I am reminded of what my friend, michelle obama, advised us all. When they go low, you go high. Trump also going after those deleted emails, vowing to prosecute his opponent if he becomes president. Youd be in jail. The candidates squaring off in one of the most tense political debates ever. Our Powerhouse Political Team is here this morning. Breaking down this Pivotal Moment of the race to the white house, on this special edition of gma. And good morning, america. Boy, it was harsh. It was personal. Downright nasty. 29 days before the final votes, Hillary Clinton, donald trump, now done with the darkest president ial debate ever. It was also the most tweeted one ever. 17 million related tweets sent during the hour and half. The buildup to the debate dominated by talk of the leaked tape capturing trumps lewd comments. Which made it tense right from the start. Look at this. Nods from the candidates. No handshake. Two people who did, the spouses. Melania trump and bill clinton. And there was that moment early on, trump threatening clint with jail if he were elected. We have never seen anything close to that before. And as expected, both sides claiming victory. Both were celebrating once the event ended. Donald trump sharing this photo with his family, and Hillary Clinton all smiles after the showdown. Our Martha Raddatz joins us. After moderating the debate. We have Team Coverage. So lets start with jon karl flying here to kick off our coverage. Good morning, jon. Robin, even for this campaign, last nights debate represented a new low. This was the nastiest, meanest, most personal president ial debate we have ever seen. Reporter even before the first words were spoken, that nonhandshake made history. The first time thats happened in a president ial debate. From there, it got ugly. Over that 11yearold video thats rocked the trump campaign. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that . No, i didnt say that at all. I dont think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. Im not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologized to the american people. Certainly im not proud of it. Reporter clinton speaking out on the tape for the first time. He has said that the video doesnt represent who he is, but i think its clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is. Its just words, folks. Its just words. Reporter and after days of buildup, trump went there. Dredging up bill clintons sex scandals. Even inviting clintons accusers to sit in the front row. You can say it any way you want to say it, but bill clinton was abusive to women. Hillary clinton attacked those same women. When i hear Something Like that, im reminded of what my friend, michelle obama, advised us all. When they go low, you go high. [ cheers and applause ] reporter trump then turned his attack to Hillary Clintons emails. If i win, im going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Because youd be in jail. Reporter a Heated Exchange that quickly boiled over. Its just not true. And so please you didnt delete them . Allow her to respond please. Those were personal emails not official 33,000 . Well, we turned over 35,000. What about the other 15,000 . Please allow her to respond. I would like to get to the questions that the people have brought here tonight to talk us to about. And get off this question. Okay, donald. I know youre into big diversion tonight. Anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way its exploding and the way republicans are leaving you. But lets at least focus on some of the issues. Lets see what happens. Please let her respond. Reporter their first town hall encounter was a contrast in styles. Clinton taking vigorous notes from her seat. Trump pacing, glaring, and sniffling. At one point, trailing clinton around. They clashed over trumps admission that he used loopholes to avoid paying taxes. Of course i do. Of course i do. She complains that donald trump took advantage of the tax cut. Well, why didnt you change it . Why didnt you change the tax code when you were senator . I was a senator with a republican president. Oh, really . I will be the president who will get it done. If you were an effective senator, you could have done it. Under our constitution, president s have something called veto power. Reporter they clashed over a clinton admission in a paid speech. That politicians need to say one thing in public and another in private. As i recall, that was something i said about Abraham Lincoln. After having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie, i was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the congress to do what you want to do. She lied. Now shes blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. Thats one that i havent heard. Okay. Honest abe. Honest abe never lied. Thats the good thing. Thats the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. Reporter then, a political shocker. Trump disagreeing with his own running mate, governor mike pence. I want to remind you what your running mate said. He said, provocations by russia need to be met with american strength, and that if russia continues to be involved in air strikes along with the Syrian Government force of assad, the United States of america should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the assad regime. Okay. He and i havent spoken and i disagree. Reporter the debate was defined by insults and interruptions. It came to a surprising close when the candidates were asked to name one positive thing about each other. I respect his children. His children are incredibly able. And devoted. And i think that says a lot about donald. She does fight hard. And she doesnt quit. And she doesnt give up. And i consider that to be a very good trait. Reporter those compliments finally leading to the handshake at the very end of the debate. Before the debate, trumps own running mate, mike pence, harshly criticized him for what he said on that 2005 video clip. As you heard, trump bluntly disagreed with pence during the debate. When it was all over, pence tweeted his congratulations to trump saying, quote, proud to stand with you as we make America Great again. Yeah, he put the rumors to rest. A lot of talk over the weekend about whether mike pence should go to the top of the ticket. Among top republicans, and when donald trump walked on that stage last night, his campaign and his party were in a state of crisis. Dozens of gop state officials vowing not to vote for him after that leak. Abcs tom llamas has more on that from st. Louis. Did trump do enough to stop that exodus . Reporter well, well know in a few weeks, george, good morning. Donald trump took the debate to a whole new level last night. He decided to move forward with a topsecret plan the campaign felt would divert attention from the recording scandal. Donald trump came into the second president ial debate with a trick up his sleeve. These four very courageous women have asked to be here. And it was our honor to help them. Reporter less than two hours before the showdown, Trump Inviting reporters to his hotel to show off his special guests. Actions speak louder than words. Reporter among them, three women who have accused former president bill clinton of Sexual Assault and harassment. The republican nominees counterattack to the access Hollywood Tape that had him bragging about sexually assaulting women. When youre a star. They let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab them by the [ bleep ]. You can do anything. Reporter the tape leading to an exodus of elected Republican Leaders dropping their support and increasing criticism from his own party. At the debate, Trump Inviting the women to sit with his family in the front row of the debate hall. And pointing them out on live tv to the country. Theres never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation thats been so abusive to women. So you can say it any way you want to say it. But bill clinton was abusive to women. Hillary clinton attacked those same women. And attacked them viciously, four of them here tonight. Reporter clinton chose not to address the women. Putting the focus on trumps own record. We have seen him rate women on their appearance. Ranking them from 1 to 10. We have seen him embarrass women on tv and on twitter. Reporter but trump, who now says he supports bill clintons accusers, had a different view when clinton was in office. Take at look at what he said in 1998. I dont necessarily agree with his victims. The victims are terrible. He is careful here. He is really a victim himself. But he put himself in that position. Reporter two of the women telling me after the debate they did not feel like they were being used by trump. Do you think donald trump used you as a political prop today . No. Not at all. You dont think you were there to scare Hillary Clinton . I dont feel if i felt that way, i wouldnt be here. Hillary clinton is a fake feminist. A champion of women does not attack the victims of Sexual Assault. Period. Reporter now both bill and Hillary Clinton have denied those accusations. One of the accusers told me last night after the debate, she was not paid to be there, but the travel costs were covered by the trump campaign. Robin . All right. And the Clinton Campaign is reacting to Donald Trumps attacks overnight. And his decision to bring up and invite women who have accused bill clinton of Sexual Assault. Abcs cecilia vega also in st. Louis, and what are you hearing from the clinton camp . Reporter yeah, robin. Let me just list for you some of the words clintons aides are using to describe trump and what he did. Desperate. A side show. An attempt to distract. Hillary clinton was on the Campaign Plane overnight. She spoke to reporters. Her husband, bill, was on the flight, as well. She was asked whether she was surprised by trumps tone, and what was said and who was in that hall last night. Nothing surprises me about him. I was surprised by the absolute avalanche of falsehoods. I i really find it almost unimaginable that someone can stand and just tell, you know, a falsehood after a falsehood. Reporter now, one aide told me before she took the stage, Hillary Clinton was well aware of the possibility that these women could be inside the hall. She was ready for whatever was coming her way. They are chocking this up to donald trump trying to intimidate Hillary Clinton, and everybody who knows her knows that doesnt work with a candidate like her, robin. Jon karl mentioned this. A lot of discussion on twitter last night about how close donald trump seemed to get to Hillary Clinton on stage. What is her campaign saying about that . Reporter her not letting this one go. In fact, Hillary Clinton herself said she could feel the proximity of donald trump behind her. One aide called his proximity menacingly stalking her on the stage. But look, guys. There was no love lost on the stage last night. You know it started without a handshake. Thats how it started. It sure did. Cecilia, thank you. Want to bring that to Martha Raddatz. She was right there last night. On the debate stage as the comoderator. Thank you for joining us. Great job last night. But, you know, were all talking about this. You were only a few feet from those two candidates last night. Give us a sense of what it felt like to be that close. Reporter well, i think first of all, george, and you have been in these situations before. You dont really know what to expect. But particularly last night, you didnt know what the candidates plans were. We knew what had happened with the Clinton Accusers right before the debate, and that happened right before we walked into that hall. But it was that lack of a handshake from the very beginning when they came together, but didnt shake hands. You knew you were in for a long evening. We were it was very easy to see mr. Trump following secretary clinton around. You could feel that in the room. The other thing that we forget is this was a town hall. There was an audience there. There were people asking questions. Who were hearing these exchanges and they had to be somewhat surprised. I want to ask you about that, as well. You were so close to the questioners, as well. Could you sense any reaction from them to any of the big moments in the debate . Particularly the moment where donald trump talked about a special prosecutor and clinton being in jail . Reporter well, i think obviously, we were going to focus on the candidates, but when i looked around in between when the candidates were talking, the people were staying very still. They did not want to be on camera with any surprised looks, but i think there was a lot of surprise from the audience and what was said during that debate. We talked to the people before they went out there. They were nervous about who would get called on. They thought they were ready for everything. Im not sure anybody was ready for that. I think youre probably rite about that, martha. Let me bring in matthew dowd. This debate last night breaks new ground in president ial races. The big question 29 days out, what difference did it make . Donald trump went in behind. Did he put himself back in the race . Thats the thing. Unlike christopher columbus, theres no new world discovered in this. Its like poker. When you have a chip lead, which Hillary Clinton does, a pretty significant chip lead, you have to start taking her chips back. In this debate, though donald trump did better than he did the last time, he didnt take a single chip from her stack. So when you go into a debate with a lead and you come out with a lead, that actually is a win for Hillary Clinton. His number one job last night may have simply been to stop the bleeding on the republican side after the dozens of defections over the weekend. I actually think this could be the worst Case Scenario for the Republican Party in this. Because what happened last night is donald trump did well enough to keep other republicans from leave, but now those republicans who didnt want to be stuck with him are stuck with him for the remainder of the campaign. You think the defections stopped for now . At least 24 hours. We dont know what will come out in the next few weeks. Matthew dowd, Martha Raddatz. Theres been early voting already. Does that affect one over the other . Or help one candidate over the other . I think, robin, thats important to keep in mind. This is not a debate that is going to be decided on november 8th. Its being decided now. As long as Hillary Clinton maintains a lead in these days, even if donald trump closes the gap in the last few days, she could win this race right now. Well have more discussion. We move on to the massive cleanup effort from hurricane matthew. The deadly storm claiming at least 900 lives in haiti. Here in the u. S. , at least 22 people have died. In North Carolina, they are now facing devastating flooding. Abcs matt gutman joins us now on the ground in wilson. Good morning, matt. Reporter good morning, robin. Im here are wilson fire and rescue, and they say the worst is not over. This water has continued to rise. It has been 36 hours since the last drop of rain. Now the flooding hasnt been this bad here for over to years, and these folks consider themselves the lucky ones. With its last gasp, matthew pounded the carolinas with wind, rain, even fire. The storm blew transformers in charleston. Its rain was relentless. The morning, whole towns submerged. 14 inches in fayetteville. Thats three months of rain in just 24 hours. Its the worst flooding since hurricane floyd nearly 20 years ago. The water sending rivers over their banks and bursting at least two dams. As the sun rises in North Carolina and the blue sky returns, our state is facing major destruction. And sadly, loss of life. Back up. Oh, my god. Reporter 21 lives lost. Five still missing. Most of them swept away in cars. Forcing rescuers into the storm. More than 1,000 rescues. Shes standing on top of her vehicle, guys. Reporter this woman in red perched on her car as rescuers approach. Notice the bundle under her arm. Thats her baby. Scooped to safety by rescuers. Its okay. Reporter this man holding on to that yield sign for dear life. The National Guard plowing through the waters, rescuing this woman. So many people caught off guard by the ferocity of this storm, streets have become fastmoving rivers here. More than 3,000 still in shelters. And over a million still without power in the south. And now the water is just over. Reporter blake smith is among those newly homeless. We accompanied the father of two toddlers as he returned home. Im sorry, blake. Oh, my god. Whoa. Reporter now were not out of the danger zone yet. Officials are monitoring additional drams that could breach, and get this, robin, there are 3. 5 Million People living under flood warning. The weather is improving here. Robin and george . Thank you. Were thinking of you and were thinking of all those impacted by matthew. We go to ginger with more on the flooding. Thinking of all those and the Emergency Responders which did so much work in