this is "nightline." >> tonight, a town divided. the bombshell verdict in the case of the soccer coach accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's 12-year-old son. the prosecution says he's guilty. >> he can now finally be brought to judgment. >> the defendant alleging bias. >> i sincerely think it's all about race. >> some shocked by the outcome. plus, if you can't bern 'em, join 'em. bernie sanders back in the granite state telling supporters, i'm with her. >> it is imperative that we elect hillary clinton as our next president. >> we're on the trail with the revolution. but can hillary capture his millennial magic? >> i'm not going to vote for the person that he thinks i should vote for. an imperfect proposal. >> they literally can't find the ring. >> a romantic yankee fan getting down on one knee, then all

going viral when he loses the diamond engagement ring in the stands. >> there he is, he's scratching his head. >> but first the "nightline 5." >> many sleep aids have pain medicine. but zzquill is different. why would you take a pain medicine when all you want is good sleep? zyquil that's not for pain, just for sleep. think your heartburn pill works fast? take the zantac it challenge. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. take the zantac it challenge. >> number one in just 60 seconds. whistling a birthday song train whistling trumpet blows bell ringing ice chipping grunting buzzing chirping motor hums croaking dripping casting revving zipping

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the child's family and divided a small new york town. tonight the defendant speaks out telling a very different story than the prosecution. so who's telling the truth? here's abc's elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: it's judgment day in a case that's prompted national headlines and divided a community. nearly five years after the brutal murder of young garrett philips. and after three weeks of trial, the accused, 42-year-old soccer star turned coach, nick hillary, is about to hear his fate. >> it is the judgment of this court that as to the charge of murder in the second degree -- >> reporter: 2011, a rainy afternoon in potsdam, new york. 12-year-old garrett phillips is heading home from school. >> tell me about his personality. >> just seemed like he was 100 miles an hour all the time. soccer, lacrosse, hockey,

>> yes. >> reporter: until recently, tandy and nick had been a couple, even living together, which raised eyebrows in the small town. >> do you feel like you stuck out? >> oh, yeah, most definitely. you know, sometimes you're the only one of color in the grocery stores. >> reporter: that day in 2011, across the hall from tandy's apartment, college students sean hall and marisa vogel hear something. >> i said, did you hear that? we were both convinced we had heard either no, or ow, and then definitely a help. i knew it was one of the children right away. it sounded urgent. >> reporter: marisa goes to investigate, knocks on the door. >> it was completely quiet until i heard a click of a lock. it was instant goosebumps. >> potsdam police. >> i thought i heard screaming. like no, and help a couple of times. >> reporter: when police finally get inside, garrett phillips is lying on the floor of his

>> initially my officers, they were focused on saving garrett's life at that point in time. they didn't know who they had or what they had. they called for medical intervention immediately. that's when the emergency response began. >> reporter: he is rushed to the hospital. and then the shocking autopsy. rug burns on garrett's legs. suspicious marks on his face and neck. the cause of death, suffocation and strangulation. 12-year-old garrett philips was murdered. >> did police ask you who would want to harm y >> yes. i was like, everybody liked garrett, no one ever had a problem with garrett. and then it was like, oh, there was one person. >> just one? >> just one. >> who was it? >> nick. >> nick hillary? >> yes. >> reporter: tandy says nick and garrett didn't get along. >> she told me that garrett had come there and said, i hate nick, i don't want to live here with him anymore. >> reporter: two days after the murder, the police ask hillary

hillary says police held him against his will all day. >> why do you think there's this depth of fervor to get you? >> because they think i have crossed the line of being a black man, honestly. >> you think it's all about race? >> it is. i sincerely think it's all about race. >> reporter: after three days of searching the crime scene, authorits linking nick hillary to garrett's murder. >> we didn't get any evidence from the items that were tested by the forensic center in albany. >> no dna, no hairs, no fibers? >> right. >> really nothing? >> reporter: they do find four sets of fingerprints on this window. none of them belong to nick hillary. and it was the only way out for the killer. he appears to have jumped from that window, a daunting leap. >> oh, wow, that is pretty far

>> around 20 feet from the windowsill down to the ground. >> reporter: police had suspected hillary from the start. they secretly filmed him pacing the sidelines of a soccer game as he coached. capturing evidence of what they say appears to be a limp. >> you didn't jump out a window and injure your ankle trying to escape? >> no, i did not. i absolutely have nothing to do with the death of garrett philips. >> reporter: nick hillary is eventually indicted for murder. prosecutors say a possible motive, perhaps the hope that with her son gone, tandy might come back to hillary. or fury at the child who caused the breakup. with ten jurors already selected for trial, nick hillary's defense team suddenly asks for a bench trial, choosing to put his fate in the hands of one man, judge felix katina. >> his lawyers smartly felt, we don't want to take the chance of

jury. >> the many names that have been labeled on this defendant are, the innocent man, the wrongfully accused -- >> reporter: five years after the murder, nick hillary's trial begins. >> i want you to label him for exactly what he is, the murderer of a helpless 12-year-old boy. >> nick hillary did not kill garrett phillips. >> reporter: the prosecution's case is based largely on a few moments of security camera video. that video phillips skateboarding past nick hillary's parked car at the potsdam high school. moments after garrett passes, nick pulls out. >> did you see garrett skateboard by? >> no, i didn't. >> obviously surveillance tape shows that he did, to go home. >> exactly, exactly. >> that's a pretty extraordinary coincidence. >> very much so. >> given what happened. >> yes. >> reporter: hillary claims he went straight home. but watch carefully. instead of turning right to go straight home, hillary turns

prosecutors say he's following garrett on his way to commit murder. why would you turn left? >> when i made a left, my intentions were to get to the office. and i quickly realize i need to make provisions for my daughter at home. >> reporter: but that's not what his defense attorney argues during the trial. he says hillary turned left to visit his assistant coach. >> the inference you can draw from nick making the left turn is that he was going to ann fielding's house. >> this case was primarily based on surveillance video, potential motive, and his own arguably inconsistent statements. there's no hard evidence. like dna, fingerprints. >> reporter: in closing arguments the defense team repeats the phrase "reasonable doubt" 25 times. >> proof beyond a reasonable doubt. reasonable doubt. reasonable doubt. >> reporter: questions the motive. >> you kill the poor kid with

come running back into your arms? it makes absolutely no sense. >> reporter: hours ago, judge katina with the decision. >> it is the judgment of this court that as to the charge of murder in the second degree, as charged in the indictment, the defendant, oril nicholas hillary, is found not guilty. >> reporter: nick hillary acquitted and free to go. >> nick hillary is an innocent man. this legal team is not oblivious to the fact that there's a family that even years still grieves. >> reporter: a final verdict, but a town still divided and still looking for justice. for a young boy whose life was cut short. for "nightline," i'm elizabeth vargas in potsdam, new york. >> our thanks to elizabeth. catch the first interview with nick hillary post-verdict and an inside look at the crime scene. tune into "20/20" this friday. up next, the revolution canceled.

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before basic health care, but that's the choice joe heck keeps making. women like me rely on planned parenthood for checkups and cancer screenings, but congressman joe heck voted ten times to take away their funding. heck even threatened to shut down the federal government to eliminate funding for planned parenthood. shutting down the government... taking away access to lifesaving care... just to score political points. joe heck should be ashamed. women vote is responsible for the content of this advertising. we need not remind you bernie sanders spent the presidential primaries building a revolution, battling hillary clinton, suggesting she was unqualified, bad for trade, and in the pocket of wall street. so why is he campaigning so

here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: today in new hampshire, a special guest out on the campaign trail. >> senator bernie sanders! >> reporter: senator bernie sanders, who put up such a fierce fight for the democratic nomination. today hit the stump alongside his old rival. >> it is imperative that we elect hillary clinton as our next president. >> isn't this one of the strangest elections you've ever seen? bitter primary, they may seem more like frenemies than friends. but the truth is especially in states like new hampshire, clinton needs sanders voters. clinton has yet to convince many die-hard bernie sanders fans, fully half of them don't think she's honest. >> if i think that bernie has a chance with my vote of becoming our next president, then he will get my vote. otherwise my vote will go to dr. jill stein. >> reporter: the republicans have their own set of problems,

trump's performance at monday's debate. >> i think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. >> reporter: today one high-level trump adviser pushed back on the notion that the candidate didn't prepare adequately, noting his failures were more a lack of execution than preparation. the consensus seems to be growing even inside the trump campaign that it was not his best night. the democrats aren't counting their chickens just yet. one of their concerns, supporters of the vermont senator who gave clinton such a run for her money. >> it's clear the bernie sanders candidacy created a permanent problem for hillary clinton. she is not winning millennial voters in anything like the same numbers that barack obama did. bernie sanders is now out on the trail. if he can convince those young people who went for him to go for her, that will make an enormous difference in november. >> happy to be spending a few more nights at home? >> yes. >> reporter: today we caught up

he tries to convince his voters to come over to clinton. >> senator, we've met any number of people for whom even at this stage it's bernie or bust. what's your message? >> my message is that people have got to get beyond personality. and they've got to take a hard look at the issues that impact the lives of middle-class and working-class people. hillary clinton's positions are far, far, far superior to donald trump. >> do you see this choice in november as a choice of the >> no, i really don't. look. secretary clinton and i disagree on a lot of issues. that was what we campaigned on for a year. so i'm not going to deny that for a second. but i think if you look at her proposals, issue by issue, a number of them are very progressive. >> but you talked about this as a political revolution. and you brought a whole lot of people into the process who otherwise wouldn't have cared. now many of them are saying, you

one out, or i'm going for a third-party candidate who's more aligned with my values. how can you blame them? >> i'm not here to blame anybody. everybody has the right to vote for whomever they want. all i can say is, donald trump must not be elected president and i intend to do everything i personally can to make sure that does not happen, and that means i'm going to campaign very hard for clinton, not only here in new hampshire but all across this country. >> reporter: it's a problem clinton faces in several of the key battlegrounds. not just new hampshire. the polls in those states showing her slightly ahead. but too close for comfort. millennials overwhelmingly supported sanders in the primaries. partly because of his progressive message. >> the nation based on social justice, economic justice, racial justice -- >> reporter: partly because of his anti-establishment views. >> it is time for a political revolution. >> reporter: millennials are a huge group, if you can get them out to the polls.

in 2012, under-25s accounted for a slightly bigger share than latinos. but now that their favorite candidate is out, it's not clear clinton will be an acceptable second choice. >> if it came down to it tomorrow -- i don't even know who i would vote for. >> i will probably end up voting for clinton. i mean -- >> the lesser of two evils? >> exactly, yeah. >> are you going to vote? >> yeah. >> bernie sanders is urging his people to vote for hillary. does that carry any weight with you? >> no, not really. >> it's very hard to transfer votes. endorsements don't really work very much these days. but bernie sanders does have a very loyal cadre of young supporters. and perhaps they will listen to him, who knows. >> reporter: it's not so much these young voters are struggling to choose between clinton and trump.

like clinton or none of the above. maybe a third-party candidate. or maybe just sit this one out. that's why michelle obama was out today wooing young voters in pennsylvania. >> and if you vote for someone other than hillary, or if you don't vote at all, then you are helping to elect hillary's opponent. >> reporter: here in new hampshire, the scenario that keeps democrats like state party chair raymond buckley up at night is what happened to al gore in 2000. >> is that your nightmare scenario this year? >> the nightmare of 2000 haunts every one of us every day. for just a few thousand votes, al gore would have been elected president. >> you believe if he had spent more time in new hampshire, he wouldn't have had to worry about florida? >> absolutely. >> reporter: the theory goes that a few thousand votes for ralph nader cost gore new hampshire's four electoral votes. if he'd won those four votes, the florida recount might never have been an issue.

sanders voters sit this one out, could it happen again to hillary clinton? >> if she were to lose, does any part of you worry you would go down as the ralph nader of 2016? >> no, i don't think so. the logical corollary is we should not have competitive elections, that we should anoint somebody to run, and anybody who runs against them would be responsible. i think more people think my candidacy made her a stronger candidate against trump. >> reporter: even so, bernie sanders plans to be out on the trail in the battleground states. no longer his own man. now he's with her. i'm david wright for "nightline" in durham, new hampshire. >> our thanks to david. with 40 days to the election, stay on top of all the political news. download the abc news app and get live streaming of breaking news from the campaign trail, the debates, even election night. think of it as your political magic button. next, a hopeless romantic at yankee stadium dropped the ball

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don't believe... don't believe... don't believe joe heck's attacks. catherine cortez masto has always served with integrity. as a federal prosecutor and attorney general... she made sex trafficking a felony crime. she worked with the bush and obama administrations to combat terrorism. as attorney general, she helped reduce crime. that's why she's endorsed by law enforcement across nevada. catherine cortez masto. catherine cortez masto. i trust her to keep us safe.

and i approve this message. [ cellphone ringing ] it's just another scandal from danny tarkanian. tarkanian was the corporate lawyer for those with an elaborate scam that tricked hundreds of seniors into donating to fraudulent charities, totaling millions. he refused to pay back $17 million, sticking taxpayers with the bill. why would we ever send danny tarkanian to congress?

it was the marriage proposal at yankee stadium that went foul for a moment when the groom to be lost the engagement ring. all of yankee stadium, it seems, was waiting for him to pop the question. but then -- >> they literally can't find the ring. >> a major league curveball. the crowd jumping in to help. after what seems like forever -- >> yeah! >> a diamond in the cuff. andrew fox told mlb's facebook live he googled yankees wedding proposal to surprise his girlfriend, heather. >> i didn't know what to think. i felt really bad. >> the couple, who met online, going viral. the twitterverse dubbing it ringgate. sports fans writing, never propose at stadiums. and, nightmare scenario with a happy ending. >> yes! it was in the jacket! >> as for a wedding date? >> i haven't thought about that yet. i just knew i wanted her to be my wife. >> reporter: a come from behind

sports. for the record, the yankees won. thanks for watching abc news. as always we're online at abcnews.com and our "nightline" facebook page. good night, america. go yankees. now on "celebrity page tv, two big premieres plenty of huge stars. we're going coast to coast for the premiere of master minds and miss peregrin's home for peculiar children. drake returns to his roots. ? the rapper and former actor release is a short film inspired by his album "fuse." gabrielle union calls out amy

split up their fortune. >> brad, we need you and angelina. >> we'll reveal the staggering amount the pair will have to divvy up. >> you think the story will have a happy ending. >> happy endings are for stories that haven't finished yet. >> big stars, big hollywood. celebrity page tv starts now. >> welcome. i'm sonja isabelle from new york city with awll of your entertainment news. right to the hollywood wrap. two coast twos plenty of stars. first up, masterminds in hollywood. >> kristen wigg and owen wilson attending the premiere of their new comedy. wigg revealing the set just as funny as you would imagine. >> zach and i got separated once. and we were doing scene together. just the two of us. so he had to act to nothing. i head to act to nothing. we were both laughing so much. they had to separate us. >> agreeing with his co-star.