Anthony Coli News Today

that mass shooting in philadelphia last night. at least five people are dead, two injured after a gunman wearing body armor opened fire in a southwest philly neighborhood. the two injured victims are 2 and 13 years old according to police. police say they believe they have the suspect in custody, but are trying to establish a motive. whats the latest? >> reporter: details still emerging this morning. initially, police had said four people were shot and killed. all of them dead. we are ...

chief legal correspondent ari melber, legal analyst, andrew weissmann, and my friend and colleague, msnbc anchor katy tur. rachel, were about to hear from jack smith himself. if i have to interrupt you abruptly, i apologize in advance. your thoughts right now. >> reading the indictment, nicolle, i was struck by the simplicity of it structurally. this is not a case where we need to wait for somebody to flip. theres no allen weisselberg character out here who we need to find out how much...

Person would consider? >> we have to consider how much institutional autonomy the university has. i gave the example of die geogr. what about if they need more math or history majors? do they look at the racial impact? i think im here as a legal analyst. i think the question is what is unfair in a particular instance is necessarily illegal, thats the question that the department of education is going to have to struggle with. >> anthony, i think you and care are pointing out here the sort of bra...

To legacy admissions here, do you think we will see more schools and universities just proactively doing away with those programs? >> i hope so. there are so many others. harvard and other colleges have got to realize, you can get a good education at this institution, but there are other places where students can go to get great educations. i went to a historically black college and university. i did that because i wanted to be in a place where i was valued, where i was supported. i think if har...

Harvard is once again at the center of the debate with a civil rights group challenging legacy admissions, saying it discriminates against students of color and gives an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni. joining me, carol lamb and anthony coli. carol, to you. supporters of the policy say it builds an alumni community, encouraging donations. opponents say its no longer defensible without affirmative action providing a counterbalance. whats at the heart of the legal argument? >>...

It will depend on what practices the college engages in and what their motivations were for engaging in that practice. >> anthony, carol points out the distinction. why go that route instead of the lawsuit route? >> there are any number of ways to get to equity here. i think whats really important is for people to realize how we got here and why this is important. at the end of the day, ending legacy admissions in college is new or novel idea. some of the nations most elite colleges and universi...