in new york city, this is "nightline," october 12th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. it is a new england hamlet best know for beaches and blueberry fields. but tonight, kennebunk, maine, is reel iing over. the exercise instructor at the center of the case allegedly kept a secret list that now threatens to expose over 100 clients. and if they start naming names in a town of only 10,000, oh, you can imagine the impact. here's abc's john schriffen. >> reporter: she's a zumba instructor with an alleged side business. 29-year-old alexis wright, seen here in this video for her now shuttered zumba dance studio. wright is at the center of a sex scandal that's shaken this quiet new england town to its roots. complete with alleged sex tapes and a potentially revealing and devastating list of client names. this week, she was charged with over 100 counts of prostitution and vags of privacy. >> not guilty. >> reporter: along with her alleged business partner, 57-year-old mark strong. >> not guilty, your honor. >> reporter: we want to her house today. hello? anybody home? but -- yo

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," one-on-one, the vice presidential debate. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, a feisty on-stage showdown as vice president joe biden and his republican challenger paul ryan went head-to-head for the first and only time, with time running short here. the stakes and the tension seemed especially high, you a new polls showing a spike in support of mitt rom near after president obama's stumble in last week's debate. so, here's how it all went down tonight. >> vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan. >> reporter: from the get-go, this was a sharper, livelier debate. >> if you do harm to america, we will track you to the gates of hell. >> what we are watching is the unraveling of the obama foreign policy. >> reporter: joe biden and paul ryan came ready to rumble. ryan, the intense young gun. biden, the wily elder statesman who grinned like an old possum as he listened to ryan's attacks. then came right back at him

i'm bill weir. thanks for being with us tonight. well, it was the same, short walk she took to her colorado grade school every morning. but last friday, 10-year-old jessica ridgeway never made it to her fifth grade classroom. the only clue, her school bag found six miles away. as police search door-to-door, in a town under the microscope. her family speaks out for the first time. and abc's clayton sandell has the latest from colorado. >> reporter: this is 10-year-old jessica ridgeway, horsing around a few months ago with a home video camera and the family dog. >> that's the camera. see? >> reporter: tonight, the video has a special urgency. it was released by colorado police because jessica is missing. and today, for the first time, her parents are speaking out. >> it's the worst thing i've ever been through. >> reporter: the fifth grader vanished last friday, while walking the short distance between her home and her elementary school. >> you don't hear anything. and then, you get the pit in your stomach that you don't want any pare

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 18th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, we begin with a look at airport security and what's on the other side of those security lines. big, crowded airports like miami international, the pressure of delivering 100,000 stressed out passengers safely to their destination every day makes for no shortage of human drama, as my co-anchor bill weir discovered. >> reporter: let's say you're on a flight into miami. and the guy next to you comes completely unhinged. >> sir, i need you to take a seat right now. >> i paid a lot of money for this seat. >> reporter: while you watch flight attendants struggle for control, what you'll never see, what you ever see is an airport the size of a small city spring from defense to offense in a blink. bolds move as word spreads. >> all right, guys, go ahead. it's on you. >> reporter: from pilot to tower, where intense eyes flick past the 1,500 camera feeds to find that corner of the runway kn

bill weir in erie, pennsylvania. and cynthia mcfadden in new york city. this is a special edition of "nightline." "the perfect storm." october 29th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden in new york. tonight, a deadly storm unlike any this city has seen before. for the first time since 9/11, all bridges and tunnels leading in and out of manhatt hathattan closed down. the city remains eerily dark and quiet tonight after a massive superstorm left half the city without power and partially under water. the historic storm continues to wreak havoc up and down the atlantic tee board from the carolinas to connecticut, claiming at least 13 lives and kaing blackouts and snow storms across the east coast and midwest. terry moran and bill weir will be joining us live from cape may, new jersey, and lake erie, pennsylvania. >>> first we turn to our colleague abc's juju chang who spent the day reporting in lower manhattan and comes to us now from the city's flooded streets. juju, what's the latest? >> reporter: i have to tell you new york felt like a city under si

i'm bill weir. here's a question, do you believe in heaven? various polls find that somewhere around 80% of americans do, but a harvard-trained brain surgeon wasn't so sure until he spent a week in a coma and came out with an incredible description of the afterlife. my co-anchor, terry moran, has the story. >> reporter: a mild afternoon in lynchburg, virginia, and eben and holly alexander are at a high school soccer game cheering on their 14-year-old son. they are a perfectly ordinary family with an extraordinary story. they have been touched by a medical miracle and maybe more. >> i mean, it was impossible after impossible after impossible. >> reporter: eben alexander, a harvard-trained neurosurgeon, who was a skeptic when it came to religion,survived a near-death experience, and he now carries the memory of what he says was a journey to heaven, a journey that all his scientific training cannot explain. on november 10th, 2008, eben awoke with a searing headache. when his wife holly checked in on him, he was having a tremendous seizure. >> i s

but the elderly farmer, whose farm is upstream, has put up a weir so that he can water his ownield. major contributor to disputes over water rights is a lack of set rules over, and controls on, water use. unfortunately, the canals are often not properly managed. water should be flowing through this canal. another major problem is the amount of war lost to leaks in the system. in one village near dikhatpura, the water table has risen due to seeping water out of the canals. this village, formerly subjecto droughts, now has problems with boggy soil. a third problem which has accompanied the rise of the water table is salinization. on salt posits build up, fields become all but useless for farming. this kind of damage can be seen in villages all over india. geographer takeshi stresses how critical water management is to india's future. ( takeshi speaking japanese ) translator: while the development of a stable supply of water is critical for the development of agriculture, it also plays a crucial role in the development of any region and the lives of the people who live there. i believe

." >>> good evening, i'll bill weir. well, it's been three years since general motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and for the once-mighty company, rising from the ashes of a government bailout, has included some severe self-reflection, including a top secret automotive torture chamber. for the first time, gm is giving us a peek at how they smash or bash a new model long before any critic can. and abc's elisabeth leamy is the one to take us behind the scenes. >> reporter: it's like hazing for cars. engineering as an extreme sport. these are the tests the leaner, meaner general motors is putting its vehicles through. tests the public has never seen before. we had unprecedented access to the gm proving ground, one of the most secretive sites in the automotive world. our tour guide on the wild ride is james bell, gm's new head of consumer affairs an audacious choice because he spent years slamming automotive companies as a journalist, once callinged cadillac cim m arron a real letdown. >> reporter: gm is the car company

. >>> good evening, i'll bill weir and for those who salivate at the very sight of a drive-thru window, it sounds like a dream gig or scam. get paid thousands of dollars simply to chow down on greasy burgers or taco combos, once a day, every day for three months. but this was a real dp perexper a jufrpg food binge in the name of science y some people get diabetes or hypertension when they gain and some don't. here is john donvan. >> two sausage buttery burr ti- >> a number three. >> he goes to the drive-thru. again and again. and again. >> thank you very much. >> and why? for science. dave giocolo is a guinea pig of sorts. back up a few months, put dave in his car and here was the heaad he heard. >> this study includes a short term high coalorie diet and the diet program. >> reporter: offering to pay people to add fat to their own bodies, adding an extra meal each day, 1,000 calories worth of fast food and a lot of people came forward. like dave. a salesman. >> once i got into work i called right away and i tried to e-mail them. >> reporter: for what? research. >> you can see this is x

just a week until election day my co-anchor bill weir reports from swing state country, youngstown, ohioter: sandy maybe 50 miles outside of pittsburgh but she is dropping a full assortment of meteorological misery from georgia to wisconsin. on the west virginia/midborder in the form ch snow, enough to turn nearly 50 mielt was interstate into a treacherous parking lot, expecting 14 inches of this in north carolina. wheen mile in cleveland, storm scarred the rock and roll hall of fame before churning up waves on lake michigan enough to set records and force folks from their midwestern homes. and the fact that all of this is playing out a week before election day could make sandy the mother of all october surprises, an event big enough po push climate back into the political climate. and reframe the debate over the size of government, specifically the size of federal disaster relief. >> you can't always solve all of the problems yourself but you can make the difference in the life of one or two people. >> reporter: it looked like a campaign stop in battleground ohio mitt romney deliberatel

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. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, bill weir and tonight, juju chang in new york city. this is "nightline," october 25th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm juju chang. tonight, it's a distressing thought. but internet porn may be replacing sex ed for kids in the digital age. a shocking percentage of pre-adolescent children are being exposed to cyber porn. it fills parents of pre-teens like me with dread. and add to that those explicit lyrics in hip hop and suddenly, the facts of life are x-rated. ♪ i can bed your rock >> reporter: it's lil' wayne in "bedrock," makes the vulgar seem normal. listen to winnifred, who is 12 years old. ♪ i can make your bedrock >> reporter: does she understand what she's singing? >> yeah, we did realize how obscene it was, but we did, we got it, we knew what we were saying. when i can reach into my back pocket and basically pull out some porn, it's so easy and you can't really blame a bunch of children for not understanding how to deal with that. >> reporter: she told us lewd lyrics are the least of it. whe

. >>> weir getting new information about last month's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in leb ya. the white house, state department, fbi, they were all informed a militant islamic group claimed credit two hours after it began. it raises confusion on the part of the obama administration to determine the nay clur of the attack and this who planned it. a white house spokesman said it was just one peels of evidence that came in after the attack. >>> gambling companies are spending big bucks to get you to vet on expanded gambling. so far companies have spent $50 million campaigning for and against it. that's more than the 2012 maryland's raise, previously the most expensesive race in the -- expensive race in the history. >> and this is a slap in the face. find out why a massage par already wants to slap you silly to make you more beautiful. >> we talked to the man who cracked jfk's state of the art security system. we'll find out how he did it coming up. how does it brew such great coffee? well, inside the brewer are these green fields of coffee, actually, i just p

. >>> good evening, i'm bill weir. what kind of person bullies a vulnerable child online? most parents with an internet connection realize how naive that question sound, in this age, and the relevant question is what kind of person ridicules a child's memory after she takes her own life? tonight a family doing just that, after a three years of hell that began with their 12-year-old a web cam and one bad decision. he >> reporter: this is 15-year-old amanda todd's desperate call for help. in this video of high school student details three years of torment, bullying and even she says, classmates beating her up. three weeks after posting the video on youtube, she committed suicide. since her death this video has viewed more than 17 million times. why do you think it is that she snapped and felt the only way out was to take her life? >> she had so much going on, just had engh. >> reporter: he death was a culmination of a three-year nightmare, twhaun started when she ventured on to a web cam site when she was 12 but the shocking thing, her death didn't end the bullying, as she t

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," one-on-one, the candidates debate, october 3rd, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, a high stakes showdown as president barack obama and mitt romney took the stage in denver to go head to head for the first time. an estimated 60 million americans tuned in to watch this critical moment in an often contentious presidential campaign with the election just 34 days away. crucial swing voters still undecided. with romney trailing in the polls, time running short, tonight could be his turning point. here's how it went down. they came out, shook hands, ready for the main event. but president obama began soft, very soft. a shoutout to the first lady. >> i just want to wish, sweetie, you happy anniversary and let you know that a year from now, we will not be celebrating it in front of 40 million people. >> romney graciously followed suit with an easy quip. >> congratulations to you, mr. president, on your anniversary. i'm

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 5th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. you might find them going door to door in a neighborhood near ewe. young men in shirts and ties, hoping to convert people to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. one of the fastest growing religions in the world. this work is part of a demanding two-year right of passage, a journey once taken by mitt romney. abc's bob woodruff brings us this look inside. [ knocking ] >> hi, how are you doing today? >> we're missionaries from the church -- >> reporter: the two-year mission is a right of passage for most young mormon men. >> have you ever seen missionaries in this neighborhood before? >> reporter: there are 55,000 missionaries, serving around the world. and the church allowed our team rare access into their world for two days. of door knocking, teaching -- >> called the vision of the tree of life. >> reporter: and community service. >> i am a mormon. >> i'm a mormon. >> reporter: morm

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 4th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. well, tonight, there may be a secret cash cow parked in your driveway. because that old car may actually be worth thousands of dollars more than you think. when it comes to selling your own car, some quick, easy, do it yourself tips could help you increase the price, and there's a lot more to it than just hanging up a gas station air freshener in there. abc's sharyn alfonsi brings us the best strategy for selling your old wheels. >> reporter: meet the gross family. brian, his wife lauren, dog layla and that's their baby, who often gets into the car through the trunk. doesn't take long to figure out why they need to sell their car. >> it's a disaster. >> reporter: so, if your wife wanted to get in here she would have to sit like this, right? she would have to be, like, in the fetal position. the blue book value for the car is $9,000, but a local car dealer offered him four. he thinks it's worth

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 26th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, millions of americans are bracing for impact, as hurricane sandy rapidly approaches, threatening to morph into a rare superstorm as it barrels up the east coast. abc's ginger zee of our extreme weather team is on the ground in florida with the latest. >> reporter: as hurricane sandy rumbles through the atlantic, just a few hundred miles from the east coast, its path of destruction has already killed at least 30 people across the caribbean. from space, you can clearly see the size of this thing. it has tropical storm force winds extending almost 300 miles. it's shield of clouds stretching almost 2,000 miles. the storm is far enough away that florida will escape the brunt of the danger, but what we can't escape is beach erosion. the search punding up and over. this should not be happening right here. the beach usually starts about 50 yards out. through the weekend, sandy will snake

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline." october 10th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. thank you for joining us. the presidential race is tightening this week with polls shifting in mitt romney's favor as president obama's widely criticized performance at the first presidential debate. my colleague diane sawyer spoke with the president in the first television interview since that night. to find out what happened on stage. >> that debate, what happened? >> well, governor romney had a good night. i had a bad night. >> how bad? >> well not the first time i have had a bad night. but i think what is important that the fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed. >> we are told you watched it split screen. >> uh-huh. >> did you? >> well i watched it afterward. >> was it painful to watch? >> no. look -- diane, i have got to tell you that these are marathons they're not sprints. >> is it possible you handed him the election that night? >> no. >> you are going to win? >

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 17th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. these days in hollywood, the baby bump is one of the most photographed fashion accessories. and after the baby arrives, news celebrity moms flaunt their taught arms and tight abs. but does all this attention hold women to a new and impossible standard? that's what one young mother thinks. and she is fighting back. here's abc's juju chang. >> reporter: there's a new breed of mom on the play ground. just weeks after giving birth, she's back in skinny jeans and six-inch heels. dubbed mom-shes, they're a hybrid of mommies and bombshells. from gwyneth paltrow to beyonce. they seem to be everywhere. >> these women who have infected our minds and you think about them all the time. when you look in the mirror, you say, why don't i look like jennifer lopez, jessica alba? >> reporter: as the former editor of "us weekly," janice helped give birth to the mom-shell with the glossy body after baby spreads.

here is abc's bill weir. >> reporter: sandy may be 50 miles outside of pittsburgh, but she's droppingl assortment of meteorological misery from georgia to wisconsin. on the west virginia/maryland border it comes in the form of snow, enough to turn 50 miles of interstate into a treacherous parking lot. they're expecting 14 inches of this in north carolina. meanwhile, in cleveland, the storm scarred the rock 'n' roll hall of fame before churning up waves of lake michigan, high enough to set records and force folks from their midwestern homes. and the fact that all of this is playing out a week before election day could make sandy the mother of all october surprises. while it looked look a campaign stop in battleground ohio, mitt romney deliberately stepped off the stump to accept relief donations and encourage more, but he avoided questions about his previous stance on the role of fema. meanwhile president obama stayed in washington to visit the red cross and attend briefings, coordinate governors and utility ceos. >> i think he has handled it well. >> reporter: either a compassionate d

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, bill weir, and tonight, cynthia mcfadden with diane sawyer in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," october 19th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, my colleague and "world news" anchor, diane sawyer, joins us with the latest in on ongoing abc news series, hidden america. this one, from the streets of chicago. diane, the powerful report we're about to see really takes us inside what can only be described as a hidden american war zone. >> it is true, but we want to say at the outset, as we know, chicago is simply a great city, filled with wonderful people. but as we're going to show you, there are some areas, where small children really do live, as we said, in a kind of battle zone. so, listen to this number. at least 419 people were killed this year, across a dozen neighborhoods in chicago, and that is more than all the u.s. troops killed in afghanistan this year. the cause? rival gangs, creating anarchy. and, so, "nightline" and "world news" decided to try something different,

. >> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline." one on one, the final presidential debate. >>> good evening. i'm terry moran. tonight, the highly anticipated final round as president barack obama and republican challenger mitt romney took the stage to go head to head in the last presidential debate. this is a crucial night, and it could tip the scales in a deadlocked race. a final side by side-comparison with just 15 days left now until the election. and millions of early ballots already being cast, so here's how it all happened in florida tonight. the two men who would be president squared off for the last time in the homestretch of a race that could not be any closer. this time, in boca raton, florida, swing state turf and this time sitting across from one another. you could sense the urgency of the moment. >> i thought it should have been 5,000 troops. i thought it should have been more troops. but you know what? the answer was we got no troops through whatsoever. >> and leadership