Trump says he regret comments that may have caused "personal pain"

For the first time Donald Trump expressed regret for saying things that may have hurt people.

"Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that,'' the GOP nominee, reading from prepared text, said at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, "And believe it or not, I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.''

The remarks came as Trump makes significant changes to a campaign that has struggled since the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions from self-created distractions. Earlier on Thursday, Trump moved to invest nearly $5 million in battleground state advertising to address daunting challenges in the states that will make or break his White House ambitions. He also shook up his campaign in recent days, tapping a combative conservative media executive, Stephen Bannon, to serve as CEO of the campaign.

Election Day is 81 days away, with early voting in the first states set to begin in five weeks and the trump advertising plans highlight his shrinking path to the presidency.