it was briefly placed by mrs. alitoresponse to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. mrs. alito has not issued her own statement. and "the times" did report the upside-down flag flew outside their home for several days. tonight the democratic chairman of the senate judiciary committee calling for justice alito to recuse himself from all cases stemming from january 6th. >> that upside down flag was a symbol for the big lie to attempt to steal the election and not admit joe biden was elected. what in the world is it doing at the home of a supreme court justice? >> reporter: the court has to decide big cases this term stemming from january 6th, including donald trump's claims of absolute immunity for his actions. that upside down flag, legal experts say, creates an appearance of con flight of interest for him and could

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. >> i have met justice alito decent person. i think this is just beyond the pale at this point, you can have people doing this. i have a wife who has very strong opinions about things. i took some real shots when i was on the federal bench. but you keep that in the house, martha and is just the latest supreme court spouse at the center of controversy. ginni thomas exchanged texts with trump's then chief of staff, mark meadows, push xing him to challenge the 2020 election results we've got petitions pending before the supreme court, and she communicated with john eastman, the architect of the fake electors scheme. >> the man who pressured mike pence to refuse to certify the results thomas has so far not recused and current cases being decided by the court. >> the issue here is not that a justices spouse can't do things. the issue here is that a justice is responsible to the high calling of

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs fox news host shannon bream revealed in a series of tweets that a neighbor of the alitos reportedly had an f trump sign within feet of where children wait for the school bus mrs. alito brought this up with the neighbor who then replaced it with a sine, personally addressing mrs. alito and blaming her for the january 6 attacks things escalated further. justice alito said at one point, the neighbor engaged in vulgar language directed at mrs. alito including use of the seaward justice alito claims the flag was his wife's response to these very personal and political attacks last fall in response to the public scrutiny, the supreme court took on a code of ethics for the first time. this code requires justices to refrain from political activity joining me now is hofstra law professor and judicial ethics expert, james sample, who has testified before congress on supreme court ethics, professor,

alito says a neighbor down the street had put up signs with offensive language and directly blaming mrs. alito for the capitol riot that month. also conversations and alito says because of that his wife was distraught and hung the flag upside down for a short time as a statement. that from a conversation that shannon bream had with the justice periods story was first reported in the times and judiciary chairman dick durbin says flying upside down as a symbol of the "stop the steel" movement and a clear appearance of bias. durbin says justice alito should immediately recuse himself from "cases related to the 2020 election and the january 6th insurrection and questions regarding for president trump's immunity" and the court is an ethical crisis of its own making. justice alito and the rest of the court should do everything in their power to regain public trust. this latest story is further proof congress needs to pass the skirt act to create an enforceable code of conduct for the supreme court. in november the supreme court announced it had adopted a court of conduct but has far too much lenienc

it was briefly placed by mrs. aliton response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs now, we haven't yet heard from the supreme court about all of this. but what is missing from alito's response? a denial that it happened at all, much less remorse or regret that it did. also missing any disavowal of the symbol claimed by those who sought to overthrow the government joining us now, jodi kantor, she is the new york times correspondent who broke this massive story tonight. jody, how on earth i have a lot of questions for you. i'm curious about how this happened, but i'm also curious about how you found out about it. well, first of all, thank you for having me. >> let's start with the reaction of the people who saw the flag neighbors. word also filtered back to the supreme court. and all they're seeing is this upside down flag, which at the time was one of the symbols of the stop the steal campaign. we're talking about the period just after january 6, but also three days before

one of those neighbors did admit she called mrs. alito a folder name, which, bad luck. that was a shouting match in february that led the neighbors to call the police on martha- ann alito. weeks after they had flown the notorious flag. now you might think given all of these developments and growing calls from members of the senate judiciary committee demanding alito accuse himself from pending cases, alito is reconsidering his story. you would be wrong. today alito sent a defiant letter to the senators. on his supreme court letterhead. i should note he is responding to senators who did not write to him. they wrote to chief justice roberts but he is writing back and saying he is under no obligation to recuse himself, even intimating he is obligated not to, which is unclear, and adding wild details to the story. i had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. i was not aware of the upside

responded with a vulgarity toward mrs. alito. justice alito has denied any responsibility for the flag flying in his front yard, feet from the front door of his home which he presumably exits and enters every single day. today in two new letters to members of congress, he rejected calls to recuse himself on both january 6th cases, while blaming mean old martha ann, in typically defiant and indignant tones. "my wife is a private citizen, and she possesses the same first amendment rights as every other american. she makes her own decisions, and i have always respected her right to do so. i am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or idealogical considerations or the desire to affect the outcome of supreme court cases would conclude the facts recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal." as for the appeal to heaven flag outside their new jersey home that flag repurposed as a symbol of support for donald trump was flown during the january 6th insurrection. that flag alito shoves mart

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. neighbors told the paper alito's wife was involved in a dispute with another family, who put an anti-trump sign on their lawn. at the time, the high court was considering 2020 election challenges, and now is weighing critical cases involving donald trump, including whether the former president is immune from prosecution for efforts to subvert the election. >> reporter: any one reason the argued free speech is under attack. >> troubled waters are slamming against some of our most fundamental principles. >> reporter: was scrutinized last year when a report showed he had gone on a luxury fishing trip for alaska played by two republican donors, one of them had cases before the court. alito said they never discussed business. alito stella justice, clarence thomas, also faced scrutiny after who it was revealed his wife ginni sent text messages to former white house chief of staff mark meadows c

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. according to "the times," the neighbor said the flag was there for several days and that alito's wife, martha ann, was in dispute with another homeowner who displayed an anti-trump sign with an expletive, which offended martha ann alito, which led to an escalating clash between her and that neighbor. tonight, democratic senator dick durbin saying the flag creates the appearance of bias, demanding alito recuse himself from upcoming cases involving january 6th including former president trump's presidential immunity case where he's accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results. >> he is, you know, more than willing to wear his partisan colors on his sleeve or in this case on the flagpole. >> reporter: a court spokesperson did not respond to nbc news' request for comment. >> and, peter, there's also a headline tonight about an offer from nbc news and telemundo to host a presidentia

mrs. alitor neighbors put a "bye don" and "f trump" sign up after the november election. she approached the neighbors about the signs. flash forward a few weeks later after the assault on the capitol and the neighbors decided to put up new signs that read, "trump is a fascist" and "you are complicit," which they say was not aimed specifically at the alitos. apparently martha ann didn't like that and drove past their house, glaring at them. that is what -- that is when the upside down flag went up. on inauguration day, the neighbors drove past the alito home, and according to the "new york times," mrs. alito ran toward their car and yelled something they did not understand. the couple continued driving. as they passed alito home again, mrs. alito appeared to spit toward the vehicle. weeks later, the alitos were on a neighborhood stroll when martha ann saw the liberal neighbors. she used an expletive and called them fascists. justice alito, who was present, said nothing. that is when the female ne

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." >> michael: yeah, mrs. alito's fault, huh? yeah, i feel you, sammy! my wife's always squabbling with the neighbors, too. i mean, her squabbles don't usually end with her raising the flag of insurrection against the united states... but maybe your neighbors are just that bad? but hey, sam alito is a supreme court justice. the pinnacle of moral integrity! if he said he had nothing to do with it, then i believe him. and i believe that it's never going to happen again. >> new questions surrounding supreme court justice samuel alito after a second controversial flag was hanging outside one of his homes. "the new york times" reports that "appeal to heaven" flag carried by january 6th rioters was photographed at his new jersey beach house last summer. >> the flag, which features a pine tree and the phrase "appeal to heaven" dates back to the revolutionary war. but today, the flag has become, quote, "a symb

alito said i had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag, it was briefly placed by mrs. alitouage on yard signs. today, samuel alito offered this justification to fox, who posted, he told me a neighbor on their street had an f trump sign that was 50 feet from a school bus stop. and the neighbor put up a sign personally addressing mrs. alito and blaming her for the january 6 attacks. the justice said he and his wife were walking in the neighborhood and there were words between mrs. alito and a male at the home with the sign. the man engaged in vulgar language. following the exchange, she was distraught and hung the flag upside down for a short time. justice alito said some neighbors on his street are very political and acknowledges that it was a very heated time. let's consider what samuel alito did not say in any of those explanations. samuel alito did not explain why his wife's reaction to the trump sign and being insulted was to hang an american flag upside down in the days after january 6. the host of the daily goes even further, writing crucially, alito doesn't deny the fl

york times has obtained a tape of these neighbors calling fairfax county police, complaining about mrs. alitomartha-ann alito. they had gotten into a conference with mrs. alito over yard signs that were antidiarrheal trump signs. there had been some yelling and these people called the police. and what the new york times reports was on the tape was something to the effect of somebody in a position of authority needs to talk to her and make her stop. now, i want to stress john, that cnn has not heard this reporting. cnn has not verified this and cnn has tried to reach justice samuel alito for clarification and not gotten any kind of an answer. he originally had told the new york times that the reason the flag was flying in front of his home in january of 2021, this symbol of staff, the steel was because his wife, martha-ann, had been involved in this confrontation and was actually just proud oh, testing these neighbors. it had nothing to do with january 6 or stop the steal. he had cast it that way. was this new new york times reporting suggests that the real confrontation with the neighbors cam

alito says the neighbor then put up a sign directly naming mrs. alitoer for the events of january 6th. according to the justice, while the alito's were on a walk, a man at the home with the signs got into a heated discussion with mrs. alito, quote, including the c word she was distraught and hung the flag, as it appears in that published photo. the justice offered no explanation for that gesture. most of the country got its first glimpse of martha and alito during her husband's heated confirmation hearings. at one point in tears, senate judiciary committee chairman #### durbin was a part of those hearings and said today that the flag photo quote clearly creates the appearance of bias. justice alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the january 6th insurrection, including the question of the former president's immunity in us v donald trump. there is no indication justice alito intends to step away from any case currently under consideration. we will get the next batch of opinions from the supreme court next thu

. >> well, first, who is mrs. alito and this mysterious figure that suddenly emerged on the on the neighborhood block. i think we're seeing a bit of a new season of the real housewives of the supreme court. >> i do think i've learned quite a lot about mrs. alito. well she's a temper with, her neighbors apparently, she spat on the neighbor's car, but she's actually rather fascinating woman. her father was an air traffic controller for the air force, which maybe where she got her passion for flags from. and she was a librarian before she got married, but we have a wonderful for peace and i wanted to read you a quick line from it now scoville, we just published a piece by her on the beast sad tonight and she says, while he has control over every woman's baby, making uterus, he does not have control over his wife's flag, lowering arms, which i thought was just a great expression actually, yeah, mrs. alito causing some damage on the coldest akre and virginia so lovely yeah i have a lovely place, apparently that called zack,

. >> a it's a bad judgment call by mrs. alito to be sure but we don't actually and shouldn't have a standard that says your spouse can have political ads on there. we go. >> it's actually his spouse. that's his word. it's flying outside of his home where he lives well, he says it's espouse. i don't have any information to the contrary right. >> that's right. and let's let's let's look at the setting of this because ever since the dobbs decision regarding abortion, the neighborhoods surrounding justice alito's house. justice alito wrote the majority decision in that case. has been swarming with neighbors who are very angry and outside protestors as well. and it culminated one day in this very angry argument when some of the neighbors called mrs. alito, the seaward and according to the justice, mrs. alito went home and flew the flag upside down, which is a symbol that would cause many people concern. but let's put this in perspective. there is so much push from the left to convince americans that the court is in donald trump's pock

mrs. alito addressed the pair by name, used an expletive and called them fagss. justice alito remained silent, they added. the alitos began to walk away. that is when the woman snapped, she said. she does not remember her precise words but recalls something like how dare you behave this way. you've been harassing us over signs. you represent the highest court in the land. shame on you. the woman then called marketa anne alito an expletive i cannot say on television, and the younger couple later reported the incident to police. so justice alito's wife standing alongside the justice was publicly berating neighbors over political disagreements over donald trump and january 6th. and then she flew insurrectionist flags over justice alito's house without his objection. and justice alito now says whatever, my wife loves flags, no need for me to recuse herself from the two major cases i'm hearing about january 6th and donald trump. today republicans celebrated justice alito's refusal to recuse from this case. the man in question in all of this, donald trump congratulated

it was briefly placed by mrs. alitoa neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard lines. justice alito did not have the decency to come up with a story that had minimal logic in it. like his supreme court opinions, he did not care how preposterous that defense was. so a supreme court justice wants you to believe that his wife saw something in a neighbor's yard that made her run out to the flag pole, pull down the american flag, turn it upside down, and run the american flag back up the flag pole upside down. as some kind of non-verbal insult payback to her neighbor. i refuse to believe that about mrs. alito. and i refuse to believe a supreme court justice's attempt to blame this on his wife. two full days have passed since the second flag was found at the second alito home. the one that was carried by the attackers of the capitol on january 6th. just like the upside down american flag was. this one is called an appeal to heaven flag. justice alito has not recused himself from two cases curre

this was the symbol, mrs. alito, according to justice alito, if you even believe him at this point, decided to hang on her front lawn. >> right. absolutely. it is one of the symbols a lot of rioters used to demonstrate their belief that system was inverted, that the outcome was inverted. the symbolism here is that american ideals had been turned upside down that the wrong person is being installed as president because all of this fraud has somehow gone undetected, completely bogus, factually no foundation for that argument, but that's what this symbol of the inverted flag means, and it was on display quite prominently at the capitol on january 6th, which means there's no question, that whoever made the decision to put that flag up in front of justice alito's house, 11 days later was willingly associating with the insurrectionists with this notion that outcome was somehow inverted. to me it doesn't matter what made the decision. it raises a very clear appearance issue. right. if a supreme court justice, who is making

unless mrs. alito was signaling her distress, the explanation makes no sense.t was something people were doing around that time to indicate that the country was effectively under siege. which is something trump supporters were makeing the case for. when they described the election as having been stolen. justice alito has become increasingly unembarrassed about displaying himself as a partisan. as consumer partisan narratives and media and in ruling in ways that is just kind of out loud all caps disdainful. and this fits with that. but it is also something that i have never heard anything like this in the entire history of every controversy. i think chief justice roberts has a problem on his hand ins terms of the behavior of some of the more aggressive justices and those really flouting ethics concerns and. >> you know, that flag is not donald trump's fault. that flag is george w. bush's fault. that is who appointed samuel alito to is supreme court so anyone who thought in the 2000 election, al gore doesn't excite me, that's what you got. from that decision. or

alito says the neighbor then put up a sign directly naming mrs. alito blaming her for the events of january 6th. according to the justice, while the l. titos were on a walk, man at the home with a sign got into a heated discussion with mrs. alito, quote: including the c word. she was distraught and hung the flag as it appears in that published photo. the justice offered no explanation for that gesture. most of the country got its first glimpse of martha an lit toe during her husband's heated confirmation hearings. at one point in tears. senate judiciary committee chairman dick durbin was a part of those hearings and said today that the flag photo, quote: clearly creates the appearance of bias, justice alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the january 6th insurrection, including the question of the former president's immunity in u.s. v donald trump. >> there is no indication justice alito intends to step away from any case currently under consideration. bret, we'll get the next batch of opinions on next thurs

unless mrs. alito was signaling her distress and calling for help, the explanation makes no sense, that was something that people were doing around that time to indicate that the country was effectively under siege in some way. i mean, justice alito has become increasingly on embarrassed about displaying himself as a consumer of partisan media, and it's just disdainful toward a majority of the country. and this fits with that but it's also something that i've never heard anything like this in the entire history of every controversy i've ever known about. i think chief justice roberts has a problem on his hands in terms of the behavior of some of the more aggressive justices and those who are flouting ethics concerns with their behavior. >> that flag is not donald trump's fault that flag is george w. bush's fault, that's who appointed samuel alito to the supreme court so anyone who got in the 2000 election, al gore doesn't excite me, that's what you got from the decision or if you thought bush is the re

biden who anymore refers to their wife as mrs. alito 2024, i think correct term is mommy well yeah okay. >> so this story the alito just going to love this new numbers out about the lgbtq community. and it's the numbers are at an all high. more people than ever register are register. but identify as lgbtq bisexuals in that grouping are the highest number. the second group is tying number we're in that group, our republicans who are gay for trump. >> we've got a great job and nelly but first, he is before coming represents the unfinished tied to the vote, and a distinguished professor at vanderbilt university who has been referred to as the hip hop intellectual are old good friend michael eric dyson well, my brother the g7 lasik surgery hey, guys i didn't have i didn't have a cataract surgery. >> i'm an old man. yeah. no. now, look more handsome. >> thank you ready to start the interview? i okay. so you know why i want you read your books on rapids. amazing. i think good, five or six books i mean, the tupac you'd jay-z right so all i've

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs what do you think about that response? >> i think the harassment of supreme court justices and their neighborhoods is out of control. i think it's a bigger issue than this. i think we saw at what's adopts decision came out i think it's a problem that for civility problem here in washington, the country spent so polarized washington cell parts. i can't even go to your own home neighborhood without it being attacked. i think that's the question about to ask her. i don't disagree with him about that, but i think if you put a period on that, you're doing a disservice because yes, we do have a civility problem. he does need to be able to go home and not be harassed. but that noise you just heard was him throwing his wife under the bus and he actually did that because he put a symbol in front of his house, which does what she did, which does not represent the faith, freedom, and values of this c

he said, quote, it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response it's to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. but it comes in the context of the supreme court at this moment deciding to crucial cases involving trump's efforts to overturn the election in front. now joan biskupic, she has cnn's senior supreme court analyst joan obviously, no one knows more about what, you're allowed to do or not or what what would cause a situation on the supreme court, then you tonight, mounting pressure on justice alito to recuse himself from trump's cases. the second instance will flag now uncovered by the new york times. do you expect that he will stay defined in the face of these calls for him to recuse well, it's good to see you, aaron, and i think we're going to just see those calls from democrats and activists really ramp up. but we have seen no signs from justice alito that he will heed any calls to take himself out of the case. >> now, just last november remember that the justice has put in place a m

neighbor who admits to using the phrase to mrs. alitoells the "new york times" the two had words several weeks after the flag was flown. contradicting with the justice told fox news. the "time" sites # 11 calls as evidence. justice alito wrote to to congress his wife's personal decisions are not his. he said i had nothing whatsoever to do with flying of that flag. i was not even aware of the upside down flag until it was called to my attention. as soon as i saw it, i asked my wife to take it down. for several days she refused. alito also addressed a flag that was flown at his vacation home called an appeal to heaven. critics say that it has the same connotations as the upside down flag outside of his virginia home. i will note that it date back to the revolutionary war. in fact the san francisco chronicle reports it hung outside the san francisco civic center in downtown san francisco for 60 years and was just recently removed. bret? >> bret: david, thank you. bragg didn't want to brings it. the wouldn't use the number one election attor

it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personal insulting language on yard signs. alito did not respond to our request for comment. >> now, now to another major cyber attack affecting health care at the nation's hospitals. this attack, impacting wait times in the e.r. and raising concerns about patient care. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> this morning hospitals in chaos. that's how some nurses and patients are describing operations at ascension facilities across the country. in the wake of last week's ransomware attack. >> this is truly a crisis situation. >> the cyber attack has affected 140 hospitals and dozens of senior living facilities in 19 states, impacting everything from ordering tests to reading labs and scans. with access to medical records blocked, staff are forced to write notes on paper. >> she's charting it. she's writing it by hand, so it was, it was a long wait. >> ascension officials say they don't have a timeline on when systems will be fully back onlin

. >> will he use the mrs. alito? >> did it excuse again. >> and on the ground in tehran tonight is mourners flocked to the presidents funeral and a top official reveals what happened on that president's helicopter that someone had survived for hours. it's go out front and good evening. >> i'm erin burnett outfront tonight. the breaking news trump claims deadly force authorized the quotes. the former president and his allies absurdly accusing president biden of trying to assassinate trump. but moments ago, trump's team sent out this newsletter, just got came into my email. they call it the palm beach playbook, but it comes from donald j. trump.com. the very first line under top news, falsely claims that deadly force was authorized against trump bring an fbi rate at mar-a-lago that you know, the intent of that being possible assassination, the newsletter coming just an hour after trump gave this radio interview newly released court filings showed that the fbi was authorized to use deadly force if needed during the rate

a couple things, the letter if you haven't read it, it was essentially mrs. alitojustice alito was only aware of the flag once, he prevailed on her to lower the flag and she refused to do so. also i think there is a reputation of the claimant that the semiotics of the flags are what they are. i don't find that remotely plausible. there is a suggestion that these flags have become associated with maga end of the stop the steal movement, and it's not a credible claim, at the time they were raised, they were understood by a lot of people, not everyone but certainly by those who would display the flags. it was a political and illegal meaning. the political meaning was trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election, which was stolen, that's a political claim, but also legal implications because it doesn't bear directly on two of the cases you mentioned, the january 6 case involving donald trump in self -- himself. it's not crazy to presume individuals with sympathy for the■m sentiment communicated by these flags might have a view about the characterization that pros

it was briefly placed by mrs. alitod personally insulting language on yard signs. the incident raising concern over alito's impartiality as the supreme court considers two major cases relating to the january 6th attack. including whether donald trump has criminal immunity for his actions. alito, along with justice clarence thomas, whose wife ginni thomas was an active participant in the stop the steal movement, are both embroiled in what feels like an ongoing supreme court ethics crisis. both are accused of flagrant violations of ethical rules. public trust in the supreme court is at its lowest point in decades. and the flag appears to violate ethics rules set to avoid even the appearance of bias. but both conservative jurists have made it clear that they don't plan to step aside. a top u.s. ethics watchdog in washington, also known as crew, released a statement today. saying, quote, the republican and unaffiliated colorado voters who brought the trump v. anderson case at considerable personal risk assumed that every me

there has been no statement from mrs. alito, whom justice alito blames for the incident. whit?whit: thank you. now the criminal trial of former president trump. the defense grilling trump's former fixer, michael cohen, for a second day, accusing him of lying on the witness stand. aaron katersky has the latest from the courthouse. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, whit. the trial is not sitting today so former president trump can attend his youngest son's high school graduation. but the trial is nearing an end after the defense accused the star prosecution witness of lying. two weeks before the 2016 election, michael cohen said he called donald trump's bodyguard keith schiller, to get trump on the phone. cohen testified he wanted to discuss the stormy daniels matter and the resolution of it. defense attorney, todd blanche, his voice rising, said that was a lie. the defense showed these text message suggesting a different reason for the call. cohen asking schiller, who can i speak to regarding harassing calls to my cell and office? schiller responding, call me. that

mrs. alito was outside and ran toward their car and yelled something to them t. wife of the supreme court justice appeared to spit at their card. one of those neighbors did admit at the time she called ms. alito a vulgar name. that was in a shouting match the following month in february. a shouting match that led the neighbors to call the police on martha anne alito weeks after they had flown the flag. you might think given all these developments and the growing calls from the senate judiciary committee, alito is reconsidering the story. you would be wrong. today, alito sent a defiant letter to the senators. on his supreme court letterhead. he says he is under no obligation to recuse himself. intimating he is obligated not to which is unclear. and adding wild details to the story. quote, i had nothing do with the flying of the flag. i was not aware of the upside down flag until it was called to my attention. i don't know. alito continued. as soon as i saw it, i asked my wife to take it down. but for several days she refused. everyone just take a minute to imagine

says she only did it because a neighbor displayed a "[bleep] trump" sign on their lawn, and when mrs. alitoneighbor about it, they say the neighbor addressed his wife using vulgar language, "including the c-word". okay, that is not nice. but if someone calls you the c-word, putting up an insurrection flag is not the response. "oh, you were rude to my wife? well, we're nazis now." are you happy? so martha-ann runs up the january 6 flag, and then sam comes home from work, sees it, and is like, "honey, i understand you're upset, but we have to take that down immediately. for pete's sake, i'm a justice of the supreme court," is what would have been nice to have happened. but instead, neighbors confirmed the display stood for several days before being taken down. [booing] so, alito clearly knew about this, because he came and went for several days, and, to paraphrase my favorite spangled banner, ♪ the flag was still there ♪ [applause] do i do it upside down? do i wear my hat backwards? now dig this, daddy-o. the court has repeatedly warned its own employees against public displays of partisan vi

stice alito? >> mr. i think some of your most recent conch we have -- colloquy with my colleagues have gotten off into questions that i didn't take from your brief that we actually need to deciden is case. so, i thought your principal argument was that whatever coercion means is sufficie a coercion doesn't apply only when the government says, do this, anifou don't do this, there will be legal consequences, when itays that in the same breath. but it is a more flexible standard, and you have tta into account the whole course of the relationship regarding this matter. that is what i tk be your principal argument. did i understand that correctly? >> that is correct, your honor. we've got 20,000 pages in this reco othe government persist -- persistently going back to atrms time and time again, pushing them to adjust the policies, do more censoring. i think that is what makes this case so unique is you ha ts fast repetition of communications, but iall, the bulk of it, is behind closed doors. that is what is so

mrs. alito's decision, justice not involved. eir home in response to some vulgar and personal signs that were also going on in the neighborhood at the same time. >> dana: alito during -- one of the cases was u.s. versus fisher and what he said at the time. what happened on january 6th was very, very serious. i'm not equating this with protests in the courtroom but we need to find out what are the outer reaches of this statute under your interpretation. what "the new york times" is all of a sudden is this photo surfaces right before the supreme court is about to rule on this issue, that seems a little suspicious but what do you think will actually happen in that particular case? >> that is going to be a very interesting case. it is one that has implications for president trump as well. the obstruction charge used against hundreds of january 6th defendants is potentially in play here. if the justices find it wasn't properly applied in those cases, then that may kill the counts against president trump on that front as well. so there

"it was briefly placed by mrs. alito to a neighbor's use of it of an personally insulting language on yard signs." let's get back to your calls. your top news story of the week. matt in new york on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. a quick response to the first caller. it's a disgrace for the flag to be flown upside down by a supreme court justice's wife, but it is free speech when college campuses are burning and stomping on the american flag? that's an amazing statement. my story of the week is joe biden trying to shore up his black support by going to the college but also showing up at the white house celebrating brown versus the board of education. i want to remind everybody that back in the day joe biden was against busing. he actually said he would not want his kids to end up going to a school that looked like a jungle. on top of that, i remember him saying or implying barack obama could speak intelligently. the implication there was for a black man. this guy is a total hypocrite. i can't believe peop