♪ >> tonight on kqed "newsroom." news from the high court, the ennedyto replace justice k and the court's big rulings this week. political analysis from publicly confronting trump adminisalation officito turmoil in the democratic party following a stunning victory by a progressive. plus, how one nonprofit is bringing free legal help to some of california's poorest and mosl rable residents. hello and welcome to kqed newsroom, i'm thuyu. v justice anthony kennedy announced his retirement this week. the sacramento native ct the swing vote on manyus momen rulings. as the court ended the term this week, kennedy sided with conservatives on two big cases

affecting immigration and labor. wr for the majority, chief justice roberts rejected the argument the ban was mot by religious bias. also, the decision could have a bing impact o california where more than half of union members where first responders a teachers work in the public secoct . melissa murray is joining me now. welcome to you both. >> thanks for having us. >> thank you. >> professor ,murray let's begin with you. who was at the top of the list of potential nominees t replace justice kennedy. >> there's a list of about 25 potential nominees vetted b two conservative groups. the key words with all of these potential nominees is they're reliably conservative. at the top of the list are amy kony barrett, a judge from the seventh circuit and brett

kavanaugh. these are theront-runners right now. >> judge barrett has in the past expressed ber catholielief and her belief that life begins at conception. we have brett kavanaugh who was a top kdeputy to independent counsel starr during the clinton inveson. what was at the crux of this. seems they are trying to avoid a situation where george h.w. bush nominated someone who was more liberal than conservatives wanted. >> that's true. they want someone who will be a reliable vote on key issuehey believe will come before the court in coming years. >> what are your hop and concerns about the next nomination and nomination process? >> my biggest hope would be that whoever is the next member tries to find a way to build consensus on the ort. the court is in an increasinglyw positionhere it is more polarized and divided than ever before andd they nee to stride

to build consensus. it is difficult to see how that will happen. my greatest fear is the opposite l continue at it w to be more and more polarized and you will have a red and blue team on the court like you don other branches of the court. >> melissa? >> that's right. the court is polarized right now on st of clear divisions. i'm not hopeful that the person who will be selected, given the prospective nominees who have been fered, will be someone to broker peace between these two factions. the thing abo justice kendy is that he -- although he was quite conservati, he had ability to play in the joints a little bit. so he could be unpredictable. i don't think we will get that kind of unpredictability in this nominee. >> it seems the most aggressive debate right nows over abortion. justice kennedy coauthored the decision up holding roe v. wade. it seems to be a general cob consensus that won't be overturned but it might be

fwuted ovfwugut of over gutted depending on who replaces justice kennedy. >> a number of pro life groups have been seeding legislationtht lower court level, so there's a ban on abortion at six week goe weeks, a heart beakn iowa. they've been anticipating a new justice in a few years and seeding cases that will come up to frontally challengeoe. the idea that overruling roe is off the table is fallacious. it is mor likely to be undermined but the idea of ale cote overruling is not beyond the pale here. >> do you agree, josh? >> i wouldn't make any predictions on the future of abortion r whts. >> thee major rulings this week. the court issued decisions on the travel ban, labunions. there was a decision that said eqlifornia cannot ruire ters toased pregnancy cen

provide information on abortion. taken as a whole what to they tell y about the court? s it was a good term for conservati the court. each term is a little different, and most of the cases that were closely watched the conservatives prevailed and justice kennedy sid with tm in contrast to prior years where with some he sided with more liberal justices. >> it was alockbuster term for conservatives on really key issues that were important to eir base. so to the extent that conservatives voted for the court when they wen the polls in 2016, they got what they were laing for. >> and in t travel b ruling, chief justice roberts seized the moment to finally overturn the u korem decision from 19 h44, the up holding of theapanese terment. justice sotomayor said there were things in common. >> in my view the over viewing

of korematsu was a sop to liberals. it kind of language wisd on the court as a court decision that really never should have happened. as justice sotomayor said, there were parallels between the ajapanese intermend what has happened knew. certainly under all three iterations of the travel ban. it is a kind of hollow overruling becausee overruled korematsu on one hand but r instated the logic in ot ways. >> your feelings on that, josh? >> obvioly every hates korematsu and nice to see it overruled. the chief justice made the opinion for the court tt there are significant differences between this case and core maut is sue. korematsu dealt with citizens of the united states and here you arealking about pe who are not citizens and not in the united states and the president has greater discretion in that area. >> you clerked for justice kennedy. if we were to lookack and l at his legacy, he has been progressive on some issues such

as gay marriage yet conservative on others including gun rights. how would you describe his approach to the law? >> that's a g question. he doesn't fit neatly into the boxes most of the other justice often find themselves in. i would say he has some libertarian instincts. examples you just gave are areas here both o the right and left side he voted to up hold individual rights t, andhat's something certainly near and dear to his heart. >> he came from sacramento. he was a california native.k do you thiis california upbringing helped to shape how he views the law and the court? > i think there are definitely seeds of it. a few years ago in the first same-stex marriage case wp and the court sent it back on standing grounds, he talked lic t the idea of a pub referendum process. again, that's a sort of initiative process tht's near and dear to people in the west, and he talked a lot about it and how to preserve it as part of this decision. so i think you see aspects of that i would say he has been incredibly progressive on certainndividual rights, and

that will clearly be part of his legacy. but he has mixed record on individual rights insofar as it relates to race ando gender. so i mean he definitely has a libert bian streak, it doesn't necessarily cover all aspects of the individual rigs spectrum. >> so given he is now stepping down, how different is this from thecenario whe gorsuch replaced scalia? because it was ase conative replacing a conservative. now we have a swing vote stepping down. how moment ous is for what happens next on the supreme court? >> it is very momentous. in anyone's estimation the next justice is likely to move the court to the right on a number of issues, and the chief justice will emerge as a swing vote in quite a few cases. it wilhe become roberts court people refer to because he will be at the center of literally as chief justice but also often as the swing vote. >> let's not suggest gorsuch and

scalia were tit forat. so we already have had some right ward drift on the court and this next nominee will send court further to the right. >> all right. much to watch in the months to come. professor melissa murray and also attorney josh patashnic. thanks to you both. >> thank >> on tuesday primary elections were held in five states including new york. there veteran democrat crowley suffered a stunning deft to 28-year-old cortez. a former organizers for b sanders, her victory may mark a turning point for the democratic part. also, congresswoman waters generated controversy when she told people aa rally to confront trump administration. he was called a, quote, low iq

person. joining me for a deeper look at the issues are democracy i color president amy alison and san francisco senior political iter joe garofolley. let's look at the political fight over the supreme court. democrats want to hold off on the nominations t until afthe november elections, hoping a new crop of lawmakers can weigh in. today though president trump says he is going to name a nominee by july 9th. is there anything democrats cant dohis point? >> pray because that's all they have to do. they don't have the numbers to h make ipen. one option they have is to jam the process and just, you know, call rol call votes on everything, but i don't know if they have the stomach to do that w they can sa don't want to, you know, feinstein and kamala harris said we want to delay ut this, b they have no power to make it happen. they can try to swing a couple of republican senators like lisa murkowski. susan collins of mne. but they might lose a couple because some democrats i aren

tough reelection fights in states trump won big and they ht mi lose them. so there are not a lot of good iptions. hink we need to really think about the -- what the democrats party leadership doing. what is pelosi and schumer's job? that is to whip up votes to hi support ts. we need to remember that the discipline with which the republicans mucked up the system andre pnted the -- obama's last supreme court nominee, e' therthe playbook right there. >> right. >> the democrats, like you said, they have to have the stomach to do that, they have to have the will and they have to hear from average people that's what is expected. so much is at stake. r >> but tublicans are in the majority now, so realistically what can the democr datso? >> filibuster, roll call votes, slhe down t system. there's just a few milths u the midterm election, and the whole issue with the supreme

court, so many things are at ake. abortion rights and the overturning of roe v. wade, redistricting and the effort of some stateso suppress votes, particularly of people of color in places like texas.ch so is at stake that the democrats need -- it is a ie do-or moment for them. there are procedural issues procedural approaches they can have. >> and thatheeat will be tre for 30 years. >> or more, depending how young the judge is. >> yes k but i don'w if they have the stomach for it. i think that they -- you know, they're kind of bringing a pencil to a knife fight. i don't know. they've not show the patho do it. they got rolled before. we'll see. they will take public pressureh isnly thing. >> and do they have the unity to do it, right? there's a lot of discord in the cratic party. we saw it in new york with the race betweennd crowley acosta cortez. we have a young progressive, she is just 28 years old, a political newcomer,ea dting someone who is number four in

the house on the democratic ide, and he was seen as the potential successor to nancy pelosi as house speaker. what does it say about the state ,of the democratic par amy? >> exactly what we talked aboutt thats are ready for more courageous type of leadership. by supporting ame newr who is unabashed progressive politics and organizing, and, as she sait one night television just the other day, i is thatf -- you know, establishment democrats typically look at who the believe votes and they ignore the full range of people who could vote, peon'ple who a motivated by traditional leadership or lack of courage, that's how swon. that's the playbook we saw in other successful progressive campaigns in maryland and in georgia, for those gubernatorial races. r me, what tha indicates is that aarty that half people of color, a quarter black are looking for a new type of

leadership and are not accepting the fact that the leaders who have been in power for a long time should continue be status quo, aot in thege of trump. they want something new. >> what does the party leadership have to say, including nancy pelosi? well, swas, you know, cordial to her afterwards, said congratus goes, but they blew her off. nody gave her a chance. >> row conor was the only congrema congre it was interesting the read her tweets after winning. she said the establishment did not accept me except congressman connor. here are the independent eorts to help with strategy and on the ground organizing and others and that's how s got through. >> pelosi said, look, it is a congressional race. it is oneace in one district, new york. it is not necessarily representative of he nation, right? she kind of down played. >> this is the problem with the party. s they'rll -- they're still chasing the working class white

voters who voted f trump. those folks aren't going to vote for democrats. they're not coming back. >> i'm going to tell you, i heard some people talking behind closed doors. you knowt, nancy pelosi has gotten too comfortable, too. we're seeinta in the ste of california where there's a challenge to dianne feinstein.e people saying, why aren't there more challenges amongst the democratic party for people who have been in power for a long time. so it is startinghis conversation and also showing people it is possible. >> and there's already a ripple effect joe, you wrote about this. oakland congresswoman barbara nt lee is nowested in running for crowley's position as chair of the hse democra caucus. what are her chances? >> well, she's making calls now. she is thinking about it and looks like she probably wl run. if she won, she would be the -- there's never been an ican woman to have that high of a leadership in either party. it would be a momentous occasion. now, barbara lee's challenge is she is the third m liberal, according to one of the metrics,

member of the house. so's going to have t prove to folks that, you know, she can work across the aisle, and she e has in s ways. she has, you know, on hiv/aids funding over the years. she has actually worked with repuicans on that. that's going to be her biggest challenge, is going to be is she too far o there, is she too california, t oakland. >> i heard -- i reject that characterizaf barbara lee being too far out. think of this. african-american women have eebeen -- it'sn established are the highest vote turnout of any race and tinder, democc party voters. i already said one of four democrats are black. i think her politics representt e majority of the democratic party, the silent majority of the democratic party. i think it would be amazing, not only jcust historiut what the party needs. i cannot understate the fact that this kind of leadership is the only kind of leadership the democrats can look to do actually prove to be a counter point to the republicans who are

90% of the time agreeing with trump, the ones in congress, and the fact tha the supreme court may be pro trump policie means there is not a counterpoint. so we're going to cross the sle to me not as important as being an important counterp to the trump administration. >> how much is the democratic party being hurt by, you know, what we sawlay out thiweek, which is sort of this lack of civility, right? then you have congresswoman maxine waters over a megaphone telling people to publicly confront trump officials. she was criticized by party leaders, but there also this generation of activists that are saying, no, this is exactly what is need. the democratic party has been weak. ri >>t. there was a column the other day in "the chronicle" about how she represents -- alexandria represents standing up for something. like don't sort of do this sort of mealymouth move to the middle. a lot of the primary races,

that's who are winning, people grking more prosive positions and standing up for stuff. now, the wholeng civility thi is kind of a bs pushback bybl repuicans and by democrats. that's basically chilling the status quo becse pel and schumer represent the status quo. trump -- for trump to talk aut civility, this is a guy who has literally said, i ought to puncm n the face. so, i mean, you know, let's consider the sources, where it coming from. >> yeah, i saw john legend said -- the singer john legend said, y know what? you can ask me about civility after you tell me about the mora 2,000 kids taken from their parents at the border from the migrant families. so, you know, he is saying, okay, we canalk about sanders, huckabee-sanders dinner later.re i think w losing touch with what's most portant, democracy. for democracy to really work, it is messy, but that individua citizens have a right to not only have free speech but to d

something the republicans and the tea party knew how to d ry well, which is bird dogging. remember when president obama was trying to get health care passed they went tovery single town hall that featured a congressman and yesterday and screamedednd they protest and they marched and they got a lot of what they wante so for maxine waters who, by the way, incredibl brilliant, venerable senior congresswoman, she represents the base of the democratic party. to go backo her civil rights activist roots and say, i want to remind you this is what you can do in a democracy is htcompletely the r thing to do. for the party leadership to condemn her s they don't understand the base of who is in the party. >> i have to move on to n immigratuickly as well because the republicans, of course, are facing their own issues, right?ld they cn't get immigration legislation passed. they twice delayed it. this week the still couldn't get it passed. as many republicans -- nearly as many republicans voted against it as for it.

so what does it say for the republicans, what do they n to do to bridge that divide? >> well, that's going to be a big challenge,nd it isng to be hurting people that we're going to see in california, in districts like in the central valley, dav valledavo. these are two cgressman with 40% latino in their district. they're feeling the heat. they know it is an issue they have to confrontnd resol but most of the rest of the republicans live in these gerrymandered district so they don't deal with the issue at also they're not into it. >> we have to lea it there for now. amy alison with democracy in color and joegarofoley with "the san francisco chronicle." nice to have you guys in. >> good to be here. for more than a decade the nonpcefit one justi has provided free legal aid to thousands of low income californiansar. they regul hit the road with justice bus, a program with brings attorneys and law suds to parts o california where legal

care is out of reach for many. they help clients clear criminal records, fight evictions and submit paperwork to bome citizens or get permanent red densy. the ceo of one justice, julia joins me in the studio. >> thank you for having me. >> one justice was among the torganizations t quickly mobilized at sfo and other airports across the country to help affected travelers, most of whom were muslims after the first version of thevel ban took effect in 2017. what is your reaction to the supreme court de up holding the current travel ban? >> i think i can speak on the entire behalf of the legal aid and civil rights community in saying disappointed we are. this decision will go town on the wrong side of history. >> disappointed why? >> well, w believe firmly still that the presiderent's vy publis commround kbleimplementing a full ban on muslims hitting the country violates somef the

core tenets of our justice system and our american values.o we kw the supreme court has gotten these things wrong in the past around civilights and race and lgbtq issues, and they got this one wrong, too. i think that justice sotomayor's dissent makes clear constitution and our country deserved a d. ifferent outco >> on the issue of undocumented immigrants, president trump has said there should not be due ocess for peopl who enter the u.s. illegally. what do you make of that statement? >> i mea that is just antithetical to ahat we ares a country and to the values we have invibscribed in our constitution. being a country that believes in the rule of law means constitution applies to everyone who is here. we don't pick and choose. itism.s no fav the rule of law is there to protect the human rights of everyone who has a foot in this country. >> there's a lot of focus on migrant famil aies separatedt the border. how is one justice involved in

this broader network of groups seeking to help them and other immigrants? >> we're part of a national coalition of lawyers and law firms andil rights and immigration fwrups tryi immigration groups trying to make sure the families are reunited. the court order out of san francisco makes it clear they have to d it in fairly sh order. the question is now these children have been part of a nationalhell game. they disappeared and appeared in hundreds of shelters around the country. now that they are getting legal representation, how do we make sure as ey're reunified we f the childrenht again. >> what are you doing to assist? do you have cases you are handling right now? >> we are starting to see the children separated from eir parents showing up in the regular unaccompanied minor case loads in california. o of our core partners, esperanza in los angeles, they have a six year old separated from her parents as a result of zeroolerance. we sent out yesterday an e-mail blast statewide tryin to fin representation for her. >> i want t talk about your

justice bus program as well.s it ather innovative. it helps to bridge that legal -- that gap f in legal aidor people who are in remote areas, rural areas of california. how does that work and what kinds of services d you provide? >> yeah, when you map the state there are these high concentrations of poverty in rural areas, and then all of the concentration of lawyers is in the metropolitan centers. so we literally lawyers and law students on buses, train them, get them out toural areas and do pop-up mobile legal clinics in 75% of the state where there are pockets of need. hose folks focus on immigration, anything to do with folks becoming citizens or daca stance or general immigration screening for folks who don't know their status or at their possible remedies are. also, folri with some cminal history preventing them from accessing jobs or housing, how dophey clean uhat record and be able to move on with their lives. >> we heard about how the

criminal justice system disproportionately impacts poor people and people of color. how does the civil justice system have a similar disproportionate impact on those populyeations? >>, we know that low income folks and particularly communities of col are disproportionately regulated included in the civil justice system. something like three-quarters of the people who need to access help through civil justice system are people of color in addition to being low income. so it is incredibly importath we understand how these interlocking moments of discrimination impact these populations. >> and the c's aascading effect, right? what percentage of your clients are close to the vergef o homelessness? and because you have said for many of these prob ms, one legal problem leads to many others. >> yeah, so all of our clients i arng at 125% of the federal poverty level or lower. these are folks living paycheck to pcheck. they are at extreme risk. what happens is if you are working at a job a your

employer won't pay your overtime and then you have a disagreemtd widisagreemtd -- disagreement with your landlord a you can't pay the rent and you can't get access for food to your kids, you send up experiences tenhree to sev civil justice problems all at once. >> that's how the problems accumulate and it becomes a bigger and bigger problem. lyou were onceegal aid attorney for children with disabilities. >> yea p >> and theents. what did that experience show you about the justice system for disabled and low incomeo pe? >> yeah. the thing i think i learned so o much my clients was that there is this incredible barrier to accessing help, and thatth wiout a lawyer sitting shoulder by shoulder with them, even these parents whore fierce advocates for their children, they needed the voice of ayer to amplify their efforts. but when weet worked togr with their advocacy and their understanding and my access to the legal system we could literally transform the lives of their children. >> and that's the experience

that you bring now to your work at one justice. julia wilson, thank you so much. >> thank you. f and that will do i us. next week please tune in for a kqed nalsroom speci. we will bring you the best interviews from our archives with innovative and influential figures in modern art, theater md comedy. you can finde of our coverage at kqed.org/newsroom. i'm thuy vu. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪ ♪

captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit rtncicap.org ropresident trump steps up his search for a new supreme court justice. we discuss the highly charged fight over thetu re of the high court night on "washington week." president trump: i'm very honored tt he cho to do it during my term in caoffice e 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 politicalat be. democrats argue republicans should wait until after the november elections and follow the precedent they set in 2016. that's when senat majority leader mitch mcconnell refused toid give prt obama's