Harvard faculty rally amid Trump legal battle

And earlier this year, the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to ban international students from enrolling at Harvard. It has also threatened the school's accreditation status over alleged civil rights violations. For more, let's bring in CBS News legal reporter and attorney, Katrina Kaufman. Hey, Katrina, great to see you. So, first and foremost, Federal Judge Allison Burroughs, as you know, called some of the Trump administration's arguments against Harvard, quote, "mind boggling." Why? And what else did she say about the matter? Jericka, the judge had a lot of questions. And one thing that she said she's wrestling with is the fact that this federal funding that's been taken away, it impacts medical and scientific grants. And she said, shouldn't you be going lab by lab, grant by grant, to see if there's anti-Semitism going on there? You shouldn't just be blanket taking all of this funding away from the University. And her question was, how do we avoid viewpoint discrimination? Because that, Jericka, is in violation of the First Amendment. Another thing she said she was wrestling with is the fact that the government can just decide, what is discrimination? What is racist? and then act on it. Now the government says that they can take away the funding. They can give it to other universities, that they are not, in fact, obligated to give it to Harvard, that they were in a contract with them. But she definitely seemed skeptical and had a lot of questions for them today.

And we see those pictures of people standing United with Harvard. Harrison Fields, however, a spokesman for the White House, said the administration is, quote, "confident that Harvard will eventually come around and support the president's vision. A good deal is more than possible," they said. What is the president's vision when it comes to Harvard? What kind of deal is the White House looking for? Well, we know that the government and Trump made a lot of demands on Harvard in this initial letter they had sent back in April, which Harvard didn't comply with, that ultimately led to these billions of dollars in funding being taken away. But essentially, they want more say in, who is teaching at Harvard? Who is going to Harvard? They want more viewpoint diversity there, Jericka. They want more oversight of the University. And the University is really worried about the issue of academic freedom. That is a First Amendment right. But we know that there have been talks going on behind the scenes and that this hearing, this potential ruling from the judge, both sides are hoping that it will give them leverage to reach a settlement here.

Yeah, and a lot of universities and colleges throughout the country watching this. The judge's ruling will have, literally, major implications for higher education and private institutions in the US, regardless of whether she rules in favor or against the Trump administration. So when you think about it, Katrina, explain to our viewers what's at stake here. I mean, in a way, this is a test case, Jericka. Harvard is the university that has stood up the most strongly to the Trump administration, and everyone is watching to see what happens here, to see what arguments the universities can have strength with, what the government can get away with. And people are concerned that this could have much broader implications, as you were saying. This isn't just about academia. Can the government have a say over other private institutions if it's allowed to make these demands on Harvard University, Jericka?

Yeah, it'll be interesting, too, to see how that impacts enrollment. Katrina-- Absolutely.

Katrina Kaufman, thank you so much. Thank you.