much questioning in d.c.? and lost his son in the shooting massacre, and makes good on the offer to meet with the father of the shooter. and on a much lighter note, you will hide your passport from the kids after you see what happened to one man's international travel plans. this is "way too early." that poor traveler. hi, i'm thomas roberts. it's monday, june 2, and welcome to way too early, we were using our pass part for domestic travel until the learners permit. it comes in handy now. for some, it was a war-time prisoner swap, for others it was a violation of u.s. law, but for the parents of bowe bergdahl, a chance so see their son for the first time in eight years. he is in a military hospital after being exchanged for five

detainees at gitmo. he's been ahead nheld nor nearla decade. the only p.o.w. from america from the war in afghanistan. >> reporter: less than 12 hours after bowe bergdahl departed the base in afghanistan, the troops there were thanked for his return. >> this is a happy day, as you all know, for our country, for our armed force. because we got one of our own back. >> but just how bergdahl was freed has sparked a political firestorm. on nbc's "meet the press," secretary hagel defended the release of five top taliban prisoners in exchange for bergdahl. >> sergeant bergdahl is a member of the united states army. this was a prisoner exchange. after five years, he's been a prisoner of war. >> reporter: but u.s. military

officials tell nbc news the five top taliban leaders freed are considered among the most dangerous at guantanamo bay. in secret documents obtained by wisconsin key likes, her considered a high threat to the u.s. and recommended for continued detention. >> these are the hardest of the hard core, the highest high-risk people. and others have gone back into the fight. >> reporter: even though they will be under the control of the government of qatar for one year, the others say the release puts a price on all americans in afghanistan. >> it's a changing footprint in the afghanistan that puts our soldiers at risk, if i can get one, i can get five taliban released. >> reporter: today, photographs of three of them in qatar.

while omar declared victory over the americans. and critics claim that president obama broke the law by not notifying congress 30 days before the taliban prisoners were released. national security adviser susan rice claims they were informed once bergdahl was released, but his failing health required action. >> we didn't have 30 days. if we had lost him, nobody would have forgiven the united states government. >> reporter: but by all accounts, he was in good, physical condition. once on the helicopter, he wrote s.f. on a paper plate. when one of the soldiers replied yes, we had been looking for you for a long time, he broke down in tears. and in boise, idaho, from his father, praising his son for helping the afghan people. >> i'm proud. of how much you wanted to help

the afghan people, and what you were willing to do to go to that length. >> also covering this story, live in germany, what do we know about bergdahl's rivarrival the and general health. as susan rice said, referencing failing health prior. >> reporter: well, we do understand that he arrived yesterday and being evaluated by medical professionals. the pair mount concern for military doctors and others is making sure that the resbre grags process goes as smoothly as possible for him and his family back home. that's going to be kept under tight wraps. but there are indications through the processes we have seen in the past, he will be assessed and have a medical checkup to make sure he is

capable of being reoriented back to the u.s. we don't know exactly how long he'll be kept here for, but as long as he needs to be. that is the first and most important concern for the health officials that are currently treating him. there are questions about what information, perhaps, that they can get from him after his five years in captivity. perhaps any intelligence value or knowledge about his whereabouts, individuals he may have come in contact with. that is secondary to the major health questions they're going to evaluating and assessing in the coming days. and perhaps even before he's returned to the united states. >> it is an uplifting story to see his family up there and so emotional about the return of their son. and bowe bergdahl has the thoughts and prayers of a grateful nation at home waiting. thank you, sir, appreciate it. this brings us to the twitter question today. what do you think about how the obama administration handled this? did they make the right decision

in the exchange for bowe bergdahl and the five taliban prisoners? tweet the most creative answers, #waytooearly. we know this was an easy moral decision to make, that's clear, but there are political calculations into this. we look forward to hearing you. and the outspoken dad of one of the children shot at the university of santa barbara met with the father. he met with peter rodger at a coffee shop. while not revealing the details of the meeting, it was a conversation between grieving fathers. they plan to work together to make sure other families will not suffer a similar situation. his son, 20-year-old christopher was killed in a deli. louis katz was killed in a deadly plane crash in massachusetts this weekend. it was leaving the airport 9:40

p.m. saturday evening to atlantic city, falling off the end of the runway and fell into a gully and erupted into flames. he recently purchased eninquirer, ending months of speculation over the editorial direction. it's too soon to know what caused the crash, but they will release a report in the coming days. and the obama administration will make an announcement on climate change, one that v.o.x. is calling the most important of the second term. it's being billed as the strongest action against global warming. the president's plan is to use executive authority to force power plants to cut carbon pollution by 20% before 2030, and hits the coal plants the hardest. may force hundreds to close and redefine the american power grid in the process.

states will have flexibility to reach the standards and submit the plans to the epa by june of 2016. republican senator ted cruz is carrying added momentum as he considers a possible bid for president come 2016. the texas lawmaker narrowly won the straw poll over the weekend in louisiana. dr. ben carson, an outspoken critic of obama care was a close second, and rick perry was in the top five. and missing was chris christie and jeb bush. senator cruz was one of the few presidential contenders to attend the event. he said history shows that shutting down the government over obamacare was the right thing to do. >> somehow all the gray beards in washington who opposed fighting against obamacare, are looking around, and winning senate seats all over the country. they're reaping the fruits of the battle.

which is perfectly fei lly fine. but we need to take a moment to acknowledge the lesson of the battle. how do you win elections? you don't win it by standing for nothing. >> after his speech, he said ronald reagan would have supported his efforts against obamacare. haley barbour discussed the 40th president, but with a somewhat different perspective. >> i've learned a lot from ronald reagan. and i admire what i've learned. but the one thing that he never deviated from was, we are here to improve the lot and life of our country and our people, and sometimes that takes compromise. every day of the reagan presidency, he compromised on everything. he passed reagan economic plan in 1981. do you think he got everything he wanted? no.

social security reform, immigration reform, the reagan tax reform bill. he had to compromise on all those things. >> turn now to two big republican primaries one day away. iowa, joni ernst has a commanding lead. she is leading the closest challenger by 20 points. it's a different story in mississippi, which has been call would the nastiest race in the country. the real clear politics average of recent polling shows a dead heat between that'd cochran and tea party challenger chris mcdaniel. he received a boost over the weekend from none other than cz sarah palin, they need a change and he can shake things up. he's faced criticism after supporters took illegal photographs of the senator ice wife at a nursing home. he's denied any part in the

plot, so rick santorum is endorsing him as well. >> i was not going to get involved in the race, but that's why i decided, because everything i've been told by the campaign and chris is they've had nothing to do with this. he's being held accountable and responsible for something he had no control of or responsibility for. >> a champion of civil rights causes is being remembered this morning. passing away yesterday from natural causes, a member of the japanese internment camp, she inspired with the work for african-americans, native americans and asian america sh americans. she was with malcolm x in 1965 when he was killed. she helped the push for the united states to apologize for the japanese internment camps. she was 93 years old. and m.b. davis, the

housekeeper on the brady bunch as died. she won from emmys for the assistant on the bob couplings know. but it was her career-making turn on the brady bunch to make her a household name. >> in the case of a double compound fracture in both arms, the victim must be completely immobilized. [ phone rings ] [ laughter ] >> hello? >> what are you doing down there, alice? >> hit and run florence nighten gail. >> davis slipped into a coma after falling on saturday, she never regained consciousness. she was 88 years old. and the kings and the blackhawks meet in a decisive game seven to determine who will play the rangers for the stanley cup. and speaking of the rangers,

the mascot made good with a bet with jimmy fallon from the tonight's show. and you'll understand why this mascot is so sad. that story and check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪ >> judge richard is advising the jurors, and based on their verdict of guilty on 11 counts, death is a possible result and something they must now consider. ♪

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gaborvick with the equalizer, pushing it into overtime. and the kings then send them packing in overtime. >> and to the corner, lost his stick. and down to martinez, and with the shot, it's in. the kings are headed to the stanley cup final. >> there we have it, the kings taking this series after a 5-4 victory. host the rangers on game one of the stanley cup finals wednesday night. so the mascot, and paid up with jimmy fallon yesterday, after the rangers beat the canadiens, the mascot traveled to montreal landmarks wearing a fallon jersey, taking pictures. he wore the new york gear to at least ten different spots. poor thing. he's very distraught. poor upie. for baseball news, houston

and the o's leading the astros 5-1 in the six. and then -- >> that one deep to left field, it is way back. it is good-bye. a grand slam home run. >> well, the slam there, first of his career. the o's get the win. >> are you excited about that highlight? >> i think it's great. i don't think we covered the orioles enough. i have been criticized on twitter for that. and red sox hosting the rays in a three-game set. after the historic ten-game losing streak last week, the seventh-straight. 4-0. and bees in dodgers stadium before the pirates game. not a good oh men. pittsburgh getsed 5-3 win. bill, you should know where they come from. >> i'm a bee expert. >> you know all things about nature. >> all things nature. >> all things nature.

>> i can talk about the birds and the bees later. >> okay, thanks. >> yesterday, it was a beautiful day sunday, the weekend was gorgeous in the mid-atlantic. all the trouble in the middle of the country, wind damage, problems, tornados. thankfully, no deaths or injuries, this morning, thunderstorms in oklahoma. oklahoma city, storms bearing down, they are weakening, thankfully. and during the week today, another beautiful, clear, crisp, low humidity morning in the northeast. enjoy it, this is about it. this is not going to last longer. the storms increasing in the east going into tuesday along with added humidity. it feels and looks like summer. many areas in the 80s. >> thank you. and coming up at the top of the hour on morning joe, bowe bergdahl is free after five years in captivity at the hands of the taliban. did the u.s. do the right thing?

why there are questions to be answered. the weekends are a great time to kick back and relax, especially with your friendly neighborhood bear. we will explain how the bear likes to relax. "way too early" coming back after this. [ mom ] hi, we're the pearsons, and we love chex cereal.

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welcome back. it was earlier in the show, we told you about sad news over the weekend.

m.b. davis, the live-in made alice on the brady bunch died in texas. she was 88 years old. if you want to sound smart today, she'll most be remembered for the brady bunch, she gained hollywood notoriety in the 1950s playing shulty, that brought the best actress emmy in 1958 and 1959. she will continue to raise kids through reruns in america. and check in with louis, he is standing by at the cooler. this is a wild story out of florida, louis. >> it's tough life being a black bear. looking for r and r. these are taken at daytona beach, florida. a black bear was wandering a neighborhood. you wouldn't think of a bear, maybe a crocodile? took a liking to the hammock. before long, the bear was putting his paws up. he relaxed for 20 minutes before

taking off. james describes it. >> got in the hammock, laying back like he was a tourist or something. something spooked him, and he ran right through there, fast. and then i said, he's gone. half an hour later, he came back, and there he is in the hammock then. >> what are you supposed to do? florida? lay out in the sun and relax. >> once you find a good hammock, you come back. one professor in florida was with his facial hair. he takes very good care of his beard. photo was taken at a beard and mustache championship last year. a local brewery asked to use it on his bear. the holy city chucktown brand beer was born, but his employers at the university didn't like

that, because it was not representative of a christian environment. that is some beard. >> that is some beard. but obviously he can have a career as a beer model now. >> exactly. >> screw the college. >> good for the company for getting his face on the bottles. we now how frustrating it is to travel overseas. one man is learning that, a chinese man is trapped in south korea with his family because now he can't return after an unrecognizable documentation problem. the man's 4-year-old son doodled over his passport, altering the photo and making the information completely unreadable. the man known as chen reached out to chinese social media, begging for help, but the damage, as you can see, has been done. keep those important documents away from kids. >> a guy let his kid have his passport, and drew over the

passport, and now can't get out of south korea. >> that's something my nieces and nephews would do. hide the passport from the kids. >> anyway, the kid's creative for sure. >> not bad. >> no. >> that's all i got. >> joe's here. how are you doing? hey, joe, looking good. i like the pink shirt. >> louis says looking good, like the pink shirt. >> all right. much appreciated. earlier in the show, we talked about the prisoner exchange between the u.s. and taliban. they freed bowe bergdahl from captivity in afghanistan. and your thoughts about whether or not this was the right decision. our producer has some of the comments. this is interesting, a lot of people saying this is a real no-brainer. >> yeah, a lot of opinions out there. michael says leave no man behind. a trade is far better than the possible war an extraction might have started. and anthony disagrees, he says it was a horrible exchange.

america should never do business with terrorists. >> keep the conversation going on twitter. more coming up on morning joe as well. thank you. and the stories we're talking about in the moments ahead, and morning joe is coming up, stick around. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ my mom works at ge. [female announcer] we grow big celebrations,o. and personal victories. we grow new beginnings, and better endings. grand gestures, happier happy hours. so let's gro something greater with miracle-gro. what will you grow? say "hi" rudy.

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welcome back with. a check ahead before tossing it over to "morning joe." apple will kick off its developers conference where they could announce a new operating system. the epa will unveil plans for cutting carbon emissions from power plants. that's it for "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ what we did was ensure that as always the united states doesn't leave a man or a woman on the battlefield. and in order to do this, it's very important for folks to understand, if we got into a situation where we said because of who has captured an american soldier on the battlefield,e