joe johns, i toss things off to you. hey, joe. >> hey, brook. happening now.al immigration law. an election year ruling with huge implications. also, we visit the u.s. town where unemployment is just 1%, and there's a mad scramble to fill thousands of jobs. what has this town booming? plus, why women can't have it all. an essay that has working mothers buzzing. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm joe johns, and you're in "the situation room." >> it's a long that sparks controversy and outrage as well as sympathy and imitators. today the supreme court told arizona it went too far in trying to stem illegal immigration, taking matters into its own hand that constitutionally belongs to the federal government. the justices struck down three major portions of the law but upheld one of the most

only joe johns with that one. joe, we appreciate it.for the update in that case. >>> now to this. i imagine it's nighttime, you're at home and you're trying to sleep and you hear this. [ gunfire ] this is fighting, this is near the capitol city of syria. rebel forces now say more than 14,000 people, 14,000, have been killed since this uprising began. almost all of them were civilians, men, women, children. and here, here in an area near those explosions you see body after body after body, the lives taken. more than 50 people. this is a neighborhood. families live here. many are calling it a complete massacre. but it wasn't this picture, it was a picture we're about to share with you that really made us stop. i have to warn you, it's tough to look at. you're going to see bodies of elderly people, right here, they have been shot in their heads. they are believed, too, that they were killed by syrian forces. and we always have to reiterate when we show you videos out of syria, cnn can't confirm this because syria limits us from entering an

joe johns will join us so that we can chat about this a little bit. joe, are you there? we'll get him a little later and talk about what this this means politically moving forward. >>> and in the meantime, let's do this, shall we, because what a day it was. if you had your tv news set on, it was a whiplash because another war has been renewed with just four months until election day. republicans are really squaring off and saying they're going to take obama care to the matt, but this thing, kind of trump that had argument. because the first sitting cabinet member ever to be cited for con empty it of congress, well, he heard it and he heard it loud and clear. the house voted to hold the attorney general in contempt for failing to turn over documents related to that fast and furious oig gun running operation that really failed, the sting that resulted in the death of a u.s. border agent. more than 100 democrat positive get about it, we're not even going to vote on this, we'll boycott it and walk out in protest all together. the white house and eric holder dismissing all of

let's bring in joe johns. not only does he cover washington for us, he's also an attorney. i'm going to ask you a number of questions about what is taking place, joe. it is very much inside baseball. the way we have been talking about it at this point. let's put this in perspective for our viewers. the fact that, you know just bogey back to the atf, and how it lost what was a thousand-plus guns, there was also the death of a u.s. border patrol agent and a lot of questions to why this operation was taking place the way it was. now let's fast forward and the man that's being held responsible here is our attorney general. kind of explain to our viewers what's happening right now on the hill, what that means for our attorney general, and why we need to pay close attention to this at this point. >> well, first let me say that -- i have a law degree and i worked in washington for years with -- lawyers and the judiciary. i don't hold myself out as an attorney. but i think that -- you have to talk about two things going on here right now. first, there is the issue of the -- what's h

i want to bring joe johns back into this coverage of what's happening. the attorney general of the united states held in contempt of congress. 255 to 67. but most democrats simply walked out in protest. joe, you heard congressman emanuel cleaver say -- and he was i think using some signals, some code language if you will, that this has some kind of smell to it. and i know what a lot of members of the african-american community have been implying, have been suggesting given the fact that the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, is himself african-american, but how do you interpret what emanuel cleaver has just said? >> reporter: i think you interpret it as some very angry members of congress who essentially sort of to use legal terms, don't believe due process was used here. probably the pointman for eric holder throughout this entire controversy has been the congressman from the state of maryland who's pushed this thing again and again and again pointing out that, look, there are something like 100 different reasons why the investigation ha

joe johns joins us from capitol hill to tell us what mr. boehner said.know, generally, when you have things like this that come to a head they get negotiated out before you get to the final conclusion which would be in this case a vote on contempt on the floor of the house of representatives. there have been behind the scenes talking as recently as last night, but clearly, no solutions have been reached. the speaker of the house just a little while ago talking in the basement of the united states capitol, says he now does plan to proceed with that vote contempt against attorney general holder. listen. >> brian terry's family has a right to know what happened. the american people have a right to know what happened. and we're going to proceed. we've given them ample opportunity to comply. even as late as yesterday. the white house sat down with some of our staff that outlined what they'd be willing to do. unfortunately, they're not willing to show the american people the truth about what happened. it's an unfortunate -- it's an unfortunate place where we a

i'm joe johns. all eyes on the supreme court expected to issue its ruling on thursday on president obama's signature first-term achievement, health care reform. it's a hot topic on the

joe johns, cnn, washington. >>> we're almost half way through the year and our christine romans says time to check on your fiscal health and financial portfolio. >>> we're nearing the half way point of this very volatile year for the market. christine romans reminds us it's time to take the pulse of your portfolio. >> reporter: the debt crisis in europe, slowing growth in china, gridlock in washington, ace fiscal cliff looming. enough to make the markets jittery but karen stone is calm. >> i watch it go up. i watch it go down. i'm pretty aggressive, yeah, at this point. i don't have any need to take the money out. >> reporter: karen is a 29-year-old realtor living in new york city. she doesn't have a retirement plan through her job so she's hired a financial planner to help her look long term. >> stacy, we're half way through 2012. markets are up. stocks are still up. it's been a pretty volatile year so far. tell me about a woman like karen stone. what should her risk tolerance be? >> well, it really starts with a rule of thumb. that is take your age minus from 100. so for karen, we

joe johns, cnn, washington. >>> president barack obama is off the campaign trail this weekend, but on monday he's on the move again planning stops to new hampshire and massachusetts. tuesday he heads south to georgia and the key battleground state of florida. >>> a horse race with a one-of-a-kind competitor and a heart stopping finish. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. >>> all right, and now an unforgettable moment in horse racing history. it happened at the royal ascot in great britain, one of the most glamorous races in the world, and the queen of england, all of them waiting to see if an australian horse that has never lost a race could actually pull it off one more time. cnn's jonathan mann is with us now, and not just any horse. >> this is the fastest horse on four legs. black caviar that has run until today had won 21 races and never lost one and a lot of horses run races, but to neve

we want to bring in our crime and justice correspondent, joe johns.this was new information coming kind of at the end, saying there's just been a mistake, an impression of what this whole thing was about. and still, we got the vote -- >> we absolutely got the vote. and i have to say, there were people, republicans on capitol hill who take issue with that "fortune" report, and senator charles grassley from iowa, who's one of the people who actually started this investigation, at the base level on capitol hill, put out a big statement saying, hey, you know, wait a minute on this report, because if you look at it, you still have to believe that a lot of people on capitol hill at the justice department and in other places, pretty much accepted a lie and preferred to go with the lie, even though there was a better defense for the justice department. so the bottom line here is that the inspector general is looking into all of this, and whenever the facts are released from the inspector general investigation, that's hopefully going to be the closest and sure

joe johns has more. >> they came to a decision, and i respect it. >> reporter: how could one of theire court side with liberals on the court to uphold the constitutionality of the democratic president's health care plan? but in many ways it was still a conservative decision. >> this was a conservative judicial philosophy that says the role of the courts is to be the last resort, not the first resort. we only strike something down when it's a big piece of economic regulation if we absolutely half to. that's still quite conservative. >> reporter: and this type of thinking shouldn't be a surprise coming from roberts. you need look no further than his confirmation hearings from the evidence. >> judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. judges are like umpires. umpires don't make the rules, they apply them. the role of an umpire and a judge is critical to make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. >> reporter: translation, it's not about legislating from the bench. it's about finding a narrow path to deciding cases, not exactly what then

i can see abigail adams sitting and clutching her scorching hot cup of joe, john adams saying sit downnd drink your damn coffee, woman. she really was the brains of the outfit. my mother is overworked, tired, but her still solid body stood hard as a rock. i'm not going to cry, as a tear falls down from her face. don't cry, mom, don't cry. [cheers and applause] >> that was her first time ever. yay! and up next we have indiana telepenova. >> a recipe for water. start with the color magenta, a burning asphalt, of beach ball sighing out its life, a garden grown on accident after accident, add a father painting shelves on the cove, a pinch of guilt, statues of isabella butter flisse -- butterflies, and extinct alpha betts, a teaspoon of autumn leaves, a shepard playing with the winds, some animal begging for snow. mix vigorously like the mountain mixes up its slopes. preheat the bed of a star to -- 240 light-years away. thank you. and next is -- [cheers and applause] >> next is robin black. >> hi, robin! >> oh, ok. i had to know. this is called "eviction notice." the police turned us away.

i'm joe johns. you're in "the situation room."r millions of people in florida being drenched or put in danger by tropical storm debby. florida's governor that has declared a state of emergency. you need a boat to get across some streets in the tampa bay area. up to two feet or rain or more is expected in parts of florida, as debby inches northeast in the gulf of mexico. we're told the rain is falling at about five, five inches an hour in some locations. this might mare is expected to last for days until debby makes landfall this week. we're also watching another disaster. this one out west, where massive wildfires are being fueled by hot, dry winds. more than 10,000 people have been forced from their homes by the latest blaze racing through the sky. cnn's jim spellman is standing by in colorado, and cnn's john za re zarrella is in florida. but first severe weather expert chad myers with a new storm advisory from the national hurricane center. chad. >> joe, the very latest is the 5:00 advisory. we get new advisories every six hours

and jokes, comedian joe diveto and fox commentary, mixed martial arts. signature next to me is john gibson. syndicated show named after him. he continues to. it's new york times correspondent. good to see you. today online gary lieb presents a short film of new yorkers and love of coffee. your first cup of joe, what did you make of it? ba, ba, ba, bababa. ba -- >> okay, somebody get him out of here now. >> please ignore. there it is. >> okay. let's go back here. >> greg: he let go of leno. president obama if that is real name, reportedly stick a hollywood fund-raiser disappointing and olivia wild. it was the chief technology harper read and why is hussein jerking their chain. perhaps he is wary of a backlash. some of the biggest fans in lala land they could hurt him in swing voters. otherwise and energize the g.o.p. we don't like what is he doing but we understand it. he has to raise the money. it's a bad situation. speaking of bad situations --. ♪ ♪ >> i got crabs on the beach once. spring break. long storm. is obama giving him the cold shoulder or both. >> he has good reason. to.

joe johns, thank you. >>> we'll stay in washington. historic ruling here.talk to a republican senator from maine, olympia snowe, who is retiring because of debilitating partisanship in washington. we'll get her reaction. senator olympia snowe, next. plp blp. >>> not a single republican in congress voted in favor of the affordable care act, but one of them did when it was still a bill in committee, maine senator olympia snowe. here's what she said back in 2009. >> was this bill all that i would want? far from it. is it all that it can be? no. but when history calls, history calls. >> senator olympia snowe joining me now live. senator, welcome. history came acalling again today with this decision, didn't it? >> it sure did. i mean, it was an unprecedented decision in many ways on an issue that has wide-ranging ramifications for all americans. >> you and i were talking at commercial break and you just kept saying, wow, what a day. can you go a little farther than that? >> well, absolutely. i mean, obviously, the decision that was rendered by the court today ha

. >> joe johns is live in washington and so, joe, long fight, four years, millions spent. big investigation. big prosecution and i suppose a big headline today a bad two weeks for the doj, first john edwards and now this. >> it has been a bad month for the justice department or month or what have you. the roger clemens case, this was referred to the justice department by a congressional committee on capitol hill after he testified in a deposition and a hearing and denied the use of performance enhancing drugs. so this thing was sort of handed to the justice department and they kind of had to do it just the same. it's been a long road for roger clemens. let's listen to what he had to say after his acquittal in federal court in d.c. >> really all you media guys that know me and followed my career, -- [ applause ] i put a lot of hard work into that career and so again, i appreciate my teammates that came in and all of the e-mails and phone calls. >> so why did this case break down for the government? there are a lot of reasons but two very quick reasons, number one, the star w

joe johns is live from washington, d.c., which is why you are such a busy man.t? >> the polls tell the obama people immigration is a good issue for them at least right now. they are slamming romney for not coming up with solutions, ashleigh, the obama people say we don't have a complete solution but we have come up with a stop gap solution. they have come up with this idea to let people who came to the united states by the age of 16, lived here up to five years, say they graduated from high school or got an honorable discharge from the military, no crime convictions, then they can get work permits. so that's just a piece of this. they say they've done more than mitt romney has come up with at least so far ashleigh. >> joe, we have this itty bitty taste of how mitt romney reangted to this over the weekend. and then bob schieffer did what all of us are taught to do from day one in journalism school -- >> he's the best. >> isn't he? he asked, if you are president romney, would you repeal this and it was incredible. walk me through it. >> this is really interesting.

let's check in first with joe johns. >> hey, carol. e john edwards case. the government has a big decision to make as jurors in that case start speaking up. we'll have more on that at the top of the hour. >>> i'm christine romans in new york, following a disappointing jobs report for the month of may. we now have three months in a row of sub par jobs growth, and that's making for some pretty ugly politics and economics. i'll have that story at the top of the hour. >>> also ahead, it ain't your mom's snow white. >> mirror, mirror on the wall. who is fairest of them all? >> you are the fairest. but there is another destined to surpass you. >> ooh! the new "snow white and the huntsman" movie, and this action flick is about girl power. in 40 minutes, i'll talk with two of the movie stars, kristen stewart and chris you do a lot of kayaking? no. look i'm going through the rapids. okay... i'll take it. sync your card with facebook, foursquare and twitter for savings. that's the membership effect of american express. >>> good morning, i'm carol

. >> cnn's joe johns has been covering the trial. and he is live in greensboro, north carolina. i've got to tell you, i was watching you yesterday as you're running in and out of the courthouse bringing in all of those little nuggets of details that we're sprinkling through. now what happens? a lot of people say there will not be a retrial. >> that's for sure. and it's anybody's guess, you know. the government didn't really hint at what they plan to do. it is their right to bring the case if they want to. just wanted to show you the greensboro, north carolina, news and record this morning. edwards walks free. the question, of course, what happens next for him. you know, that statement on the steps of the courthouse here last night was really calibrated to encourage the government not to reprosecute this case. he certainly expressed a lot of contrition there. he talked about his family, especially his daughters including quinn, the daughter he had with rielle hunter, his mistress while his wife elizabeth edwards was alive. so when you look at the situation, anything could happen.

i want to go to capitol hill, to joe johns.earing this correctly, we could get a vote on these charges some time in the course of the next two hours. what are we looking at? >> reporter: well, the house republican leadership moving forward with this over the bitter objections of democrats. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi just a little while ago saying here at the capital that this makes a witch hunt look like a day at the beach. democrat heath shuler saying, this is the kind of thing -- this is the reason why he's stepping down from the united states congress. an ever-growing number of democrats threatened to walk out at some point on this vote. first, it was the congressional black caucus. we're also hearing about members of the asian pacific caucus, members of the hispanic caucus. members of the progressive caucus. all talking about walking out at some point, though many are being encouraged to at least get a vote in on this criminal contempt citation that's coming up on the house floor. really an uproar here on capi

i'm joe johns. and you're in "the situation room". >>> all eyes on the supreme court expected to issue its ruling on thursday on president obama's signature first-term achievement, health care reform. it's a hot topic on the2007 supporting president bush's use of the same authority. >> that's right. and with the supreme court case on health care reform expected to come down on thursday, joe, i think it's going to get a lot hotter. >> jim acosta, thanks so much for that. appreciate it. >>> now we're just going to get a little more on this with cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. the candidates argue over the economy and who has a better plan for the future. when you start looking at the water's edge, it gets more complicated. >> it is very complicated. it's very difficult when you're president to talk about how the rest of the world effects us. because you don't want to look like you're whining. you don't want to look like you're assigning blame elsewhere. but having said that, the truth of th

joe johns reporting. >> thanks. >>> this just coming in.be potentially a tell tale sign of who will wind up within the white house. the first exit polls are now out in wisconsin. they're just now coming in to "the situation room." john king is at the magic wall. >> let me give you this headline, brew the coffee, my friend. it looks like we'll be in for a late night, a close race on the exit polls. the polls don't close until 9:00. we can say this shapes up as a very close race. let's look at a cup of big things in this election. remember, more than 60 million and as much as $80 million on the recall election and people complaining about the outside money and huge donations. when did you decide to vote. only 3% of the voters in the wisconsin recall said they decided today. only 4% in the last few days and only five in the month of may. 88% and nearly 90% of the voters decided before that. so all of that money spent in the last couple of weeks. yes, months ago, but all of that money in the last two weeks. nine in ten voters say they made up t

drama here, joe johns, and there he is from washington. officials from the white house and the justice department met with house republicans to try to reach an agreement on this. and so what happened here? >> they didn't get it. i have to tell you, and i mean, this is sort of an international embarrassment for the united states. you had a gun running operation, fast and furious and supposedly guns walking across the border to try to catch cartel members, and really a botched thing from the very beginning, and everybody knew it. and now, we have this continuing drama and the spector of the top law enforcement officer of the united states being cited for the first time in history of full contempt by the house of representatives, and so far, it still looks like it is going to happen, and no negotiated solution that we know of. l listen to the speaker of the house today. >> we are going to proceed. we have given them ample opportunity to comply, even as late as yesterday. the white house sat down with some of our staff to outline what they'd b

joe johns there on the hill for us. joe, thanks so much. of course, we'll have more on this contentious issue when former attorney general alberto gonzales joins me in just about 30 minutes. >>> of all the time i've been live in iraq what went through your mind. >>> this is the geographic south pole. ♪ the radical new macbook pro with retina display. ♪ innovation...in every dimension. ♪ [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! >>> and just a quick note for all of you heading out the door, you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone or heading to work watch it live from your desktop. g

joe johns is in washington. testimony and deliberated for ten hours. what was the key to their verdict? >> you know, carol, where do you start? i mean, the first case was a mistrial. in the second case, p star witness, his credibility got dismantled on the stand. the defense was actually able to call the main part of evidence against the baseball player a pile of garbage. and which is sort of -- it sort of was. a bunch of syringes and medical waste stuffed down in a crushed beer can that this trainer of -- for clemens kept around for seven whole years. so from start to finish, this was the kind of case that was just a real problem for the prosecutors and so it is no surprise, really, that this case was -- basically it trial for some of -- nine weeks and the jury was only out about ten hours or so, carol. >> was this another government whiff? should federal prosecutors not have brought this case? >> you know, that's a very good question. first thing the federal prosecutors will say to you in the politest way possi

our senior correspondent joe johns has been looking into the story for us. it is pretty chilling.s going on here? >> it is messing business no matter how you look at it. a hoax that sends guys with guns expecting trouble. this has been going for years, but now authorities say they're starting to see possible political motivations behind it. >> reporter: the start of a bad situation, a call comes into the local 911 communications center. >> just shot my wife. >> you just shot your wife? >> i don't think i can come down there. >> where's your wife now? >> she's dead now. you don't know where she's located now. >> i know where she's located. >> well i know where she's located. >> even the s.w.a.t. team shows up, locked and loaded, ready for trouble and problem is it was a bogus 911 call from the start. knownsa s.w.a.t.ing it is a crime committed hundreds of times over the decade says. s.w.a.t.ers have targeted at least three conservative bloggers. in fact, the call you just heard sent the police to cnn contributor eric ericssoericsso. my wife was washing dishes at the sink when see a

so we sent joe johns to capitol hill to catch up with him and keep him honest.n after trying to track him down. what did he say? >> congressman landry says he is being taken out of context. he says he was talking about health care, not tsa or muslims or airports. he was on the radio talking about how the administration makes religious accommodations at tsa so why not in health care. but if that was the point he was making it got derailed by the example he used. tsa regulations on head coverings specifically apply to people of all faiths not just muslims. here's what he said. >> you said that muslims got waivers. what did you mean by that? do you know something we don't know? >> well, look, you want to take my words out of context. i wrote an op ed on this piece in february. we issued a press release. it has been on our website since february. at the end of the day the administration has made accommodations, okay? for people who are wearing religious -- traditional religious clothings, muslims wearing headpieces or not there, have been accommodations made but it'

kate. >> joe johns, thank you so much. yesterday. >>> other news we're watching in the movies it's a familiar story line. superheroes joins forces to tackle a world crisis. this week we catch up with three of our cnn heroes who are doing just that. teaming up to help aids orphans in the african nation of mali. >> reporter: marie desilva was a nanny in the u.s. when she started a school for aids orphans in her native malawi. honored in 2008, she's joined forces with two other honorees. >> i'm so good. >> magnus mcfarland barrow was recognized in 2010 for his work feeding school children around the globe. >> he started his organization in malawi. i just asked him to consider us. >> i was very struck by her. i felt we were people that could work together. >> this is the stove. >> today magnus's organization mary a's meals provides free po poorige daily to her students. >> the children always have something to eat. he is a state's exhbit to me. >> 2010 honoree makes solar lanterns for rural african communities. he visited her