this is "nightline." tonight, saving private bergdahl. >> behind the patrol. >> america's only prisoner of war, rescued. but at what cost? fellow soldiers accuse him of being a deserter. >> people calling him a hero and this great soldier, and it's a spit in the face -- >> and now five taliban leaders are free in his place. >> he deserted us in the middle of afghanistan to go and find the taliban. plus, move over hollywood. these youtube stars could be the next a-listers. from internet chefs to young fashionistas. i've got obsessive fans. and now they're making millions. makeup guru michelle phan shows us how she turned her viral

videos into an empire. >> get out of the way! >> and get out of the way. a 14-year-old leads police on a high-speed car chase through a park full of children. and it wasn't the cops who stopped him. [ siren ] but first, the "nightline" five.

the number one in 60 seconds. ♪ [ barks ] whoo! mmm! ♪ ♪ oh, yeah [ whistling ] [ male announcer ] discover your new orleans. start exploring at followyournola.com. [ woman ] and i love new orleans! start exploring at followyournola.com. heat shields are compromised. weare those thrusters burning? that's a negative. what's that alarm? fuel cell two is down. i'm going to have to guide her in manually. this is very exciting. but i'm at my stop.

come again? i'm watching this on the train. it's so hard to leave. good luck with everything. with the u-verse tv app, the u-verse revolves around you the u-verse revolves around you good evening. tonight, new details about the controversial move to trade america's only known prisoner of war for five high-ranking members of the taliban held at guantanamo bay. some of his fellow soldiers now coming forward to say he walked out and should be punished, not celebrated. here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> every day i want to go home. >> reporter: five long years after that first proof of life video -- >> release me. please. i'm begging you. bring me home. >> reporter: -- army sergeant bowe bergdahl, the last known american prisoner of war, got his wish this weekend. >> he wasn't forgotten by his country. because the united states of

america does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind. >> reporter: his father showing the beard he refused to shave until his son was released. speaking to reporters in an emotional news conference, he still hasn't spoken directly to his son. >> and i want you to know that i love you. i'm proud of you. i'm proud of how much you wanted to help the afghan people and what you were willing to do. >> reporter: but that is where the fairy tale version of this story ends. tonight some are questioning his service, even calling him a deserter. >> the fact of the matter is he deserted us in the middle of afghanistan to go and find the taliban. >> reporter: former army sergeant evan buto was bergdahl's team leader. tonight he and other soldiers who served with bergdahl say his actions cost american lives. the u.s. military launched a massive search, and missions

were changed in the wake of his capture. >> people calling him a hero and people calling him this great soldier, it's a spit in the face to, one, all the soldiers who were there. and more importantly, it's a spit in the face who the soldiers who died as a direct result to him leaving. >> reporter: adding fuel to the outrage, the cost of his release. the u.s. handed over five high-level taliban fighters in exchange for bergdahl. >> you have to be concerned not only about the principle of negotiating with terrorists but the five who were released in exchange for sergeant bergdahl. >> reporter: the taliban immediately claimed a great victory, even posting a video of a hero's welcome. after all, these are no ordinary prisoners. they are high-ranking taliban. described previously as too dangerous to be set free and likely to rejoin the taliban. the detainees are living in the midst of luxury in qatar in a taliban villa.

there is no sign they were in custody or under guard. their families were flown in to be with them. and the only known condition imposed by the u.s. was that they not travel outside of qatar for at least a year. >> i've been pretty lost in my life. >> reporter: so who is bowe bergda bergdahl, the p.o.w. who was hardly a household name until now? he grew up in rural hailey, idaho, was home-schooled by his mother, janney, and studied ballet for years. bergdahl decided to join the army in 2008, and the following year was sent to afghanistan. even before his capture he grew disillusioned with the war effort. and later in this video posted to youtube during his time in captivity he voices his concerns. >> this war isn't worth the waste of human life that it costs both afghanistan and u.s. >> he was definitely upset and frustrated with the war effort and how we were handling our business. >> reporter: he was taken by the taliban after allegedly walking

off base without permission and without his weapon. though today a defense department spokesperson said the military has never officially stated that bergdahl walked away from his post, adding that preliminary investigations were all missing bergdahl's side of the story. his parents knew almost nothing beyond these videos. first their son in afghan clothing eating. later in uniform, even exercising. his father bob not content to just watch, taught himself about bowe's captors, their language, culture, and even took to youtube to address the taliban directly. >> a salam aleikhem. >> reporter: but what he didn't know, what no one could, was what bowe was going through during that half decade. to find out we spoke to two members of that rarest of fraternities, former prisoners of the taliban who actually lived to talk about it. >> i knew i was going to die. then i had a very strange experience. i was able to review my entire life. my childhood school days, the first day when i got married.

you see your whole life. it's as though death grants you this wisdom, this insight before taking you outside and in my case i thought my throat was going to be cut. >> reporter: former "new york times" reporter david rohde was captured by a similar group. >> once you're brought into this remote corner of pakistan you realize you could be held for years and years and years. and you don't know when it's going to end and you're very afraid the world is going to forget you. >> reporter: bergdahl was believed to be held by operatives from the haqqani network which is affiliated with the taliban and al qaeda. >> i was told i was going to be executed the next day. >> reporter: langen knows all too well what bergdahl faced with the haqqani taliban. >> oddly enough i've got a problem with having my throat cut. can i be shot in the head instead? and the taliban had a little conference and came out and said no problem, instead of cutting your throat you can k shot. >> reporter: the filmmaker was captured in 2008 and held in a dark room for four months. >> during my captivity i set my

clock to london time. i used to bathe my children every day at 5:00. and i'd close my eyes. i'd kneel down at the bed. and in my eye i could see my -- feel my children. >> reporter: journalist david rohde, who spent eight months i taliban captivity before a daring escape, says he spent much of his time inside his own mind. >> i thought of my family specifically on holidays. i relived moments -- the marriage between me and my wife, our honeymoon together. you relive these earlier periods in your life as a way to kind of cope and get through the day. you break down each day into a little struggle to just try to somehow keep going. >> reporter: but for langen it turned out captivity was the easy part. >> the real struggle is not in captivity, surviving. it's when you're released. and that's when the real struggle begins, bizarrely, coming home. back home two or three months after my release, every night for six months i would just see

images of death and beheadings and i'd wake up in a cold sweat. and if i'd had a gun i would have shot myself. >> there's a lot of guilt feelings, frankly, in hostages. and i'm sure that's something bowe is absolutely going to struggle with. >> reporter: but bergdahl was held prisoner for far longer than these journalists in the remote mountains of eastern afghanistan. a landscape that bowe's father has pointed out actually looks pretty similar to his hometown of hailey, idaho. and that may help bowe make what the military likes to call a soft landing back home. video obtained by the "guardian" newspaper shows bowe's father in a tent near his home, in woods where bowe used to hike. he says his son could possibly find solitude here. >> we set this up for him. >> reporter: there's no timetable for his recovery. but bergdahl's parents say they are up for the challenge. before he returns home, he will remain under evaluation and treatment at a military hospital in germany. >> give yourself all of the time you need to recover and

decompress. there is no hurry. you have your life ahead of you. >> reporter: the long road back to health is tough for my prisoner of war, but for bergdahl perhaps even more difficult because of the questions his return has unleashed at home. for "nightline" i'm neil karlinsky in hailey, idaho. >> our thanks to neil for that report. next, makeup maven michelle phan shows fans how to look like lady gaga. and tonight she's showing us how she created an empire. e is jennd i quit smoking with chantix. before chantix, i tried to quit... probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix

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when you think of youtube, you may not think of wealthy celebrities cashing in on their fame. but you're about to meet some big-time stars with millions of fans and countless perks who made their names not in movies or tv shows but with internet videos and clicks. here's abc's david wright. >> edgy, sexy, glamorous, the bad girl look. >> reporter: she is a human chameleon. >> blend that color until you have a gradient finish. >> reporter: with a worldwide audience. her specialty -- makeup tutorials that demonstrate how to transform yourself into barbie or lady gaga. >> i love this look. have fun with it. >> reporter: or even the mother of dragons from "game of thrones." videos that have made michelle phan a huge star with a powerful brand. >> how many clicks? >> i think i'm at 800 million. i have to check again because it's always changing. >> reporter: many phan is a

prime example of a new breed of celebrities. folks who are bypassing hollywood, making millions on youtube. >> what makes youtube the perfect meed medium for me is i can have a two-way dialogue with my audience. >> reporter: that barbie video, 53 million views. that's a super bowl audience. an audience that's made her the ultimate cover girl with her own line of makeup. >> hi, everyone. i'm michelle phan, and welcome to my youtube channel. >> reporter: a new lifestyle network. and a growing list of endorsement deals. she and others helping to make youtube an entertainment powerhouse, a billion unique viewers a month. more than $5 billion in ad revenues. figures that have every movie studio, tv network, and record label looking over their shoulders. we're not talking here about the one-hit wonders like -- or david after dentist. >> is this real life? >> yeah, this is real life. >> reporter: the youtube a-listers are an eclectic bunch.

there's fashionista bethany moto. >> choker necklaces are super cute. >> reporter: there are any number of youtube chefs who could give jamie oliver a run for his money. >> it smells so good. smells like peanut butter heaven. >> reporter: and it seems like this swedish -- we're not quite sure what cutie pie is but it's big. >> all these incredible stars are emerging on this platform and in the digital space that have a hugely engaging and loyal audience, bigger than i'd say some of the networks and cable channels and shows and traditional stars. >> reporter: among them, epic rap battles of history, aka erb. ♪ iphone, ipad a channel that features high in the sky rap-offs. albert einstein rapping against stephen hawking. hitler against darth vader. ♪ can't take anymore miley cyrus versus joan of ark. ♪ keep your party in the usa, viva la france ♪ >> reporter: the guys behind erb

is peter shukovff and lloyd alquist. who used to be struggling comedians. >> you guys are youtube millionaires at this point, right? >> we're youtube million viewers. >> is that not the same thing? >> no. >> a billion clicks overall? >> yeah. >> but if those were burgers at mcdonald's -- >> yeah. >> oh, yeah? well, you're stupid. >> reporter: erb is so popular three of their raps are technically gold records. ♪ >> people that are in a garage band are still dreaming of playing the stadium. but i guess you guys are playing the stadium even though you're playing in your garage. >> yeah. that's a pretty cool way to say it. >> we're playing the stadium from the garage. >> reporter: they took us behind the scenes at maker studios, a youtube studio now owned by abc's parent company, disney. not a single suit in sight. >> are you making more or less money than you would make if you were doing this for, say, comedy zplernlt. >> we wouldn't be able to do this for comedy central.

they never would have let some of the choices we made happen. >> reporter: they won't say exactly how much they're making. just that it's comfortable. >> if it's not too intrusive a question. >> no, please. >> how much is a click worth? >> a click is worth one smile. >> you're not going to give me an answer, are you? >> no, absolutely not. >> how many youtube millionaires are there? >> oh, gosh. >> and who would they be? >> i would say 1%. >> reporter: michelle phan is also purposely vague about how much money she's making. >> what is a click worth? >> oh, it depends. it really fluctuates. it's like the stock market. >> nobody will give me a straight answer. >> no. i'm being really honest. it really fluctuates. >> reporter: she got her start right out of college when she was still figuring out what to do with her life. >> you posted your first video in 2007. you were how old? >> i was 21 years old. i thought probably like 50 people will watch this video. and then a week later i check in and i see 40,000. and i was thinking to myself, whoa, who are all these other

people? wholesale is watching this? >> reporter: now her videos are so popular she's able to build on that success. >> youtube is a platform where you can share your gifts, your talents, your message. then you can take it to the next level and build a real business. >> reporter: she now has her own line of cosmetics called m through a partnership with l'oreal. it's a gold mine. a way to get their products in front of a whole new generation of customers worldwide. with built-in advertising to boot. >> she's like a best friend, telling you how to apply makeup. so from l'oreal's perspective she has a great quality of communicating. >> do you feel like you're making what you should be making from these things? >> absolutely. >> but you're not going to see me buying a ferrari or a mansion because that's not my lifestyle. >> could you afford to if you wanted? >> i could actually. >> reporter: despite her mega stardom she is decidedly down to

earth. at one point during our interview helping me fix my makeup. she's that rarest of breeds, an a-lister who's still also an ingenue. >> i predict big things for you. i think you're going to go gangbusters. >> i just want to have fun. >> reporter: the future belongs to her. >> like i still have to pinch myself every once in a while. it really does feel like a dream come true. >> awesome. it's a wrap. >> reporter: i'm david wright for "nightline" in los angeles. next, a high-stakes, high-speed car chase with an unlikely driver who plowed through a park full of children. who finally stopped him? huh, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that game show hosts should only host game shows? samantha, do you take kevin as your lawfully wedded husband...

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a 14-year-old boy is under arrest in utah tonight after allegedly he stole his grandfather's car and led police on a high-speed chase. as children play on the grass, video of the dramatic incident shows the car careening across a park. >> you guys, watch out. get out of the way!

>> reporter: police were already in pursuit of the vehicle and the minor driving it when they were forced to stop due to safety concerns. as the boy entered a residential area filled with people. pickup truck owner bryson rowley used his dodge to make sure this kid couldn't get out of dodge. both drivers were unharmed, and a local diesel shop has already offered rowley any repairs on the house. amazing video. a year after edward snowden released classified information in one of the largest leaks in american history our sister network fusion is taking us inside one of the u.s. government's most secretive branches to see how they're recruiting the next generation of agents. >> i was in my teens when 9/11 happened. i wanted to be at the center of what we're doing in counterterrorism. we need the millennials. these are the people we need to populate our offices. >> they might not want to join the cia because they might think

you're involved with illegal activity. >> judging what we do based on media they're just going to get a very one-sided view. >> truth is there would be no such debate without edward snowden. >> i am outraged that there are individuals who decided to reveal capabilities that this country has in place. >> surprise, surprise. >> "agents of change," an america special, will air tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. eastern time on fusion. thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. and as always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night. ever

♪ [ barks ] whoo! mmm! ♪ ♪ oh, yeah [ whistling ] [ male announcer ] discover your new orleans. start exploring at followyournola.com. [ woman ] and i love new orleans!