people as the central players shush, don t tell them. well, cats out of the bag. it s happening. i think it happened today. thank you for the book plug, as well. thank you my friend. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. the year was 1990. republican incumbent north carolina senator jesse helms was pulling behind his black democratic challenger, a man named harvey gantt. it was a surprisingly competitive election. so helms cold in the political consultants, who helped the helms campaign figure out a way to fight back. and this is what they came up with. this ad. you needed that job. you are the best qualified. but they had to give it to a minority tick is of a racial quota. is that really fair? harvey gantt says he supports ted kennedy s racial quota law but makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications. you ll vote on this issue next tuesday. for racial quotas, i began. it against racial quotas, jesse helms. that added, with
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
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
now affecting millions of students and colleges across the country. justice clarence thomas, who has acknowledged affirmative action helped him, against the policy now, describing a colorblind constitution. justice ketanji brown jackson, the court s first black woman justice, calling the decision, quote, a tragedy for us all. saying deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life. tonight, president biden again saying this is not a normal court, when asked a question today at the white house. you ll see the moment. terry moran at the court. mary bruce in the studio with me. and rachel scott on how this immediately becomes an issue in the race for president. also tonight, more than 130 million americans under air quality alerts tonight. millions more suffering from that intense heat growing more deadly today. the smoke from the canadian wildfires now blanketing 23 states, from wisconsin to the northeast. washington, d.c. and detroit with the worst air quality in t
the year was 1990, republican incumbent of north carolina senator jesse helms was polling behind his black democratic challenger, a man named harvey gantt. it was a surprisingly competitive election, so home called in the political consultants who, in turn, helped the helms campaign figure out a way to fight back, and this is what they came up with, this ad. you needed that job, but they had to give it to a minority because of the racial quota. is that really fair? harvey gantt says it is. he supports the racial quota law, making the color of your skin more important in your qualifications. you will vote on this issue next tuesday, harvey gantt . that ad, with the white hands holding the rejection letter as the narrator intones you are a better candidate than the minority guy that they went with, can you steal the injustice of it all? that ad was exactly what senator jesse helms needed, he. term in the senate, 54 to 46%. that strategy worked. it worked well. making ga