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Welcome back, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. a major case, a big decision a short time ago. the u.s. supreme court dealt another blow to affirmative action programs. the justices voted 6-2 to uphold the controversial michigan law that does away with racial consideration in college admissions. let's bring in our senior washington correspondent joe johns. this is essentially a road map for other states potentially to do the same. give us a background what happened. >> i think that's right. it's a setback for civil rights groups. as you mentioned, it wasn't even close. a 6-2 vote wit...

Through a state referendum if they want to. the court ruled that michigan voters were simply exercising their privilege to enact laws themselves when they passed a 2006 proposition against affirmative action. the decision was 6-2 with democratic appointee steven briar joining the conservative block of -- it doesn't change the status quo on affirmative action. it certainly strengthens the hand of conservatives who want to take the case against affirmative action directly to the voters. let's spin. >> i obviously am a big supporter of affirmative action in two ways. i think it is good for people...

Bunch of potheads running around. i'm a former prosecutor. i never tried marijuana. i'm happy to be missing out. trust me. so for me i think it's not so simple. it's not going to be the budget winfall of cash just like legalizing. it's nighyev to think that. jonathan is attacking it from a different, libertarian standpoint about hey, we have our own privacy rights, keep the government out. that is a different argument. but right now what we have seen clearly is the obama administration with eric holder not going to criminalize marijuana. they already said single user, states like colorado and ...

Gay marriage was a wedge issue in 2004 of bush running against john kerry, and was on the ballot as a state referendum. the views are shifting and now a narrow majority favor same-sex marriage in the country but not in key swing states like north carolina and florida and ohio. >> yes. the views are shifting but necessarily in the states where this matters the most. and this is going to be an election about the economy. so this is going to play on the margins. the obama administration put this out and doubled down on the gay marriage issue to rev up keep elements of their base. it is a fine age...

Gay marriage was a wedge issue in 2004 of bush running against john kerry, and was on the ballot as a state referendum. the views are shifting and now a narrow majority favor same-sex marriage in the country but not in key swing states like north carolina and florida and ohio. >> yes. the views are shifting but necessarily in the states where this matters the most. and this is going to be an election about the economy. so this is going to play on the margins. the obama administration put this out and doubled down on the gay marriage issue to rev up keep elements of their base. it is a fine age...