it is topsy-turvy live news event kind of day. case in point, in a matter of about two minutes, we expect to hear from president biden. he will address the nation live on a number of topics, not the least of which is the abrupt stepback our country took today away from fairness and progress toward intolerance and discrimination. the conservative supreme court ruled 6-3 in favor of a colorado web designer, an evangelical named lori smith who refused to work on same sex weddings. the court said that the first amendment protected her from punishment. and it is a turning point decision that will flip the state of equal protections on its head and allow business owners to likewise evade punishment under similar laws in 29 states. and in the longer term, it could again signal a threat to the landmark decision of the 2015 case establishing the case of same sex couples to marry. and if you are wondering of the same sex couple, what they are doing, after being denied basic human decen
and i think all your guests have said this. elections really do matter in terms of, are we a country that expands freedom and opportunity and justice and the sense we re all in it together or is it now going to be who has the power and who doesn t? rachel, it is so interesting to break it down. i mean, the court is on the other side of 80% of americans that want gun safety, the kinds of things they struck down earlier in the year. 65% to 70% of americans think choice is a better way to exist as a country. marriage equality, 71% of all americans think that should be the law of the land. clearly under assault. you go down the line. and the supreme court doesn t even represent the whole of the republican party. that is inaccurate. the supreme court is extreme, the most extreme republican party that s existed in my lifetime. what is the conversation about and they hate when that is said, so let me say it again.
going to take all of joe biden s sort of effort to be apolitical and say i don t want to do it because of what it could mean for the court? you don t think that donald trump will just blow right by that and say, oh, wait, i didn t think about the fact that i could expand the court and make it not just a 6-3 majority but make it more so? so there really needs to be a rethinking about what is going on here particularly given the history of how some of justices got on the bench. such an important point. and it is interesting to really have very specific clarity about where he comes down on all those things. but i feel like in the wake of the three decisions we ll be talking about this right straight through to election day in 2024. i do want to bring in rachel lazer. let me read to you from justice sotomayor s dissent. today is a sad day in american
overruling his student debt loan forgiveness program outlining some steps and some immediate help for students who very much are reported to feel that the road has been ripped out from under them today. we have an abundance of experts to help us talk through all of the breaking news today at the supreme court as well as president biden s remarks. we have the president and ceo of americans united for separation of church and state, rachel lazer is here. and sarah kate ellis is here as well, she is president and ceo of the lgbtq advocacy group glad. also the reverend al sharpton. and as well as randy winegar dozen. and to round it out, our legal analyst andrew weissmann is by