Well, as we come on the air this afternoon,
after that CBS News special report,
the US Supreme Court hands down a major
decision regarding affirmative action,
striking it down.
Now, you just heard from President
Biden and his remarks on the decision.
We want to thank you for
joining us today at noon.
I'm Johnny Taylor.
Now, right now, we go straight
to Natalie Brand in Washington,
DC with what this decision means
for universities going forward.
The Supreme Court struck a
blow to affirmative action
at colleges and universities
across the country,
ruling it unlawful in the admissions process.
Writing for the court's majority,
Chief Justice John Roberts said that
Harvard and the University of North
Carolina's race conscious admissions
programs violate the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Lawsuits against the schools allege
the policies discriminated against
white and Asian American applicants.
Today, the court
said the way to end racial
discrimination is to stop.
Taking race into account
in her dissent,
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote,
the decision rolls back decades of
precedent and momentous progress.
And in a separate dissent,
Justice Katanji Brown Jackson,
the court's first black female justice,
called the decision a tragedy for us all.
Universities
who have been bracing for this decision
have begun thinking of alternative
ways to increase diversity on campus.
So we might see colleges and
universities put more weight,
for instance, on where did you grow up?
Do your parents have graduate degrees?
What zip code did you grow up in?
The Supreme Court upheld using race
as a factor in college admissions
programs as recently as 2016.
But that was before the court's makeup
move sharply to the right with a six,
three conservative majority.
Natalie Brandt, CBS News,
the Supreme Court.
Now the Supreme Court still has
more big rulings to come this term,
including President Biden's student loan
forgiveness program to erase or reduce
debt for 10s of millions of Americans.
The High Court is also considering
another case concerning whether a
Colorado wedding website designer
can deny services to samesex couples.
The heat has killed at least 14
people so far, and the smoke is
blanketing big cities from the
Midwest to the East Coast badly.
Blackburn has the latest from New York.
Seconds after delivering a pile
of packages to a home in Cypress,
TX, this Amazon delivery driver nearly
collapsed from excessive heat exhaustion.
Wednesday, parts of Texas were
hotter than 99% of the planet.
In Dallas, the temperature inside
Norman Grant's home climbed past
104 degrees before a donated air
conditioner could be installed.
More than 62 million Americans are
now under excessive heat watches,
warnings and advisories.
Trapped inside a heat Dome covering the SE,
Roddy Fonstock spends his days on roofs
in New Orleans installing commercial
air conditioners. He's hot enough to.
Feel the soles of my shoes.
Hot under shirt. 15 minutes.
It's gone.
The Midwest and Northeast are
not faring much better.
Smoke from ongoing Canadian wildfires is
blanketing big cities like Washington DC,
Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, NY.
All of New York State is now
under an air quality alert.
And here in New York City,
forecasters expect the smoke to be a
problem on and off for several weeks.
Residents are being urged to
stay inside as much as possible
and wear masks when they go out.
My eyes have been watering,
my throat has been sore,
I've been coughing,
and weather woes have stretched westward.
This weekend,
California's forecast for its
first major heat wave of the year,
and the National Weather Service
is warning that dry, hot,
windy conditions could lead to
dangerous fires in the Southwest.
Bradley Blackburn, CBS News,
New York.
With the dangerously hot temperatures,
the last thing you want to be
dealing with is unclean water.
Some people were worried that might be
the case after seeing some discoloration,
but Central Arkansas Water
says it's still safe.
After investigating,
CAW found that the levels of manganese
and Lake Maumelle has risen and insert
the treatment plant that's causing the
water to have a slight yellowish tint.
The state's water utility is working
on a fix, but in the meantime?
Say the water is still safe to drink,
even if discolored.
But beware,
washing clothes may lead to stains
here at home. This summer,
you're going to see a handful
of new laws going into effect
from new school restrictions,
bathroom bills and gun changes.
Lawmakers passed 890 new acts during
the most recent general session,
with most of them starting.
On July 31st.
Now we've talked about some of them recently,
like Act 300 or 372,
which allows for changes to how Public
Library books can be challenged and
potentially punishes librarians if they
contain material harmful for kids.
That act is currently being
challenged in federal court.
You can head to our website at
thv11.com and search Arkansas
laws and it will pop right up.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
said that more needs to be done
to slow down inflation and that
he wouldn't rule out back-to-back
rate hikes in the coming months.
The central bank pause interest
rate increases earlier in June
and just as Americans are packing
for their 4th of July vacations,
severe weather has thrown the airline
industry into chaos in the last few days.
Thousands of more flights
were cancelled or delayed.
And those numbers keep going up.
With the 4th of July right around the corner,
this will be a busy time and
busy weekend at airports.
T HP11's Ashley Godwin is at the
Little Rock Airport to see what
you need to know before leaving.
As 4th of July weekend approaches,
there's a lot more people
heading to the airport,
so you need to make sure you get there
early so you don't miss your plane.
Two hours I always
do. 2 hours? I always expect to be a
little later than anticipated yet.
TSA estimates 30,000 people
will fly out of the Little
Rock airport this holiday.
With that comes longer lines
and wait times. Miami was
It was slow getting through TSA. Very slow.
It took us about an hour and a half.
A little bit of a warning here.
If you come into the airport with
less than an hour before your flight,
there's a chance you may miss it.
Passengers telling us getting through
Little Rocks Airport hasn't been
the problem today was not bad now,
but in other places,
severe storms this week forced
airlines to delay more than 30,000
flights and canceled nearly 7000 more.
That's still the biggest area that
we're having a problem with. Is making
sure that passengers get here on time.
It is recommended you arrive at the
airport at least two hours before
your flight leaves to make sure you
get through security checkpoints.
Be prepared. Know what you can and cannot
bring in your check bag or in your carryon.
Now, there have been some reported
delays at the Little Rock airport
in the past couple weeks,
so make sure you check with
your airline to make sure your
flight is on time in Little Rock.
Ashley Godwin, THV 11 News.
And summer travel is underway,
and criminals see that as an
opportunity to rip people off.
Travel fraud is one of the
biggest moneymakers for criminals,
and they often start with an old scheme,
luring you in with a free vacation.
Many of these fake offers
are light on details,
and the promoter often rushes
you to make a quick decision.
Look for the red flags,
like when someone is asking you to pay.
Wire transfer,
gift card or crypto.
If you're planning an overseas trip,
you may see sites offering to help
with an international travel visa,
passport or other documents.
They often charge high fees
and are just copycats of the
Department of State's website.
Avoid the fees by going
directly to travel.state.gov.
Now, Jill also says if you fall
victim to a travel scam reported
immediately to the federal
tradecommission@reportfraud.ftc.gov
well, I don't know about you,
but I like to try new foods.
I love popcorn, but how about new snacks,
like marshmallows in a can or
strangely enough, upcycled food waste?
Well, at 12:17 we'll share the
latest food trends that could be
headed to store shelves near you.
But first, let's also talk food.
Closer to home,
we're taking you inside a restaurant
that seems to have limitless options and
more on just food and more than just food.
There we go.
Scott Cobra steps in to tell
us more about weather as well.
Yeah, we're looking live
outside from our view 11,
looking off towards the east
under a mostly clear sky.
That sunshine is just baking the
natural state here at the noon hour.
In fact,
we're on track for today to be one of
the hottest days of the year so far.
Relief is in the seven day
forecast that's coming up.