our jeffrey toobin has decided it is time to speak out about this.ing to hear what jeffrey toob jeffr jeffrey toobin has said and i'm going to take him to task for it. in a moment. marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and a good source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. . time to take care of business with century link's global broadband network and cloud infrastructure. we constantly evolve to meet your needs every day of the week. >>> during a supreme court hearing today on presidential -- president obama's powers, the squ justices asked the lawyers presenting a whole lot of questions. but one voice that you rarely, if ever, hear is that of justice clarence thomas. presi

jeffrey toobin joins me again to talk through this one. know that i go crazy about these issues, and that just touches the surface. that maybe some counties don't have enough budget to do what other counties can. there are a myriad of other reasons why we don't apply this properly as human beings. we ain't perfect. >> well, and there is a quiet revolution going on about the death penalty in the united states. >> not from this chair, it ain't quiet. >> no, but it's changing. you know, in 1999, there were 98 executions. last year, there were only 39. i mean, that's almost two-thirds fewer. death sentences are down. prosecutors asking for death sentences is down. now we have yet another state, washington, that is not going to execute people, at least for a while. and people should know -- >> different. let's make this clear. there is a difference between reprieve and pardon and commutation. he's doing a reprieve. what is it? >> a reprieve is simply saying, i am not going to sign death warrants for the foreseeable future for the people on deat

cupp and jeffrey toobin is who still with us. things he said, the history of the nation has always been to try to expand the franchise, whether it's freed slaves, women, young people, we've always found ways to make it easier to vote. we've always found ways in which we've made the voting process more inclusive. so what do you think about this? is this likely to go anywhere? what is your sense? >> well, he has -- the justice department has filed lawsuits against north carolina and texas to try to overturn their photo i.d. laws and other laws passed in the wake of the supreme courts gutting of the voting rights act. i think the speech today about a felon voting is all part of eric holder i think trying to reorient his tenure as attorney general away from things like national security and towards civil rights, which is, i think what he'd rather be concentrating on than other areas that have given him a lot of problems. >> where do you stand on this, s.e.? >> i think republicans often get into trouble and i'm not surprised that rand

joining me right now, virginia attorney general and cnn's senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin.stion to you, attorney general. and i want for you to address some of the criticism that has come from some folks in virginia when it comes to this ruling. some people are saying, hey, we voted for this, we went, we cast our ballots and now our will is being ignored. what do you say to that criticism? >> well, first of all, the ruling is a victory for equality in virginia. it's a ruling for the constitution and when i decided it a few weeks ago that in presenting the state's legal position i had concluded after a thorough and rigorous review that virginia's ban on marriage for same-sex couples violated the 14th amendment, equal protection and due process clauses and, you know, i took an oath to support both the united states and virginia constitutions. and as we're all taught at a young age, when there's a conflict between the two, the u.s. constitution prevails. it's the supreme law of the land. >> certainly this is seeing that we're seeing other states do, including more conservative

joining me now cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin. i am making a big deal of this.tting in that court, i was a student at the time. an incredible moment, you are never allowed to take anything in to photograph it. a lot of people who say this is completely inappropriate and the justices have kept the cameras out. what do you think of this? >> i'm baffled because i've been in the court many times and even the news media has to walk through metal detectors. we're not allowed to bring electronics in. everybody passes through the medal detectors. something happened here. there was a lapse and the supreme court has said they're investigating and that's certainly what it looks like in there. but i certainly never expected anyone to be able to smuggle a camera in there. >> i guess that's pretty frightening to the point, how could it even have happened? if that happened what else could get in. should cameras be allowed in? >> there are perhaps good arguments against cameras in trials. you have witnesses, you have jurors that might be intimidated and none of those apply at t

that's a question for our senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jeffrey toobin who joinsan they? >> it's remotely possible but very unlikely. first of all, it's simply not done that heroin or any sort of drug dealers are prosecuted unless you can prove that they knew or really had very good reason to suspect that it was going to cause a death. if they added, for example, fentanyl or another ingredient. the second point -- >> so there would have to be prior knowledge that this drug was -- >> more than usually dangerous. the second point is proof. how do you prove that that heroin caused the death? here apparently you have different labels. if you had the same label how could you prove that that drug -- >> the dealer doesn't necessarily stamp the label. it's usually from a bigger manufacturing place and these are just middle men. >> and it's not like there are dna tests where you can prove that heroin from this source caused this death. heroin is a pretty generic product. so it would be very difficult unless you had eyewitnesses or something. >> so somebody who is somehow l

that's a question for our senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jeffrey toobin who joinse now. can they? >> it's remotely possible but very unlikely. first of all, it's simply not done that heroin or any sort of drug dealers are prosecuted unless you can prove that they knew or really had very good reason to suspect that it was going to cause a death. if they added, for example, fentanyl or another ingredient. >> so there would have to be prior knowledge that this drug was -- >> more than usually dangerous. the second point is proof. how do you prove that that heroin caused the death? here apparently you have different labels. if you had the same label how could you prove that that drug -- >> the dealer doesn't necessarily stamp the label. it's usually from a bigger manufacturing place and these are just middle men. >> and it's not like there are dna tests where you can prove that heroin from this source caused this death. heroin is a pretty generic product. so it would be very difficult unless you had eyewitnesses or something. >> so somebody who is somehow linked to the

transit arrow toobin you could a report your best way to the heart of moscow. the latest headlines on the week's top stories here in our two international fans and saw to celebrate russia's shoot up victory over so lucky in the men's ice hockey a day after the disappointing loss against hearts rivals team usa. the euro net zone infuriated by n.s.a. spying german chancellor angela merkel proposes a plan for a european online network to shut out america's snoopers plus. in your interview from the over the. years archie goes behind rebel lines in lebanon where jihad s. are raised to kill other muslims at home and across the border in syria.

is jeffrey toobin on the phone?ey just decided that what her lawyers had put in court before them sounded pretty darn plausible, that is that she mixed up medication in the morning, instead of taking a thyroid, she took an ambien and set out for her day of errands, including going to the gym. who takes an ambien with plans to go to the gym. once on the highway, while drivinger rat particularly, her experts clearly convinced this jury she couldn't be responsible for knowing she was driving erratically because of this drug. they just decided that that sounded plausible enough to them that there was reasonable doubt that these prosecutors said, she is a kennedy. they quoted her book to seek truth for justice in their closing. this he decided that her defense sounded like something they should understand. >> when you say she was driving erratically. she was driving a lexus suv and swerved in front of a tractor-trailer, right? >> and there was a crash but no w one was hurt. this is a critical issue. this is an interestin

let's discuss what is going on with jeffrey toobin, the author of the book "the oath, the obama whiteouse and the supreme court." how unusual is it, jeffrey, for an attorney general of the united states to tell the states attorney generals what they need to do? >> well, it's not unprecedented but it's certainly unusual and it's in keeping with the way that holder has been acting over the past six months or so. president obama said he wants his administration to take action with or without congress and what you see holder doing in area after area is just that. now, in some of these areas he can't force these attorneys general to defend same-sex marriage but he can urge them and that's what he is doing. he's quite -- he's been quite clear that he thinks that gay rights are the civil rights struggle of today and, you know, he comes out of the civil rights movement -- i just wrote a new yorker article about him. you know, all over his office are totems from the civil rights movement, robert f. kennedy's portraits from the '60s. he clearly thinks that gay rights are the cause of today. and

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that person happens to be jeffrey toobin joining us. let me read a couple of sentences.thomas only reliclines so he c stare at the ceiling which he does at length. he strokes his chin. his eyelids look heavy. every school teacher knows this look. it's called not paying attention. thomas is simply not doing his job." all of the other justices ask questions. he's the only one that remains silent. >> well, he gets asked that question a lot when he speaks at law schools and the like and he says he gets all of the information from the briefs and he thinks the other justices ask too many questions and don't let the lawyers finish their thoughts. all of which is perfectly reasonable for not asking a lot of questions. but eight years of not asking questions just shows contempt for a significant part of the job and, yes, he does write his opinions but that's not the whole job. he's still angry about the whole anita hill controversy. he's very angry at the news media, doesn't like the way he's treated. i think this is a gesture of hostility that only makes him look bad. >> because

. >>> joining us, jeffrey toobin and mark lamont hill, two gentlemen that i think will have a lot toay. jeffrey, let's start with you. we know you have written extensively in your book, "the oath" about the justices and you have a better as soon as about these people. give a sense of where you think he might be coming from. it is clearly in line with how he has felt before. >> this is very consistent with how he has expressed himself about race throughout his enkir career. race is something to be overcome by individual initiative. any problems you might have can be overcome by hard work and not collective action. what's so remarkable about this statement that it neglects the fact that in the mid-60s when he was a kid, you could get killed if you were a black person. people didn't talk about it a lot. in that period, that was the time of martin luther king. a lot of people were talking about race. it isn't like people didn't talk about race. john lewis, that's the name i was thinking of. the idea that race was not a factor in the 60s is pretty hard to that. he is a leader in this coun

so i think we can give toobin the point that he made that you could get killed in the 1960s, for raisinge. but the point that a lot of the african community goes to justice thomas which they consider him a turn coat for not being a more vocal advocate for affirmative action policies. >> it is a subtle bigotry of lowered expectations. to say he somehow benefitted from affirmative action is really robbing justice thomas of the recognition he deserves, he succeeded because he applied himself, because he worked hard and because his accomplishments are without question, that is why he is where he is. not because of some progressive construct that seeks to lower the bar because they don't believe anybody can rise to the occasion. >> but stephanie, justice thomas checked the box to get into law school. he said he regretted it because it made him feel like a second class citizen. for reasons of his own he doesn't believe in affirmative action, but for some reason, those on the left go after him, why? >> well, when you think about clarence thomas' upbringing, he had a grandfather who really insti

jeffrey toobin, and mark o'mara. >> jeff you had a simple reaction to this verdict. >> yeah, this was a case about a kid killed because he was black. i mean, that's all this case was. >> well said. >> and i think that's why so many of us had such a horrified reaction to it. because there are interesting legal issues here and complexities, but there's no way he is killed if he is white. he is just killed because he is black. and fortunately we don't see it that often in this society. but when we do, it's still very disturbing. >> and i think we need to take it a step further. he was killed because a white man perceived he must have a gun because he's black because he must be a thug. and i think that was what was so hurtful to me as the mother of a black child i now know when he is walk down the street rather than see the straight "a" student or the equestrian and swim team star they see a thug. what do i have to do to protect my kid? >> why is this the surprise? you were the one that sent me the jury break down on day one. and i think i said at the time this is a hung jury. >> i don't

senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. >> the documents you wrote about in the times a lot was redacted. there were e-mails that wildstein provided between he and bridgett kelly. has he provided unredacted documents? >> his lawyer said he will turn them over. the legislature says they haven't gotten them yet. that is what makes this interesting is that what we know so far we know from david wildstein. we know it was bridget kelly who sent the e-mail saying time for traffic problems in fort lee. the possibility that david wildstein has more information is very real. >> you said christie might be able to weather this politicly as long as it is shown he didn't know about this advance or order the lane closurers. we kboent know whether that is the case. >> i think they are very great for him. if this letter proves to be accurate, contrary to what we heard earlier i read it as directly contradicting what the governor said in two press conferences. he said he didn't know anything about the lane closings until the episode was over. he said he knew there was evidence tying him to knowing the la

so i think we can give toobin the point that he made that you could get killed in the 1960s, for raisingan community goes to justice thomas which they consider him a turn coat for not being a more vocal advocate for affirmative action policies. >> it is a subtle bigotry of lowered expectations. to say he somehow benefitted from affirmative action is really robbing justice thomas of the recognition he deserves, he succeeded because he applied himself, because he worked hard and because his accomplishments are without question, that is why he is where he is. not because of some progressive construct that seeks to lower the bar because they don't believe anybody can rise to the occasion. >> but stephanie, justice thomas checked the box to get into law school. he said he regretted it because it made him feel like a second class citizen. for reasons of his own he doesn't believe in affirmative action, but for some reason, those on the left go after him, why? >> well, when you think about clarence thomas' upbringing, he had a grandfather who really instilled pulling yourself up by your both st

cnn's senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, you know about him as well, he talked about that issue andthat you're claiming. here's how he phrased his issue. senator paul does not have a legal standing and no court will accept that with mlts of plaintiffs. i know you're saying you dispute the issue on standing. what about the issue of class. i'm looking out there. i did some quick work. walmart, the biggest employee discrimination case, 1.5 million. the visa master card could have been better. 300 million people. >> here's the whole point of what you want to do, this warrant is so generalized. a single warrant is being applied to everybody who has a cell phone and rel really everybody that has a land line, too. everybody who has a phone connection. that sounds to us like a general warrant. it says the warrant should be specific to the individual. you're telling me a single warrant can apply to everybody who has an at&t phone call. that sounds like it does go against what our founding fathers intended in the fourth amendment. i think we will be heard. i think we have a strong argument. t

and we'll ask jeffrey toobin if the people who sold it to him can be charged with a crime.vel fight of heroin. randi kaye spent the day with fbi agents. nonpartisan facts versus political spin. there's been a lot of political spin on whether the affordable care act. those stories and the ridiculist. >> we're looking forward to all of that. >>> philip seymour hoffman checked himself into a detox center last may. obviously he had been fighting this problem for quite some time. like a lot of other stars including robert downey jr., lindsay lohan, charlie sheen, he did it in the privacy of a drug treatment facility. a lot of these are very cozy and very expensive. some might say more like spas, but what exactly happens in these places? why are they so popular. david mattingly went to malibu to find out. >> reporter: he was a beloved actor and to the public at large apparently acting as if nothing was wrong, but philip seymour hoffman's losing battle with heroin was not unusual. >> getting drugs if you were highly affluent and traveling in artistic circle is not hard. >> reporte

. >> so let me ask you this, the cnn senior legal analysis jeffrey toobin talked about that issue and of the class itself that you're claiming. here's how he phrased it. senator paul does not have a legal standing which the courts require and no court will accept a class action with millions of plaintiffs. i know you dispute the issue on standing. what about the issue of class? i'm just looking out, there i did some quick work out there. walmart, the biggest employee discrimination case in america with 1. 5 million plaintiffs. but you're looking at, according to this page 8, 300 million people. >> see, here's the whole point and what we're trying to bring to the american people is that this warrant, a single warrant is being applied to everybody who has a cell phone and really everybody that has a land line too. everybody has a phone connection, they're saying a single warrant can apply to everyone. that sounds like a general warrant. the fourth amendment says that the warrant should be specific to the individual. but you're telling me a single warrant can apply to everybody with at&t

our own jeffrey toobin standing by to weigh-in. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milks ] ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything. cisco. tomorrow starts here. >>> a major merger is in the works that could potentially change the cable tv landscape in this country. comcast has a deal to buy ti time-warner for $45 billion. they would combine to reach 33 million american households. the deal needs approval from washington. they are not affiliated with the parent company time-warner. our senior legal analyst is joining us. let's talk a little bit about this. it's nice to be approved with this deal. there a lot of variables and antitrust laws. what's your analysis? >> it's a very compli

we have mark o'mara, jeffrey toobin and our representative from florida.are two bigger concerns. one, someone on this jury decided to believe it was possible that four black kids in a car would have had a gun, even though there were no evidence presented to them that there was a gun in the car. that goes to a cultural pr presumption. second, as a country, we seem to be more comfortable using violence at the smallest threat. what do you think about those issues? >> we have a culture that goes to violence when you feel a threat. it's not argue about it, it's take out a 9 millimeter and start shooting. we're killing people left and right with our weapons. i have guns, i understand the second amendment, but i don't think the founding fathers thought we should have a militia to start using 9 millimeters in kindergart kindergarten, in theaters or in a car that can drive away. and as to the race issue, look, there is no denial. you can't ignore the fact that we put young black males in the system sat a higher percentage than their population. some of it we can bl

let's bring in our senior analyst jeffrey toobin.w that you've been doing checking with your sources. what are you hearing about the documents that are being subpoenaed and about to be released. >> they were talking about the snowstorm and they wanted to get out of trenton and they received some materials but most of the 20 folks who have been subpoenaed asked for extensions. nobody delivered anything before today. today was the deadline. i don't think we're going to learn much about what is in the stuff that they received for a little while. they don't have a huge staff there. and they are being affected by the snowstorm and most of the stuff they asked for is the subject of these extensions. so i think we are looking at months, this playing out for months. >> i know for a fact that ryan lizza was disruptive in high school and i'm not sure you should listen to anything he says on this issue. >> have you spoken to his social studies teacher? >> i have. it's important for viewers to know this. >> what is up with that? why would anyone

. >> let's dig deeper with our legal analyst jeffrey toobin.hen you think about it, six days after they close the bridge they're joking about this rabbi and traffic and flights to tel aviv. >> what this makes clear is the idea of punishment by traffic was something that was in regular circulation in christie's office. now, whether -- what they did and why remains mysterious, as, of course, is the bigger question of what christie knew, if anything, of what they were doing. but certainly weird is the only description of what was going on. >> they're joking about the traffic problems and clearly they're trying to use this, at least these aides, if you believe these texts and these e-mails, they're trying to use this as punishing political adversaries. >> right, which i consider myself a fairly cynical, you know, experienced journalist. i certainly have never heard of the idea before all this of using traffic as a kind of punishment, but clearly now we have at least two examples where they were talking about it and once when it happened. this is wh

let's bring in cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin and expert in jury issues, kimberly johnson.imony. it seemed like dunn knew precisely what he had to do and the language was very carefully chosen. he said it was a life or death situation. was he convincing? >> what a load of nonsense. i mean, look, i don't blame him for going to trial. he's got to take a shot. i think his defense is ridiculous. i think it's inconsistent with his testimony and the idea that you shoot ten shots at a gas station forgive me, even in the south, and you just leave because your dog has to get a walk is absurd. and i think the jury is going to see it the same way. >> let's talk about how he tried to make his case to the jury. he was emotional on the stand yesterday. he broke down. he was in tears almost in some points. let's listen to what he said talking about his fiance, rhonda rouer. >> this is where rhonda starts coming into my mind because i know she's heard the shots. i know rhonda -- it wasn't just my life i was worried about. >> you know, you know jurys. what do they see? >> seeing a defendant

let's bring in jeffrey toobin joining me from washington. jeff, we've been in there many times.y. how do you think they pulled this off? >> you got me. it was very surprising. as you know, everybody, all the spectators go through metal detectors there, including the press. it's a very serious screen. and so i'm baffled by how to worked. and the court is clearly very concerned. if you can get a camera in there, you can maybe get a weapon in there. so this guy is obviously a knuckle head. this is not an appropriate way to behave, but it's also a serious issue. and the court east going to look into it. >> it's so unusual why we bring it up. thankfully nothing more than on outburst happens. should there be cameras allowed in the courtroom in general during oral arguments. i know you think they should. why? >> many of the arguments against cameras in the courtroom involve, you know, witnesses who might be intimidated or jurors who might be bothered by it. you have no issues like that in the supreme court. it's just legal arguments. it's just the lawyers who tend to be very experience