this is "nightline." >> tonight, breaking news. in that nearly month-long armed standoff at the national wildlife shots fired on the highway, leaving one dead. and several arrests made after a confrontation with authorities at a traffic stop. ammon bundy, the leader of the in custody. plus -- trump's boycott. >> how many debates do you have to do? >> his campaigns opting out of fox's debate thursday. but he's still leading in the polls. and in his countdown to iowa getting endorsements from prominent more controversy pave

and the bikrams for sex al salt. one woman's courtroom victory. and i feel vindicated. >> in the sexual harassment suit joining a chorus oft the yoga teacher. but first, the "nightline" 5.

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there is late-breaking news as we come on the air tonight. a violent development in that oregon. the fbi and oregon state policermed militia who were occupying a wildlife refuge. traffic stop. shots were fired, and one person was killed.orities telling us tonight that leader ammon bundy is among those taken into custody. this comes nearly a month after bundy and other militants took over a remote refuge as part of a long-running public lands in the west. america" tomorrow for more developments on this story. and we turn now to another unexpected twist ahead of thursday's final gopowa caucuses. donald trump breaking up with fox news. iowa tonight. >> so i'm going to bedecision with fox. but i probably won't bother doing the debate. >> reporter: donald trump disrupting the gop race yet again.

debate before the lead-off iowa caucuses next monday. >> i'm going to have something else in iowa. we'll do something where we raise money for the veterans and the woundedng to do something simultaneously with the debate. >> reporter: and his campaign releasing this statement. "as someone who wrote one of the all time, the art of the deal, mr. trump knows a bad deal when he sees one." >> megyn kelly's really biased against me.oday trump posted this video to instagram, asking his followers to vote on whether fox news moderator megyn kelly would be fair to him in the debate. the cable network jokingly learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly him if he becomes president." but by this evening trump was fed up. >> how many debates do you have to do? >> in a free-wheeling press conference the goput against his party. >> the republicans go on forever and ever and ever with debates. >> reporter: and his favorite

>> i think she's a third raitt reporter. i think she frankly is not good at whahey could do a lot better than megyn kelly. >> reporter: he's perhaps still sore over this moment. >> you've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and als. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> reporter: >> no, it wasn't. your -- >> thank you. >> for the record, it was well beyond rosie o'donnell. >> yes. >> reporter: on her fox news show tonight she addressed trump's decision to sit out. >> in the months since mr. trump has repeatedly brought up that exchange as evidence of alleged bias on my part.was a tough but fair question. and we agreed to disagree. >> reporter: this after sharing with "vanity fair" in a recent

her, saying "he would sendings about me that he would just sign donald trump." but no amount of embarrassing stories or provocative remarks can slow trump's seepable momentum. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> idle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters. >> when mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they'ree i assume are good people. >> i don't think donald trump can say or do anything that can really hurt the peoplend him 100%. i mean, he hasn't shown to have a huge grasp of foreign policy. people don't care. he's been caught in blatant 't care. he's said incredibly rude things, racist things, sexist things.

debate? >> reporter: as time runs out before the first votes are cast, trump's republican competitors are intensifying their attacks. iowa. >> reporter: in iowa he's neck and neck with senator ted cruz. tonight cruz mocking his decision to skip the debate. >> apparently, megynly, really scary. you know, donald is a fragile soul. if he's unwilling to stand on the debate stage with the other candidates, then i would like to donald right now to engage in a one-on-one debate with me anytime between now and the iowa caucuses. >> hillary clinton i think is a terrific woman. >> reporter: this week cruz super pacs supporting him unloaded a barrage of 11th hour attack ads on the billionaire, his new york values.

so you know, my views are a little bit different than if i lived in iowa. about iowa? >> how stupid are the people of >> reporter: donald trump. new york values. not ours. >> reporter: but today a boost. trump scoring the endorsement ofr., the son of the late tv evangelist and the president of liberty university as well as controversial arizona sheriff joe arpaio. all coming high-profile republican endorsement last week. >> are you ready to make america great again? >> reporter: tonight on facebook sarah palin celebrated the video. >> his passion is the fabric of america. work ethic. dreams. drive. and faith in the almighty.r: yesterday cruz alluded to the fact you have a messiah complex. what do you say to that? >> i don't at all. no. i just want to make america great again.

trump's dominance over the otherdential candidates has remained solid since november. the latest national polls show him in first place by 17 points. another winner, the debates. with trump as the main attraction, this election's debate cycle hastimes as many viewers as debates in previous years. so when trump is a no-show at the debate on thursday, how many will >> for the other republicans that's really bad news. because while on the front end it may seem as if you don't have donald trump taking up all the oxygen, if you don't have donaldnot have all the buyballs either. >> get out and vote. >> reporter: what this 2016 campaign has shown so far is this is not typical, this is not normal, and donald trump ising from the fact that the american people are sick and tired of business as usual. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm tom llamas in marshalltown,> next, the founder of bikram yoga feeling the heat. under fire for claims of sexual assault. and later, we take you on board the coast of syria.

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he's one of the richest and most famous yoga teachers on earth. the controversial founder of bikram yoga, a style of hotlaims can revolutionize your spiritual well-being, your health, even your sex life. but tonight bikram choudhury ordered to paydamages in a harassment lawsuit and the woman standing to get tonight. here's abc's david wright. today -- >> please don't bother. >> reporter: one of the most successful yoga gurus in the everybody. >> reporter: in the yoga world he's a rock star. known by just one name.

his brand of hot yoga, 26 poses performed in 105 degree heat, synonymous with sweat. also hugely popular. feeling the heat. ordered by a los angeles jury to pay $6.4 million in punitive damages for sexual harassment, and gender discrimination. that on top of $924,000 in compensatory damages awarded just han $7 million awarded to one victim. i'm elated. >> reporter: attorney miki professional relationship ended when i was fired by mr. choudhury. >> reporter: jafa-bodden was general counsel to bikram's yoga college of india. she convinced the jury the yoga guru repeatedly sexually harassed her and subjected her to obscene comments about women. but she claimed she was fired after she started women's allegations of

>> perhaps the first one or two surprised me. but after i began to see a no longer surprised me, i'm sad to say. >> reporter: this is just one of half a dozen lawsuits against the flamboyant yoga guru who "nightline" first profiled in someone can look him in the eye and say no. and that doesn't matter.tudents and employees claiming he sexually assaulted or harassed them. >> i felt speechless because this was my of him as a father figure. >> reporter: "nightline" spoke with three of the women in 2014. >> i said please don't. you're a orld believes in you. he said, "i'm just a man." >> i never lie, never cheat. i never hurt another spirit. i'm the life.

interviewed bikram it was before any of these allegations had surfaced in dy there were rumors of inappropriate contact with students. i asked him about them. >> the hardest problem in my life, david, is stay awaymen. women likes me. and i have to run city after city, country after country, all my life to stay away from the r: he denied ever having any sexual contact with his students and followers. >> [ bleep ]. every women loves me. you know. you know, prime minister daughter. you know, billionaire's daughter. superstar. actress. actor. singers. but yogi supposed to be yogi. with the women. >> reporter: during the trial over jafa-bodden's allegations bikram strongly denied sexually assaulting any of the women. just as he didon from one of the other lawsuits against him. the plaintiff's attorney asking

>> you have had sex with of yours, correct? >> objection. argumentative. >> is that true, mr. choudhury? >> no. >> do you deny that? >> yes. >> reporter: but one of hiser told me that the very room in his mansion where bikram and i sat down for our interview is where he assaulted her. >> he raped you? >> yes.yes. >> in his own house? >> yes. >> his wife sleeping upstairs? >> correct. >> and his daughter sleeping upstairs. >> and his son. very long. he didn't use protection. he stood up, put his shorts back on, and went back into the other room, sat down on the couch likeed. >> reporter: authorities in los angeles have declined to press any criminal charges in any of the women's alleged claims. they'ren their own. bikram's wife of 31 years, rajashri choudhury, has since g

petra stark, the former president of his company, has resigned, too, filing her own lawsuit. at stake is a yoga empireorth millions. bikram was one of the pioneers of yoga in america, setting up shop in beverly hills back in the 1970s. his client list a who's famous. >> this is martin and me. >> reporter: now his yoga studios are franchised worldwide. a booming business he's of. >> why do you think americans are so fascinated by yoga? it seems like everywhere you go there's a yoga studio. man. his hobby, collecting cars. >> beatles make two movie with this car. >> reporter: back in 2012 he gave me a tour of his collection. rolls-royces. that his legal problems have taken a serious toll on his finances, putting him on the he told the court his car collection now belongs to the state of california.

his collection to become a bikram auto engineeringhildren so kids could learn about cars. for bikram's alleged victims today's jury award is a victo spoke with all will have their day in court later this year when their trials begin. >> what would you want to say to him now? >> i that i hope that he gets some help. >> reporter: today in los angeles this jury sending a. >> what i want from this first and foremost is he's never able to do this to anyone else and position that's being abused should feel strong enough to be able to come forward and speak out. >> reporter: and this was just list. i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. next, at the heart of th we journey to

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and finally tonight, as the war with isis escalates around the world, russia has joinedide of the besieged syrian leader. we take you to the front lines.

correspondent terry moran.ide a russian armored personnel character, tense and cramped, heading for the front lines in syria. the village of lies shattered after a ferocious battle two weeks ago. there's almost nothing left here. we walk the streets, past the ruins. rebels against the government of syrian president bashar al assad controlled this strategic ussian air power arrived. >> so you came in on the ground, and the russians were in the >> yes. >> yes. >> and now this is syria.yes. >> salma is yours. >> reporter: the nightmarish syrian civil war is now in its fifth year. a quarter million people have been killed here. homes. millions of refugees. and in this chaos isis was born.

and they are all in. more thanir strikes boosted the syrian troops here. and the battle continues. it's only been a few days since the syrian governmenttown, and we can still hear in the hills and villages beyond, mortar fire, small arms fire. those are the front miles away. in the three months since russia joined the fighting their air forces have turned the tide of battle. massive air strikes and cruise verized rebels and bolstered the assad regime. for decades a close moscow sea on board a russian destroyer, sailed out into the mediterranean, and saw just how much firepower moscow has committed to this effort. the russian missile cruiser ot cruise missiles on board. and it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria. it's sending a signal to the rest of the world about the

capabilities. russian air base in syria the jets are roaring day and night. the perimeter bristling with helicopter gunships.e spear of russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've flown more than 5,000 sorties targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shaped the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of er declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain, and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting hey accuse their forces of indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. we saw russian troops loading so-called dumb bombs, unguided very inaccurate. lots of potential for collateral damage. but when i spoke with russian general igor kornoshenkov, he issed the charge. "what civilian facilities are

"these are powerful groups of terrorists." one thing is clear. there is a new reality in ther. and it speaks russian. for "nightline" i'm terry moran, salma, syria. thank you for watching. tune in to "gma" as always we're online on our "nightline" facebook page and on abcnews.com.