i decided to run and 25 years in the military than serving this country and i continued serving in a different investigating war crimes in ukraine.

the election coming up was critical. i decided to throw my hat in the ring and things worked out. like your brother who made so much years you were born in ukraine and tell us how you came to america. >> we are identical twins. we have an older brother. the five of us, my dad and my brothers and grandma came to 1979 with less than $800 between us and didn't speak a lick of english and former soviet receive fewees from soviet ukraine. we moved to new york city, ethnic neighborhood in brighton beach and grew up there. working class family. my dad for the first eight months didn't speak any

english. and he still has this little notebook where he learned 10 english words a day and passed a technical engineering exam. we grew up and went to public universities and first cans, all three of us served in the military to return the favor in gratitude to country and served in uniform. >> what did this experience teach you? >> hard work. the value of patriotism and love of country. i worked with people of all walks of life. didn't matter, black, white, hispanic, we all serve and we love this country and frankly some of the most patriotic people i work with are immigrants who had the opportunity to come here whether

as refugees or as immigrants and it was a wonderful experience. >> let's talk about 2019, the name vindman is connected with that phone call between thrum and president zelenskyy. where were you at the time and what happened? >> i was a deputy legal adviser and lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house on a detail. and the chief ethics official and so i worked right across the hall from my twin brother and he had the portfolio of russia-ukraine belarus and mall dova and listened to the president's attempt at extortion and he reported directly to me.

we talked about it briefly and we had a duty to report that call and the rest is history. >> what did that episode teach you about washington? >> there are lessons still to be learned. but for us, that phone call was a duty if we had not reported that phone call, we would have been deer like that in our duty. what it taught me, there is no place in washington, even if it is national security, politics does not come into play. that's what i learned. >> that long experience in the army and trump white house at the time how did it prepare you for this particular new role? >> the experience in the army was the best operation because every two, three years we have a

new assignment and thrown into a path where you may have not done the job ever before. i was a prosecutor as a jag officer deployed to iraq and commanding officers in the field on war issues, working at the white house on national security council. so being resilient, adaptable, doing your homework and putting in the hard work to understand an issue and struggling through what the right answer is. i think all of those experiences prepared me. leading troops, stepping out and leading all those were great experiences. >> were you always a democrat and what does that affiliation mean to you? >> i came from a working class family. my dad was in a union and those

benefits to make sure our immigrant family, three boys, our step mom joined and step prots as well, and four of us that had the benefits in order to survive the scrapes and broken bones we had. that opportunity we had is the type of opportunity i want to provide to my family and every american family in virginia's congressional district. i talked about education and integrity and hard work. but you know, from my time in the military, politics is not a huge factor. i worked for democratic and republican administrations. and i care deeply about this country and national security and that's what i am focused on. >> and what does your family

think about your job? >> i have a 14-year-old daughter and she told me i -- they can tell you what that is. this is something that students. i'm proud of her. and 20-year-old son, third year at william and mary. and married to my wife of 26 years and college sweethearts and after of decades we have made northern virginia our home. our kids have gone. what do you like to do in your spare time? >> spend time with the family. maybe skiing, but hiking