thank you so much for joining us. ac 360 starts now. the ruling is seismic. now come the aftershocks. john berman here for anderson. tonight what happens now that the supreme court has gutted affirmative action in a decision that could profoundly change college admissions and more broadly reshape life for millions in this country. also, what we are learning about the arrest in the washington neighborhood where the obamas live of a heavily armed man with materials to make a molotov cocktail who is also wanted in connection with january 6th. plus, what we re learning about a new cooperating witness in the january 6th probe of the former president, and why he could be in a position to now say a lot. first, the supreme court s history-making decision today, dismantling a pillar of affirmative action. specifically, college admissions. in it, the court ruled by a 6-3 margin that race conscious policies at harvard and the university of north carolina violate the 14th amend
case after liberal justice brown jackson recused herself. all conservative justices siding with the majority. they decided both programs do violate the 14th amendment equal protection clause and therefore unlawful. shannon bream, chief legal correspondent is watching it for us. this is a big day. we look back 19 years ago. in 2003 justice sandra day o connor was the swing or deciding vote in what was a landmark supreme court case over race. perhaps the most divisive social, political and cultural issue in the country s history. fast forward to today. tell us about the conservative court majorities blocking colleges using race as part of the admissions process. this case came from a group of asian-american students part of the emphasis saying we re being harmed by the way the race is being used in admissions processes. justice gorsuch during the arguments about this policy said what are you supposed to tell asian american applicants who have coaches telling them try to hide
loif. again. the justices say affirmative action is wrong. the conservative majority s ruling will change how college admissions decisions are made everywhere. plus personal and pointed. the two black justices on the bench use their opinions to litigate a fight over the role of race in american society. and the ruling is making waves already on the 2024 campaign trail. president trump calls it a great day for america. president biden set to speak in minutes from the white house. i m dana bash. let s go behind the headlines and inside politics. the supreme court undoes decades of law and precedent. the justices today ruled to gut affirmative action, and it will scramble how colleges pick and choose who gets into their schools. it will also likely force students, especially black and brown students torks rethink where they even apply for college. i want to get straugt to jessica snider in washington. so jessica, this is a major, major ruling. it is. and at this point,
affirmative action and college admissions calling the policy on constitutional decision came after a case was brought in front of harvard in the case of north carolina. our reporter has the details. a landmark decision from a bitterly divided supreme court, rejecting the use of race as we know it in college admissions, chief johnson to conclude programs at harvard and the university of north carolina violated the law, riding the schools unavoidably a cloyed race in a negative manner involved racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful and points. the polarizing stigmatizing and on fair jurisprudence that allowed colleges and universities to use a students race and ethnicity as a factor to either admit them or reject them has been overruled. praise there from the architect of the lawsuits, the schools were accused of giving substantial preferences to black and hispanic applicants while discriminating against asian students. what this lawsuit reveals is that personality
diaz-balart. we begin with a decision from the u.s. supreme court that will have huge implications for colleges and universities and society in general. last hour the justices said schools cannot use race as a consideration when it comes to admitting students. ruling that affirmative action programs both at harvard and the university of north carolina are unconstitutional. it is also a decision that could have implications far beyond education. with us now to take a closer look at this, we have nbc news correspondent julia ainsley, who is outside the supreme court, we have reverend al sharpton there in the center of the screen, president of the national action network and host of politics nation on msnbc, as well as maya riley, president of the leadership conference on civil and human rights. welcome to you all on this extraordinary news day. julia, what more did the justices have to say in their decision? reporter: well, in short, they have ended affirmative action as we