why don't you first tell us who shaun mccutcheon is. what is this case based on?> shaun mccutcheon is a wealthy businessman from alabama who during the 2012 elections decided that he wanted to cut a bunch of checks to right-leaning candidates he supported and he actually made them out and then may day now. he found he could write several dozen checks, 27 of them, but could not write the 28th. yet bumped up against the aggregate limit. this overall limit that was at issue. with the urging of some conservative lawyers and have ultimately, the whole republican party, shaun mccutcheon took his case to court and said, i don't think you should be able to stop me from writing as many $1776 checks as i want. knowing what the roberts court the way it is, his challenge stood a good chance of succeeding and file the case well over a year ago and has taken it to the top. yesterday we saw the court agreed with him. >> the statement of shaun mccutcheon praising the decision, he said -- so can you respond to that? what exactly did the supreme court decision -- does it mean -- we

to debate, i'm joined by the man hop won that case, businessman shaun mccutcheon and robert weissman, president of public citizen which argues for additional campaign finance limits. welcome to both of you. certainly a fascinating issue. here's my thing, mr. mccutcheon. as you look at this, here's a new reality. right? the american democracy for sale? how do you have candidates in the future now going to the wealthiest donors in the country and saying i want an unlimited amount of money? how does that is not at some-point lead to corruption? >> again, i think this is an issue about independent private people exercising free speech and regardless of economic status, all americans are entitled to free speech. so this is a first amendment guaranteed right under the constitute. all americans are entitled to -- >> and the supreme court agreed with you in a 5-4 decision and upheld that. if you sit back as a citizen and say i want to be politically involved and if i'm a person of great means and i've got all these candidates saying i want an unlimited amount of money, do you not worry that l

the federal election commission because a conservative activist shaun mccutcheon sued the commission guing those donation limits violated his right to free speech. now, under this new ruling, mr. mccutcheon and other high-dollar donors can donate to as many federal candidates and political committees as they want. the case did not, did not alter the donation limits on the total amount people can give to each candidate. now, instead of being limited to about $123,000 spread across candidates and groups, there is no limit under the new ruling on those total contributions in a campaign cycle. senator chuck schumer who was actually a pretty excellent fund-raiser when he chaired the senate democrats re-election effort said in response to the ruling "this decision will take the country back toward the day of the robber barons." justice robert's rules drew a strong dissent from stephen breyer, "if the court and citizens united open a door, today's decision may well open a flood gate." rober it could be more consequential that citizens united because this is the first time in the modern era t

you remembered earlier from shaun mccutcheon whose court case made waves this week.ed with president obama's 2012 campaign manager jim messina as part of this week's tweak the press interview series. he called the decision ridiculous. you can see the full interview on our website as part of "meet the press" 24/7 to bring the conversation to you all week along @meethepressnbc.com. follow me on twitter for tweet the press and more i'm @david ♪ >>> welcome back. this week the u.n. issued an unprecedented warning about climate change. arguing extreme weather events will become even more common. the president's inability to get significant legislation combating climate change through congress makes his decision about the controversial keystone xl pipeline all the more politically difficult. so we wanted to get out of washington to meet some people directly affected by all of this. in today's "meeting america," kevin tibbles visited a small midwestern town whose future will be shaped by the president's decision. >> a tiny spec of a nebraska town, steele city has some stori

. >> reporter: alabama businessman shaun mccutcheon wasn't looking to contribute millions of dollarscandidate. he wanted to contribute a few thousand dollars to a lot of different candidates. >> it's a fundamental freedom of speech continue substitution al right to support as many candidates, parties, and, you know, committees as you choose. >> reporter: the supreme court gave donors like mccutcheon the permission to spread the wealth. federal law had prevented donors from contributing the maximum $5,200 to more than nine different candidates during an election. chief justice john roberts writing the main opinion said there was no evidence that contributing the maximum amount to additional candidates or political parties would lead to corruption. money and politics may at times seem repugnant to some, but so, too, does much of what the first amendment vigorously protects, said roberts. if the first amendment protects flag burning, funeral protests, and nazi parades, it surely protects political campaign speech. the court's four liberal justices issued a sharpe dissent written by just

. >> reporter: alabama businessman shaun mccutcheon wasn't looking to contribute millions of dollars to one candidate. he wanted to contribute a few thousands dollars to a lot of different candidates. >> it's a fundamental freedom of speech, constitutional first amendment issue about your right to support as many candidates, parties, and, you know, committees as you choose. >> reporter: today, the supreme court gave donors like mccutcheon the green light to spread the wealth, striking down limits on the total number of candidates and political parties a person can support. federal law had prevented donors from contributing the maximum $5,200 to more than nine different candidates during an election. chief justice john roberts writing the main opinion said there was no evidence that contributing the maximum amount to additional candidates or political parties would lead to corruption. "money in politics may at times seem repugnant to some, but so, too, does much of what the first amendment vigorously protects," says reports. "if the first amendment protects flag burning, funeral prote

shaun mccutcheon, at the center of this very controversial decision that some believe will lead to the of the campaign finance system. you are on the other side of that, sir, obviously. thanks for being with us tonight. good to have you. >> thank you. >> coming up, hollywood legendary producer jerry bruckheimer sat down with us next. plus hannity at the top of the hour. >> once this is full, then you put them in this van? >> yep. they'll fill this with the prisoners. they'll come from differ avo: wherever your journey takes you the expedia app helps you save with mobile-exclusive deals download the expedia app text expedia to 75309 test you tell them how much you want to pay, and they help you find a policy that fits your budget. i told you to wear something comfortable! this is a polyester blend! whoa! uh...little help? i got you! unh! it's so beautiful! man: should we call security? no, this is just getting good. the name your price tool, still only from progressive. thit's not the "limit yoursh hard earned cash back" card . it's not the "confused by rotating categories" card. it's t

shaun mccutcheon, at the center of this very controversial decision that some believe will lead to the of the campaign finance system. you are on the other side of that, sir, obviously. thanks for being with us tonight. good to have you. >> thank you. >> coming up, hollywood legendary producer jerry bruckheimer sat down with us next. plus hannity at the top of the hour. >> once this is full, then you put them in this van? >> yep. they'll fill this with the prisoners. they'll come from different prisons. and then they will be put into our transport van and taken to the sxwral. download the expedia app text expedia to 75309 expedia, find yours i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. news tonight. a severe weather threat in several states tonight. reports

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the supreme court decision and shaun mccutcheon who brought the case. >> chuck todd, thank you as wells morning on "the daily r rundo rundown." >> what you got, chuck? >> i don't know. i'll figure it out. i got bobby jinjindal. it's a bigger change to health care than what president obama had proposed. a bigger change he is proposing. >> okay. chuckster. >>> up next, afghan head to the poll. >> chuck todd brought to you by colorado's -- >> old school letterman. you remember the day time show, willie? >> 10:00 a.m. absolutely. >> smoking. >> that was the wake and bake show! i think they called it the wake and bake show! >> he was doing that to mary tyler moore's variety show and david was dancing in the background of that. who knew? brought to you by peter frampton! >> we are in break now. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ my mom works at ge. the was a truly amazing day. without angi