tonight. on a day of wide-ranging emotions about the dramatic recovery of u.s. army sergeant bowe bergdahl. after being held captive for almost five years by the taliban. this is a scene in his hometown of haley, idaho, tonight, where there is jubilation that an american family will have their son back. in washington, and indeed across the country, there are also a lot of new questions about the deal that won his release. swapping out five taliban commanders who were being held at guantanamo. does the u.s. now negotiate with the taliban? exactly how was sergeant bergdahl captured in the first place? and how dangerous are these taliban leaders who have been freed? our team has been looking for answers and we begin tonight with jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. and all the early joy and celebration over bergdahl's release has indeed being crowded over several growing controversies. in haley, idaho, today, preparations well under way for bowe bergdahl's homecoming, five years in the making. >> i think bowe is very fortunate he is from haley. i can't think of a better place to heal. >> and at the military hospital in germany today, doctors reported bergdahl in stable condition, but suffering from malnutrition and will still require a few days of medical and psychological treatment. after five years in captivity, the taliban released bergdahl over the weekend in a controversial prisoner exchange for five taliban detainees in guantanamo bay, cuba. but since his release, serious questions have been raised about just how bergdahl fell into the hands of taliban. bergdahl seen here was a private first class with the second platoon blackfoot company at this small outpost in a remote area of eastern afghanistan. until one night he simply disappeared. joshua was the platoon's medic. >> he willfully left. he had premeditated, planned out, and left. >> u.s. military officials confirm that bergdahl walked away from the outpost without his weapon, carrying only a compass and a bottle of water. >> he deserted, not only the army, but also left myself and my platoon and my company to clean up his mess. >> reporter: for 90 days on the ground and in the air, the u.s. military conducted a massive search operation for bergdahl. during the mission, six american soldiers were killed, including two from bergdahl's platoon. second lieutenant darren andrews, and private first class matthew martinek. in dallas today, andrew's twin brother jared said he was shocked when he learned that bergdahl had voluntarily walked off his base. >> i have frustration that potentially he could still be alive if bergdahl had not left his post. we lost somebody that we loved very much and we'll never see him again. >> reporter: in a show of support, bergdahl's hometown issued a statement today saying the city of hailey respectfully request that people do not prejudge this man. >> we need to just decide we're staying out of it. >> while robert bergdahl stands firmly behind his son. >> i'm proud of how much you wanted to help the afghan people and what you were willing to do to go to that length. >> reporter: despite all the controversy, the top priority for the u.s. military right now is to reunite bergdahl with his parents, which could happen before the end of the week, ann. >> jim, thank you. >> meantime, a firestorm erupted today in washington over the prisoner exchange that freed sergeant bergdahl. the criticism from congress and even some allies who said the u.s. paid too high a price. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more on the deal and the political backlash. andrea? >> reporter: good evening. tonight, the white house is trying to put out that firestorm over the release of the taliban detainees. taking criticism from congress and even some allies who say they paid too high a price and reversing a decades-old policy of not negotiating with terrorists. today, officials say the deal for bowe bergdahl came quickly last week, including a final moment at west point's commencement, where behind the scenes president obama spoke privately with qatar's retired emir, also there to witness the first cadet from his country graduate. the talks accelerated after the taliban opened an office in qatar last year. the u.s., trying to get the taliban to lower the price, release fewer than five, and also agree to peace talks with afghanistan. but the taliban's elusive leader drove a hard bargain. the release of all five of his top guantanamo detainees. the furor from administration critics was immediate. >> these are the hardest of the hard core. the highest of the high-risk people. >> we gave the taliban their starting team back. we put the five guys who led this organization, allegedly killed thousands of people and been responsible, back to home confinement, which could potentially lead them to being back on the battlefield. >> reporter: even more so after national security adviser susan rice praised sergeant bergdahl's service record. despite the controversy over how he left his post. >> we'll have the opportunity eventually to learn what haze transpired in the past years. >> reporter: the press secretary jay carney was repeatedly challenged on that today. >> by the taliban, i would echo what national security adviser rice said. >> reporter: many in congress also furious they hadden been notified a month in advance, as is require for guantanamann tan releases. the white house pushed back. >> we didn't have 30 days to get it done. when you're commander-in-chief, you have to act when there's an opportunity for action. >> questions from key u.s. allies and a promise of a congressional investigation. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >> reporter: this is richard engle. there's a cost for every transaction. for the only american p.o.w. in afghanistan, it was paid in these embraces. the five taliban leaders in their new home in qatar. they'll soon be joined by their families. after years in prison in guantanamo, accused war criminals, an associate of osama bin laden. classified pentagon rap sheets show all five were high-level figures in the taliban's fight against u.s. forces in afghanistan, considered dangerous, not recommended for release. taliban leader mullah omar in a rare statement called their release a great victory, but they're not entirely free now. under the deal brokered by qatar's royal family, they'll be under surveillance in qatar, tight travel restrictions for at least the first year. and barred from taliban politics. violate the deal and they'll be jailed in qatar. counterterrorism officials say these men, now all in their mid 40s would find it difficult to slip under the radar, at least for now. what this deal will do is keep them from being an immediate presence on the battlefield in afghanistan. what it won't do and can't do is stop them from playing a significant reel with the taliban in the more distant future. >> reporter: another official was more blunt, saying if these men ever again pose a threat, they won't be recaptured. they'll be killed. sergeant bergdahl remains here at the medical center in germany, receiving physical and psychological treatment. and this could have ended very differently. military officials tell us they've repeatedly considered launching a rescue operation that they often knew exactly where bergdahl would be held, i determined it was too risky, that if anyone inside the house heard a helicopter or any men on foot coming, they could have executed theirostage. ann? >> that east interesting, richard. thank you so much. andrea mitchell and richard, thank you both. the bush administration -- obama administration issued its largest initiative yet to reduce carbon emissions. more on this from our chief environmental affairs correspondent ann thompson. >> reporter: the proposed rule could redesign america's energy landscape, trading coal smokestacks for cleaner energy. the epa says existing power plants must reduce carbon die oxide emissions 30% by 2030. the equivalent of taking 2/3 of the cars and trucks off the road. the proposal covers 1,000 power plants, more than half fuelled by coal. the epa administrator says states will choose how to meet that goal. >> is this the death nel for the coal industry? >> no. we project coal will still be a very large part of the energy supply in 2030. >> reporter: the government says reducing carbon will prevent up to 6600 premature deaths and 150,000 asthma attacks in children. a health benefit that could total more than $90 billion a year. american electric power runs 25 coal plants in nine states. and predicting customer bills will go up. >> you're not only changing the way we generate electricity and changing the way the system itself operates, you're also going to higher-cost solutions. >> reporter: such as alternative energy, a move politicians in coal state predict will cost jobs. >> this is the single worst blow to kentucky's economy in modern times. >> reporter: supporters say the nation is already halfway to the goal, driven by efficiency and moved by companies like florida power and light to demolish coal plants in favor of cleaner, natural gas. >> the fossil fuel industry will dig in very deep not to change. >> reporter: a change the obama administration wants on the books before it leaves office. a ann thompson, nbc news, washington. in medical news tonight, a ground-breaking development in the fight against cancer. it involves one of the newest approaches, using the patient's own immune system to attack the disease. and researchers now report it's worked for the first time against cervical cancer. the story from our chief medical editor nancy snyderman. >> reporter: erica wallace enjoys every moment of her busy life, helping to run the family business and raising two sons in manhattan, kansas. because three years ago this young mother got a devastating diagnosis. >> i was told i had stage 3 cervical cancer. >> reporter: after 32 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 radiation treatments, erica was only getting worse. >> i actually had conversations with my husband and my friends about funeral arrangements. >> reporter: with time and options running out, she joined a small clinical trial of the national cancer institute. in this trial, the patient's own immune system system was used to attack the cancer cells. dr. christian henriks runs the study. >> the goal is to completely eliminate the cancer and have it never come back. >> reporter: here's how it worked. doctors took tumor samples from nine women called by hpv, the human pampaloma virus. they extracted a type of immune cell called t-cells in the tumors. they grew billions of these cells and injected them back into the patients to see if their own immune cells would fight their cancer. the 2r50e789 treatment shrunk o person's tumors and two others are now cancer free. after one treatment a year and a half ago, her tumors have disappeared. >> this is building on new knowledge about how the immune system works. we know how to approach these dramatic results. >> it's been effective against leukemia and melanoma. while researchers do caution this study was small, they are excited about it, because this is obviously the future of cancer treatment, the idea that you could take a cancer cell, your own immune system and target a virus that causes cancer, it's very cool. >> very, very exciting news. and there's late news tonight on that plane crash in massachusetts that killed seven people over the weekend. officials say they now have recovered the plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. the small private jet crashed on takeoff on saturday night in bedford, massachusetts. among those onboard was luis katz, a billionaire businessman who had just purchased the company who owned the deposit kwae "philadelphia inquirer" newspaper. a new study about what's happening behind the wheel. and later, remembering a television icon, the beloved center kwsquare of one of america's favorite families. car accidents are the lead ing cause of death for teens, yet many aren't buckling up or are using their cell foens. her's tom costello. >> reporter: the latest psa is designed to terrify both teen evens their parents. it is gritty and haunting, and this is the real world. drive cam video of distracted teens running off the road or running a red light. in 2012, more than 2400 teens were killed in car crashes making it the leading cause of death. alexa johnson was 19 years old when she lost control of her pickup truck on i-25 north of denver last year and was thrown the length of a football field. police say she was likely distracted and wasn't wearing her seat belt. >> when we opened up the front door and saw the badge and the hat, you didn't have to say another word. i knew why they were there. >> reporter: now a new study conducted by safe kids found 25% of teens surveyed admit they don't buckle up on every ride. 39% have ridden with a teen driver who was texting. even more disturbing, 28% had been with a parent driver who was texting. >> teens who were texting often had parents who were texting or on the phone and involved in distracted driving. >> teen driving is already risky enough. just having somebody under the age of 21 in the car with a teen driver increases the risk of a crash by 44%. two teen passengers, the risk is doubled. >> the seattle belt -- >> alexa's parents have started seat belt hub hoping to save lives. and we're back in a moment with new news about hurricanes and why their names may matter. gridlock. teacher layoffs. and a 60 billion dollar budget deficit. that's what john perez faced when he became speaker of the california assembly. so he partnered with governor brown to pass three balanced budgets, on time. for the first time in thirty years. today, the deficits are gone and we've invested an additional 2 billion dollars in education. now john perez is running for controller, to keep fighting for balanced budgets. democrat john perez for controller. edward snowden who's lived in russia for most of the past year has now reportedly applied for asylum in several other countries including brazil. in last week's interview, he reminded brian that his temporary asylum in russia runs out later this summer. he told a brazilian tv channel that if he's offered asylum there, he'll gladly accept it. brazil says it has not yet received a formal request. there's going to be a changing of the guard in spain. the surprise announcement from king juan carlos that he will give up the throne after almost 40 years. the king, who is 76 years old, said it's time to hand over power to a new generation, younger with a lot of energy, as he put it. his replacement will be his own son crown prince felipe, who is 46. late word tonight that many people who work in seattle are going to get a pay hike. the seattle city council approved a new minimum wage that will eventually be $15 an hour. the law will take effect next april and the higher pay will be phased in. $15 will be the highest minimum wage in the nation. a study on hurricanes is getting a great deal of attention. it analyzed death tolls from 92 hurricanes in this country between 1950 and 2012 and it found that storm named after women produced significantly more casualties than those with men's names. the reason for this are ed baitablbai -- debatable. one argument is that people are less likely to protect themselves on storms named after women. others disagree. and a self ofie taken by a man who was given permission to climb high atop brazil's famous christ the redeem erstad chew. he and a friend climbed 12 flights of stairs inside the statue then pulled themselves by rope the rest of the way up. the result, just spectacular, if you've got the stomach for that sort of thing. when we come back, remembering the one and only alice from "the brady bunch." >> finally tonight, remembering alice. her real name was ann b. davis. but generations of television fans were on a first-name basis with the ever-present, ever-loving housekeeper of "the brady bunch." davis died this weekend at the age of 88 after a bad fall in her home in texas. stephanie gosk reports. ♪ here's the story of a lovely lady." >> reporter: anyone who watched the show knew it was really alice who held the bunch together. right in the middle where she usually was in every episode. she played the brady's live-in housekeeper all five seasons of the show, from 1969 to 1974. >> i was working on a good show with people i liked and i was very happy. >> mom! >> reporter: she definitely delivered the one liners. >> mrs. brady, the suds are calling you. >> and words of wisdom. >> i just wanted you all to realize you didn't really mean what you were saying. >> reporter: a foil to the tomfoolery. while showing off super human levels of patience. >> bobby! help me up. >> i don't think i can lift you, alice. >> well, then don't lift me, unwrap me. >> reporter: fans may be surprised to learn her two emmy awards didn't come from "the brady bunch" but instead from the '50s series, "the bob cummings show." she was also an identical twin. self-confessed she didn't know a thing about kids and originally majored in pre-med. in one episode alice gets mixed sinals and thinks the family doesn't love her. >> i can't order the kids to like me. >> reporter: in the end, it turns out everyone still does love alice. >> did you really miss me? >> yeah! >> we love you, alice. >> reporter: and they always will. >> come on, kids, let's go. >> reporter: stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. now that's right, we will love you, alice. that's our broadcast for this monday evening .piem ann curry. for all of us here at nbc news, thank you and good night. nbc bay area news begins with breaking news. right now at 6:00, that breaking news, a national man hunt for a bay area man, and the latest sighting just this afternoon. thanks for being with us, i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. spotted in a bar, a man on the run from the feds gets a jump start. within the last 90 minutes, a continue that ryan chamberlain was spotted in a bar, but could it really be him in just yesterday detectives found explosives in his apartment. jodi hernandez joins us live with new details. jodi? >> reporter: the fbi tells me there indeed has been a sighting of ryan chamberlain at a place called the mad dog in the fog. that's a bar. we're told that sighting took place late this afternoon. tonight those who know chamberlain are hoping this all ends peacefully. >> it's heartbreaking. >> reporter: that's how those who know ryan chamberlain are feeling. after reading facebook posts this morning from someone logged in as chamberlain. >> nothing they're reporting is true. no stashes, not armed and dangerous. no car rigged to explode. >> reporter: mark moesher shared the messages posted on chamberlain's facebook page to friends this morning, an apparent attempt to