>> abortiobefore the three corporate >> we believe the law is on our side. >> all those moms that are taking this do-it-yourself a bortion kit at home. >> this time a fight over abortion pill access. a prominent long serving senator faces calls to resign. >> fbi agents took teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon . >> an arrest in one of the worst leaks in years. next. >> this is "washington week."

corporate funding is provided by. >> consumer cellular's goal has been to provi wireless service that help people communicate and connect. we offer no contract plans in our u.s.-based customer service team can find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> additional funding is provided by -- the ewing foundation, committing to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay magnuson. robert and susan rosenbaum, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening and welcome to "washington week." it's been a week of legal whiplash in the high stake battles over access to the abortion pill, the most common form of abortion in the country.

this afternoon the supreme court justice samuel alito temporally restored access to the drug giving the high court more time to consider an emergency appeal filed by the biden administration and the drug manufacturer. alito's decision comes after a federal court ruling late last week sparked confusion and chaos after a texas judge invalidated the pills' fda approval. joining this is the national correspondent for npr and with me in studio the co-author of the washington post early 202 and the chief washington correspondent for "the new york times." and a white house correspondent for npr. thanks for joining us. sarah, let's begin with you because there is a lot of confusion over what this means, what all of this mean sin practical terms. walk us through what justice

alito's decision means for access to methylpristone. >> nothing has changed but that is likely to change soon. in states where abortion is legal, abortion hills can still prescribed. can still be sent through the mail. that is because of the spring court decision, the administrative stay that preserves the status quo. that goes through next wednesday night and it came in response to a request from the biden administration for emergency relief in this case. of course we are talking about a case that has been working its way through the court system. it is about access to a pill is better than the market for 20 years and is used in majority of most abortions in this country and it all started with a challenge from anti-abortion ritghts groups who filed a lawsuit in texas late last year. speaking to overturn the food and drug administration's

approval of this drug. you mentions that decision that friday, a week ago that the texas judge for this case started. the federal judge appointed by former president trump, issued an injunction that created confusion. and would have put on pause the fda approval for a time while the case was litigated. a series of maneuvers have been working their way to the courts and basically where we have landed is for the moment nothing has changed. but do not hold your breath because it likely will. >> carl, when you look at where the country is right now. we know when it comes to abortion access the majority of americans believe it should be legal in most cases, specifically when it comes to medication abortion these numbers were interesting. 53% say medication abortion should be legal in their state. 22% say it should be illegal, a quarter of those asked aren't sure. how does all of the square with

the continued push we are seeing from republicans and conservatives to restrict access? >> you have a part of the republican party is just ardently anti-abortion and theyr'e going to push on this no matter what the political consequences could but you do have part of the party that is very worried about this, that it is going to allow democrats to continue to paint republicans as extremists. they point to the trump judge who did this. i think that congress is coming back next week, and you would her a lot of discussion and i'm watching the court closing because this is a temporary respite. does the court take the opportunity to lower temperature on this issue, make some kind of decision that moves it away from the initial court ruling, or do they just go back at it themselves? so, democrats, it's a serious issues but it democrats see a political advantage. >> the criticism is that they

have been slow and reactive when it comes to addressing these restrictions. what are they saying? >> they're ready for a fight. carl's pointing out has democrats are paint republicans as radical extremists. the white house is doing the same thing. i was in touch with the white house just today talking about it. they're promising to fight vigorously about it. armed with levels of levels of data. they sent me all of these polls that describe what you're saying about the numbers that americans don't want the government interfering with their reproductive rights. i agree with you, and i think you are right particular when it comes to joe biden and whether biden is going to take the mantle and leave this. kamala harris has been the face of this. but biden has been an uneasy champion. he is got his catholic roots. it'll be interesti to see how hard he grasps this, because that is what democrats want to do. >> depending on which republican you ask, you get a different answer sometimes or

not answer and it comes to where they stand on abortion iwas struck by mike pence's answer when he was asked about it just this morning on fox and friends. >> i couldn't be more proud to have been a small part of an administration that appointed three of the justices that overturned roe v. wade. >> where does a statement like that put mr. pence among the field of potential contenders for 2024? >> mike pence is leaning into this issue. this is a good. issue for him this is his lane, his christian social conservative, christian conservative, and this is where he wants to be and where he feels most come from. he represent that faction of the republican party. this puts the entire republican party in a very difficult spot. and you can see that based on how presidential candidates or -- potential candidates are responding and

you have ron desantis who just signed a six week ban in florida late last night and then you have likely candidate senator tim scott of south carolina who came out this week with a, supporting a 20 week ban, which is not far from the roe v. wade standard. so, that is symbolic of the dichotomy and the challenges that republicans have on this. i talked to republicans on capitol hill, and my sources tell me that the party does not have a message, they do not have a consistent message. they need to figure it out. >> one of the things they are trying to do is to say, democrats will have abortion at any point. that is their big push back. the polls show that people, the majority of americans by far want people to have some opportunity. pence's comments struck me because it does among people father republicans packed the supreme court to get this overturned with putting brett kavanaugh but also holding that

seat open. he says that, but democrats see that in a different light. >> speaking of the courts, we have to mention this is the first time the abortion issue has landed back before them since that june decision in which they overturned roe. do we have any indication if they are likely to take up the appeal in this case? >> no. it is hard to say for sure but a lot of court waters had predicted this would end up at the supreme court. they just weighed in today on the request for the state but they have not weighed in oni the merits. when i talked to anti-abortion rights groups, they want the supreme court to weigh in ont. i've heard from more than one organization that they think this is something that the court is poised to rule in their favor on. they look back at the dobbs decision and they welcome the opportunity they tell me for the court to resolve these cases -- these questions at a national level. >> i know you have been speaking

with providers as they have been following these legal decisions and ting to ascertain what is going on to what are they telling you about the road ahead? >> well, they've been, a lot of them have been sort of looking at the laws in their states, trying to figure out what they can and cannot do, and looking at these conflicting decisions that have come first from the judge in texas and then there was another federal case in washington state that we have not really talked about. but a group of attorneys general, democratic, sued in federal court in washington to preserve access to misoprostol. they also won this week. so, it looks like there is a situation where you have one ruling applying potentially applying in some states and not in others. with the supreme court stay things stay as they are. but providers are looking at where they are on the map, what states they are in, and what policies apply to them. i talked to some providers are looking at pulling back altogether from prescribing misoprostol at least before the supreme court's stay.

and others that were planning to plow forward, press forward in states like illinois that are part of that 18. so, it is a lot of uncertainty, both for -- for providers and patients. >> sarah, thanks for sharing your reporting. those lower court rulings over abortion access highlight concerns over another priority for democrats and the biden administration, the push to confirm federal judgeships. senator dianne feinstein, the 89-year-old democrat has been recovering from an illness since february and absent from her duties on the judiciary committee which does confirm judges. we have seen california democratic representative ro khanna leading the calls for her to step down, he tweeted this earlier saying "it's time to resign. and saying it is also obvious she can no longer for full her -- fulfill duties."

there are some really complicated dynamics at play here. >> to say the least. there are a couple of issues here. it is complicated for gavin newsom who would appoint a successor should dianne feinstein step down. of course, gavin newsom is a democrat. he will appoint a democrat, that is not in question but he says if he does do that it would be a black woman. well, there are three high-level candidates who are already announced they are running for the senate seat, what is barbara lee of california. she is a black woman. and so it makes it, who ro khanna backs, by the way. so, it makes it very tricky. there is adam schiff and katie porter. there's the political problem, and then you -- there's the challenge for democrats on capitol hill where dianne feinstein is on a very important committee, the judiciary, and her absence could cause problems down the road if she doesn't. come back

they are going to appoint someone temporarily perhaps. but carl's has done a lot of reporting about it. >> some would argue it has created issues already. >> they have not been able to advance the judges they want. it is such a fraught issue. diane is an icon. to a lot of people looking at this, you are pretty rudely ushering her out of the room. we have to heifer seat -- have her seat to move these judges. the solution is for her to temporarily step away. and fill it. i am not 100% sure the democrats will be able to fill the seat the way they think. this will require action by the senate and republicans i am talking to already, they are not going public, but they are saying, why should we make it easier for democrats to go ahead and confirm these judges, who we honestly don't want? so there is a lot to play out. i do think that the political dynamics are fascinating that

she got into and why certain people are saying certain things is because they have their own horses in this race. >> if i can follow-up, this does open uphe larger conversation to uncomfortable conversations many of us have been having for a long time about older members of the senate. how do you think this plays into all of that and others, mitch mcconnell has been absent? >> i think this has people really thinking about how long is -- is too long? traditionally you stayed in the senate until you decided you believe or the voters decided you needed to leave. so, i think this is, it has put it front and center but it is not going to be like a change where it says you have to leave by certain age, but it has put the focus on this. i think we are going to see a lot of discussion. >> absolutely, she is 89, there is also republicans who are also, chuck grassley is nearing that age. >> and talking about running

again. >> i feel like we will be having this conversation again. i do want to get to the other big story because meanwhile, 21-year-old massachusetts air national guardman was arraigned in court today in connection with the most damaging release of classified u.s. information years. the leaks raise new questions about who is given access to our nation's most closely guarded secrets. joining us is vivienne for the wall street journal. welcome and thanks for joining us. the revelation that a 21-year-old, jack teixeira, a junior servicemember had access to an allegedly leaked classified documents. there were some astonishing details and what we learned but you cover national security. what was your reaction? >> one of the first things that many of us who cover natiol security really thought was, here we go again.

this is something that has happened throughout the history, the recent history of the united states. it keeps on happening and everything a time and ties -- it does happen, there is this self-aware moment, where they say what will we do to stop this, can we limit the access that certain people have to certain classified documents? do we really crack down or broaden our investigations? in every single time there is a commitment to do that but still there is this sense that too many people have access to highly classified information. jack teixeira, the individual here who was arraigned just friday, he was a 21-year-old junior massachusetts air national guardman. he was someone who had s.d.i. clearance, the need to know clearance level someone at the top clearance level in

government, so there are so many questions being had about why did this young man have access to this? we don't seem to think that there was any kind of political motive now. it is very early on in the investigation. still unclear. but with regard to the most famous cases in recent, in the most recent years of like the last 50 years, where you had the pentagon papers leak in 1971 were daniel ellsberg was the famous analyst to leaked those and believed to have done that because there was so much debate within the united states about the vietnam war. you had edward snowdenn leaking sensitive intelligence information about the surveillance programs on u.s. citizens phone data. there was a sense that these were whistleblowers who were trying to kind of, had a political motive or something that they were trying to do to help the u.s. population. there does not seem to be that in the early days of this.

investigators so far seems to show that maybe he was showing off, and it kind of got out of hand. it is forcing the government to look internally and say, why is this happening, who has classified information? is it getting too easy to access and can we clampdown on it? >> among those documents were details about ukraine's capability and potential vulnerabilities in their war with russia about details of u.s. spying on allied nations overseas. we also know these documents were out there for weeks. it doesn't seem like the federal government knew about them until it was apparent in the news media. how is the biden administration handling that? >> that is why you saw the biden administration, so the president in ireland to try to avoid this for so many days. they are trying to scramble to get to clampdown, to downplay the significance of these documents but as you point out, they obviously reveal some very

concerning details spying on allies is always uncomfortable. that is why you have south korea so angry, them trying to calm fears. i also found it very interesting how some of the details showed the backroom deals that they try to make, particularly trying to boost support for ukraine and how hard it has been for the biden administration, such as trying to get south korea to provide ammunition from a third party or israel to provide arms when they have a very sensitive,, locate a relationship with russia over syria. it was really embarrassing and also concerning for a lot of people and a lot of security folks. >> are any white house officials worried that this makes it harder to keep up support for ukraine? >> they are saying no. they are saying this is all under check, that they're having the conversations. it is not a new thing that the united states is spying on

others. it happens all the time. perhaps unfortunately. but it is certainly extremely embarrassing. it's not what they want to be revealed. >> what about lawmakers? is there a role for or appetite for congress? >> i think you will hear from congress and i have written about this. congress goes through to see they see it in the secure facilities and they cannot take anything with them. this is leaving them flabbergasted. even to the trump and biden possession of classified documents outside of where they are supposed to be. why does this keep happening? you will hear them asking a lot of questions about this and to the point of we need to have fewer people in charge -- or with access to this. >> we've had cases in the past have you talked to your sources you feel like they want to move on this or any of them worried about damaging relationships with allies overseas?

>> so, congress has been out. so, there is an element and a lot of members have been on -- overseas. especially the, members who were on foreign service committees, etc. senators will get an all classified briefing this week when they return about this. i think after that is when you're going to start a hear some sort of reaction of what congress can and what congress should do. but carl is absolutely right. you hear marco rubio, the top republican on the intelligence committee and mark warner ringing their hands every time there is some sort of leak, saying we have to keep our documents in this classified room. how are all these people able to not only have access to it, but also publicize it as well? and so, it's just another thing on congress's plate. and we will see what house

republicans do with this. they already have a long list of investigations. >> kevin mccarthy is already the speaker and is already saying president biden is looose -- loose with documents. >> she's joining us from oslo. how all of the revelations are going down with our allies overseas. >> i've been overseas since the story first broke for the last two weeks. i thought that it was going to blow over with allies, just because when you say oh, the u.s. has documents that may reveal there are certain spy programs or that they are, they have taken some controversial position. u.s. allies in europe who are embroiled in trying to keep the alliance together, the nato alliance to support ukraine, they do not want to show that anything that is readily that -- rattling that.

on the one hand they say everything is fine, but privately i have been getting so many questions from these government that i have been meeting saying why can't the u.s. keep it together? why is it so hard for the greatest superpower in the world to be able to protect its document? it's something that is concerning, that norway is my last stop. there is one document in that trove about norway. the arctic defenses and even them for the small country that has very good ties with the united states, they're very uncomfortable by the fact that this could go public. so, it is definitely something your-- allies around the world are taking notice of an saying this is the greatest superpower in the world and they cannot protect their documents. what does that mean for the rest of us? >> in the minute we have left i do want to ask you about your wall street journal colic evan gershkovich, reporting and russia, he was arrested and and charged with espionage.

he has been deemed wrongfully detained by the u.s. government, that's working to free him. i wanted to give you a moment to share what you can about his case and anything else about evan. >> thank you so much for asking about it. evan is one of the great reporters of the water-- "wall street journal." i teamed up with him in ukraine. evan it would be my partner from moscow. a fellow new york-new jersey native. a really good guy, very young, doing his job working hard and the russian government has falsely accused him of espionage. he has been in solitary confinement in a prison r over two weeks and we are working very hard to lobby governments to press our law makers to do what we can to get him out. and anyone who is watching, we hope you can do the same and help us out. >> of course, keeping him and his family in our thoughts. and that is all the time we have for summing. -- for tonight.

thank you for our panelists and thanks to all of you for watching at home. be sure to tune in to pbs news week and for the story of the first federally funded relocation of a community because of climate change. good night from washington. >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s. customer servic team can find a plan that fits you. visit consumer cellular.tv. >> additional funding is provided by -- the ewen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay magnuson. rose herschel and andy shreve. robert and susan rosenbaum. the corporation for public broadcasting, and by

contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>

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