we start with breaking news about american p.o.w. bowe bergdahl's return to u.s. soil. jim, when will bergdahl be back and where will he be going? >> joy, if he's not already, he should soon be wheels up at landstuhl, germany, and headed to the brooke army medical center in san antonio, where he's expected to arrive there sometime after midnight tonight local texas time. this is really good news for bergdahl and his family. because it's at that army medical center he's expected to be reunited with his mother and father, after five long years in captivity. it also means that the medical doctors and psychologists at the u.s. military hospital in landstuhl have determined that he's physically and mentally fit enough to go from phase two of his reintegration process to

phase three, which will essentially give him time to decompress further, and get him adjusted to life in society once again. again, after he was held for five years in captivity. it also signals most likely that he's already had the opportunity to speak to his mother and father by telephone there at landstuhl. again, we expect him to arrive sometime after midnight. pentagon officials are very sensitive, and very strong in telling the media, look, there's going to be no media coverage. he'll arrive in the middle of the night. he'll be escorted into the facilities there. they expect him to make no public appearances while in san antonio. and there will be at least there are no plans for any kind of media coverage. it's not clear just how long he'll be there before he's released, and probably returned home with his parents. >> you actually answered the question i was going to ask you, how long he would be angts patd

to be in san antonio. essentially they're giving no information on that, just there for an undetermined amount of time? >> no. i think the significant development is, because they were so concerned about his psychological state of mind, they declared him physically fit in a matter of days. but he was still having some problems psychologically. and one can only imagine after being held captive for five years what that might entail. >> jim, you may not have the answer to this, but is there concern about his safety? we've heard about threats to his mom and dad. are they concerned in any way about releasing him on his own recognizance from that facility in san antonio? >> we have not heard from the dod officials about that. the threats were made against his parents, apparently referred to local law enforcement. and the fbi. but we haven't heard about any stepped-up activity at all. once he's totally well, and

reintegrates himself into society, a u.s. military probe, review, inquiry is under way to determine if he should face any kind of criminal charges regarding his departure from his base five years ago. >> indeed. thank you, jim. appreciate it. now to the events in iraq, which actually began with the invasion of iraq. the disillusion of the army later in 2003, the subsequent civil war. a surge that was supposed to give iraq time to form a stable government and become a modern state. and the sectarian political process that resulted instead. with this unpleasant recent history, it set the stage for the events we're seeing in iraq right now. a group so extreme that al qaeda has actually distanced themselves from it. they are just a march away from possibly seizing baghdad, home to more than 20% of iraq's population. this comes two days after the islamic state of iraq and syria,

or isis, as it's more commonly known, seized mosul. in part, because of poorly trained and poorly led iraqi army, despite its superior numbers, melted in the face of isis, which has had success not only in iraq, but also in grabbing territory in neighboring syria. nbc news richard engel is in iraq, and says, we're seeing the start of what could be a very bloody period. >> reporter: what is happening here is far more profound than just a militant group expanding and taking more territory. although that is profound enough. we're seeing what appears to be the collapse of iraq. it is breaking apart in defection. it shows how deeply divided this country is. the united states trying to keep the country together for years, trying to overcome the kurdish divide, the sunni/shia divide, those divisions are now exploding.

>> hundreds of thousands of refugees, the reports of mass beheadings, the fact that isis says it wants to capture the oil wells to do it. these are not aluminum tubes, this group, and frightingly effective, if not mysterious leader, do pose a legitimate danger to u.s. interests and allies. ach the capture of mosul, for instance, isis captured about two dozen diplomats of aur nato ally, turkey. it could threaten other allies, including jordan and israel. still, after the u.s. exit from iraq in 2011, few of the countries who engaged in the 2003 invasion appear ready to dive back in. britain's foreign minister has already assured his public there is, quote, no question about sending troops to iraq, they won't be doing it. now president obama has to decide how to balance a war-weary american public with a genuine foreign policy in iraq.

iraq's much-maligned prime minister, where should we draw the line in our support? >> i don't rule out anything. because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either iraq or syria, for that matter. >> joining me now is a former u.s. ambassador to iraq. he's currently at the washington institute for policy. thank you, sir. i'll start with the question of who isis is and where did they come from. have they been around since our invasion or where did they come from? >> isis is basically a reaction among the sunnis to the american march into iraq in 2003. it started with a palestinian named sar kau which, and it

became an al qaeda offshoot. but with a significant difference that remains to this day. it sees its role not just going after america, but also leading a jihad against the shia, who make up 60% of iraq. and, therefore, the movement was on the ropes after the american surgement but it found new life fighting in syria, as you said, in such a violent way that al qaeda central basically cut them off. and gave the nod to al nusra as the affiliate of the al qaeda network, if you will, in syria. but these people are very, very successful, they're very violent and they've got a lot of support, a lot of money from gulf arabs and others. >> indeed, hassan hassan from syria looked at them and said, those are the three reasons really for the fact they've been so successful, number one,

inconsistency of their opponents, and number two, the clarity of the ideological approach, and three, money, substantial funding. where does the funding come from, to your knowledge? >> it has come in the past from rich individuals. not countries, but individuals in the gulf, who have access to their country's oil wealth, and to many others who have money throughout the muslim world. a tiny minority of muslims, but still, a minority that has money. be it with the oil fields of syria, be it what they seized at the refinery in mosul, they are self-funding. they occupy a lot of territory, they have an economy they can run. that's the fear, they'll be able to recruit people from the sunni population. they'll be able to generate wealth in various ways. and this is a dramatic threat to the entire security of the region. >> i can imagine. the leader of this organization who doesn't take a lot of pictures, i think we have one of

the few that have been taken of him, his name is abu bakar, he was actually captured for a time by the united states in iraq and held for four years. what do we know about him and do we know where he is? >> we obviously do not know where he is. he is a hard-core follower of zarqawi. he indicates he's from the baghdad region. he is a native iraqi, unlike some of the earlier leaders of al qaeda in iraq. and he's been very, very successful evading capture, and keeping the movement alive in the period 2009 to 2013, when it looked like it was totally on the ropes. but nonetheless, he preserved a small cadre of people who have blossomed into essentially a motorized army of considerable thousands of troops. >> let's talk about the threat regionally of this group and their success, alarming success. you do have the neighbor syria.

you have the threats that iran could get involved. how dangerous is this really to u.s. interests? this is essentially the sort of repeat of sunni versus shia schism. how far could it theoretically spread? >> the military threat is, these guys are not capable, they're actually taking over all of the sunni western half of iraq and roughly 20% of the population. they have the capability, and i think they will attempt to encircle baghdad. i don't think they can take baghdad. there would be hundreds of thousands iraqi troops there, and the shia population is not going to surrender to these guys. they will fight. but they can cut the city off. that is going to create tremendous strains. the kurds are moving into disputed areas, for example kirkuk yesterday. they're ready if necessary to split off themselves if there's chaos to the south.

iran will not allow the shia city in the south to be sieged, shia populations to be attacked. we could see iran coming in, too. absent effective american action to stop these guys in their tracks, at least throw them back to the sunni arab area until we figure out what to do, this will degenerate into a regional cataclysm. >> john mccain was on the senate floor speaking angrily about it. let's take a listen. >> it's time that the president got a new national security team. >> we've got another benghazi in the making. >> they're 100 miles from baghdad. what's the president doing? taking a nap. >> those are obviously the politics of it, and they're fairly typical. is there any u.s. -- is there any margin for the united states to go back militarily in any big way into the country of iraq and would the american people even stand for it? >> first of all, no to ground troops. the iraqis have plenty of ground

troops. the american people wouldn't stand for it. but air power, an operation like libya, which the american people had no particular problem with, that would take away the mobility and the highly firepower of these isl people, and basically i think stop them in their tracks. the united states has the capability to do that. it could do that. it wouldn't involve casualties or a lot of money. if we don't do that, the entire world is going to stand by as an american partner state, and american equipped army goes down the drain. that's not a good scenario for any place in the world. >> former u.s. ambassador to iraq, 245u67. >> thank you. coming up, the gop is in turmoil as party leaders are scrambling to pick up the pieces after eric cantor's stunning loss. you're looking at live pictures from the white house where president obama is honoring the 2013 wnba champions, the minnesota links. watch the whole thing streaming live on msnbc.com. alright, that should just about do it.

excuse me, what are you doing? uh, well we are fine tuning these small cells that improve coverage, capacity and quality of the network. it means you'll be able t post from the breakroom. great! did it hurt? when you fell from heaven (awkward laugh) ...a little.. (laughs) im sorry, i have to go. at&t is building you a better network.

♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. friskies grillers. new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

i've worked with all 434 other members of congress before. i can work with whoever gets elected. >> that's john boehner dealing with the gop hangover that is eric cantor's stunning primary loss on tuesday. the house conference is in a frenzy trying to figure out who will take cantor's place as house majority leader. we'll have more on that race in a moment. to really understand how to repair the damage that this loss caused the house leadership, you have to learn a little more about the man who caused that damage, and who beat eric cantor, his name being dave brat. brat shares a lot of the same gop talking points on the free market and obamacare, but listen closely, and occasionally you'll

hear lines that you may not be accustomed to hearing from a republican. >> they actually broke the financial system, all the investment banks up in new york and d.c., those guys should have gone to jail. instead of going to jail, where did they go? >> sabrina is a politic supporters at the "huffington post." a new yorker has described dave brat as the elizabeth warren of the right, saying he uses the kind of rhetoric that ralph nader has used for many use to pillory the government for protecting the rich and well connected from the vagaries of the free market. are we looking at a guy who is the typical kind of conservative that republicans are used to dealing with, or is he sort of the occupy wall street of the conservative moment?

>> i don't know if he would go as far as occupy wall street, but he's not the usual conservative. a lot of hype is made on his immigration reform and that's what undid eric candor. what they talked about is eric cantor's being another cronyist capital supporter. at the same time, he hasn't exactly been specific when it comes to his own policy position, other than to say, as you mentioned, that he's a free market guy. i'm reluctant to say he's elizabeth warren. he would need to establish a little bit more of a platform in terms of what his own vision is for fiscal policy. >> let's listen to him talking about eric cantor and going after the chamber of commerce, not typical of what we've heard from republicans. >> i can describe eric cantor's vision very perfectly by the

chamber of commerce. the u.s. chamber of commerce, big business guys, at a business roundtable, every decision eric cantor makes is exactly what the chamber wants them to do. look at obamacare. who gets exempted from obamacare? big business. >> sabrina, when did the chamber of commerce become the enemy of republicans? >> it is still an enemy of the tea party. dave brat did get a fair amount of backing from the tea party and got support from club for growth, even though they were not actually present during his actual campaign. they've only embraced him now that he defeated eric cantor. there's this revived movement to kind of take down the gop establishment. they see a window to resurrect that fight. you're seeing it play out now in the race for the gop leadership position. >> are republicans concerned that you're going to have a faction, a populist faction

within their own party that is against one of the pillars of their base, which is big business in the chamber? >> i don't think they're too concerned yet. they talked about this is one isolated race. eric cantor could have won this race had he taken it a little more seriously. his campaign was a little arrogant about it. their polling was way off. it's not entirely clear if the entire gop leadership is taking dave brat as a symbol of an entirely new movement. >> sabrina, thank you very much. appreciate you being here. >> thank you. >> i would like to bring in one of the early tea party leaders and founder of citizens for self-governance. thank you for being here, first off. >> thanks for having me. >> i would like to ask you the same question, when did the chamber of commerce become the enemy on the right? i thought they were a pillar of support for the republican party. >> i agree with almost everything sabrina said. the reality is this is the essence of the tea party, against the cozy relationship

between big business and big government. this is a place where the left and the right agree. i think people on the left need to step back and take a fresh look at the tea party. this has always been a central tenet of the tea party, dave brat is a tea party guy. she's also correct, the big tea party organizations didn't participate, because that's not the real tea party. the real tea party is on the streets, on main street, in hometowns across the country. we saw that in the dave brat fight. >> this is interesting you say that, mark. when a lot of people think of the tea party, they think of the professionalized tea party that had the koch brothers and really rich bureaucrats supporting them, for the oil industry, and for big business and saying, we're not for the minimum wage, because that's not good for business. we're not for raising wages, we're not for union representation. they felt like a movement of big business. now you're saying that it is, what, reverting back to its original sort of state of being anti-big business? >> it never changed.

the bottom line is, you have big groups with big budgets that try to take over the narrative. the reality is, the tea party has always been made up of local people in hometowns all across the country. while big groups get on tv and buy advertising, that is not the heart and soul of the tea party movement. go to a local tea party meeting, meet the people who support dave brat, you don't find any love between them and the cozy relationship between wall street and the republican party, or the democratic party for that matter. >> let me give you a description of what the takeaway is from the brat election. the main lesson here might be this populist one. the tea party movement is not a republican movement or conservative movement, it's a radical anti-institutional, anti-leadership, anti-government driven by suspicion of the motives and actions of all leaders, including those in the republican party. yet it is the republican party. how can a party govern if its very members are opposed to the idea of government? >> i think that's a very extreme

description. if you look at what's going on in the american population at large, 77% of americans say that the federal government is too big. americans in general distrust government. that's part of our heritage. that is what the tea party's all about. and so i think ornstein is just overstating the case. >> distrust of the business part is a wrinkle for all americans. >> it's not new, you just haven't been paying to what people are saying on the street. >> mark, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. a new poll shows the ideological risk isn't just in washington, it's just about everywhere. we'll have more on the seismic shift taking place right now across the country. the eyes may be the windows to the soul. but in the case of the lexus ls... ...which eyes? eyes that pivot with the road... ...that can see what light misses... ...eyes designed to warn when yours wander... or ones that can automatically bring the ls to a complete stop. all help make the unseen...

...seen. and make the ls perhaps the most visionary vehicle on the road. this is the pursuit of perfection. we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. at first, we were protecting networks. then, we were protecting the transfer of data. and today it's evolved to infrastructure... ♪ ...finance... and military missions. we're constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyber battle, wherever it takes us. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. it's time for the stories you can't stop buzzing about on social media on we the tweeple. you're remembering ruby dee. ruby dee may best be known for starring in the film raisin in the sun in 1961, but she had

many, many other roles, including do the right thing. >> what did i tell you about drinking in front of my students? move on. you're blocking my view. >> that was ruby dee and her husband, ozzie davis, who shared in so many films together. this tweeted picture of the couple with the words together again forever. switching gears, world cup is also trending. among the millions of people around the world who will be watching the tournament which kicks off today in brazil will be the current residents of the international space station. three members of the crew, two americans, and a european, made a video cheering on their respective teams while they played some weightless soccer. that proves at least two americans actually do watch soccer. okay, more than two or three, because my family watch it. you're chiming in with your favorite teams at the #iss and world cup. which has been tweeted more than

58,000 times an hour. you can also join in the conversation with fellow reid report fans. keep telling us what's important to you. now this news. happy birthday to president george h.w. bush. he celebrated his 90th birthday today by making a parachute jump. here's more facts about the 41 president. cut! [bell rings] this...is jane. her long day on set starts with shoulder pain... ...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm. [bell ring] "roll sound!" "action!" how can a tablet replace your laptop? start with the best writing experience.

make it incredibly thin. add an adjustable kickstand, a keyboard, a usb port, and the freedom of touch. and, of course, make it run microsoft office, with the power and speed to do real work. introducing surface pro 3. the tablet that can replace your laptop. what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too.

that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. the truth is, we still live in a country where there are two different americas. one for all those people who have lived the american dream,

and don't have to worry. and another for most americans, everybody else who struggled to make ends meet every single day. it doesn't have to be that way. >> that was then vice presidential candidate john edwards with the catch phrase that propelled him onto the national stage. a tale of two americas. at the time, edwards was talking about an america of haves and have-nots. but today a decade later, a new poll by the pew research center finds america is still divided, and not just by economic opportunity, we're also increasingly divided ideologically. if people living in deep red or deep blue america feel like they inhabit distinctly different worlds, it's because they do, geographically and socially. conservatives seem to be in rural areas, liberals tend to live in big urban areas, for example. not surprisingly it's in the area of politics where the divide is getting really, really sharp.

back in 1994, the year of the republican revolution, slntly liberal and consistently conservative voters overlapped on a fair number of issues. by 2004 the two sides began to move farther apart, with conservatives becoming more conservative and liberals becoming more liberal on a broad range of issues. today, the number of americans with consistently conservative or consistently liberal views is 21%. along with the growing polarization has become a rise in hostility towards those on the other side. according to pew, since 1994 the number of democrats has doubled to 38% with a negative view of the other side. the republican party is actually a threat to the nation's well-being. among republicans, negative views of the democratic party has skyrocketed from 17% in 1994, to 43% today. 36% of republicans now say the

democratic party is a threat to the nation's well-being. now, to add to that, pew finds it's the americans with the most hostility toward the opposing party who are actually the most politically active. while people who see themselves more or less in the middle are becoming more disengaged from politics. a senior fellow at the center for american progress action fund, and south carolina republican party chairman. thank you both for being here. one of the findings in the poll is that the sense that the other side is actually a threat to the national well-being is much more pronounced, that sentiment is much more pronounced on the republican side. the pew researchers are saying that's in part because barack obama is in the white house. why do you suppose there is this sense among a growing number of republicans? the democrats are not just people who disagree with them, but are a threat to the national well-being. >> well, the same thing happened in the latter part two years of

george bush. i wouldn't say this is a new trend. the democrats were certainly heated up in 2007 and '08 over the bush administration. what i'm seeing, and what you touched on, joy, neither party is growing enough to win an election by itself. and you hit on that number of a lot of people who have become distracted, or a large disdain for the political operations that are out there. so that number that's really growing right now, that one in the middle. i live in a state where we have polled and checked the people moving in here, and especially coming to the northeast, are conservative citizens who are registering to vote. when you said are they coming to live together, and retire together, and work together, i think that's a very true statement right now. >> isn't that the case that you're starting to see the consulterization of people, and clustering in ways that mean

people don't have any contact with one another, and see each other as literally the enemy? >> that's true. i think it's also a case which comes first, the chicken or the egg. i'm not sure that the electorate has become as partisan as the political elite has. over the last decade or two, politics has become a zero sum game, you win, or you lose, or you kind of die and fizzle out. the electorate is following suit with the way our politicians are acting. there's very much the zero sum game about policy making which is problematic, even though our values as a nation don't reflect that. the interesting idea is it's very political, but if you look at all of the polling around the key policy ideas that we're trying to move right now, americans pretty much agree on most things. we agree that there should be some kind of way to deal with immigration reform. we agree that there should be marriage equality. we agree there should be gun reform. we agree on social security. we agree on some very basic values that have to do with

policy. so i think it's about the politics that are really broken, and polarizing people. we should think more about how we can come around together on the policies themselves. >> that is true. you look at the polling, things like immigration control, gun control, but you do have a sense, a lot of democrats would say the sense is that what jonathan martin wrote is how republicans feel. he wrote this, he said if you are conservative, you think barack obama is literally destroying the country you love and you watch your leadership and they seem unwilling to take him head-on and outmaneuver him. you have this sense of what the base of the republican party wants, is just to see their side try to humiliate and take down and destroy the president of the united states. is that an accurate reading of the temperature of the base, or is that sort of the craziness of the politicians who thinks that's what the base wants them to do? >> i think that the temperature of the base is probably dead-on.

let's go back to what i said. the poll number for washington is still at historical low. both sides are upset with washington. watch the campaign. eric cantor became labeled as washington in a republican campaign. that's what happens to you. so the big problem we have as a country, and a nation is, restoring some credibility to washington. that's going to be really hard to do right now. it is a polarized place. >> right. >> it is one side versus the other. there's not a lot of congenial policy discussions going op. i'll watch that change in the lindsay graham race we had two days ago. >> quickly, though, and then the final word, do you believe much of the -- that most of the republican base accepts the legitimacy of barack obama as president? the hard core part of the base? kayton? >> i think they do. he's the president of the united states. he's now in the last couple of years of his term.

certainly he's doing things that are activating and generating a lot of activity in the base. but you can't just look at the base right now. i'm a guy who tries to win elections. you've got to look at everybody out there you're talking to and see what kind of sensible solutions we can come to. that's what i found in the last primary election, in the state of south carolina is, people now are willing to get something done. they're tired of the polarizati polarization. they won't give up their principles and throw the towel in on a lot of things. i think the stig nation in washington is starting to change. >> i used to laugh with you. quickly, do you think people on the left side believe there's anything that conservatives are bringing of value, that they should allow to become law in order to get what they want? >> well, no. the it's because conservatives aren't bringing much about their policy ideas for to the table. we've gotten so caught up in the winning, like you said, this idea that we're going to challenge the validity of the president simply because we want

to win the elections, at least the right, nobody's talking about policy and what will move us forward. that is the problem. >> thank you both for being here. >> thank you, joy. a programming note, trayvon martin's mother sabrina fulton will talk to reverend al sharpton tonight on politics nation about fulfilling a promise that rachel made to her friend, to graduate from high school. watch the full interview tonight on politics nation at 6:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. [ mom ] hi, we're the pearsons, and we love chex cereal. 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!

but add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance... ...and we'll replace destroyed or stolen items with brand-new versions. we take care of the heat, so you don't get burned. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

you need to see this. show 'em the curve. ♪ do you know what this means? the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference. [sci-fi tractor beam sound] ...sucked me right in... it's beautiful. gotta admit one thing... ...can't beat the view.

♪ introducing the world's first curved ultra high definition television from samsung. nobody does it better than hertz. >> nobody does it better. >> before the summer of 1994, when most americans thought of o.j. simpson, they saw of the

rental car commercial and heisman winning performance on the gridiron. an nfl hall of fame career. all that changed on this day 20 years ago. when simpson's ex-wife, nicole brown simpson and her friend, ron goldman, were found brutally murdered in brentwood, california. what followed was a bizarre chapter in american history, where every dramatic turn played out live on national tv. >> los angeles county district attorney has just filed murder charges against o.j. simpson, in the murders of his ex-wife nicole brown simpson and 25-year-old ronald goldman. >> o.j. simpson is in that bronco. according to the chp he has a gun to his head. >> there is a circuit atmosphere surrounding the chase. local citizens rooting for simpson. >> 95 million people tuned in to watch that infamous white bronco chase. hundreds more gathered on bridges and overpasses along the

5 freeway to show their support for o.j. then, the trial of the century. for 265 days, americans watched as simpson's legal dream team led by robert shapiro, johnny cochran, picked apart the state's case. we learned all there is to know about forensics and dna evidence. and who were forget the iconic line that would define the trial. >> i want you to remember these words -- like the defining moment in this trial -- the day mr. darton asked mr. simpson to try on those gloves and the gloves didn't fit. remember these words, if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> that's exactly what the jury did. >> we, the jury, find the defendant or an thal james simpson not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal

code 187-a upon nicole brown simpson as charged in count one of the information. >> two decades later, what did we learn from the o.j. simpson case? joining me now is lisa bloom, attorney and legal analyst for nbc news, and my friend. lisa, wow, the o.j. simpson trial, i think everyone remembers where they were on the day the bronco chase, the day the verdict came down. one of the things that's most memorable about that verdict day is the way it came down, so succinctly along the lines of black and white. you had a black man, a white woman victim, you had a jury where you had nine african-americans, two people who were white, one who was hispanic, and reaction across the country literally black and white. what is your starkest memory of how race played into that trial? >> i think race, along with the forensic evidence, was one of the biggest factors in the case.

i don't think much has changed in the last 20 years, then as now. i practice civil race law here in los angeles, and i'm sorry to say that blacks and whites in this city live in two different worlds. i have a race discrimination case going on right now. i hope i get african-americans on the jury. i don't think whites really understand the black experience here in los angeles. the biggest part of the problem is the police treatment of african-americans. so many people feel disenfranchised by the lapd. when mark fuhrman was brought into the case and proven to be a racist, not alleged racist, but a racist, using the "n" word over and over, who bragged about drumming up false charges against african-americans, now convicted perjurer, i think that had a huge effect on the case. that was the man who found the bloody glove. the jury felt they couldn't trust the lapd and the investigation and that's why they came back with a not-guilty verdict. >> afterwards there were a lot of people, white colleagues, who

essentially said they no longer trusted the entire criminal justice system. where you have a lot of the african-americans who took the o.j. simpson verdict as almost one time that a african-american had been able to stand up to a system they didn't trust. do you get a sense that that criminal justice and race playing a big part of whether you believe in it, has changed in the last 20 years? >> again, i don't think it's changed all that much. i think this was the first of many cases here in los angeles where we saw a celebrity defendant get away with murder. what many people felt was murder. in o.j.'s case, in the civil case that followed, he was found to be legally responsible for the two deaths of nicole brown simpson and ron goldman. we saw it again with robert blake, and phil specter, who was later convicted. you get a pass when you're a celebrity in this town. i think prosecutors feel they have to prove a case beyond a shadow of a doubt, not just a reasonable doubt. he had a terrific dream team.

there was an entire book written about how the prosecution dropped the ballened and how the lapd made a lot of mistakes in the case. i think that's really where the blame lies. >> your new book gets into that, and you saw, for a lot of us who had not witnessed trials before, a defense that was completely outclassing a prosecution. that certainly has happened again. >> well, that's right. johnny cochran was just an outstanding lawyer. and with regard to, if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. remember, o.j. was wearing a glove underneath that glove in the courtroom when he tried to put it on. he stopped taking his anti-inflammatory medications the day before so his hand had swelled up. the glove was blood soaked so it had shrunk. they should never have asked him to put on the glove. o.j. had no motivation to squeeze his hand into the glove as many of us do.

that was an important moment in the courtroom. >> there was an understanding of how race played in the criminal justice. lisa bloom, no better person to talk about that, and the author of "suspicion nation" in which the defense outclassed the prosecution.

the was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

we now know that u.s. army sergeant bowe bergdahl will soon come home. the saga over his capture and how we got him back will continue. a young american soldier spending five years as a captive of the taliban, sometimes in a steel cage. his fellow soldiers seething with anger that he walked away from his post. the threats against his parents and the people in his town. while we still don't know why

bowe bergdahl disappeared from his platoon in the summer of 2009, it is true that the hyper kinetic campaign to turn not only him but his parents into taliban sympathizers has not just been ugly, it's actually been wrong. in 2010, bob bergdahl was considered a good enough conservative to give a speech at a then gop fund-raiser. an event where he hobnobbed with a talk show host and even a united states senator. shortly after bowe bergdahl disappeared, a box containing his blue spiral bound journal, his laptop computer, military records and other items arrived at the home of his close friend, tim harrison, whom bergdahl designated in his army paperwork as the person who should receive his remains. that friend who shared the contents of bergdahl's journal with the "washington post" and had fear of getting threats herself has given us the most complete picture of bergdahl

since writing about miss disappearance in 2012. what she reveals is a troubled young man who had been discharged from the coast guard after fewer than 180 days of service in 2006, because of psychological problems. and who somehow was still able to join the army in 2008. a period in which the military dramatically lowered its standards in order to keep feeding the war in iraq. an article by fred caplan in january of 2008 quoted the national priorities project, which compiled data from the defense department showing that the percentages of new army recruits with high school diplomas has plunged, from 94% in 2003 to 83.5% in 2005, to 70.7% in 2007. the pentagon's long-standing goal is 90%. the army is fielding fewer and fewer high-quality recruits. caplan said in order to meet the recruitment targets, the army

had to scour the bottom of the barrel and questioned the morality of placing so much of the burden of national defense on the country's most downtrodden. harrison said of friend bowe bergdahl, he's a perfect example of a person who should not have gone to war. the only person worse would be someone with a low iq. in my mind, they didn't care. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. and join us online. "the cycle" is up next.

means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter.

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 but the 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. [ male announcer ] with millions of reviews, a visit to tripadvisor makes any destination better. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are24/7branches? i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

purina pro plan can help him drachieve it. ♪ driving rock/metal music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] purina pro plan's bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. [whistle] purina pro plan. nutrition that performs. "the cycle" breaks news, because that's what we do. are we seeing the new bin laden? iraq and syria are on the verge of colliding into a new terrorist hot bed. we go inside the pentagon. republicans searching for a new leader and making sense of it. brazil welcomes the world cup and welcomes a whole lot of uncertainty. plus, just in, bowe bergdahl

is headed home tonight. but will he get a hero's welcome? 3:00 p.m. in new york, 12:00 p.m. in l.a. across america, it's time for "the cycle." iraq's going to need more help. it's going to need more help from us and from the international community. i don't rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent f d foothold in iraq or syria, for that matter. we're not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. >> no one has the appetite for it. but is another iraq war on the horizon? the situation there is being described as the gravest threat to our national security since the end of the cold