captioning performed by the natiinal captioning itute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org robert: president trump steps up his search for a new supreme court justice. we discuss the highly charged fight over the future of the high court tonight on "washington week." president trump: i'm very honored thate chose to do it during my term in offi because he felt confident in me to make the right choice and carry on his great legacy. robert: supreme court shakeup. the retirement has sparked a political battle. republicans ue should wait until after the november elections and follow theredent they set in 2016. that's when senate majority leader mitch mcconnell refused to give president obama's supreme court pick

ae. v >> they should follow the rule they set in 201 anything, but that, would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. >> this is not 2016 and right in the president's first term. dent trump isn't waiting. he has identified potential ou nominees who cld cement control of the supreme court for decades. president trump: we have an excellent list of highly educated and highly intelligent and tremendous people. robert: we examine the impact a new justice could have on policy and theid prt's legacy with seung min kim of the "washington post." joan biskupic of cnn. pete williams of nbc news d carl hulls of the washington times.

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american cise lines. proud sponsor of "washington week." additional funding is provided by new man's own foundation donating foundation from food products to charity and nourishing the common good. and the foundation committed to bridging. the contributions through your pbs viewers like you.ga once from washington, moderator robert costa.: roberesident trump may look back on this final week of june as onef the most significant of his term. the supreme court upheld s travel ban and justice kennedy pivotal swing vote has announced his

retirement. and on friday the president said he woulde m a decision by monday july 9 and that would escalate the fierce battle between democrats and republicans. >> nominated by a republican president ronald reagan in 1988 supreme hurt justice anthony kennedy long been referred to as the swing vote, a label he never liked. but his voting record supports his sometimes sentist and sometimes maverick reputation, kennedy voted with conservatives, buturing his 0 years on the bench he sid on cases involving abortion rights including the 2015 landmark opinion which legalized same hiff sex marriage. >> they asked for equal

opportunity. robert: the 80-year-old sworn in his former clerk neil gorsuch. kennedy's retiremen clears the wa t for presidentrump to name his second supreme court justice. the president is expected toat nomin a young ldconservative who c significantly tilt the court to the right for generations. >> republicans now havehe opportunity to erase a generation of women's rights, workers' rights and health care. >> we will vote t confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. robert: we'll get to that scene on capitol hill. what a great group. joan, you were there at the court. you saw his wife. maybe this was in the

works. joan: i knew he had beenki th about retirement and for more than a year. he is 81 and about to turn 82 in july, but he has a powerful position and he ked it and took it very seriously his role even though he was modest. he likid dg cases and obviously controlling it what we are living under. he comes out tha wednesday morning, they announced this important labor law cases, the justices looked fairly relaxed, mary kennedy is there, but mrs. contendy has come often at the very end and the body language seemed at ease. maybe not. and he doesn't do athing. and it turns out that he then goes into a private conference with his fellow

colleagues, this from other justices, and he tells the w an know from the white house information that he en delivers his own letter personally to the esident, not all retiring justices do that, they send a letter usually. and at 2:00 p.m. eastern time, that's when the word comes down. td i haveo say even though i had written many times of him thinking about retiring, i have to say i was surprised. he did it.hy obert: w now for justice contendy? >> i think he was ready. his health becomes an issue. pete: his wife especially. everybody says they want to spend more time withis family but wanted to spend more time with hishi granren. and how decisive he is, we forget, he is a

conservative. he is comfortable with a president. this term especially. he was conservative right down the line. and so, he thought this would be a good time to go. i don't think a supreme court justice -- i don't thinkai their calculus who is going to choose my successor. robert: the white house seems to have d a quiet campaign over the past year and other signals this would be the right time. carl: and other people who clerking for a candidate named to the court. there was a very subtleai ca going on and things to say, things will be ok. you have to remember, and i agree with your pointe at beginning. the judicial approach is

what has been working for the trump administration. this is something that has worked tore them. gorsuch has been a big hit. and other lower court judges than they have in the district court. and that list, the famous st which he won his election, because angelicals stuck with him. trump looks at this week and says this another chance to make a big mark and crvent the conive control on the court and of course, this srs up th senate every time. nothing like a supreme court fight. we have a ways to go here. robert: does it stir up the mid-term election for both parties? >> this is going to be a fight. there is nothing like a supreme court fight in washington. but one that has a chance to tip the balance of the court tomt ishing that is monumental in a

heated year. and look at the democrats, very helpfully focused on health care. they see this as the year of the woman and hlth care is the most motivating issuend with their effort to protect the affordable care act. that is why y see the messaging led by chuckhu r and the rest of the democrats saying, a women's right io chooses at stake and the future of the affordable care act is at stake and that is to not m onivate their voters and keep the rest of themo atic caucus together but put that pressure on the two republican senatorso are pro-abortion rights. >> justice kennedy said he is going to leave at the end july. pete: what they'll say, i'lletire whe my successor is nominated and con filmed. if it seems like the senate

isoing to play this out all the way up to t election, it cares about the senate, because they are apparently not concerned by the first monday in october, we are probab goi toville eight justices. >> and we went through that for days after scalia's day. this is cast as amon you mental battle, this is the first nomination that is going to be brought to the senate that doesn't have the same filibuster power. all it takes is a simple majority to approve a supreme court nominee this could be quick and dirt. they may not have a hard time to get him on the bench. robert: if anybody is ready, it's mitch mcconnell and he said, quote, i

thought the decision i made not to fill the supreme court vack advancey was the most con see conventional. decisi those are my top priorities. and this has to be the priority now. >> the senate does care about the senate. [laughter] >> i think the democrats to that would say, while they had the justice -- >> 400 some days. >> mitch mcconnell is going to push ahead and fill this and they have the gears. the funny thing that think that is going on with senator mcconnell, he has gotten upset with the accusations, because he is saying, wait a minute, this a mid-term election and this is very. different

we get the distinction and i thought that he was feeling theeat. if you look at this july 9 hite house knows where they are going. these people have been vetted. leo of the federal lift society is helping them. robert: if the senate majority is so narrow for republicans and don't have a lot ofoom, the president said he has his list down to five, six people, two people, who are we looking at? >> a couple were put on the bench by him. i' nameeople who we believe. amy barrett, that is a woman who had been a law professor at notre dame who he put othe seventh circuit. she has a very strong following among religiousco ervatives.

she had a little bit of a controversial hearing in the sene because senator feinstein challenged her in a way that trump liked, the president liked howhend her people fought back. that is one person.e man, brett kavanaugh and helped vet john roberts. he is on the dks circuit court of appea. another former kennedy clerk that we believe isth on list, ray ketledge on the sixth court of appeals. a favorite of mitch mcconnell, first outh indian, asian nominee and he was put on the court. robert: anyone you want to add? >> thomasdi hn.

these are all appeals court is a and the reason for that. the republican mantra is no more david suiters. they want to make sure thes are rock solid and appeals court judges write a lot of opinions. >> they have been throughri theer already and have gotten a pretty good look. but they are hoping these people if from are no secrets thatre goi to pop up, all the democrats have going f them is the nominee. >> and i will say some of them met with the president in the first round but some have not. it will be interesting to see who emerges from the contest ofor sts that president trump finds. it is. robert: it does matter.

port about the confirmation process, it used to be rowdy events. some things can be unpredictable and something youeport d, two of the most powerful senators, they support abortion rights and voted ainst repealing the affordable care act. they use to frame this battle over the supreme court. when you look at this razor-thin majority, where is colli and murkowski going to go?t >> i exp that. first susan collins had a consistent answer and was asked about this and she said sher won't e ask a judge how he or she will

rule on a specific case but she grills them on precedent and she personally believes that roe versus wade is settled law. and isk lisa murkowski and we had a 10-minute discussion on a stairwe and she said roe versus wade is a significant factor but not they o factor for her. she is aware of the essures she faces already. she is under the pressureco er a lot considering her independent streak and buck the party leadership. but it is anybody's depess. robert: they are not the only ones under pressure. the red state states, heitkampjoe mamp chin of

west virginia. >> and right before t election, they don't want to be getting crossways with trump voters and how do they approachhi they need democrats. heidi and you can't alienate them either. you say i'm glad i'm not a senator. that will be a toughci on. and then the interesting thing, say someone breaks away, one of the republicans,ne -- what do the democrats do, do they want to put the president trump nominee on the supreme court? it's fascinating the way they have to operate in this. environme robert: we don't pay enough attention how thisni adration has overhauled the u.s. courts. the t's not just supreme courts but donega

mcin the white house working with two conservative groups and changed the face of.s. law. >> they have. they have set records forum ther of appointments they have made to the u.s. court of appeals which is between trial judges and f preme court and that's where muche action is because the supreme court takes so few ces. and those people are not changing the law of the land but alson deck. he is putting them on hand to be ready for this kind ofoment and change what is happening out there. robert: what about chief justice roberts, you are o workin a book, he is the key vot >> yes. of course, it does. i think for a cple of reasons. he is theeast i had logically ridge i had of the other conservativ.

pete: he does think about the court as an stitution. for example, when you talk about the roe versus wadeed prt, only clarence thomas is on rord opposing record. we don't know how the other conservatives would vote. chief justice roberts would think twice and maybe four times about whether he wants t overturn a 45--year-old precedent and the same may be true on gay rights,. for examp this is, by the way, i think many people have wondered about justice kennedy's decision to step down. many people say, doesn't he know that whoever who comes will saw the legs out from all the things he did. he wrote thee- sx marriage opinion in 2015. justiceennedy thinks once it is in place, it is gng to sta and no going back.

i think justice roberts would thinkou thery supports it. ast nothing like justice kennedy or sandra day o'connor was.rt ro they did overturn a cision? >> abud versus detroit. >> i thought you meant koramatzu. >> john robertsbe wiln the middle but what he does in the liberals it will have weighar t the right side than justice kennedy. on rowe i can see them chipping ay, imposing new regulations that would make it hardefor a women to exercise their right. robert: this week, cl, e democrats saw in the

primaries, alexandria won a primary in new york. if you are senator bill re on of florida, you under pressure to maybe not move to the left. >> i thi chuck schumer is in a tenableosition and he is the democratic leader and they nee to show their base they are doing all they can. they are pretty limited what they can do. not show up? that would be very extreme,t at would that do to the moderate dem the other states? i think there is an argument you can make f the democrats to say, listen, we know how this is goinnd to we need to put up a fight and work over the nominee. but maybe get it done before the election and then go to our base and say look at whapeis hng here. you need to elect democrats so we can stopore of

this. >> the key for chuck schumer and democrats is they have to first keep their own member unified because that is how they were able to defea the repeal of the affordable care act. there we efforts against that. joe mamp chin and bernie nders and that's when the pressure keeps up on the susan collins and lisaow mui. robert: is nancy pelosi nervous? >> i think there has been concern from both sides that the focus might be nerated towards the senate because democrats have a decent shot of flipping the house but pelosi has a lot of things to think about, is her leadership at stake because of this energy we are eing from aew generation of democrats.

robert: the court and congress, we are going to have to leave it there. we are glad to have it bee go, we would like there. to extend our sympathy to theamilies, friends and colleagues of the fivewh journalist were senselessly killed on thursday in maryland. even with their hearts broken, the dedicated staff put out theaper today, remarkable courage and resilience to remember the five journalists. thank you and good night.

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narrator: a kqed television production. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ waves crashing ] amadin: all explorers are through the same thing. enlooking around that next and seeing -- seeing what's beyond just that next horizon, or what's it look like from up on top of this. and you discover a whole new thing. in those moments, when you just looked around the bend, and somethinthnew came into focus ibody or in the mind.