joining us, bryan stevenson of the equal justice initiative and professor at nyu. thank you for being with us. nice to have you here. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> so can you explain how significant a change this is and how these changes are going to be implemented? >> oh, i think it's a very significant change. you know, when we passed mandatory minimum laws, everybody thinks that eliminated discretion. it took discretion away from judges and gave it to prosecutors. today the attorney general said he's going to exercise that discretion in a way that actually reduces the number of people being sent to prison for these long prison sentences for low-level non-violent drug crimes. i think it's a really significant step forward. it's the kind of leadership many of us have been calling for for decades. the problem of vast imprisonment in this country have largely fueled by our misguided war on drugs and the way it has sent hundreds of thousands of people to prison for these low-level drug problems which are not a threat to public safety and cost billions of dollars. i t

bryan stevenson, thank you so much for your time. >> very happy to be with you. >> "andrea mitchell reports" will be coverage of eric holder's report and michael bloomberg's response today. after the break, president obama says he doesn't think edward snowden is a patriot. either way, he's making changes to the surveilness policies. we will discuss the credibility gap. that's next on "now." find chinese restaurant. that's awesome! i know, voice activated and great gas mileage. so much better than choosing voice activated or great gas mileage. that'd be like eating sweet or sour chicken. oh grrrlg what is this?! sour chicken... it's good, right? that'd be awful. i think i like "and" better. and is better. the 2014 focus. only ford gives you ecoboost fuel economy aa whole lot more. go further. 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 insuranc

. >> bryan stevenson, founder and executive director of equal justice initiative. thank you for being here tonight. >> very happy to be with you. >>> i will tell you in the 1990s before i was involved in media, i worked in criminal justice issues. the scale of american imprisonment was one of those things that seemed absolutely impenetrable as a political issue. something that would never get better, that would only get worse over the course of my lifetime to the point where it became the dominant thing in american politics and in american society. it just seemed like it was a mountain that could never be climbed. and it is not a mountain. turns out it's a mesa and we're coming down the other side of it and this thing is changing. nothing is inevitable in american politics. we'll be right back. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! [ male announcer ]