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 justice. >> the defendant alleging bias. >> i sincerely think it's all about race. >> some shocked by the outcome. plus, if you can't burn '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.

ring. >> a romantic yankee fan getting down on one knee, then all fours. 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 zyquil is different. why would you take a pain medicine when all you want is good sleep? zyquil that's not for pain think your heartburn pill works fast? take the zantac it challenge. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. when heartburn strikes take zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. >> number one in just 60

good evening. thanks for joining us. the dramatic verdict in the mysterious murder case of a 12-year-old boy. the college soccer coach accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend's son. the judge's announcement rocked 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 headl 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.

personality. >> just seemed like he was 100 miles an hour all the time. soccer, lacrosse, hockey, football. >> wow, all-around athlete. >> 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 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.

>> reporter: when police finally get inside, garrett phillips is lying on the floor of his mother's bedroom. >> 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 12-year-old garrett philips was murdered. >> did police ask you who would want to harm your son? >> 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

nick, i don't want to live here with him anymore. >> reporter: two days after the murder, the police ask hillary to visit the station. 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 race. >> reporter: after three days of searching the crime scene, authorities can find no evidence 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

he appears to have jumped from that window, a daunting leap. >> oh, wow, that is pretty far down. >> 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

judge felix katina. >> his lawyers smartly felt, we don't want to take the chance of putting this in the hands of a jury. >> the many names that have been labelled 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 prosio case is based largely on a few moments of security camera video. that video shows garrett 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 convince den. >> very much so.

>> reporter: hillary claims he went straight home. but watch carefully. instead of turning right to go straight home, hillary turns left. 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 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.

>> reporter: questions the motive. >> you kill the poor kid with the hope the motor will 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 nick ras hillary, is found not guilty. >> reporter: nick hillary acquitted and free to go. >> nick man. this legal team is not oblivious to the fact that there's a family that even after five 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

up next, the revolution canceled. bernie sanders explains why he's now a schill for hill. and the biggest error in the game happened in the stands. the botched wedding proposal with a happy ending. i struggle with bipolar depression, and it's tough. it leaves me feeling sad and empty. it makes it hard to be there so i talked to my doctor and she prescribed latuda. there are many forms of depression. latuda is fda approved to treat bipolar depression which is different from other types of depression. in clinical studies, once-a-day latuda was proven effective for many people with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens,

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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.

passionately with her now? 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? >> reporter: after that long and bitter primary, they may seem 94 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.

jill stein. >> reporter: the republicans have their own set of problems, not least the effort to explain trump's performance at monday's debate. >> i think my strongest asset, maybe my far, is my temperament. >> reporter: one high-level trump adviser pushed back on the notion the candidate didn't prepare adequately, noting his failures were more a lack of execution than preparation. the conaccepconsensus seems to growing inside the trump campaign it was not h 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

more nights at home? >> reporter: today we caught up with sanders in new hampshire as 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, trump. >> do you see this choice in november as a choice of the lesser of two evils? >> no, i really don't. 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

now many of them are saying, you know what i'm going to sit this 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 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

out to the polls. roughly 30% of the electorate. 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.

>> reporter: it's not so much these young voters are struggling to choose between clinton and trump. for many the dilemma is more 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 ch 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,

have been an issue. the question now, if those 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 at the ralph nader of 2016? >> no, i don't think so. the logical corollary is we should not have competitive elections, that we should apoint somebody to run, and anybody 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, dat bates, even election night. think of it as your political

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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! andrew fox told mlb's field goal 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. fans writing, never propose at stadiums. and, nightmare scenario with a happy ending. as for a wedding date? >> i haven't thought about that

my wife. >> reporter: a come from behind victory for a couple of good 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. ?? ? tonight, a janet jackson world exclusive. the pop star pregnant at 50. only "e.t." has the first photos

>> now baby bombshell straight from janet's sister. >> how is the ppegnancy? are you ready to meet your new little niece? >> brad pitt does a divorce about face. how he's shifting his strategy tonight and the one thing he has to do or he'll risk losing his kids. then -- >> stand back! make way for this hot stuff. >> my first day, first scene. >> behind the scenes with rob lowe. why his new role has him nervous. >> it's overwhelming. then -- we do t the stars of the rocky horror remake. >> put your hands on your hips. >> now for september 28, 2016, this is "entertainment tonight". >> brad pitt reportedly drug tested as he battles back against angelina's divorce filing and p.r. attack, but first, what the world has been waiting to see. "e.t." brrke this news just a few months ago that janet jackson is pregnant and now only we can show you for the first