sleep-aid that helps you sleep easily and wake refreshed. because sleep is a beautiful thing. right now -- >> we have 131 high water rescues since midnight. >> they say everything is bigger in texas. >> oh, my god! stop, stop! he has to get out! here we go! >> in this case that's not a good thing. >> like the incredible hulk came through. >> mother nature called the final time-out. >> we're going to be here not worth chancing it. your car is going to mess up. at least the rockets won. >> eight states 32 million americans under flood alerts. news teams thrown into the story -- >> there goes our power. >> this afternoon, it's a flood of trouble and river of concern.

as we come on the air this tuesday, the misery continues throughout much of the southern u.s. good afternoon, i'm cristal ball, it is nice to be back with you as we begin another week in the cycle. i wish it was under better circumstances. you heard there from the mayor of houston during our open join us live in just a moment during a tense time for that city. there's a flash flood emergency declared. the death toll rose to three and 50,000 are in the dark. there's also more rain falling as we speak further east in central texas 12 people remain missing after historic flooding in the town of wimberley. including a family of four swept away. the tragedy is being felt by an entire nation. let's begin our breaking weather coverage in houston and nbc's charles hadlock is there. >> reporter: hi krystal, houston got hammered with more than 11 inches of rain.

six inches fell in one hour and this is the result. this is memorial drive as it heads into downtown houston. it's been flooded by the waters of buffalo bayou to the right of your screen. at one point the water was laughing at the bottom of the 13 foot marker that's how high it got in this one location. we don't know if any cars are submerged here. but in other parts of houston they weren't so lucky. two people drowned when they drove their cars in the darkness into water like this. earlier today the 18 wheeler back there, the water was halfway up the windshield. they all got out safely. the fire department reports that more than 500 people had to be rescued throughout the day. the number continues to climb because they keep finding spots where people are trapped by high water. the question is will more rain which is in the forecast complicate the problems here.

we'll have to wait and see. back to you guys. >> nbc's charles hadlock in houston. thanks so much. we're talking to houston's mayor annise parker. we appreciate it. how is your city coping at this hour? >> i think things are going as well as can be expected. host most of the flooded areas, the water has begun to recede and once we get low tide in the gulf it really helped and if the rain holds off a little bit, we should get through the night pretty well. this is two weeks of pretty steady rain that saturated the ground and last night, a flooding event caused by torrential rain from 10:30 to 1:00 in the morning which caused the underpasses to filling up

with water and low lying areas of streets to be flooded. and then everybody has to understand that we're sort of the narrow end of a funnel that goes all the way up into central texas which has been flooding the last couple of days and the water comes through us. so this morning, the bayou began to rise and that's when we got into flooding of a number of residences along primarily ray's bayou and buffalo bayou in houston. >> mayor parker, is there any sense that the worst is over we're looking at pretty extraordinary photos and i sense there's more rain in the forecast ahead? >> we are concerned about the rain but the worst is over but we're not out of the woods yet. most of the roads -- people have to understand we're a big city and lots of the city has been functioning well but the areas that have been hit have been hit

very very hard. and of course we have three confirmed fatalities. two of them were in vehicles that went under water last night during the rain. and then one person was pulled this morning. we don't know the circumstances of that. we are -- as soon as we can, and as waters recede we're going to areas that have been under water. >> it's tour'e one last question, you have infrastructure damage and thousands of people who have been displaced from their homes and not going to be able to go back to their homes, you have businesses damaged throughout the area of town. what is the long-term economic impact of this for houston? >> we're not ready to put a dollar figure on it yet. obviously this is an area and the governor is on his way, he and i both talked to the white house and expect full support through fema.

this is a -- it's something we're going to have to grind through. houston yans have been immensely resilient through all of this. what i'm worried about most right now is that most of the areas that are dry, people begin to come out and they want to go sight seeing. and these waters are still moving very very fast and they can be dangerous. >> all right, mayor houston mayor annise parker thanks for your time. let's head to central texas where the search is on for a dozen missing people. jay gray just arrived on the scene. set the scene for us. >> reporter: as bad as things are in houston, maybe even worse here. i'm standing in what is a cabin along the blanco river, actually it was washed away by the river. can you see the debris ripped apart here tree limbs mattresses and box springs.

these just expected a couple weeks ago expecting a summer rush. you can see the water line that was here. as we move down and through this debris across the area what you'll see is where the blanco is now. we'll move back down and show you the river still rushing very quickly here but it is well within its banks at this point. there's a concern just like in houston that more rain is on the way here and not just tomorrow but for the rest of the week. see these slabs, there were cab bins there as well as you move across what is more debris here. you can see the remnants and green buildings over there, that's how far this water pushed everything here. that's how devastating the water can be. eight people in this area killed by the flooding. as you said 12 people missing, including two families vacationing in cabins just like these. back to you guys. >> jay gray thank you for your reporting. wnbc's chief meteorologist janice huff, has the worst of this passed down south? >> not quite.

they are going to see residual flooding of the even though the weather dried out and it's not raining right now many rivers are at or above flood stage and continuing to rise. we have a flood watch in and around the houston area. the storms they are expecting over the next several days will be more scattered. it won't be that intense dumping of heavy rain over the same area all at once like the last couple of days. nonetheless flash flooding is still a possibility across this area. we're starting to see isolated pop-up storms across southeast texas. at the won't hit every area which is better news regarding flooding for this region. this is going to continue on and off for the next several days. rainfall is estimated anywhere from 2 to 3, maybe up to 4 inches in spots but that i have seen upwards of 10 inches in the last couple of days. the system that brought the heavy rain the last two days spread eastward into alabama, the florida panhandle and parts of georgia. they are getting hit with heavy

rain and flash flooding today. look at the severe weather outlook for today, 49 million people are at risk that includes the dallas area where you could see some tornadoes up towards wichita falls and into central sections of oklahoma. also around chicago, there's a potential for some severe weather as well. wind damage is the greatest threat, there's a low threat for tornadoes but there do be flash flooding in some spots here across the area. this is spreading eastward across parts of the country. very hot conditions across texas, very humid conditions not as stormy today although they could see isolated thunderstorms here and there. that pattern is going to continue going into the weekend. there's anywhere from say a 30 to maybe 50% chance that areas in and around the flooding can get more storms but like i said there will be more isolated but there's still the potential for flash flooding that will continue into the weekend. back to you. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it. we're going to continue to track the storms and bring you updates if the situation warrants. up next iraqi forces mount

assault to regain ground from isis, who is to blame for let teenager get out of control in the first place? war of words is heating up at home and abroad. plus, a moving scene as omaha honors fallen officer and in in politics hillary clinton is about to have a challenger and bernie sandsers may be more than she bargains for. put your hand over your heart. is it beating? good! then my nutrition heart health mix is for you. it's a wholesome blend of peanuts, pecans and other delicious nuts specially mixed for people with hearts. i said people with hearts. because hearts health is important. that's why i've researched optimized and packaged this mix just for you. not you. so if you have a heart start optimizing your nutrition with my nutrition. planters. nutrition starts with nut. hey pal? you ready?

can you pick me up at 6:30? ah... (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh! move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting for him. (vo) the longest-lasting midsize sedan in its class. the twenty-fifteen subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. time upon a once people approached problems the way same. always start at the starting. and questions the same asking. but that only resulted in improvements small. so we've got some ideas new. garbage can create energy. light can talk. countries can run on jet engine technology.

when you look at problems in ways different you new solutions find. ♪ ♪ bring us your aching and sleep deprived. bring us those who want to feel well rested. aleve pm. the only one to combine a sleep aid... plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. be a morning person again, with aleve pm.

developing right now, the iraqis launching major counter offensive to drive isis out of

the anbar province after they took control of the key city of ramadi prompting a huge blame game over strategy. stanley mcchrystal weighed in hours ago. >> our primary focus needs to be creating a political framework that's got some credibility in the region and then helping to lead building a team of team towards that. we're going to have to partner and provide leadership but i think the idea that we will go on the ground and be the major force probably just delays the inevitable when they have to accept responsibility. >> on "morning joe" the u.s. naval secretary defended the president's strategy. >> i think that that the president has got it right. we can help in terms of air strikes and we can help in terms of training but eventually the fight has got to be on the ground with the iraqis. >> but it's this from defense secretary ash carter over the weekend that sparked this

firestorm. >> the iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. they were not outnumbered. in fact they vastlyout numbered the opposing force and yet they failed to fight and withdrew from the site. and that says to me and i think to most of us that we have an issue with the will of the iraqis to fight isil and defend themselves. >> strong words you can better americans weren't the only ones to hear them. vice president biden had to call the iraqi prime minister to smooth things over and messy situation gets even messier. chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us now here in new york. great to see you stateside. we hear ash carter with strong words talking about the iraqis failing to fight lacking will. this is an american trained unit. what's the problem here? why can we not trust iraqis to

fight for us? >> the u.s. spent about 20 to $25 billion to build the iraqi army. and it spent years with americans standing shoulder to shoulder with the iraqis trying to pop up this institution. and when u.s. forces left iraq, the army became incredibly corrupt and lots of ghost rosters where false names were put on so people would get pay but didn't have to show up. there were demands for kickbacks and equipment went to the black market, the iraqi services just started to rot. and there was an increasing sectarian nature to the armed forces where shiite officers were promoted and sunni officers were removed. >> so frankly, who would fight and die for an army like that? >> excellent question. richard, stay with us i want to hear more from you but want to bring in the retired naval commander and senior analyst at the study of war and friend of

the show. part of the problem is that we have not learned to deal with the sort of asymmetrical warfare that isis is doing a perfect model of. this is typical of how we've seen the fighting in iraq for years now. why is asymmetrical warfare so difficult for the greatest army in the world to deal with? how can we learn to deal with it better? >> thanks for having me. that's a great point. if you look at the american model of warfare, we're built around a highly industrialized highly mechanicized high technology form of warfare, that worked great in world war ii and during the korean war and pretty well during the cold war and first two wars in iraq '91 and 2003. that's great if you're striking fixed targets but not so good if you're striking mobile targets that blend in with the civilian population. one thing we know about isis first they are able to attract still thousands of foreign recruits, number two, they are able to blend in with the civilian population. it's very difficult for american

pilots flying at 30,000 feet to differentiate between isis fighters and iraqi civilians and almost impossible for pilots flying at 30,000 feet to differentiate between a suicide bomber. this american fascination with technology won't work. we quote/unquote won the surge but we put 150,000 number of troops and immense amount of money. >> chris, going back to the point you're making about asymmetrical warfare and the air war "the new york times" reporting there is a lot of controversy about whether the u.s. is being too slow taking conservative approach for the exact reason you're talking about, that it is so difficult when the enemy is embedded in civilian populations to decide which building to bomb. on the other hand isn't this a war that's being fought as much on a propaganda front as anywhere else? if that's the case snts

avoiding civilian casualtyies a premise we should pursue? >> we have to avoid civilian casualties. there are plenty of times i had targets in my sites and not comfortable because i would not know for sure a target or civilian house. somebody says it might be a legitimate target, it might not. i'm not going to go around killing kids and have that on my conscious and drag down the american war effort. my loyalties and sympathies are with the pilots being careful in targets they do attack. isis knows that and take advantage of that. in terms of propaganda war, they don't think of control of terrain the same way we do. when americans are westerners are general think of controlled terrain, we think about building a base and building bridges and think about physical infrastructure. isis thinks in control of the human terrain. they are walking into a village and executive 10 or 12 people and tell the village, if you cooperate we'll be back and

execute all of you. it's very difficult for the iraqi population when they are being serviced by at best an ineffective central government to not ally with isis in this case. >> richard, when we look at the sort of standoff here we look at it from the u.s. perspective, what isis is doing in these different countries which makes some sense, without the u.s. popping the cork in iraq we won't have this level of instability, having said that -- >> there's no doubt about that. isis was created in iraq during the first war. it is the same organization. it was the organization started by zarkowi. >> you don't have just one fight in iraq and one fight in syria. you have one fight that goes across iraq and syria. i would say it even extends into lebanon and now through a coalition, extends all across

the middle east. and globally what we're seeing is the breakdown of the system that has been in place in the middle east for the last 100 years or so where these artificial states created by the west by european great powers after world war 1, this overlay is being peeled back. as it is peeled back you're seeing the older very violent religious and ethnic tensions rising up to the surface, that's what's happening globally and i think that's happening all across the middle east and other parts of the world as well. then you have the situation of okay, if that's happening, you have the states kind of whithering apart and isis bubbling up what are you going to do about it? how are you going to fight it? i was noticing you were talking about this article in "the new york times" and there's been a lot of talk about the strategy and tactics and are we being too slow and should we send in more equipment? should there be more air strikes? i don't think it has anything to

do really with the number of air strikes or amount of equipment until you don't know how this movie ends and don't have a real plan for what happens in iraq what happens in syria, who gets to run iraq at the end of the day and who gets to run syria have isis growing in the cracks of the indecision. >> let me get you to respond with that. do you agree what we're seeing is the unraveling the state system that was essentially imposed on the middle east and if so what are the implications for our strategy? >> i think richard made a very good point, all viewers should keep in mind. this is not three separate wars this is the same conflict being carried out across three separate countries, war on iraq war in syria and war in lebanon but it's the same fundamental problem. nobody is loyal to the central states anymore, they are loyal to their tribes and ethnicities and religious identity. unless they are able to co-is a less around a national identity they are irretrieveably broken. this is pretty obvious in syria,

there is a moderate middle they want a nonsectarian liberal government but we can't get to that as long as the extremists on either side have all of the power and equipment and all of the ability to conduct the fight. it seems to me the moderate middle is been extinguished by the shiite extremists and sunni extremists. >> it's a deeply rooted problem. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> up next bernie sanders gets set to enter the 2016 race and steve kornacki is on the scene and ready for the rally. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. ♪ if you're looking for a car that drives you... ...and takes the wheel right from your very hands...

...this isn't that car. the first and only car with direct adaptive steering. ♪ the 328 horsepower q50 from infiniti. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical

help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. insurance coverage has expanded nationally and you may now be covered. contact your health plan for the latest information. your kids get used to sweaty odors in their room. they think it smells fine, but you smell this... eliminate all the odors you've gone noseblind to with febreze fabric refresher. mmmm... so you and your guests can breathe happy.

white house politics now, just call him mr. independent. bernie sanders holds his first big campaign rally this afternoon in his home state of vermont. he's running as a democrat and many on left think he could actually prove a formidable

opponent to hillary clinton. in an exclusive interview with cnbc's john harwood, the senator acknowledged securing the nomination will be an uphill battle. >> i fully concede that i enter this race as a major underdog no question about it. as i said before don't underestimate me i think we'll do better than people think and we're going to shock -- >> steve kornacki says don't count bernie out just yet. steve, make the case for president bernie sanders. >> reporter: well, i don't know if i'm going to make the case for president bernie sanders taking office in january 2017 but there might be more upside potential to bernie sanders as a presidential candidate than we commonly assume. if we stipulate up front everybody we know about hillary clinton being the most dominant nonincumbent presidential front-runner that we've seen if we stipulate that how far can

he go? number one, i think he's better positioned at least potentially than any of the other democrats lining up to run against hillary clinton to make her sweat at least, to give her a scare, at least in the early states. if you look at the early states the two that vote first, iowa and new hampshire. what jumps outs about that? relatively small states rural states populations that in a lot of ways are similar to vermont where bernie sanders won statewide elections and next door neighbor status there. what you look at with bernie sanders somebody who spent his entire career decades now talking about issues that in the last two years have really come to the foreign national debate. income inequality and corporate power, even climate change. bernie sanders comes to the race with a lot of credibility on these issues because they are the issues they defined themselves with for years. if you look at the early polling. everybody focuses on hillary

clinton being 40 points ahead but if you look at martin o'malley, jim webb from virginia lincoln chaffey, if you look at the polls and you sad up those other three and their totals bernie sanders is beating all of them combined sometimes even doubling all of them up combined. he comes to this with more of a built-in base and built-in grass roots base and grass roots energy that they have. the thing that might connect, it might make this interesting in the early states he's kind of grumpy and got that rum pled professor look. that communicates to a lot of people is authenticity. there's so much frustration with the political system and paralysis in washington and more of washington should be responding so much more to these pressing problems facing this country. somebody who can communicate authenticity, that's a rare thing in politics and powerful things in politics and bernie sanders does have that going for

him. >> eetsz a perfect anti-hillary steve kornacki in burlington vermont. let's turn to msnbc analyst and global editorial, howard fineman. >> global wow. >> i want to play more of john harwood's interview in which he questions the morality of the u.s. economic system. take a listen. >> you have the top one tenth of one percent owning as much wealth as the bottom 90. does anybody think that is the kind of economy this country should have? >> howard do you agree with steve that this kind of a message about the inherent corruption of what's going on in d.c. is one likely to resonate with voters and pose the toughest challenge to hillary? >> i think that the key word that steve mentioned is the word authenticity because bernie sanders has that in spades last year i think i wrote probably the first piece taking bernie

seriously because it was clear to me at that time he was running and running hard. and he's been doing this now for a long time and only now seeing it emerge in public view. he understands if you put authenticity together with detachment from the current system, which is all about big money, and wall street and the 1/10th of 1% if the american people are looking for somebody to fix that it's not going to be hillary clinton, with all due respect to hillary clinton. she's too much a part of the system. nobody is ever going to accuse bernie sanders as being part of the system. he's too left and he's too authentic and he's too unconnected from big money. he has no money himself. he's kind of the truth teller in the public square -- >> i think that's totally right and you are the truth teller on this show and of course as we

all know the people aren't really going to make the decision. the party elites and donors will make the decision. it seems this is not really about a chance to beat hillary but chance to shape hillary. with hillary run a risk adverse and boring campaign don't pay attention to me let's pick it up off the nomination is sewn up, the media will want to cover bernie because he's very interesting and get more attention than his polling stat tour will say he deserves. that do you think that will help him shape hillary? >> well i don't know how much it will help him shape her, but it's going to shake her up to some extent. you're right, part of the dynamic here in addition to what steve said about the issues and about the authenticity and being next door to new hampshire and so forth, is the fact that nature ab whos a vacuum and so does the political media. there's got to be a contest here.

the media dynamics will demand it. if hillary isn't going to make news herself, somebody else will make news by going after her. bernie sanders says he's going to not do negative advertising or criticize anybody but knows well well everybody else around him especially to the left is going to do it for him. and by the way, so are the republicans. they are part of the equation here too. they are going to do everything they can to boost bernie sanders however indirectly because they want hillary to be trammelled up in the consequences of the primaries. >> and loud opponents will open up moments where hillary has to decide who and what she's going to respond to howard. >> exactly. >> unpack the timing here. it seems that with bernie coming out now and martin o'malley widely expected to announce this coming weekend, there's been a sort of pause where hillary clinton had time to unveil the campaign. why do you think that has been the strategy of some of these

challengers? >> well, i mean now is as good a time as any to get into it. they want to get into it before the summer season in places like iowa new hampshire. the rest of us may be going else with and hunkering down in the air conditioning. the candidates will be out in iowa and new hampshire. this is the time where you begin building networks of your campaigns. for people like bernie sanders and lesser candidates on the republican side but especially somebody like bernie who's a good organizer, you have to get out there now and inspire people now. what's so interesting to me about this is that in addition to everything else said there's been a lot written how enough of the babey boom. we can't stand another baby boomer president. he has an answer to that. i'm older than the baby boom. who would have thought that that person that kind of person could end up being a major irritant if nothing more than that to hillary? martin o'malley? we'll see. >> i don't think anyone doubts

that bernie sanders has the fire to do it. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> today the community of omaha, nebraska paid final respects to fallen police officer killed in the line of duty hours before she was set to take maternity leave. on monday her flag draped casket was brought in by her fellow officers and hundreds of mourners and police lined up to place blue roses in a basket in front of the coffin. she was shot last week about a fugitive only hours before she was scheduled to bring her prematurely born baby home from the hospital. she was 29 years old.

♪ ♪ ♪ (under loud music) this is the place. ♪ ♪ ♪ their beard salve is made from ♪ ♪ ♪ sustainable tea tree oil and kale... you, my friend, recognize when a trend has reached critical mass. yes, when others focus on one thing you see what's coming next. you see opportunity. that's what a type e* does. and so it begins. with e*trade's investing insights center, you can spot trends before they become trendy. e*trade. opportunity is everywhere.

your pet... could you love him any more? probably not. but now you can give them even more when you save with sentry® fiproguard® plus. with sentry® fiproguard® plus, your pet is just as protected against fleas and ticks as with frontline® plus. because sentry® fiproguard® plus has the same active ingredients but costs less than vet prices. and saving money helps you buy... (laughs happily) more tennis balls. sentry® fiproguard® plus - available at these retailers. >> we're back with breaking news, president obama's immigration policy just hit a legal obstacle a federal appeals courts now rejecting the government's request to let it

go into effect in some states while it was being appealed in others. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams with the latest. >> i don't think the administration's hopes were terribly high after this case was argued before the fifth circuit court of appeals last month, a three-judge panel. the government hoped that it could go ahead and enforce this policy while the case is still on appeal. you remember the president announced it last november. this was the policy that do allow up to 5 million people here illegally to remain parents of children born here for example, it was sued blocked after a lawsuit from half of the states. a federal judge in february said the government failed to get public comment first violating the administrative procedures act and on that basis, he put a hold on it. the obama administration went to the fifth circuit and appeals court asking it to lift the stay so it could go ahead and enforce it. even in the states that weren't

suing it said but today the appeals court said it couldn't do that and didn't want piecemeal enforcement of the immigration laws and thought the states had a good argument that challenged that. the administration has a choice and go to the full fifth circuit or go to the supreme court but of course as you know the supreme court doesn't like to take the stay issues while the case is still on appeal. so the government may be stuck with this. >> certainly some interesting news there. thank you as always for your reporting. we have other legal items, today the supreme court issuing three rulings on business cases while this year's most anticipated cases which could naturalize gay marriage or overturn obama care next month. many are now questioning its lack of transparency. legal scholars and reporters and even comedians criticized the justices for falling behind the times and ever allowing cameras in the courtroom. hbo recently did a bit about the lack of cameras compelled his

store to reenact arguments with adorable dogs. >> let's assume a religion that requires polygamy i mean -- can i say -- okay i won't have three wives, let me have two wives. >> you want to hear the entire hour-long legal argument, don't you? >> will they ever let the cameras in? that is the hope of a new group pushing to reform the court. they are called fix the court, led by executive director gabe roth joining us from chicago. >> thanks for having me. >> let's start with that idea about cameras in the courtroom. is your argument basically that this would just be fair because the other political branches in many local courts do allow that kind of access or are you actually claiming it would be a good thing for democracy because i could point you to a lot of other areas of american life where adding cameras or reality

tv constant video doesn't make things any better. >> i think for your second point it's not necessarily an apples to apples comparison. when you've seen cameras in state supreme courts or other federal courts they've been about as intrusive as wall mounted clocks there haven't been outbursts, isn't like other legislator legislators. it's important they see their government officials in action. we're not wanting to go into chambers and listen to conferences and see how they decide the opinions. we're hoping that the public exercise of the justices and oral arguments and opinion announcements are open to more than 200 people who can fit in a courtroom in any given day. >> gabe when you talk about accessibility, i sort of hear an argument to make the court's dealing simpler and making it easier for americans to understand. all you have to look at the graphic of the three decisions

issued today and how are you possibly going to make it glamorous for your average american to understand that bankruptcy ruling? isn't it the case that unlike the other two branches of government a lot of the courts foundational work is really digging in to unglamorous topics that no matter what you do in terms of accessibility, and open courtrooms, there's still going to require some sort of journalistic or other helpers to make it accessible not the justice's responsibility, is it? >> yeah i mean that's true. there are other cases that were announced today on bankruptcy and whistle blower protections and patents. those are tough cases and most american and most lawyers wouldn't get 90% of what went on. when you think about an institution that's become the most powerful least accountable in our nation and tell us where we can pray and whom we can marry and vote and picked our president and making decisions over life and death. so we think they should be more open and accountable and if you had cameras in the courtroom,

what would you see on those cases announced today and the more quote/unquote glamorous ones i alluded to you would see nine judges and two attorneys coming up with very clever creative and intelligent arguments. if you've been in the courtroom, i know ari has, if you've been in the courtroom, it's one of the most impressive things our government does and it should be open to the rest of the country, no matter what the issue is. >> gabe, let's talk about your group's push to end lifetime appointments and limit supreme court justices to 18 years served. if my count is correct, that would mean scalia kennedy, tom's and begins burg have all served too long. is it the length of service an issue? >> that's a big part of it. what we found -- let's start at the beginning, when the constitution was written people were living until 45 or 50 not 80 or 90 as they are now. having justices serve for 25

35 40 years gets them entrenched and we have a situation where the majority of americans don't trust the supreme court as an institution under chief justice roberts, it's the highest percentage of 5-4 decisions in its history and become a political branch. we don't want it to be seen like other political branches. there are enforced errors they are creating which makes them look more political. if we take the temperature of the court down a little bit, have a rotating group of justices serving not two years or six years or four years but 18 years, we believe that will really make the justices more accountable to the american people and in touch with what's going on. >> it's an interesting idea and tough one to get done but we like big ideas here on "the psychcycle cycle." up next digging into the difficult options as isis continues its brutal advance. >> it is the president of the united states. this is the white house.

and a tin pot dictator challenges that and gets away with it? who's going to believe you next time? to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence!

step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. when you're not confident your company's data is secure the possibility of a breach can quickly become the only thing you think about. that's where at&t can help. we monitor network traffic worldwide, so we can see things others can't. mitigating risks across your business.

leaving you free to focus on what matters most. ♪ ♪ time upon a once people approached problems the way same. always start at the starting. and questions the same asking. but that only resulted in improvements small. so we step a took back and problems turned these inside-up-down to approach them newly. and that's when we it saw. garbage can create energy. light can talk. countries can run on jet engine technology. when you look at problems in ways different you new solutions find. ♪ ♪

could anyone have prevented the rise of isis? we talked earlier about the blame game but many critics actually point to the u.s. decision not to intervene at the beginning of syria's civil war as a critical error. a new front line documentary

explores the options available to president obama in those initial days and how he struggled to find good >> in 2012 front line sent a reporting team into aleppo. the nature of the rebel militias was obvious. very few had any real military experience. president obama had to figure out which, if any of these fighters could be trusted. >> "front lines: obama at war" appears tonight on pbs. joining us at the table is martin smith. >> good to be back. >> and so important to see that

footage and to go back in time when obama was trying to figure out what to do about assad. take us back. >> the syrian opposition then and today says because the united states didn't come in and arm the so-called moderate rebels, that everything went pear-shaped. but if you go back and look at the series of choices that the president had at the time it wasn't so clear-cut, that the moderates were dependable that he could easily trust them. it was a very very difficult set of decisions. he had to face what if they topple assad? who replaces him? what happens if the arms get into somebody else's hands? >> it's another great doc by you. one of the things you show is what happened in kobani we chased isis out but we destroyed half the town. are we making some of the same mistakes that led to the rise of isis? >> i don't know, our problem right now, as general dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff lays out, is that we don't have any targets that we

can hit reliably without hitting civilians because they've melted into the civilian population. so really inside syria, we're not doing very much. kobani isis made the mistake of taking a town and isolating themselves in such a way that they could be hit. >> in the piece, dempsey basically says yeah we're isis first, that's the strategy. we don't have an answer to what we do about this brutal dictator assad. did you read that as an implicit criticism of the administration's policy? >> no, what he's saying is -- i mean there's general agreement among anybody who's looked at this, to get rid of isis you've got to go into syria. our strategy now is simply focus mostly on iraq. if you go into syria, you're going to have to take out assad. assad is the primary recruiter for isis in a sense. it's his abuses it's his atrocities that bring people into the fight, among other things. and to get rid of isis without

taking down assad is going to be really difficult. dempsey was agreeing with that proposition, that that's an open question that they're discussing. >> martin smith, thank you very much. up next while you were vacationing, congress was hard at work. crystal says you heard that right. adders. it makes me feel secure, confident. i feel protected. i mean i feel comfortable to move in them they move with me. i love always discreet underwear because of the fit. the fabric is very soft. i can wear whatever i want to wear. always discreet has made me a very happy woman. join over 500,000 women who've discovered always discreet underwear. for more stories and your free sample go to always discreet.com. so bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. my school reunion. i don't know. who wants to play in idaho? gotta get milwaukee up to speed. we win in flint, we take the lead. we'll close the deal if we just show...

when it's go, go to the new choicehotels.com. the site with the right room, rewards and savings up to 20% when you book direct. choicehotels.com put your hand over your heart. is it beating? good! then my nutrition heart health mix is for you. it's a wholesome blend of peanuts, pecans and other delicious nuts specially mixed for people with hearts. i said people with hearts. because hearts health is important. that's why i've researched optimized and packaged this mix just for you. not you. so if you have a heart start optimizing your nutrition with my nutrition. planters. nutrition starts with nut. ♪ sfx: engine sounds introducing the new can-am spyder f3. with a cruising riding position and the most advanced vehicle stability system in the industry...

...you'll ride with a feeling of complete freedom and confidence. visit your can-am spyder dealer and test drive one today. the new spyder f3. riding has evolved. there is an ancient rhythm... [♪] that flows through all things... through rocky spires... [♪] and ocean's swell... [♪] the endless... stillness of green...

[♪] and in the restless depths of human hearts... [♪] the voice of the wild within. last week while we were all thinking about our plans for the long weekend, d.c. took a break from its normal partisan gridlock to actually do something. they accomplished something other than naming a post office or giving themselves a raise. initiatives like the minimum

wage or giving women a few days off after they have a baby. those are deemed too ambitious to have even the slimmest chances, but somehow our broken congressmanaged to put their differences aside, reach across the aisle and pass significant legislation, greasing the skids for a massive 12-nation trade deal. it's called the transpacific partnership, or tpp, and you've likely heard of this because the president's been making the case to skeptical progressives. critics call it nafta on steroids. the terms of the deal are not yet public, but we do know it touches everything from environmental protections to labor regulations to patent law. in fact, only five of the 29 draft chapters of tpp actually deal with what you would typically think of as trade. so, why is it that this huge multi-layer deal is able to escape the normal laws of d.c. gravity in a town where even the decision whether or not to pay our bills is controversial? the answer says a lot about how d.c. works and who exactly it works for. let's take a look at who stands

to benefit from the tpp. while the details again are fairly murky we do have a few clues. as timothy lee over at vox points out elites with the power and money to affect the process are the ones who are most likely to gain here. think hollywood movie studios that want to crack down on piracy here and big pharmaceutical companies who want to keep generics off the market for as long as they possibly can. the average american it seems doubtful. just how much money did you budget in your household for tpp lobbying? it's exactly how much you're likely to get out of it. busy at work shaping this deal with their dollars and their influence. in fact, this year has already been a banner year in d.c. for lobbyists, with $64 million spent in the first quarter of this year alone. the decidedly pro-tpp chamber of commerce led the way. here you are a senate republican, you've ran on topping barack obama in his tracks, your entire agenda was to make obama a one-term president, and then when that

didn't work, you decided you'd complain constantly about his power-grabbing executive overreach and now suddenly you're ready to hand him more power? lu that's i guess when the corporate overlords come calling, even hatred for this president has to take a back seat to those who pay the tab for our elections. next time someone tells you washington is broken make sure you correct the record. washington works, just not for you. that does it for "the cycle." "now with alex wagner" starts right now. unprecedented flooding has claimed the lives of at least 12 people across the south. the justice department announces an agreement to reform the cleveland police department. and a "washington post" journalist faces espionage charges in iran in a closed door trial. but first, hillary clinton's first challenger is launching his campaign in one hour. it's tuesday, may 26th, and this is "now."

>> don't underestimate me. taking aim, there is no mistaking who bernie sanders is going after as he revs up his underdog campaign. >> oh i think it's hard not to acknowledge that hillary clinton is the first option. >> the first democratic challenger to hillary clinton. >> he represents going to the lab. he wants to be the happy warrior in this contest. >> it's hard to find who politicians who are more different. bernie sanders is the ultimate anti-politician. >> it's not like bernie sanders is a dogcatcher. he's united states senator. >> just moments from now at 5:00 eastern time the democratic presidential field will officially double. speaking from his hometown of burlington, vermont, independent senator bernie sanders will announce his candidacy as a democrat for president