we start the hour with breaking news. the next step in the prosecution of the surviving boston bomber, dzhokhar tsarnaev, a federal grand jury has just returned an indictment with 30 counts against him. 17 of those counts could bring life in prison or the death penalty. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has the details. pete, what are the new details in this indictment? >> well, we get some new details about what the prosecutors say dzhokhar tsarnaev was wroting in that boat in the backyard in

watertown on the friday after the bombing when he lay there wounded. we know he had written on the walls and the beams in the boat but they have some specific quotes. for example, he says the u.s. government is killing our innocent civilians. i can't stand to see such evil go unpunished. we muslims are one body. you hurt one, you hurt us all, among other quotes. other new things here, the prosecutors say that about a month before the bombing dzhokhar tsarnaev, the surviving suspect and his brother, went to a firing range in nearby manchester, new hampshire, where they rented two handguns, bought 200 rounds of ammunition and practiced shooting for about an hour. the earliest event in the indictment is an event we had already known where the older brother goes to a fireworks store in new hampshire and buys several fireworks, presumably to take the powder out to use in building the bombs. and the prosecutors also say the night before the bombing dzhokhar tsarnaev bought a prepaid telephone and that after

he escaped from the suv on friday after the shootout in watertown he smashed those two phones before going into hiding. otherwise, it's minor details here about basically the substance of the events we already knew. >> all right. well, thank you, pete williams for the report on that case. we're going to return to the president's overseas case. president obama is meeting with u.s. embassy staff in senegal. it's his first leg of his trip to africa. the president and the first lady will be honored with a state dinner. earlier today the first family made an emotional island to africa's largest slave trading post for nearly 400 years. nbc news political director and daily rundown host chuck todd is traveling with the president. >> reporter: been a busy first full day for the president in senegal. began with a press conference

wherefore the first time we heard the president on camera reacting to the major supreme court decisions that took place this week. on the issue of doma and prop 8. the president made it clear while praising the supreme court that he is going to be looking through federal law to see what is it going to take to essentially make same-sex marriage recognized in all 50 states. now he admitted that's his goal, that he was speaking as a president, not a lawyer, but that the intent is wherever they can find fixes in the federal law, he is going to try to do that, either via executive action or ask congress in order to pass any new legislation. on the issue of the voting rights act the president seemed to come out in favor of some sort of new solution that erases the idea of an old map. of course, the map itself, the preclearance map, is what was ruled unconstitutional. the supreme court seemed to leave open the idea that there could be a map in the future. what the president seemed to lay out and in talking to aids afterwards of what the president meant was coming up with a

formula that potentially could make any jurisdiction in the country eligible, if you want to call it that, for justice department supervision if they don't meet a minimum requirement, say, minority turnout in an election is well below the national average in a specific jurisdiction or a state, then suddenly you could fall under justice department supervision. on edward snowden, the president is clearly bemused by the attention of this and the tracking around the world. the president made two things clear when it came to snowden. number one, that somehow he wasn't going to let it elevate to such a point where he feels he has to horse trade on the issue with the chinese and the russians and the second thing he made clear, kind of snarkly, is what he said when he asked if he would use u.s. military assets to apprehend mr. snowden. >> no, i'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker. >> finally, the president is also doing some tourism, if you

will, some symbolic stops in senegal. he's being centered with a state dinner but he's making it to gore island which is the point of no return, the slave house where many africans for hundreds of years, what was their last place before they were shipped off into slavery across the opening after visiting the door of no return the president made some remarks about how important it was to him personally to step through that threshold and see that particularly as an african-american u.s. president. >> all right. nbc's chuck todd in senegal traveling with the president. now joining us is dana millbank, a political columnist at the washington post. how are you? >> good. >> good. as we look at this president traveling to africa, there is some extra significance with his father hailing from kenya. on the other hand, he's not the first preds with those kind of family ties. james buchanan, thomas jefferson, several presidents

that we could put up on the screen you'll see there have those similar ties and previously when those ties existed we didn't focus as much on them. do you think there's any interest here on that angle in africa and the fact that he's not going to kenya or do you see that as mostly a side show? >> well, i think there's interest, but i think the way chuck did his report there reflects the level of interest, but sure we're interested in afri africa, but we're more interested on what's going on here at home. first will be his responses to the supreme court, snowden, the various scandals. the white house essentially traveling with the president there. >> yes. >> there is more of an interest in this because it is the first african-american president and certainly if this becomes a story about nelson mandela's declining health, that changes everything and that becomes a world story, it's just a strange

coincidence that a visit is happening at this moment when mandela's health is so dire. >> yeah. it was striking to see the president talk about all these supreme court rulings when he's obviously there for a lot of other topics and the voting rights comments he made had to be explained further by the white house as chuck todd was just reporting, that they're not ruling out formulas that might actually amend this decision in some way. i know s.e. has a question for you. >> yeah. things are not going well in northern africa. al qaeda has a pop-up shop in mali. in egypt it looks like folks there might be ready to oust president morsi after a lot of violence and protests in cairo. in libya, they're still trying to recover from their revolution. you've got militant armies sort of killing each other off in the streets of tripoli. i know that's not on the president's agenda, but do you expect he'll weigh in on any of that foreign policy while he's

on the continent? >> right. it's no coincidence that he's going from west africa to east africa to south africa and skipping those? >> yeah, they're not on the tour. >> they're not on the tour. i don't think he'll get a t-shirt. he's doing the symbolic visits where mandela was imprisoned, in senegal the slave port. i was on a very similar trip with president bush when he was in the white house. in fact, that whole trip was dominated by yellow cake uranium in iraq. >> oh, sure. >> nothing to do with africa. there was the occasional photograph of the president finding an elephant on safari, that sort of thing, but we could have been in france for all it mattered to the press core. that doesn't mean that it's not interesting to africa. in east africa the building of trade ties, where there's rivalry with china. these are important things

particularly with afrikaans and that has some benefit to the united states as well. i don't expect the president to be volunteering a lot on egypt and libya. >> at the same way there are some curious stages on the table in terms of democracy building and trade. almost certainly the visit with mandela will overshadow the whole trip. >> it certainly will. everybody's praying for him obviously but this has already changed the week for president zuma in south africa and it will change the whole nature of the trip if not the itinerary of the trip for the the president. >> dana, luke russ sart here to bring it back to the dirty political hacks. pretty symbolic trip that we all know about. today the immigration bill is on the floor of the united states senate. yesterday there was a monumental ruling regarding doma, the voting rights act the day before. president obama and africa, has he really become president bystander when it becomes to

domestic a snars it seems he has not much of a role in any of these things right now? >> he's a bystander and an important commentator. obviously we care to ask him more about voting rights and immigration than we do, say, trade ties with tanzania. so that's why that'll continue to bubble through there. i mean, it can be argued, luke, that this president is a bystander to his whole presidency now. it's rather early in the second term for this to be happening. between scandals, international events, he's spending an awful lot of time reacting. he had this big rollout this week of his environmental energy plans. it was met with a yawn. people said it's dead on arrival, let's move on, let's hear from the supreme court and see what snowden is doing in the moscow report. >> if we don't do anything about climate change we may all be dead on arrival. >> we can't wait at the international terminal. >> state side, of course

congress is on the verge of a pretty big step in creating a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. a vote is actually expected within the hour and the president has got a lot of work to do. we'll be back to talk about this next. alec, for this mission i upgraded your smart phone. ♪ right. but the most important feature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. and with a few clicks, this mission never happened. uh, what's this button do? [ electricity zaps ] ♪ you requested backup? yes. yes i did. what's in your wallet?

yes i did. for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea. another key witness is on the stand in the trial of george zimmerman. jennifer lower is the woman who called 911 the night of the shooting. let's listen in. >> i apologize. and for the record that's going

to be -- it is going to be state's exhibit 158. >> 911, do you need police fire or medical? >> maybe both. i'm not sure. there's someone screaming outside. >> and what's the address that they're near? >> 1211 twin tree lane. >> twin tree lane. is this in sanford? >> yes. >> and is it a male or female? >> it sounds like a male. >> and you don't know why? >> i don't know why. i think they're yelling help, but i don't know. send someone quick. >> okay. does he look hurt to you? >> i can't see him. i don't want to go out there. i don't know what's going on. >> do you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> all right. what is your --

>> there's gunshots. >> you just heard gunshots? >> yes. >> how many? >> just one. two. no, come here. >> is he -- >> no one -- i don't know. cameron, get in here, now. jeremy, get up here. >> all right. is he right outside 1211 twin tree lane? >> yeah, pretty much. >> is he in front of it or behind it. >> he's behind my house. >> okay. >> stay away from the windows. >> i don't hear him yelling anymore. do you hear anything? >> no, i don't, because i'm hiding upstairs. there was a gunshot right outside our house. >> you've obviously sent someone already, right? >> yes. it's in dispatch. what's your name and phone

number? >> my name is jenna lower, my number is 407, 7019001. >> how do you spell your last name? >> lauer. >> lauer? >> yes. >> okay. do you hear any vehicles leaving or anyone else? do you hear anything? >> there's people yelling out there. i don't want to go down there so -- >> okay. multiple people are yelling now? >> yes. >> okay. all right. we do have officers on the way. call us back if you do hear or see anything, any vehicles leaving or anything like that, okay? >> okay. >> all right. thank you. >> bye. >> bye. >> 911.

>> joining us now is msnbc legal analyst, lisa bloom and, lisa, obviously this is a very important witness trying to decipher exactly what was happening in that struggle between trayvon martin and george zimmerman. obviously you can hear the emotion in her voice. she sounded very scared on the second floor of her house when she heard those gunshots. what do we hope to gain from this witness from the prosecution's perspective? >> first of all, this is the 911 call with the screaming in the background that we had heard so much about, and there have been a number of different people saying that screaming was trayvon martin. it shows he was screaming and begging for his life. the gunshot went off. the screaming stops and, therefore, trayvon martin was the victim, not the aggressor. on the defense side they say that's george zimmerman screaming because trayvon martin was beating him, he was calling for help and, therefore, trayvon martin was the aggressor. who was screaming is a very important issue in this case. >> it's absolutely true, lisa,

and it strikes me that the attorneys will be able to say, you weren't there. you don't know. they were able to say that to rachel earlier. you're just on the phone, you don't know who approached who. now with this witness, you didn't actually witness it. you're calling from inside of your house. so do you think that the seeds of reasonable doubt are being planted here because they can keep on saying, you weren't sure, you're really there. >> i'm going to give you an honorary j.d., that was well done. yes, what the prosecution has to do is prove its case through a number of witnesses, not proving everything through this one witness. what they're doing through her is getting her story in. before the 911 call was played she was in her home, her sliding glass doors were open, she was watching television. she heard voices in a tone that was more flustered than confrontational. she muted the tv, scuffling, grunting, then the words help. at that point she called 911 and we have the 911 tape that records the rest of it. >> lisa, to piggyback off of

toure's point, would you say it aids the defense in the sense that there's no real clarity as to what was going on in that struggle? >> no, i think this is more helpful to the prosecution because they need to get this story in and they need to get this 911 call in. i expect through other witnesses, especially trayvon martin's mother, they're going to get somebody to say that this was the voice of trayvon martin. i think she's going to identify that screaming of the sounds of her son. you may have more witnesses who will also say that. >> yeah, that'll certainly strike an emotional chord. i know my son's voice. lisa, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. up next, you worship at the altar of android. feel uncomfortable without your iphone. we only need to check out the latest headlines to see we're putting too much fate in technology. snowden, prism, anyone? he's got a message for the silicon valley crowd, too. more "cycle" straight ahead. coming for you, zuck.

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now as we told you at the top of the hour, alleged boston bomber, dzhokhar tsarnaev has been charged. charges of murder and using a weapon of mass destruction. last hour nfl star aaron hernandez was back in court challenging a judge's order that he be held without bail. bail was denied once again. now the former patriots tight end is charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of a friend. he has pleaded not guilty in that case. also, nbc news has confirmed hernandez is being investigated for another double homicide that occurred allegedly last summer in boston. we will keep an eye on that. and family, friends and fans are gathering to say good-bye to actor james gandolfini. his funeral was held in new york city. he died of a heart attack during a trip to italy on june 19th. many of us get the latest of stories like this on our smart

phones. we're increasingly tethered to those phones and gadgets. we are often told they have all the answers. >> they do. >> that has led to the onion making fun of this desire for synergy. >> i'm a loud man. that's not a surprise. but what may be a surprise, i can be even louder. this is a personal amplification device. it's a series of wires that are connected surgically to my vocal chords. by being heard we are more easily able to share our ideas and drown out lesser ones of those around us. >> now our next guest worries that we are being fitted for digital straight jackets and that we're relying on a blind fate in the tools of technology instead of the harder tasks of negotiating in an informed way. poll danny more rows is a is

here and a contributing editor of the new republic. author of "to save everything, click here." what is technological solutionism and why have you been so critical of some of the policy arguments and promises of heeders of google and other technology companies? >> sure. well, several things have changed in the last several years. now you can build sensors into virtually everything. we have smart forks, we have smart shoes, we have smart, you know, brushes for brushing our teeth. you can now build smart objects that will modify our behavior in new ways. that has triggers. silicon valley, little companies now present themselves as being in the business or solving some of these very important social

problems while also making a grid back out of it. it let to the smart fork. there are areas that have this app and solve a problem in a particular way. this is the privatized way. this is the way where much of the burden for problem solving for citizens rather than institutions and i don't like that. i think there are good reasons by graduating the food industry or infrastructure where we can walk and exercise. there's a cell phone and an app that can tell them they're not moving too much or eating too much. >> so one thing i find interesting with your premise is that you say that technology cannot solve every problem, and i think folks understand that.

specifically what we've seen in the middle east and northern africa over the last few years is that any type of substantial revolution has come from these types of devices, these types of smart phones, that folks connect on social media. they're able to beat back repression. they're able to live freely within social media norms. i would say to you, why will that not continue? why is that not a good thing? is that not a solution? there are always going to be sheep in the world that use this amazing video to look at cat videos. there are a lot more young leaders in plates like iran who are trying to use it for freedom. >> sure. no one is denying that we should be using technology, but we should be using it wisely. we should be building technology that would be helpful. we should be building things and not violating the price si.

the alternative design and weights we can attach to algorithms and alternative ways we can attach to human development. what i'm marketing for is we need to go beyond the usual values that silicon valley promotes which are efficiency and we need to figure out what are some of the important values. privacy, the ability for humans to make decisions. autonomy. the level of design. we need to be having those conversations and not just going to the a proefrp. >> you have a chapter called smart gadgets, dumb humans. we have these power follow gadgets in our pockets but a lot of time they don't empower us but enable us. a lot of times our relationship to the internet makes us have shallow relationships to information and we don't dig deeply. that affects the brain in a long-term way, doesn't it?

>> what worries me is not so much the neuroscientific perspective which a lot of people and a lot of writers have advanced and i think it's one of the ways in which we can discuss the technology, but there's a much different problem that i see, and that's the demise of causality. as we have more access to big data, as we have more ways to measure things, these tendencies move away from investigating the causes of things and just focusing on the symptoms. that i think would be one of the consequences of incorporating so much data into how our national security apparatus operates. if we can't just figure out that some people who buy middle western foods tend to have dangerous thoughts, however you define dangerous, you might start going and profiling everyone whoever is engaged in such activities without developing any kind of model, without developing any causal explanation of how things work and i think it's very dangerous.

very often it leads to very erroneous conclusions. very often it also prevents us from actually forming the root causes of the problem. we need to be asking why things happen and it's only by asking why that we can inform them. variables are very easy to tinker with. as i said, smart phones can tell you that you are not exercising enough, that you are eating too much fatty foods but it doesn't solve the problem that -- >> yeah. let me take us from the demise of causality to shopping because i need to make this more pedestrian kind of conversation for a minute. for me it feels like a lot of the technology also makes us much less responsible. i know when i'm shopping online it's really easy for me to click and add things to my digital shopping cart because it's right there. i'm not connected to the product. i'm not really thinking as much about the actual cost as i do

when i'm in a store and i'm touching these things, i'm trying them on. i'm thinking, do i really need this? it feels like the technology's put a wall up between ourselves and this idea of responsibility and judiciousness and deliberation. >> well, i mean, that's one of the consequences of removing friction, as i call it, from our interactions with each other and with institutions in this built environment. as the friction is removed we have fewer opportunities to deliberate and very often having some extra barriers might be productive. it might force us to think about where we are, where we should be, and maybe engage with our fellow human beings in some kind of reform. when things work smoothly. when, for example, we build our technological environment in such a way that, for example, crime becomes impossible, it becomes very hard for us to reflect on the underlying norms that have made that crime a crime in the first place. many crimes that are no longer

crimes were crimes in, say, the 19th century. this has built our environment in such a way that violating those norms was impossible. we might never move away from those very dangerous ideas. so finding the right balance causes friction and smoothness and efficiency, if you will, which might result in deliberation which is important. >> that's something i like about your book so much, that you tell us that efficiency and frictionlessness aren't always the right goals. thanks for spending time with us, evgeni. >> you bet. civil rights advocates are still reacting to the supreme court's voting rules right this week. i had a chance to address the alpha fbi alpphi alpha. i want to say it was an honor to be a part of that conversation and i will be talking about some of those ideas later in today's

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through the bases. it looked like there would be a bipartisan victory in d.c. until the sixth inning when the wheels came off. the journalist team went for six runs stealing the lead and never looked back. they raised $125,000 for young women diagnosed with breast cancer. good stuff there. an amazing contribution. but could this cleated collaborative lead congress to finally dig into the issues? to help answer that question let's bring in pamela wrightman author of stiletto network, inside the women's power network that are changing the face of business. pamela, i want to challenge the premise a little bit here because i don't think the problem in d.c. is colloquiallism and knowing each other, people at home look at the other side and look at it as evil and tell them not to compromise. all the games in the world aren't exactly going to change that. >> i hear you.

this game is known for its trash talk but it is bringing a spirit of civility to washington, d.c. the women on this field say that the strong personal ties that they have built over time by playing this game have built ties that are translating into politics as well. they say they are easing antagonism on the hill, that they are easing gridlock, and that they are even shaking up the old boy's club of both press and politics in washington. >> so these women are really working together. if you look at the men's game, the men's game pits republicans versus democrats. it's almost all men and it's along party lines but the women's game was always built to be bipartisan. it was created by debbie wasserman schultz, the democrat from florida and joanne emerson, her republican counterpart from missouri five years ago to bring women together. and these women spend a lot of time together. they get up every morning, they start practice two to three times a week at 6:30 to 7:30 in

the morning and -- >> yeah. on that point for practice, i can attest to that because they wanted me to coach last year and i couldn't make the practices because they're so early. >> how early were they? >> 6:30 a.m. >> 9:00 a.m. >> 6:30 a.m. >> two to three times a week. >> can i get a check on that. >> question to you. question to you regarding this. you bring up an interesting point. covering capitol hill, one of the things we hear a lot, the older members lament a lot, no one lives in d.c., they parachute in, get out. the kids don't play together. they don't know each other as people, but this game allows folks to get to know each other. i want to bring up the point though that i often hear on the hill is that women were in charge and women ran the show, women sort of are a lot more cohesive than men. they come together to figure out a better way forward. they're more prague ma snik do you -- pragmatic. do you agree with that? >> i think if anyone, male or

female got together to build those personal ties, there would be a better functioning government. if you talk to these women, debbie wasserman schultz said by working with joanne emerson she was able to pull for the virginia grand safety act in 2007. these women had a relationship and debby said that she never would have been able to get funding for this act had itjoan. they are honorary co-chairs of the global women's innovation network together. they have worked together there to bring together business executives, people in policy and academics to talk about issues of women in technology. they're working together. when joanne retired, debbie brought in martha roctha robie. they're working together. >> a big win for the good guys last night, press core. >> the bad news babes. >> there you go. >> bad news babes. >> but why do you think it's

important particularly for women to spend time together in social settings in networking situations out of a work environment? >> when i talked to debbie wasserman schultz about this she said that finally the women are able in that social environment to act like girlfriends. when they go home to their constituents, sure, in washington they're pit bulls, but when they go home they have friends who are both democrats and republicans and on that field they have friends who are both democrats and republicans. they're putting aside the division and strife of their day and they're playing together as a team. that will only move them forward in politics. that will allow them to play as a team in their work lives as well. >> let's move somewhat ahead in their workplace now. who was the mvp of the game? >> the mvp was amy walter, the co-captain of the press team. >> i like it. >> fantastic. >> where is she from? >> she is a national editor of the co political report. she hit the ball out of the park in many ways. >> what did she do to get that

mvp trophy? >> well, she had a number of runs batted in. she had some terrific hits. i'm not a sports reporter. >> you sound like one. >> you are right now. >> she was really impressive. >> rbis, runs batted in. >> impressive also are you, pamela. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> mvp. the women who played in last night's game helped raise, as we said, $125,000 for the young survival coalition which supports women with breast cancer. not too shabby. you heard luke talk about it, but do you think more would be accomplished if women ran congress? amy burros-dempsey said that would be strong, absolutely. like us on facebook where you'll find the link and more photos from last night's game. we'll be back with a look back next. iny changes in the brain. little things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. ensures support, a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease.

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as some of you might have heard i am leaving msnbc and "the cycle." i've put together a tape. >> what am i doing here? that's what i want to know. am i in the right place? >> really. >> really. >> really? >> again. >> really? >> 30,000 e-mails. >> really? >> no wonder it took so long to catch bin laden. they were probably waiting for him to check in on four square. >> really? >> really. >> this sculpture also sculpted mt. rushmore. >> you are telling me a factor

about my city i didn't know. >> welcome to newark, mr. mayor. >> that's more like it. with my wood duck and decoy in hand, we packed it up and called it a day. >> discovery's mike row is here with an exclusive sneak peek at his series. i am giving up my spot at the table just for him. >> as intros go, that's pretty good. >> are you blushing? are you blushing? >> inside? i'm about to faint, i tell ya. i need a co-host. what do you say? >> i'm there. i'm completely in. >> awesome. >> we did have a little bet going. >> we did have a bet. >> there are some consequences. >> okay. >> let's see it. let's see it. >> this is beautiful. it's beautiful. >> s.e. and obama, i love it. >> a moment america will never forget. >> obama. >> there's one for every new year. >> welcome to another installment of s.e.'s tweet bag. >> it's the being an obnoxious [

beep ]. >> wow. >> i go to c. pack every year. i i've worked with republicans for a while. these are some of the hardest working conservatives in the business. we are essentially telling them, we're a little ashamed of you. we'd like you to come but don't be too loud about it. i have been scheduled to speak at cpac this year and i don't think i can until this issue is reconciled and figure it out. >> adoption is the unspoken and uncelebrated third option that has escaped our political discussion. this is a failing not only of our culture but of the right to life political movement to which i ascribe. >> the college culture surrounding rape has become one of shameful expect tans. >> either colleges need to be the bubble they purport to be and learn how to protect their communities better or students need to take their safety back. >> believe me, the irony is not lost on me that i am before you agreeing with president obama

and the aclu. >> this is something republicans are not talking about and they need to. >> the nrc's campaign is genius. y'all would love it and be making out with it if the dnc did it. >> what is a and be specific. >> can you perform for us a squauch call? >> yeah i could do one. >> great. just go right after it. well, they give me a long leash here. thanks, guys. i've learned so much from all of you, working under steve friedman, the godfather. thank you so much for being so generous with your, to the cycle team. you are the best of the best. trey, thanks for helping to put us all together. you're a television talent. even though i disagree, i can't wait to see what you say next.

steve core neki, until then, we'll always have the late-night jam session. ari, you're fond of rap metaphors, let me use a baseball metaphor. my favorite mets player, rob man chura, a spectacular player, was also praised as a great clubhouse presence. i've loved having you in the office as much as i resisted your skits, it's been nice to brighten up my day. crystal, i don't know what to say. you've been the biggest surprise. i admire you so much and can't tell you how grateful i am. i'll miss all of you. thank you for the opportunity, and thanks for the support. r's seaside mix & match. combine any two from a wide variety of seven exciting choices on one plate! all for just $12.99,

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i want to talk with you today about the supreme court's ruling striking down part of the voting rights act on tuesday. the decision was so extreme and so far outside the mainstream, that i don't think most people fully appreciate what just happened. the ruling in shelby county versus holder is the most significant unraveling of federal laws against racism in 60 years. while many intense debates over race during that time, the core principles of the civil rights protection passed in the 1960s have become widely shared values. what are those principles? well, the idea that every american has a right to live free from racial discrimination. the commitment that every american will be protected if any big or any government,

local, state or federal violates that right. the premise that the right to vote must be above politics, because if we don't protect it, we do risk returning for an apartheid democracy, which is no democracy at all. the value that there is a trade-off in our constitution that states have great independence, but on the questions of segregation, subjugation, of the systemic and sometimes violent suppression of black power in america, on those questions we have chosen to put human rights above state rights. that's not rhetoric what i just said. that is the regulatory approach of the voting rights act itself. it supervises election rules in advance for those values. now, how do we know those values are widely shared? almost no federal policies today will openly challenge them. not democrats, not republicans, not northerners and not southerners. here's the gop leader, for example, explaining his support for renews this very voting

rights act in 2006. >> this is a piece of legislation, mr. president, that's obviously worked. african-american voters are participating. if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and this is a good piece of legislation that is served an important purpose over many, many years. >> that support extended to representatives from the very state that face this special oversight under the law. >> the voting rights act has achieved -- largely achieved the purposes that congress had hoped for, and that no doubt millions of people who had previously been disenfranchised had prayed for. >> indeed, another prominent republican in that debate said that bipar san reauthorization showed that protecting the vote was above politics. >> i would argue the fact that we reauthorized this without a lot of discussion and ran core

is the best test at any time to its success. if you look back over the history of the act, there is nothing to fear. allows americans to fully participate in their democracy has been a wonderful thing. >> yes. that's why john roberts' pin is so extreme. the court didn't enter some divided political dispute today. it attacked a consensus, and it didn't try to claim that this law was unconstitutional, but rather that congress needs to update it with a newer formula for picking the places that deserve and merit supervision. so roberts basically called out congress. now we need to make congress call out roberts. we need to amend voting rights. i'll talk more about what that bill could look like next week, with 90% of congress on the record here, an amendment will pass if it gets to the floor. okay. we all know this congress doesn't take all that many floor votes unless it has to. this whole thing, the whole fight we have ahead of us comes

down to pressure. will republicans feel pressure to make good on those dramatic speeches just seven years ago. will the democratic politicians who so frequently invoke civil rights symbolism, will they get to the harder task of civil rights work? many commentators have already been saying this is a hard and unlikely task. to them, i think we all have to say, are you serious? is it harder than the first time when people risked their lives? when john louis and the freedom marchers were beaten in selma? is it less likely in this congress than the institution that was packed -- a congress by the way which still holds the record for the longers filibuster in american history stretching over 57 days of debate. have we lost sight -- we have work to do. that does it for "the cycle"

today. martin, on to you. >> ari, that's why we love you and your legal mind. thank you for that contribution today. good afternoon, it's thursday, june 27th, and the dreams of 11 million people may be on the verge of being realized. . mand and man, wife and wife, man and wife, whoever you are, you can get married. >> you really have to listen to the music. >> washington is singing right now. >> if doma is unconstitutional, that means the constitution is gay. >> the happiest person today is bill clinton. >> that's a heck of a thing to say about bill clinton. >> you all have been trying to get me to take positions on immigration reform. >> the republicans will get so little credit. >> we're going to do