1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,033 GEOFF BENNETT: Time now for our weekend briefing, this week brings the first big 2 00:00:04,033 --> 00:00:07,900 test in the political fight over abortion rights. And the U.S. Senate Democrats will 3 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:12,900 try to pass federal legislation guaranteeing the right to an abortion. The effort will fail though 4 00:00:14,966 --> 00:00:18,133 because Democrats do not have the votes. But that's not stopping the Senate Majority Leader. 5 00:00:18,133 --> 00:00:23,133 CHUCK SCHUMER: America. All of America will be watching. Republicans swill snot be able 6 00:00:25,100 --> 00:00:29,400 to hide from the American people and cannot hide from their role in bringing row to an end. 7 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:35,933 GEOFF BENNETT: To talk more about the fallout of that leaked Supreme Court draft opinion 8 00:00:35,933 --> 00:00:40,900 overturning the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, we have with us Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a senior 9 00:00:42,933 --> 00:00:45,933 opinion writer and columnist for The Boston Globe and Leigh Ann Caldwell, anchor of Washington 10 00:00:47,900 --> 00:00:51,000 Post live and co-author of The Early 202 newsletter. It's great to have you both with us. 11 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:54,566 And Leigh Ann, we'll start with you because Senator Schumer says 12 00:00:54,566 --> 00:00:57,366 the Senate is going to take up a bill this week to codify Roe versus Wade, 13 00:00:57,366 --> 00:01:01,666 it clearly doesn't have 60 votes in the Senate. My question is does it even have 14 00:01:01,666 --> 00:01:06,666 50 votes and give us a sense of what the strategy is behind this the showboat that he said to hold? 15 00:01:08,633 --> 00:01:11,233 LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, Washington Post Anchor: Yes, it's a good question, Geoff. I'm not 16 00:01:11,233 --> 00:01:15,633 sure if he even has 50 votes. Of course, there's 50 Democrats, but the Senate voted on something 17 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,933 similar to this earlier this year, and they did not get the support of Senator Joe Manchin. 18 00:01:23,433 --> 00:01:26,066 Now it wasn't the actual legislation that they were voting on. 19 00:01:26,066 --> 00:01:31,066 It was just on a procedural motion to even open debate on the legislation, 20 00:01:32,500 --> 00:01:35,433 and that still did not get the support of Senator Joe Manchin. 21 00:01:35,433 --> 00:01:40,433 Now the reason Senator Schumer is holding a vote right now, even though it's going to fail is 22 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,266 twofold. First, he wants to show the progressives, the Democratic base, 23 00:01:48,333 --> 00:01:52,333 people who are frustrated and angry about this ruling. The Democrats are trying to 24 00:01:52,333 --> 00:01:57,300 do something even though they aren't able don't have the votes to get anything done. 25 00:01:59,833 --> 00:02:02,666 And the second reason is he wants to put all Republicans on the record of voting against this, 26 00:02:04,633 --> 00:02:09,133 that is going to be a very clear cut line between the two parties, the Republicans and 27 00:02:11,166 --> 00:02:14,433 Democrats on where they stand on this issue. And Senator Schumer wants to make that known. 28 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,200 Now, the difference between back in February when they had this vote, and today 29 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:24,200 is now it's not esoteric, it's real, there is a very good chance that Roe v Wade is going to be 30 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:31,300 overturned by the Supreme Court assuming this draft decision does, in fact, become reality. 31 00:02:33,266 --> 00:02:36,133 GEOFF BENNETT: And Kimberly, building on the point that Leigh Ann made about Democrats 32 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:40,933 viewing this now as being a real threat I want to draw on your legal background. Because as 33 00:02:40,933 --> 00:02:45,933 you know the idea in Roe is that abortion is an unenumerated right. One that the Constitution 34 00:02:47,966 --> 00:02:52,033 protects even if it doesn't explicitly say that there is a right to an abortion. 35 00:02:54,066 --> 00:02:56,733 And the thing that we've been hearing all this past week is that if roe is overturned, 36 00:02:56,733 --> 00:03:00,233 that could undermine other rights like same sex marriage, 37 00:03:00,233 --> 00:03:04,400 access to contraception, interracial marriage, potentially, there have 38 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,800 been people who have said that that sort of idea is overblown. What's your sense of it? 39 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,233 KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR, Senior Columnist, Boston Globe: Well, I think it will be very difficult 40 00:03:12,233 --> 00:03:17,233 to keep this contained to only apply to abortion. Justice Sam Alito, in the opinion, 41 00:03:19,333 --> 00:03:22,800 tried to say that and tried to distinguish it by saying that 42 00:03:24,733 --> 00:03:28,533 emotion involves a human life. And so it's different from those other things. 43 00:03:28,533 --> 00:03:33,333 But when you look at that, that analysis, it's called substantive due process. That's that right 44 00:03:33,333 --> 00:03:37,033 that you're talking about, the rights that are not expressly in the Constitution, 45 00:03:37,033 --> 00:03:42,033 but that the Court has recognized as fundamental. It's the privacy right that the right to abortion 46 00:03:43,900 --> 00:03:48,033 was based upon, that underscores the right to access contraception. The right to have 47 00:03:50,066 --> 00:03:53,866 a privacy to do what you please in your own home and extends to other things. It could include 48 00:03:55,866 --> 00:03:59,633 the same sex marriage right, depending on the way that it's interpreted. 49 00:03:59,633 --> 00:04:04,600 I think those and interracial marriage and other things are also based on equal protection, 50 00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:09,833 which may make those a little harder to attack. But certainly there are a number of rights that we 51 00:04:09,833 --> 00:04:14,833 think about in terms of liberty that are protected by the Constitution, or at least have been 52 00:04:16,766 --> 00:04:19,333 until they two are challenged. And if it's thrown out the same way that this privacy 53 00:04:19,333 --> 00:04:24,333 right was essentially thrown out by Justice Alito, it could be it could be on shaky ground. 54 00:04:26,333 --> 00:04:28,400 GEOFF BENNETT: And Leigh Ann, there has been this interesting dynamic where Republicans who 55 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:33,133 have worked for decades for generations to get to this moment and yet they don't 56 00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:37,066 want to talk about it. Take a look at what Mitch McConnell, Senator McConnell said. 57 00:04:37,066 --> 00:04:40,333 SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, Minority Leader: This laws action should be investigated and 58 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:46,200 punished to the fullest extent possible. The court should tune-out the bad face noise 59 00:04:49,433 --> 00:04:52,300 and feel completely free to do their job. 60 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:54,133 GEOFF BENNETT: What's the issue here? Are they concerned about 61 00:04:54,133 --> 00:04:57,433 voter backlash? Is that why they're not talking about the substance 62 00:04:57,433 --> 00:05:00,433 of the opinion, the draft opinion and more about the leak? 63 00:05:00,433 --> 00:05:05,400 LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Yes, it's pretty incredible, Geoff, that conservatives, social conservatives 64 00:05:07,933 --> 00:05:11,466 have been working on this issue for decades. And now they have done it. And they are not talking, 65 00:05:13,366 --> 00:05:17,900 as you mentioned about the substance of the case. They're talking about the leak. 66 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:22,900 Now, the reason is, I'm told by Republican operatives by Republican sources, is that 67 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:30,700 because there is a lot of uncertainty and how the public is going to view this. 68 00:05:30,700 --> 00:05:35,333 The midterms are just six months away. And now like we were talking about before, 69 00:05:35,333 --> 00:05:40,333 this is not just something this is reality now. And so voters could very well punished Republican. 70 00:05:43,266 --> 00:05:46,233 GEOFF BENNETT: Yes. And Kimberly, on the on the Democratic side, 71 00:05:46,233 --> 00:05:51,233 there is some liberal frustration that Democrats in Washington don't seem to be 72 00:05:53,233 --> 00:05:55,600 fighting hard enough. Here's what California Governor Gavin Newsom said this past week. 73 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,033 GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) California: Where the hell's my party? 74 00:05:59,500 --> 00:06:03,000 Where's the Democratic Party? This is a concerted, coordinated effort. And yes, they're winning. They 75 00:06:05,500 --> 00:06:09,233 are. They have been. Let's acknowledge that. We need to stand up. Where's the counter offensive? 76 00:06:11,333 --> 00:06:13,333 GEOFF BENNETT: And there have been Democrats who have said, you know, 77 00:06:13,333 --> 00:06:18,300 it's been no secret that Republicans have been trying for generations to overturn Roe. 78 00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:22,000 Where's the fight? Where's the strategy? How are Washington Democrats responding to that? 79 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,000 KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: Well, we do see this vote that is set up to put everyone on record. 80 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:30,933 But you're absolutely right. This is not something that happened overnight. 81 00:06:30,933 --> 00:06:35,700 This draft decision is the result of an more than decades long, sustained campaign by 82 00:06:37,700 --> 00:06:42,500 conservative groups, members of the Christian right well-funded, well-coordinated task to put 83 00:06:44,533 --> 00:06:49,500 conservatives in office so that they can appoint conservative judges and justices, 84 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:53,200 and lead up to this decision if Democrats are turning to this issue. 85 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,900 Now, they're really far behind the starting line. They're really far behind the finish line, 86 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:02,633 essentially at this point. And so I think that's what you're seeing now a scramble by 87 00:07:02,633 --> 00:07:05,433 Democrats on the national and state levels 88 00:07:07,100 --> 00:07:10,400 to see exactly what they can do to fight this off now. It may be too late. 89 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,633 GEOFF BENNETT: Kimberly Atkins Stohr and Leigh Ann Caldwell, 90 00:07:12,633 --> 00:07:15,833 thank you both for your reporting and your insights. It's great to see you.