first responders with helmets and kef lar vests and assault rifles. matt bradley remains in our london bureau. as we prepared across the top of another hour here where we've been on the air reporting on supreme court decisions, the freddie gray trial in baltimore, at 11:00 a.m. eastern time, we're dealing with this just now breaking story, report of 25 wounded by a gunman in a movie theater in viernheim, germany. anything further? >> as you mentioned this is a very rapidly emerging story and we don't have any solid information but what we have can add -- we can't confirm it, getting which from german media but we think -- the shooter has been detained by the police

forces that the elite unit that was deployed to try to contain this situation. again, there are a lot of unknowns, we don't know how many were involved and whether the shooter was able to issue any demands or how long this incident took. we do know that he probably entered around 3:00 in this large movie complex. the german newspapers we have been reading have said that dozens of people were seen fleeing, that this gunman had a gun in one hand and holster or holster belt over one shoulder and wearing a disguise. we're trying to confirm whether or not this gunman was arrested and again we're going to come back to you with more. >> cal perry may have more details. >> i want to make clear as we look at this video. this is tape and it's really important in 2016 as we talk about periscope and facebook live, we're being very careful to show replayed video. you're not seeing a live signal. why is that important?

we along with the authorities do not want to give any kind of information or any kind of tip to a gunman who may be inside because we have access to that, so does anyone with a cell phone. what you're seeing again is the beginning of that cordon being put up. i'll faceforward here. in the age of instant media and video, it's all important that we remember these anti-terror forces are counting on what little element of surprise they still may have, brian. >> our producer, andy ekhart is reporting from germany, a gunman reportly open fire and barricaded himself in a german movie theater, according to local media. he's quoting the built newspaper of germany. and andy is talking about the footage we're seeing, this again is tape replay of the initial

response of local s.w.a.t. team there in germany. matt bradley, back to you. in london, do you have anything further? >> yes, as i just reported, just one second that we had information that the shooter had been arrested. it now looks as though local newspapers in germany are reporting that the shooter has been shot dead. that's according to the german interior minister. so as i mentioned a moment ago we had information he he had been arrested. we'll have to change that again, local news now reporting according to the interior minister that this gunman has been shot dead. >> okay, matt, thank you. and again, that would indicate a resolution. what it doesn't help us with is what this has done, a toll of dead or wounded. we have seen this obviously all too often in our country and we have seen this exact kind of

venue, a mass shooting, aurora, colorado, number of us who covered that story will never forget that story, and the particular horror in that venue. but again,er german media reports the gunman who bar okayeded himself inside this movie theater complex appears to be off a major motor way and near shopping and other high population centers, has so far caused a number of wounded people to be treated. we don't know about a death toll. this is in the central or southwest portion of viernheim germany and came in within the last hour. we were busy with today's supreme court decisions. we were busy with the bench

trial verdict out of the city of baltimore when we learned about this. and now able to repeat the german media reports that the gunman has been killed by responding police officers. that as we said looking at the tape replay was quite familiar, the riot gear and kevlar bullet proof vest and weaponry they were using and helmets and some of the vehicles as they kind of took their position around this movie theater. so a busy and newsy morning thus far. cal perry, your last warning was important. it's important that everyone know that again, we've had a lesson in the last 24 hours, live coverage of the floor on the house using devices no

larger than this that is large and instantous but it would only help the wrong guy if we were to layout the location of law enforcement in a case like this. >> in the wake of a horrible event like what we saw in orlando, when we unpack that event, we learned the gunman was in touch with authorities for hours at a time. and that's valuable time for authorities to not only work out what they are going to do but to communicate with that gunman. so showing those images of a potential breach -- and in orlando they laid explosives on the outside of the wall and blew a hole and went in. you want to be very careful about these images. any time you have people barricaded in any building, movie theater not new to americans unfortunately, something we dealt with in this country, you don't want to give anything away. that's why we show you this video on a replay. we're getting new images here and i can show you on my computer screen now that we know

this seems to have been resolved of police again setting up this cordon and trying to get people out of that movie theater. as you said, the big question right now is what the toll was from the shooting. we know from german authorities the gunman came in and fired some shots in the air which was what set this off. we don't know the number of wounded. we're not going to speculate. early information is often incorrect and the reports are sort of wild in their range on german media at this point. so we're going to have to wait and see sort of as this plays out throughout the day. >> thank you. the town by the way population roughly 32,000. it's roughly 45 miles south of frankfurt, that's where our long time veteran nbc news producer andy ekhart makes his home, he's been responsible for getting the facts and reporting into us i'm told it's a cineplex that can pass for any movie theater in

this country, playing alice in wonder land and angry birds. a nice afternoon get away for parents and a whole lot of folks. it's been an eventful hour with the supreme court decisions and decision in the freddie gray trial out of baltimore and breaking news out of germany. for now, craig melvin takes over. >> we're following three breaking news stories. first in germany where there are reports that the gunman who stormed into that movie theater has been shot. there are reports of that in germany. we also have our eye on baltimore, of course the decision coming down in that bench trial caesar goodson jr., the man who was driving the van, judge determining that he is not guilty, acquitted on all charges in connection with freddie gray's death.

you can see the scene outside the courthouse there in baltimore as a number of folks appear to have gathered there, at this point not clear whether those are protesters. it looks as if there were numbers of the media as well. we'll get a report from ron mott in just a minute. and of course roughly an hour ago, we heard from the high court in this country that the justices, eight of them at least, eight justices had made decisions with regards to affirmative action in this country and immigration as well. a deadlocked decision on immigration and we've been talking about the decision with regard to affirmative action. let's start though -- let's start in germany where again a man open fire at a cinema roughly 45 miles south of frankfurt germany. matt bradley remains on duty in london again. as you indicated during the last report, this is the fast moving story.

we understand that the developments can change here within a minute or two literally. what can you tell us right now? what's the very latest? >> i can't tell you very much that we can really confirm. nbc's own producer is on his way in germany to the scene of this attack. what we do now know from a local interior minister and state interior minister is that the gunman was shot dead. this was something that just happened about an hour ago. a gunman armed with what we understand from german media with one gooun and wearing a disguise open fire. he was carrying what seemed to be a cartridge belt over his shoulder. this coming from specifically one newspaper, the built newspaper in germany. most of this information is very fluid. you might recall a moment ago, we were hearing that the gunman had been detained. now it seems he's been shot dead by the police unit deployed very

quickly to contain this situation about an hour after it started. we'll try to bring you more on the number of injuries which we think is about 25, but we're hearing wildly different numbers from the german press. we're going to be looking into some of the motives what the gunman might have been up to and what he demanded while he had movie goers barricaded for about an hour. >> we should let our viewers know, part of the delay in relaying this information is we have to translate a lot of it, if not all of it from the aforementioned german tv stations and newspapers as well. we're getting that information, sifting through it before we go on the air with it, matt. can you talk to me about the area where this movie theater is? >> yes, this movie theater was in a shopping complex. we believe like i said this is in the town of viernheim, in the western central germany and

frankfurt being a commercial center of germany, prosperous city in the middle much germany. this is a country that has strict gun laws and these incidents are rare than the incidents in the united states in the last several months. we can't jump to any conclusions about the motives. we don't know the identity of the shooter. we'll have to wait until we get more definitive information. like i said, nbc's own producers are on their way to the scene of this shooting and we're hoping to bring you more conclusive information when it comes to us. >> let's bring cal perry back into the conversation. i know that you are following this story very closely digitally. as we have this information, we should let viewers know on the right side of the screen this is video that we are just getting in from the scene. this gunman walks into a movie theater and south central part of germany, some 32,000 people

live in particular city. the gunman in addition to being armed to the hilt, he was masked. what else are you seeing out here? >> viernheim, can't be more than a half hour from frankfurt. armed to the hilt, very strict gun laws and that's something we'll talk about immediately after the attack once we get a better idea of the motive. we're learning more about the elite unit that has been deployed. you see there a news helicopter but we understand that the sek, the elite anti-terror unit from germany is being choppered to the area. that shouldn't take longer than 15 or 20 minutes. we're seeing initial video on the right side of the screen. this is police saiding up a police cordon, regardless on whether or not the gunman is dead, the anti-terror police will want to secure that area

and make sure there are no secondary explosive devices and make sure nothing has been laid down in the path for them. that is an m.o. we see time and time again in attacks. geb, want to stress to views, very early, this just happened. we don't know the motive but that doesn't change the procedures in place. i will mention this is tape. this is tape replay. we do that because we assume that the gunman may have access to instant media. may have access to a cell phone that would show him the video, he or she does not need to see what is taking place outside the police want to take any advantage and element of surprise is something they don't want to give up. >> i want to bring in jim cav naug. it feels like i'm talking to you far more frequently on live television now these days in

terms of pictures we're tweeting out, a scene that has become familiar to folks in this country. what is law enforcement doing right now? what's the first order of business? >> the first order of business of course is to squeeze them down to locate them. what you've got to do and s.w.a.t. does is locate isolate and eliminate the threat, locate, isolate and evacuate and eliminate the fact. they are pressing down. you're reporting that one of the nbc reporters that he may have been killed, unconfirmed but s.w.a.t. will go in and press like they did in orlando, they press fast. you know, nbc reported all of that information out how patrol in orlando pressed fast, pressed the killer to the bathroom within a few minutes of the beginning of the shooting. that's what they want to do, press him down, isolate him, remove those behind and evacuate

those behind and then deal with him whether he's contained or whether you have to engage him. that's the critical thing for law enforcement. >> again, we should note here that initially we were told according to german media, initially we were told the gunman was arrested within the past 15 minutes or so that the gunman, this is according to the interior minister, the gunman was shot dead by authorities. we're working to independently confirm that. what you're looking at is the scene outside this theater in viernheim germany, 45 minutes south of frankfurt. you can see members of this special task force, sec, police task force that have been cord onning off the area outside the movie theater and armed to the

hilt, armed with ammunition around his waist we're told and wearing some sort of disguise and storms into the movie theater. jim, i was down in lafayette, louisiana at the movie theater shooting sometime ago. and after the movie theater in colorado as well, there was a fair amount of discussion in this country about the safety of movie theaters and the fact that there are no metal detectors to gets in and it is unfortunately if you stop and think about it, somehow easy to take a weapon into a movie theater and just pull it out of your book bag or satchel and decide to open fire. >> right, craig, some of the worst things about theetders is they are built to design like a box canyon. so when you're up in the seats, the only exits are below you at the front and only entrances below you in the front. so like aurora when the killer comes in, everybody is trapped in a box canyon. designs like that have got to be

rethought. the old movie theaters when we were young, you would come in like a theater in new york in the back, all of the doors were there, the crowd would come in, there's exits and fire exits so there's front and back and side exists. some of these theaters are built like a box canyon and trap you in there. and of course the seminole thing we have to realize is that inspired actors, whether this guy is like an anders brefic, a far right terrorist or jihadi style al qaeda style motive, these guys are inspired to understand that firearms attacks can be just as deadly as a bomb. so this is what they are picking up. terrorists in the battlefield and now inspired actors are learning this. that's why you see these more and more and death toll like in orlando. >> jim, do stick around for me,

sir. we want to keep a close eye on the story. sek, special police task force, pictures of them outside the move decree theater. at least 25 people have been wounded in an attack at a movie theater there. the attacker we're told again according to german media, the attacker at this point appears to have been shot dead. we're working to confirm that independently. we've got a very close eye on the situation in germany. we're also keeping a very close eye back here on the situation in baltimore, maryland. caesar goodson jr., the police officer who was driving the van has been found in tnot guilty ol charges. ron mott remains stationed outside the courthouse there in baltimore. ron, i know that authorities there had been preparing for protests and according to the last report it seems as if all

was quiet. is that still the case. >> think just in front of the courthouse there may be a dozen or so by now demonstrators. this is a far different scene than we saw different the first trial against officer porter. that jury could not reach a verdict and he is scheduled to be retried in the fall. you'll have a lot of observers say the state should consider dropping charges against the remaining officers because todaywise a big blow to the prosecution. this is the biggest case, most serious of the six cases involving this officer caesar goodson jr., the van driver. the states allege he took freddie gray on this wild deadly ride through the streets of baltimore after he was detained and arrested and emerged with a severe spinal cord injury that proved to be fatal. the riots took place right after his passing. and so the city has been braced for unrest ever since. then when these six officers were charged, a lot of criminal defense attorneys say wait a

minute, this is a huge overreach by the state considering the evidence that people thought they had at the time and of course the first trial they could not reach a decision. second trial, which was a bench trial by this same judge ended in an acquittal of officer nero. that was considered the state's weakest case. for them to lose weakest case and now what is considered their largest case, you're going to hear probably a lot of people say the state should no go forward with charges against the remaining officers considering they could not get the conviction they were looking for in this case against officer goodson. obviously a huge relief for officer goodson and his family. when i spoke to the attorney for the gray family after the last trial that ended with an acquittal, i asked if the family is looking for conviction. i was told in no uncertain terms they want justice and that doesn't necessarily mean a conviction. they got another acquittal today and serious charges second degree murder, the most serious among them. >> ron, really quickly, we've been talking about the second

degree depraved murder and manslaughter and manslaughter by vehicle and criminal negligence and misconduct in office, acquitted on all charges. did judge william as he handed down the verdict, did he give any insight into the decision? >> just essentially that judge williams doesn't believe the state met its berd. they have a burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that officer goodson and other officers bear some criminal responsibilities for their actions in this case against freddie gray. in all of the people we've talked to in this case, the burden seems to have been with this officer, officer goodson to secure freddie gray in the back of that van. he was not secured by any ort of means and then taken on a road which resulted in an injury that proved to be fatal. if the judge has said in this case that the state simply did not have the evidence or present the evidence to prove this officer met the legal

definitions for those criminal liabilities in the second degree murder charge or second degree assault charge or three manslaughter charges you mentioned, misconduct in office charge, state did not meet the burden according to officer williams. and if the other four officers remain to be tried are going to look for a strategy here, one criminal defense attorney we talked to a moment ago said it is very clear to them he would offer a bench trial because judge williams has seen the best of what they have to offer and they have not met their burden. >> ron mott in baltimore. let's go roughly an hour south, washington, d.c., pete williams, our justice correspondent standing by for us outside the high court. two major decisions coming down today. let's start with immigration. >> reporter: it's not a major decision but it will have a major impact, it's a 4-4 tie. supreme court issues no decision at all. as if the case never came up here. it leaves no tell-tale mark behind.

it has no legal precedent and lefsz everything in place as it was. as practical matter what that means is that the freeze remains in place in the obama administration's attempt to enforce immigration policy. it is dead in the water for the rest of the obama administration and perhaps for months more to come while it continues to grind through the lower courts. the advocates in the obama administration, we're hoping that the supreme court would let the government begin to put this program into effect. this is the one that would allow adults who are here to stay if they have children who are in the u.s. legally. but it's been put on hold because of a lawsuit filed by texas and 25 other states because the supreme court was unable to reach a decision on it one way or the other. it was a 4-4 tie. that leaves the lower court decision in place. the government cannot enforce it. the other big decision today involved affirmative action and this was a huge victory for higher education. the supreme court upheld the affirmative action program at the university of texas in

austin by a 4-3 vote. that adds up to seven, there are eight justices on court but elena kagan sat this one out and the supreme court said the diversity in higher education can have an important educational benefit and role of affirmative action at the university of texas is narrow enough to pass any constitutional test. we have one day left here of decisions in the supreme court and we're going to hear the other remaining big decision which is a test of this strict regulation on abortion in texas. >> pete williams for us outside the high court. while pete was reporting there, words from the white house that president obama will be speaking roughly 20 minutes from now at 11:45, he'll be responding to the supreme court's decision or as pete indicated there, nondecision, i guess would be a more accurate way to describe it. ron allen outside 1600 pennsylvania for us. what can we expect to hear from

president obama? >> reporter: well, craig, it's a nondecision but it's still a stinging defeat for the president and remember immigration reform was one of the corner stones of his first administration, things he wanted to do initially when he came into office. he was thwarted by the congress. so this effort to essentially change the law some would say by executive authority which is what landed in the courts is along a continue up that the president has been trying to do this for some time. speaker ryan, senator mccain and all issuing statements saying essentially that this shows that the president cannot act unilateral and executive branch cannot make laws and congress does that. the president, i spoke to his assistants and aides after this decision came down and advisably muted and trying to figure out what to say. they will emphasize that this is

not a precedent. it's a tie that goes back to lower courts and doesn't essentially change things but it doesn't give him the victory he wanted. this is a legacy issue for the president, immigration reform. remember how significant the latino population was in his 2012 victory. a huge demographic politically that put him over the top in many key states, the latino community and other have been hoping and demanding and pushing the president to get this done through the eight years in office. this defeat, this nondecision by the supreme court essentially says that this will not get done during the remaining months of his time in office. so we expect the president to try to accent wait the positive. we do not think there was a plan b. executive authority was plan b or c after the ability to do this legislatively. it's a significant defeat for the president. he will hear a lot of

frustration and anger from the people in the latino community and others that wanted to see this change. it was something that the president feels strongly about. and one of the side impacts will be part of the legacy will be as deporter in chief, he has deported more illegal immigrants than any of his predecessor, 2.5 million and counting. so that's part of his legacy as well. the president should speak very shortly. >> we'll bring it to folks live. we're expecting that to happen at 11:45, president obama reacting to that announcement from the high court a short time ago with regard to immigration reform. i want to bring in msnbc's chief legal correspondent ari melber, we're talking to what amounts to the intersection of immigration policy and executive authority.

this is already something we've seen both through the presidential candidates devoted a significant amount of time on the campaign trail. one would manage this would be an even larger issue now. for folks not not following the story as closely, how did we get here and what will be the practical impact of the court's nondecision today? >> we got here because the congress hasn't adjusted immigration law in many years. there's a large number of undocumented workers living in the united states who are in sort of a legal gray zone and the president having tried to get congress to act and said he could take down authority on his own power to try to defer prosecution or deportation of those individuals. i heard some back and forth about what could be a little confusing thing the supreme court just did, was this a decision or not? let's clear this up in plain english. excuse me -- sorry -- technical

pause there. what is going on here is the supreme court is letting another court's decision stand. that's what's significant here. the supreme court in a nine word ruling is saying no to president obama, just saying it through a lower court. if you're not a legal junkky and don't care about those details, which most people don't, today is significant because the supreme court could have gone another way. could have broken the impasse if they didn't split 4-4 and could have decided to uphold or knock down this decision themselves. instead they are just saying stop sign to president obama's orders and doing it by letting the lower court decision stand. >> as we wait for president obama to come out and respond to the supreme court, let's go back overseas now. again, there was this attacker in germany, apparently stormed a movie theater at last report there were at least 25 people who had been shot who were wounded.

this is the town of viernhe vie5 miles south or so from frankfurt, matt bradley has been following the story closely and i understand you have new information. what can you tell us? xbl i'm rather pleased to tell you we have good news from this potentially tragic incident in germany. it seems as though according to police who spoke to the associated press, the gunman didn't actually injure any of the theater goers who were involved in this incident. this gunman who if i can recap for you, he entered the theater. he fired shots into the air and it seems that he was barricaded himself and some of the movie goers in the theater. the police were called immediately. they contained the situation and shot the attacker dead within about an hour of him entering the theater and firing warning

shots into the air. now, we don't have a lot of information. what we do have we're getting mostly from the wires and from local german media. but we do have our own nbc staff on the way to the scene and we'll bring you more when we get that information. >> to clear this up, for the better part of 45 minutes or so, i think pretty much everyone in this country was under the impression that this guy stormed in and took hostages and shot and wounded 25 people. and now as i understand it, it appears as if you're telling me the guy walks in and fires shots into the air and no one is hurt and the police there take him out. is that right? that's our understanding. what we really don't know if these people had been injured. maybe there were people who had been injured. the original information was there were around at least 25 theater goers who had been

injured in this attack. now, we do have other reports. the built newspaper in germany who's been leading this story from the beginning, they said that these 25 people were not injured from the attacker, from shots fired by the attacker himself, that they might have been injured by tear gas, fired by the police to subdue the attacker. >> okay. >> we don't exactly know how these 25 people were injured and don't know whether 25 people were injured but we're going to bring in information from the very fluid story as it comes to us. >> the associated press in berlin reporting in one was injured by the gunman at the german movie theater. cal perry, you've been following this closely on social media. what are you seeing and hearing? >> one of things we're hearing now and again this is why we stress to our viewers that we were not going to get into the wild german news reports which range from zero people wounded

all the way up to dozens wounded. what we're hearing now, it appears as though the gunman went into the theater and fired shots in the air which kept people inside. those anti-terror forces which you're seeing now on the screen. this is the sek, they were flown in from frankfurt and still a secondary group coming in. they may have gone in and not only shot and killed that attacker but used tear gas in the process. that wouldn't be unusual at all to subdue the attacker before shooting him. there's two ways of doing that, via a stun grenade or tear gas. both of which will not harm potential hostages inside that theater. it's quite possible those people who were wounded in this attack were wounded by the security forces which we have to say again at this early hour, seem to have done a tremendous job of getting this situation under control in a very quick manner. it did not last more than an hour until the point where we

were able to say no one was killed in this except for the attacker. as you indicated there, we don't know what this attacker was demanding and don't know if this attacker was demanding anything, but again, at this point according to our matt bradley overseas there, we have a producer on the ground in germany as well. by all counts, at this point it would appear -- it would appear, the gunman, attacker in this case was shot by authorities and according to matt bradley and associated press, at this point it does not look like folks inside that theater were injured as the result of this particular attacker. you're looking at video here, these aren't live pictures. this is video we've gotten in a short time ago, video of this special task force, this police task force there in germany. the sek as it's called. this is the anti-terror unit

there in germany. but roughly an hour, hour and a half ago now maybe, we had received reports that this armed man, armed to the hilt, he was masked we were told. walked into a german movie theater and very similar to movie theaters in this country, according to brian williams last hour showing a number of movies that are playing right now in our theater, among them alice in wonderful and angry birds, guy walks into the theater. according to authorities pops off a number of shots in the air but at this point it does not look like anyone inside that theater was shot and killed by the attacker. we're waiting to get confirmation that the attacker has been shot dead. we've gotten that from a number of folks over there, including interior minister waiting to get official confirmation on that. cal, in terms of social media and what you're seeing and hearing, what i just reported

there is that pretty much the assessment we're getting as well? >> that's in line with what we're hearing. with the string ent gun laws in germany and talking about some of the toughest laws not only in europe but around the world, we don't know what kind of weapon this gunman had. it could have been a pellet gun for all we know at this point. it could have been something that doesn't shoot the same kind of ammunition. we shouldn't jump to any conclusions at this early hour because the investigation hasn't even really begun. one of the things and again you're seeing that on the right side of the screen, one of the things that these police will do regardless, they are going to do a final sweep to make sure there are no other devices to make sure there's nothing else planned. and that will probably be happening across the country as well. what you worry about in this situation especially from a security standpoint is that there could be connected attacks and follow-on attacks but zero indication that's the case in this instance. in fact it seems as though this

reached a conclusion. >> you were talking we also got new information from our producers overseas here. we've been translating some of the information here. this is translation from a video of an address posted online from this looks like the regional interior minister there. at around 2:45 local time, an emergency call came in, a masked man with a long weapon walked into the cinema complex, four shots were fired according to interior minister. the suspect made quote, a confused impress as of now. not confirmed if the weapon itself was even real. the suspect took hostages and he was shot dead by police. this information coming from overseas from the regional interior minister, courtesy of one of our producers. we continue to keep a very close

eye on the situation there in germany. again, right now bottom right, 11:45, roughly seven or eight minutes from now we'll hear from president obama responding to the supreme court's decision and we're using that word for lack of a better one at this point with regard to immigration case, a 4-4 split. we're also keeping a very close eye on baltimore, maryland. caesar goodson jr., the police officer who was driving the van in which freddie gray suffered those injuries. caesar goodson jr. found in the on all counts, acquitted on all charges in the death of freddie gray. a live look outside the courthouse there in baltimore, maryland. we have not heard yet from a prosecutor in that case. i do not believe we've heard from a defense attorney in the case either. ari melber is still standing by for me.

ari, at this point, ufl got to think with the acquittal of one of other officers and hung jury in one case and bench decision coming down, this acquittal, all six charges, one of the charges was misconduct in office. he was acquitted on even that count. you've got to wonder moving forward whether the prosecution decides to even go forward with these cases. what say you to that? >> i think that's a big open question that prosecutors will consider. let's go to new reporting we have from sophia, our producer on the ground now. in a bench trial -- in officer chose a bench trial and apparently chose wisely, rules on by a judge not a jury. unlike a jury trial we hear quickly from the judge if he chooses to share his reasoning, which he's done. now for the first time we can report from inside the courtroom a little more about why the

judge said that officer goodson is not guilty on all charges. he spoke in detail about the prosecution's theory of the case, the so-called rough ride, something people have heard about, the accusation that officers put someone in the back of the van to deliberately hurt them in the way they are driving and told the prosecutors and everyone else listening today, the judge that that was the center piece of their case and they failed to prove it. he also spoke to the issue whether freddie gray should have been seat belted in the car. he spoke directly to this point. reporting this for first time. he said failing to use the seat belt may have been bad judgment, it may have been a mistake. but this judge said it was not criminal. that's essential going back to the question you raised because if the theory of the case is that the van was essentially the weapon, and the conduct that was illegal and potentially murder or manslaughter was the treatment of freddie gray in the van unbelted in the way that all

went down, you have a judge here saying the prosecutors failed to meet that burden. that goes to whether these prosecutors think they can meet it in any other case. they may be rethinking that. >> let's pivot to the high court again. this was the united states versus texas and by all accounts it would appear as if texas has won this round. this was the obama administration among other things asserting that it had broad executive authority, broad enough authority to essentially stop a selected group, some 4 million people in this country from being deported. >> could you repeat that? >> i was talking about the this particular case. >> the immigration decision. >> being about the obama administration's claim that it had broad executive authority to prevent the deportation of roughly 4 million people in this country. we'll hear from the president here in five minutes or so.

where does this case go from here? >> this case goes back to the lower court. what we'll hear from the president is likely his reaction to what is a did he have nilt rejection of his attempt to assert executive power. the president is also a constitutional scholar, that legally there is nothing binding about today's split, it does stop his order but a future president, perhaps he hopes a successor on the democratic side could still pursue this policy. we'll look to see what the president says about the practical side and how does this affect people's lives and gridlock in congress which he asserted was his reasoning and republicans objected and said it cannot be because congress doesn't act the president gets extra power. indeed in politics in government we know inaction is a choice and conservatives say government that acts less acts best. we're going to see i believe the president's response both on the legal side but how it affects

people every day, how this affects the undocumented. and the other thing we'll watch out for and again we don't know what he's going to say, whether he speaks to the 4-4 split and he thinks his nominee to the court should have been on the court by now or that process should come up. there's so much news today, that's something we haven't talked on much, that there's a judge, garland, who could be on the court and president wants to get hearings and get him on the court seand also being held bac now. >> you mentioned a name that a lot of folks had probably forgotten about. he took a number of meetings on the hill, met with a lot of folks in the upper chamber. no indication that he is going to even come up for a vote in committee. a live look here inside the white house briefing room. president obama expected to tail to the podium there any moment now to talk about the high court's decision on immigration essentially his plan blocked by

the high court. ari, was this a decision that surprised you? >> it did not. this basically was a continuation of the status quo that was negative for the white house. and i will mention again, we don't like to speculate too much about what would have happened, justice scalia passed away, no longer with us. but there is a view that had justice scalia been on court you may have had a 5-4 decision that would have been the same result stopping executive orders and binding precedent. again, that big distinction for people watching, what does this mean? it means yes, you have a ruling, a stop sign to the executive orders on immigration but don't have a precedent that is to say you don't have anything that binds future courts. there's a speculation, that had justice scalia been alive for this term, this would have been a worse outcome for the white house. >> who are we talking about here with regards to the people that

the president is trying to prevent from being deported. you have to hold that for the next conversation. brian williams will pick up our coverage from here. >> craig, thanks, we have a complex menu of stories before us this morning if viewers have been with us the entire time. you know we're tracking a number of stories. we've had a verdict -- one of the defendants, police officer in the freddie gray try in baltimore, a bench trial and shooting in a movie theater in germany resulting in a number of injuries that is said to be resolved and gunman has been killed. first and foremost, our attention right now is as you've been saying, centered on the briefing room in the west wing of the white house. that is where we are moments away apparently from hearing from president obama. to our viewers, a quick note,

we're going to have to pause for just a moment as we get within two minutes of hearing from the president to bring on board the nbc television stations across the country to add them to our live msnbc coverage for the president's remarks. let's go to ron allen who is standing by in the white house briefing room. ron, what can we expect? we should also add this was a hit for the obama white house. >> reporter: a big hit, brian. it was a really big hit. this is something that the president wanted to have happen from the time he came into office. immigration reform, giving legal status of some sort, relief to millions here undocumented here illegally and it has not happened. he said he would do this through congress. congress has thwarted him. executive action, these two executive actions that were challenged in court were plan b, c and d. and of course we're in the

waning days of the administration now. the president's critics are pointing out this is the court saying essentially that he cannot act unilaterally. the president's use of executive authority that be a controversial issue on a number of issues, not just immigration. i expect the president to point out that this is a 4-4 tie, not a precedent. that's perhaps a legal technicality or legal actuality but it means there are millions of families who will not get relief. on the other side of this, president obama has an unlikely distinction of being one of the most aggressive deporters of illegal people in the country during his time, two and a half million. critics have called him deporter in chief. that is perhaps the unlikely outcome as well. there are currently aggressive deportation efforts going on along the border that critics have pointed out as well. on the immigration decision, while he is right that it is a tie and not a precedent.

it is still a legacy issue, a big rebuke, stinging defeat to president obama would clearly wanted this to be something that he left with the country, change in status for millions here legally. we know how significant this latino population was to his victory in 2012 and how significant this population is in the election we're about to have in a few months in november. they are going to be very frustrated. they are very disappointed and have been with the president because he did not make this a priority early on. you'll remember back then of course the economy was a huge issue and health care reform. the question was when would he get to this. he got back burnered essentially. once thwarted by congress, senate passed a bill and house would not take it on for some 500 days. once the president tried executive authority, a lot of people thought this was not going to happen. it is not a surprise. and as i think ari and others have been pointing out, we

expect the administration to point out that the court at a 4-4 deadlock, the president i would think might argue that had one of his appointees been on the court that that might have swung things in his favor. he may not make that argument but i'm sure and some others pointed out that this was a 4-4 decision, shows that the court is not functioning that the families are in limbo, these families are here in the country illegally. groups who have children in the country who are american citizens. on behalf of these citizen children that their parents should have legal status as well. that's not going to happen now apparently on the president's watch. the bottom line is a huge for the president and again, this was plan b and c and we don't know where he will go from here. >> ron allen.

thank you. right behind ron, behind that blue door, the president will come out, two-minutes after we get the warning to expect the president. ron is with his other network colleagues there in the front of the briefing room. what ron said about mayor cougar le garland. he cannot get a hearing, the death of justice scalia, that brings the story in front of the supreme court court. we have a 4-4 tie, sends us back as apart of our lives coverage earlier as if the case never came to the supreme court and while we cannot get the mind of the late justice scalia, this would have been a 5-4 had he li lived. >> this decision stands for

nothing and takes no position on any of the big issue. >> pete williams, we are going to ask all viewers to pause while we bring in our nbc television station. >> this is an nbc news special report, here is brian williams. good day and welcome from new york, i am brian williams, we are on the air for remarks from president obama in the white house briefing room on the hills of a court ruling of a 4-4 split of the supreme court on the subject of immigration. while the case goes now back to texas, it is a huge hit for the obama administration, our justice correspondence pete williams can explain this case here, pete >> the supreme court says nothing about the big question. if the president had the authority and could the states have the legal authority to sue.

the supreme court says we cannot decide it. that leaves in place a lower court order that put a hold on the president's authority to enforce this law. so it is a dead letter for the rest of the administration. >> pete williams, thank you. here is the president >> first in the affirmative action case, i am pleased the supreme court upheld basic notion that diversity is an important value for our society and this country should provide a high education for all young people regardless of their backgrounds. we are not a country that guarantees people's outcomes but we do strive to provide an equal shot for everybody, that's what we upheld today. >> one of the reasons why america is a diverse and inclusive nation is because we are a nation of immigrants. our founders conceived this country as a refuge for the world and for more than two

centuries of wave of immigrants kept us youth full and dynamic and entrepreneurial and shaped our characters and made us stronger. for more than two decades now, our immigration system everybody acknowledges have been broken and the supreme court was not able to issue a decision today does not just set this system back further and takes us further to the country. to lay out some basic facts, this sometimes gets lost and hidden and what can be an emotional debate. since i took office, we deploy more agents and technology to our southern border and ever before. that has helped cut illegal board to the lowest levels since the 1970s. it should have paved the way for immigration reform and in fact, as many of you know it, it almost did. near

nearly democrats and republicans in the senate came together and pass the bill that would double our border control and undocumented immigrants to citizens if they paid their taxes and played by the rules. republicans of the house of senate refused to allow a simple yes or no vote on that bill. i was left with little choice but to take steps within my existing authority to make our immigration system smarter, fair and more just. four years ago, we announced that those who are our lowest priority for enforcement, patriots and young dreamers grew up and pledging the allegiance to our flag should be able to work here and study here and pay their taxes here. more than 730,000 lives have been changed as a result. these are students, they're teachers and doctors and

lawyers, they're americans in every way but on paper. unfortunately, today's decision does not affect this policy. it does not affect the existing dreamers. two years ago, we announce a similar expanded approach for others who are low priorities enforcement. we said that if you have been in america for more than five years which children who are american citizens or legal residents then you too can come forward and work in this country temporary without fear of deportation. both were the kind of actions taken by republicans and democrats, neither granted anybody a free pass. all they did was to focus on resources which are limited on the highest powers and convicted criminals and as disappointing

as it was to be challenged to take the kind of actions that others administration have taken. today the supreme court was unable to reach a decision. this is part of the consequence of the republican failure so far to give a hearing to mr. mayor garland, our nominee of the supreme court. that means the common sense defer policies, the one that i announced two years ago cannot roll forward until there is a ninth justice on the court to break the tie. i know a lot of people are going to be disappointed today but it is a important to understand what today means. a deferred action policy that's been in place for the last four years have not been affected by this place. enforcement policies are not

affected by this rule. this means that the people who might have benefited from the expanded deferred action policies. long-term residents raising children who are americans, legal residenc residence, as lo have not committed a crime and our enforcement resources are not focused on here. today's decision is frustrated to those who seems to grow our economy and bring a rationality to our immigration system and to allow people to come out of the shadow and left the perpetual cloud on that. it is heartbreaking for millions of immigrants who made their lives here and bring families here.

so, where do we go from here? most americans including business leaders and law enforcement, democrats and republicans and independence still agree that the single best way to solve this problem is by working together to pass bipartisan immigration reform. that's obviously not going to happen during the remainder of this congress and we don't have a congress that agrees with us on this nor do we have a congress that's going to do most basic jobs under the constitution which is to consider nominations. republicans of congress are currently willfully are preventing the supreme court from being fully staffed and functioning as our founders intended and today's situation under scores the degree of which the court is not able to function the way it is supposed to. the court's in ability to reach a decision in this case is a

very clear reminder why it is so important for the supreme court to have a full bench. for more than 40 years there is been an average of just over two months between a nomination and a hearing. i nominate judge mgarland three months ago, most republicans so far refused to meet with him. they are allowing policy politics to jeopardize. america should not let it stand. this is an election year, during election years, politicians tend to use immigrations to scare people. keep in mind that millions of us and myself included going back to generations of this country and we don't like the notion that anye