him? >> he is in russia, yes. the obama administration is losing patience. john kerry tells nbc news. >> certainly to the oath that he took, to the promise he took to his fellow employees, to the place that he was employed at, to the duty that he took on, freely by his own choice, and there is no way but to make a judgment about the way in which he has done harm to america's national security interests. so i think you can use almost whatever term you want. i think those actions are despicable. opening statements. the prosecution and defense beginning their case in the trial of george zimmerman. deciding zimmerman's fate -- six jurors, all women. and high-wire thrill.

nick with w facing strong winds, it took the daredevil 22 minutes to tip toe his way along the cable. as he reached end, his family and millions of viewers tuning in live breathed a huge sigh of relief. >> take your time. >> i am. good day. i'm andrea mitch until washington. we are tracking breaking news from around the world today, from edward snowden's flight to moscow, to nelson mandela's critical condition and the fight for immigration reform on the u.s. capital. but we'll start with the u.s. supreme court where the justices kakd highly publicized affirmative action case from the university of texas back to the lower courts. pete williams is live at the

court. what's the impact on the university of texas and the nation? >> reporter: what the court said to the university of texas is basically you got an incomplete, you have to take the final example over again. guess what? we're going to judge it based on a stricter curve. so the university of texas affirmative action program stays alive for now. but it has to go back to the courts with instructions to pass a higher legal test. this was a case brought by a white student who didn't get in to the university of texas. it is an unusual situation there because what the university of texas at austin does, it admits the top ten 10% of graduates from all texas high schools. that achieves some diversity on campus. that's the goal, diversity on campus and classrooms because some high schools in texas are predominantly minority but the university says it doesn't give us enough so they used race as a plus factor in admitting the rest of the freshman class. what the supreme court decision says today in all of our decisions we have always said that government distinctions based on race are always

suspect. so if a university is challenged, it has to show that the affirmative action program that it came up with is virtually the only workable alternative to achieving the desired diversity. in other words, it said to the lower court shouldn't just take the university's word for it, shouldn't just defer to them that this passes the legal test. now everybody is proclaiming victory here today. the people who brought this challenge hope the scour would strike down affirmative action once and for all, that the decision by sandra day o'connor to step down, her replacement by samuel alito would spell the difference. they didn't get that. the other side did not get a ringing endorsement of affirmative action. i think the impact of the decision is going to be invite more legal challenges. >> it was a 7-1 case. elena kagan recused herself. lone dissenter was ruth bader ginsburg. what were her reasons? >> she basically says the

university has already -- it passes the test, that the test the lower court applied here was just fine, that the university passed it. i should say, two of the people who joined the majority opinion both joined it because they think -- they like the outcome but they think schools should never be able to use affirmative action. that's antonin scalia. the only african-american member, clarence thomas, had a long dissent in which he said this is a terrible idea. when you admit students under affirmative action programs it stamps them as inferior. they face long odds. they don't seem to do academically as well as if they went to a less selective school. >> let's bring in scotus blog co-founder tom goldstein. he's already had 28 caleses before the supreme court. before i leave this topic, tom and pete, what about all of the other special considerations that universities take in to consideration, like legacy, whether your parents or grandparents or uncles and aunts went to that school, whether you're a football or another

athletic star, whether you've done volunteer work, whether you're a fabulous musician. what about all those other considerations, aside from affirmative action? >> i'll answer first and see what tommy says. i think had the court struck down affirmative action, then those things would be on much shakier legal footing. but i'm not sure today's decision says much about those. >> i agree. what the supreme court has reinforced today is the idea that race ought not be more than one of those factors, if you use it at all. the supreme court, conservative majority in particular, said, look, you can maybe throw race into the mix if you've got a really good reason, just like we give other kinds of preferences but you didn't have a quota system and you can't let it rise to the top above all other factors. >> tom, do you think that private institutions, not just the public universities, will be affected one way or the other by how the court eventually rules on this? >> it is a great point. this is a constitutional case under the 14th amendment to the constitution which applies only to the government. so the university of texas here is a state school. but there are federal laws,

civil rights laws, that import the same standard and the same rules. wh what happens here will eventually make its way over to private schools. >> there was also a case taken up on recess appointments. court is going to decide one way or the other how to define recess appointments? >> right. this is a long standing fight between congress and the white house. what happens when the senate basically goes away for the congressional recess in the -- at christmas or easter and they're gone and the president says, i still can't get my secretary of agriculture confirmed, i'm just going to give him a recess appointment since the senate is in recess. what congress did a couple of years ago was say, we're going to have these pro forma sessions, we'll have someone come in, pound the gavel and say we're in session, pound it again and say that's it for today. that will be enough to defeat the recess appointment thing. so the the court is going to look at two questions -- when does the president's recess

appointment power kick in and do the shaking of the chicken bones in these little pro forma sessions meet the constitutional test. that will be next term. the court will hear that case in the fall. >> and tom, now what happens the rest of this week? are they going to actually issue rulings tomorrow, on tuesday? >> they absolutely will. we'll be back here starting at 10:00 eastern tomorrow morning. we of course have two major same-sex marriage cases involving california's proposition 8 and the federal defense of marriage act, and the test of section 5, the pre-clearance provision at the core of the voting rights act, one of the most important civil rights statutes ever. all eyes will come back to the justices again in the morning. they're not going to finish tomorrow. they'll be back probably later in the week, maybe wednesday or thursday. >> all right. we will be staying tuned and looking for both of you again. tom and pete at the court. thanks very much. where will edward snowden pop up next? snowden has been helped along the way an his latest steps of his journey from hong kong to russia by wikileaks.

today wikileaks founder julian assange spoke out on a conference call with a lot of reporters. i asked why snowden fled to hong kong instead of going through channels in washington, including congress and the inspector general. >> it is clear that mr. snowden is a whistle-blower by all his actions. the content. all his actions. communicating immediately with the press about matters of serious criminality in fact affecting all of us. contrary to the opinions early on saying mr. snowden was conspiring with china. clearly we see that is not the case. if it was, he would have stayed in hong kong. >> joining me now for our daily fix, "usa today" washington

bureau chief, susan page. nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell and chris cillizza, managing editor of postpolitics.com. susan, you hosted a roundtable on snowden and wikileaks as well and the nsa controversies. where do we stand now? because we believe -- especially from what jay carney said and all of our reporting that he is in moscow. what john kerry said from new delhi today is there's been a lot of contact from bob mueller, the fbi director and from bill burns, the deputy secretary of state, to the russians to let them know just how important this is in our relationship not to let him go. >> jay carney used very tough language toward the chinese for their failure to hold and turn over edward snowden. i think that language was directed not at the chinese, it was directed at the russians to underscore how much they hope that the russian government will hold him in moscow and turn him over to the americans, maybe to extradite him back to the united

states. we assumed that russia would let him just transit through, be on that flight to cuba. he wasn't on that flight. there was an empty seat there waiting for him. jay carney's language seems to indicate there may be something going on behind the scenes. putin has not been a great friend of the united states in many ways but he is a mercurial guy and maybe they are persuading him to go along with the united states on this one. >> just listen to what john kerry had to say in any dnew de today about the russians. >> don't want to speculate but we have very high hopes that the russians, who have said they want to cooperate and have a strong relationship with us, will understand that this is important and this is a man that has been accused publicly now with the complaint that's been filed against him of three counts of espionage, it is a very serious offense. >> chris cillizza, it is very

clear that they are putting all pressure on russia. what kerry is saying is that this is a test of our relationship. which way will putin go? >> i thought it was fascinating, he said i don't want to speculate but what he wanted to clearly do there was send a quite clear message to russia and say, this is serious, this isn't sort of us just asking you for a feign. this is someone who's been indicted on three counts of espionage. we consider this important to our relationship. you know this better than i do, but diplomacy and politics very similar, you have to listen to sort of in between the lines of what is the actual words being said and the message there, very clear from john kerry. this one is important to us, you have to find a way to work with us. i would add very quickly, he's sort of leaving the door open there which goes to susan's point, is there something in the works? we don't know but that language would suggest that it's not a done deal. we haven't closed the book on it just yet. >> kelly o'donnell, you've noted

that lindsey graham has sent a letter to the russian ambassador to the united states upping the ante here as well. >> trying to draw the line saying that if there is to be a reset between the u.s. and russia, this is a test of that relationship. kind of a bold, more public move that a senator can make, different that what the secretary of state can do. and certainly jay carney cited today that there has been cooperation when it comes to criminal matters with russia, citing the tsarnaev brothers, the boston marathon bombings, the work the two countries were able to do there and saying that all the appropriate conversations are happening. so you do get a sense that there is something bubbling up mere. we don't know how quickly it will materialize, but it is interesting to have someone like lindsey graham who takes an interest in these -- this sort of scale of an issue to try to put a bit more pressure on. it may and way to triangulate and make sure putin understands

the importance here. there are so many other matters at stake. lindsey graham is weighing in as well. >> the chinese really ought to take noeft te of what jay carned to say. >> we are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a hong kong immigration official. this was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the u.s.-china relationship. >> so much more sunnyland, susan page. in the summit, as i've been reporting, did not go well with president xi. there was a sense on the u.s. side he was far more rigid, far more politically constrained than they hoped. real deal breaker seems to be from the chinese perspective that the u.s. was spying, heavens forbid, that the u.s. has been cyber spying on the chinese and that in hong kong and in beijing, they immediately seized on that, that leak two

weeks ago and said, well, that means that this is a terrible thing. >> certainly could not have been a surprise to the chinese that we're spying on them, just as they're spying on us. i did think that jay carney's language was particularly tough. i think the chinese calculation may have been let's get this guy off our territory, out of hong kong, let him be somebody else's problem so we aren't the ones on the hook to decide what to do with him and whether to turn him over to the americans. but i think pretty tough language we heard there from jay carney. >> written language which means it was written by the nsc clearly in coordination with jay carney. that was a very deliberate signal. kelly, up as your end of pennsylvania avenue as well, immigration today. the closure vote. what is the betting now with the whip count as to how many votes are going to be in favor of this amendment and of obviously the immigration bill to come? >> well, it is a critical test and they've been trying to attract more republican support by adding more border security. that's what the senate will take a look at later today.

many of them getting back to washington now and there's kind of a fierce debate happening right on the senate floor and it is unusual to have a republican versus a republican over an issue but that's what we've been seeing play out with bob corker, a co-author of this, add more border security in terms of agents and fence, versus jeff sessions who has been a very vocal opponent of the immigration plans because he says that even if you call for more border security, unless the money gets appropriatateed downe line, he just doesn't trust it will happen. he has a whole list of things he thinks is wrong with the bill and he is making that very well known, staying late friday night to talk about it. we expect we will get more republicans. will it get to the 70 number? that's the question. if they hit that, is that a signal to the house? the house may not be paying as much attention as one would like given as many things as they've been doing like downing the farm bill. >> i've talked to a couple of

senators in the last few days who are upset with this amendment because they said it is unnecessary, john mccain says it is more than they need and they just don't like the cost of it. we'll closely watch the senate floor as you run by numbers this afternoon. kelly o'donnell, thank you. chris zcillizza and susan page. coming up, more on edward snowden who fled to russia from the hong kong over the weekend. account u.s. get him back? "the guardian's" glen greenwald has been the man who's the conduit for the nsa leaker to share his information with the public. david gregory confronted the columnist for "the guardian" on "meet the press" on the ethics of helping a wanted man. >> to the extent that you have aided and abetted snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn't you, mr. greenwald, be charged with a crime? >> i think it is pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themself a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists

should be charged with felonies. assumption in your question, david, is completely without evidence. the idea that i've aided and abetted him in any way. if you want to embrace that theory, it means that every investigative journalist in the united states who works with their sources wh, who receives classified information is a criminal. it is precisely those theories and that climate that's become so menacing in the united states. >> the question with who is a journalist may be up for debate as to what you are doing. anybody watching this understands i've been asking a question, a question raised by lawmakers as well. i'm not embracing anything. but obviously i take your point. distribution systems," "and one of the most efficient trucking networks," "with safe, experienced drivers." "we work directly with manufacturers," "eliminating costly markups," "and buy directly from local farmers in every region of the country." "when you see our low prices, remember the wheels turning behind the scenes, delivering for millions of americans, everyday. "dedication: that's the real walmart"

today the supreme court cleared one major case from their to-do list. so what are the ramifications of today's decision on affirmative action and what do we now expect when the court rules on the voting rights act. president of the naacp legal

defense and educational fund is here, and naa president and ceo ben jealous both joining us. what's your takeaway on the decision of fisher versus university of texas? >> we were enormously pleased that the court essentially re-affirmed and declined to strike down the principles of equality that the court articulated in the 2003 grudder case. they did not strike down affirmative action. race continues to be able to be a factor for universities to use in admissions in their efforts to create a diverse student body and to obtain the educational benefits of diversity. essentially what the court did today was provide some instructions to the court below on how they should review a university's admissions plan. there is no question that the instructions that they provided are a much kind of sharper set of standards than had been set out in grudder. not different but a clarification of what happened

and what the court articulated in grudder. now this case will go back to the court below in texas to look at university of texas's plan under the articulation that the court made today, which really requires the court to determine whether the university had available to it any workable non-race conscious factor or standard that they could use in order to achieve diversity. we think that the university of texas's pln will paan will passn remand and we currently think many universities throughout the country are using a standard that will satisfy the precise concerns articulated by the court today. we're pleased. >> but, ben, to you then, che l cherylyn as well, do either of you believe it's weakened the cause of affirmative action and make universities more cautious going forward because of the language in the ruling? >> no, not at all. i think it is just a reality

that folks on the far right wing will try to bully universities as they've been trying to bully them for months leading in to this and years coming out of grudder. what happened today is pretty clear. the court affirmed race has place in college admissions and the court affirmed its principles from the grudder decision and made it very clear that universities must, should, keep their doors open, make sure that they are inclusive, that they are giving students of all colors a close look and a fair shot. and so we're very pleased with this decision. it is important that universities out there really understand that what this did today was that it made it very clear that the decision in grudder has been affirmed by this court, that there is still a place for race and admissions. while there is a sharpened focus for courts whether they review it, this really does not change

much more universities today. >> what about the voting rights cases could come? decisions will be issued tuesday, thursday, we don't know if they'll go into next week. but we are at an inflection here in terms of major historic case. 1965 voting rights act, there couldn't be a more important case on race relations in this country, which is now really being tested. >> pleased as i am with the decision today, andrea, which i think is so important because the question of whether race can be used in admissions is the real question that continues to kind of roil in this country. court having re-affirmed it today, that's critically important. you are absolutely right though, i cannot overstate the decision challenging the provisions of section 5 of the voting rights act. case depending on how it is decided could be a game changer

for democratic participation in this country. section 5 protects minority voters all over this country, mostly in the south but also in places in new york and california, alaska and arizona and we've been living with it so long, andrea, the protection it's been affording us has become such a part of the american fabric that it is almost like air we breathe. we won't realize it is not there until it is taken away from us. we're still very sober this week at the naacp legal defense fund waiting for the court's decision in the shelby case. shelby county, alabama recognizes how important section 5 has been in order to provide them a fair process for elections and the political process. >> we hope we'll be able to talk to you both tomorrow or whatever day this comes down because there is a lot at stake. >> indeed. >> thank you both so very much from the naacp. former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi has been sentenced to seven years in jail after being convicted of having sex with an underaged

prostitute. 76-year-old berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a moroccan teen and trying to cover it up. he was also barred from holding public office. there are two more levels of appeal though before the sentence would become final. he was accused in a series of cases involving what he called bunga-bunga parties. 're always g is because i have to go to the bathroom. and when we're sitting in traffic, i worry i'll have an accident. be right back. so today, i'm finally going to talk to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents for 24 hours. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or cannot empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness,

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the world but we are getting very strong indications. jim, i'm not sure whether you can hear me. we will straight than out and come right back. meanwhile, have you seen this guy? the national zoo in washington is missing a red panda named rusty. he was last seen at 6:00 last night. the zoo tweeted out his picture. god, he is adorable. they are continuing the search. as we anticipate the supreme court's decisions on doma and proposition 8 perhaps as soon as tomorrow, is the key moment over the debate over marital equality. join me in the conversation. i'm hosting a google plus hangout on air at 2:15 eastern this afternoon on the insolence of hollywood on this issue. (girl) what does that say?

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nbc's jim maceda. jim, thanks for your patience as we straightened up the audio. so a lot of pressure now we are hearing from john kerry. the fbi director, deputy secretary of state, all talking to russia saying this is really important. is there any sense of why edward snowden was not on that plane as expected? are the russians listening or are they thinking this over? >> reporter: well, that's really a tough one. there are so many theories right now as to why he wasn't on that plane. we've heard theories that in fact he was afraid of being turned in, that cuba was a decoy all along, that in fact he had had been trying or did successfully take, depending on

the theory, another plane, another connection frto a completely different location, destination, ecuador. it could be all of those, or none of the above. there is that sense also, which i'm sure you picked on -- i certainly did -- that secretary kerry was almost offering a kind of deal, reminding vladimir putin of the good old days two years ago when putin played by the rules of law and in return got seven prisoners that he wanted back, suggesting that that could well happen again if he simply played by the rules and suggesting also that that would not happen if it continues going south. andrea? >> jim maceda, as we continue to follow where edward snowden is or is going, he's somewhere now in russia and it is up to the united states with a lot of pressure on the rgussians to tr to figure out how to get him

back. this morning we heard opening statements in the george zimmerman murder trial from mr. zimmerman's defense team and the prosecution. both speaking today. >> george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. >> george zimmerman was not going back to the mailboxes. and he wasn't going to his car. he wasn't going after trayvon martin. >> attorneys on both sides made their case to the six-person all-female jury giving their descriptions of zimmerman's actions on the february, 2012 night that ended with the shooting deaths of 17-year-old trayvon martin. nbc's craig melvin is live in sanford, florida. craig, one of the things that comes to mind is that this is an all-female jury, which seems unusual. what impact is that likely to have? >> reporter: you know what, andrea? at this point it is probably too early to tell precisely what

kind of impact that's going to have. we can tell you that 5 of the 6 females on that jury have children. so far this morning it really has been a tale of two openings, if you will. you just played a snippet from both sides. the state's attorney this morning. he went about 30 minutes. he started quoting from that call that george zimmerman made to the non-emergency number. he quoted from that call. he used the same colorful language that was used on the call. that caught a lot of folks inside the courtroom and at home by surprise. but again that went about 30 minutes. much of that time was dwoesed to sort of detailing the last minutes and last hours of trayvon martin's life. the defense, don west, on the other hand, right now as i talk to you, don west is rapidly approaching the second hour of his opening arguments and he started with sorting explaining

why george zimmerman's wife and parents were not seated behind him. lawyers were wrangling over that this morning, over some courtroom rules that dictate who can and cannot be inside the courtroom. the judge is still trying to figure out exactly who's going to be allowed. after that, he told a knock-knock joke, and spent the better part of 90 minutes going over detailed diagrams of the condo complex where that shooting happened, february of last year, that rainy sunday night. we did learn this morning -- this was the first time we've heard her name in open court -- rachel jentel. she is probably going to be the blockbuster witness, if you will, for the state. she's the 19-year-old who was on the phone with trayvon martin at the time all of this transpired last february. we've heard a number of references made to her. we also heard that phone call that zimmerman made. we heard it not once, but twice. zimmerman's attorney played it

twice and just before the second time, sabrina fulton, trayvon martin's mother, got up and left the courtroom. >> must be painful time for all of them, for everyone concerned on both sides. thanks very much, craig melvin, in florida. and in south africa, nelson mandela's condition worsened over the weekend. he is now described as critical by south africa's president d zuma. today secoretary kerry thanked man dedela for his leadership. >> anyone that can spend 28 years in prison and hug his jailers and ask a country to unite is a remarkable person. >> nbc's keir simmons joins me from south africa. it is not good news from the hospital and it is really a waiting mode as the entire nation and the world really holds its breath. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, andrea. it really is a difficult time

here. we saw nelson mandela's ex-wife arrive in the last few hours and she arrived with a police escort. in the meantime she's been here before. she hasn't arrived here that way which suggested that she was in a hurry. we also heard from south africa's president, jacob zuma, saying that nelson mandela is still in critical condition after he got so much worse through the weekend. he said he he went to visit nelson mandela late last night, that he saw him. he said that it was late. he said that he was sleeping. one source tells us that nelson mandela hasn't been able to breathe independently, that he has needed help. we don't know when that might have been offense the last 48 hours. but the president's office is not confirming that but they do say doctors are doing everything possible with his ex-wife by his bedside as she has been over the recent last two weeks.

we've also heard, andrea, from one of nelson mandela's daughters who is saying the family are just taking things day by day. i just want to read a quote from her because it is very moving. she says, "i pray as his daughter that the transition is smooth. he is at peace with himself. he has given so much to the world." andrea? >> keir simmons, it certainly seems as though the family is ready, if not the rest of south africa. thank you very much, keir. cosmic delights in the night sky over the weekend. they call it a super moon. it occurs when a full moon orbits closer to the earth than normal. a mere 221,000 miles away on saturday night. in addition to the beautiful images, the super moon causes more extreme high and low tides. and if it leaves you wanting more, we can expect an even larger super moon in 2015.

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president obama will be leaving on wednesday for a much anticipated trip to africa. he'll be visiting senegal, south africa and tanzania. 49ers' wide receiver anquan boldin recently traveled to senegal with oxfam. we can call you a 49er but were you a raven and a super bowl winner here in this area. we'll always think you of as a raven. so talk about africa an the importance. you first went i think a year ago. with oxfam you went back this past march. what should the president be trying to accomplish in senegal and what would your advice be as to the needs? >> one of the things i hope gets accomplished is that the miner laws will change there. i think it is very important that the people there are held

accountable, the government. and one of the promises that i made when i was in senegal was to come back and sad vidadvocat use my voice as much as possible for those who don't have a voice, for the local farmers and the local miners there. >> the miners and farmers. tell me, tell americans, what they need. what is happening to them in senegal and what does the president need to know? >> you have these large companies from america, from new york, from canada, they go in and they find that there's gold there on the land and you have these local farmers who are literally living on top of gold mines and you have these large companies, they go in and pay the government their "x" amount of dollars and they just take the land from the locals. with no notice, no compensation. and they mine the land. they earn millions of dollars and leave the land stripped and once they're done mining, the locals can't go back and continue to farm the land

because it's complete ly plenished. >> when you were at the white house yesterday, did they tell you this would be part of the president's agenda? >> partly. i think what they are trying to get is transparency. i think that's important because i think everybody should be held accountable. i don't think that it is right that you can go in and take someone's land and not compensate them for it. not have them see the proceeds from their land. in america that wouldn't fly so i don't see why it would, or it should, in africa. >> you were with larry fitzgerald and larry white. you and these other players on other teams have really been advocating. tell me how you got involved with oxfam and why are you so engaged and what's happening? >> i was reading about the drought going on in ethiopia couple years back and wanted to see how i could help or if i could. and started doing some research

and got in contact with the oxfam who does a lot of relief efforts around the world and they invited me over to go firsthand and see firsthand. ever since then we formed a great partnership and i've been trying to help them as much as possible. >> there has been a lot of criticism especially in right wing media of the president's trip to africa for costs. and other presidents have gone, bill clinton, dornlg george w. bush. and it is expensive. it is mostly secret service costs because so much has to be brought in, unlike europe and other parts of the world where the president travels. there isn't as much infrastructure for security reasons. what would you say is the importance of having the president go to the african continent and go to these countries and see things firsthand? >> i think it is very important because i think in a large part of the world, america always sets the example. i think in having president

obama go over there and see firsthand, i think we can continue to do the same, especially when it comes to policies being changed, having people being held accountable. i think that's very important. if we put our best food forward, think the rest of the world will follow. >> you're here on behalf of oxfam america. we want to thank you, thank you. thank you for your advocacy because have you a high-profile 57 and a lot of athletes don't use it the way you have. >> thanks for having me. over too soon for ra fa na l nadal? just a few minutes ago, he lost in straight sets in the first round of wimbledon. nadal was defeated by a 29-year-old belgian player who was ranked 135th. this after rafah won the french open. meanwhile, a volley of insults off the court. number one seed serena williams and her long-time rival maria sharapova served up back-handed

remarks in dueling press conferences after williams made a controversial comment to "rolling stone" magazine. it was something she thought was off the record, overheard by a reporter. >> if she wants to talk about something personal, we should talk about her her relationship and, you know, her boyfriend that was, you know, married and is getting a divorce and has kids. >> i said, look, i want to personally apologize to you if you are offended by being brought into a situation -- being brought into my situation. i want to take that -- this moment to just pour myself and be open and say i am very sorry for this whole situation. >> this feud might well have its final chapter on the grass. the rivals could face off in the wimbledon final. williams has beaten sharapova in their last 13 matches.

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so which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris, we've got a lot going on.

we've got immigration on the floor this afternoon. probably or possibly some big rulings on gay marriage or the voting rights act tomorrow from the supreme court. >> right. it's sort of like which political story won't make headlines in the next 24 hours, andrea. you're exactly right. remarkably busy. i think the most sort of important thing historically and the thing that has the longest lasting legacy is what we're waiting for today and will continue to wait for tomorrow, decisions on the voting rights act, proposition 8 in california as well as the defense of marriage act from the supreme court. they're expected to announce some decisions. we don't know which ones. assuming they'll partial those out. that, i think, is the biggest historical impact. let me throw one on, the immigration vote obviously a huge deal. i know you talked about it quite a bit in the show. the massachusetts special election, this is ed markey's way to -- >> markey v. gomez.

>> in any other news cycle, this is a huge story. in the next 24 hours, maybe an afterthought. race never tightened as much as republicans might have hoped. >> and the president is going to make a speech on climate change. there's been a lot of concern among people, even some of his strongest supporters, that he's not done enough on this. this might be trying to set the stage for a ruling on the keystone pipeline. he's going to be speaking about climate change. we'll be briefed on it later this afternoon. and that does it for us. a busy news period. we'll be coming up next on our google hangout. that does it for today's show. tomorrow on the show, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. tamron hall has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> in our next hour, george zimmerman's defense finishing opening statements after the prosecution opened using frank and profane language. we'll tell you what happened and take you there live. and the new back and forth

between the white house and china over hong kong's decision to let nsa leaker eduar snowden leave the country. why the white house says it's, quote, not buying what hong kong says about its decision. plus, supreme court sends a message about affirmative action. they send it back to the lower court. we'll have more on the impact this could have on both public and private universities. plus, another down day on wall street. it is all coming up next on "news nation."

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running a small business riding against the wind. uphill. every day. we make money on saddles and tubes. but not on bikes. my margins are thinner than these tires. anything that gives me some breathing room makes a difference. membership helps make the most of your cashflow. i'm nelson gutierrez of strictly bicycles and my money works as hard as i do. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. right now on "news nation," not buying china's story. the white house with strong new reaction over edward snowden's escape from hong kong and what the administration is saying about russia. three more big ones to go. the supreme court announcing it will be back with more decisions tomorrow after making no clear ruling on controversial case

involving affirmative action and college admissions. plus, stocks slumped to a two-month low over fears of the fed's stimulus. but first, the news nation is following what some would consider the shocking start to opening statements in the george zimmerman second-degree murder trial. prosecutor john guy opened with frank and profane language about the night trayvon martin was killed. the state's lead attorney quoted what he says george zimmerman said to police during his nonemergency call before the shooting. >> [ bleep ] punks. these [ bleep ], they always get away. those were the words in that grown man's mouth. >> defense attorney don west began by saying the evidence will show it's a sad case, but sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying. he then started off with