1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:04,466 JUDY WOODRUFF: In a rare statement, the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, 2 00:00:04,466 --> 00:00:09,166 today pushed back at President Trump's most recent attacks on the judiciary. 3 00:00:09,166 --> 00:00:14,166 Roberts said that the United States doesn't have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges 4 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:20,600 or Clinton judges, adding that we should be thankful for an independent judiciary. 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:25,600 This comes the day after Mr. Trump referred to the judge who ruled against his new asylum 6 00:00:26,333 --> 00:00:28,033 rules as an Obama judge. 7 00:00:28,033 --> 00:00:30,866 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: This was an Obama judge. 8 00:00:30,866 --> 00:00:32,833 And I will tell you what. 9 00:00:32,833 --> 00:00:36,133 It's not going to happen like this anymore. 10 00:00:36,133 --> 00:00:41,100 And the Ninth Circuit is really something we have to take a look at, because it's -- because 11 00:00:41,733 --> 00:00:43,800 it's not fair. 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,666 People shouldn't be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and file 13 00:00:49,733 --> 00:00:51,800 their case. 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,900 JUDY WOODRUFF: For more, we are joined by our regular Supreme Court watcher, Marcia 15 00:00:54,900 --> 00:00:56,933 Coyle. 16 00:00:56,933 --> 00:00:58,800 She's the chief Washington correspondent for "The National Law Journal." 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,066 Hello, Marcia, and welcome back. 18 00:01:01,066 --> 00:01:06,000 You won't be surprised to know that it didn't take long for President Trump to respond to 19 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:07,833 what the chief justice said. 20 00:01:07,833 --> 00:01:11,833 Here is what President Trump tweeted just this afternoon. 21 00:01:11,833 --> 00:01:16,833 He said: "Sorry, Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have Obama judges, and they 22 00:01:18,833 --> 00:01:21,200 have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of 23 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,266 our country." 24 00:01:23,266 --> 00:01:27,200 So, Marcia, how unusual is it for a chief justice, any chief justice, but in particular 25 00:01:29,366 --> 00:01:31,633 this one, to take on the president? 26 00:01:31,633 --> 00:01:35,566 MARCIA COYLE, "The National Law Journal": Well, it is very unusual, Judy. 27 00:01:35,566 --> 00:01:40,566 I can't -- well, first of all, I think it should be clear that he was asked to comment 28 00:01:41,966 --> 00:01:46,033 on the president's own comments, so it wasn't spontaneous. 29 00:01:46,033 --> 00:01:51,000 But I can tell you that, after observing him for almost 13 years, that Chief Justice Roberts 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,533 is probably the most cautious of the justices in terms of sticking even a little toe into 31 00:02:01,333 --> 00:02:03,733 the political fray. 32 00:02:03,733 --> 00:02:08,033 You do not see him making appearances or speeches at any sort of partisan-related events, for 33 00:02:11,233 --> 00:02:16,233 example, the conservative Federalist Society's annual dinner. 34 00:02:18,166 --> 00:02:21,266 He restricts or limits his public comments to law schools, as well as meetings of judges. 35 00:02:25,933 --> 00:02:30,933 So I think this is something that has been on his mind, though, recently. 36 00:02:32,833 --> 00:02:36,900 If you recall, just last month, after the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, the chief 37 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,966 justice also made some comments during one of those limited appearances that he makes, 38 00:02:45,166 --> 00:02:48,766 in which he talked about the kinds of judges we have. 39 00:02:48,766 --> 00:02:53,333 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we know it is the case, Marcia, that the Ninth Circuit does tend to 40 00:02:53,333 --> 00:02:58,300 be a circuit, appellate circuit, that does issue rulings in some instances, in a number 41 00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:04,433 of instances that tend to be more liberal than other circuits, just as we know some 42 00:03:05,866 --> 00:03:08,833 circuits issue opinions that tend to be more conservative. 43 00:03:08,833 --> 00:03:11,966 So does the president have a point here? 44 00:03:11,966 --> 00:03:16,966 MARCIA COYLE: Well, the Ninth Circuit has been a punching bag for a number of years 45 00:03:17,833 --> 00:03:19,900 from the conservative side. 46 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:24,566 I think it's important to realize that just about all presidents get frustrated with courts 47 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:28,266 at times. 48 00:03:28,266 --> 00:03:31,700 I certainly remember that the Obama administration was very frustrated when its policies on immigration, 49 00:03:35,533 --> 00:03:40,533 on the environment were blocked or temporarily thwarted by federal district courts. 50 00:03:43,133 --> 00:03:47,566 So, as far as the Ninth Circuit goes, it's a huge circuit. 51 00:03:47,566 --> 00:03:49,933 It's the biggest circuit court that we have. 52 00:03:49,933 --> 00:03:54,933 It is probably right now still majority Democratic appointments. 53 00:03:58,033 --> 00:04:03,000 But it's a very diverse bench, and it just depends on what type of panel of three judges 54 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:11,800 that you get when you file your appeal, or, if you're in the low -- even lower court, 55 00:04:12,933 --> 00:04:16,033 in the district court, who you get. 56 00:04:16,033 --> 00:04:21,033 So I think, Judy, we all have to remember that these judges, when they come to the bench, 57 00:04:23,566 --> 00:04:25,733 are not blank slates. 58 00:04:25,733 --> 00:04:30,266 They got their appointments because they -- most of them had political connections. 59 00:04:30,266 --> 00:04:35,266 They went through a political appointment process and confirmation process, and they 60 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,066 have certain ideology. 61 00:04:39,066 --> 00:04:44,066 When they're faced with some very difficult, complicated constitutional and statutory issues, 62 00:04:45,933 --> 00:04:50,400 as they are facing now, because of policies by the Trump administration, new policies 63 00:04:52,866 --> 00:04:57,633 or rollbacks of old policies, sometimes, that ideology is going to play a role as they apply 64 00:05:01,433 --> 00:05:06,433 the standard tools that judges apply in trying to interpret the Constitution and federal 65 00:05:09,266 --> 00:05:10,266 laws. 66 00:05:10,266 --> 00:05:12,400 But they are not blank slates. 67 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,033 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it certainly is an unusual moment, I think, in the relationship between 68 00:05:17,033 --> 00:05:19,233 the president and the Supreme Court. 69 00:05:19,233 --> 00:05:22,033 And it's one that we are going to continue to watch. 70 00:05:22,033 --> 00:05:24,400 Marcia Coyle, with "The National Law Journal," thank you, Marcia. 71 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,333 MARCIA COYLE: My pleasure, Judy. 72 00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:29,800 JUDY WOODRUFF: And then, late this evening, President Trump tweeted again. 73 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,800 He wrote that there is talk of dividing up the Ninth Circuit Court into two or three circuits. 74 00:05:35,966 --> 00:05:37,533 That would require an act of Congress.