feeling lucky? well, we have news this morning on whether anyone hit the biggest lottery jackpot ever. battle for the badger state. two of these three candidates are taking a new approach on the campaign trail as another big primary day awaits. a new day, another twist, the trayvon martin case. today a big march in sanford and fresh information on the arrest of george zimmerman. pushed around. the new bully movie and its ever-changing rating controversy. bottom line, is it worth you or your kid's time? good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here's what's happening right now, at least one big winner in the historic and mega millions jackpot of $640 million. lottery officials say a winning ticket was bought at a store? baltimore county. still no word on whether anyone may have the winning ticket in another state, but here are the winning numbers, so get out the

tickets. 2, 4, 23, 38, 46. and the mega ball is number 23. we'll have more live from the store that sold the winning ticket in just minutes for you. let's go to front page politics now in the battle for wisconsin. the biggest prize of tuesday's gop primaries. this morning three of the gop candidates will speak at a faith and freedom coalition. the presidential kickoff event happens in milwaukee,my wisconsin. mitt romney grabs the state's endorsement from paul ryan. they appeared at a fish fry out of milwaukee. >> this is a man who has the conviction, who is willing, who is able, who has the tenacity and the courage to do what's right for our country. and to deliver us the white house, the senate, the house and then the solutions needed to save this country in this great state. >> meanwhile, rick santorum also in the badger state said ryan picked the wrong guy. he slammed romney's role in the

massachusetts health care mandate. >> i respect congressman ryan but i think on the most central issue of the day he has it all wrong. governor romney started the ball rolling to massachusetts and then advocated for the mandate at the federal level. frankly, i think he'll be destroyed by president obama on the issue. >> in green bay a fading newt gingrich is still doing the math and holding out hope. >> if governor romney does get to 1144, i'll be glad to help him defeat barack obama. if he doesn't get to 1144, then i think you'll see a very different party discussion from that point on. >> well, wisconsin is the focus, but there are three primaries tuesday. maryland, d.c. and wisconsin. with 95 delegates at stake. joining me now, national political reporters molly ball and james howard for politico. thank you for being here. >> good morning, alex. >> molly, i'll begin with you. we are hearing a sharpening of

both parties messages. here's mitt romney yesterday in wisconsin. >> president obama thinks he's doing a good job. i'm not kidding. he actually thinks he's doing a great job. a historically great job. according to the president, only lincoln and fdr and lyndon johnson have established more. >> first of all, is that an accurate, a correct character zaix of what president obama said? and number two, you wrote romney is trying to depict the president in a new way. let's get to both those points. >> right. it is somewhat accurate. you can say it is maybe a little distorted, but president obama in a "60 minutes" interview said he would put the accomplishments of his administration up against any other president in history, except for those three who had accomplished more. republicans like to claim this means obama who is such an egotistical guy is claiming he's the fourth best president in history, but he certainly did

say he would put his administration on that scale up in those top four in terms of accomplishments early on. i think romney is unveiling a new attack on obama, a new sort of depiction of the president, because he's going to have to change the generally positive way voters and independent voters, in particular, see the president. have to convince them that the president is not a nice guy, he's a sort of power-hungry, narcissist right who is concerned only with his own power and clinging to power and winning that second term rather than having their best interest at heart. >> yeah, one way you wrote it pretty powerfully, a personality cult leader surrounded by yes man. wow. >> that's what he said. >> meanwhile, president obama has a new approach with the eye to the general elections. let's take a listen to that. >> big change is hard. it takes time. it takes more than a year. it takes more than a single term. it takes more than a single

president. >> so beyond change taking more than one term, what else are we hearing from the president and vice president biden really focused on romney? >> absolutely. we are seeing a pivot toward romney. they have been attacking romney for months but now there's a new edge to it. you saw joe biden this week in iowa attacking mitt romney on manufacturing with new lines. and then he's been traveling around doing fund-raising. and in chicago on thursday night, he said, look, barack obama is not going to lose to any of the republican candidates. he won't lose to mitt romney. he'll only lose if there's a crisis in the eurozone or war in iran, something beyond barack obama's control. i can tell you those folks are increasingly confident, they feel really good. i think we focused on sometimes the wrong thing and the hot controversy. what president obama said to dmetry medvedev was in miss second term, when i win re-election, that demonstrates a high level of confidence in the

white house. >> molly, i want to make sure people understand you were trying to make that clear, we were talking over each other, what i said, that characterization is what i said, not what you said in your description of the president. not calling you out. there we go. i do want to ask you, molly, the new poll showed 50% of americans view mitt romney has unfavorable. how does his campaign read this? do they acknowledge these are tough numbers to bring down? >> yeah, absolutely. i think that is part of the attack he's rolling out on obama, is the realization that it's very hard once you get those negatives to bring them down, so his hope may lie in sort of driving obama's negatives further up. so that voters feel like, well, we don't like either of these guys, sort of a lesser than two evils. i think the general election is going to be incredibly negative, as large-scale elections tend to be, and we'll see both sides trying aggressively to frame their rivals as unacceptable and

as, you know, morally questionable and all those things. >> james, as we get to rick santorum here, he took on the president's health care law in an interview on cnn yesterday. let's take a listen to that. >> as you know, we have seen in the last week the centerpiece issue in this election is obama care and the enormous burden it is on our economy, what it is doing to drive up unemployment, what it is doing to explode the federal budget as well as to explode the deficit. >> now, is this going to be something of a moot point? why bring this up, because once the supreme court votes on things and the position is handed down in june, doesn't that change things? isn't that the wrong tactic to take? >> probably. it's a sign of desperation really for rick santorum. at this point health care is really the only big issue where polls show he has a successful contrast with romney. obviously, it remains deeply unpopular with the conservative base. and as republicans start to come behind romney, the santorum campaign made the tactical decision because the issue is getting so much support with the

supreme court hearings, it makes sense to focus on it. but if the supreme court makes a decision in june, which they will, it could become a nonissue. >> overall, the role of health care come november, what do you think that? >> this is going to be very interesting and very complicated. i think it will be a front-burner issue no matter what happens. and i wrote earlier this week about the, you know, how liberals are freaking out about this tone in the oral arguments of the supreme court because they do see something that they cherish very much, this dream of universal health care in potential pearl. some of them try to look on the bright side say, oh, if the court throws it out everyone will throw it out of the court and everyone will be mad at republicans, but the democrats and allies are worried and wouldn't like to see this go. >> we hate to see you guys go, but nick tells me we have to go. thank you so much, see ya. >> thank you. >> the primaries are tuesday, april 3rd, in maryland, washington and d.c.

then coming up is indiana, north carolina, and west virginia on the 8th of may. nebraska, oregon, the 15th. arkansas and kentucky fall on the 22nd. then wrapping up the month with texas on the 29th. let's go now to the latest on the trayvon martin case. at is 1:00 a.m. eastern the naacp will lead a march to the sanford police department. they are marching for justice and rallying for answers they say. local reports say thousands of people are expected from across the country. and joining me now is the rio.com reporter alek sis alexis stodghill. what do you know. >> people are voicing toe tea total dissatisfaction with the way the trayvon martin case has been handled, and reverend al sharpton is kicking off a call

for people to boycott san north the effort to further pressure the police department to arrest george zimmerman. >> here, speaking of arrests, nbc news learned that police arrested george zimer man back in 2005 for resisting an officer and obstructing justice. he was charged with a misdemeanor and ordered to anger management classes. how could this information play out in this case? >> this case is interesting because if he had actually been charged and convicted of a felony, which was possible, other experts who weighed in on the case have said that particular charge was one which could have merited a felony charge and con vick. he would never have been allowed to obtain a gun permit, so this is a key piece of evidence. it also suggests there was some kind of, might have been a collusion or interference that allowed him to have that charge reduced from a misdemeanor to a felony. >> okay. what about the search for a new police chief there in the wake of him stepping down, is this enough to quell the outrage?

finding a new police chief of sanford? >> i don't think so at all. talking to residents in sanford and looking at the national reto response to the sanford police department itself, a lot of people say replacing the chief is not enough to make the town feel nationwide that the department is really clean, operating above board. there's been a lot of leaks from the department. there's been a feeling that the police have not been operating honestly. and that starts with the chief and goes all the way down. >> okay. many thanks for the latest. for comprehensive coverage of the tray von martin case, go to grio.com. there are tighter sanctions for the start of the iranian nuke program. the oil supplies are large enough to increase sanctions on iran beginning june 28th. they believe iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, which iran

denies. someone in maryland may be waking up on cloud nine or a cloud like $649 million. it is too early to know if they have to share the prize, but lottery officials confirm a winning ticket sold in baltimore county. luke russert is in charm city this morning where the nickname rings truer than ever. good morning to you. where are you, are you at the spot? >> reporter: good morning, alex. i'm outside the 7-eleven in baltimore county, just outside the beltway here in the county of baltimore. this is where that lucky gold up ticket was sold some time over the last few days. they sold a lot of tickets here. i spoke to the attendant who said yesterday alone they sold over 4,000 tickets. so it is anyone's guess as to who exactly won the ticket. another interesting fact is in the state of maryland, if you win the lottery, you have the right to awe remain anonymous.

we may never know who won the large jackpot. it is probably hard to keep that big of one a secret, but it is a possibilit a few other interesting things of note here, this is a very middle-class neighborhood. this is a very popular 7-eleven where a lot of folks get their coffee on the way to work, maybe grab a donut. folks working the weekend shift have been stopping in here. one woman saw the camera and said, what's going on? we said, this is where the i winning lottery jikt ticket was sold. she said she didn't check it. she is going home to check it. there's a chance that you won the $640 million ticket. a lot of folks are happy. people are honking at us. one person rode buy in a cab saying, i won, i won! not really, he was in a cab. the machine that the ticket was sold at is a celebrity here. people are taking pictures of the machine and the folks are on

cloud nine because they get a special bonus for selling the winning ticket, about $100,000. a lot of smiling faces. we don't know whose grin will be the widest yet, they can remain anonymous, but milford mill, maryland, you are news town usa on this saturday morning right now. >> i have one word to wrap this up, wow. luke russert, see you later. what would you do with half a billion dollars? talk to me on twitter. i'm be reading your tweets throughout this morning. the supreme court battle over the health care contact act. the decision could make a big difference in the presidential election. but how? howard dean is going to tell us right here on "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] you've never tried miracle whip,

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a husband host of questions this morning, the supreme court met behind closed doors on friday on president obama's health care law. meanwhile, the political implications will be made whether the law is changed or not. joining me is medical doctor and political chairman, howard dean. good morning to you. >> good morning, alex. >> governor dean, or doctor here, put your stethoscope on for a moment, a couple key questions for context, what are the critical elements of the health care and how does it affect the medical industry? >> from a doctor's perspective, the critical element of the health care is the guaranteed issue in community rating. that's the part that says you cannot turn patients away because they have a pre-existing condition and can't kick them off the insurance role, like some of them were doing, if you happen to get sick after you have health insurance. so that is the biggest and most

important part. the second most important part is the expansion of medicaid. >> okay. now to the individual mandate here, which is in the law and mean that is we all have to buy some form of health insurance. is it also constitutional in terms of the sticking point? congress forcing people to buy something, could just that portion be struck down? >> well, that's the big question. i think it will be struck down. i never thought it was necessary in the bill. in fact, the book that i wrote a year or so ago, was quoted in the supreme court brief that said, it's not necessary. you don't have to have an individual mandate. we have had community issue much tougher than they just passed in washington and we don't have an initial mandate. 20 years ago we put the stuff in and the insurance market is fine 20 years later. you don't need it. that's the question. i think they will strike it down, 5-4. the question is, when they then say this is not an important part of the bill. here's where the obama administration has a problem.

they have been arguing all along that is a key part of the bill, it is not a key part of the bill. if you accept that argument, the whole thing may go. >> do you know why president obama put that into the bill? it is my recollection as a candidate he was not a supporter of an individual mandate. and were you able advise him or others? >> i think he just got advice from the academic community in some sort that it was necessary. of course, the insurance companies love it. this is what the insurance policy companies got out of the individual mandate. i never thought it was necessary. will it do some good? yes, it does make the bill run smoother, it is not a ridiculous idea, but the political price you're paying now for putting the individual mandate in is much more expensive than a relatively small cost that it would have cost if we hadn't put it there. >> if it were not for that, it wouldn't be in front of the supreme court and the law would say, parents, keep your kids

home with you until they are 26 years old. as you said, no one will be denied insurance, those would be two big golden star tickets. >> right. i wouldn't agree if they hasn't put this on it wouldn't go to the court. the republicans hate the bill and every part of it. it would have gone to the supreme court anyway. there's a constitutional question whether the medicaid expansion is unfair. i think that will be defeated, but the 26 states run by right-wing attorney generals would probably appeal whether the individual mandate was in it or not, but the individual mandate is the most unpopular part of the bill and is not necessary to make it work right. >> can you break down, a, if either the individual mandate is struck down, or if the entire law is struck down, who benefits in either scenario? >> well, if the entire law is struck down, it's a disaster for every middle-class family in america. anybody with kids between 18 and 25 now has to figure out how in

the world they are going to insure the kids after getting out of college. people with pre-existing conditions would be denied insurance. people will get kicked off their insurance if they get sick until that thing gets passed. if it gets struck, it will be a total disaster. >> how about politically? >> that's sbregsing, interesting, i think there will be backlash against the republicans and the court. the court is seen as a political body, and i'm one of the 73%. the right-wing justices, their policy overrides what the constitution says. so i think people will see a backlash against the supreme court once people realize how bad this is for them individually and there will be a backlash against the republicans. i don't think it helps the president to lose the bill because it makes the president look weaker. you always want a president to look as strong going into the

general election, but i think romney will pay a price because he's associated with the republican party. and the republican party will be associated with the debt of this bill if that should happen. i still believe it won't. i still believe that kennedy will, in fact, will vote to kill the mandate, i think he'll also vote that the bill can stand on its own. the other thing i want to say is, the preliminary vote was taken yesterday. but that vote can change until the opinion is written and issued. i wouldn't be surprised if votes went back and forth because this is such a complex issue. >> someone wrote justice kennedy will have a full dance card between now and june. >> yes, he is. >> thank you very much, governor, doctor, chairman, not necessarily in that order, dean. thank you so much. a new documentary in "bully" with controversy in its ratings here on "weekends with alex witt." ♪

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not on the runway. no. now to the big business stories of the week with three big money headlines, cards swipes, closing doors, lives changed? we accept a visa and mastercard payment? >> when you swipe your debit or credit card, even the service company says to x credit card company, the visas and mastercards of the world, pay a per chant. reportedly a taxicab company in new york city was breached. because of disclosure laws, a lot of people get e-mails from credit card companies and merchants saying your credit card information may have been compromised. the intent is transparency. the effect is consumer panic, but consumers should keep in

mind because of the credit card fraud protection that you have, you're not responsible for fraudulent charges over $50. the company plans a press conference monday morning, we'll know more then. >> what about best buy closing 50 large stores? is it going to survive? >> yeah, they are rethinking the big-box strategy. we are talking about stores, 1100 of them, that are 30,000 to 45,000 square feet. it is just too big says the ceo brian dunn because of the phenomenon of show-rooming. i go to the score, look around and go home to buy online, largely on amazon. that doesn't bode well for carrying that much real estate. they will close 50 of them. that's only 4.7% of their square footage. they previously promised to shrink it by 10%. what they will open instead are 600 to 800 mini stores, so you'll just see smaller real estate footprints because of showrooming.

>> that makes sense. what about a life-changing money market, the $640 mega millions jackpot. >> it is a multi-state lottery, the big nest the world, involving 42 states plus d.c. and the u.s. virgin islands. we know it looks like maryland is out in front and luke russert is on the story posted in front of the 7-eleven announcing the fact they have the winner there. their press release says it is one of several winners nationwide. that could be exciting news for others this morning. >> it sure could. unfortunately, neither of us are involved either way. regina louis, thank you very much. the match-up of the week, the version of sexy and i know it featuring president obama. here it is. enjoy. >> i work out. look at that.

i work out. when i walk in the spot, this is what i see. everybody stops and stares at ♪

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brush-in with the law leading to his arrest and a court order he's required to take classes in anger management. when george zimmerman was questioned by police after the trayvon martin shooting, it wasn't the first time he was in custody. in july 2005 george zimmerman was arrested in orlando for resisting a florida law enforcement officer and obstructing justice. this police report obtained by nbc news states zimmerman used violence and battery against the aufrts. the lead prosecutor says zimmerman could is been charged with a felony. >> i have seen felony charges with less conduct that mr. zimmerman is alleged to have done that night at the bar. >> reporter: the incident took place at this college bar where an undercover alcohol control officer was arresting several employees for selling to minors. zimmerman began interfering. the officer wrote he identified himself, showed his badge and asked zimmerman to leave the area. i don't care who you are, he

told the officer, asked again to leave, zimmerman stated, f-you. after a short struggle zimmerman was handcuffed and arrested, but the felony charges were reduced to a misdemeanor and the court ordered zimmerman into anger management classes. >> the program recognizes that sometimes people get arrested and they are not really bad people, they are people that made a mistake. >> reporter: state officials said had zimmerman been convicted of a felony he would not have been able to contain a concealed weapons permit. his attorney did not return any repeated calls for comment. now even as that naacp march takes place today, zimmerman's family and friends are pushing back saying when his medical records are released, they back up his story that he was bleeding from the nodes nose and back of his head that night when he shot martin in what he says was self-defense. alex? >> there's a lot more to come on this, thank you, michael isikoff. a new poll shows president

obama pulling away from the potential republican candidates. the president has a big edge of rick santorum and mitt romney there in florida. a little tightener the state of pennsylvania. in 2008 president obama won all three of these states. joining me is peter brown, the assistant staffing director of the quinnipiac poll. we'll look at ohio first, the president is ahead over mitt romney, but no president has won without ohio. what's your take-away? >> the president's numbers have been sloping up. and there are two obvious reasons for it. one is that generally people think the economy is getting better, not gigantically better, but better. that's obviously to the president's benefit. the other thing helping the president's numbers is that politics is the ultimate zero game. what's good for the president is bad for the republicans, and

vice versa. in ohio and florida and pennsylvania, this is helping the president also. >> let's go to florida, president obama leads mitt romney 49 to 42. pretty sizable lead there for the president as well. what is specific to florida that is happening? >> i don't think this is specific to florida. we are seeing it across the country. the president's numbers have gotten better. it is worth remembering the election is seven months off. and three months ago the president trailed mitt romney in these polls. so that, you know, seven months is several eternities in politics. but obviously it's hurt mr. romney. his approval -- when we asked voters if they were favorable or unfavorable of a particular candidate or the president, mr. romney's favorables have dropped, his unfavorables have risen. in florida he's slightly positive on that scale and in ohio he's slightly negative, whereas the president is positive in both states on that

scale. >> how about interestingly the state of pennsylvania, though, because it's a little bit closer there, the president leading mitt romney 45 to 42. that has not changed since the december polls were taken. he was still up by three, but the rick santorum element there, because that is his home state. >> right. obviously, people know santorum in pennsylvania, some like him, some don't, but it has given more credibility to his attacks on mr. romney. so that santorum starts with an edge in pennsylvania. the interesting question is, will mr. santorum be able to carry pennsylvania against mitt romney, which is the next big primary up on april 24. >> okay. peter brown, come back and see us again, we have a lot of numbers to talk in the next seven months from quip pi yak. quinnipiac. thank you. up next, we'll begin with the challenges president obama faces in the november election.

they know they didn't ha havethe money, they think they have the best of the retail candidates. they shouldn't become too overconfident. >> they are sitting pretty positively lately. >> he's made a lot of progress. >> i would put a bullet in osama bin laden's head. number two, i saved the oil industry. number three, i created a lot of jobs. >> he needs to see the trend keep going. he has to really worry about the unknown in terms of international affairs. >> there are a lot of things hovering out there. iran is one thing hovering out there. there's the issue of the gas prices hovering out there. there's the possibility that the economy will stall out, those could be problematic for the president. >> it is hard to make the case he's not the one to handle national security. >> the first priority should have been jobs. the second priority should be jobs. and the third priority should be jobs. >> he still has the uphill battle, particularly when it comes to the african-american

vote and the minority vote. >> this will be a very tough re-election campaign for president obama. it is by no means assured that he's going to win. >> i think the president right now is a narrowed win for the election. >> if they make this a racially tension cam pain, they will mobilize the african-american vote. >> i'm obviously hopeful that on both sides that civility people will be passionate and engaged but also will be civil and sane. >> how much do you think the infining of the gop is helping the president right now? >> i think it is helping a lot. i couldn't have made this up. >> i'll give you an oklahoma guarantee that in 2016 neither party is going to have this many debates this early in the campaign. >> classic republican platform is a very shaky one right now. >> when they started the debates, they were in very good shape. >> it is hard to imagine a newt gingrich nominee would beat

barack obama. i think rick santorum is a weaker general election nominee than mitt romney. it's easier for him to make his way to the middle than it is for rick santorum to make his way to the middle. >> you see voters coming back and saying, well, i don't know. then some of them are saying, look, i just can't get down what the republican presidential candidates are saying. >> the reason advertising is working is because it is fact-based. if i was going to do an ad for a candidate to getless scrutiny than if i was doing an ad for a candy bar. >> i was not seen this campaign because of the campaign finance component. >> the most frightening supreme court decision ever, a rich guy's vote counts more. >> the super pacs don't have to contribute or say who is contributing to them in realtime. >> that's scary stuff. >> americans are disportion gnat ly feeling this.

>> at the end of the day, can i get a job? can i put a roof over my head? >> most people vote with their pocketbooks. >> most people want to be left alone and maybe have a beer at the end of the day. >> so it is almost like if you're trapped in a dark tunnel and finally see a light, you just hope it is not the train coming in and hope that it is sunshine, but it's a light so it gives you hope. >> reverend al has a way to words as all my guest there is. today we'll have more in our best office politics including favorite memories and keepsakes at 1:30 eastern time. >> a new documentary hitting the big screen without a rating. you'll see why "bully" is called moving and troubling. [ woman speaking indistinctly over radio ] home protector plus from liberty mutual insurance... [ alarm blaring ] where the cost to repair your home, replace what's inside, and stay somewhere else if you need to

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it has heartbreaking profiles of children abused by other children. here's a clip. >> i opened my locker, there was a note that said, [ bleep ] aren't welcome here. the teacher was calling roll and said, boys, and then said girls, and then paused and said, kilby. and another teacher told me how they burned fat [ bleep ] and kept talking about it with me in the classroom. >> i'm joined by a film critic for "the new york times." tony, good morning. >> good morning. >> you describe this as moving. there's an emotional connection that will be garnered by many by this film. why is that? >> just listening to these children and in some cases their parents talk about what they have endured at the hands of their fellow students. which is, you know, in some of the cases, sound a bit extreme, but a lot of it will be familiar

to anyone who has been through school. i mean, it is heartbreaking. two of the families have lost their children. children that have committed suicide as a result of the bullying. and you also -- it's very moving because you really feel, and i think this is the point of the movie, you feel the failure of, in particular, the schools and the institutions and the adults to address this problem and listen to these kids. >> while i have not seen the film, reading your article about it, i got so angry about the assistant principal who thought she was doing a good job, and you call her out twice, at least. >> you always feel in a documentary some sympathy and admiration for people signing the release and are willing to be the villain and the person who everyone when they see the scenes or for the mishandling of these incidents. >>. well intended, though. >> well intended. everyone no works in the school does so because they care about the children, but this is one of

those cases where a lot of what we are now starting to think of as a real kind of systemic and social problem is something we have been thinking about for many generations as just normal, this is what kids do. this is just how it is. and a lot of the kids who are the victims of this feel that much more isolated and unprotected because of that attitude. just work it out among yourselves. oh, he was just playing. oh, you know, just -- you know, you'll grow out of it. >> just playing doesn't go to suicide. that's a huge leap. >> and there has to be -- i think this movie is part of a new attention and almost a movement to get schools and parents and responsible adults to focus on this and to figure out how to solve the problem. >> tony, if that's the case, one would presume you want parents, teachers and kids to see this. but all the controversy over the "r" rating versus lack thereof. >> it's been released up rated because the company appeals to

the ratings board to get the "r" rating changed to pg-13. >> why is that, because of the bad language? >> the language, you heard a couple words beeped out there. there's a little bit of language, nothing 12 and 13-year-olds haven't hurt. there's upsetting content. on the other hand, everyone, all the kids if the world can see "the hunger games" and that's a pg-13. the case of the well-intentioned -- i'm not against ratings or the rating system, but i think they tend to be very inflexible and very -- they count swear words, they sort of look at content and isolation and don't think about the context or the impact. this is absolutely a movie that i think is really aimed toward kids. it works on the emotional level that middle schoolchildren or high school children are operating at. it is very emotionally powerful. it has a of impact.

in a way that i think is very deliberately geared to the way that kids experience and respond to these things. >> it sounds like a powerful film. i'm glad you told them to release this without a rating. we need more people to see it. >> i hope so. >> tony scott, thank you so much. straight ahead, they have a secret. how can the supreme court vote on the law, but how can they keep their decision from being leaked? [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods

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countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. >> in the meantime, lots of people questioning this week. our next guest to one of the court's most conservative

justices. and an associate. good morning to you. thanks forring with here, john. >> i'm glad to be here, alex, thanks. so bring us sew into the head. how did he approach this caution? and how do you think he voted yesterday? >> i don't want to predict how the justice voted, but, of course, at oral argument, he was extremely scopette hcl. both of the validity of the mandate, the constitutionality of the mandate under the commerce clause and whether if the mandate goes down, the whole law or any of the law can survive. in his words, when you cut the heart out of the law, the whole thing falls. >> hmm. there were some complaints from democratic lawmakers over the justice's question this week. they suggested judicial activ m activism. so what role do you think politics plays in the justice's decision snuz. >> i know from working with the justice personally, politics plays absolutely no role in his decisions. if you go back over the course

of his career, you'll see a ton of decisions where he voted in what politically would be considered the liberal position. for example, he's voted to uphold the rights of criminal defendants against searches and seizures, the rights to confront witnesses against them. he said there's no constitutional limit on punitive damages, which of course favor his trial lawyers. he really doesn't vote politically. what he votes on is the original understanding of the constitution. and, you know, in this case, he might very well conclude that this is just simply beyond the original understanding of the commerce power. they never would have thought you could compel people. >> as we listen to the recordings this week, what did you think of justice kennedy? i mean, he's the one that everyone thinks it's going to come down to. did you corneller anything by listening to his comments? >> you know, he asked really tough questions of both sides.

sometimes a justice will reveal their views at oral argument and it's pretty clear. i don't think it was clear with justice kennedy. i will say at least the most exciting argument was when he said doesn't this statute fundamentally change the relationship of the federal government to the individual? and doesn't this go beyond what our cases have said before? and, you know, that was a critical insight. that could just have been a question he's asking to see the government's response and not reflective of his own views. but part of the government's case is, hay, hey, this is just controlled by precedent. >> okay. all right. well, john bash from gibson, dunn and crutcher. that is a wrap of this hour. be sure to join me for a two-hour edition of the show straight ahead, more political

talk on "up" with my friend chris hays. that's all to come here on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd...

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