with a variety of groups on both sides of the issue and say their focus is on restoring due process and ensuring equality for all students. but in a divided country -- >> people look at you different when something like this happens. it affects me. it just felt like it just put me in a hole. >> reporter: it's difficult to agree on what that looks like. >> the new regulations that the department's putting out would

also indicate that they don't want for there to be accountability. they want it to be easier for people to get away with sexual violence. >> reporter: i'm kiiara phillips in savannah, georgia. when love takes over, music magic happens. we take you behind the scenes in vegas with the man behind some of the biggest hits in recent memory. no matter what life throws down roomba is up for the challenge. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes that powerfully clean up debris on all your floors. and only the (new) roomba i7+ empties its own bin into a disposable bag. so you can forget about vacuuming for weeks. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba. let's see. if these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better.

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tonight, we go behind the scenes of the man behind "titanium" and some of the other catchiest songs in reend decades. david guetta is back with a new album with more mega collaborations with mega artists and abc reports in from vegas. ♪ >> i feed off energy. are you ready? i think what made me successful is really my connection with the people. i'm here because i love it. >> reporter: and we're here for the love too. david guetta isn't a psychologist by trade but it's hard to deny he gets the party moving in sync. at 50 years young, guetta has been dubbed the grandfather of electronic dance music, cementing his status as a global hit maker.

producing big tracks like "without you." ♪ without you "turn me on." and "club can't handle me." but he's not leaving fans alone any time soon. ♪ don't you ever leave me, don't you ever go ♪ >> reporter: you've been in the game for such a long time, how do you keep evolving? >> every time i make a new album, it's more difficult than the previous time. it's regretting harder and harder, but now i don't know what happened in my brain, in my heart, i feel like i'm born again. it's crazy. >> reporter: the dj/producer's latest project is titled "7" and features some of today's most popular artists, including nicki minaj, bebe rexha, justin bieber, and sia.

she's featured on his song, "flames." which reached number nine on the dance electronic charts. but this isn't the first time guetta and sia have linked up and made some noise. ♪ i am titanium >> reporter: we talked about how "titanium" changed your life. >> i met sia because i was supposed to be a producer and she was supposed to be a writer, and we were supposed to give that record to another artist, but when i heard this record, i'm like, okay, first, i'm not giving this record away. this record, for me. second, you need to stay on the record. please. and then, you know, "titanium" came out, huge record, and thank god, she kept being an artist. she's my favorite artist in the world. >> reporter: guetta got his start in music as a 14-year-old kid dj'ing in paris, france,

later taking vinyl disco records and remixing them into local club hits. you've been all over the world, doing things on a high level, but is there a piece of you that is still deeply rooted in your experiences as a young man growing up in france and how you interacted with the music then? >> i started, you know, giving the flyers myself on the beach, putting the posters myself, promoting, going to people, saying, there's a new type of music. it's called house music. it's crazy. it's going to be a revolution. i would go outside of the other clubs and, like, security running after me. >> reporter: over the next two decades, house music's popularity would skyrocket and in 2009,s guetta hit it back, collaborating with top american artists. >> in a few months, i did "one love takes over" with kelly. and "i got a feeling" with black eyed peas. and "sexy chick" with akon.

all of this in three months, and that kind of changed everything, because american radio started to play up tempo music, which never happened before. since disco, it didn't happen. so, that was like a big, big shift in global pop music. i do this, like, three months of the year. >> reporter: guetta has enjoyed a long-time residency at the wynn in vegas, helping him stay connected to his dj roots. what's going through your head when you're up there rocking the crowd like that? >> it's very specific to vegas. there's no other place in the world where i play and some of the people are in the pool. i mean, it just -- it brings a different level of intensity, right? i like giving an experience that is unique. i feed off energy. every record i play, even if they know, for example, my songs, but i play a version that they never heard before.

i make special edits. and in the same way, i try to play in a venue that is unique. >> reporter: what's more enjoyable, the rise to the top or maintaining that top spot? >> that's a very good question. what's more enjoyable is the rise to the top. it's only happiness, because it's based on love. it's based on passion. then, when you're at the top, what you have? just being scared of falling. and it happened to me. the place i'm at right now is no more fear. it doesn't matter to me anymore. if i win or not. i just want to make good music. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm in las vegas. next, girls like you, the warm feeling cardi b. is giving new yorkers tonight.

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my husband used to tell me, stop screaming and stop catching an attitude when you're pregnant

because you're going to pass that to the baby, and it's like, i did. >> yeah. >> i did. >> cardi b. getting real with jimmy last night. tonight, the rapper showing a cozier side. the native new yorker handing out coats in brooklyn, crowds gathering for a chance to meet the singer and get a winter jacket, a warm wrap from the groundbreaking rapper. stay warm out there if you're in the northeast. thank you for watching "nightline" tonight, and good night.