♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight -- >> thank you guys so much. >> herschel walker on defense in his first network interview, an abc news exclusive. >> i know nothing about an abortion. >> speaking out about the allegations from a former girlfriend. >> is she lying? >> yes, she's lying. yeah, she's lying. yes, she's lying. >> taking on the critics, including his son, christian. >> christian says that you're an absent father. do you disagree? geena davis, the actress who starred in "thelma and louise" and "a league of their own." on a roll as the champion of women. >> if you see something on tv, wait a minute, somebody like me can do that? >> and why it's not so easy

being nice. >> you lose a sense of yourself. it becomes, i have to take care of everybody. and remembering the formidable angela lansbury, star of stage, screen, and tv. how she wanted to be remembered. mornings are our time, and i couldn't let stiff joints slow me down. so i started taking osteo bi-flex every day because it has joint shield... ...clinically shown to improve joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex - available at your local retailer and club. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein.

♪

good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, there are four weeks to go before the critical midterm elections. and big-name republicans are standing by embattled georgia senate hopeful herschel walker. now the former nfl star is trying to set the record straight on recent allegations against him. here's abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: herschel walk er who's long been known for his strength, speed, and agility on the football field is now training for perhaps the most grueling competition of his life. what's more difficult when you're training for a debate prep, or for a championship game? >> debate is hard. only reason it's hard, because you never know what direction they're going to go in. >> right, that's true. but on a football field, you don't either. >> football field, you got another person. doesn't matter where you go, i got to get him out of the way.

>> reporter: friday walker will face off against incumbent democratic senator raphael warnock in the first and only scheduled debate between the two. >> there's going to be a debate. and i told him to quit running from me, quit running. because i will catch you. >> reporter: the stakes in georgia are incredibly high. this senate race could potentially tip the balance of the senate, and an early october surprise has been keeping walker in the headlines. >> herschel walker allegedly paid for his ex-girlfriend to have an abortion. >> as a candidate, opposes abortion with no exceptions. >> reporter: an explosive report by "the daily beast" and later "the new york times" alleges walker paid for the cost of an abortion for an ex-girlfriend in 2009. according to those accounts, she says walker encouraged her to get a second abortion two years later, but she refused, and now has a 10-year-old son with walker. abc news has not independently confirmed the reports. i know initially last week, you were saying you weren't sure who the woman was. >> which is true. >> at this point, you know who she is? >> yes, yes.

>> did you ever have a conversation with this woman, at any time, about an abortion? >> no. >> did you ever, to your knowledge, give money to pay for the cost of an abortion? >> no. >> is she lying? >> yes, she's lying. yeah, she's lying. yes, she's lying. >> and just to be absolutely clear, i know in the past we have said sometimes that there are things you don't remember. in this situation -- >> that was -- that was before -- that was like, what, 20 years ago? yes. >> so in this current situation -- >> yes. >> -- are you saying a flat-out denial to any knowledge of an abortion? or -- >> flat-out denial. >> -- is it possible it happened and you don't remember? >> flat-out lie, lie, lie, lie. what's sad about it, they had, what was it, a receipt, had a check, had all that. hadn't shown anything. hadn't shown me saying something about an abortion. that's what's terrible. >> this same woman says that you have a 10-year-old son who you've only seen three times. is that true? >> uh, well, that's not true.

i've seen him a little bit more than that. but that's one of the things i don't get into. because they make it difficult for me to see him. and that's one thing i say i won't do. when he's young, i'm not going to sit there and make his life miserable for this. >> reporter: we met up with the father of four at an atlanta gym. >> all i know what is i'm supposed to do, go out and represent the georgia people. >> reporter: many republicans in washington are standing firmly behind the 60-year-old in the wake of the controversy, applauding his outspoken stance against abortions. tell me about your position on abortion. >> my position, i'm -- i'm -- i'm pro-life. i believe -- i believe in -- i believe in life. i'm a christian. i believe in life. >> in the case of incest or rape or the mother's life is at stake, if she brings the pregnancy to full term? >> yes, the georgia heartbeat bill accounts for all that. that's what i said. it's the democratic process of the people. that's what i've said.

i say, guys, i believe in life. i'm a christian. >> reporter: his oldest son, whose name is christian, says his dad is a liar. >> i've been silent lie after lie after lie -- >> reporter: a conservative influencer with a large presence on social media says every member of walker's family begged him not to run in the first place. christian says, though, that you're an absent father. do you disagree? >> i love christian. and that's what's so funny. i love christian. and -- and i always will love christian. >> but i don't think anybody's questioning your love for your son. >> well, they know i've been with my son through everything. and that's what i'm saying. you know, christian was someone that was in this same area where i was at. so i was with him every minute of the day that i could be. >> reporter: another potential obstacle on the road to victory is walker's turbulent past allegations of violence or threats by three women, including ex-wife cindy, resurfaced. >> with regard to christian, he talked about the atrocities

against his mother. your ex-wife, cindy. but you have no violent tendencies at this point? >> never have. christian -- that's what's so sad. never have. >> reporter: our bob woodruff spoke to cindy and herschel in 2008. >> he got a gun, and he put it to my temple. >> put the gun right to your temple? what did he say? >> i'm going to blow your effing brains out. >> do you not remember something like that? because you think that was another alter? or do you want to get out of having to talk about it? >> no, no, no, no. if i can tell you -- i'm talking about everything else. if i can remember, i'll talk about it. >> reporter: in 2008, walker attributed his behavior to his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder. he now says he's symptom free. for the people who are concerned about your mental health, obviously you've been very public and talked about your dissociative identity disorder. do you still have that? >> no -- well, you're always going to have it. you're always going to be --

everyone has a mental challenge. right now, you know, do people know about redemption? do people know about overcoming? i've overcame so much in life. that's the reason i'm the best senator out there, because i know how to get up, and i don't sit there wallowing, and i take responsibility for who i am. >> do you have any symptoms of it? >> no, no. you don't have to have symptoms. i think that's the problem people have. you know, they don't understand it. and i have helped so many people. because people have demonized mental health. and i will always be a champion for it. i think that's the problem. people have demonized mental health. people have challenges that they don't think they can get help from, so they hide it. they don't need to hide it. i let them know, you don't need to hide it. you can go get help. >> reporter: early on in walker's campaign, he received the backing from former president donald trump, a man he calls a family friend. the two have a relationship that spans several decades. >> herschel walker has got

everything, and we love herschel. come up, hers >> sd that donald trump is a mentor for you. in what way? >> i've known donald 40-something years. not just as a politician. i don't know him as a politician. i knew him as a man. i knew him as a father, as a businessman. so you know, i looked at what he was doing, i said, oh, i can do that. >> let me hear, herschel walker, come on, get it out! >> why did side to run? >> i've been blessed. i think anyone been blessed in america and sees what's going on, don't try to stand up and speak truth, don't need to be in this country. right now this country is hurting and when god has blessed you, you've got to give back and bless others. >> reporter: coming from humble beginnings, walker grew up in the small town of wrightsville, georgia, one of seven in a christian household. he describes his childhood as tough. he says he took setbacks and turned them into success. >> i've come from some tough, tough times.

i grew up with nothing. i know how it is to be poor. i grew up this stuttering little fat kid who god picked me out of this little town in middle georgia, i've been all over the world. i've met people, more money than i've ever seen in my whole entire life. one thing i don't like, when i see my family, and i call all of america my family, when i see them hurting, see them fighting, divided. and it's coming from washington. coming from our leaders. >> reporter: just four weeks away from the election, the latest polls indicate warnock has a slight lead in this razor-thin race. senators attended an event to show support for the senate hopeful, but some of walker's credentials and qualifications have been called into question, including claims he graduated at the top of his class that he trained with the fbi, and the overall success of his business. you don't have the experience in

politics. what would you point to for people to say, you can trust me, you can elect me as your next senator, because? >> you can trust me because i've shown it time and time again. time again.en myself time and - through my business experience. i have proven myself through the athletic world. you know what i've competed on the highest level in everything i've ever done, the highest level on everything i ever done. you can't lie your way through that. you have do go out and prove it through hard work, and that's what i've done. >> you're really passionate about this. >> i am. i told everyone -- i'm not running because i want to be a senator. i'm running because i'm sick and ti tired. people are dying. people can't eat. because of the people in washington what they're doing to people. and then they lie. this is not a new normal. let's get it straight.

this is not a new normal. >> the emotion that you're feeling, what is that? where is that coming from? >> that comes from me being a competitor. i work. i'm ready for this. i'm ready for this. >> our thanks to linsey. up next, my interview with geena davis. her love for acting and how her "thelma and louise" costar changed her life. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections,

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passionate about her work off screen. trying to make hollywood more inclusive. a role the actress has worked tirelessly on for decades. thank you so much for making time for us. we are grateful for your time. "dying of politeness," you write about being an advocate for inclusion and equal representation in hollywood. is the industry doing better? can it do better? >> it can definitely do much, much better. but i'll tell you, the topic that we really focus on in my institute is on-screen representation. because, you know, if you see it, you can be it. if you see something on tv, you say wait a minute, somebody like me can do that? i'm going to try it out too. so, i mean, that absolutely works. and i realized that kids were seeing very imbalanced worlds from the beginning. if we change what kids see first, make it more inclusive

and all that, then, you know, maybe we can cut down on the unconscious bias that we have. >> you mention there that geena davis institute on gender and media, which you received an emmy for, an oscar for your groundbreaking work in research. your research has shown that audiences have an appetite for diverse faces, people over the age of 50. what do you make of the success in movies like "the woman king," "jamie lee curtis' "halloween," that you see older women as the lead character, strong characters in movies? >> well, it's fabulous. i love it. if there's a lot of strong female characters on streaming now, streaming shows, which is very exciting. but it doesn't show up yet in the data. because in the latest study we did on age, we found that only 20% of characters in films are 50 or over. and -- but only 5% are females

who are 50 or over. so i think people go a lot by anecdotal evidence. >> sure. >> that happened with "thelma and louise." people said, oh, now everything's changed. you know. but you know, the progress is still slow. >> speaking of "thelma and louise," this iconic movie, as you said, it was seen to be, ah this will be a game changer. it felt like it did change for a moment. but maybe hollywood, as other parts of society, regressed a little bit? >> it was interesting because that's what the press all said. this was going to change everything. the next movie i did, which was "a league of their own," they said, "now we're going to see so many female sports movies." and i was like, wow, i can't believe i'm part of these movies! but it never caught momentum. and i think the reason it hadn't is there was this unwritten rule, this law in hollywood, that women will watch anything,

but men won't watch women. so we've got to make everything about men. because we know the women will watch also. and it turns out they were completely wrong. because then women drove to see "captain marvel," "wonder woman," all of that. >> raise my hand, for sure. susan sarandon, and you, like so many of us, was raised to be polite, that she gave you permission that you don't have to be that all the time? >> she showed it. she never talked about it. just in the way she moved through the world. i never really spent time with a woman like that, who is not apologetic about what she's saying. you know what, i kind of like to say what i think. or, maybe let's do this. she just says, "let's do this." "this is what i think." >> and it changed? >> yeah. i really -- it was like, a

revelation to me to watch her interact with people and see that nobody was freaking out. but she just says what she thinks. she's lovely. she was perfectly wonderful to work with. but -- so it changed. i had a lot of regression, you know. but i built back up again, yeah. >> she helped you get in touch, as you write in the book, your inner bad-ass? >> yeah, yeah, exactly. >> oscar winner, world-class archer. fair? >> yeah. >> nearly made the olympic team. fair? author, mother. what's next? >> my goal is to just get more great parts and act. i mean, acting is my thing. i have a lot of other interests, and i can amuse myself if i'm not working on a movie or whatever. but i just want -- i don't want to be a director or whatever, i love acting. >> your many fans admire you also because you are so gifted.

we are grateful. thank you, ma'am. >> thank you. >> geena's memoir "dying of politeness" is out now. when we return, a look back at the life of a legendary angela lansbury. yeah. that's half the fun of a new house, seeing what people left behind in the attic. well, saving on homeowners insurance with geico's help was pretty fun too. aww, it's a tiny dancer. wow, they left a ton of stuff up here. ♪ ♪ welp, enjoy your house. nope. no thank you. geico could help you save on homeowners and renters insurance. ♪♪ biofreeze. the number one clinician recommended menthol topical pain relief brand. works fast. lasts long. cool the pain with biofreeze.

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♪ finally tonight, angela lansbury. her career spanned seven decades. broadway honored her with five tonys. on television she was probably best known as jessica fletcher in "murder she wrote." and a new generation will remember her voice in "beauty and the beast." ♪ a tale as old as time ♪ ♪ song as old as rhyme ♪ >> angela lansbury once said she wanted to be remembered as someone who "gave you entertainment, gave you joy and laughter to use." angela lansbury was 96. a life well lived. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.

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