>> tonight on pbs news weekend. two conflicting abortion rulings create uncertain. access to a commonly used abortion bill. after california's historic and damaging storms, the silver lining as reservoirs refill following years of drought. john yang sits down with supreme court analyst joan biz cubic to discuss her new book about the conservative shift. >> makes such a difference to be down one justice. there is a cushion on the right wing. they can lose one and still have a majority. ♪

>> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate andonnect. a variety of no contract plans and our team can find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. d friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening. john yang is away. we begin with dueling rulings from two federal judges that there and sexist to the most commonly used method of abortion in this country. the drug is myth oppressed on, approved by the fda in 2000. friday night, a federal judge appointed by president trump put a hold on the ongoing approval while a lawsuit questioning its safety continues. a judge in washington state appointed by president obama ordered u.s. authorities not to make changes that would restrict access to the drug. president biden condemned the texas ruling and the department of justice filed an appeal. a closer look at the rulings in what they mean later in the program. the justice department launched an investigation into the potential link of pentagon documents.

they detail u.s. and nato aid. it was pted on social media sites. they appear to be routine updates and dispatches. some may have been altered. it comes as the new york times reports more documents have appeared online. and how the u.s. is spying on allies to track the war. tensions between taiwan and cha rose as the chinese military sent warships and fighter jets closer to taiwan. chinese state television released footage of the drills which are supposed to last three days. taiwan's defense ministry said it spotted 71 chinese aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers crossing an unofficial barrier between the countries. beijing views taiwan as part of china. the exercises come after wednesday's meeting in los angeles between house speaker kevin mccarthy and taiwan's

president. police in iran announced they have started installing cameras in public locations to identify women who don't wear their veild. once identified, they will have a text message detailing the consequences of not covering their hair. it is the latest effort to crack down on resistance to iran's hijab law imposed after the 1979 revolution. since last fall, more irania women have taken off their veils to protest the death of a kurdish woman who died in police custody after being held for allegedly violating the hijab rule. still to come, what is ahead for california after months of heavy rain eased the long drought. supre court analyst joan was cubic on the court's right would shift. -- rightward shift. >> this is pbs news weekend from

weta studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour, weeknights on pbs. >> since the overturning of roe v. wade,ntiabortion activists have tried numerous other strategies to curtail access to abortions. a federal judge in texas invalidated fda approval of the most common abortion pill. earlier this week, legislatures in idaho, kansas, and florida moved to further restrict abortion access in those states. allie rogan spoke with our colleague who has been tracking all of the latest developments. >> thank you for joining us. two federal judges reached different conclusions about a widely used abortion medication. walk us through where things stand and what it means for people to access this drug. >> as of today, nothing will

change. two conflicting decisions, one from texas from the judge, a judge josh -- trump appointed federal judge who said the fda needed to invoke approval. he gave the fda seven days in order to appeal the decision or put it into effect. it would mean mr. preston would come off of the market as the country. even in states where abortion is legal, massachusetts or california. the other decision came from washington state. this was a challenge brought by democratic attorneys general. saying that it was overregulated and theudge in washington state, a federal judge said -- did not agree but he said they had to provide it at the status quo in the states. >> you read through the judges decision, what stood out?

we know a lot about his background. he was an antiabortion movement lawyer before he was appointed to the bench. what is interesting is you really see it is steeped in what can only be callechristian extremism. we have a couple of graphics to show you what is in the decision. the first talks about how mifepristone is a synthetic steroid that blocks the hormone. he goes on to say it ultimately starves the unborn human until death. because mifepristone alone will not always complete the abortion, the fda mandates the two-step drug regimen, which is true. it will kill the unborn human followed by to induce cramping and contractions to expel the unborn human from the mother's womb. anything's are scientifically incorrect in this statement. mifepristone is used up until 10 days of pregnancy. this is when it is very small.

it is medically impossible for a person to see what could resemble a fetus during a mifepristone type of abortion. then the assertion that women experience shame, regret, or suicidal thoughts. these have not been proven to be true. there is no other way to interpret this decision other than the judge's assertion for what has long been a goal of the pro-life movement, fetal personhood. the idea a fetus is a person from the very moment of conception, and there should be no intervention that god decides when a fetus comes into existence. at the other end of life, when a human dies. there should be no intervention on that end, as well. >> yesterday's ruling is about fda approval. we should note this is not a new drug that was recently approved by the fda.

>> the drug was approved in 2000 by the fda. we have a quote from judge rice's decision where he talks about the scientific evidence on safety and efficacy of mifepristone. he says the plaintiffs assert the fda acknowledges serious events are exceedingly rare, mifepristone's associated fatality rate is very low and not a single death is attributed to mifepristone, and all of the data shows it is among the safest drugs in the world. there is no scientific basis for subjecting it to additional burdens that are not applied to other riskier medications. it is a drug safer than viagra, safer than tylenol, penicillin, a drug that has been very well studied. >> there are several steps that will happen between now and any final decisions on this issue. if we play this out, what will happen to a person's access to abortions if mifepristone is

rericted? >> as we mentioned, medication aborti is a two-steregimen. the first pill is mifepristone, and then -- which causes cramping and expulsion of the pregnancy tissues. they are developing protocols for misoprostol only abortions. more nausea, but it is a safe way to terminate an early pregnancy. >> we saw a number of ventures restricting abortion access across the country. let's talk about the overarching strategy going on here that antiabortion rights activists are pursuing. >> in idaho, there is a travel ban going in effect that will make it a crime to help an unemancipated girl, that is the language o the governor, leaving the state for an

abortion. we are seeing restrictions on certain types of medical procedures in places like kansas, where abortion remains legal, because the voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would restrict abortion. in florida, a move to bring the ban from 15 weeks to six weeks. these legislatures have been very busy. we see activity in the state, but with these court rulings, you see activity in the federal justice system, as well. >> thank you so much. >> after a barragef punishing and sometimes deadly winter storms lashed california with rain and snow, the clouds appear to be parting, perhaps revealing a silver lining. california has been suffering through a brutal drought. now 12 of california's 17 major

reservoirs have been replenished and are currently above their historical averages for the start of spring. they are also warning that when the snowpack on the sierra nevada mountains starts to melt, runoff can cause a new threat to those living below. haley smith covers all of this for the los angeles times and joins us. thank you for being here. could you give us a sense of the damage this string of storms caused california? our rovery efforts in rebuilding efforts underway? >> yes, recovery efforts are underway. it has been a remarkable winter. owing into the season, we were on the tail end o the driest three years on record. the skies opened up. we saw widespread flooding, turkiye -- levee breaches, property damage, nearly three

dozen people have died. it has been a pretty challenging winter for us in that regard. as of right now, there are still people that don't have access to their homes, still evacuated communities, people underwater, people who have lost their livelihoods due to flooded farm fields or infrastructure challenges. we have a lot of work to do to dig from this winter, even though it seems the storm systems have stopped. >> i want to touch on the issue of the drought. this is from the u.s. drought monitor. it shows how bad it was. this is december. california was nearly all red. a few months later, it is gone. does the moisture that has fallen on california mean california's water woes are largely over? >> yes and no. there is no denying it has made a huge difference and significantly eased drought conditions across the state. three mont ago, we saw most of

the state in severe and extreme exceptional drought. people underwater conservation orders. officials saying they barely had enough supplies for health and safety of millions. now the reservoirs are fuller, snowpack is much healthier. but there are still parts of the state experiencing drought and water scarcityssues. on top of that, the long-term climate train in california is hotter and drier, even though we got this burst of water this winter. because of that, i don't think officials will ever officially declared the drought over. we need to continue to plan for future dry times, invest in infrastructure and ways to capture and store and convey water in the state. and we need to keep our ethos of conservation. i don't think they will ever fully declare the drought over for those reasons. >> i know you spoke to officials at the biggest reserir in southern california, diamond

valley lake. what did officials tell you about the future? >> the head of the metropolitan water district put it well. he said nature gave us a lifeline. diamond valley lake is the largest reservoir in southern california. you can think of it like a savings account. drought, we were drawing down and using almost half of it to get by. now with these storms, they have turned the taps back on and are refilling diamond valley lake. it gives everyone breathing room and lets us breathe a sigh of relief so the next time it gets dry, we willave replenished the savings account and can lean on it. >> speaking of california's bank accounts, the snowpack in the sierra, that is one of the bank accounts, the californians and california farmers rely on it. there is concern all of that snow might melt too quickly at the wrong time.

what is the principal worry? >> some of my colleagues calculated the amount of water contained in the snowpack right now is about 30 million acre-feet, more than the capacity of lake mead, the largest reservoir in the nation. eventually what will happen is as the weather starts to heat up, as we see some heat waves or strings of 100 degree weather, the snowpack will come down at some point. that will potentially bring significant flooding, put pressures on rivers, streams, and dams. we now have to prepare for more flooding in the spring as all of the snowpack melts. >> haley smith, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> today's supreme court is no

stranger to controversy. earlier this week, pro-public revealed justice clarence thomas took undisclosed lavish trips funded by a republican mega donor. it comes as the country waits to see how the justices will rule in a number of contentious cases dealing with affirmative action, voting rights, and lgbtq rights. last week, john ya sat down with joan bis cubic to discuss her new book the details the courts recent conservative shift and how it can shape the country's future. the most prominent result so far of the right would shift might be the overturning of roe v. wade, increasing the nearly half-century old right to seek abortion. there are many other consequences whose effects will be felt for generations to come. it is detailed in a new book nine black robes in the supreme court strive to write and its

historic consequences. the author is the senior supreme court analyst for cnn. thank you for joining us. how crucial were the four years republicans controlled the white house and senate and the shift to the right? > completely crucial. donald trump got three appointees in four years. that is remarkable. it is not a record, but remarkable for modern history. the reason he was ae to get those three appointments through so speedily was he had a republican senate and a real partner in senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> trying to get the judiciary to be more conservative, leonard leo, the federalist society. how central is donald trump to that? could it have happened without him? >> a version of it could have happened without donald trump, but it was crucial to have his white house counsel don mcgahn,

mitch mcconnell, and leonard leo all working together to pick people and speed them through the process. the third appointing, amy coney barrett. ruth bader ginsburg dies, she is buried at the very end of the month. and at the very end of september is when donald trump announces the nomination of amy coney barrett. her hearings happen almost immediately. she's confirmed at the end of october. and we are right at the election. contrast it to what happened in 2016, when mitch mcconnell set upon antonin scalia's death there is not a time to have a new justice confirmed until the november election. all those months versus just those few weeks and days shows how donald trump working with his team made such a difference.

>> you wrote that his effect on the justices relationships with each other was even at times pernicious as he sowed distress. >> as they were all maneuvering differently inside, to rt of counteract his effort to undermine the integrity of the judiciary. think of the disdain donald trump showed toward the judiciary, even as a candidate. mocking a judge who ruled against him as a mexican judge. he had the one unprecedented clash with the chief justice when he disparaged a judge who ruled against his administration as an obama judge. that is when john roberts said there are no obama judges or trump judges, bush judges. it showed how much the chief and other justices were trying to counteract the idea that justices were not going to be neutral based on their politics. the bottom line is we have a court that has signaled to the

american public that it is politically energized. >> you cite the chief justice who said his confirmation hearings he was going to be an umpire calling the balls and strikes. you also write the conservatives seem intent on rewriting the law. >> a lot of our viewers will remember john roberts broke away from the five conservatives to his right in the dobbs ruling that reversed roe v. wade. he did not want to go so far, so fast. john roberts has been with the others on the conservative side to rollback racial remedies, restrict regulations, and m of that involves reversing precedent. lowering the wall of paration between church and state, diminishing the ability of the federal government to regulate the environment public health safety. on social policy issues, many ongoing clashes between religious interests in lgbtq

rights. i think we're going to increasingly see the court siding with religious interests. >> have you seen the change in the three remaining liberal justices and how they respond? >> let's take justice elana kagan. she of the three remaining could align herself with the center to broker a deal. she would work with chief justice john roberts and justice stephen breyer, who has retired, to bring about a compromise. she doesn't have a partner in that effort toward five votes. i found she's louder in her dissent, and moving almost more to the left to complainbout the majority's rulings to call attention to this, it makes a difference to be down one justice. there is a cushion on the right wi. they can lose one and have a majority. we will have to see how it shakes out. >> you talk about finding

compromises. justices declined cases, delayed cases, or made compromises to avoid the conservative liberal split. this is when ruth bader ginsburg was still alive. >> i will bring it back to 2020. the supreme court was handling two cases involving clashes over trump documents the manhattan d.a. wanted and house committees wanted. when the justices considered these cases, they were bitterly split. the chief justice did not want to produce 5-4 rulings because of how polarizing donald trump had been. he worked with other justices, compromised. in the end, the chief was able to produce 7-2 rulings that went against donald trump, but preserved the offices of the presidency.

and also tried to preserve the stature of the judiciary. >> in your final chapter looking at the dobbs decision, the court had no middle, no center to hold. what is the effect of that? >> it is so significant to the nation. we saw it rolling back these decades of reproductive rights. but there is no incentive for compromise the way there had been when things were narrowly divided. the supreme court considering the future of campus affirmative action at harvard and university of north carolina. those are cases you are unlikely to see a middle ground compromise as we saw in 2003, when in the university of michigan cases, and way back when to the case in 1978. that is the difference. >> nine black robes, the supreme

court analyst at cnn. thank you so much. >> now online, a new report from the world health organization estimates one in si adults worldwide have experienced infertility. all that and more is on pbs.org/newshour. that is our program for tonight. for all of my colleagues, thank you for joining us. we will see you tomorrow. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has offered no contract wireless plans to help people get more what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv.

>> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >>

- in many ways, the growth problems and the conservation problems of california are the same kind of problems that our country faces. (engine rumbling) we surmount these growth problem only if we work together. it is a pleasure for me to permit us to look at this valley and others like it across the country, where we can see the greenest and most richest earth, producing the greatest and richest crops in the country. (gentle music) and then a mile away, see the same earth, and see it's brown and dusty and useless, and all because there's water in one place and there isn't in another. (wind blowing) (bag rustling)