ain. oh, okok i will - - i ll turn r ththermostat t to 78. i i ll unplug g the blendede. the hahair dryer.. - - my blankieie? - yep!p! - let s tatalk about i it! - nopepe. ooo,o, we can sasave the lauauy titil the mororning! oh, yes s please! oh! lilittle thingngs like ths helplp save our r power and help s save us frorom outag. wiwith flex alalerts, the power r is ours. tonight, the supreme court s landmark ruling on affirmative action on college campuses. the court strikes down programs at harvard, at the university of north carolina, saying race cannot be used in decisions on admissions. but a fiery dissent claims the court is rolling back decades of precedent and momentous progress. how colleges are responding, and late reaction from president biden and republicans. also tonight, a jury finding a former high school security officer in parkland, florida, not guilty of
decision, while republicans are praising the choice. here is kelly o donnell. reporter: tonight, a new fight. president biden firing back at the supreme court. we cannot let this decision be the last word. reporter: emphatic that discrimination still exists. and when asked if the justices are a rogue court, the president with this striking attack on the conservative majority. this is not a normal. reporter: going even further on msnbc. find it just so out of sorts with the basic value system of the american people. reporter: the vice president in new orleans today. it is about being blind to history, being blind to data, being blind to empirical evidence about disparities. reporter: a majority of americans, 53% say affirmative action programs without quotas are still needed, according to an april nbc news poll. but the republican 2024 class says the high court got it right by removing racial references.
now colleges are left with a new world order, navigating how to recruit minorities and comply with the law. for those who don t want the visit their own systemic barriers that they ve presented, we re putting them on notice. they want to continue those legacy admissions programs, we re going to challenge them. laura, this was about education. what about diversity effort initiatives in the workplace? well, lester, those too could be at risk if the court follows the same reasoning. the conservative activists that brought today s cases has one aim at ending diversity requirements on corporate boards in california as well. this term for the court is about to end. we still have a couple of big rulings we re waiting for. oh, yes. two significant ones. the fate of the president s plan to erase more than $400 billion in student loan debt, as well as a graphic designer who doesn t want to make wedding websites for gay couples. both of those tomorrow, lester. all right, laura, thanks
preferences. gop front-runner former president trump writing this is a great day for america. we re going back to all merit-based, and that s the way it should be. and this praise from senator tim scott. this is day where we understand that being judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin, is what our constitution wants. reporter: today in ukraine, nbc s dasha burns with mike pence. the supreme court just struck down affirmative action. what is your reaction? there may have been a time 50 years ago when we needed to affirmatively take steps to correct long-term racial bias in institutions of higher education. those days are long over. reporter: the biden administration says it s been working for months to prepare new guidance for schools to navigate this changed a mission admissions landscape. lester?
a sharply divided court scrapping decades of precedent, striking down race-based a missions programs at harvard and the university of north carolina, ruling their efforts to create racially diverse campuses are unconstitutional. the majority rejecting the use of race alone to promote diversity on college campuses. chief justice john roberts and his majority opinion writing both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives. conservatives argue college admissions should be based on merit, not race. president biden, on the other hand, saying discrimination still exists in america. the court did not entirely strike race from the equation. a lot of questions about the impact of all this. it s where we start with laura jarrett. reporter: a landmark decision from a bitterly divided supreme court, rejecting the use of race as we know it in college admissions. chief justice john