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 supreme court pick

a vote. >> they should follow the rule they set in 2016. anything, buthat, would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. >> this n is 2016 and right in the president's first term. robert: president trumpt isn' waiting. he has identified potential nomine who could 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 the president's legacy with seung min kim of the "washington post." joan biskupic of cnn pete williamof nbc news

and carl hulls of the washington times. >> corporate funding is oviding by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. ey understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow.l some c them veterans. our l them part of team. >> on an american cruise lines journey among the rivers, they trace the route by lewis and clark more than 200 years ago. theyravel through american landscapes through historic landmarks wre you can experience local

customs and culture, american cruise lines. prousponsor of "washington week." additional funding is provided by new man's own foundation donating foundation from food products to charity and nourishing the commo good. and the foundation committed to bridging. the contributions through your pbs viewers like you. once again from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: president tru look back on this final week of june as one of the nt most signifif his term. the supreme court upheld his trave b and justice kennedy a pivotal swing voteas announced his

retirement. and on friday the president said he would a make decision by monday july 9 and thatou escalate the fierce battle between democrats and republicans. >> nominated by a republican president ronald reagan in8 1 supreme court justice anthony kennedyon hasbeen referred to as the swing vote, a label he never liked. but his voting record supports his sometimes sentist and sometimes maverick reputatio kennedy voted with conservatives, but during his 0 years othe bench he sided on casesab involving tion rights including the 2015 landmark 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 retirement clears the way forresident trump to name his second supreme court justice. the president is expected to nominate a young conservative who could significantly tilt the court to the right for generations. >> republicans now have the opportunity to erase a generation of women's rights, workers' rights andal care. >> we will vote to confirm justiceennedy'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 we.

maybe this was in the works. joan: i knew he had been thinking about retirement and for more than a year. he is 81 and about to turn i july, but he has a powerful position and he liked it and took it very eriously his role even though he was modest. he liked deciding cases and obviously controlling it what we are livingnd. he comes out that wednesday morning, they announced this important labor law cases, tustices looked fairly relaxed, mar 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 anything. and it turns out that he then goes into a private conference with his fellow

colleagues, this from other justices, and he tells them and we from the white house information that he then delivers his own letter personally to the president, not all retiring justices do that, they send a letterd usually. 2:00 p.m. eastern time, that's when the word comes down. and i have e to sven though i had written many times of him t ankingut retiring, i have to say i was surprised. he did it. bert: why now for justice contendy? >> i think he was ready. his health becomes an issue. pete: his wife especially.ev ybody says they want to his more time with family but wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren. d how decisive he is, we

forget, he is a conservative. he isfo cable 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 ink any supreme court justice -- i don't think their main calculus who is going to choose my successor. robert: the white house seems to have had a quiet campaign over the past year and otherhi signals would be the right time. carl: and other people who were clerking er a candidamed to the court. there was a very subtle campaign going on and thingso say, things will be ok. you have to remember, and ie agith your point at the 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.r and ot lower court judges than they have in the district. cou and that list, the famous list which heon his election, because ck evangelicals sith him. trump looks at this week and says this is another chance to make a big mark and cement the conservative control on the court and of course, this stirs up the senate every time.in no like a supreme court fight. we have a ways to go he. 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 tha has a chance to tip the balance of the court that is something

that isonental 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 health care is the most motivating sue and with their effort to protect the affordable care act. that is why you see theed messaging by chuck schumer and the rest of the s democraying, a women's right to choose is at stake and the future of the affordable care act is at stake and that is to not only motivate their voters ogd keep the rest of the democratic caucusher but put that pressure on the two republican senators who are pro-abortion rights. >> justice kennedy said he is going to leave at the end of july. pete: what they'll say, i'll retire when my successor is nominatednd con filmed.

if it seems like the senate is goingo play this out all the way up to the election, it cares about the senate, because they are apparenncy not ned by the first monday in october, we are probably going toville eight justices. >> and we went through that or days after scalia's day. this is cast as amon you mental battle, thise is 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 timeo get him on the bench. robert: if anybody is ready, it's mitch mcconnell

and h said, quote, i thought the decision i made not to fill the supreme court vack advancey was the most con see conventional decision. those are my top priorities. and this has to be the priority now. >> the senate does care about theenate. [laughter] >> i think the democrats to that wld say, while they had the justice -- >> 400 some days. >> mitch mcconnell going to push ahead and fill this and they have the gears. the funny thing that i s think that going on with senator mcconnell, he has gott 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 feelinghe heat. if you look at this july 9 date, the white house knows wher 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 of room, the president said heas his list down to five, six people, two people, who are we looking at? >> a coupleere put on the bench by him. i'll name people who we believe. amy barrett, that is a woman who had been a law professor at notre dame who he put on the seventh circuit. she has a very strong following among religious

she had a little bit of a controversial hearing in the senate because senator feinstein challenged her in a way that trump liked, t president liked how she and her people fought back. that is one person. one man, brettavanaugh and helped vet john roberts. he is on the dks circuit court of appeals. another former kennedy clerk that we believe is on the list, ray ketledge on theixth court of appeals. favorite of mitch mcconnell,irst outh indian, asian-american nominee and he was put on the court. robert: anyone you t want add? >> thomas hardiman.

these are allrt appeals c judges and there is a reason for that. e republican mantra is n re david suiters. they want to make sure these are rock solidnd appeals court judges writea t of opinions. >> they have been through the grinder already and havete g a pretty good look. but they are hoping these people if from are no secrets that are going to pop up, all the democrats have goi for the is the nominee. >> and i willeay s 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 of sorts that president trump finds.

it is. robert: it does matter. report about theti confir process, it used to be rowdy events. some things can be unpredictable and something you report d, two of the most powerful senators, they suppo rights and voted against repealing theffdable care act. they use to frame this battle over theur supreme when you look at this razor-thin majority, where is collins and murkowski going to go? i expect that. first susan collins had a consistent answer and was asked about this a she said she won't ever ask a

judge how he or she will rule on a specific case but she grills them onec ent and she personally believes that roe versus wade is settled law. and i asked lisa murkowski and we had a 10-minute diussion on a stairwell and she said roe vers wade is a significant factor but not the only factor for her. she is aware of the pressures she fac already. she is under the pressure cooker a lot considering her independent streak and buck the party leadership.it bus anybody's depess. robert: they are not the onlyer ones u pressure. the red state states, itkamp, joe mamp chin of

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

supreme courts bute d mcbegan in the white house working with two conservative groups and anged the face of u.s. law. >> they have. they have set records for the number of appointments they have made to the u.s. court ofls apphich is between trial judges and supreme court and that's where much of the action is because theou supreme takes so few cases. and those people are not t changing law of the land but also on deck. he is putting themn hand to be ready for this kind of moment and change what is happening out there. robe: what about chief justice roberts, you are working on a book, he is the key vote? >> yes. of course, itoes. i think for a couple of reasons. he is the least i had logicall ridge i had of

the other conservatives.: pee does think about the court as an institution. r example, when you talk about the roe versus wade precedent, only clarence thomas is on record opposing record. we don't h know the other conservatives would vote. chief justice roberts wld think twice and maybe four times about whether he was to overturn a 45--year-old precedent and e same may be true on gay rights, fis example. is, by the way, i think many people have wondered about justice kenny's decision to step down. many people say, doesn't h know that whoever who comes will saw the legs out from all the things he did. he wrote the same-sex rriage opinion in 2015. justice kennedy thinks once it is in place, it is going

to stay and no going back. think justice roberts would think the country supports it. but nothing like justice kennedy was or sandra d o'connor was. robert: they did overturn a decision? >> abud versus detroit. >> i thought you meant koramatzu. >> john roberts will be in the middle but what he does in the liberals it will have weight towards the right side than justice kennedy. on rowe can see them chipping away, imposing new regulations that would make it harder for a women to exercise their right. robert: this week, carl, the democratshe saw in

primaries, alexandria won a primary in new york.if you are senator bill nelson of florida, you arere underure to maybe not move to the left. i think chuck schumer is in a tenable position and he is th docratic leader and they need to show their base they are doing all th can. they are pretty limited what they can do. not show up? that would be very extreme, but what would that do to the moderate democrats in the other states? i think there is an argument you can make forth democrats to say, listen, we know how this is going to end. we need to put up a figd ork over the nominee. but maybe get it done before t election and then go to our base and say look at what is happening here. you need to elect democrats

so we can sfp more o this. >> the key for chuck schumertsnd democ is they have to first keep their own members unified how they t is were able to defeat the repeal of the affordable care act. joere were efforts against that. mamp chin and bernie sanders and that when the pressure keeps up on the susan collins and lisa murkowski. robert: is nancy pelosi nervous? >> ire think tas been concern from both sides that the focus might be generated towards the senate because democrats have a decent shot of flippingsehe h but pelosi has a lot of things to think about, is r leadership at stake because of this energy we are seeing from new

generation of democrats. robert: the court and congress, we are going to have to leave it there we are glad to have it there. before we go, we would like to extend our sympathy to the families, friends and colleagues of the five joernalists who senselessly killed on thursday in maryland. even with their hearts broken, the dedicated staff put out the newspaper 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 ] amador: all explorers mee going through the hing. looking around that next bend 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 something new came into focus in the body or in the mind.

i think i live for those moments.