UPDATE - US: Trump on damage control after lewd comments

ADDS COMMENTS FROM HIGH-RANKING REPUBLICANS

NEW YORK (AA) - U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump apologized early Saturday in a video message, brushing off a 2005 audio and video recording in which he remarked that women as "nothing more than a distraction".

The video, revealed by The Washington Post, shows a conversation captured on a hot mic between Trump and television host Billy Bush as they arrived on the set of a soap opera.

Trump talked about preying on and groping women, asserting that "when you are a star they let you do it ... you can do anything, whatever you want."

Trump said in the video that he "aggressively moved on" a married woman, who is not identified, in hopes of sleeping with her. Then, as the pair get ready to meet actress Arianne Zucker for Trump's cameo on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, Trump says: "I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet."

The NBC show Access Hollywood revealed that the woman in question was Nancy O'Dell, a former host whom Trump reportedly tried to fire two years after his sexual advances.

The Republican candidate, who will be facing his rival Hillary Clinton in a second presidential debate Sunday, offered an off-hand apology shortly after the video emerged, but mounting criticism, including from his own party, forced him to issue a more substantive message.

"Anyone who knows me knows that these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize," he said. "I pledge to be a better man tomorrow, and will never, ever let you down."

Democratic presidential hopeful Clinton tweeted: "Women have the power to stop Trump".

The Republican candidate's wife, Melania, said his remarks were "unacceptable and offensive to me", while urging voters to accept his apology.

"This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world," the 45-year-old former model said in a statement.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a prominent Republican who endorsed Trump, said in a written statement he was "sickened” by the audio.

"Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified," he said, urging Trump to treat the issue "with the seriousness it deserves" while announcing that the Republican candidate would not attend a campaign event in Wisconsin where he is running for a House seat he has held since 1999.

Trump’s running mate Mike Pence withdrew from the appearance in Wisconsin, preferring to let Trump answer for himself during Sunday’s presidential debate about his sexually aggressive comments about women.

“I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them,” Pence said in a statement Saturday. “We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.”

Other high-profile Republicans were also quick to distance themselves from Trumps latest remarks.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called Trump's comments "repugnant, and unacceptable in any circumstance".

"As the father of three daughters, I strongly believe that Trump needs to apologize directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape," he said in a statement.

Trump, who owned the Miss Universe beauty pageant for a decade, is on record making derogatory comments against female high-profile women, calling them amongst other things "piggy", "slob", and "dog". He has also attacked women for being "ugly", and objectified them based on their appearance.

Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday condemned Trump’s comments he characterized as a “sexual assault”.

“The words are demeaning. Such behavior is an abuse of power. It’s not lewd. It’s sexual assault,” Biden said in a tweet.

High-ranking Republican lawmaker of Arizona, John McCain, pulled back his support for Trump.

“There are no excuses for Donald Trump’s offensive and demeaning comments in the just released video; no woman should ever be victimized by this kind of inappropriate behavior,” McCain said in a statement.

Noting his conditional support to Trump, he said he and his wife, Cindy, would not vote for the real estate mogul.

McCain, who was criticized by Trump for being captured as a hostage during the Vietnam War, said he supported Trump because the majority of Republican delegates sided with him.