from that very same supreme day court. all of which put in the court at the very forefront of this crucial election. aside from the multiple ways in which they could affect the candidacy and pending criminal prosecutions of the twice impeached and recently convicted ex-president. institution continues to be mired in controversy. concerns about the courts ethical standards have reached new heights in the past few weeks following the recent revelation that justice or rather his wife displayed flags that are associated with far right causes at their residences. be followed for them continued this week after progressive activists of the street were secretly recorded audio conversations she had with the couple well undercover in a supreme court historical society event. this included her complaining about the pride flag and the justice apparently endorsing the suggestion to return our country to a place of godliness. additionally, clarence thomas has close ties republican mega donor and continue to be scrutinized. the senate judiciary committee revealed justice thomas had gone on even more trips on the private jet. travel they had not previously disclosed. these controversies are pushing the supreme court towards a crisis of legitimacy. all while the court winds down turn 2023 releasing a raft of consequential decisions in case the concerning abortion and guns and government regulation. just yesterday the court strut down a trump era ban on bump stocks that oregon attachment that allows semiautomatic rifles to fire at a rapid rate. that decision could push gun regulation to the forefront of the presidential campaign along with reproductive freedom which has become a defining electoral issue after the conservative super majority that donald trump put in place of the court overturned roe versus wade. do not forget there are still 23 more cases to be decided. including more high-profile cases involving reproductive rights and trump's claims of presidential immunity. decisions that have the potential to reset and reshape the political landscape with less than five months to go until election day. joining me not to discuss is the democratic congressman from texas. a member of the oversight and accountability committee and also with us is the president and ceo of the brennan center for justice. welcome to both of you. also the author of the book super majority. which is out in paperback just this week. the first question to you. an effort to fix the ethical mess on the court is very likely to be met with opposition from the republican colleagues. we already saw that happen in the senate this week. had to convince her colleagues across the aisle that the supreme court needs fixing when this is the court that has given them so much of what they want? >> i do not think it's my voice that they will actually pay any attention to. i think it's going to be up to the voters. i think for the first time they are talking about the supreme court as they are considering who it is that are going to vote for as well as during some of those elections. one reason that democrats may actually hold onto the senate is because of the supreme court and the fear that if for some reason republicans are given control of the senate they would actually make the supreme court even worse than it is. >> the congressman raises an interesting point. most are used to thinking about the supreme court as the impartial branch of government. how do you think the public is going to respond with the court being at the center of politics and that they may actually be the best source of solutions for everything that ails the court right now. >> many times its role in whether it's gone too far has been a big electoral or political issue. rentable polls show the public trust in the court has collapsed to the lowest level ever recorded. more and more people are seeing it's a governmental agency. just to government officials with lifetime appointments and huge power over the rest of our lives. i think it's appropriate for it to be a big issue. they have made reproductive freedom an issue but have not yet really made the supreme court itself an issue, and i hope that's the next step. >> a big pork part of it, so one big issue for many voters is the question of gun violence. i would like to read you a quote from the bump stock case. writing there is a simple remedy for the treatment of bump stocks and machine guns. congress could amend the law and would have done so already if atf had stated that the earlier interpretation. now that the situation is clear congress can act. is this gas lighting? they know how difficult it is going to be to pass conformer legislation. do you foresee congress acting on this ahead of the election, and if it does are you worried that any action would simply be invalidated by this court on the ground those reform measures violate the second amendment? >> i am sure they will come up with another explanation as to why even if congress did ask why that thought is unconstitutional in some way. i am sure the second amendment has all of those gun manufacturers will win again. we know this is the most ineffective and unproductive congress in the history of congress. we know that nothing is getting through and we absolutely know that when it comes down to anything that has to do with guns they are beholding to those corporations instead of being beholding to them that actually got into power. i think you are absolutely right at the center of these problems is the supreme court. i think it's not a matter of talk about them separately but about tying in guns to the supreme court. dying in diversity equity and inclusion in as well as all of these issues where we see the decimation of them. >> let's talk about justice thomas for a moment. you note in your book that there is an interesting dynamic going on between chief justice roberts and justice thomas. saying that roberts holds the gavel but thomas holds the power. can you say more about that dynamic?>> we give these courts the name of the chief justice, but right now clarence thomas and his ideas. the idea of the way he puts it as original as and that only laws that are rooted in history and tradition. in meeting the social views of white men from the 1700s can govern our country today. that has become dominant, and sometimes he can muster a majority to slowdown the direction of the court, but thomas's energy to push it and push the country in unrecognizable directions is really much more significant in the long run i think for this court. >> roberts is really a traffic cop, but justice thomas is the intellectual conservative movement on the court? >> i think it was considered it to be way it the french for many years, but now the french has become the mainstream on this court. it is not just bad ideas but entangled in this right-wing political financial machine in ways that are also highly unusual. >> that is a really good intervention to think about what has recently happened. just this week the court ruled it can remain on the market for now, but we know that this is just a way station. they won't stop with access to medication abortion being available. what are your thoughts on the court's decision in this case and what you think the next step is going to be as this issue goes back to the states and the public?>> basically they were looking for a roadmap. anyone who had ever gained a law license knew this was a nothing burger case simply because they literally didn't have standing. the fact a case made it all the way to the supreme court and essentially cannot sue if you have not been harmed in some way. that is essentially what we has was a case for those that had not been harmed. the fact it made it past that level all the way to the supreme court is absolutely insane. that's because we have these right-wingers on every single level of the court that are absolutely committed to doing their random christian and fascism movement that they are all standing there for him then they basically signal to tell us how we can get a case to you and how you will roll on the merits. basically they decided you're not going to rule on them. this never had standing, so we will be that there. it's important for us to really focus in on the fact that you were really nice. clarence thomas is corrupt. end of story. nobody gets this kind of money and isn't influenced in any way. that is where we stand, and that is why the american public is outraged at this court right now because of the likes of clarence thomas. i believe there is going to be a reckoning on november 5. >> everything they say is spot on. litigants are really weary of the federal courts right now, and that means they're looking for other venues to bring their cases and one of those venues that we have seen a lot of movement towards our state supreme court's, so there has been a renewed focus in the election. this year a total of 82 state seats up for grabs in 33 states. what is at stake in these judicial elections and how do we get people to pay attention to these races? >> so much is at stake. so much money is pouring into these races. a lot of the undisclosed money. i think it's also a part of a very positive development. as the supreme court has been captured by a faction of a faction people are seeing state courts and constitutions are an independent part to protect freedom and equality. just one example of every state but one in the constitution has a stronger protection for voting rights than the u.s. constitution does. we want them to protect reproductive rights to deal with gerrymandering and all of these different things. >> you make a good point about state constitutions. many are better with equal rights amendments. so this is a fruitful place to bring cases, but people really have to pay attention. >> they have to pay attention and increasingly they are. think about the wisconsin supreme court race. that is a state that is very evenly divided but the more liberal justice candidate won by 11 points. a referendum on reproductive rights and gerrymandering. the people spoke in the court has changed its actions. >> we are moving to other venues. a lot going on with the courts. thank you so much for joining us this morning. coming up. new nbc report on the democrats plans to continue investigating supreme court justices over possible ethics violations. democratic congresswoman of kansas joins me to explain exactly why the supreme court's ruling is not a sweeping victory for reproductive freedom. earlier this morning the princess of wales made her first public appearance since announcing her cancer diagnosis in march but we will go to buckingham palace for the latest. all of that is next. next. listen. what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. 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[ romantic music plays ] ♪♪ beautiful stair renovation, sir. and they're covered with your home and auto bundle with progressive, so you get round-the-clock protection. so, is gabby coming down? oh, she said she'll meet you at the prom. i bought the team! kevin...? i put it on my chase freedom unlimited card. and i'm gonna' cashback on a few other things too! starting with the sound system... that's caaaaaaaaash. cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? the princess of wales just made her first official public appearance since revealing in march she had been diagnosed with cancer. today she attended the royal ceremony which is an annual military parade that celebrates the british monarch's birthday. in this case king charles iii. here you can see her arriving with her children and watching the ceremony from the balcony. according to the palace the event features 1400 parading soldiers and 400 musicians. 200 horses picking charles appeared in st. james park to take part in the ceremony be joining enough from buckingham palace is our nbc news correspondent. can you take us through what we saw earlier today? and how was the princess appearance received by parade onlookers? >> i can tell you this was an extraordinary day. we saw the royal family just about two hours ago behind me on the balcony of the palace. along with the prince and princess of wales and their children. extraordinary because a lot of people did not even think this moment would be possible today. we know the struggle of both of them. dealing with cancer and cancer treatments, but yesterday she made the announcement that she would be here. that the crowd was just so excited. honestly to say excited is an understatement. i have to take you back to the beginning of the morning when we saw her carriage rolled down the street where thousands of people were lining the streets to get the glimpse. we have had all seasons today. it was a pouring down rain. we had the wind that was coming in and a little bit of sunshine. that did not stop these people from coming out to try to get a glimpse. when they did see the princess rolling down in the carriage heading to the parade the crowd just erupted, and then she watched her guards from the balcony before making her way back to buckingham palace. this coming just hours earlier when kensington palace released that picture of her, and she released this letter to the world that she wrote, and she was updating us on her health. i want to read a part of for you. she said i making good progress but as anyone going through chemotherapy would know there are good days and bad days. my treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. her message goes on to say that she is not out of the woods yet. it's a really relatable statement. anyone who has had cancer or anyone who knows someone who has had cancer knows it comes with these good days and bad days. and the bad days she says she surrenders to her body. the good days and she relishes in the moment. it was certainly a powerful moment to see her here today and then of course we know the king had a bit of an adjustment. a celebration for him today but he was riding in a carriage alongside, and he would typically be on horseback expecting his troops, but he was making that adjustment because of the recommendation of the doctors. extraordinary day that a lot of people did not see coming.>> thank you. still to come. while the supreme court has for now preserved access to the widely used abortion pill make a mistake there will be new challenges in the future be democratic congresswoman davis of kansas joins me after the break to explain the ongoing republican effort to restrict access to the abortion pill. that is up next. next. that's why my go-to is nurtec odt. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. it's the only migraine medication that helps treat & prevent, all in one. 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injured by the fda's actions. but make no mistake just because the court kicked this out on jurisdictional grounds does not mean that it's over. there will be another case with a different set of plaintiffs in an effort to restrict access to medication abortion. the vice president harris sounded the alarm at a white house event thursday take a listen. >> this is not a cause for celebration because the reality is certain things are still not going to change. we are looking at the fact that two thirds of women of reproductive age in america live in a state with a trump abortion ban to this ruling is not going to change that. this is not going to change the fact that trump's allies have a plan that if all else fails to eliminate medication abortion through executive action, so we must remain clear eyed about the threats to reproductive freedom in america. >> some states are already kicking up plans to continue the assault on medication abortion. when this case was first filed in 2022 months after roe versus wade was overturned republican attorneys general from kansas, missouri and idaho tried to intervene. they weren't allowed to do so by the supreme court that denied the intervening role, but now the states are poised to take another bite at the apple bringing new claims in a new case that would take aim at access to medication abortion again. the attorneys general