considered protected free speech. he said, quote, sanctioning the public desecration of the flag will tarnish its value both for those who cherish the ideas for which it waves and those who desire to don the robes of martyrdom by burning it. i don t think anybody who heard him read that dissent, the passion with which he looked at the flag, could think about the flag the same way. whatever you thought about the legal issue. reporter: on the bench he was known as a soft-spoken midwesterner with a searing intellect. extreme gentlemanliness with one of the most acute minds that s ever sat on the court. he retired in 2010 receiving a presidential medal of freedom two years later and in 2018, after a school shooting in florida, he pinned an op-ed calling for the repeal of the second amendment. he was 97 years old at the time. but john paul stevens mind and his words were still razor sharp.
died at the age of 99. the soft-spoken americaner suffered a midwesterner suffered a stroke and passed away tuesday at a ft. lauderdale hospital with his daughters by his side. stevens served as a naval intelligence officer in world war ii and was nominated to the high court by republican president gerald ford in 1975. stevens went on to become a leader of the court s liberal wing, serving until 2010. just two months ago, our john berman asked him about president trump s relationship with the judiciary. he s getting advice from people who are knowledgeable about judges, and i hope he won t do too much damage. reporter: do you think he understands the role of the judiciary in the country no. reporter: why not? i think he often speaks about them as obama judges and other kind of judges, but i think you have john roberts who was dead right when he said there were only one kind of judges, and they re all working for the
do we have just an hour? reporter: stevens also disagreed with his liberal colleagues when the court ruled burning an american flag was considered protected free speech. he said, quote, censioning the public desecration of the flag will tarnish its values. i don t think anybody who heard him read that dissent, the passion with which he looked at the flag and what it meant for him could really ever think about the american flag the same way you look at it whatever you think about the legal issue. reporter: on the bench he was known as a soft-spoken midwesterner with a searing intellect. extreme gentlemanness, a courtly manner with one of the most acute razor sharp minds that frankly ever sat on the court. reporter: receiving the presidential medal of freedom two years later and he penned an
you either are medicare for all which means obamacare s gone, gone, period, or you build on obamacare like i m doing, and you provide a medicare option. i don t know what herpation maybe she s changed her position, i don t know. meantime, senator bernie sanders takes on his rivals today on medicare for all. he s scheduled to speak at george washington university. cnn s first new hampshire poll of 2020 hopefuls shows joe biden, bernie sanders, and elizabeth warren leading, all within the five-point margin of error. the poll shows a lot of s uncertainty here. 64% undecided. retired supreme court justice john paul stephenson has died at the age of 99. the soft-spoken midwesterner suffered a stroke this week and passed away tuesday at a ft. lauderdale hospital with his daughters by his side. stevens served as a naval intelligence officer in world war ii and was nominated to the high court by republican president gerald ford in 1975.
president. not this republican party. joining me this evening, clair mccaskill a former democratic senator from missouri, knows a little bit about down state politics. charley sykes another midwesterner. msnbc contributor and editor at large. i love it. i got missouri, illinois, and wisconsin all represented right here. the tri-state powerhouse. rick pearson, let me start with you. look, it s is there a case where do we over rate the president s chances because of how we underrated it? and i say we. the general political class. are we all over rating the president s chances because of what happened in 2016? i think we have to be very careful and part of that is the hesitancy. look at how many times in 2016 his candidacy was pronounced doa. go back to john mccain not being a hero. that was kind of a death nell statement. he is president of the united states. yes we do have to be careful.