M.S. W. Media.

This week, Donald Trump publicly criticized Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

After Roberts pushed back against Trump's criticism of a federal judge who ruled that

Trump could not bar refugees from seeking asylum if they did not

enter the United States legally.

Then later in the week, one day after Thanksgiving,

the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court

to bypass the Court of Appeals

and overturn the ruling from a different federal judge

that stopped the Trump administration from implementing its transgender military ban.

Will the courts continue to check unconstitutional and unlawful actions by the Trump administration?

What does this mean for transgender Americans and for refugees?

Let's get on topic. Welcome to on topic. Welcome to On Topic, a weekly in-depth look at a topic that helps us understand the week's news.

My name is Renato Mariati. I'm a former federal prosecutor, a practicing lawyer, and a

CNN legal analyst. And I'm joined by my friend Patty Vasquez, a WGM radio host who will join us regularly on this

podcast. So, Betty, I have to say I was a little surprised when I checked out

Twitter and what I saw was Donald Trump attacking the Chief

Justice. It doesn't seem like a smart person to get into a Twitter war with

when you are undertaking a lot of actions that you're

ultimately going to want his vote on.

Well it seems obviously completely in character with who he is and

somebody who misunderstands what his role is in the executive branch as part of our democracy,

...