this is "nightline." >> tonight, trump on the brink? >> they let you do it. >> the skating backlash to newly leaked reportings of donald trump making lewd comments about women. the presidential candidate characterizing the moment 11 years ago tonight further damage control. >> i said it. i was wrong. and i apologize. plus, a ground-breaking arrest. the ceo of what authorities call the world's top online brothel. backpage.com. charged with multiple counts of pimping a minor. "nightline" confronting him months ago. >> underage girls are trafficked on backpage.com, your company --

at 15 years owes telling her story. >> how often did you work? >> every single day. monster storm. hurricane matthew wreaking havoc up the east coast. destructive flooding and exploding power lines. mass evacuations and states of engine declared across several states. but first the "nightline 5." >> hey, guys, what's up? >> the new recipe of beneful is really excellent. the first ingredient is chicken. >> wow this chicken is spectacular. i because he would try to put his face in it all day. you love it so much! i feel he turns into a puppy again. it's protein, vegetables, grains. that sounds like a dinner i'd make for myself. >> it's a big bag, just have some of my opinion. >> beneful now with real chicken as the number one ingreed yent. >> number one in just 60 seconds. when i was one year old, i was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer on my spinal chord.

"i don't know what i said, ah, i don't remember!" "that reporter he is talking about suffers from a chronic condition that impairs movement of his arms." i don't want a president who makes fun of me. i want a president who inspires me, and that's not donald trump. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. i'm maggie hassan, and i approve this message. nothing matters more than our security. that's why i hired more state troopers... ety. support aggressive action to destroy isis... and put our security before my party-- opposing president obama's plan to close guantanamo. narrator: all while kelly ayotte supports reckless and dangerous donald trump. and ayotte skipped nearly half her homeland security committee hearings on border security and drug trafficking.

good evening. th thanks for joining us. donald trump's presidential campaign in turmoil, facing withering political fallout and harsh criticism from top gop brass. republicans calling his leaked vulgar recorded comments about women indefensible. and inexcusable. after dismissing it as locker room banter, late tonight a rare vowing to fight on. here's abc's nick watt. >> reporter: late tonight, donald trump posted this apology on facebook. >> anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who i am. i said it. i was wrong. and i apologize. >> reporter: here's why. >> down below, pull the handle. >> reporter: it's 2005. donald trump pays a visit to the set of "days of our lives."

>> nice to see you. >> reporter: notice their audio is good, we hear everything. you see trump and billy bush were miked before they arrived. so let's roll the tape back and listen to what they said before getting out to meet actress ariana zucker. >> sheesh, your girl's hot as [ bleep ] in the purple. yes, yes, the donald is good! whoa my man. you've got to look at it. >> who sets thi >> you've got to give the thumbs up. >> i've got to use tic-tacs in case i start kissing her. i'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- i just start kissing them like a magnet. i don't even wait. when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> yeah, those legs, all i can

>> come on shorty. >> nice legs, huh? >> reporter: shake hands, say hi -- >> are you ready to be a soap star? >> let's get ready. >> how about a little hug for the donald? >> absolutely. melania said this was okay. >> there we go. excellent. we don't yet know who gave the tape to the "washington post." tonight strong reaction from both sides of the aisle. >> you have paul ryan saying it's sickening. you have inappropriate. at what point do they say, enough? >> reporter: republican senator kelly ayotte in a statement, his comments are totally inappropriate and offensive. democrat barbara box over twitter, beyond vile and disgusting. mitt romney also on twitter, hitting on married women, condoning assault? such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt america's face to the world. >> this is the true donald

married. the exultant way in which he says these offensive and almost predatory things, i think it will shock a lot of the people when they hear it. >> it's just -- i mean, it makes me sick to my stomach. >> reporter: hillary clinton tweeting, this is horrific, we cannot allow this man to become president. >> the story is a problem because it is offensive to a lot of different types of voters. vote there's donald trump is going to need in just weeks. and it's also the october surprise that this >> reporter: an abc news/"washington post" poll taken september 25th, before this video leaked, showed trump trailing clinton among female voters by 19 points. >> he needs moderate voters, undecided voters, female voters. >> reporter: mr. trump issued a statement, this was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. bill clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course, not even close.

bill clinton. i don't think that is really a smart strategy. but at this point, when the campaign is really in crisis levels, it seems like the only strategy they can grasp at. >> reporter: brandon morrow's take of the san diego padres, i've been around locker room banter, those are a few of the guessi disgusting things i've heard a man say. >> locker room banter occurs in locker rooms with 15ea 25-year-olds. not 68-year-old men making comments about women's looks. >> donald trump apologized. >> we know donald trump does not like to apologize. it does seem he had somewhat of a pressure from his damn pain to respond swiftly. >> reporter: not enough for some. tonight republicans, congressman jason shall have vets, governor gary herbert, both from utah, pulling their support. in trump's defense, bill o'rei o'reilly, anti-trump forces

where trump talks about women and sex, what happens when you run for potus. trump has a potty mouth, seen while the senior statesman of the dem party is a serial rapist. i apologize is not a phrase the gop candidate uses often. he recently explained his poll 80 policy. >> i think apologizing as great thing but you have to be wrong. >> reporter: mr. trump has demonstrated a potentially damaging tonal problem when it comes to speaking about women. take his spat like fat pigs, dogs, slobs -- >> reporter: when she raised his treatment of women. >> there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> reporter: at the first presidential debate mrs. clinton raised alicia machado, a miss universe win where mr. trump owned the franchise. >> he called this woman miss piggy. then he called her miss housekeeping because she was latina.

>> her name is alicia machado. >> where did you find this? >> she has become a u.s. citizen and you can bet -- >> oh, really? >> she's going to vote this november. >> okay, good. >> reporter: donald trump doubled down on fox. >> she was the worst we ever had. she was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem. >> reporter: this hot mike moment on the bus -- >> you can do anything, grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> reporter: this isn't the first time w the "p" word. he used it in reference to ted cruz. >> she said, i'd never expect to hear that from you again. she said, he's a [ bleep ]. that's terrible. terrible. >> reporter: trump retweeted what he seemed to think was an unflattering photograph of cruz's wife alongside a picture of his own spouse. and on another primary opponent, carly fiorina, he allegedly told "rolling stone" "look at that face, would anyone vote for that?"

camp has expoited. >> i'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers. >> reporter: fund-raising e-mails highlighting these comments. >> i moved on her and i failed, i'll admit it. i did [ bleep ]. she was married. >> reporter: tonight on the trail trump's veep nominee mum on the matter. >> how do you respond to bragging about groping women -- >> this has been a critical stretch in his campaign, a campaign in crisis, the only thing that could turn it around is a really amazing debate performance on sunday. >> reporter: that debate, town hall style encounter, is sunday night. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in los angeles. >> of course you can watch the second presidential debate between donald trump and hillary clinton live on abc sunday night at 9:00 eastern with our very own arth may raddatz.

of what authorities call the world's top online brothel and confronted him over allegations of underage sex trafficking on his website. now he's under arrest. with bipolar depression, and it's tough. it leaves me feeling sad and empty. it makes it hard to be there for the people i love. so i talked to my doctor and she prescribed latuda. there are many forms of depression. latuda is fda approved to treat bipolar depression in clinical studies, once-a-day latuda was proven effective for many people with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles and confusion,

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with its racy online listings, the website backpage.com has long been targeted by loft as a hub for prostitution bookings. the ceo of the site has been, up to now, untouchable. when "nightline" confronted him months ago he argued his business is protected by the first amendment. but tonight a ground-breaking

>> reporter: today, karl f ferrare, ceo of backpage.com, the man behind what authorities are calling the world's top online brothel, facing criminal charges for the very first time. >> it is incredibly unique. there are thousands of children who will not be sold, to be raped by adults off of that website. >> reporter: similar to craigslist, backpage is a classified ad site. but with racy adult technically legal services that law enforcement has called thinly veiled code for prostitution. >> the majority of children sold for sex in the united states today was trafficked using backpage. >> reporter: now ferrara's charged with multiple counts of pimping a minor and conspiracy. the moment that tom has been waiting for. >> he's just as accountable as the pimp that sold her, in my

natalie, when she was in seventh grade. >> when i grow up i'd like to be a doctor. >> reporter: they are the sweet dreams of a seventh grade girl. but what lay ahead was a nightmare her parents never saw coming. >> it took everything from that little girl. >> i live in an american town, how can my kid be sold on the internet? >> reporter: a few short years after this video was taken, the 15-year-old, who we'll call natalie, would be sold for sex. >> han think you had during that time? >> over 150. >> over 150? >> yeah. >> would that have been possible without backpage? >> no way. >> this valuing ga led natalie to join a major lawsuit against backpage with other girls like her. today, natalie is 21 years old and a mother herself. why your decision to speak publicly? >> i don't just do it for myself. i do it for other families.

before she made the choice that would change her life forever. she ran away from home. >> a pimp picked us up and took us to his house. and then that's when i got raped for the first time. >> you were a virgin? >> yeah. >> reporter: this first traumatic encounter sent natalie down a dark path that eventually led to this man, 32-year-old berudi hobson. she says he was kind, offered her a place to stay. but soon the changed. >> he'd ask me if i had ever worked before. then he told me that i wouldn't be on the streets. that's when backpage came into play. >> reporter: through ads titled "well worth it, $150 an hour, it won't take long at all," natalie started earning $4,000 a weekend for sex, handing over all the cash to hobson. >> how often did you work this. >> every single day. >> it tore our family apart. >> reporter: natalie's father tom would spend his days driving

desperately for his missing girl. >> day after day, yeah. >> reporter: later, natalie's parents found out she wasn't even on the streets, but being sold online. >> you're thinking, okay, how many of these is she having to answer? how many times a day is my child being raped? >> reporter: backpage, based in dallas, says they voluntarily put in place a multi-tiered system for screening ads employing moderators, a filter for key words, a user-reported flagging system. 2012he >> online child exploitation exists and the best tools to fight it are also online. and backpage.com is currently one of the very best cools to fight it. >> age 18 -- >> reporter: seattle's police department vice squad tells us they find underage girls listed on backpage all the time, including natalie. who they rescued in a hotel sting set up through her backpage ad 108 days after she went missing.

instantly i saw storms of cops outside. i remember meeting detective buy buyer. . >> reporter: detective guyer formed a special bond with natalie. hobson, sentenced to 26 years for promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor. today detective guyer is still on a mission with seattle vice squad. they've agreed to take us inside a backpage sting. we're here so see what happens when you post suggests an underage girl is involved. the detective creates an ad for an 18-year-old named angel adding the mention of"guyounger friend." >> you can figure out what they want as far as that goes -- [ phone ringing ] >> we've gotten calls nexts, they're really coming in. >> reporter: earlier this year, "nightline's" quest to find the ceo behind all these ads took us

seemed to be running other escort sites here, ooun eerily similar to backpage called cracker. ferrara has turned down our interview requests so we came here, we found there's a conference he's scheduled to attend. karl ferrara is an active member of the classified ad industry. he attends a networking conference every year. it dent take long before we spot him. >> karl ferrara? hi, we've been looking for you. news. >> yeah? >> we want to ask a few questions. >> oh, i'm -- >> law enforcement tells us that underage girls are trafficked on backpage.com, your company. >> no comment. >> we saw a real-life example of this last week -- >> i'm sorry. >> you're a father what would you want to say to him? he wants to know why this is going on. >> please -- >> initially when he saw us he said hello, how are you? as soon as we brought up law

said he didn't want to talk to us. but now he's facing even tougher questions. the california investigation found that backpage committed a crime by earning revenue from prostitution. and soliciting clients. and because of his alleged role, ferrara faces up to 22 years behind bars. his defense attorney says he's looking forward to his day in court. >> mr. ferrara looks forward to vigorously up. >> reporter: tonight backpage attorney liz macdougal sent "nightline" a statement saying prostitution ads violate backpage.com's policies and backpage.com removes ads when contacted by law enforcement. for at least one young woman and her family, today brought gratitude and they say for the first time peace, after so much pain.

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she's a slob. she ate like a pig. a person who's flat chested is very hard to be a 10. does she have a good body? no. does she have a fat [expletive]? absolutely. do you treat women with respect? i can't say that either. kelly: you know me. not from thousands of false, negative ads- but as your first female attorney general- as your senator, i'm fighting for equal pay and against workplace discrimination, to expand access to birth control, strengthen and preserve medicare, and i reached across the aisle to protect access to mammograms. i approve this message because after all the false, negative ads, i'm still the kelly ayotte you know-

finally tonight, hurricane matthew still menacing the southern coast with life-threatening storm surges. abc's eva pilgrim is reporting from inside the storm zone. >> reporter: hurricane matthew continuing to wreak havoc, pummeling the florida coastline. >> you see just how bad it has gotten -- >> the category 2 torrential downpours and powerful winds up to 110 miles per hour. in haiti the death toll soaring. the storm leaving close to 300 dead. here in st. augustine, florida, devastating flooding. >> more than 1 million without power in florida. we are part of that group. we're staying in a holt, no power here. you can see they used glow sticks to light the way to the hallway. >> reporter: the storm's dangerous center as it moves north. states of emergency declared in georgia, south carolina, and

melbourne and vero beach too. in its aftermath, water taking over the town, swallowing park benches, streets, tearing up roots and tearing down trees. over 3 million fleeing their homes from florida up the north carolina coast as matthew sets sights on georgia. >> thanks to eva pilgrim. we'll keep tracking the storm and political turbulence tune into "good morning america." as always we're online at abcnews.com and our tom: now at 11:00, breaking news -- the death of a toddler now under investigation in hampton. the charges the child's step-father is facing tonight. commitment 2016. donald trump under fire again. the lewd comments he made about women nearly a decade ago now surfacing. hayley: sunshine, clouds and

when those showers move in and the updated track of hurricane matthew. tom: as matthew moves north, a look at the path of destruction being left behind. announcer: no one covers new hampshire like we do. now, wmur news 9 tonight. tom: 11 on this friday night and we have breaking news tonight out of hampton -- police now investigating the unattended death of a 19-month-old. good evening. i'm tom griffith. that child's step-father is now facing charges in connection to the death. wmur's cherise leclerc is live tonight in hampton with the breaking details. cherise: tom, 30-year-old leo witham is facing three criminal charges tonight, but police have not told us what led to the charges or how the toddler died. authorities say the 19-month-old was found dead inside an apartment at 86 ashworth avenue on wednesday. witham was arrested today on endangering the welfare of a