i unfriend you. that's not how it works. that's not how any of this works. [ male announcer ] 15 minutes for a quote isn't how it works anymore. with esurance, 7 1/2 minutes could save you on car insurance. welcome to the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. women's voices are heard standing up for religious freedom. this case is about the freedoms of all americans, women and men. and it's something that all americans should celebrate today. thank you. >> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the supreme court rules family held companies do not have to provide health insurance coverage for contraceptives. this 5-4 decision in favor of hobby lobby strikes at the heart of this key question. does a for profit corporation have a right to religious freedom? where the court draws the line there and what it means for the key portion of the president's

health care law. paying the price. general motors announces the financial compensation that it plans to give families of victims who died as a result of its ignition switch defect. is it enough? we will ask the lawyer representing several families suing the nation's largest automaker. and truth and consequences. the new nsa chief plays down the damage done by the snowden leaks. but what has been the real national security fallout? andrea mitchell gets to the bottom of it. she's moderating the great debate in aspen. >> general alexander, do you think the debate that has ensued in the one year since edward snowden's revelations have been good for our country or not? i think it's a very simple yes or no question i'm asking. >> let me -- i'll answer this. here's why i quivicate. i think we should have the debate. i do. but it has to be on the facts.

good day to you. i'm peter alexander. we're following that breaking news from the supreme court. the owners of hobby lobby and conostoga wood won a significant victory. but the majority opinion from the more conservative justices is a lot more narrow than some religious freedom advocates hoped. pete williams is live outside the court juggling live shots and legal decisions today. pete, can you break this down for us and give us a sense exactly what we refer to when we say this is a narrow decision? >> narrow because while the supreme court said yes, a for profit corporation can they sat it's exempt from certain laws that would violate the company's religious freedom. it's only going to work in a few situations. when you have a family owned

company, closely held, not publicly traded that has a clearly established religious view. and secondly, it's a balancing test. when the courts can find that the company's religious objectives on the one hand outweigh the government's interests on the other. and the government's interest on the other, in this case, were making sure that the women who work for these companies would get insurance coverage for contraceptive care. not all kinds but they were basically four kinds of contraceptives the company said would be the equivalent of abortion and violate their religious beliefs. what the majority says is there are other ways for these women to get the contraceptive coverage. for example, the government could pay for it, which is what the government is already doing, with women who work for religious affiliated non-profit companies like churches, for example. when you do the balancing test, the court said the religious interests win out here. but that doesn't mean the court said that it's a free ticket for

a company to say, well, we don't want to provide vaccines. we don't want to provide blood transfusions. we don't want to hire certain people. we don't want to serve certain people. the court seemed to go out of its way to say this isn't a free ticket to ignore any law you want. you have to go through this balancing test. in this particular case, with these particular employers, they win out. >> pete if you can help us for a second, a better understanding of how far we can expect this decision to extend or perhaps a better way of asking that question is what other questions are lower courts reviewing right now that ultimately could nak to the supreme court as they consider this? >> well, already there's a host of appeals pending by non-profit companies that have some connection to a church. they are not a church. they are in between somewhere between religious affiliated schools and charities and as you get further and further away from a church with a non-profit group, where is the dividing line between saying they get to

also claim this religious freedom exemption from the law and not. so that's the next round of cases. but i would think today's decision is a good sign for many of these non-profits that also want to get out and have the government play the contraceptive costs for their employees. >> pete williams reporting at the -- not at the justice department. that's the supreme court behind you today. he's our justice correspondent. pete, we appreciate it. conservative critics of the obama administration are declaring a win after the supreme court's narrow ruling on contraceptive coverage. rnc chairman reince priebus said the supreme court upheld the proper limits on the government's power. john boehner called the decision a victory for religious freedom and another defeat for an administration that has repeatedly crossed constitutional lines in pursuit of its big government objectives. and senate republican leader mitch mcconnell today released a statement saying, obamacare is the single worst piece of

legislation to pass in the last 50 years. from the democrat, the leader harry reid firing back, if the supreme court will not protect women's access to health care, then democrats will. your boss should never be able to make your health care decisions for you. joining me now for our daily fix, "washington post" editorial columnist ruth marcus. so i want to talk to you about this. we had a chance to talk about it as we were getting ready to walk on the set. you have all 49 pages? >> plus the dissent. >> there were three total? >> there were -- was a main dissent and then a second dissent that signs on to most of the first dissent. >> i bring that up because justice ginsburg dissenting said this is a decision of startling breath. you think it's much more narrow than that specifically. if you can, give us a better understanding. who is the -- obviously, the administration is disappointed in this. a lot of advocacy groups for women's reproductive rights.

>> i went to the oral argument in the case. and it looked reasonably clear after the oral argument that the government had a very -- a slimmer shot at winning than really, i thought it should have had. so the question really was for a lot of people, if the government is going to lose, how is it going to lose? and so when justice ginsburg says it's a decision of startling breadth, yes, it's true the court has not previously said for-profit corporations can have religious viewpoints that are entitled to protection. at the same time it could have gone a lot broader. it's limited in all the smart ways pete already pointed out. >> give us a better understanding. obamacare and another supreme court decision was so instrumental in decisions americans made during the 2012 election campaign. how significant will this decision or ultimately this decision be as we're four months from the next election. >> it's a really interesting question. obamacare and the

constitutionality of obamacare was probably more of a motivating issue for republican voters going to the polls in 2012 than for democratic voters. they were happy with the status question in re-electing president obama for them to was more of the same. here to the extend that either party is going to use this decision as a rallying cry for its base, it's going to be democrats. you've already seen e-mails and tweets from democrats saying, this is another way you had the harry reid quote, if the court won't step up for women, democrats will have to. it's part of the very comfortable and useful for democrats war on women theme that they've been trying to do. so they might -- very cynical win for losing here. >> also one of your colleagues, chris cillizza is joining us. an msnbc contributor. also the man on the street at postpolitics.com. as we put up a graphic, it shows 41% of americans say that employers should be exempt from providing contraceptive coverage

on a religious ground. more than 53% say they should not. what's your takeaway from what we heard from the court? >> i'm with ruth to be honest. i think that this is an issue that will motivate -- look. democrats are badly in need of motivation. you hate to say win by losing, but in terms of party politics exclusively, that's, i think, what's happened at some level, which is this is an issue that will motivate parts, not all, but parts of the democratic base, including women in the democratic base who will look at this as a slippery slope. they'll say this ruling has potentially broad stakes. that said, the legal implications are the legal implications and politics can't necessarily change that. but for straight politics, i would say it's not the worst thing that could happen to the

democratic party. >> you talk about a win by losing. it worked for the u.s. men's soccer team. perhaps it works for the democrats as well, right? they lost their last game and move on to the next round there. but i want to ask you on the same topic a little bit more broadly right now. if you can give us a sense of what we should anticipate. where this goes. can we anticipate any legislative fixes? any way in the world obamacare ever gets revisited on capitol hill or is this a done deal and they'll have to find alternate routes to solves the problems? chris? i think we lost chris. >> i can answer that question actually. so we actually have already found alternate routes to solve this problem because in order to accommodate the kind of religious corporations that we are talking, about the government had come up with a solution where the insurance companies and the government manage to fill that void. so i think it's really important and it will be able to do that as well for this -- i think

relatively small group of closely held companies. some of them at thousands of employees. it's still a relatively small group of companies that may decide they have a sincere religious belief and not to participate. i think it's real important to remember tens of millions of american women are getting no-cost contraception as a result of obamacare. and that is not threatened by this decision. >> chris cillizza didn't laugh at my joke. i trust it's because it's not working. josh earnest, the white house press secretary will be speaking at 12:15. we're monitoring that. if he says anything newsworthy, we'll take you there live. to iraq where isis declared a new religious state laying claim to territory in iraq and syria to be known simply as the islamic state. this is iraqi government troops intensified their push to take back tikrit. that, of course is the hometown of the former dictator saddam hussein.

nbc's chief foreign correspondent is richard engel. he is in baghdad with those details. >> reporter: peter, militarily, we're still in something of a standoff here. the iraqi government, which is now being advised by the u.s. pllt also getting some extra weapons. dozens of hell-fire missiles is carrying out a limited counteroffensive against the militants from isis. the government has managed to take control of major highway between baghdad and samaara. taken some of the roads in tikrit. and today witnesses carried out at least three air strikes against the city of mosul. but it's not changing the balance of power. militants from isirs, at least 10,000 of them, still control large parts going from the syrian border, the jordanian border and coming right to the edge of baghdad. the militants feel quite confident in their ability to hold this area and have declared

the re-establishment of the caliphate. isis even changed its name. they don't want to be called isis anymore to reflect this new empire that they claim to have established. they only want to be called now the islamic state. not the islamic state in iraq and greater syria. just the islamic state meaning the islamic state that will in their opinion, expand to everywhere. this militant group is -- has u.s. officials very concerned. they have a lot of fighters. they have a lot of foreign fighters by declaring this caliphate they are clearly trying to recruit more people and show progress. this country, peter, parts of it anyway, are now undeniably safe havens for terrorists. >> richard, we appreciate it. continue to be safe there. that was nbc's richard engel reporting for us from baghdad. there is, of course, a lot more here ahead on "andrea mitchell reports."

including more on the fall out from the supreme court's hobby lobby ruling. we'll be joined by debbie wasserman schultz live in studio. that is right here after this short break. sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i think she tried to kill us. no, it's only 15 calories.

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basically, the obama administration overreached again. this is a heavy hand of government and the government went too far. it's a good day for freedom and a good day for freedom of conscience. >> florida congresswoman deborah wasserman schultz joins us to discuss the hobby lobby decision. we just heard from kathy ruse, a lawyer for the conservative family research council. she said that the obama administration is overreaching again and that's what the court was pushing back against. what is your initial take on the

decision today? >> this is a stifling decision for american women. it's a decision that blocks women from being able to make their own health care decisions, not just reproductive health care decisions but health care decisions in general. and what it means is that now, despite the court trying to narrowly construct the decision, now it means that you have privately held companies, which, by the way, let's not cast that aside. these are companies that employ thousands of people. now you'll see those companies that want to claim a religious objection trying to push the envelope on so many different types of health care. there are organized religions that oppose health care treatment generally. >> the potential implications of a decision like this. >> you have organized religions that oppose health care, period. so if you have an employer who is a member of an organized religion and they decide, you know, i wouldn't provide health

care to my own family because i object religiously, i'm not going to allow any kind of health care treatment. then they could push the envelope even more specifically. so it's deeply troubling. but let's keep in mind that birth control specifically is used by women not just to space out their pregnancies, but to treat disease and illness. and endometriosis, serious menstrual cramps. the life function day-to-day for women is dramatically impacted. >> let's discuss the practical challenges the administration now faces and what you think their resolution to this should be. what should the administration do now? should they pay for coverage for these individuals who would no longer be covered through their companies much the way as employees of churches and church groups are covered? >> i'm confident the obama administration is now going to go back and revisit how the rule was issued to daemt to make sure

we can cover all women when they want to make the decision to use birth control. birth control costs about $600 a year. that's real money for so many people. when you are struggling on how to pay for your groceries, if you also have to, even with health insurance coverage, pay for your birth control pill, you are probably going to skip it and roll the dice. and that financially impacts women. it prevents them from being able to join the middle class. let's keep in mind, birth control has affected women economically positively since its creation. and this is going to turn the dial back. >> you know a thing or two about politics. you head up the dnc. republicans view this as a rallying vie. they think it may be a big motivator for people at the polls four months from now as we approach the november 2014 elections. what's the take from your side of the aisle. >> it sure is a rallying cry. it's very clear to american women yet again that republicans want to do everything they can

to have the long hand of government and now the long hand of business reach into a woman's body and make health care decisions for her. that's totally unacceptable. this election, the election in 2016, particularly, here is -- we can underscore for american women why who we elect president and who controls the congress is so significant for american women. republicans want to constrict and restrict women's choices, and democrats want to make sure that women have the ability to make their own choices. >> i want to get your opinion. y is the second major ruling today was specifically focused on unions. what appear to be a setback for some believe employee labor unions. how challenging is the environment for unions in this country and how dire is their future as a result of, albeit, a narrow decision but other decisions like that one today. >> the harris decision clearly makes the environment more challenging for unions, but it could have been worse. you have 26,000 union members who -- 26,000 employees who are

impacted by this decision. it's unacceptable that they can get all the benefits of collective bargaining yet don't have to contribute to making sure they are represented. but thankfully it wasn't more broad. and you do have the ability for states to compel employees to pay union dues to be represented by a collective bargaining unit. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thanks for your time today. today in south africa, the oscar pistorius trial resumed after a month break to allow for the olympic track star to undergo a court-ordered extensive mental evaluation. the panel of psychiatrists found he did not suffer from any mental illness that would impact his ability to know the difference between right and wrong when he fatally shot his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. he's plead guilty to premedit e premeditated murder claiming he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder. any projects on my ho. i love my contractor,

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it has been one year since nsa contractor edward snowden disclosed thousands of documents he acquired working as an nsa contractor. the great debate on whether the nsa is keeping the nation safe since the snowden revelations. andrea talked to advocates from both sides of this issue, including the former nsa director keith alexander and congressman mickey edwards. >> now that we're in the midst of this debate, i would prefer to have done this in a way that we didn't reveal to terrorists and our adversaries what we're doing. but we're now there. so -- >> we did not reveal to the terrorists what we are doing. the only person -- the people who were the terrorists knew that we were trying to gather information. everybody knew except for the american people and angela

merkel. >> i'm joined by congressman elijah cummings of maryland, ranking member of the oversight committee. congressman cummings, i appreciate your time. thanks for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> my question is, are we less safe now and really what damage has been done? as i ask you that question, i quote from the new nsa director who specifically said that the revelations in his opinion do not lead him to the conclusion that the sky is falling. so is the sky falling? how big is the damage? >> i don't think necessarily the sky is falling, but i think there has been substantial damage. and i think it's going to be a good idea if we could bring mr. snowden back here to our country to face justice and perhaps see everything that he has. keep in mind there's a lot of things that he has that we are not sure about. he's released quite a bit of information already. i think it has done damage with regard to some other countries and certainly the people of the

united states are very concerned because they've now learned how much of their personal information is getting into nsa and being possibly used by nsa. so we've -- i would like to see snowden back here in this country to face justice and hopefully for us to see exactly what he still has left. i think that's what i'm more concerned about. >> separately, i want to ask you on the topic of kattala, one of the benghazi suspects. he was arraigned in federal court in an unusual saturday hearing. he plead not guilty. so what is your take on what the u.s. should do with abu khattala. the advocates say he should be taken to gitmo and tried as an enemy combatant. he was interrogated aboard a navy vessel. do we risk losing critical intelligence by mirandizing this

individual and taking him back to the united states? >> i think we're proceeding in the proper fashion. you are talking about 14 days on a ship where intelligence folks and our fbi personal have had an opportunity to interview him. they said that he did provide information. it's interesting that one of the things he said was that the attacks were caused in part at least by the video which i find very interesting. and so i think we should proceed, keep in mind we've had great experience. very positive experiences trying terrorists in civilian courts. this president has made it clear that he's not sending anybody to guantanamo. matter of fact, president bush was -- came out against guantanamo and then sent some 500 detainees out of there. so i think we are on the right track. i have very much confidence in the u.s. attorney's office and i'm sure they'll do a good job. >> there's one man who disagrees

with you. and that is the chairman of the intelligence committee, chairman mike rogers. this is what he said on cnn. i want to get your take. >> sure. >> you can't say you're going to do it in ten days or three days or seven days. you need the opportunity to gather the intelligence that he has. remember, he's affiliated with al sharia in libya which is certainly affiliated with al qaeda. these are dangerous folks. if he doesn't give us anything and we get to put him in jail, what have we accomplished? i argue we've spent a lot of money and have not gained anything valuable for pushing back on terrorists around the world. >> so why is chairman rogers wrong? >> i am not saying he's wrong, but i just disagree. you know, the question becomes, how long do you hold someone? and again, folks want closure to these types of situations. we've got some folks in guantanamo who have been sitting for eight years with no trial to just sitting there. at some point we have to bring people to justice.

not only does it bring closure for the people of our country but it also brings closure for the families. and so i think we need to bring him to justice. i have full confidence in our justice system that we will deal with them appropriately. >> elijah cummings, congressman cummings, we appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. you don't see this every day. this was on a united airlines flight from chicago. imagine looking back on your way to orange county, california, and seeing this. the emergency evacuation slide accidentally deployed midair inside the plane filling up nearly the entire back half of the cabin. >> the first thought i had, gosh, i hope there's no one in the rest room because they're not getting out for some time. the flight attendants were in the aisles and no one was in the rest rooms so it just filled that whole area up. >> the flight was force tot make an emergency landing in wichita, kansas. no one was hurt. and a maintenance team is now

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we're back on "andrea mitchell reports." i'm peter alexander in for andrea. general motors announced it will pay at least $1 million to the families of those who died as a result of faulty ignition switches. prominent compensation attorney kenneth feinberg hired by gm laid out his plan to pay the families saying no cap on the amount of money gm would agree to which could cost that company billions of dollars. >> money is a pretty poor substitute for loss. it's the limits of what we can do, unfortunately. we can't bring people back. we can't restore limbs. it's the best we can do. hopefully the program will work.

the only test, how many people participated. >> i'm joined by bob hilliard who represents some of the families suing general motors. bob, i appreciate your time. i want to get your sense. your happy with the protocols that mr. feinberg has established? >> conservatively optimistic is a better description. you know, i negotiated the plan with mr. feinberg, and i hoped that some of the numbers would be higher. it's not patently unfair. some of my clients will fit well into the plan. it's going to really be a case by case issue depending on the facts of each client's injury or death. >> so let me lay out some of those facts. this compensation process does not allow for any punitive damages. no penalty against gm. this is only a fund to compensate for injury or loss. so what are you advising your clients? take the money that mr. feinberg

is offering or go to court and take your chances trying to get more? >> the advice is at least look at the award. at least know what the award will be before you decide to take it or walk away from it. if you choose to walk away from it, you have some potential benefits and you have some potential risks. keep in mind each state now caps punitive damages. and they cap pain and suffering damages. so if there is a case where perhaps there are some contributory negligence or a bankruptcy defense, do you two, three years from now ask a jury to award a certain amount of money and can that award, under your state's caps, be more than the offer that mr. feinberg makes for you. >> another key point is the gm bankruptcy may shield the company from damages if the accident occurred during the bankruptcy. but i want to pose to you a broader question which is kenneth feinberg said he doesn't

know how many have died in these accidents or how many injuries there might have been. gm acknowledges only 13 deaths so far. how many do you believe there are? >> the reason feinberg didn't know and the reason gm does not know is because of the success of the cover-up. mary barra made clear that 13 has been misconstrued. it is not in any way the world of deaths. my belief is the last number that we get to at the end of the day when this plan is over for deaths as a result of this will be in the hundreds. but that will still only be the tip of the iceberg because so many years have passed and so many people can get access to police reports or if a car crossed the center line and hit your family and killed your family and that car was a cobalt eight years ago, there is absolutely no way for you to figure that out. >> we appreciate your time. i apologize for the interruption. we want to take our audience to the white house where we are

heari ining from the press conference. the first comments from this administration about the supreme court's hobby lobby ruling today. >> but we believe the owners of for-profit companies should not be allowed to assert their personal religious views to deny their employees federally mandated benefits. now we'll, of course, respect the supreme court ruling and continue to look for ways to improve americans' health by helping women have more, not less, say over the personal health decisions that affect them and their families. >> can you talk a little more about what options you are considering to make sure that women have access to free contraceptives? >> i am not in a position to do that right now. frankly, we're still assessing the decision and its legal implay plications. also what practical implications there are from this decision, including what companies are actually covered by this supreme court decision. as you saw, the ruling referred pretty narrowly to closely held private sector companies and i

described in my original statement there are a number of other institutions treated in different ways. we're also taking a look at what kinds of health care plans these companies have. and how many employees are actually affected by this decision. so as we gather some more information, we may be in a position to better consider the range of options that are available to the president. it is our view as i said here at the top, though, that congress needs to take action to solve this problem that's been created. and the administration stands ready to work with them to do so. >> another topic, some advocates are expressing outs rage over the letter that the president spent this morning on unaccompanied minors. they say it's wrong to send minors right back to a violent situation in their country. can you respond to that? >> i can. our concern principally right now is that we have seen, gathered on the southwestern

border of the united states, an alarming increase in the number of children who have traveled from central american countries to our south -- to our border on the southwest, expecting to gain entry and to be welcomed into the united states. they are principally motivated by a disinformation campaign that's being propagated by criminal syndicates that are preying on vulnerable populations of people who are living in pretty desperate situations. in some cases, they are living in communities wrecked by violence. in other cases, they are facing pretty dire economic circumstances. and it has led to a humanitarian situation that the president is very concerned about. the fact of the matter is this administration is going to enforce the law. and what the law requires is ensuring that these children e are -- are -- once they are detained at the border, and that is to be gleer many cases what's

happening. we're finding these children showing up at the border and turning themselves in to border patrol agents. and the law requires that the -- that these children be -- that their needs be met. that their basic humanitarian needs be provided for. now what is also true is that we also want to surge resources to this problem by making sure that we increase the number of immigration judges and asylum officers and other cbp lawyers to make sure that we can properly process these claims quickly. each child is certainly due -- it's owed due process and they'll get the benefit of that. at the same time we're seeing such a large influx of children at the border that we're having a difficult time processing the large number of cases that are now getting backed up in the immigration and court system. so we have asked for additional

resources to make sure that we can process these claims as quickly as possible. we've also asked for additional authorities that can be used at the discretion of the secretary of homeland security to process the cases. ultimately if it is found that the child or an adult that is here with children does not have legal right to stay in the country, that they can be returned to their home country and properly reintegrated. that means that we're also working with some of these countries where the root of this problem exists. you saw that a couple weeks ago, the vice president travelled to central america and met with the leaders of honduras and guatemala and el salvador. secretary kerry is traveling to the region this week as well. and he'll be having similar conversations with leaders in that region while attending the inauguration of the president of panama. >> on that point, how much are you asking for? $2 billion? $3 billion? >> we'll have more information about the actual request for

supplemental appropriations in the next couple of weeks. >> now back on the court -- >> you've been listening to press secretary josh earnest at the white house. the portfolio of challenges this smrgs facing right now. one on the southwest border. another only a couple blocks away at the supreme court. specifically on the decision by the supreme court today on contraceptive coverage. white house spokesperson josh earnest said it jeopardizes health of women employed by these companies and said the white house would be working with congress to make sure the women affected by this ruling will still be able to get the same access to contraception. npr's legal affairs correspondent is joining us. nina, i appreciate your time. i want a sense from you as we hear from the administration, they are in a challenging position to find out how to better accommodate individuals and, obviously, casting this as a very narrow decision. but, clearly it does affect a large number of individuals. i want to get a sense from you,

what are the next avenues on both sides for the opponents of obama care and for those who say that this decision was simply wrong. >> well, you know, whether this was a narrow decision depends on your point of view. those who won say it's narrow. if you talk to, you know, professors which i've already done who sided with hobby lobby on this and against the administration, they say that the court has signaled that it -- that other kinds of challenges will lose. those who want to claim that they don't have to pay for immunization or blood transfusion or other objections to civil rights objections, for example, based on religious belief. but those things are actually not hammered out yet. and what the court has said so far is that closely held corporations, that is they don't

have public shares, closely held corporations, maybe even just family closely held corporations, but for sure closely held corporations, do not have to abide by the aca's requirements if it violates their religious beliefs. now there are a lot of very, very big closely held corporations from comcast to bloomberg to cargill to -- there are dozens of them. and it's true that many of them will want to just comply with the aca and have insurance programs that provide fda approved contraceptives. but if they don't, then the administration is going to have to come up with a solution that is perhaps like the solution they offered to non-profit religious institutions. >> so give us a sense. the consequences. what are the ramifications? where is the next page in this chapter? >> well, i am not sure.

the court did seem to try to make this as narrow as possible so it wouldn't be opening the floodgates, but it's not 100% clear whether it has done that or not. i think what is pretty clear is that there is at least one justice, justice kennedy, who wrote a separate opinion. he signed on in full to this opinion. but he wrote a separate opinion that said essentially, don't worry. as long as i'm here, this -- the flood gates won't open. and it won't be hundreds and hundreds or thousands and thousands of companies saying, why me? why should i have to do this? or why should i have to do that? but he is the fifth vote. it's not at all clear where the majority will lie, for example in challenges to certain sex discrimination practices that may occur. that somebody will say that's against my religious belief to -- or cases involving gays and lesbians or cases involving

people from different foreign origins. it's just not clear. >> can i ask you a separate question about the second significant decision made by the supreme court today? this is on the issue of unions today. how damaging could this be for unions in this country? >> i think it's pretty damaging. i think it clearly opens the floodgates in terms of challenges. the court has laid out what it thinks has been wrong over the last 40-plus years about its own rulings and understandings that have existed that have required people to pay their fair share of negotiating a labor contract from which they benefit, even though they may not join the union. and the actual holding in this case is somewhat limited to public employees and this particular case. but it sets the goal lines and says to the right to work committee and others who are opposed to union activity in

this country, here's the goal line. now go kick. >> yeah, i think that's exactly right. nina totenberg from npr, thanks for your perspective today. >> thank you. bye-bye. on a different legal note, a florida judge issued a decision dismissing george zimmerman's lawsuit against nbc universal. nbc universal, of course, the parent company of msnbc. the judge today ruled in favor of nbc saying that there was no evidence that the network know league published false information. zimmerman sued nbc for defamation and intentioional inflection based on a portion of its coverage of the death of trayvon martin. nbc news released a statement regarding this decision reading, nbc news is gratified by the court's dismissal of this lawsuit which we have always believed to be without merit.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24

hours? chris cillizza back with us. ry have a pack of duracell on its way to you. those battery packs can be -- >> i can hear you. >> one topic the white house has been hearing a lot about lately. the question of hat to do with the department of veterans ark fairs. today at 4:30, president obama will announce his new pick, bob mcdonnell. the former now, retired ceo at proctor & gamble. the white house moments ago saying he was principally chosen for his record as a solid manager. what's your take on this pick and really the decisiveness, the quickness in buying made to name a new individual for that position? >> this pick, peter, can't be separated out from the politics of it. so, obviously, the resignation fueled by the v.a. scandal. this nominee, i think, came quickly because this is an ongoing situation that needs to be addressed, number one. and is someone, john boehner has

spoken favorably of him. he's donated in the past to mitt romney. this is someone who has bipartisan support from the get-go. from the moment he's announced. that is not by accident. this is quite clearly a responsibility of the obama administration to say, we get it. we know this is an ongoing problem. we can't have a fight over this guy and we just need to get him in. that's why i think the pick has been made. >> another question the administration is grapple with is what to do about the crisis at the southwest borders in this country. southwest border in this country. jeh johnson is touring u.s. customs and bord proceduer and protections. to speed up deportations. describe the top of pressure they are feeling on this issue. >> well, look. the numbers are staggering. 53,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the border this year alone. and that is eye popping.

another 39,000 women with children. something had to be done. the obama administration asking for what we expect to be $2 billion. started asking congress. congress is out of session for july 4th. won't be back until next week. it's an attempt to address what is not a situation that could wait. it comes in the context of immigration reform. the attempt to comprehensively change the immigration system in this country. essentially everyone last week declaring that that, the prospects -- legislative prospects for that effort are dead. it speaks to the fact that this is a pressing problem. congress, i would guess, likely to approve some amount of this funding but we're not going to have a comprehensive package, certainly this year and many people say we won't have one before the 2016 presidential election. >> chris cillizza, that's going to do it for us. a couple hours ahead of the u.s. world cup game we're expecting your best u.s. world cup dance. >> born ready. i'm ready. >> we'll see you then.

that's going to do it for "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow, more reaction to today's supreme court decision with planned parenthood presidenty is seal richards and california attorney general kamala harris. remember to follow the show online on facebook and on twitter @mitchellreports. follow me at the white house, @peteralexander. ronan farrow joins me with a look at what's coming up next on "ronan farrow daily." >> good show today. coming up, we've got a big show ourselves. we're talking hobby lobby. really going deep not just on the implications for women's health care rights but also for personhood for corporations. a big contentious issue that could change the course of this country. we're also going to go deep on the question of the world cup and the numbers game that's putting an increasing dollar figure on the outcome of these matches coming up. you'll not want to miss it. stay with us. are you kidding me? no, it's only 15 calories. with reddi wip, fruit never sounded more delicious, with 15 calories per serving and real cream, the sound of reddi wip is the sound of joy.

people, it's made out of people. not soil and green. corporations.

big charlton heston fans those supreme court justices. it's a 5-4 decision in favor of hobby lobby. hobby lobby does not have to pay for the disputed birth control techniques. >> today, the president is asking congress for more than $2 billion to help stem the surge of people illegally crossing the border. >> more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been caught illegally entering the u.s. since last fall. isis declared its territory in iraq and syria to be a caliphate or muslim state. >> it amounts to a declaration of victory. they now lay claim to about one-third of iraq. i think there's a lot of evidence to argue for medical marijuana. i think we should leave to in the states because nobody really knows where this is going. a lot of people think scandal is a hit because of kerry. and she's great in it. but the real reason "scandal" is a hit