president obama is overseas and back home he is sending top aides to capitol hill tonight to explain the controversial prisoner swap that freed american p.o.w. sergeant bowe bergdahl. big questions remain about the administration's victory lap and unforced p.r. errors after his release. it started with the rose garden statement. the president, flanked by bergdahl's relieved parents said it is this nation'sethos to leave no man behind but with the controversy surrounding his initial disappearance resurfacing he stopped short of calling him a hero. then this happened. >> he is going to be safely reunited with his family. he served the united states with honor and distinction and we'll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years. >> does the president stand by susan rice's comments that he served with honor and distinction? >> the president stands by actions that he took as commander-in-chief. we all stand by what the defense department has said, chairman dempsey said, and what all the members of the national security team have said.

>> bergdahl's release lifted the gag order placed on the troops he served with and the soldiers who searched for him and the families of those who died trying are taking issue with ambassador rice's served with honor and distinction line. while anger grows on the hill members were not informed ahead of time the reasoning for president obama's we need to move now mentality is also being questioned. >> the intelligence we had was such that sergeant bergdahl's safety and health were both in jeopardy and in particular his health deteriorating. it was our judgment that if we could find an opening -- >> we saw an opportunity. we were concerned about sergeant bergdahl's health. >> but this morning the taliban released video of the hand over, which the pentagon says, quote, there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of. you can see bergdahl squinting in the sun waiting for u.s. forces to arrive. he then walks unassisted on to

the chopper looking in pretty decent health as nbc news pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski explains. >> reporter: the consensus is he looks in pretty good physical condition. now, what his condition is psychologically, nobody is going to know until they finally get -- and the doctors at landstuhl, germany, are now trying to figure that out. it's one of the things they're doing and trying to -- physical and psychological treatment there at landstuhl before he heads back to the united states. >> nbc's peter alexander is traveling with the president in brussels. the president is there for g7 meetings but this is certainly overshadowing his trip. how is the white house handling the criticism over how this transpired? >> reporter: josh that is exactly right certainly here in europe the focus is on the g7 meetings taking place but back at home and the white house officials here are well aware of the controversy they have stirred up.

they anticipated it would be focused largely on guantanamo bay, itself, the detainees, and what to do with those detainees, the future of that site, when the individuals should be released, where they should go, and items to that effect. they thought it would be less about bowe bergdahl, himself. i think that and the conversations i've had here with aides is really what caught them in some ways flat footed. they didn't anticipate there wouldn't be one member of sergeant bowe bergdahl's unit even who came out praising him or at least his service. they didn't anticipate bergdahl, himself, in many ways would become the story. also on top of that i think this white house anticipated there would largely be sort of a rallying around the flag moment here. many republicans in recent weeks and months have actually come out in favor of the idea of trying to get bowe bergdahl, john mccain in february told a television network that he believed the u.s. should give serious consideration to some form of a prisoner swap for bergdahl. now he has said that he thinks this trade was ill founded. that it was a mistake.

mccain, himself, insists that there has been no evolution in his opinion on this and says serious consideration would be such that this was not a good trade. kelly ayotte the senator from new hampshire on memorial day wrote an op-ed basically saying the department of defense should make it an urgent priority, that they should redouble their efforts to try to get bowe bergdahl but she has come out swinging since then basically saying that this trade was a mistake as well, that these individuals shouldn't have been released. that is where the white house finds itself right now as they prepare for this d-day anniversary in france on friday, a day that should be celebrating those who have served the united states, it is one individual and his service that is really the center of the controversy they're focused on. >> nbc's peter alexander in brussels, thank you so much for that report. let's bring in msnbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs and bloomberg news white house correspondent lisa lehrer. i'm going to pick up where peter left off, pointing out the way

both the white house was caught flat footed and the way some republicans have evolved on the issue of the release of sergeant bowe bergdahl. he mentioned kelly ayotte and john mccain, republican senator jim inhoff is another one who has been very vocal in supporting trying to really push to bring bowe bergdahl back. prior to the release he said the mission to bring our missing soldiers home is one that will never end. it's important we make every effort to bring this captured soldier home to his family. since bowe bergdahl has been released he's changed his tune a bit. let's listen to what he had to say. >> my response is the president knew full and well that these are the highest ranking taliban people in captivity and that's the issue. it wouldn't make any difference who bergdahl was. you don't swap out and turn back to the fight people who have killed americans, people who are the brain power of taliban. they're the top guys.

they're the ones they've all been wanting to get back and they're getting back at a time right after the president will have drawn our numbers down to a very low number. >> lisa, i think anybody who has observed these republicans over the years would not be surprised by the way that they've shifted in their tone and rhetoric in response to the president's actions. how is the white house caught so off guard here? >> well, the white house, as peter reported, expected the criticism to be largely focused on the details of the swap, not necessarily on bergdahl and his family and issues like that and on the soldier himself. they've launched an apology. they spent most of the week with aides shuttling back and forth between here and capitol hill trying to calm down outraged senators from both parties. tonight there is going to be a pretty rare briefing. all 100 senators are invited. there are going to be representatives from the state department, the military. we don't know exactly what the message will be, but we know it is certainly going to be

contentious. >> colonel, a lot of military folks are upset with the white house right now not for returning bergdahl but the details and the things that happened afterward and the supposed victory lap the white house has been doing around this. why do you think they're upset? what do you make of that? >> there are two levels of criticism. one is at the lowest level of the food chain from people around bergdahl, people who knew him and people in units close to them and the chain of command and they don't have any respect at all for bergdahl because of what they say is the fact he walked right off his post in a combat zone and that it's disgraceful and you shouldn't do anything about somebody like that. don't forget, these are people who lost friends in the war. so you can understand their emotion involved when you're with somebody in the combat zone you want them to be on your side. you have to have them on your side because you're on his side. anything that breaks that symmetry is very, very destructive. the second complaint, and this is one of the higher level in the food chain, revolves around

the swap. these five guys were command ners the taliban. they are very highly placed. the reason they were swapped rather than anybody else is because these are the guys the taliban asked for. we have a procedure. the government has a procedure down in guantanamo whereby all these prisoners ultimately will be released. and there is sort of a chain of process. there is a number of detainees down there who were next to be released. these guys were not. they were way down the chain, who was going to be released, yet they managed, they got -- the administration jumped them over the next group to be released. and there is a third complaint and that is the timing of it all. the complaint, here, is that we've got plenty of time to go get bergdahl if we really wanted to. the analogy with the end of the war in vietnam where we got our prisoners back or indeed the end of any war where we got our

prisoners back was the result of an armistice. there was a group of signatories, the war ended, and we exchanged prisoners. the war ain't over here. that's their complaint. we're still fighting and we're going to be there at least another two years with americans in harm's way. they don't like that. they don't like the swap for at least that reason alone. >> lisa, the president was asked about this issue about the -- about whether bergdahl was a deserter and here is what he had to say about it. >> regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an american soldier back if he's held in captivity, period. full stop. we don't condition that. >> is this basically a consensus view in washington now? if not, why is so much of the focus here around bergdahl and his actions rather than sort of what senator inhofe was getting at about whether this was a good trade?

>> well, certainly that's what the president has, and folks in the administration have been arguing that simply put you don't leave a soldier in harm's way no matter what the specifics of that soldier's service may be. i think there are certain elements of the republican party that have been organizing the soldiers who served with bergdahl, people like that, to come out and make this a bit of an argument. what you see is both sides, this has just become a political football. we're seeing a pretty conventional political fight come out of this trade. >> on that note, colonel jacobs, in the past 48 hours, everyone it seems has been so quick to jump to conclusions on both sides of the political aisle and yet there is so much that we still don't know about those moments leading up to the capture. we know the army is looking into an investigation, whether that is warranted or not. talk to us about how long this is going to take and the types of questions they would be asking the soldier about his time in captivity. >> plenty of time is the short answer. one of the things that is going to come to the fore, we may

discover in the process that the -- is why the administration acted now. the administration is going to say, has said and has suggested that they had to act now for reasons, because they were concerned about bergdahl's health. there is some evidence to indicate that they acted now not for necessarily any current political reason though i'm not a fan of single factor analysis so it could be a lot of things. >> right. >> right. >> but because of what was happening in afghanistan the perception was that the taliban found him a less useful target. and therefore that's why his -- it wasn't anything about his health. it had to do with his safety. all that not with standing, after he is -- they've decided he is in good health, so that he can defend himself, there will be an investigation to determine whether or not he ought to be charged. when that happens, they will conduct what is called an article 32 investigation. it's the military's equivalent

of the grand jury projection accept that the accused gets lots more rights than it does in the -- in civilian life. it's the right to counsel. gets the right to cross examine witnesses, too. this is in the grand jury procedure. the officer who's entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the article 32 investigation after all of this then makes a recommendation to the commanding general, whoever bergdahl happens to be assigned to, and recommends, do nothing, do a little bit, have a court-martial. and the commander can decide what he wants to do then. then if he decides to convene a court-martial to be a court-martial, a court-martial will then make its judgment and its sentence if any and then the commander has a further opportunity to vacate the decision of the court, to send a guy to jail or do whatever else he wants to do within the confines of the decision. you're talking about a process that's going to last lots longer than a long time it took me to tell you all that.

we're going to be looking at this for a long time. >> a lot of political rhetoric along the way. >> always beware of single factor analysis. that's why we're glad to have you. lisa, let's put in one more factor into this big calderon. there are more americans being held in afghanistan. kaitlyn coleman and joshua boyle and their child. they were travelers in afghanistan last year. they have been held for quite a while. he is a canadian national. she is an american citizen. and their families are saying, well you got bergdahl. what about our kids? >> well, i think heart breakingly, there are americans being held, you know, for terrorism reasons, for ransom reasons, in places, dangerous places all across the world, and the white house and state department have to decide on a case-by-case basis. i think part of what will be interesting to watch will be how relations with congress go for the white house on other issues going forward that the president

wants to do, like close guantanamo, also the next two years in which soldiers are still in afghanistan, republicans say this has soured relations even further. some democrats say, look. relations weren't that great to begin with. we'll just have to wait and see. >> colonel jack jacobs, lisa lerer, thank you. did republicans just snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in mississippi no less? your tuesday election results right here as "the cycle" rolls on. but first, we can't leave this conversation without a word on the duelling klic inling cliche heard a lot in the past few days. >> y'all want to have a cliche' off? let's do this, bro. >> we do not negotiate with terrorists. >> we leave no one behind. >> you do not negotiate with terrorists. >> we leave no one behind. >> the united states does not negotiate with terrorists. >> you never leave a man behind. >> we don't negotiate with terrorists. >> a good soldier never leaves a man behind.

[ applause ] >> the only way to really end a cliche' off is to agree to disagree. [ 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. ♪ i'm saving a ton of time by posting them to my wall. oh, i like that one. it's so quick! it's just like my car insurance. i saved 15% in just 15 minutes. i saved more than that in half the time. i unfriend you. that's not how it works. that's not how any of this works. [ male announcer ] 15 minutes for a quote isn't how it works anymore. with esurance, 7 1/2 minutes

could save you on car insurance. welcome to the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. little things, anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. insures support. a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like... ...sooner than you think. ...you die from alzheimer's disease. ...we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call, or donation adds up to something big. alzheimer's association. the brains behind saving yours. and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is. good is setting a personal best before going for a world record. good is swinging to get on base before swinging for a home run. [ crowd cheering ] good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it and do some experiments. ♪ so start your day off good

with a coffee that's good cup after cup. maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop

this is an historic moment in this state's history. >> because of your hard work, because of your dedication, we sit here tonight leading a 42-year incumbent. [ cheering ] >> whether it's tomorrow or three weeks from tonight, we will stand victorious in this race. >> oh, the tea party has found a home in mississippi.

last night's shocking primary results have tea party backed chris mcdaniel in a virtual tie with incumbent senator thad cochran with 99.5% of all precincts reporting, no one there is above 50%, and you know what that means. a nasty, three-week run-off that could have huge implications. with even a smaller turnout expected for that run-off it would appear to be advantage mcdaniel. a tea party victory may crack the door for democrats in the state that they should have no business competing in. the establishment did score a win in california with moderate republican businessman neil kashkari leading the race to lose to governor jerry brown. lots of election results here. let's welcome back the senior editor at "the new republic." we want to start with the race everyone is talking about. what happened in mississippi? >> well, i think that there is a grand theory of what the republicans hope to accomplish this primary season which was to sort of squash candidates backed

by sort of tea party branded advocacy groups. they almost swept and they just didn't go far enough in mississippi. i think the basic theory they had is if they take their favorite candidates and sort of imbue them with tea party rhetoric and lots of money then the logic for nominating sort of farther right candidates disappears. but that didn't necessarily follow to a state that's as red and polarized as mississippi and with a candidate that's as kind of like tired and worn out as thad cochran, so he wasn't able to pull it out. so he's the one that got away. >> so i think it's fair to say with the run-off and turnout there likely to be low, i think chris mcdaniel is looking pretty good to potentially get the nomination here. which raises questions about whether democrats might actually have a shot in the state. they've got a strong contender in place, conservative, democratic congressman, but josh barrow's colleague says don't get your hopes up. there is no state more polarized

than mississippi. overall president obama barely exceeded 10% of white voters so it is an extremely polarized electorate. do you give democrats any shot there in november? >> i'm pretty pessimistic for the democrats there. the nightmare scenario for republicans is that mcdaniel says something extremely controversial like richard murdoch did in indiana in 2012. >> which is a possibility. let's be honest. >> it's a possibility. on the flip side, some of the things that might not fly in indiana or missouri may fly in mississippi. >> very fair. >> that was also 2012 when president obama was on the ticket. this is a mid-term year which, you know, democrats don't do as well in these days. so i think even if he did say something really explosive it might not be fatal at all to him as it was to those other candidates. this just means republicans have to spend more money than they wanted to on a candidate they don't want to spend money on at a time when they're trying to pump it up with minorities and other democratic constituencies. this is not good for them. i just don't think it

necessarily means they lose the seat. >> you bring up the money aspect of course is always going to be important. cochran raised more within the state than mcdaniel did but in terms of outside money, mcdaniel beat him up pretty good. you see how outside money can take you from a hard, a long shot to a challenger, but of course it makes you less accountable to your constituents. >> right. i think that will be a lint democrats use against mcdaniel as they contest the race that he is beholden to the outside interests that won him the primary not to necessarily to mississippi voters. and i think, but i think republicans will also benefit from this in a way, if they don't want to expend a whole lot of resources on mcdaniel for whatever reason, they can be confident that outside groups are going to fill that void and so even if they wish he hadn't won and they think he's not good for the republican brand, they'd rather have him in the senate than out and they're happy if club for growth or whatever

decides to pitch in to get mcdaniel elected. >> there was also a primary in iowa yesterday and state senator joanie ernst who started as a little known candidate won a very solid majority in a five-candidate field. largely off the strength of this political ad. >> my parents taught us to live within our means. it's time to force washington to do the same. to cut wasteful spending, repeal obama care, and balance the budget. i'm joni ernst and i approve this message because washington is full of big spenders. let's make 'em squeal. >> so that hog message carried very well in that primary. is ernst a strong candidate for the general election? is this going to be a competitive race in november? >> i mean, i kind of think that bruce brailey is still in strong shape. he was involved in a controversy a few months back where a lot of people said his political career in iowa is over because he was addressing trial lawyers and said that if republicans take

over the senate this podunk farmer chuck grassley will become chairman of the judiciary committee and that is not something you should say about a politician from iowa. they like their farmers and she is a farmer as well. you know, that was an ad designed to win her primary and iowa might not be as rural as she would like it to be. so i still sort of think that brailey walks away with it but it will test that theory of whether his comments were really fatal to him because she'll be able to use that against him pretty adeptly. >> you got to get people's attention somehow in politics. that will do it. let's talk about california. krystal alluded to the fact there was a big win for the establishment last night. obviously california is not like virginia where it is a good example of the rest of the country. it is sort of out there on its own. is this proof that the establishment is sort of reasserting itself? >> you know, i guess so. i would sort of say that california doesn't really -- the republican politics in california i don't think match

very well on republican politics in purple and red states. so i think that the focus within the party on sort of stealing back energy from the tea party movement and from tea party backed groups is a sort of battle being fought elsewhere. but, you know, as far as building a flair tiff thatnarra happened yesterday in california, suits it very well, and i expect we'll hear them say it whenever they have the opportunity to. >> it has been ugly with the california republicans. they didn't even attend their traditional post primary unity breakfast they are so upset with each other. brian beutler thank you so much. >> thank you. speaking of mississippi it is a place and will continue to see a lot of outside money coming in in the coming months. up next award winning investigative reporter ken vogel journeys deep into the heart of big political spending. what really goes on behind those closed door private fundraisers

and meetings. find out next. p this. munch on . and dine out on this. that's 7 days a week. no tracking. no counting. no measuring. and you'll start losing weight right away with our 2 week simple start plan. so jumpstart your summer and join for free. try meetings, do it online or both. hurry, offer ends june 7th. weight watchers. because it works. hurry, offer ends june 7th. smoking with chantix. for 33 years i chose to keep smoking... ...because it was easier to smoke than it was to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. 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 and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious

allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some could be life threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i did not know what it was like to be a non-smoker. but i do now. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. don't just visit new york. visit tripadvisor new york. with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. this is mike. his long race day starts with back pain... ...and a choice. take 4 advil in a day which is 2 aleve... ...for all day relief. "start your engines"

"the news cycle" leads off with wild video from late spring storms in middle america. hail, high winds, even tornadoes reported. nebraska was at the center of it all but other states like iowa, kansas, and missouri didn't escape mother nature's wrath. there were 12 tornado reports and more than 160 reports of hail. flooding is also an issue. the slight is slightly reduced today but, still, 15 million americans are told to be on alert into tonight. >> do you have 90 hours to wait each year? move to l.a. the land of the sun is pretty dreary when it comes to traffic according to a new survey on road congestion. san francisco and honolulu take the other top spots in the survey a rather dubious honor, krystal. >> you know, we all know it's rough keeping up with the kardashians. it's just gotten even more complicated. "us weekly" cites multiple sources in their reporting that kim and kanye are expecting once

again. >> what? >> baby number one was named northwest. >> perhaps look to the gps for hints on the name of reported baby number two. that is our kim kardashian minute. >> how exciting. three we turn now to the riches of politics. as we talked about earlier the mississippi and iowa senate races, money is playing a bigger role in politics than ever. total spending on elections has more than doubled since 2000 to over $6 billion and that money increasingly moves through a shady world of super pacs and secret billionaire donor meetings. our next guest set out on a mission to crash the secret meetings in his new book called "big money" and he recounts his unwelcomed attend as as he tried to expose the world of the super rich and their attempts to rule over our politics. ken, welcome to "the cycle" with our full invitation. what did you find when you snuck into these meetings? >> i found they didn't want reporters there for one. there is, the subtitle includes reference to a suspicious vehicle.

that's my own rental car that was reported as suspicious to the riverside county sheriff when i tried to crash and cover the koch brothers' april, 2013 donor seminar in indian wells, california. they ushered me out to the car, took down the license plate, someone did, and reported it suspicious. got a call later from the riverside county sheriff wondering what i was doing snooping around. that is just one example. obviously it's harder to track this money now thanks to citizens united. there's a lot more avenues for anonymous spending that can be directly impactful on our elections and sort of puts the onus on us in the press to try to pull back the curtain and let voters and readers see what's going on. >> ken, you are indeed a very suspicious person. let's dig into that koch brothers summit you got into that you write about in chapter one. this is a twice a year thing. it is secretive. it is the koch brothers. it is all the big donors in the country who are on their side of the aisle and it is every republican politician who can get an invitation to this thing,

which makes me wonder how much influence do the koch brothers really have over the modern political landscape in america? >> they have quite a bit. it's arguable that the rise of the tea party and more than the rise of the tea party the tea party's focus on economic issues, at the time when the tea party arose it was sort of this amorphous protest movement. it wasn't really clear that they had a single issue. the group of the koch brothers, americans for prosperity as well as a few other big money big donor funded groups were able to harness the power of the tea party and make it sort of an economic, conservative movement. we still see the effect of that today in mississippi with the tea party challenge. i mean, these tea party activists, they're real. it's not like they're astroturf. they wouldn't have been able to have the same level of impact that they had certainly in the 2010 mid terms and even up through the up coming mid terms were it not for the

infrastructure funded by the super rich donors that i wrote about. >> can you also talk about at one of these koch brother conferences, alluded to where there were a bunch of megadonors there and gave this presentation about how they have more influence over mobilizing voter turnout than the campaigns and even the rnc. we've been seeing for sometime now the struggle between these outside donors, these few individuals and the rnc and even campaigns. how is that going to play down the road? i imagine it's going to get even stickier. >> yeah. i think we're just starting to see the beginning of the effect of this and we certainly saw very acutely in the 2012 republican presidential primary where all it took was a few big donors. i mean, really two big donors putting a bunch of money into a super pac supporting newt gingrich and a bunch of money into a super pac supporting rick santorum. that completely threw into chaos

the party's best laid plans for a smooth, nominating process to sort of coronate mitt romney and send him well funded and well rested into the general election against barack obama. i think we'll start to see it on the left heading into 2016 where even though we see all the donors starting to coalesce around hillary clinton all it would take is one big donor willing to write a seven or eight-figure check to support a rival from the potentially from the populous wing, sort of elizabeth warren wing, and that would sort of throw into chaos the democratic -- both the democratic primary and sort of the democratic party and its direction headed into the 2016 presidential election. >> sounds like a silver lining to me. you know, i put up a chart yesterday showing that as the 1% has risen, so has political polarization. so these two things are linked, inequality and political polarization. it seems to me that your book chronicling the rise of the

super donor tells an important piece of why those things would be linked. >> yes. certainly i think that the ability of these super rich folks to spend a lot of money in politics does, in fact, correlate to the increasing polarization and gridlock we see in congress. we don't have to look a lot further than 2013 and the federal government shutdown. that was in large part fueled by some of these deep pocketed tea party groups that really put the pressure on members of congress, folks who they helped elect, and now we see the establishment sort of fighting back but the way they are fighting back is by reaching out to their own very wealthy donors to help fund the empire striking back. >> thank you. up next from the haves to the have nots, congratulations class of 2014. what are you going to do next? for more and more millennials the answer is, i'm moving back in with mom and dad. wait. that's not good.

sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this parade honoring america's troops. which is actually quite fitting because geico has been serving the military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

there was like an eruption on my skin. i had no idea i had shingles. red and puffy and itchy and burning. i'd lift my arm and the pain back here was excruciating. i couldn't lift my arms to drum or to dance. when i was drumming and moving my rib cage and my arms like this it hurt across here. when i went to the doctor and said what's happening to me his first question was "did you have chickenpox?" i didn't even really know what shingles was. i thought it was something that, you know, old people got.

i didn't want to have clothes on. i didn't want to have clothes off. if someone asked me "let's go dancing" that would have been impossible. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things. let's close the gap between people and care. ♪

just in time for graduation season today the crushing burden of student loans was a hot topic on capitol hill. dueling senate committees held hearings on the subject this morning. the banking committee heard borrowers' horror stories while the budget committee discussed a bill to allow borrowers to refinance student loans at lower interest rates. it's a plan recently introduced by senator elizabeth warren, krystal, listen up. several dem senators took to the mike this afternoon after the hearings and while the senate talks, millennials are feeling the weight of that debt along with their new degree. according to advisers the average class of 2014 graduates owes $33,000. add to that the tough job market millennials face and it is easy to understand why many aren't looking for new apartments. they're packing their dorm rooms only to move back in with mom and dad. according to new research nearly one-third of 18 to 34-year-olds live at home with their parents. joining us now with more on the uphill battle millennials face

is jefr inwang policy and advocacy manager for the young invincibles. it is not just about unemployment but under employment. why are so many millennials moving back with their parents? >> absolutely. thank you so much for having me on the show. you know, our millennial generation graduated from college into the worst economy since world war ii. i mean, we have 1.2 trillion dollars of student loan debt. it's a crisis coupled with severely high young adult unemployment. it's taking a toll on the broader economy. you know, just yesterday young invincibles heard from a young man named daniel who did all the right things. he went to college. he got a job. he recently had to move home with his parents because he could not afford his $1,000 a month student loan payment and defaulted on his student loans, moving back in was the only option for him. >> jennifer, let's listen to a

little bit of senator warren on student loan debt. >> right now there are 40 million americans who are dealing with student loan debt across this country. and the amount of student loan debt is growing rapidly. you know, just over the period from 2007 to 2012, it grew by more than 70%. we are on a trajectory on student loans that is just simply unsustainable. young people are not able to move out of their parents' homes. they're not able to stop buying their own homes. they're not able to save. they're not able to start small businesses. we're feeling the effect throughout the economy. this is truly an emergency. >> jennifer, it's an emergency now. it's also going to affect these young people for their entire lives. >> we were thrilled to see senator warren's proposal which would provide immediate relief to the 340 million borrowers out there who are struggling with their student loan debt but it is an emergency because, you know, now we're coming up on a

problem where students who are graduating from college have five times the amount of student loan debt that they did ten years ago. >> wow. we're also excited there are other bold proposals in response to this emergency, you know, senator mary landrieu introduced a bill to boost pell grants by almost double. pell grants are one of the best and most effective ways for young, low income students to go to school. you know, people are paying attention. we had two hearings in congress today and, you know, we're paying attention at young invincibles. it is something we hear from young people about every single day. it's an issue about jobs, too. you know, we -- in response to a report that we wrote this year senator booker and senator scott actually reached across the aisle and released a bipartisan proposal that would incentivize companies to hire young adults as apprentices. it's the time for bold

proposals. >> jennifer, we talk a lot about student loan debt when we talk about the problems millennials face in this economy but i see two different groups here. you have millennials who have gone to college and have this debt burden but their unemployment rates are not that high in the 5% to 7% range and then you have 20 to 24-year-olds who only have a high school degree, they don't have student loan debt, but their unemployment rate is 15%. what do we do for that group? beyond these apprenticeships, how do we change the economy for them? >> you're absolutely right. you know, people who go to college and graduate see lifetime earnings of double that of folks with just a high school diploma. and there needs to be alternative pathways to success. what i mentioned about apprenticeships is certainly something that has a very high return on investment and we need to be investing in those programs that really help our generation get back to work. >> absolutely. jennifer wang, thank you so much. we have something new for you from ella my 6-year-old who seems to be going on 26 in the latest political playground ella asks some tough questions about

honey bees. >> why are the bees dying? >> well, that's a very, very good question, ella, but it is a very, very complicated one with not one reason why the bees are dying. but the simplest way i can explain why bees are dying. >> why? >> because we as a society insist upon putting poison into our genetically modified seeds. >> ella got into pretty controversial stuff there and there's much more where that came from. you can watch the full episode on our website the cycle.msnbc.com. up next, are you feeling lucky? what it's like to play in the biggest poker tournament in the world as told by a rookie, no not me, "the cycle" rolls on. safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach.

it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. what are you doing? we're switching car insurance. why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. [ female announcer ] with allstate you get great protection and a great price, plus an agent! drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now.

[ female announcer ] call an allstate agent it says here that a woman's sex drive. increases at the age of 80. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. it seems that 80 is the new 18. grannies, bless your heart, you are bringing sexy back!

eat up. keep heart-healthy. live long. for a healthy heart, eat the 100% natural whole grain goodness of post shredded wheat. doctors recommend it. when jake and i first set out on we ate anything. but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel. these days we both eat smarter. and i give jake purina cat chow naturals. made with real chicken and salmon, it's high in protein like a cat's natural diet. and no added artificial flavors. we've come a long way. and whatever's ahead, we'll be there for each other. naturally. purina cat chow naturals. [ 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. ♪ welcome back. the final table at "the cycle's" first annual poker championship. i'm josh a.k.a. mr. barbecue. that is your chip leader krystal ball also known as cavalier slim. all day long she's been thrashing the man they call sugar dice like a rag doll. she's been taking his chips at will as if he were an atm. now he's short stacked as a single pancake. but cavalier slim hasn't been able to fend off aka the unsubscribed kid who has written an acclaimed book detailing his trip to the world series of poker called "the noble hustle." he is actually a very well respected novelist and wrote a great book called "the intuitionist" but today looks like he might become a character in a story by krystal.

she is holding aces. he is sitting on kings. well, he's got diddly. i don't know why he's still in the hand. >> i'm all in. >> he's insane. here comes the river. krystal wins. the hand is finished. he's humiliated. >> very suspenseful. >> i think we're all humiliated actually. >> no one more than me but thank you for playing along. >> keep those on. >> i love the book. i love the first sentence. i have a good poker face because i am half dead inside. what does that mean? >> well, i learned early people would say to me i think you have a good poker face meaning i'm a soulless monster who is incapable of registering human emotion. it's good at cards. not so good in society. but it helps my game. >> it's funny i got that vibe

off you right away. >> radiating yes. >> comes right across. totally. >> so this whole project came out of an amazing assignment right to go to the world series of poker and then you had the real realization that like, oh, my god i don't know what i'm doing so you went through mental, physical and kpi sentenexistens training and you look forward to it and you have to keep going. >> as a home player it's usually $5 for a bye-in game and socially it's very slow. low stakes and a lot of people talking about allergies and a new allergy this week and it's not very intense. i had to grapple with going to the big leagues. i've always found when you play poker in a casino you run into different people than you might in your home game. what are some of the most unusual characters you met. >> i started going to atlanta uk city, training runs.

drop off my daughter at school and hop on the bus to atlantaic city. you have the same mix. middle alged after h average white guy trying not to lose too much money and have a few hands to brag about. and then me neighbor mike. a local character. i canny pop looks at them and says, you let yourself go. and then the robo tron. they grew up playing internet poker in their basement cramming 20 years of experience into 18 months with their hood dids hoo and ear beds and they don't get it. >> the women rock a kind of tom boy annie oakley type of thing. >> this also coincides with changes that were making in your own personal life, right? >> i had just gotten divorced

and i was wrestling with being a single dad and thinking about poker all day and how to get safely to the organic chicken hotdogs. put my daughter to bed and then cram poker books all night. >> what do you love about poker? >> i think gamblers, not addicted gamblers, there is a difference, but a recreational poker players are romantics. they hope that the neck card can be the one that saves them. >> optimist. >> fill in the straight or the trips. you know, the full house they've been waiting for and even if if had a horrible run of luck, the next card could be the one that saves you. i always loved that about the game. >> you say you're from the republic of -- what is it is. >> antedonia from psychology meaning the inability to feel pleasure. i've always felt a real kinship with the word. >> you don't feel pleasure? >> i try not to. it's distracting. so it's the world series of

poker so i was thinking of who i would represent and i'm american, of course but i think my true homeland is the republic of this and it's playing for my and various misfits, loser, shut shut-ins. >> and the book is fantastic. congratulations. up next, imagine being on the run in your own neighborhood? that's happening across the country. josh barrow explains next. no, n! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay -- you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

when we arrived at our hotel in new york, the porter was so incredibly careful careless with our bags. and the room they gave us, it was beautiful. a broom closet. but the best part, / worst part, was the shower. my wife drying herself with the egyptian cotton towels, shower curtain defined that whole vacation for her. don't just visit new york. visit tripadvisor new york. with millions of reviews, a visit to tripadvisor makes any destination better.

so we made our own commercial to tell you why. chex makes seven gluten free flavors. like cinnamon, honey nut, and chocolate. when you find something this good, you want to spread the word. [ all ] we love chex! humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best

out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? imagine the police were

constantly roving the area looking to round up your neighbors and relatives looking to take them away. residents in many parts of the united states don't have to imagine this, it's ree amount. as tyler puts it, the national security agency created an impressive low-tech surveillance state has been in place for decades and it's been aimed at many of america's poorest people. america's shockingly high overall rate of imprisonment is concentrated in black communities, especially poor ones and among men who don't finish high school, about 3 of 5 are in prison at least once by the time they turn 35. for every american in prison, two are on probation or parole and often living in fear that an encounter with the police will mean going back to jail. soes yol gist and on the run, and so disrupted by polices and incarceration the community collectively acts like its hiding from the law.

it doesn't just come from imprisonment. on the outside many are wanted by the police sometimes for serious crimes like attempted murder but many others for drug yiems or technical violations like breaking a parole curfew or failing to pay a fine. it's hard to lead a normal life if 24r50es a warrant out for your arrest. whether it's serious or not. men avoid their families. going to the funeral or hospital basically means for the police to find you. he even describes men buying antibiotics on the black market for $80 a course because they're afraid to show their faces at the emergency room. as she describes it, police intervention meant to bring order to the gghetto are tearin apart. men who can't get steady work turn to the petty crime for income. so what can we do about this? we can start by ending the drug war if drugs were legal we wouldn't have to send young men to jail for possessing or

selling them and there wouldn't be so much violence around their trade. encourage employers not to discriminate against exconvicts in hiring and transform parole as some states are starting to do because it's more about re-integration than punishment. the men in this book often live in fear that a technical violation of parole will send them back to prids for years or months. hawaii has success with light parole like 48 hour jail sentences. lots of things the government should do about inequality but this is an instance where the best thing the government can do is get out of the way. stop sending so many black men to jail at ages when they should be living and working and stop making it so hard for them to support themselves once they're out. that does it for us. "now" with alex wagner starts right now. the release of america's only pow. it's wednesday, jump 4th and this is "now." >> the moment of exchange!

a number of lawmakers criticize the administration. >> did the white house think this was going to be a celebratory moment. >> they were flat-footed. >> i heard about it this morning. >> what are you going to do to the president? >> but it's gone in part of the hyperdrive. >> why does he think he can work outside the law. >> there were so many republicans on capitol hill urging him -- >> the exchange was one of them, i think that would be something we should seriously consider. >> the safe return of american soldiers should not be moved to political points. >> is it ever appropriate to leave a soldier on the battlefield? >> until we gets the facts it's