senator john mccain, a former p.o.w. >> he's not a war hero. he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, i hate to tell you. he's a war hero because he was captured. >> reporter: the blowback was intense again. trump dropped six points from an abc "washington post" poll to 18% support in a cnn orc poll. but still, he held on to the top spot among all the republican candidates. and his numbers quickly rebounded. the next month trump had women up in arms with this bizarre comment about fox debate moderator meghan kelly. >> you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> reporter: trump later denied he was referring to menstruation. potential voters must have believed him, because he held steady with support from about a quarter of gop voters, before and after the remarks, according to fox news polls. in september, mr. trump made disparaging comments about carly fiorina, his own female republican opponent,...