good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh woah. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0" i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. hello, everyone. it's high noon in the east, 9:00 in the west. i'm richard lui in for alex today. heat storm, millions without power. gop to block health care. bus bulliy ies punished. ond who gets custody of katie and tom's daughter? details this hour. but first -- developing now, millions are without powerç and there is dangerous record-breaking heat. severe storms tearing through

several cities from the midwest to the east coast. the results have been deadly. so far four deaths in virginia and another in maryland, one victim a 90-year-old woman sleeping in her bed. temperatures are expected to break records for a second straight day. weather channel meteorologist eric fisher is here with the forecast. >> well, richard, it has been an incredible run over the last couple of days, triple digits as far as the eye can see. look at some of the high temperatures from yesterday, 109 in nashville, 104 in atlanta, a new june all-time record, 106 in st. louis, 106 in little rock, in norfolk virginia up to 104 and eventually that heat starting to fuel big storms in the ohio valley stretching to d.c. high pressure is in control through the weekend. that means we are going to sizzle. highs today 105 in nashville, 105 in atlanta. that would be the hottest temperature ever recorded, tie anyway in the peach city, 105 in charlotte, 100 in d.c. d.c. and

jackson, mississippi, 99. sunday, it's more of the same. a prolonged bout of heat, we have 25 states we're forecasting 100 degrees or higher. heat advisories are you for over 47 million people. here are some of the numbers about nashville, 109 is a june record, it was set record. that was also the all-time warmest temperature ever recorded. saturday, sunday, monday, more triple digit heat in atlanta, the hottest braves game should be played at turner field, high of ç105. we cool relatively speaking to 90s by the monday. escape from the heat, pacific northwest and coast of california is it. everyone else dealing with incredibly warm temperatures here as we end june and begin the month of july. we're sweltering and the washington, d.c., area has been hit especially hard. this is brand-new video from capitol hill where a huge tree fell on to a parked dar. kristen welker is at a similar

scene in north d.c. t. is hot out there. >> reporter: it really is hot. there are hundreds of thousands here in washington, d.c., without power. dozens of downed trees that caused a lot of damage last night. i'll show you an extreme case. take a look at this jeep grand cherokee. this massive tree fell on top of it, smashing the front part of the vehicle. extremely dangerous, amazing, though, the driver of this vehicle is just fine. her name is britney latisaw. she's here with us this afternoon. she'll tell us exactly what happened. first of all, we're so thankful you're okay. you were driving down portal street about 11:00. >> yeah. i drove to the grocery store and was driving back and actually this tree, a piece had fallen off last week in a storm. i knew it was a treacherous area once i saw the winds picking up. and you know it's hard to perceive from the inside of the car but i remember feeling a jolt. i saw the branches and i knew the tree had fallen on the car.

i panicked a little bit. i wasn't able to get out of the driver's side, but luckily the passenger's side back door i waç able to get out of. i just tried to get as far away as i could from this area. it's very wooded here so i ran out to the circle toward 16th street and was lucky enough to run into some people who live in the blairs and i sought shelter with them. >> reporter: britney, once you climbed out of the car which is so incredible and you realized what happened, this tree smashing the front part of your vehicle, what went through your head? >> i -- i don't know. i was more concerned about where i should go next the winds were still really bad and the rain was picking up. >> reporter: thank you so much. i'll toss it back to richard as the folks here in washington, d.c., continue with the cleanup efforts. >> kristen welker, thanks so much. for more on the heat wave and the weather where you are headed, go to weather.com. now to politics. a new poll shows americans are

sharply divided over the supreme court's health care ruling. the usa/gol lallup poll shows h of americans agree, half don't. president obama has signed federal funding for highway and infrastructure projects for two years. the $120 billion measure also provides a one-year extension on current student loan rat rates. the justice department will not prosecute eric holder for contempt. the house voted thursday to hold holder in contempt of congress after he withheld information about the bungled gun tracking operation known as fast and furious. and republicans are not letting up on healthç care. wyoming senator john barrasso launched a new attack today. >> the goal of health care reform all along should have been to ensure that people get the care they need from the doctor they choose at a lower cost.

under president obama's health care law, they got the exact opposite, tax increases and government control. >> joining me now, political reporter for "the washington post" nia-malika henderson and editor in chief reid wilson. reid, let me start with you, we just heard from senator ba raus sew, when we think about it, what about the states? there are a handful of governors, chris christie, rick perry, just to name a couple, who said they will not support the law. when we think about this, really, at the end of the day could the governors block the obama health care plan? >> well, not exactly, richard. this is all bt exchanges that every state gets to set up that then delivers the care from the state instead of from the federal government. if the states don't set up those exchanges in a -- follow the time line the federal government lays out, then the government comes in and essentially does it for them. there's kind of an irony that the party so concerned with the

tenth amendment and states' rights are giving up theability to control their own exchanges and instead giving that power to the federal government. you know, scott walker is a governor who's done this in wisconsin. he said he'll wait until after the president election to begin setting this thing up. but, you know, alots of these republican governors could be essentially giving up the power to control what aspects of this bill they actually could. >> there's the third option, they could work with the federal government and implement the exchanges today. nia-malika, i want to show you where the exchanges are implemented. 17 states have decided not to create or they have not taken action yet to do that. they're in yellow. then 14 states and washington, d.c., are moving ahead with the exchanges. they're in green. we can show the green there. now, i just want to show the tossup states. let's remove the ones that aren't tossup states. when you look at those particular nine states that we have right now, what -- how is this going to affect the votes

in november when we look at this issue? >> well, i think we don't know yet. you see both sides trying to gain this out and gain some advantage, but we also see that poll, which shows an even split among folks who agree with the supreme court decision and those that disagree, 46% to 46%. i think in some ways it depends on what race you're talking about. down ballot i think you'll see a lot of energy with house republicans trying to make this a replay of 2010 when so many of those house republicans were swept into the house around a rhetoric, around health caret rick around health care being a government overreach. i don't know yet in terms of mitt romney how he's going to play this because he in some ways is in a precarious position because of his stance in massachusetts and this sense that a lot of the things he did there are obviously a model and some of the things youç can say about obamacare you can also say about romneycare. so he so farr is is playing it,

he had a web ad, not a national television ad. so i think they're trying to wait and see how this plays out. you see him wrapping this into his general rhetoric about the economy and frame being obamacare as a drag on the k economy. i think he'll continue to do that, but i think in ways he'll be vague about this, talk about states' rights but not necessarily get into these very on the ground battles about state exchanges and the expansion of medicaid. >> it is a fine line he does have to walk. as we were just showing some of the tossup states and ranking them by the number of uninsured they have in the state, reid, let's talk about down ballot. will the congressional candidates be able to use this as a benefit? we're talking about the gop. >> oh, no. i think the ruling is a benefit politically for down ballot republicans who are now going to be able to sort of gin up their own base. remember, this sort of the ruling puts even a greater emphasis, if possible, on how

important the battle for the senate is. the way this ruling gets overturned or the way the legislation gets overturned now has to go through both chambers of congress, and, well, the only way to do that is for republicans to take over the senate. there are 53 democrats and 47 republicans in the senate at the moment. 23 democratic seats are up this year, only 10 republican seats. yet there are competitive races all across the country. it instead of just talking about president obama and mitt romney, we should be talking about scott brownç and elizabeth warren in massachusetts and tammy baldwin and tommy thompson in wisconsin and claire mccaskill in missouri and john tester in montana. those races are where with the fate of the health care law will be decided. this was a big sort of boon for senate candidates across the country as far as how much they've been able to fund raise. candidates across the country are fund raising like gangbusters these days. >> romney reporting 4.6 million, a lot of money. let's take a look at bobby

jindal during a call friday and then get your response. >> there's only one candidate governor romney who has committed that he will repeal the obamacare tax increase. >> there is the fine line you were talking about earlier. >> that's right. >> we look at that fine line. how much time do you think that this issue, this narrative, will be talked about on the romney side as well as on the obama side? is it a week and a half? is it two weeks? >> well, it's funny because on the obama side you see them wanting to not talk about this. harry reid had a tweet out on friday where he said, the affordable care act isn't perfect and now let's move on to job creation. and that was a paraphrase essentially of what president obama said in his speech on thursday. and i think mitt romney is trying to figure this out. when this decision came down he was huddled in a hotel room in d.c. with policy advisers. you shim come out with this

statement. they're trying to figure out how to frame this. they're not leading with this wiole idea thise they know that can be thrown back up in mitt romney's face because his plan in massachusetts also was a tax, even though he called it an assessment or fee. they have to walk a fine line here. of i think the language you'll hear out of them is obamacare is a job killer, a drag on the economy and that he wants to repeal it. the question is, what is he going to replace it with? i think he'll be under pressure to come out with a plan of his own. >> a big question of, what does this replace? what's that definition? reid, the house, july 11th the republicans will hold the vote to repeal the health care law. might they go too far, though, as being characterized as the party of "no"? >> i don't know about, that but nia-malika has an important point, that replace part really hasn't been flushed out yet. i've been sort of surprised at the lack of real serious large sort of policy proposals that

both sides have put out. you know, romney had his 59-point economic plan in the primary. we haven't really seen a lot of policy speeches. >> reid,that because that's the safer, easier way to go for republicans? >> it's a safer, easier way to go for both sides, not just republicans. president obama hasn't laid out a clear plan for the second term either. i think both sides are sort of leery about laying something out because the moment they doshgs the other side goes after them. this is how politics has sort of devolved just into going after the other guy instead of offering a plan. look at paul ryan's budget, a serious actual budget policy proposal, and it was justç hammered by democrats nonstop. >> and we've got four months to go. we'll see how much more it may devolve or not. nia-malika, reid, thank you. how will we view the supreme court ruling decades from now? will it be a landmark law like social security or medicare? dan rather joins me in five minutes. also, west coast headlines are next with a new big wheel in

the sky in seattle. plus, hear from the young man who stood by the president's side when he made the affordable health care act a law. his take on the supreme court's ruling. ♪ i want candy ♪ i want candy it's about time we made our homes work for us. so let's make our dryers do the ironing. have our fridges cater our parties. and tell our ranges to whip up dinner. let's plug in to summer savings before they're gone... ...without wasting an ounce of energy with smart machines that turn housework into house play. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, save $600 on this maytag french door refrigerator, just $1,598. just $14.99. start with soup, salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99.

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to be upon it. and to live a life surrounded by it. today, i put on a fresh coat. ♪ find your color and get $5 off premium paints and stains. download your coupon now. . ♪ california rescue me yeah, some headlines that are making news on the west coast, in california santa rosa press democrat has a headline that reads "she didn't give up" it shows a picture of a stunned 26-year-old woman realizing she's going to the olympics.

kim convict nelly won the final on the team. the seattle times has a story on the opening of the seattle great wheel, a wheel that offers spectacular views over puget sound. those are some headlines from the west coast. looking forward. how will the health care reform law be described in the history books? 77 years ago, president franklin roosevelt signed the social security act into law, a historic act guaranteeing income for those who nethree decades l lyndon johnson signed the medicare bill, guaranteeing health care for those who needed it most, a landmark in helping the elderly. so what will be the lasting legacy of president obama's affordable care act? joining me now is veteran newsman dan rather, anchor and managing editor of tv's "dan rather reports" and author of the newly release book "rather outspoken my life in the news." dan good to have you here. >> good to be here. thank you. >> dan, when you look at this,

is this the line -- when we look at this with the new deal and medicare as we just talked about, that line of thought, how will the affordable care act be seen within those contexts of history? >> it depends on whether it's reversed in future congress, part of what this presidential election year is about. we tend to forget social security was, if anything, more controversial, more polarizing politically than the affordable care act or obamacare has been. same thing with medicare and medicaid. so, if it stays in place, i do think it will be seen as a historic landmark along the lines of social security, medicare, medicaid, but there's a ways to go because the republicans are going to mount up an all-out bonanza charge against this. and depending on how they do down ticket in the senate and house in this election, they have the chance to have most of it or all of it thrown out. if they do that, then this will fade into the mists of history. if they don't, it will be on line with social security and

medicare. >> you interviewed lbj talking aboutç medicare. you've watched how the president has handled the affordable care act. how might have lbj handled the affordable care act if he had to deal with that with his texas swagger and his ability? >> well, different time. different political atmosphere. the atmosphere was not nearly as toxic in those days as it is now. but lyndon johnson was a great arm twister, he was great at figuring out vulnerabilities of senators and house members he needed that i think, number one, we'll never know, but i think lyndon johnson would have fought harder in the early going to get the affordable care act passed earlier. he would have fought harder for the individual mandate part of it. but we have a different kind of president, in fairness to him, he's operating in a whole different political climate now, barack obama. >> one of the points made thursday our justice

correspondent pete will yaxz made the note that this could be one much the most important opinions in 80 years, and you brought up social security. it's really become the third rail, if you will. do you believe the affordable care act at any point in the future might be the same? >> i do. if it stays in place, he think there's a very good chance. but that's a big if given where we are politically in this presidential election year. yes, you can't touch social security now. very few people talk about doing away with it completely. some few, but the popular opinion is all behind it. same thing with medicare and medicaid now. yes, some people want to do away with it. by and large it's there. if you say,ç wipe it off the boards, i don't think you'll likely get elected. at some future point it could be that way with affordable care act if it survives. >> when is that future time? >> well past the election. you have to have a historical perspective 10 to 12 years from now. >> how consequential will this

be? you brought up the election in november. we're looking to that. how consequential will this be with that? >> i hate to give an "i don't know," but i have to. it's still early. much may depend on what happens dwen now and election day. does iran attack someone or someone attack iran? all sorts of unpredictable things but i do think it could be bic and here's why. the republican base are bogoing to be fired up but they were anyway. they disdain obama, if not hate him. they were fired up. the place to watch is with independent voters. that's where the battleground is, independent and swing voters. >> what do they think of this? >> there's been some indications that, while they like president obama, they don't like the, quote, tax, the mandate part of the law. so if i were going to look from between now and labor day when the presidential campaign really begins to get hot, i would watch what the poll numbers tell you about independent voters. >> this is a nod to access tv and what you're dog, you're dog

a report coming up on syria. you mentioned iran. might there be something internationally, talking about international security, that could be that october surprise or that issue that will swing this election one way or the other? >> well, there's always a possibility of an october surprise or a late september surprise. some of itç could be planned, that is, the president could take some action. but again, i think the place to keep your eyes and ears open for is something unpredictable that happens. syria one reason we're doing this report on syria, leer clearly there are decisions to be made by the international community led by the united states. not putting boots on the ground but whether to put a no-fly zone, no-drive zone for humanitarian purposes. if president obama makes some big decision in that direction, it could put all this conversation about the health care act way in the background. >> and this week you'll be talking about syria specifically on access tv, right? >> yes. and the fact that the syrian opposition has grown, they're much better organized. they're getting weapon withes off the international market.

it's only a question of time for assad in syria. then you get to not only a question of time but how long. >> thank you so much, dan rather. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. thanks a lot. now to number four of our top five trending stories, the siri backlash. an investment firm put apple's knowledge navigator up against google. siri was wrong 38% of the time. the same study found google voice assistant was wrong 14% of the time. snoe ♪ i was on the road and you were alone ♪ [ male announcer ] away...

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the tech giant also wants to make it easier to access music from any apple device. the chajqj could come by the end of the year. now it's time for standouts and successes, today's illustrious list of number ones. first, ford magazine's best list of business and careers, where provo, utah, comes out on top. provo last year recorded the third best job growth rate in the country, helped greatly by being the home to brigham young university and its unemployment rate is more than 2% below the nation, raleigh, north carolina, slips to number two and ft. collins, colorado, third. the nation's capital is named the best for women's well-being. education, income and life expectancy was looked at. women in washington earn the most with a median income with more than $37,500, san francisco comes in number two, boston number three. thanks to a cost of living 12% below the national average, omaha, nebraska, is the city where you get the most for your dollar. omaha is an even greater bargain

with an average wage $2 above the national rate st. louis is second mainly because housing costs are a staggering 22% below the national average. with a low cost of living, dallas winds up number three. what state has the cleanest beach water in america? delaware. the dirtiest? louisiana. those are your number ones on weekends with alex witt. and focus on the things that matter to you. what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students.

let's solve this.

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[ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui. new today, the democratic leader of the house said she knew the health care act would survive the supreme court but she thought it would be a 6-3 vote. melissa harris-perry interviewed nancy pelosi and she explained her personal connection to those who need health care. >> i'mç a mom. i'm a woman. i'm also a grandmother and also a senior citizen. so in every category of life

there are personal stories as to why patient protections that are in this bill make a difference in the lives of those families. >> msnbc host melissa harris-perry joins us right now. melissa, thanks for staying with us. >> of course. >> 6-3, did she expect roberts to go the way she did? >> i think she would have expected roberts to go there with kennedy so that -- i mean, i think the sense was that roberts wants to preserve the sense that this court is not a partisan court, that this court is actually making decisions based on the law, based on what has already stood. as she said in her interview with me, they thought about a supreme court challenge before they actually drafted this. they understood there was a taxing power and maybe even a commerce clause power. i don't think she expected him to be a 5-4 decision maker. >> when we look at the conversation that you had with her, was there a sense of vindication?

you know, they have battled this for so long. they were wait forge the judgment coming down from the supreme court. was that a sense you got at all? >> it wasn't quite vindication. in fact, the first thoughts about what i would ask her, now that you've done this thing, the thing you've been working so hard to do literally for the 25 years you've been in office, are you done now? have you done your great thing and now you're moving on? i've never asked that question because it was completely clear to me that the answer to that was no, that she has every intention of taking this as a stasding point and moving forward. so certainly celebration but i'm not sure i had a sense of vindication from her. >> so what's the view? for all of those who do feel vindicated who have worked so hard for this and now they have that verification, they took the right stance, do you think this will be a theme, a story line, a narrative that we'll hear through november? >> yeah. i think for me the big story lines i heard coming out of leader pelosi is, we did this when we had a democratic president in the white house who also had a democratic house of

representatives. and that, if you're going to return president obama for a second term, don't send him back with a congress that's going to obstruct everything he wants to do. send him back with a congress who will actually help him pass important legislation. >> tax or penalty. you know, are we going to hear this being the issue, or does it really matter? i mean, if it's tax or penalty for the political argument that will go forward? >> right. clearly it's a penalty shlnot a tax. it's about the taxing power. that said, just the word "tax," in a political cycle is enough to say they have implemented a new tax. i think the big challenge for both the obama administration and the obama campaign is to explain to people, there is no new tax, no one is going to get on your irs bill a higher bill as a result of this. it's going to take a little explaining, a little walking through, and also explaining what you get for this new government program. >> melissa, i was talking to a couple of journalists earlier and it's something i'm sort of interested in.

what's the time frame, the window that this subject will be talked about, that democrats and republicans willç be using it,s it a week and a half, ten days, longer? >> you know, it may be a little longer just because we have the fourth of july holiday and they're going to take the vote on the 11th to try to repeal it. i figure it will go through mid-july and then it will be over. once we're really prep forge pi the conventions. certainly the republican side will want to talk economy, not health care. >> did leader pelosi indicate what she thinks about the house in november? >> she believes democrats will take the house of representatives but that's because she's leader pelosi. >> of course. great interview, thanks for your time. >> thanks, richard. >> you can watch melissa harris-perry's show every weekend morning. later this hour we'll hear from the young boy from seattle

who stood by the president's side as he sienled the affordable care act into law. we'll talk to marcellas owens in ten minutes. severe storms knock out power to about 2 million people in the eastern united states, including at least 1 million in the mid-atlantic. a storm in virginia yesterday killed two people hit by fall trees. egypt's new president took the oath of office this morning. mohamed morsi becomes that country's first freely elected president. to geneva, hillary clinton is taking part in international talks about syria. back in the u.s., a reality star's former home goes up in flames. fire ripping through the mansion featured inç real housewives o beverly hills. the school district is making the students do 50 hours of community service. and those are your fast five

headlines. now, in today's "strategy talk," what we just talked melissa harris-perry, tax or penalty. republicans are saying the mandate is a tax while democrats say so few americans are affected that's an unfair representation. if you thought the high court's ruling was the end of the health care debate, you were sorely mistaken. joining me is minneapolis mayor r.t. buy yak and republican strategist chip sauls man. good day to both of you. i'll start with you, r.t. mayor, what do you think of this? president obama had a major victory this past week but how is this not a penalty, how is the penalty not a tax? >> well, when you get into this nuance of the supreme court rulings, they're going to play word games. it's something the president and mitt romney has to deal with. it's what romney supported in massachusetts and the president supported, too. the bottom line is, we have to focus on the fact that there are

million more people who have health coverage today. now we need to get on to the preventive care the people will have so they can get their cancer screenings so the system won't cost more when they actually get cancer. let's make sure those 17 million kids who are covered, even though they have preexisting conditions, stay covered and now let's move to adults with ç preexisting conditions in 2014 when we unpack all of the things that are in this, it's clear that it's smart to invest in prevention, it's smart to make sure that people get coverage, and it's also important that those who are eligible to pay, able to pay coverage and instead want to gain the system are paying so if they, for instance, tragically get in a car accident and go to an emergency room, that you aren't paying that, all of us are paying our fair share. >> chip, why not a penalty on the flip side? the definition is, quote, loss or hardship due to some action. take being the action of not to buy insurance, not buying insurance, and then being

penalized for not doing so, why is this then, if you will, not a penalty? >> well, you know, in tennessee if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's usually a duck. if you want to call it a fee, a penalty, a tax, it's more money out of individuals' pockets to have a desired behavior that the federal government wants. at the base, i think that's what's wrong with the plan. it's a complete overreach of the federal government to do tell you what to do how and when to do it. it's not what the american people want and i think this election is going to come down to the energy that the ruling like this makes for our base and 4 our party that's going to drive this election over the next four months. >> chip, is it leverageable? you say it doesn't matter whether you call it a tax or penalty. but from republicans we hear, it th is a tax, this is a tax. >> i do believe is it a tax. it's a tax on something you don't want and it makes you pay it. democrats can call it a fee, a penalty, but it's still money )of your pocket. in my world, that's a tax. >> will it matter, r.t.? >> first off, let's get the facts straight.

let's know that the average middle class family will get $2,300 back because of this. let's remember that no longer can insurance companies give excessive bonuses. instead, they'll be paying back to people. >> but politically, will this matter in the argument? >> no, i think this is a sman tick argument. the really issue is you just heard that point, quote unquote, energize the base. really? when we have millions and millions of americans and a broken health care system that are finally getting coverage you're about energizing the base? the president is about helping the young man you're about to hear from and his family. the president is about 17 million kids with preexisting conditions really sick kids who are protect ared. and mitt romney says job one, first thing, that he does coming into office is to try to kick those 17 million people off health care? do you really think that right now this country needs a debate about that? shouldn't we move on? shouldn't we address the issues of the economy? we've heard this debate. three branches of government have ruled now, let's protect

people. >> mayor, i want to move to chip. chip, the tax as was mentioned only going to affect a small portion of americans, about 1%, at least the administration is arguing. so is the argument that republicans are making, is it relevant? and tha's really what mayor rayback is saying. >> the mayor has his talking points down and is a sophisticated man and is doing a good job. this is the federal government with a huge overtake of 20% of our economy. most people thinkç individuals make choices in governmentful you'll always have somebody say, this is about coverage. no. this is about the federal government in an overreach situation saying the federal government knows better than the individual. if the election is coming down to that, republicans will win that argument because people think they can make better decisions about their health care than the federal government can. >> mayor, kathleen parker writing in her latest op-ed in "the washington post," she said the health care law never would have made it through congress had the mandate averaoriginally

called a tax, not a penalty. was this the best thing that could have happened for them, did they sneak in a win because it not being called a tax? >> if you follow that battle, i don't think anybody was sneaking in anything. the president put political expediency aside because he wanted to protect millions of people. president obama saw his mom who sacrificed a lot to raise him spending the last year of her life fighting for health care coverage. that's what he did for the american people. this isn't about politics. it's lousy politics. it seemed to northbound tto be election. it really is leadership. what we need to say is, let's get on. it's not an overreach of government to say it's better for people to have screening of cancer than to get cancer. that's actually really a good thing for people of this country and i think eventually people including the folks on the other side will have to concede it's better to begin to fix the broken health care system than accept the status quo that's

left millions of people dying, millions of people deeply ill and millions of people going bankpu q because of a health care system that has gamed too much to the insurance companies and not to the people needed to kept healthy. >> chip, quickly to you, last word. quickly, along the lines of what the mayor is saying, when we look forward, romney has promised to repeal the affordable care act, can he make a legacy of really tearing down his own legacy? >> well, i think the obamacare legacy is a lot different than romneycare if you look at p point by point. but at the end of the day we know a couple of things, one, this is a massive overreach of the federal government, huge tax increases for the american people. mr. mayor, you're right, we want better health care for all americans but the way to do it is not through the federal government, it's through individual choice. that's the way you'll see the republicans go, starting tomorrow when they -- starting monday when they get back in session. >> thank you both very much. appreciate your time. chip saltsman as well as r.t.

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♪ yeah, it's hot out there. now to today's "then and now," the 15 anniversary of britain's hand-over, this day in 1997. >> up! >> reporter: this was the end of the day, the stroke of midnight. the british union flag down, the red flag of china goes down. the british began their departure with their final governor chris hatten and his m family leaving the official residence. just about the time china's president was arriving to claim

his new city. as british troops were leaving their barracks for a final time, the british naval base became a parade round for the kind of ceremony they have played out around the world. it's called the sunset pageant. ♪ >> great to see those pictures. so what's changed since then? property taxes have soared to their highest levels. the grap between the rich and the poor is at its highest level in four decades. air pollution continues to worsen and there remains no clear path to get the public to elect leaders. at a recent poll by the yufr of university of hong kong, the highest figure don't trust the government. director steven solderberg puts male strippers at the heart of his new film "magic mike". >> entrepreneur stripper or

stripper entrepreneur? >> either one it's fine. >> e correspondent lisa coral joins me to break down the best of the box office, alicia, "magic mike," the name itself is cheesy. >> it's a must-see. steven soderbergh is known for his script. it's not all about stripg. it's a good plot. >> it's all about the pictures. come on! >> no. did's a good plot. it's matthewç mcconaughey. this is a good plot. >> what's the plot? >> a young man goes into the world of stripping, has to be pulled back. >> we'll pull back, too. one of the most amazing pictures "the amazing spider-man. >> this is done in 3d. that is amazing. if you're old enough for you and i to know the last installment by toby mcguire and kristen duns, it's not that latest. let's talk about tiler perry's

latest installment on madea. >> this is a must-avoid if you're not a fan of the madea franchise. it doesn't matter what we say. a built-in fan base will see this movie. >> a lot of stars in that movie. >> yes, eugene levy, denise richards. >> number five of our top stories trending this hour, who's got custody of suri. now, katie holmes filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences in new york. she's asking for sole custody of their 6-year-old daughter suri. some lawyers say that the fact she filed in new york, not california, is telling. joint custody is not a divorce court favorite in new york but there's some interesting things about this divorce filing. >> this one comes way out of left field. i interviewed tom cruise two weeks ago. suri was with him. >> my hint? >> no hint. he talked lovingly about katie holmes. she had designed his suit. no hint. they were just spotted together

ten days ago in iceland. this one came way out of left field. before we have toç go, 3-3-break it down. >> all of the previous filings, they were 33 years old, the wives. >> there's this whole conspiracy theory saying, is there a contract involved? why is every wife 33 when they file? you never know in hollywood. >> you never know but that ae'se third 33. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back with more. [ male announcer ] trophies and awards lift you up. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, "what's next?"

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♪ you can make it if you try >> all right, those are pictures of then-11-year-old marcelsa owens on march 23, 2010, standing next to president obama when he signed the historic health reform legislation into law. and today he is a national spokesperson for health care reform. he started one week after his unemployed mother died without insurance. now the supreme court has upheld the controversial law. what does this brave young man think about all that has happened? joining me live is 13-year-old

health care activist marcellas owens. marcellas, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> let's start with this. what was your reaction when you heard the decision that came down, the opinion that came down from the supreme court? >> well, my first reaction was i was excited and me and my grandma were hugging and we were just celebrating that finally all of the hard work that so many people, including my family and so many others, have put into it has finally paid off to save the bill that we worked so hard for. >> now, you've been on the front lines of health care for nearly half your life. how does this week's ruling make you feel now as you look forward? >> it makes me feel confident that now that people can get the health care and get better, they can now start to work to gettinç a better life and to get better

so they can just live the way that god intended it. >> in your sense, as you look forward, you know there are critics, you go up against them as you are on the road talking about health care and helping uninsured. how do you think this might change the perspective of those who are against this affordable care act, what has happened so far? >> i think that it will show them that, since the supreme court agrees, maybe they should think twice about saying that it's bad. but still there are always going to be people who don't agree with it, but, like i've always been saying, we'll always be ready to defend it. >> there are a lot of pages in this law and it's complicated to many. over 2,000 of pages to the affordable care act. how have you helped to make something so complex simple for people as you're out speaking?

>> well, basically, i've just been trying to sort of just summarize it all so that some people can explain. but i don't know every single thing that's in there myself so i just say what i know so that i'm not getting in ting any of s wrong. >> marcellas, when you think about the law and now it being upheld, how do you think it could have helped your mother? >> i think she would have been able to recognize the diseaseç that she had and maybe have gotten better care for it earlier on before it got so bad so that she could have had a chance of getting better. i think she would have been side-by-side with me fighting today. >> and if she were here with you today, what do you think her reaction would be to the opinion and what you've done so far? >> i think she would be really

proud of me. i mean, i know she would be really proud of me and just love me for all the work that i did and just enjoy -- she would enjoy having the chance to watch me grow. >> no doubt she'd be very proud of you. marcellas, thank you so much for your story. marcellas owens, appreciate your time. a former clerk to supreme court justice chief roberts, what does he think is behind his health care opinion? in every way, shape, and form. it's my dream vehicle. on a day to day basis, i am not using gas. my round trip is approximately 40 miles to work. head on home, stop at the grocery store, whatever else that i need to do -- still don't have to use gas. i'm never at the gas station unless i want some coffee. it's the best thing ever. as a matter of fact, i'm taking my savings so that i can go to hawaii.

♪

our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. good day to you and welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui. it's 1:00 in the east, 10:00 in the west. now here's what's developing. we're in the hottest part of the day right now where millions are without power from ohio to the east coast. this is new video of the storm damage here washington, d.c., as well the hurricane-force winds

knocking down countless trees in the region, new pictures and details out of virginia. governor bob mcdonnell now saying six people died there and declared a state of emergency. also we're hearing falling trees killed two campers in new jersey. utility officials say the power could be out in places for several days. workers and residents are struggling to recover and assess the damage as we k let's go to kristen welker in a hard-hit part of washington, d.c. kristen, we're hitting the high point of the day. it's got to be really hot out there. >> reporter: it is really hot, richard. temperatures expected to hit triple digits again today. that could happen again monday and possibly tuesday. so officials are really urging everyone to take this heat seriously. as you mentioned, virginia governor bob mcdonnell has declared a state of emergency. as many as six people kill nd virginia, more than a million without power there. hundreds of thousands without power here in kwawashington, d.

which is where i am. there's also a big cleanup effort under way. any street you travel on, richard, there are a number of downed trees. i'm going to step out of of the way so you can see one of them. we're on north portal street in the northwest section of washington, d.c. this large tree just snapped in half last night and hit the front of the car of britney lat latisaw. she lives in this neighborhood. it smashed the front part of her car. she was able to climb out the back. i spoke with her. she said she was terrified, shocked. she issing th thankful she is ot injured. of course last night's storm was deadly so a lot of people really suffering and trying to clean up and put the pieces back together today. again, officials believe these temperatures could hit triple digits today and through the beginning of this coming week so they are urging everyone to take this weather very seriously. if you've lost power, they say go to a cooling center.

there are a number of coolingç centers that have been set up in the washington, d.c., area. if you can't find a cooling center, go to a mall, go to a library. but make sure you are indoors in air conditioning and make sure you're staying hydrated. officials also add, richard, it could take up to five days until they're able to restore power to everyone. richard? >> that's going to be tough for those who are both elderly and/or sick. really quickly behind you, kristen, if you turn around, how wide -- how big of a tree is this, three or four feet wide? >> reporter: it looks to be about that large. i'll step out of the way one more time. i can tell you it's about three to four feet wide. if you looked at the damage from the car, the front part of the car was completely smashed in, richard. if you look on the ground there, there's still a little piece of car left, the car was towed away just a short while ago. we've been talking to bitney and her family throughout this morning. again, they are just thankful today that britney wasn't hurt in this. britney says when she looked at the damage, she realized she

could have lost her life. she's thankful today. >> what a mix you have there in washington, d.c. kristen welker, appreciate it. today's weather will likely rewrite the record books. people are flocking to atlanta's centennial park to cool off in the water fountain. let's look at how it is outside. >> it's like really, really, super hot. >> it is extremely hot. unbelievably hot. >> we're trying to get cool and we're still hot. >> it's like a sauna. you come outside and it hits you. you start breaking a sweat. it's hot. things are on fire. >> weather channel meteorologist ericç fisher is here now with e forecast. hey, eric. >> well, richard, it has been a difficult run over the last couple of days. triple digits as far as the eye can see. look at some of the highs from yesterday, 109 in nashville, 1094 atlanta, a new june all-time record, 106 in st. louis, 106 in little rock. in norfolk, virginia, up to 104.

eventually that heat fueling some big storms in the ohio valley stretching to the d.c. area. high pressure is in control through the weekend. that means we are going to sizzle. highs today 105 in nashville, 105 in atlanta, that would be the hottest temperature ever recorded, tie anyway in the peach city, 105 in charlotte, 100 in d.c. and jackson, mississippi, up to 99. we head into sunday, it's more of the same here. it's going to be a prolonged bout of heat. 25 states we're forecasting hitting 100 or higher. heat advisories are up for over 47 million people. here are some of the numbers from nashville, use it as a poster child. 109 a june record, was set yesterday, also the all-time warmest temperature ever rod recorded. saturday, sunday, monday, more heat in atlanta. should be the hottest game ever played at turner field, temperatures up to 105. we are down to the 90s by

monday. the only escape from the heat is the northwest and pacific coast of california. everyone else is very hot ending june and beginning july. back to you. >> you can track the storms and watch the temperatures on weather.com. front page politics and new today republicans are launching a new attack against the president's health care law following the supreme court ruling. john barrasso delivering the gop's weekly address, take a listen. >> the president's health care law hires more irs agents to investigate you and to make sure you buy insurance. but it fails to deal with the shortage of nurses and doctors to actually take care of you. >> meanwhile, there's a new poll shedding some light on how americans view the affordable care act. the new "usa today"/gallup poll showing 44% of americans have an unfavorable view of the law while 37% say they view it favorably. and new this hour, m.i.t. romney's softromne romney's sons are meeting with

support hes ers in wolfboro, ne hampshire. white house reporter for "the washington post" david nauk maura and ryan grim from the huffington post. david, we'll start with you. the obama administration has had a few days to digest the supreme court ruling on health care. how does the white house plan to pivot on this? what will we see tomorrow on the sunday talk show as jacob lieu will be seen on many of them. >> i think the graphic you just showed shows that the white house still has a lot of work to do. they may have convinced the supreme court narrowly this law is constitutional, but they have to convince the public again about the good aspects of this law. this moment gives them a chance now get out there and sort of talk about why it is good for people. and you're seeing them do na a way that's sort of very personal. they'reç talking about this hes breast cancer survivors, young people looking for work and needing health care. yesterday you saw david axelrod

the david's adviser send a personal e-mail talking about how his own daughter fought epilepsy and almost bankrupted them. >> personalizing it. >> yes. this is a way to appeal to people on a personal level. >> ryan, how high should the democrats hold this flag? president obama on thursday when he spoke very careful to outline those items which were positive really regardless of which aisle you're on. but when you look at the individual mandate that might be one of the elements of the affordable care act that they'll stay away from. so how aggressive should democrats be? >> well, what they're going to try to do is more kind of try to bait the republicans into engaging into this debate aggressively. you know, the point here is it they want to box republicans in as kind of a party of the past, you keep hearing them say they want to refight the battle s of the past. one of the things people liked least about the health care bill was the disgusting 14-month-long process that it took to get it passed. you know, nobody likes to see

the sausage get made for that long. so knew the supreme court has ruled, democrats are hoping it has a sort of finality where people will say, you know, i don't love this bill but john roberts says it's okay so we need to just make it better, we need to move forward, start talking about the economy, jobs. so every time republicans talk about repealing this thing, even though they alwaysç add "repla it," democrats will say, they just won't give up. it's over yet they keep fighting. one democratic aide put it, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. >> ryan, you bring up a good point here. well, justice roberts likes it. how important might that be here, david, when that thought, that idea is brought forward, chief justice roberts who has a conserve of tiative history in supreme court, what might that mean in november? >> talking to legal folks, it may be more nuanced what he was tying to do. but on the campaign trail, it

inoculates the criticism a little bit on the president and makes it difficult for romney to go along with many of the other republicans attacking this as a tax. because of the fact that the romney health care law in massachusetts in governor was a template for this thing. i think the white house is pleased with that. yesterday david plouffe put out a memo to capitol hill, go on offense on this, democrats. show why this will save people money and most people won't have to pay this penalty or tax, whatever you want to call it, and let's just go on offense. >> you've both been writing on this, ryan. july 11th, house republicans are going to vote on the repeal. but isn't this really just, as has been said, ka bub ki theater? >> sure. this will be -- david might know the exact number, but this is like the fourth time at least they've voted to repeal obamacare. >> so why do it? >> i don't know how many

that if you repeal it ten times then the senate doesn't have to go along with you and it's just done. but you're right, you know. they have a major problem with this and so does romney. bobby jindal yesterday slipped and accidentally called it obamneycare. that's what most people think of it as. you know, as ginsburg pointed out in her opinion, this started in massachusetts, then the federal government modeled its law on that, and here we are. so we have the two people who were responsible for this now running against each other. it really does make it hard for romney so i expect him to try to just pivot to the unemployment rate from here until november. >> you know, it does cut bath boj ways, doesn't it? you're saying how jindal said obamneycare, romney may want to move from the topic as soon as possible. daif david, in your article yesterday, wur saying how the back-and-forth suggested that health care will continue to resonate into the fall. do you think it's going to go

into the fall here? >> i think it does. in a couple of ways. on one hand the president's campaign is certainly going to be targeting key voters. they think this appeals to women. there will be ads start willing tomorrow from conservative groups sort of hitting the president on this. but we're looking into next week, the president is going on the road to ohio and pennsylvania, key swing states. the economic numbers will come out. it will be back to the economy. but this health care thing will be an issue that continues to resonate along with the economy. in ways as republicans are trying to tie it to the economy, asking, is this a tax, a job killer, putting the burden on small businesses.2 c1 it will continue to be part of the dialogue. >> ryan, last word to you. >> i mean, so the notion that the republicans have that they think the tea party is going to get more fired up because this has happened, i think they're mistaken. the tea party couldn't hate this president any more. it's not possible to make them any more energized than they already are. so if that's what they're banking on as the positive news from this, they're probably

winding up mistaken. >> we shall see what happens with the trae paea party. thank you both, have a great saturday. >> thanks, richard. critics of the decision by supreme court decision justice roberts wonder what he was thick. but one of his former law clerks might well know. we will talk to him in about 20 minutes here on "weekends with alex witt." ♪ is this really making sense ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this.

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a new voter i.d. law takes effect in virginia. opponents say minority voters, the poor and elderly, are targeted by the laws that require people to provide identification before voting. otherwise, they're forced to cast provisional ballots, counted only if the voter later

presents valid i.d. to local officials. supporters are saying the laws prevent voter fraud. joining me now are keisha gaskins of the brendan center at nyu law center and brian darling of the heritage foundation. welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> brian, start with you. this new law takes effect in virginia, and it will apply to the november election. when you think about this, do you really think it will stop substantial fraudulent votes? >> well, it should. it's very hard toç catch voter fraud. we've seen incidents of it, the south carolina attorney general reported in february of this year that they were about a thousand case of dead people voting in his state. so you've had that. you had an incident in troy, new york, from 2008 where there were forged ballots. so there is evidence that there is voter fraud going on. >> but we have examples out of florida where the actual numbers of fraudulent voters, if you will, unidentifiable voters are quite low, we're talking in single dij ilt percentages. >> that may be true, but the

bottom line is, if somebody goes in and they don't have i.d., they still can cast a provisional ballot, if they can come back later and prove their identity. so nobody's being disenfranchised. everybody under federal law is allowed to cast a provisional ballot. so all the arguments and allegations of racial animus and this parade of horribles of people being motivated by bad things to pass these laws are untrue. the truth of matter is people are trying to protect the political process from fraud. >> but, brian, we look at the statistics and what's happening out of florida, the number of, for instance, latinos or hispanics that were brought out in this role or list they were going through looking at voter i.d. requirements, a better part of them, 50-plus percent were minorities. is that some fodder then for that argument? >> well, there's no evidence that these laws are being passed because of racial animus, to suppress voters. the motivation is good. it's to protect the voter rolls,

to clean up the voter rolls and make sure that people aren'tç voting that shouldn't. and, again, bottom line, you can vote, you can cast a provisional ballot if your name isn't on there, if you're claiming you have the right to vote, it's very easy to come and cast your provisional ballot and come back later and prove who you are. >> keisha, is that logical and acceptable? it seems you go into n to vote, later on you just establish your identification, you provide that later, and then your provisional ballot will go through. >> that's not reasonable, and it's not logical. the provisional balloting process has been shown to be ineffective. most provisional ballots are not counted. for a voter to be forced to travel large distances down to county seats to produce identification they may not have in the first place really does not solve the problem and is not a solution. >> but isn't it a compromise? will it work? >> it won't work. the point is, if -- there are voters who simply, by virtue of who they are, do not have valid identification.

and this is not an inconsequential number of americans. one out of every ten voters lacks government-issued i.d. and these voters are barred from the polls with these laws. >> who are these people? >> they're not. they can vote with provisional ballots. >> i think that's what we already said, provisional balloting is not a solution. >> student i.d.s. >> most student i.d.s are not acceptable. >> debit cards? >> you know, this expansive reading of these laws is absolutely absurd. the fact is these laws limit the acceptable i.d. to a very few number of i.d.s that are not possessed by all voters and these laws are operating to bar voters from theç polls. >> you need -- >> hang on one second, brian. when we talk about these groups, there was a discussion brian and i were having regarding it affecting certain ethnic groups. >> certainly. we know from our research that african-americans, latino voters, seniors and young people are overrepresented in that 11% of americans who lack

government-issued photo i.d. we have to be conscious of the fact that regardless of the intent, the effect is to disenfranchise minority voters. that's what we found with the inability of texas' law, south carolina's law to be precleared in the administrative process. >> there's no evidence to that. you can point to na evidence of racial animus to pass these laws. >> brian, i think you misheard -- >> not only that, great research has been done debunking your research at the brennan center. >> we look at hans' research. most important to your point, brian, is the fact these laws in fact are disenfranchising voters. and the fact there's an absurd process that is -- the provisional voting doesn't get you there, you can't get there from here. >> let's broaden this out. brian, i want to ask you this, there are more than 30 states considering issues, voter identification requirements. where do we stand in florida? we were talking about florida a moment ago. here is a look at some of the 30

states. where does florida stand on the lawsuits filed by governor rick scott and attorney general eric holder? >> the pushback on rick scott with regard to groups trying to register voters, the courts don't like the fact that you only haveç 48 hours to put in e voter registration rolls to make sure people are registered. they think that's too short a period of time. the whole purpose of making sure that these organizations that are gathering signatures put in the voter registration rolls is to make sure that somebody doesn't have an individual come to their door, they sign up to vote and then those forms are never turned in to the state and they turn up to vote and they're not in the voter roll. so there's been a lot of pushback from the federal government. it's happening in different states. >> right. on that point, keesha, when you look at the justice department, will sthey be able to stop this? is this something you're seeing?

>> the federal government has said it violates law. we are hoping and as we saw yesterday when the department of justice came out with their letter based on south carolina's resubmission, the refusal to preclear the law, so the fact is the department of justice is standing firm against discrimination with these laws. >> keesha, brian, i wish we had another half hour to talk about this. i think the two of you would also like that amount of time. we've got to go. thank you again, keesha, from nyu law school, brian darling from the heritage center. today will be the longest day in years because international time keepers are adding an extra second of time just before midnight of time. enjoy that second. they're doing that to make up for the ernl's slowing rotation. the first so-called leap second since 2008.ç

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. now to this week'sç three g money headlines. we've got summer spending, how do you feel, and made in the usa. morgan brennan from forbes is here to make sense of those three subjects for us. good to see you again. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk consumer spending. school's out. do mom and dad break out the wallets and continue to spend? >> this is true. we're looking at about $16.6 billion, that's the estimated amount that parents will spend this summer, american parents, that's according to an annual survey from american express. average american parent is going to spend about $600 per child this summer on everything from swim lessons to summer camp. >> put that into context. that's part of consumer confidence. >> right. despite the swim lessons for kiddies, that said, consumer confidence is waning, considering the numbers out by the commerce department. those numbers were flat for the first time in six months. not surprising given the fact economists have been expecting a

slowdown in light of weak jobs data. but not particularly good news since it's such a part of economic growth. >> and made in the usa onshore, that trend coming back. >> yes, that is coming back. we here about offshoring. this is inshoring. we're hearing about companies like google starting to expand their manufacturing back into the united states. there are many reasons we're starting to hear companies doing this. airbus is another example. they're looking at the possibility of putting a factory in mobile, alabama. >> big ticker. >> yes. there's many reasons we're starting to see this. one i find most interesting is the fact of costs of doing business in china have risen so dramatically that ameri >> thank you. in just a moment, the supreme court health care decision. did the chief justice have an ulterior motive when he cast his vote? a former law clerk to john roberts will weigh in. it's very important to understand

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with alex witt." i'm richard lui. alex is off. egypt officially has a new president. mohamed morsi makes history as the country's new freely elected leader and is promising changes. we are live from cairo. >> reporter: hey, richard, how are you? everything in egypt that was scheduled to take place on june 30th has unfolded like it was supposed to. the question is, though, what poufr the president will have. it began today with an official swearing in ceremony in which the president mohamed morsi swore oath to the office here in front of a constitutional court. that in itself was a little bit controversial. he was supposed to do it in front of parliament, but parliament has been dissolved by the military. as soon as he did the official oath, he crossed down and gave his inaugural address in a cairo university when he took the oath symbolically. the question going heed for the president is, what powers will

he have? the military has stripped him of important powers but now the president says he draws his legitimacy and authority from the people directly and it's the people of egypt he's going to work and serve over the next couple of years while he's in office, the question moves to the constitution and how it will be written. richard? >> thank you so much. still more questions today over chief justice john roberts' ruling in favor of the health care law. the conserveç activity jurist now a hero to democrats and has legal experts reexamining his vision for the high court and what it means for future cases. joining me now is joshua holly, former clerk to chief justice roberts and associate professor at the university of missouri school of law. joshua, you know, so many folks here thinking about what chief justice roberts was going flu his mind, the sort of battle between a philosophical voice as well as an institutional

obligation. what was your thought about what was going through chief justice roberts' mind at the time? >> well, i think the chief justice naturally has a very acute concern for the institutional reputation of the court and also for the court's proper role in the constitutional system. and i think part of what you see going on with this opinion is an intent to keep the court out of the politics or what you might think of as everyday pol siitic. so to reach decisions on the constitutional issues absolutely must be decided. but beyond that to try to preserve the court from being drawn into political battles. >> were you surprised when that came down and you had heard that chief justice roberts had sided with the liberal side? >> i was surprised, and i was surprised particularly at the rationale for the decision. i didn't i think like most commentators or legal observers i did not consider he would hold the mandate to be a tax, particularly because the court

had not seemed much interest in that rationale at oral argument. so the means toreç tor the gros for his decision were a surprise. the voting coalition was a surprise. but i think, upon closer examination of his opinion and given his concern about the institutional reputation and standing of the court, i think the opinion is not quite so surprising as it first seems. >> let's bring in our other guest. we have margo singer-cass, the health care correspondent for the national journal. margo, you know, is the health care case so unique in this situation, when you look at it, highly political as well, that we can't infer too much meaning at the moment from chief justice roberts' decision? >> yeah. there seems to be some debate among legal xscholars about whether the ruling will have a broad impact upon first of all whether the chief justice will continue to side with the liberals on these high-profile cases but also whether the rule on the commerce clause can be applied to other cases and it's a sign that the court is moving in a new direction or it's sort

of a one off on this particular case. >> joshua, building on what margot said there, chief justice roberts, will we see a change perhaps in the way that he votes going forward, or is this just a one-off if you will? >> i don't think this case augers one way or another. i think we just can't tell. but i do think, as to the point as to whether or not that commerce clause holding, which is at the very givening of chief justice roberts' opinion, whether or not that will be good law going forward, whether the court has announced some new hard limits on the commerce clause, i think that is more likely. i read that part of the decision to be necessary to chief justice roberts' judgment. he's got fourç additional vote for that. and i think in the future we're going to see that part of the decision get applied. >> margot, talk to that, if you could. when we think about conserve of tiff constitutionalists, what does this mean to them in the commerce clause? this is something that they might celebrate. >> yeah, i think certainly. you know, several of them were

celebrating week. randy barnett, a law professor and who has been very deeply involved in this case, was quoted in "the washington post" this week saying, we won in every way except in the outcome. he hnl hoad been hoping for the to be overturned but he was pleased with two ways the court went, one they believed his argument on the commerce clause which was highly criticized and also that the court did strike down part of the medicaid expansion that was part of the law. that's a really new area of law that may turn out to be more consequential because the court said there are limits on congress' ability to influence state behavior by spending money. there's a point at which that becomes coercive. the court had gestured in that direction before but never of actually laid out a limit. >> good commentary there. josh, when we look at chief justice roberts, something we were talking about earlier this morning, fe wif he was an assoc justice, would he have made a different call on that? >> i think that's very possible. i think as an associate justice you consider a different

decisions. i think as chief justice you speak for the court and have the responsibility to look out for a court in a way no other justice does. i think his opinion shows he weighed that very heavily. >> thank you, margot and joshua. appreciate your time. now toç the best of office politics from the "today" show's matt lauer to l.a. mayor v villaraigosa. we start with an interview first. matt lauer says what he says was one of his toughest. >> i did an interview with president bush in the oval office on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 that was somewhat contentio contentious. he started talking about secret interrogation of terror suspects and he got very animated to the point where he was basically jabbing me in the chest. >> i'll never forget being in belfast when president clintsen was there and george mitchell,

the special envoy. there was a sense in which america had assisted the peace process in northern ireland. >> vice president, very quiet, he said something to the effect, it's the events in kosovo ever since the breakup of yugoslavia. my son was probably 11 years old, and he said, well, mr. vice president, of course you know that the conflict in the balkans didn't begin with the breakup of yugoslavia. >> when we think about inequality, it's the size of gains that have gone smaller and smaller and smaller group. as you narrow in the 1%, 0.1%, 0.11%, the gains get bigger and bigger. >> we have a design to double

>> there's one historian who says that when you get over 16 nations in europe in recession it becomes a contagion and it spreads to places and it starts to spread to the capital markets. so we're very, very, very close to that situation. and actually that's one of the things that i feel is going to impinge on the election. >> going to be a very close race. extremely close. it will be probably like 2,000 level close. >> like 4:00 in the morning -- >> definitely. i think. >> whether president obama remains in the white house will in large part be how much of a share of the latino vote he's able to get. >> the obama campaign was changing what the electorate looked like, more african-american voters, more

hispanic voters and more young voters. they have to do an even better job of changing the electorate in 2012 because, fountain eleif electorate looks like it did in 2010, an older and whiter electorate, the president cannot win. >> we just had the worst recession since the great depression. a lot of that has nothing to do with the president. >> we see the president in certain circumstances. +tju invited to the campaign trl to spend time with the president. i don't think the presidency is a fun job. with barack obama, with the economy the way it is and foreign policy issues he has to face. >> the things that i've learned doing this show, it's been like a post-graduate degree in political history. >> so was it a dream job? yes, i'll be very honest with you. i used to watch brokaw do it, bryant do it and incredibly well. and the thought that one day i would even have a chance to vie

for that job or be considered for that job was i think a fantasy. >> and you can go to alex's facebook page and click on the office politics logo for all her past segments. next -- will health care make the decision in november? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... ...advanced headlights... ...and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪

. time for the big three in today's topics, summer of 2012, tipping point, and best week, worst week. let's bring in my panel today, democratic strategist marge yoe march roe, susan dell purse yoe and msnbc correspondent perry bacon jr. margie, summer of 2012, a new poll showing americans sharply are dieded over the supreme court's health care ruling, 46% on both sides of that. so how does president obama now bridge this divide, which is equal? >> by talking about the

provisions in the bill that have always been and continue to be incredibly popular, mandatory maternity care coverage, mandatory breast cancer coverage, increase in preve preventative care for 86 million americans, refundrjt money tha has gone to ceo salaries and bonuses for health care companies now will be refunded to people. health care tax cut. the list is very long of things that are incredibly popular and this is an opportunity to keep talking about them. >> an opportunity to talk about what happened in 2010, susan. you remember those heated town halls over health care. we were talking a lot about those midterm elections and the tea party. >> yeah. i think that they will be out in force, but basically you're going to see a lot more message incoming within the party, especially in a presidential year. for all of those words margie used, all the republicans have to say, $2.3 trillion tax increase. and that's going to be the difference in the messaging. so i think you're going to have a lot of people really outraged. they are going to come out, but

it's going to be the party loyalists. and at the end of the day, on top of it, they're going to hear this grief over the summer, but the presidential race is going to be about the economy. >> so the loyalists will then lead the tea partiers. that's interesting. perry, what's the big message going to be on both sides about health care as we look ahead toward november? >> i think by september this won't be a big issue. for romney, his whole campaign has been about the economy. i don't think he'll shift from that focus. for the president, as you saw in that poll, about half of the country does not like this health care law soy don't think he'll spend a lot of time talking about this as we go forward. i think thl be a lower ranked issue than it seems like right now. >> marge ji, moving on to tipping point, some key accomplishments touted by the obama administration, the auto bailout, the çstimulus, the killing of osama bin laden and others. is this health care ruling now the missing piece, if you will, that missing brick at the bottom of the foundation of his

accomplishments? >> well, i think ultimately elections are not won and lost based on supreme court decisions. this health care bill is something that passed congress, was signed by the president. it's now been found constitutional by the supreme court. it's really up to voters to look at who's got a vision really upk at who has the vision going forward and who wants to reargue the bickering point. there's one party who wants to go with that and one that wants to move forward. >> does this put a shadow on the president and all he's accomplished? >> this puts a shadow on bin laden, and the health care is a win for him, but it's going to be a referendum on the president and how he's handled the economy. i don't see it changing much from that. you can have all those other things, but when you ask people where things stand, like

immigration, it's like 1%. when you ask how things stand kmoet, it's 55%. there is really not a lot of comparison as far as what's going to tilt the scale. >> some americans are calling chief justice roberts a trojan horse with the affordable care act, a to be supportive but then ruling on things such as medical care. is roberts a trojan horse? >> i0d horse, he definitely surprised us all. i think it shows that roberts voted pretty conservative on issues that come to the court. at the same time, in this one case, he seems to have put maybe the court's prestige, his reputation perhaps above his personal views on the issue, so i think it's important to see in that context. >> richard, just to add to that, he's also a very young chief justice. he's in his late 50s. he's going to have decades more time. we do forget what can be his legacy over the next 20 years. >> susan, great point.

stick around, susan, perry and margie. our picks for the week, best and worst. stick around. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack.

we're back with the big 3 and it's time for this week's best and worst. let's bring back our panel for the day. margie, we're going to start with you. give us yours. >> first winner, millions of americans are going to have better access to health care and so on. president obama, for obvious reasons. and the last one is old romney. old romney, this was his baby. he said, i like mandates. he was really the inspiration behind the health care bill. >> susan, can you top those? she was sucking up just a little. >> i won't do that. no, i'm kidding. best of the week was president obama, but i think this is a case of winning the battle and losing the war, because the worst case was any democrat

running for the house or senate because they're going to have to explain this. this could really put the senate in play much more than people had thought, so i think democrats had a very bad week. >> all right. perry? we'll finish with you. best and worst. >> winner, president obama. he spent one year, 25% of his term on this health care law, so getting itç through and gettin it staying in law is big for him. losee loser, mitt romney. susan is right, romney can still win the election despite this, but he'll be fighting more in his term. >> we have 23 seats up and democrats up this year versus 10 republicans. that's a lot of places where this could be very influential. don't forget, scott brown won in massachusetts on health care alone. you look at virginia, these are really important seats, and i think that could really change the times. >> the polls are tightening as we watch and get closer to november.

susan, margie and perry, thanks so much for coming in on this day. keep cool, no matter where you're at. and that wraps up this saturday edition of weekends with alex witt. i'm richard louie. i'll see you back here next time. have a great day. "that didn't take long". let's break out behr ultra... ...the number one selling paint and primer in one, now with stain blocker. each coat works three times harder, priming, covering, and blocking stains. let's go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now at the home depot, buy four gallons of paint and get the fourth one free.

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