the court under john robert, jr. and these four cases will always be associated with the robert court. and i wanted good back stories. you will read about a seattle mother who called herself a mama bear before sarah palin coined the term. her effort was to get her daughter into an over-subscribed high school in seattle. she found the school district was using race as one of the number of tie breakers she filled a lawsuit and challenged it. it went all the way to the supreme court. and i found along the way, and didn't start with this in mind, these four cases had something else in common: they had very smart conservative or libitarian lawyers behind them. you would call them agenda cases in some ways. they were issues the lawyers or organizations backing them wanted to get to the supreme court for a final decision. and they had their eye on an increasingly conservative and hoping to have a sympathetic supreme court. i wanted it to be a book that is a good read and not a heavy legal book. that is not what i wanted to w

john roberts was the youngest chief justice ever named to the court since the great john marshall at so did you ever have the feeling that it was too soon to judge or to offer to take on the roberts court? >> i did actually and i point out in the book and i tried to make it very clear that i do consider this still a young court, even though the oldest justice is 80 and you really only have i think now three justices that are still in their 50's. but i did wonder about that. i guess i should tell you how the book really came about first. i was covering the elena kagan's confirmation hearings in the summer of 2010 when i received really two extraordinary e-mails the one e-mail was from an editor at shimek -- simon & schuster simon & schuster who was very interested in the book about the supreme court and the other e-mail was from a very faithful pbs fan, a young man who attached a photo who asked me to marry him. [laughter] >> marcia is already taken by the way. >> i was but i did show it to my husband. by the way it was such a beautiful proposal i showed it to my husband who who propos

the court under john robert, jr. cases will always be associated with the robert court. and i wanted good back stories. you will read about a seattle mother who called herself a mama bear before sarah palin coined the term. her effort was to get her daughter into an over-subscribed high school in seattle. she found the school district was using race as one of the number of tie breakers she filled a lawsuit and challenged it. it went all the way to the supreme court. and i found along the way, and didn't start with this in mind, these four cases had something else in common: they had very smart conservative or libitarian lawyers behind them. you would call them agenda cases in some ways. they were issues the lawyers or organizations backing them wanted to get to the supreme court for a final decision. and they had their eye on an increasingly conservative and hoping to have a sympathetic supreme court. i wanted it to be a book that is a good read and not a heavy legal book. that is not what i wanted to write >> john ro

did you get to know chief justice john roberts? in did, we shared a suite the old executive office building on the first floor. street time, the 17th side was used in the counsel's office. the back right corner of that area. so we had a terrific white house office.s i was seceded by chris cox. chief justice was there for the beginning and he went to the '86.ral's office in fred fielding was the boss. e came back subsequently and served president bush as his chief council as well, the counsel of the president. and dick hauser, one of the chief legal counsel for beauing deputy counsel. so we had extraordinary -- larry the t went on the be secretary of the navy in that office. was the bottle washer, brief case carrying youngest guy in the office that got to do all of the tuff like protect presidential seal. >> what year? 1985-'86. >> be the most candid you can be about john roberts. >> he cannot shoot a jump shot. we were 0-10. ringers.ought in we couldn't win for the life of us. the e -- peter robinson, speech writer lives next door

and republican governors of course followed republican john roberts is decision right to a tee. there have been a few exceptions a growing number mostly recently most recently ohio governor john case and have come to their senses and okayed the medicaid expansion but twenty five republican governors have yet to do so those twenty five republican governors have to put it bluntly screwed the people who put them into office the people who would get health care under the medicaid expansion are too poor to qualify for subsidies on the obamacare exchanges and too wealthy to qualify for medicaid without the expansion it's an estimated five million people who are now caught in this awful health care coverage gap thing republican governors say they're worried about the cost of medicaid expansion but since that expansion will be covered almost entirely by the federal government they're just flat out lying. this is really all about damaging the obama presidency. since the day the barack obama took office the republican party has made taking down his presidency its number one goal so there'

john roberts, there were 20-plus otes against john roberts for confirmation. there were more than 40 votes alito when he was confirmed. an you comment on what the confirmation process has become compared when you were confirmed? two of us were confirmed in days.on before that there was the failed bork.ation of judge robert there was justice thomas's nomination. think the committee was mindful that its public because n had declined of those two nominations. there was a deliberate effort to be civil. will been no women on the enlarged the they committee by two and had senator carol mosely,braun were added to the committee. in june. nated any senator could have put a my hearing o that wouldn't come up until the new way.was under and although there were three none of the s, three tried to stop the from mation process occurring speedily. the ggest supporter on judiciary committee was not now biden. president joe he was the chair of the committee. but it was orrin hatch. i had, as was announced, a affiliation with the american civil liberties union. one senator aske

where you saw john roberts essentially say, racism today isn't serious enough to warrant this federalis law anymore. the result as you can see across the country is states passing laws that restrict the franchise in a way that disproportionately affects people of color. >> what about the argument though the town's argument that they are just trying to improve a troubling area that actually is the city's role to try to rehabilitate problem areas? you think the alternative longer term might be far worse, right? >> that's an important question. not everything that disproportionately impacts minorities is illegal. the question is whether or not there was a less discriminatory alternative available. the town found one. the town partnered with fair housing groups and found money to set up a situation where people like -- own their homes for decades and worked hard to own homes and would have been out of homes and unable to buy new ones were able to have new residences at lower cost inside the same neighborhood. the answer to that question, as long as there's a less discriminatory alternativ

and he sat down with our own john roberts to take a look and speak about the state of christian music and the holiday season. john has the details now. ♪ ♪ >> walk into any contemporary christian church on any sunday and you're bound to hear a chris tom there, in song. >> when i'm writing, i'm thinking about the church as a whole, songs that help give voice to the average person. what can they sing to god? >> more than 100 of his worship songs are sung every week in tens of thousands of churches. the music is infectious, carrying the audience along on pop melodies and easy to sing choruses. >> i'm thinking, how do i make this the average guy who is tone deaf and can't clap on two and four? how can i write it? >> not every christian artist believes in the pop phrase formula. some say it's become simple and shallow. tomlin disagrees, insisting he's just a traditionalist rolling with the times. >> we're always trying to say something. we're trying to write in a way that's singable for people, in with the times. the hymns that we've come to love, when they were written, they were modern a

i'm john roberts.watching fox where more news and proposals are always on the way. >>> i'm chris ren old. observe obamacare goes into effect on january 1st. but more problems with the website could bring a chaotic beginning to the new year. >> there probably will be glitches. there have been glitches before and there probably will be glitches moving forward. >> we'll discuss obamacare in 2014 with former governor howard dean, and dr. scott gottlieb of the american enterprise institute. then nsa leaker edward snowden releases a christmas message with more warnings about government surveillance. >> a child born today will g

i'm john roberts. good night and happy new year from washington.ews our story with bill hemmer. >>> they said it could not be done.h they said there was not enough news to go around. nearly two decades later, fox news channel and you, our viewers, have proven them wrong. ♪ ♪ >>> hello, i'm bill hemmer, welcome to fox news, "our story." the channel launch from a more modest studio october 7th, 1996. from the very beginning there has been a mission. fair and balanced news and a motto: we report, you decide. today, i can report that you have

john roberts has these details. he's live in atlanta. hello, john. >> good afternoon to you, shep. sugar coat it. this is not good for the president. in fact, harvard's director of the institute of politics told me that when he saw these numbers come back, he thought, wow, this is going to make news. and here's the reason why. take a look at millennial, thos 29, say they do not support obama care. only 22% say they will sign up. and even among people who currently don't have health insurance less than a third of them plan to enroll. couple of reasons why. more than half of people think that under obama care health care costs are going to rise while some 44% believe that the quality of care is going to go down. now here's the problem for the president. the financial assumptions in obama care count on a very large group of young healthy people to support the older sicker people who go to the doctor and the hospital more often. trey grayson, the director of the institute of politics, said this has to be very concerning for the white house. >> puts them really behind the eight ball on

richard nixon, john roberts, and mitt romney. i thought they were all at a level so far about other people that i knew. >> how do you measure that? >> intuitive grasp of facts and the ability to retain so much information that they know everything before you tell them. i asked tagg romney, what is the most frustrating thing about your dad? he already knows everything i want to tell him. he is constantly reading. genius is the ability to absorb information, organize it, and act on it in a successful, systematic way. it is not physics. not natural signs genius. it is political genius. those three were political geniuses. >> how much time did you spend around richard nixon? >> a lot for two years, 1978 to 1980, and quite a lot from 1988 to 1990 when the library was being built. >> what did he do at the library? >> i was executive director overseeing construction in yorba linda, california, when he was back in new jersey organizing its contents. i was organizing its construction, back and forth. i was one of his writing staff. >> wha

but this year, chief justice john roberts, discarded that consensus by striking down a key part of theoting rights act. >> what the court did today is stab the voting rights act of 1965 in its very heart. >> flash forward to this week and we know a series of states have begun restricting voting rights act. mississippi, texas, north carolina, under part of the law ruled unconstitutional, have passed strict forms of voter i.d. and this week, one of the most pivotal states in presidential politics entered the fray. this is a local story with a huge national implication. and here to tackle it, we have kathleen clyde from ohio, professor from the university baltimore school of law, and author, and here with me in studio, zachary roth from msnbc, covering this story in ohio and republicans' attempt to make it easier to purge the voting roles. welcome to all of you. zack, let's start with you. what is ohio doing this week? >> well, ohio lawmakers just passed a law, heavy republican support that would really do two things that voting rights advocates tell me they're concerned about. one, it wo

. >> a one hour special as part of that john roberts with eating on taxpayer dime. >> food stamp program designed to be for a point where you're down, things weren't going well, it's not quote a point in your life. it's this is life for me. this is how i live. cute chicks doing my thing. you know? this is the way you want to live. i don't see anything changing. i don't got a paycheck coming in. i qualify. >> this guy is a parasite. my contention that the obama administration is encouraging parasites to take as much as they can with no remorse this, is how a country declines. become a weak nation. >> so sharpton made it i was talking about all of the poor in america not just one guy. we brought that to nbc's attention. they did nothing. now we have a new deceit centering on the late nelson mandela. here is what sharpton and karen finney said friday night. >> so in terms of history, when they have bill o'reilly calling him a communist. he said about nelson mandela last night on fox. >> 95 years old, nelson mandela, i spent time in south africa. he was a communist, this man. >> yes. >> a co

he sat down with our own john roberts to talk about the state of christian music as well as the war onalk into any contemporary christian church on any sunday and you're bound to hear a chris tomlin song. >> when i write songs i really think of the church as a whole and try to write songs to give voice to just the average person out there. what can they sing to god? >> more than a 100 of tomlin's worship songs are sung every week in tens of thousands of churches, the songs are infectious, prompting people to sing along in the chorus. >> i think, how can i make it for the average guy who is tone deaf and who can't clap on two and four, how do i make it easier for them. >> some say modern worship music is simple and shallow, tom lin disagrees, saying he is just rolling with the times. >> we're trying to write in a way that is singable for people. in with the times, all the hymns that we came to love were modern in their time, and i'm sure people complained about those, you know? >> beyond the music and stage show, tomlin is involved in social causes, the fight to end human trafficking, a

john roberts, there were 20 plus votes against john roberts for confirmation. there were more than 40 votes against justice alito when he was confirmed. can you comment on what the confirmation process has become compared to what it was like when you were confirmed? >> justice breyer and i were confirmed in halcyon days. had been before that, the failed nomination of judge robert bork. there were justice thomas' turbulent nomination. i think the committee was mindful that it's public reputation had declined because of those two nominations. so there was a deliberate effort to be civil. there had been no women on the committee. so they enlarked the committee by two. and they had senator feinstein and carol moseley braun were added. , added to the committee. i was nominated in june. any senator could have put a hold on me so that my hearing wouldn't come up until the new term was underway. although there were three negative votes none of the three tried to stop the confirmation process from occurring speed i wily. my biggest supporter on the judiciary committee w

subsidies they don't qualify and they get in and it's being in this is intentional sabotage of the john roberts authorized in the supreme court it's not built into the law it's not the way they're always written this is the supreme court did this and this is intentional sabotage being done by republicans in these states at what point and what these republicans are saying what rick perry is saying to texans what rick scott is saying to floridians is you paid federal taxes it was in the federal tax system and i'm not going to let you get that money back i'm not going to allow that money to come from washington back into the state of florida i'm not going to allow that money to come back into the state of texas don't these people in these red states have the right to have their own tax money back and they'll take care of that at the election this is a very big moment for federalism we're going to see how this works these governors are standing in the way they don't believe in to be there any logically or they don't think will work one thing that's interesting though is at this point the litmus tes

i'm john roberts.ks for watching fox where more news and proposals are always on the way. >>> i'm chris ren old. observe obamacare goes into effect on january 1st. but more problems with the website could bring a chaotic beginning to the new year. >> there probably will be glitches. there have been glitches before and there probably will be glitches moving forward. >> we'll discuss obamacare in 2014 with former governor howard dean, and dr. scott gottlieb of the american enterprise institute. then nsa leaker edward snowden releases a christmas message with more warnings about government surveillance. >> a child born today will grow

john roberts had 23 plus votes against -- more than 40 votes against justice alito. and you talk about what the process has become compared to what it was like when you were confirmed? >> another justice and i were confirmed. there was a failed nomination. justice thomas had a turbulent nomination. there is public reputation that had declined. there was a deliberate effort. there had been no women on the committee. enlarge the committee by two. two were added into the committee. i was nominated in june. any senator could have put a hold on me so that my hearing wouldn't, until the new term is underway. there were three negative votes, but none of the three try to stop the confirmation process from acquiring speedily. my biggest supporter on the judiciary committee was not vice president joe biden. it was was a committee. it was hatch. not one senator asked me any questions. about that affiliation. my hope is that we would get back to the way it was. we spoke about justice alito. justice kagan and justice sotomayor had many negative votes. a great man that i knew and

." >>> good evening, i'm john roberts in tonight for bret baier. happy new year to you.th care emerges. people go to clinics and emergency rooms and pharmacies, hoping their coverage comes through. white house corresp

john roberts tracked down a surfer in california eating on the taxpayers dime. >> the food stamp program designed to be for a point in your life where you're, you know, down, things weren't going well. it is not, quote, a point in your life. it's kind of this is life for me. >> yeah. this is how i live, man. chicks, doing my thing. you know? this is the way i want to live and i don't see anything changing. i got a paycheck coming in and i qualify. >> this guy's a parasite. my contention is that the obama administration is encouraging parasites to come out and, you know, take as much as they can with no remorse and this is how a country declines. this is how we become a weak nation. >> so sharpton made it seem like i was talking about all of the poor in the country, not just one guy. we brought it to nbc's attention. they did nothing, nothing at all. now, we have a new deceit on late nelson mandela. here's what sharpton and karen finney said on friday night. >> so, in terms of history, when they -- you have bill o'reilly saying he was a communist -- >> last night. let me show that. he sai

. >> john roberts argued cases before he was appointed to the supreme court. does it make a difference that you were yourself an advocate and you know what it is like out there? or most of your colleagues have not argued? justice kagan was the solicitor general. she argued a number of cases that one year. doesn't it make a difference to have been an advocate? >> to me, it does. in this respect. i try to keep my questions tight. and not to ask a question as a professor with a question that goes on and on. i try to abbreviate the questions. not cut into the lawyers time excessively. >> you appreciate what it is like to be in a room and to listen to speeches in the form of questions -- you avoid that yourself? some of your colleagues have a little bit more of a broader latitude forward that. >> yes. i have occasionally commented on that. we appreciate how precious that half-hour is. we try to be more disciplined. observe a preceding in the u.s. supreme court and then do what i am going to do in february and decide. there the justices sit in magnificent maroon, ve

i'm john roberts.or watching fox where more news and proposals are always on the way. >>> i'm chris ren old. observe obamacare goes into effect on january 1st. but more problems with the website could bring a chaotic beginning to the new year. >> there probably will be glitches. there have been glitches before and there probably will be glitches moving forward. >> we'll discuss obamacare in 2014 with former governor howard dean, and dr. scott gottlieb of the american enterprise institute. then nsa leaker edward snowden releases a christmas message with more warnings about government surveillance. >> a child born today will grow

john roberts had 23 plus votes against -- more than 40 votes against justice alito. and you talk about what the process has become compared to what it was like when you were confirmed? >> another justice and i were confirmed. there was a failed nomination. justice thomas had a turbulent nomination. there is public reputation that had declined. there was a deliberate effort. there had been no women on the committee. enlarge the committee by two. two were added into the committee. i was nominated in june. any senator could have put a hold on me so that my hearing wouldn't, until the new term is underway. there were three negative votes, but none of the three try to stop the confirmation process from acquiring speedily. my biggest supporter on the judiciary committee was not vice president joe biden. it was was a committee. it was hatch. not one senator asked me any questions. a long-term affiliation with the american civil liberties union. not one senator asked me any questions about that affiliation. my hope is that we would get back to the way it was. we spoke about

it's a concerning problem for folks at the cdc in atlanta, where our john roberts is.hat else are officials recommending here? >> they're recommending vaccination and people be vigilantes -- -- be vigilant where the visit. in new york city, 58 people got sick. north carolina, 23 people. and 21 anymore texas. all have something in common. they occurred among religious groups where most people chose not get vaccinated. and while measles wag declared do be eliminate it rages in europe, asia, and africa, with 20 million cases each year. the big danger is the virus is so contagious, if is comes from overseas and gets into an onvaccinated community it can spread like wildfire. >> measles and other vaccine preventible diseases can be victims of their own success. because the rates have come down so much people are reluctant to get vaccinated. but measles can put you in the hospital and have long-term consequences and it's extremely infectious. >> while there is controversy with vaccination among some groups, he says the measles vaccine has been administered more than a billio

. >>> i'm john roberts live in washington. a new benghazi report stirring up controversy.e head of the house intelligence committee lark out at a "new york times" investigation that claims the attack had nothing to do with al qaeda terrorist. the times cites unnamed sources that says it was local fighters motivated by a video made in the united states that bashes islam. you may remember that that is what the obama administration originally described as the rationale for the attack in the days following september 11 when then-u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice, took to the sunday shows. hearings on capitol hill earlier this year brought forth testimony from state department officials who say the video had nothing to do with the

eastern, marcia coyle discusses her book on chief justice john roberts. looks at thesent first amendment and how was interpreted in an early 20th century to bring court case. military prosecutions of terror suspects with his book "the terror courts." it is american history in prime time. a look at the life of george washington and his lifelong interest in learning and education. that is followed with a look at his presidency. bruce talks about washington's defeat at the battle of brandywine. a lesser-known battle that was thought that spot during the early stages of the american revolution. >> he says what he thinks no matter what it is. i think you have to be political in a certain way. you have to be on this. you have to say the same things. you have to cater to people sometimes i think and know what they want and need. it is not being dishonest. it is finding out what they want and letting them know how you're going to help them with the problem. first lady's influence and image season two. lady bird johnson to rosalyn carter. weeknights at 9:00 p.m. e

i'm john roberts. good night from washington. dana perino goes "on the record" right now.s coming whether you like it or not. hello i'm dana perino in for greta van susteren. it's that time of year where everyone pledges to be better in the next coming year. president obama says tells the associated press his resolution was to be nice to them. kanye west top talking trash and glenn beck better man in 2014. greta clean up her office because of afraid of getting a surprise visit from the health department. kimberly guilfoyle and bob beckel for, you know, this is an amazing like peanut butter and chocolate coming together for new year's eve. it's like a perfect combination.

. >> reporter: for the president's second term swearing in by supreme court chief justice john robertsusands jammed the national mall. president obama had his hand on bibles used by president lincoln andartin luther king. cameras were rolling when at least two violent explosions erupted near the main grand stand of the boston marathon. >> these are the faces of terror in boston. >> we consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous. police trading shots with t tsarnaev as he tried to avoid capture. the suspect seen here on the ground. his hands behind him. >> president obama failed to win the gun control he fought for after the sandy hook elementary massacre. >> rescue crews are searching for survivors after the massive explosion at a fertilizer plant. cameras captured the power of the blast as it happened. >> first, the escape. then the call to 911. >> help me. i'm amanda berry. >> okay, what's going on there. >> i've been kidnapped and i've been missing for ten years and i'm here. i'm free now. >> and when police arrived, a decade of imprisonment for amanda berry, gina dejesus and

i'm john roberts. thanks for watching fox where more news and proposals are always on the way. >>> i'm chris ren old. observe obamacare goes into effect on january 1st. but more problems with the website could bring a chaotic beginning to the new year. >> there probably will be glitches. there have been glitches before and there probably will be glitches moving forward. >> we'll discuss obamacare in 2014 with former governor howard dean, and dr. scott gottlieb of the american enterprise institute. then nsa leaker edward snowden releases a christmas message with more warnings about government surveillance. >> a child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. >> reporter: we'll ask two members of the house intelligence committee, chairman mike rogers and congressman adam schiff how to strike the balance between security and privacy. >>> plus our sunday panelists make their predictions for the year ahead. in politics, entertainment, sports and more. all right now on "fox news sunday."

excoriated him for, you know, foe -- faux judicialist -- it was in a short time we saw different john roberts emerging. and we saw a different dynamic on the court. i think in response to what was going on, you know, behind the -- well, but also in the areas that he had very -- the second term, 2006 -- '07 term they took up the seattle louisville school district case. >> very did different term. >> very different. very devicive and many 5-4 rulings. they were issues i think he had rather firm views on. so they're not always consistent. they approach the law in different ways and they have different views. thank you for being with us tonight. [applause] tomorrow night on booktv. i worked as in the administration for eight years. the fact of the matter is, i have never seen so many people calling and waiving around the declaration of independence and the constitution. many of you, ten years ago, you never gave it a second thought. now i bet it's at the front of your mind. it is with tens of millions of us. we have to goat as many of the people. the truth is, i'm not trying to pat myself on the

for voting rights villains it leads chief justice john roberts, north carolina governor, kansas secretarye kris kobach, texas attorney general greg abbott and ohio governor john kasich. accurately, who would you say is the -- who's been most, i guess, heavy handed in setting back voting rights? >> thomas, the supreme court decision striking down secontio4 is perhaps the most egregious step because it disabled a very important tool that's been in place since 1965, and a tool which has yielded much fairer voting practices all across the nation. so to a great extent what the chief justice in his majority decision did was in effect send a signal to many, many states that the gates are now open for what i would call extreme oppressive voter suppression laws. so that decision, what that points to is an absolute need for the congress and the president to pass a new provision of the voting rights act that restores the protections of section 5. i also think that it requires, and the attorney general should be given credit for this, for action to be taken under the remaining provisions of the votin

what i don't like and i write in my book jeffrey toobin reports and he's a good reporter that john roberts, former student in her law school said to somebody that he was voting and citizens united in a way that he thought would help the republican party. when justices vote party lines as they did in bush v. gore and as jeffrey toobin reports at least one of them did in citizens united, that really puts the court into disrepute. and at the end of my book i predict -- about 100 or years past or future, i talk about what i think is going to happen in the supreme court over the next 50 years and i think it is when to diminish its influence as it becomes more and more partisan. >> good evening. as long as one of your 10,000 students i just want to say hello and i remember i returned in the late eighties or early nineties when you used to give me the loving term and my name is henry obviously. and so i wanted to ask about something else. i looked back at the end for years and hall law school and you stand out as one of the most hospitable to the conservative viewpoints, rehnquist and henry i fel

been going on for a long time from the very first day of the administration when chief justice john robertsed the oath of office and they had a private swearing in ceremony, they had a still photographer in there, not from the news organizations, to put that out there, so this has been an ongoing trend, this week -- >> from the administration who promised to be the most transparent u.s. history. >> i have a feeling no president will say that again because it's been used against him for years. >> there's photos that my friends posted on facebook but they weren't allowed in the front cabin to see the images of bush and hillary clinton and barack obama having this conversation. >> and the paintings on his ipad. because this is process journal uchl and the white house detests that, jay carney said to several news organizations he'll have a meeting tuesday, that he's going to bring in representatives from the white house correspondents association, the photographer's association and talk through these issues, they'll try to find better ways to work together. that's not surprising because they wa

john robert has his hands on the poll, making obama care supporters nervous. >> more than a tad nervous, i would think. this comes from harvard, the president's alma mater. bad news. his support among 18 to 29-year-olds, core constituents whoa helped get his elected and re-ele re-elected, is cratering, down from april from 41%,a member of congress the group, 57% -- among the group, 57% do not approve of obama care. 22% of the group say they will sign up for it. among people who currently do not have health insurance, even then, only 29% say they'll enroll in obama care. a couple of thing that they're worried about. 51% say they believe that under obama care the cost of health care will go up while 44% believe the quality of care will go down. now for the financial assumptions, the affordable care act to work, fully 4 0% of enrollees have to be below the age of 35. the poll clearly shows the numbers are not there. director of harvard's institute of politics conducted the poll. >> the president's in a tough spot, declining approval ratings, young people who don't support a policy initiati

chief justice john roberts explained our country has changed for the better.is right about one thing. our country has changed. but the supreme court decision only unleashed a new wave of republican attacks on voting rights in this country. take a look at the map. this tracks state voting laws before the case of shelby versus holder. this is what the map looks like now. it's only getting worse. take the state of ohio, for example. in january, ohio lawmakers are expected to pass measures that could cut early voting, same-day registration, and put restraints on absentee balloting and absentee voting. well on wednesday, the ohio house of representatives cleared a republican-backed measure already approved by the senate. critics say the measure will make it easier for ohio state secretary of suppression, he's known as, jon husted, to purge a large number of voters. the bill also reduces the minimum number of election machines counties are required to have. it now heads to the desk of republican governor john kasich, who is expected to sign it. grab that, folks. kas

thank john roberts for that. i'm not a lawyer, but that was -- >> he might get a bipartisan vote in the house to keep it, but i doubt that very much. all right. hang on. hang on. you're all going to rejoin me in just a moment. >>> now, we've got new developments in the fight over new sanctions on iran. cnbc kr back to join us for an update up next on "the kudlow report." please stay with us. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. >>> welcome back to "the kudlow report." senate majority leader h

robert douglas- fairhurst. with me here in new york, harvard historian jill lepore. john romano wrote "intolerable cruelty" and "the lincoln lawyer" and is a former professor english at columbia. and salman rushdie is a lifelong dickens enthusiast. i am pleased to have all of these guests and to talk about charles dickens on this 200 anniversary. i begin with you. why dickens? what is it about dickens? >> one of the things was reading dickens before i ever came to the west was that these cities that dickens describes, a great rotting metropolis, it felt like the city outside my window. if you grow up in a city like bombay or delhi, it feels exactly like dickensian. it has exactly that characteristic of corruption and filth and these huge larger- than-life characters. >> jill, you are the historian among us. >> in the united states, dickens is taken as an american writer. it is curious about dickens because he had such a painful relationship with the united states. "great expectations" is the ninth most frequently assigned novel in american high schools. it is interesting

it's interesting, i would recommend to readers john robert green who wrote a book on the ford presidency as part of the university of kansas series also did a book on mrs. ford. it's very well reserged and really a great read. and he makes the case stronger than i would that she was on balance debt trimental to her husband's reelection prospects. particularly within the republican party but not exclusively within the republican party. >> you've mentioned this 60 minutes interview, how significant was her sitting down with the most popular news and public affairs program to the public view of her and the party's view of her? >> i think it defind her for millions and millions of people who first of all was the first time they had seen her in that kind of setting. but i also think for millions -- remember how americans were acustomed to seeing their first ladies on television. we had seen mrs. kennedy's unforgettable white house tour but it was a very orchestrated presentation. people were not acustomed to a first lady being asked or answering as i say the kinds of questions -- her view was

lacked this power under the commerce clause, the supreme court under the pen of chief justice john roberts, proceeded to analyze the government's backup argument, that is the argument that even if as the court had now concluded congress lacked the power to do this under the commerce clause, that congress still had the power to do this consistent with its power to impose taxes. the court went on to conclude that congress did have this power. strangely, the court also went on to conclude that that's essentially what congress had done here. now, this was odd on many levels. number one, the court had already concluded as it had to conclude in order to proceed to the case, was it had to conclude in order to exercise jurisdiction over this case, prior to the implementation of the law, prior to the collection of this alleged tax, that it was, in fact, not a tax but a penalty. so it was very strange that the court was now basically saying okay, it's a penalty and not a tax for some purposes, but it's a tax and not a penalty for other purposes. and yet that's what the court did. it was also strange

so she -- there was a legitimate debate -- it's interesting i recommend to readers john robert reid whote a book on the ford presidency as part of the university of kansas series also did a book on mrs. ford. it's very well researched and really a great read. and he makes the case probably stronger than i would. that she was on balance detrimental to her husband's reelection prospects. particularly within the republican party but not exclusively within the republican party. >> you mentioned the 60 minutes interview. how significant was her sitting down with the most popular news and public affairs program to public view of her and the party's view of her? >> i think it defined her for millions and millions of people. who really -- first of all, it was the first time they had seen her in that kind of setting. but i also think remember how americans were accustom to seeing their first lady on television. we had seen mrs. kennedy's unforgettable white house tour. but of it -- it was an org orgestrated presentation. people were not accustomed to a first lady being asked or answering, as i s

for example, the acting solicitor general at the time, john roberts, now the chief justice of the united states refused to defend the law that he believed to be unconstitutional in the case of natural broadcasting versus the fcc. chief justice roberts argued that the statute providing for the minority preferences and broadcasting, broadcast licensing was unconstitutional. but despite the supreme court's precedent on the standard of review, he argued that strict scrutiny applied. to defend the law and prevail there were reasonable arguments that the chief justice roberts could have made in the defense of the law yet no one said he violated the constitution by arguing for the court to strike that down. his view wasn't vindicated in that case but they have ultimately resulted in a shift in the law that makes it clear that the administration's decision not to defend doma was unprecedented or appropriate. so i join with all of the committee in welcoming our witness and look forward to their testimony. and i yield back the balance of my time. >> without objection, all other opening statements