from both ends if is "nightline." >> tonight, give me my daughter. the man at the forefront of a custody battle with huge implications for father's rights. his infant given up for adoption by her birth mother without his permission or even his knowledge. >> what went through your mind? >> is she safe? >> how the deceit unfolded over text message and his emotional fight to get his baby back. plus, he's on trump's heels. dr. ben carson is about to go toe to toe with the gop front-runner at tomorrow night's big debate. he is surging in the polls right behind donald trump. we're with him on the trail as he prepares for this face-off and even in the old operating room where he faced some very different challenges. and the fantasy football fight. hundreds of millions of fans will spend hundreds of dollars apiece this season hoping they'll be the next one to

strike it rich. why critics want to crack down on this. but first, the "nightline" 5. >> do you suffer from constipation or irregularity? trust dulcolax. dulcolax stool softener makes it smoother. designed for dependable relief. it's from daddy. >> i love you, baby girl. >> duracell quantum lasts longer than 99% of devices so you can always be there. number one in just 60

seconds. good evening. we begin here tonight with the story of one father fighting to get his daughter back under extraordinary circumstances.

his girlfriend delivered the baby and put her up for adoption without telling him. my "nightline" coanchor juju chang shows us what this dad did next and how his actions are father's rights. >> sometimes all you can do is cry. you know? that's all you can do. >> reporter: unlike many fathers when chris emanuel remembers his daughter's birth, it feels him with pain. >> missing out on the first moments of my daughter's life, not see that first touch, that first hug, you can't put it into words of how you feel. you know, you can only imagine. >> reporter: me missed those precious moments because his girlfriend secretly gave birth without telling him, texting him this picture of her baby bump eight days after she delivered. >> all of them were lies. >> reporter: there was another agonizing twist. she had already put baby sylar up for adoption without his permission.

what went your mind? >> is she safe? not knowing where my daughter is and who got her. you can only imagine how i felt. >> reporter: so began a harrowing legal batting for emanuel to win his baby girl back, navigating the thorny legalities of father's rights, all while skyler's living with an a adopted family. >> my daughter was stole from me. so i asserted my rights but my rights were stripped of me. >> reporter: it was three years ago when emanual met skyler lease mom at work. he now refers to her as an egg donor. they started off as friends. >> this is where the egg donor actually met. we worked at a manufacturing company driving forklifts. i love the fact that she would communicate. communication skills. >> reporter: they texted all the time. affectionate messages soon turning flirtatious. three months later emanuel was overjoyed to learn he was going to be a dad. >> i was happy. who wouldn't be happy? that was my first child.

at that tape i was like, i'm going to be here. we're going to do everything we have to do. talked about moving in. let me meet your parents. i want your parents to see the type of person i am. >> reporter: emanuel knew under no uncertain terms her parents were dead set against him. even racism. >> hearing racism but actually feeling it is totally different. just like being punched in the stomach. when we left she reassured me we would continue to raise our child together. >> reporter: her mother says emanuel is a liar. she said she disapproved of the relationship not because of the color of his skin but because he didn't have a job. his girlfriend started a eded avoid meeting in person. >> she would say that her mom was coming. i didn't need to come. why can't i come to the doctor appointment? if i can't come to the doctor appointment i can't think about

missing my child's birth. >> reporter: her behavior raised red flags for his tight knit family. four months before the birth his half sister and best friend suspected his girlfriend might give the baby away. >> i said, i don't think the egg donor is keeping the baby. he was like, no, she is, we're going to get married and we're moving in together. they had plans. i said, okay. but i still went home and started researching, started looking up father's rights in south carolina. >> reporter: south carolina is one of at least 25 states that has what's called a responsible father registry. unwed dads can sign up to be notified if their child is put up for adoption but very few people know about the list. in his home state 30,000 children were borne out of wedlock, yet less than 300 men signed up. the problem is if you don't register you could end up losing your parental rights. >> it can be used by lawyers for perspective adoptive parents to

say, the person hasn't filed, hasn't put their name on the list, then we're free and clear to move forward with this adoption. >> reporter: at first emanuel didn't want to sign the registry, but when his girlfriend failed to show up at a family planned baby shower he got nervous. >> he called me up one day and said, hey, sis, what was that website that you and joe were telling me about. he said, i'm going to do it right now. >> reporter: days later a knock on the door. and shocking news. papers showing emanuel's girlfriend had given birth a week earlier and had given their daughter to an adoptive family in another state. >> the only thing that mattered was me getting my daughter. >> reporter: emanuel refuses to give up his rights and immediately confronts his girlfriend who admits the deception. you misled me. you played me. you lied to me numerous times. i can't take back what i've done. emanuel rush toes contest the adoption and hires attorneys. >> how critical was the fact if he registered? >> if he hadn't signed up for

the registry he would have never known about this. no other recourse. he would have had no way of knowing. >> reporter: ironic twist, it's baby's skyler's mixed race that gave emanuel's girlfriend a loophole. on old south carolina law only allows difficult to adopt children across state lines. only kids 6 or older or with physical, mental, or emotional disability, or in skyler's case, mixed race. >> what dad is not supposed to be there for their child? the greatest aspect a child can have is their father's protection. >> reporter: but the out of state adoptive couple were lied to as well. told the baby's father was out of the picture. they sent emanuel a heartfelt e-mail describing it as a last plea from desperate adoptive parents who love skylar with all of their hearts, assuring him he would go to the best schools. >> what was your reaction to them? >> nobody can love my daughter the way i can. you can't take me from my daughter. give me my daughter. that's all that mattered.

>> reporter: although she wouldn't talk to abc news, in the letter to the court emanuel's girlfriend said she felt she could not provide for them and skylar would be better off with the adoptive parents, in a loving, devoted, and stable home. how tough a fight is that for an unwe'd father? >> it's surprisingly hard to prove that they wanted the child. there used to be this presumption that if you wanted to be a father, you would be married. >> reporter: what emanuel did have were pages and pages of texts that he says prove he was an engaged and devoted dad to be. and that his then girl end from deliberately lied to him about his daughter's birth. after three long months the court made its decision, granting full custody to emanuel. >> yay! >> reporter: now a single dad, raising her with an enthusiastic asortment of about sunts, uncles and grandparents making team skylar.

jennifer says the out come of emanuel's custody bat is rare. she says in most adoption cases dad's rights are often ignored what ch is why emanuel is starting a foundation and talking to media outlets like "the atlantic." >> fundamental rights, the right to part is a fundamental right. it can be trampled on easily in these scenarios. >> in your opinion what makes, you know, the right family for skylar? >> in my opinion the biological family should be the first choice to raise children, if they're fit and willing. i don't think somebody who has money is going to raise a child doesn't. >> reporter: two weeks after the judge granted emanuel custody the adoptive parents reluctantly south carolina. >> she's my baby. >> what was it like to hold your daughter for the first time? >> i felt a breath for the first time, seeing her eyes, seeing her touch. it was like -- i lost a part of me. i felt whole again. having my daughter for the first time where she's supposed to be.

it's a moment that is -- irreplaceable. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm juju chang in south carolina. up next here on the campaign trail and inside the o.r. with dr. ben carson who is chasing donald trump in the polls and will be standing right next to him tomorrow night at the big republican debate. proof of less joint pain. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis from the inside out ...with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage and clear skin in many adults. doctors have been prescribing humira for nearly 10 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis serious,sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common,

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in many ways he's the opposite of donald trump. dr. ben carson is soft-spoken, not a big fan of verbal trench warfare, but tomorrow night dr. carson who has emerged in the polls as trump's main competitor will be standing right there next to the donald as the republicans meet for their second debate. nbc takes us on the trail and inside the o.r. with the doctor. >> this the the hottest thing out there. this hat. >> reporter: it's a campaign at times pulling out more like a reality show than a race for president. >> i'm here for a certain reason. you know, it's called tomorrow night. >> reporter: on the eve of the hotly anticipated second gop debate, entrenched front-runner donald trump ready for the attacks against him.

>> how is the debate prep going? >> very good. >> reporter: there is one guy giving him a run for his money, from out of the shadows a new challenger emerging. nearly neck and neck with trump in the latest polls. >> debates are coming up, are you nervous? preparing? what are you doing? >> it's not brain surgery. >> reporter: retired brain surgeon would know. >> of course, you know, i prepare every day. and i'm learning more things every day. >> reporter: a "new york times"/cbs news poll released this morning has ben carson fully established as number ber two candidate within striking distance from trump. >> do you worry you may trip or something? >> no. >> reporter: "nightline" was with dr. carson on the trail just days a ss ago in contexas. >> that's what i call a texas welcome. >> when you come out to a rally like this, what's going through your head? >> i haven't really even thought

what i'm going to talk about. that will all come to me when i get up there. >> you just basically go extemporaneous? >> yes. >> reporter: surprising admission from a man from planning surgeries but one who speaks to his growing appeal among republican voters as a political outsider. >> do you have lines that you go to that you know are applause lines? >> no. >> not really? >> no, i don't, really. i've watched politicians do that. that doesn't appeal to me. >> reporter: it was however a surprising zinger that helped him being a standout on fox. >> i'm the only one who separated siamese twins. >> reporter: and the moment some believe his campaign really took off. >> the only one to operate on babies while they were still in a mother's womb, the only one to take out half of a brain although you think if you go to washington that someone had beat me to it. >> this is going on the interior frontal. >> reporter: abc news was in the

operating room in 1999 filming for a special "hopkins 24/7" when dr. carson successfully removed half the brain of a 4-year-old girl who suffered debilitating seizures. >> making life and death decisions and profound decisions that affect the quality of people's lives is an awesome responsibility. >> reporter: a statement with a certain kind of residents for a man looking to become president. >> everything went very smoothly. no problems whatsoever. so the operation is all done. all your prayers worked. >> what was that like? >> i never, through all of those years, 15,000 operations, lost my awe of the brain. every time i would take off that cranial bone and open the door and there would be the brain. i would say, wow, that's the thing that makes this person who they are. and i'm also fascinated still by the fact that, in a child, we can take half of that out and

they can still function normally. >> hold your head up? yeah. see? >> does being a surgeon give an advantage over the other people you're running against in this race? >> one of the things that we learn in medicine is to make decisions based on evidence as opposed to ideology. i like to know what things have worked. i like to know what things have not worked. you know, i like to look at history. and i believe a tremendous amount of information can be gained from that. >> reporter: the candidate of hard facts is also a candidate from hard knocks. >> as a youngster growing up the thing that i probably hated more than anything else was poverty. >> reporter: his upbringing in detroit, michigan, now a source of strength, was once marked by teenage rage. >> one day when i was 14 years old, another youngster with doing something that i didn't like -- >> reporter: here in a 1990 video carson tells a group of young people how a moment of

violence in his childhood cemented his faith. >> i happened to have a large camping knife on me. nd and i grabbed it and tried to stab him in the abdomen with it. figured i would put him out of his misery. well, fortunately under his clothing he had on a very large metal rotc belt buckle. that knife blade hit that belt buckle and broke, and he took off. you know, i was even more horrified than he was because i recognized at that moment that i was completely and totally out of control. and i started praying and asking god to take that temper away from me. >> reporter: so it's easy to see how today carson is unfazed when his faith is questioned by donald trump. >> he characterized you maybe as conservative. what do you say to that? >> i would say the record speaks for itself. i don't think people have to go system has been. >> reporter: carson hoping to

turn around the country like he turned around his life, a case he will try to make on that debate stage. for "nightline" in los angeles. coming up next here as more than 50 million americans buy into fantasy football season why some critics are calling for a crackdown. [ music playing ] hey! let me help with that. oh, thank you! [ laughing ] [ music continues ] introducing the one-and-only volkswagen golf sportwagen. the sportier utility vehicle.

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day fantasy sports with winning life changing amounts of cash. >> if you watch football you definitely seen the ads. >> pick your team and get your cash winnings after monday night. >> reporter: promising to turn monday morning quarterbacks into millionaires. daily fantasy football. you pick your dream team and, win or lose depending on how your players perform. >> the leaders in daily fantasy have grown exponentially and people want to play daily fantasy. this is the instant gratification world. >> reporter: for the nfl it's a money maker. fantasy players watch more games, not just their home teams, and watch them longer. but critics say it's gambling and ought to be treated as such. one congressman now wants to hold hearings. >> how is it any different than sports betting? why, because you call it fantasy? >> reporter: fantasy sports have been around forever. in the '40s jack was obsessed with fantasy baseball. today plenty of celebs get into the action.