[cheers and applause] this is "nightline." tonight, high stakes at the house impeachment hearing. historic first-hand testimony from those on that controversial call. >> frankly, i couldn't believe what i was hearing. it was probably an element of shock. >> republicans and the white house attacking the decorated combat veteran who said it was his duty to come forward. >> your boss had concerns about your judgment. your colleagues had concerns about your judgment. >> a parade of witnesses and the marathon testimony and real time response from the president. plus, the brand-new high note from a beloved classic. >> the thing about musicals is there's a place at the table for everybody. >> high school musical, launching the careers of stars like zac efron, now the new

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good evening. i'm witte johnson, thanks for jo joining us. we begin tonight with the history unfolding on capitol hill. day three of high-stakes impeachment hearings beginning with the combat veteran coming under attack by republicans and the white house he serves. part of a parade of witnesses in a sprawling day of testimony. david wright with what we're learning. >> until now, republicans and the president have been dismissing the testimony so far as hearsay. >> we start with two witnesses who were on that july 25th phone call. >> the entire impeachment inquiry. >> reporter: today on capitol hill. >> welcome back to act two of today's circus, ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: week two of public impeachment hearings. >> the impeachment inquiry into donald j. trump, the president of the united states. >> reporter: the committee heard from a total of four witnesses, two called by the democrats, two by republicans. up first, two white house

advisers who were listening in on the july 25th phone call between president trump and president zelinsky of ukraine. >> if you would both please rise. and raise your right hand. >> reporter: jennifer williams is a state department aide to vice president mike pence. >> i found the july 25th call unusual because in contrast to other presidential calls i had observed it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter. >> reporter: and lieutenant colonel alexander vindman coordinates ukraine policy for the national security council. >> it is improper for the united states to demand a foreign government to investigate a u.s. sit sen and political opponent. >> reporter: vindman said he immediately reported his concerns to the nsc lawyers. >> i couldn't believe what i was hearing. probably an element of shock that maybe in certain regards my worst fear of how our ukraine policy could play out and how this was likely to have significant implications for u.s. national security. >> and you went immediately and reported it, didn't you? >> i did.

>> why? >> because that was my duty. >> reporter: vindman is an army ranger and decorated combat veteran. after being wounded by an ied in iraq, he earned a purple heart. his hands shook nervously today, as he began his testimony. explaining how his father had fled the former soviet union to bring the family to america. >> dad, i'm sitting here today in the u.s. capitol, talking to our elected professionals is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the soviet union and come here to the united states. in search of a better life for our family. >> reporter: when he and his twin brother were boys, ken burns interviewed them about their journey to america in a 1985 documentary about the statue of liberty. the closeness of the twins evident as they talked in unison. >> then we went to -- >> our mother died, so we went

to italy. then we came here. >> reporter: that closeness would follow them as they became men, both joining the armed forces and the bond on full display today as one brother watched the other brother testify. both of them now work at the white house. >> my little brother sits behind my today. our collective military service is a special part of our story in america. >> reporter: one of vindman's old bosses is retired brigadier colonel peter zwath. >> there is an aspect of him that wants to pay back this country that has given him these great opportunities as a self-made young man. he has excelled, if not exceeded, in every position that he's been in. >> reporter: but republicans pushed back hard at vindman, questioning his competence. >> your former boss, dr. hill, had concerns about your judgment and your colleagues felt there were times when you leaked information.

any idea why they have those impressions? >> yes, representative jordan, i'll start by reading dr. hill's own words. as she attested to in my last evaluation dated middle of july right before she left. alex is a top 1% military officer and the best army officer i've worked with in my 15 years of government service. >> reporter: they questioned his loyalty. >> you never leaked information? >> i never did, never would. that is preposterous that i would do that. >> reporter: they suggested he might feel an allegiance to ukraine. >> did they offer you a defense minister with ukrainian government? >> he did. >> and how often did they do that? >> three times. i'm an american. i came here as a toddler and i immediately dismissed these offers. >> reporter: republicans on the committee even questioned his wardrobe. >> i see you're wearing your dress uniform. knowing that's not the uniform

of the day, do you normally wear a suit? >> reporter: at one point, the ranking republican neglected to use his proper title. >> mr. vindman, you testified in your deposition that you did not know the whistle-blower. >> it's lieutenant colonel vindman, please. >> i don't think there's any question lieutenant colonel vindman was the top witness. the minute he heard the call he was concerned. and he's been consistent in that view since the moment he heard the phone call. >> i don't think that lieutenant colonel vindman was a particularly effective witness. i thought he was nervous. i thought he kind of jumped all over the place on some issues. >> reporter: republicans on the committee weren't alone in trying to undermine vindman. >> president trump was very much watching today's hearing. at one point he tweeted about the impeachment a dozen times in a matter of minutes. his strategy on all of this crystal clear. attack. he even went after vindman for wearing his military uniform.

>> i never saw the man. i understand now he wears his uniform when he goes in. i don't know vindman at all. >> if you're a u.s. officer of any rank and you're testifying before congress you're going to put on your dress uniform. >> you are. and that is as close to being a requirement as it can get. i was remembering lieutenant oliver north, when he testified on the hill in his full marine dress uniform as well. that made quite an impression. >> reporter: the white house followed it up with a tweet from the official white house account, attacking one of its own staff members by quoting another staff member set to testify later that day. >> didn't talk about his uniform. the president did that. they didn't talk about him being a never trumper. they went right for that quote from tim morrison, from his previous testimony, and, again, today. there was a question about his judgment. and they left that hanging. >> reporter: morrison is vindman's boss at the national security council. >> you testified you had issues with colonel vindman's judgment.

>> yes, sir. >> and you had concerns with mr. vindman with appropriate judgment. >> yes, sir. >> you testified that dr. hill told you that she had concerns about colonel vindman's judgment, is that right? >> yes, sir. >> and you testified that colonel vindman did not always adhere to the chain of command, is that right? >> i believe so, yes, sir. >> reporter: over the weekend, the president also attacked jennifer williams, saying she should meet with the other never trumpers who i don't know and mostly never even heard of and work out a better presidential attack. >> are you engaged in a presidential attack? >> no, sir. >> ms. williams, are you a never trumper? >> not sure i know what an official definition of a never trumper. >> would you describe yourself that way? >> i would not, no. >> reporter: connecticut democrat jim heinz asked the

same question. >> would you call yourself a never trumper? >> representative, i'd call myself never partisan. >> of course he's under stress. no normal human being would go and endure something like that without that. but he's got the courage of his convictions. i believe over time, when this plays out, he will fall on the right side of history. >> reporter: this morning's two witnesses did not agree on whether the president was asking or ordering ukraine to investigate the bidens. you have two people who, this is the same phone call at the same time and came to different conclusions. both of them not it was inappropriate. >> right. if inappropriate is what the standard was for removing a president, we'd be doing it all the time. presidents have done things inappropriate in the minds of the public often in my lifetime. in the end, that's not enough to remove a president of the united states or reverse a national election. >> reporter: this afternoon's witnesses called by republicans were kurt volker, the former special envoy to ukraine and tim morrison.

morrison testified that ambassador gordon sondland told him in september ukraine would only receive the $400 million in military aid if president zelinsky announced an investigation of the bidens. >> and that that was essentially a condition for the security assistance to be released? >> i understood that's what ambassador sondland believed. >> after speaking with president trump. >> that's what he represented. >> reporter: volker also claimed at the time he didn't realize the political significance of asking for an investigation of burisma, the ukrainian energy company that paid hunter biden $50,000 a month to sit on its board. >> in hindsight i now see that others saw the possible corruption of burisma as to investigating vice president biden. >> it's a little hard to understand considering everything that happened how kurt volker didn't know that the president was tying burisma to

the bidens. and even he is now saying, if he had made that connection earlier, he would have viewed it as inappropriate. >> in retrospect, i should have seen that connection differently, and had i done so, i would have raised my own objections. >> reporter: but after day three of public hearings, the question still remains, has this moved the needle? >> he will be impeached, but, in the end, that's not the game here. the game is not impeachment. it's removal. and, you know, removal, i think, would take 20 republican senators. that's an avalanche. and there's nothing here to even start a couple of rocks falling down that mountain, let alone an avalanche. >> reporter: which raises the stakes for tomorrow's hearing when ambassador sondland is on the hot seat. how much pressure is gordon sondland under right now? >> a lot. he's changed his testimony a little already. what's he going to say tomorrow?

he's going to be the first witness who had a number of direct conversations with the president on this issue. >> gordon sondland will be the single most important witness to testify. >> reporter: sondland wasn't just in the room where it happened. he was also on speed dial with the man in the oval office allegedly calling the shots. i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. next, the beloved classic, singing a new tune on disney plus. still, we're all in this together. ♪ we're all in this together ♪ and it shows ♪ when we stand ♪ hand in hand ♪ make our dreams come true s come true ♪ he wanted someone super quiet. yeah, and he wanted someone to help out with chores. so, we got jean-pierre. but one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with renters insurance. ♪ yeah, geico did make it easy to switch and save.

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back now with the disney plus series making fresh memories for a whole new generation, why high school musical fans of all ages are kicking up their heels again. here's adrian bankert. ♪ all we need is together >> reporter: we're all in this together. it's the team spirit mantra of one of the most-beloved franchises in disney history. launching the careers of a crop of young stars, including zac efron and vanessa hudgens. becoming a millennial phenomenon. high school musical. the first film would lead to two sequels and 15 years of fans. now it's back as a fresh new adaptation in a spinoff for disney plus. can you just say it for me? >> you have to take a deep breath.

"high school musical", the musical, the series. >> excuse me, is there somewhere you're supposed to be? >> broadway. >> reporter: this musical comedy series follows a group of high school students as they put on a performance of, you guessed it, "high school musical." >> in the old days, teachers would wait two, maybe three days to announce the cast. but when you know, you know. it's called instinct. >> reporter: the series stars an entirely new cast, filmed at the same utah high school where the original film was shot. this cast is depicting all new characters. actors joshua bassett, olivia rodrigo, sophia riley and matt cornett all navigating the halls. how much did you watch it? the original. >> i grew up watching it obviously. my first show was high school musical a local production. >> it affected so many people of all ages. i had barbie dolls and a high

school musical tank top. >> you know that school musical thing? >> growing up, i genuinely felt like troy because i played basketball and was in theater. >> reporter: it's a modern interpretation for a generation who grew up loving the 2006 story of teenagers breaking free from the stresses and stereotypes of high school. first thing people are going to think about is whether all of this music is brand-new or some of the music is nostalgia. >> i'd say we probably do one song from the original movies and one song that's completely brand-new and was written just for this series, and so that's really great, and i'm actually really excited that a new generation of kids are going to have their high school musical sound track. >> reporter: it was a genre that would help pave the way for "glee." and helped break down stereotypes. >> football players are winning

"dancing with the stars." i think musicals are no longer gauche or weird. there's an inherent story that any fwh anyone in school has, which is am i sitting at the right cafeteria table? >> i remember standing here with my mom the first time. >> reporter: for tim fedderly, this is an ode to his early years on broadway. >> it's real singing, no auto tuning, lots of dancing, and i hope it's an escape from a tough world out there, that's grounded in something that's real about the teenage experience today. the thing about musicals is there's a place at the table for everybody. this show is all about finding your tribe. >> my name is ms. jen. >> he cast his former braufd oa comrade, in the pivotal role of ms. jen. >> i wrote this character of a woman who moves back to salt lake city from new york when things don't quite go her way, and lo and behold, kate rinders

showed up and nailed it. >> this is a space, yes. >> i'm on tv. >> reporter: we met rinders in times square, outside the very theater that brought the two of them together more than 15 years ago. do you find it's just like performing in theater? or is it a whole different muscle? >> it's a whole different muscle. tv comes in closer, and this show comes in closer, especially when we're addressing the camera and stuff, it's a window into our soul. >> i love that. that is so fresh. >> reporter: the final product looks effortless, but that seamless choreography took months of sweat and dedication. >> there's a lot that went into it, especially behind the scenes that nobody ever sees, but i think it really pays off. >> reporter: what advice do you give them? >> if your wig falls off, keep dancing. because what i truly believe audiences love is for things to go wrong and then to watch

somebody keep going. >> reporter: with episodes streaming now, the series has been green lit for a second season on disney plus. the walt disney company is the parent company of abc news. you guys are excited about season two. >> so excited. >> i just got goose bumps and butterflies in my stomach. i'm so ready to go back to utah ♪ the start of something new >> we'll be right back. be right back. only roomba i7+ uses two multi-surface rubber brushes. ♪ and picks up more pet hair than other robot vacuums.

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