when you sign up online. so switch to verizon -- the #1 voice and broadband provider in your area. it's all included for just $84.99 a month when you sign up online. visit verizon.com/bizdecision, or call 1.888.610.8090 for other great offers. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. verizon. historic ruling. the supreme court rules president obama's health care law is constitutional. >> what that mean fors -- means for the country and us. >> hello again. here's what people are talking about today. a decision in a highly anticipated ruling.

the u.s. supreme court announces its decision on president obama's health care law. >> this was a big win for president obama. the supreme court upholding his signature legislative achievement while a disappointment to republicans, this was not a complete win for the obama administration. >> the supreme court up held the key feature of president obama's health care over haul, the individual mandate which will require nearly all americans to buy health insurance. chief justice john roberts wrote that congress did have the power to pass that reform because it has the power to tax. >> the supreme court has made it clear what we have known all along, that those trying to block health care reform are standing on the wrong side of history. >> the ruling also let stand the part of the law that allowed children to stay on their parent's insurance policies until they're 26. the court struck down the law's medicaid

expansion. the courts ruling has significant implications for the future of health care and for president obama's legacy. the president made passing reform his top priority. when congress approved it in 2010 it was without a single republican vote. >> the motion is adopted. >> democrat s celebrated passage of the bill as a major triumph for social justice. opponents said the government was over reaching. >> 26 states challenged the law arguing that congress over stepped its constitutional authority. >> republicans won't let up. >> the courts ruling will effect nearly every american. it will preserve what president obama considered to be his biggest accomplishment. >> mitt romney said if elected on day 1 we will work to repeal this law. he calls it a bad law

and bad policy. >> that was susanne reporting from washington dc. >> just moments ago mitt romney did react to the high court ruling. here is more of what he had to say. >> as you might imagine, i disagree with the supreme court's decision and i agree with the decent. what the court did not do on its last day in session i will do on my first day if elected president of the united states. that is, i will act to repeal obama care. >> wjz now has the latest on the supreme court's decision on the president's health care reform plan. by a 5 to 4 vote the court upholds most of the law. the court did find problems with the law expanding medicaid. republican leaders say they will try to have the measure over turned. the president is expected to address the nation and wjz will bring it to you live in a few very

minutes. the house will vote on a contempt of congress charge for u.s. attorney general eric holder. he's accused of failing to supply documents for the failed fast and furious weapons tracking program. the white house is declaring executive privilege over the documents in question. no sitting attorney general has ever been held in contempt by congress. in colorado calmer winds could help firefighters gain ground on a wild fire. over 200 houses have been destroyed near colorado springs. conditions -- springs. conditions are too dangerous to start an investigation. the heat of summer is sliding back into the area and conditions continue to be right for wild fires around here. it was nice enough early on today for a jog or í cholesterol í stroll around town -- or stroll around town. it remains another beautiful day but with the heat and humidity becoming more and more

noticeable. we have complete coverage of what's coming next with marty bass in the out book and tim williams in the weather center. good afternoon, tim. >> good afternoon. we have a nice day right now. we're expecting the heat and humidity to start to go up. we have temperatures to talk about right now. as a matter of fact, this is something that marty will talk about here in just a second. let me back it up just a little bit. heat index is at 88. that is right on target with the temperature 90 right now is the actual temperature. because the dew point is at 53 it makes the heat index lower. it feels cooler than the actual temperature. we have the heat concerns to talk about starting tomorrow through the weekend. we send it out to marty bass for more on that. >> reporter: let's go to our graphic. if your county is lit up, it's only a matter of time before yours will be lit up. i'm talking about the northern counties and the eastern shore.

we have excessive heat watches in effect and excess ive heat warnings. that's going to be for tender box, dry conditions. let's take a look at our highs through the weekend. let's be honest about it and not get caught on an individual number. we're going to be floating around 100 this weekend. tropical depression debly is drifting out -- debby is drifting out further. the storm waters may not reseed until next week. debby, the once large tropical storm, is leaving behind flooded neighborhoods. the storm is being blamed for three deaths. more than 100 homes and businesses were flooded. stay with eyewitness news. we'll be right back. ,,,,

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baltimore county police officer in connection with the death of a teenager is today not sitting well with the young man's family who had them calling for charges in the case. mike schuh is live with what his loved ones are saying. good afternoon. >> reporter: good afternoon. you may remember that the family

demanded an indictment. they got an indictment but it's not the one they want. >> 10 years is how long officer james laboard could spend behind bars, now charged with manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in the death of 17 yooerld chris 17-year-old chris foe -- 17-year-old christopher brown. >> this is what i thought they would do, rush something along issue quite up everybody. >> police say officer laboard chased brown after he thought the rock threw a rock at his door. during an altercation brown was asphyxiated and died. >> you pulled him out of the bushes and strangled him and those are the kind of charges you're going to bring. >> county law enforcement says even though laboard is an officer the case was treated like any other. >> the fact that he was an off duty police officer had no bearing. >> this is a difficult day for

the baltimore county police department and a tragic one for everyone involved. >> civil rights leaders are planning a march to fight for justice for christopher brown. >> laboard was released. his attorney had no comment. reporting live, mike schuh. back to you. >> the officer remains under suspension without pay. he'll be arraigned in 30 to 60 days. stay with us, eyewitness news at noon will be right back. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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it could be very abrasive. if the surface gets abraded, it's just the environment >> pelley: this is a cbs news special report. i'm scott pelley in washington. good day. if you haven't heard, the supreme court today upheld most of president obama's health care reform law, including that provision that virtually every american must obtain health insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes. in just a moment the president will be making a statement from the white house. the vote to uphold the law was 5-4 and, in a big surprise to many today it was chief justice john roberts, a conservative appointed by president george w.

bush who provided the deciding vote joining the courts four liberals. so the signature achievement of the obama presidency upheld and norah o'donnell is at the white house this morning. norah? >> reporter: the president will appear shortly in the east room to talk about hows that victory for his administration but his advisors say this was a big fight and a fight worth having and that he's going to use this opportunity to remind americans about the protections and health care coverage that is already in place since this law was enacted over two years ago. so we'll talk about the preventative care that was included, how young people under the age of 26 have been able to stay on their parents insurance for example. all of those things the president wants to remind the american people about in this election year because this white house fully acknowledges that they think most people don't know what's in this bill and they know that a majority of americans in a lot of polls have said they don't like it. scott?

>> pelley: norah, thank you very much. a historic;q0 for the country. the president will be in the east room in a moment. mitt romney had comments about the court's decision a little bit earlier today and we will be bringing those to you after the president's remarks. and now here is the president of the united states. >> good afternoon. earlier today the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the affordable care act. the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago. in doing so, they've reaffirm add fundamental principle: that here in america in the wealthiest nation on earth no illness or accident should lead to any family's financial ruin. i know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this, about who won and who lost. that's how these things tend to be viewed here in washington. but that discussion completely misses the point. whatever the politics today's

decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the supreme court's decision to uphold it. and because this law has a direct impact on so many americans i want to take this opportunity to talk about exactly what it means for you. first if you're one of the more than 260 million americans who already have health insurance you will keep your health insurance. this law will only make it more secure and more affordable. insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive. they can no longer discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions. they can no longer drop your coverage if you get sick. they can no longer jack up your premiums without reason. they are required to provide free preventative care like checkups and mammograms. a provision that's already helped 54 million americans with

private insurance. by this august nearly 13 million of you will receive a rebate from your insurance company because it spent too much on things like administrative costs and c.e.o. bonuses and not enough on your health care. there's more. because of the affordable care act, young adults under the age of 26 are able to stay on their parents' health care plans, a provision that's already helped six million young americans. and because of the affordable care act, seniors receive a discount on their prescription drugs, a discount that's already saved more than five million seniors on medicare about $600 each. all of this is happening because of the affordable care act. these provisions provide common-sense protections for middle-class families and they enjoy broad popular support. and thanks to today's decision all of these benefits and protections will continue for americans who already have health insurance. now, if you're one of the 30 million americans who don't yet have health insurance starting

in 2014 this law will offer you an array of quality affordable private health insurance plans to choose from. each state will take the lead in designing their own menu of options. if states can come up with better ways of covering more people at the same quality and cost this law allows them to do that, too. and i've asked congress to help speed up that process and give states the flexibility in year one. once states set up these health insurance marketplaces known as exchanges insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against any american with a pre-existing health condition they won't be able to charge you more because you're a woman. they won't be able to bill you into bankruptcy. if you're sick, you'll finally have the same chance to get quality affordable health care as anyone else. and if you can't afford the premiums, you'll receive a credit that helps pay for it. today the supreme court also upheld the principle that people

who can afford health insurance should take the responsibility to buy health insurance. this is important for two reasons. first, when uninsured people who can afford coverage get sick and show up at the emergency room for care the rest of us end up paying for their care in the form of higheróñ second, if you ask insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions but don't require people who can afford it to buy their own insurance, some folks might wait until they're stick to buy the care they need which would also drive up everybody else's premiums. that's why even though i knew it wouldn't be politically popular and resisted the idea when i ran for this office we ultimately included a provision in the affordable care act that people who can afford to buy health insurance should take the responsibility to do so. in fact, this idea has enjoyed support from members of both parties-- including the current

republican nominee for president. still, i know debate over this law has been divisive. i respect the very real concerns that millions of americans have shared and i know a lot of coverage through this health care debate has focused on what it means politically. well it should be pretty clear by now that i didn't do this because it was good politics. i did it because i believed it was good for the country. i did it because i believed it was good for the american people. you know, there's a framed letter that hangs in my office right now, it was sent to me during the health care debate by a woman named natoma canfield. for years and years natoma did everything right. she bought health insurance, she paid her premiums on time, but 18 years ago natoma was diagnosed with cancer. and even though she'd been cancer-free for more than a decade, her insurance company kept jacking up her rates year after year. and despite her desire to keep her coverage, despite her fears that she would get sick again, she had to surrender her health

insurance and was forced to hang her fortunes on chance.%i

today i'm as confident as ever that when we look back five years from now or ten years from now or 20 years from now we'll be better off because we had the courage to pass this law and keep moving forward. thank you. god bless you and god bless america. >> pelley: the president of the united states speaking live this afternoon from the east room of the white house.. several minutes ago his opponent for the presidency, mitt romney had a few words to say about the supreme court's decision. he said those remarks in washington. here is what mitt romney had to say. >> as you might imagine, i disagree with the supreme

court's decision and i agree with the decent. what the court did not do on its last day in session i will do on my first day if elected president of the united states. that is, i will act to repeal obama care. let's make clear that we understand what the court did and did not do. what the court did today was say that obama care does not violation the constitution. what they did not do was say that obama care is a good law or that it's good policy. obama care was bad policy yesterday, it's bad policy today. obama care was bad law yesterday. it's bad law today. let me tell you why i say that, obama care raises taxes on the american people by approximately $500 billion. obama care cuts medicare, cuts medicare but approximately $500 billion. even with those cuts and tax

increases, obama care adds trillions to our deficits and national debt and pushes those obligations on the coming generations. obama care means for up to 20 million americans they will lose the insurance they currently have, the insurance they like and want to keep. obama care is a job killer. businesses across the country have been asked what the impact is of obama care. three quarters of those surveyed said obama care makes it less likely for them to hire people and perhaps most troubling of all, obama care puts the federal government between you and your doctor. for all those reasons, it's important for us to repeal and replace obama care. what are some of the things we'll keep in place and must be in place and a reform of our health care system? one, we have to make sure that people who want to keep their current insurance will be able to do so.

having 20 million people up to that number to lose the insurance they want is unacceptable. number two, got to make sure that those people who have preexisting conditions know that they will be able to be insured and not lose their insurance. we also have to assure that we do our very best to help each state in their effort to assure that every american has access to affordable health care. something obama care does not do that must be done is helping lower the cost of health care and health insurance. it's becoming expensive. so this is now a time for the american people to make a choice. you can choose whether you want to have a larger and larger government, more and more intrusive in your life, separating you and your doctor, whether you're comfortable with more deficits, higher debts passed on to the oncoming

generations or whether instaed you want to return to a time when the american people will have their own choice in health care, where consumers will be able to make sure choices as to what kind of health insurance they want. this is a time of choice for the american people. our mission is clear. if we want to get rid of obama care, we're going to have to replace president obama. my mission is to make sure we do exactly that, that we return to the american people the privilege they've always had to live their lives in the way they feel most appropriate, where we don't pass onto coming generations massive deficit and debt. if we want good jobs and a bright economic future we must replace obama care. that's my mission, our work. i'm asking the people of american to join me. if you don't want the course president obama has put us on, a course that the founders envisioned,

join me, help us defeat obama care that makes government too big, too intrusive and killing jobs across this great country. thank you so much. former governor mitt romney, republican nominee for the the presidency speaking on capitol hill. a little bit earlier this morning after the supreme court's ruling. let's have a quick look at some of the provisions of the president's health care law and what happened to them today at the supreme court. most importantly the supreme court upheld what is called the individual mandate. that's the part of the law that says virtually all americans must pay a penalty on their income taxes if they don't buy health insurance. also standing today, the provision that insurance companies must cover pre-existing conditions. that was validated. also validated today, no lifetime limits on coverages.

children may stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 26, that has already taken effect, the supreme court left that standing today. but in a major exception, the supreme court did strike down one part of the law and that was the expansion of medicaid to cover more of the poor. the supreme court said that congress overstepped its authority in telling all 50 states that they must expand medicaid to cover more of the poor. so repeating the headline of the day, the supreme court june holds most of president obama's health care reform law starting in 2014, virtually every american will be required to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. there will be much more about this on your local news on this cbs station on our web site. cbsnews.com and of course we'll have a full wrapup here on the "cbs evening news" from washington tonight. until then i'm scott pelley cbs news. ,,,,