Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis blasted Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Sunday for using the 20-week abortion ban legislation in Texas to advance their own political ambitions. 
 
 “I think really what’s happening here, Bob, is politicians are using this issue to boost their own political aspirations, their own political ambitions,” she told host Bob Schieffer Sunday on CBS's “Face the Nation.” 
 
 “Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst are willing to … put women in harm’s way in order to step up on the political ladder,” she continued. 
 
 (QUIZ: Do you know Wendy Davis?) 
 
 Davis, a Democrat, also said she expects Republicans to be “smarter” about how they manage the bill in the upcoming special legislative session, but that the national attention will ensure they are held “accountable” for the bill. 
 
 “They mismanaged the clock terribly last time, and they also ran roughshod over a lot of our senate rules and traditions to try to ram this bill through. And they’ll probably be a bit smarter about how they try to move this bill in this next session starting on Monday,” she said. “But what they now have to confront is that the eyes of Texas, the eyes of the country are watching.” 
 
 Read more about: Abortion, Rick Perry, Texas, David Dewhurst, Wendy Davis ||||| House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is defending her criticism of NSA leaker Edward Snowden and suggests he may not have any more substantive information about the surveillance program. 
 
 “We have to know what is it that he has. And I don't know that he has that much substance,” Pelosi said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press." “He may know something about the machinery. I don't know that he knows that much about the content. But I think that anybody thought he was a hero to begin with, now that he's threatening in any event to share information with Russia and China, if he fact he has any information, I think that should disabuse anybody of the notion-- that he is a hero.” 
 
 The California Democrat also pushed back about criticism that while speaking to a progressive group, Pelosi was booed when she said Snowden wasn’t a hero. 
 
 “And by the way, it was a smattering when I objected to him being called a hero. And yes, he did break the law,” she said. She added, “I think it's pretty good that he's stuck in the Moscow Airport. That's okay with me. He can stay there, that's fine.” 
 
 Pelosi said the program strikes a balance. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Assange: ‘Disgrace’ to cancel Snowden passport) 
 
 “We all know that we have to have a balance between security to protect the American people and liberty. We take an oath to protect and defend the constitution and the American people,” she said. “And there -- so I have -- in all of the legislation that I've been involved in put serious obstacles to having surveillance that comes anywhere near to violating the rights of the American people including the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board which I think will now be further strengthened.” 
 
 The current programs, she said, shouldn’t be compared to surveillance under former President George W. Bush. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Pols react to Snowden on the run) 
 
 “President Bush exercised unfettered, unlimited presidential discretion for surveillance in-- for surveillance," she said. "Under President Obama in '08 before he even became president we passed the FISA amendments which put up obstacles to the federal government doing surveillance which put oversight whether it's-- inspectors general, whether it's the Congress of the United States, whether it's a privacy or-- Privacy and Civil Liberties Board." 
 
 Read more about: Nancy Pelosi, Surveillance, NSA, Edward Snowden ||||| Round two of Texas' fierce ideological battle over abortion limits was set to begin Monday, less than a week after a Democratic filibuster and hundreds of raucous protesters threw the end of the first special session into chaos. 
 
 In this May 28, 2013 file photo, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst speaks during the signing of a water fund bill, in Austin, Texas. Now that the governor has called a special session, Dewhurst will get a chance... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Tuesday, June 25, 2013, file photo, Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, holds up two fingers to signal a "No" vote as the session where tshe tried to filibuster an abortion bill draws... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this May 28, 2013 file photo, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst , right, stands with Gov. Rick Perry during the signing of a water fund bill, in Austin, Texas. Now that the governor has called a special session,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In This June 26, 2013 file photo, members of the gallery cheer and chant as the Texas Senate tries to bring an abortion bill to a vote as time expires, in Austin, Texas. The damage left by the... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Legislature's Republican majority has vowed to pass wide-ranging abortion restrictions quickly and easily this time, even as opponents mobilize for more protests. 
 
 "The world has seen images of pro-abortion activists screaming, cheering," Republican Gov. Rick Perry said. "Going forward, we have to match their intensity but do it with grace and civility." 
 
 Lawmakers finished their regular session May 27, but Perry called them back immediately for 30 more days to approve, among other things, the tight new limits on abortion. 
 
 On the extra session's last day, however, Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth was on her feet for more than 12 hours _ speaking most of that time _ as Democrats used a filibuster to help kill the sweeping abortion bill. 
 
 As the midnight deadline loomed, Republicans used parliamentary technicalities to silence her, but hundreds of protesters in the public gallery and surrounding Capitol corridors cheered so loudly that senators on the floor weren't able to hear, and couldn't pass the bill before the clock the ran out. 
 
 The scene was chaotic enough that Sen. Donna Campbell, a New Braunfels Republican, called for the gallery to be cleared. She said that with lawmakers now heading back, "I believe more presence by law enforcement will help keep disruptive behavior from thwarting the democratic process." 
 
 She said more families may turn up to express their views and "every Texan's voice deserves to be heard. Not just the noisiest and unruliest." 
 
 A repeat scene seems unlikely. Texas Department of Public Safety state troopers provide security at the Capitol, and department spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the agency doesn't discuss its plans. 
 
 "However, when necessary, we will adjust our security measures as a situation merits," she said. 
 
 Some of the same protesters already have planned a rally at the state Capitol on Monday, but there may not be much action for them to see. Both the House and Senate could simply gavel in long enough to assign committees to hear new versions of the bills they plan to pass, then adjourn for the rest of the week that includes the July 4 holiday. 
 
 But Perry says he expects lawmakers to get their work done more quickly this time, making it harder for a filibuster to talk any proposed legislation to death. 
 
 "I want the Legislature to be getting work done that actually that they had, by and large, finished," he said. 
 
 House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who oversees the Senate, haven't revealed plans to do anything differently in the second special session _ but it's lost on no one that moving through the process faster, and ensuring both chambers carry out final votes long before the end of the session, will limit Democratic stall tactics and make any possible filibuster moot because too much time would be left. 
 
 The legislative process now starts over, with lawmakers filing bills, committees holding public hearings on each, then passing them to both full chambers to consider. That means reviving the proposals Davis and the protesters killed: banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, requiring that the procedure be performed at ambulatory surgical centers, and mandating that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. 
 
 Supporters say such limits will safeguard women's health, but opponents argue the upgrades facilities will have to undergo to meet the new requirements are so costly that they will force nearly every abortion provider in the state to close. Dewhurst has acknowledged that the ultimate goal is to shutter abortion clinics. 
 
 Meanwhile, some of the Legislature's most outspoken critics of abortion, including state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, have refiled bills that stalled even before Davis' filibuster _ hoping they can push through stricter restrictions. Patrick, who has announced he will challenge Dewhurst and run next year for lieutenant governor, revived one of his pet projects _ a bill placing more rules on the use of abortion-inducing drugs such as RU-486. 
 
 Davis, who donned pink tennis shoes for the marathon speech that made her an overnight political sensation nationally, hasn't said if she'll try something similar again. And, calling more special sessions has squashed Democratic stonewall tactics before. 
 
 In 2003, House Democrats fled to Oklahoma to keep the chamber from making quorum and passing new redistricting maps that benefited Republicans. When Perry called a first and then second special session, Senate Democrats headed to New Mexico. But the maps were approved during a third extra session that year. 
 
 Even so, Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, vowed: "As this last week has shown, we are ready to fight." ||||| Conservative leader Ralph Reed is pushing back at depictions of those who oppose gay marriage as being bigots. 
 
 In a panel Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Reed, the head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, responded to comments by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow that those who oppose gay marriage are trying to discriminate against gays and lesbians. 
 
 "By that argument, was Barack Obama intolerant 14 months ago?" Reed asked Maddow. 
 
 (PHOTOS: 26 gay-rights milestones) 
 
 He rattled off a list of Democrats who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act but are now opposed to it, including Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Patrick Leahy. 
 
 "All voted for this law and Bill Clinton who signed it into law were intolerant and motivated by a animus toward gays?" Reed said. "Obama was 14 months ago. Was he a bigot 14 months ago?" 
 
 Read more about: Barack Obama, Gay Marriage, Ralph Reed ||||| The lone star of Texas tells All In with Chris she “would be lying” if she said she didn’t have gubernatorial ambitions. 
 
 Tuesday, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis set out to conduct a 13-hour filibuster to stop Senate Bill 5, a restrictive abortion bill, from passing. Her performance made her an overnight political sensation: over 100,000 people tuned in to watch the filibuster and thousands tweeted along with the hashtag #StandWithWendy. She joined All In with Chris Hayes to reflect on her experience. 
 
 Strict filibuster rules barred Davis from meal or bathroom breaks; she had to stand the entire time without even leaning on anything for support. And she had to stay on topic. “It really wasn’t just a physical endurance but a mental one as well” she admitted to Chris Hayes on Wednesday night. But Davis was energized by the prospect of stopping the closure of 37 of the 42 state’s abortion clinics and blocking a ban on abortions past 20 weeks. 
 
 
 
 When asked whether or not she felt disrespected by her male colleagues Davis replied: “You know I did. I wish I could tell you that’s atypical here…We were talking about a group of primarily men who were coming together to make decisions about women’s healthcare and literally intruding upon private decision-making by women.” Davis started the filibuster at 11:18 am and and was slated to go until 12:00 am but was interrupted by Republicans claiming her comments on ultrasounds strayed from the topic at hand. Of Governor Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, Davis told Chris, “They have overridden and made a mockery of all of the rules we run by in this state…What we saw yesterday was injury to that insult where Senate rules became meaningless.” 
 
 Closing in on midnight, Davis’ supporters and colleagues saved the day, raising points of order in their turn. Their cheers pulled her over the finish line and the bill did not come to a vote in time. ”Ultimately in that last 15 minutes of the evening, it became the People’s Filibuster. And they were loud and they were heard. And that is what democracy is about. And I was really proud of the way they conducted themselves,” a delighted Davis proclaimed. 
 
 Governor Perry said Wednesday that he would call another special session and try again to pass the abortion ban (as well as some transportation funding legislation). Davis issued a statement saying, “If they intend to keep pushing their extreme personal political agenda ahead of the interests of Texas families, I will not back off of my duty to fight.” 
 
 Now that she has a national profile, is the next step a run for the Texas governor’s house? “You know I would be lying if I told you I hadn’t had aspirations,” she said. 
 
 In other words, the #StandWithWendy campaign has only gotten started.
– Wendy Davis took her 10 hours of filibustering fame and extended it by at least 15 minutes, appearing on three Sunday shows today and unloading on Texas Republicans trying to push through a 20-week abortion ban. “Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst are willing to … put women in harm’s way in order to step up on the political ladder,” she said, adding that Republicans "mismanaged the clock terribly last time, and ran roughshod over a lot of our senate rules and traditions to try to ram this bill through. And they’ll probably be a bit smarter. But what they now have to confront is that the eyes of Texas, the eyes of the country are watching.” As for Rick Perry's musings on her beginnings, she responded thusly: "My life story is something that belongs to me. I had choices and chances and opportunities. What I'm working to fight for is to make sure that all women have the ability to do that." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, as per Politico: Nancy Pelosi on Edward Snowden: “We have to know what is it that he has. And I don't know that he has that much substance. He may know something about the machinery. I don't know that he knows that much about the content. But now that he's threatening to share information with Russia and China, if he in fact he has any information, I think that should disabuse anybody of the notion that he is a hero.” And furthermore: “I think it's pretty good that he's stuck in the Moscow airport. That's OK with me. He can stay there, that's fine.” Former NSA chief Michael Hayden on NSA leak: It has caused "significant" damage, and “in an ideal world, I’d keep all of this secret because any of it I make public slices some of my operational advantage away from me. But democracies like ours don’t get to do something over a long period of time without national consensus." Conservative leader Ralph Reed says Prop 8 supporters aren't bigots: Joe Biden and Pat Leahy were among Dems who "voted for this law and Bill Clinton, who signed it into law, (so were they) intolerant and motivated by an animus toward gays? Obama was 14 months ago. Was he a bigot 14 months ago?"