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Supreme Court Hears Case on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors; Trump Asks Georgia Court to Dismiss Election Interference Case; Russian Stowaway Headed Back to JFK on Delta Flight from Paris; Lawmakers Grill Airline Executives Over Junk Fees. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 04, 2024 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: The Supreme Court is now weighing one of the most important transgender rights questions to ever come before it. And that is, can states ban gender-affirming care for children and teens? The justices heard oral arguments today in a blockbuster case that focuses on a Tennessee law prohibiting doctors from providing puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors.

And more than half of the U.S. has similar policies in place. So the implications of this could be far-reaching. CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid is with us now.

Paula, walk us through the stakes here and where you saw the justices seem to be today during those arguments.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, minors transitioning has become a political hot-button issue, right? And today we saw the justices poised unlikely, right, unlikely they appear to overturn this ban in Tennessee that prohibits minors from receiving certain medical treatments if they want to transition. Now, teens who have been affected by this, the ACLU and the Biden administration all argue that this ban amounts to unconstitutional sex discrimination.

Because if you were born a boy and you want access to testosterone treatment, you can get it. But you can't get it if you're born a boy and you want to transition to a girl.

Now, the state of Tennessee says it's not sex-based discrimination because it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl. You can't get this medical treatment to transition.

So today the justices had a lot of questions for both sides, but we were watching really closely some of the potential swing votes that the ACLU and the Biden administration would need to overturn this ban. For example, Chief Justice John Roberts.

Let's take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS: Here it seems to me that the medical issues are much more heavily involved than in many of the cases that you look to. And, of course, we are not the best situated to address issues like that, unlike in, you know, like Morales and Craig Reborn and some of the other ones where it doesn't strike me that they're intensely affected by medical considerations. And if that's true, doesn't that make a stronger case for us to leave those determinations to the legislative bodies rather than try to determine them for ourselves?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: So there he's suggesting this should be left up to the states, left up to voters. Justice Alito also pointed to the fact that some European countries have restricted this kind of treatment for minors. The solicitor general, that's the top lawyer for the Biden administration, pointed out they didn't outright ban it.

So things are not looking great for the Biden administration here. It's unclear how long it will take the justices to issue their opinion. But as you know, before that opinion comes, we are likely to get a new administration, a Republican administration that does not support this kind of treatment for minors.

I spoke to the teenager, one of them at the center of this case, and she told me that, look, even if they don't have federal support for their position, that the ACLU will continue to advocate for these rights.

MATTINGLY: Neil Gorsuch didn't say anything.

REID: No.

MATTINGLY: Everyone was fascinated to see where he would land. But we did see or hear from Justice Roberts, as you just played.

I'll ask you the question that every Supreme Court reporter hates being asked. When do we expect a decision? This is this is so critical. It's so important. You mentioned the new administration coming in. What are the expectations of timeline here?

REID: Look, I'm just so grateful to cover the Supreme Court. You can ask me anything you want. We never know when the justices will issue their opinions.

I don't know that they're going to sit on this one until June when we usually get the blockbuster opinions. But it doesn't appear that they are poised to overturn this ban. We know the incoming administration is likely to flop their position, but the ACLU will continue on with this case. So I'd expect it would take months, but probably not weeks to get this opinion.

[15:35:02]

Look, you never know. But we have to remember, this doesn't just impact Tennessee. Over two dozen other states have passed similar restrictions. So it is definitely the biggest case of the term so far. But I would bet it's not going to be the biggest case of the entire term. MATTINGLY: Paul Reid, always appreciate you. Thank you -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Access to gender-affirming medical care has sparked fierce debate across the country. But what exactly does that type of care entail?

Let's turn to CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, walk us through what this is all about. And how many people in the U.S. it impacts.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, so this really spans the gamut, you know, for young children who are entering into these kinds of questions. Really, this starts with mental health care, working with their families and a team of physicians and really what's known as social affirmation. So just thinking about things like adopting gender-affirming hairstyles, clothing, names or pronouns that affirm the gender that they feel that they are.

Once kids get into puberty and they've had a sustained period of feeling this way and they go through, you know, extensive counseling with a whole team of providers, they can get into puberty blockers. Those are drugs that can essentially pause the pubertal development so that kids and their families and their caregivers have more time essentially to consider what's going on. As they get older and if they're still showing sustained feelings in these ways along with that extensive counseling, then you get to hormone therapy.

So testosterone, estrogen, things like that. These are hormones that can affirm somebody's gender. So those are really the things that people talk about when they're talking about gender-affirming care for minors.

Then you have gender-affirming surgeries. But according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, those are really talked about for adults who are in this space and only really on a rare case-by-case basis for anybody, you know, under the age of 18.

And so when you're trying to look at the number of people who might be affected by the outcome here, estimates put the number of people who identify as transgender in the U.S. at about 1.6 million, including about 300,000 kids between the ages of 13 and 17. So you're talking about hundreds of thousands of kids here, Brianna, who could be affected by the outcome of the court's decision.

KEILAR: All right. Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that -- Phil.

MATTINGLY: Well, breaking news just into CNN. President-elect Trump wants another one of his legal cases thrown out. In a new filing an attorney for Trump says his election interference case in Georgia should be dismissed, arguing a sitting president can't be prosecuted.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us live now. Nick, what else did we learn from this filing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, oral arguments had been expected to get underway sometime this week in the Georgia Court of Appeals. Of course, they have the case and are weighing whether or not District Attorney Fani Willis would be allowed to stay on this case. But now this filing from Georgia attorney for the president-elect, Steve Sadow, asking for this case to be dismissed entirely.

And here's what they're saying in part of that filing, quote, saying: A sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal. It goes on to say -- President Trump respectfully submits that upon reaching this decision, this court, Court of Appeals, should dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction with directions to the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against the president.

This investigation, of course, began with that infamous phone call from President Trump to our Secretary of State here, Brad Raffensperger, in which he asked him to find more votes.

There was also the fake elector scheme where they tried to subvert the Electoral College and say that Trump won this state in 2020 when he lost. And, of course, the illegal accessing of voting data in rural Coffee County. But now, Phil, with this filing, the fate of this case is unknown as the attorney here for the president-elect asking the trial court and the Court of Appeals to dismiss this case entirely -- Phil.

MATTINGLY: Nick Valencia with the breaking news. Thanks so much.

And still ahead, a stowaway who snuck through security and on to a Delta flight to Paris will finally land back in the U.S. to face consequences. The plane is expected to land at JFK in New York in less than an hour. We're going to be there live just ahead.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A Russian woman who evaded airport security at one of the nation's busiest airports and then stowed away on a Delta Airlines flight from New York to Paris last week is on her way back to the United States. French authorities identified the woman as 57-year-old Svetlana Dali. And you see her here seated in the back of the plane listening, we are told, to 90s country music and escorted by French security officials.

Dali departed Paris this morning, scheduled to arrive at JFK here in a couple of hours. CNN's Polo Sandoval is awaiting Dali's arrival at JFK. Polo, what happens once she's on the ground?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's going to be a big question to see exactly what federal authorities are going to do with this. Well, state authorities. Will any charges be filed here?

What we know, according to our colleague who's on that flight at the moment, who's been sending us updates, that flight that left Paris this morning has continued, issued for issue free. Of course, this accused stowaway is flanked by two security personnel. Now, to be clear, she's not in custody. She's not detained. She's

simply being escorted to try to prevent a situation like what played out this past Saturday on another Delta flight in which she had to be taken off the plane before it even departed because of a disturbance that she caused.

So yesterday she boards another Delta flight from Paris to New York. Delta Airlines said not today, at least not until they figure out how they can best do this to ensure everybody's safety. Obviously, some precautions taking place, and that's how this plane successfully departed Paris today. Due here at JFK in less than a couple of hours.

[15:45:00]

And that's what investigators are really going to have to take a good hard look at this case. Right. They will certainly look into the motive. And it's a difficult question to ask, but an important one. Perhaps her mental state last Tuesday when she was seen on surveillance video bypassing an ID security checkpoint at TSA. Proceeded through the TSA checkpoint after a screening of her baggage and also of her, and then eventually found a way to make it onto that flight.

So there's certainly still many questions here about how this can be further prevented. And also, what was that main draw to France? We do know that just years ago, according to authorities, she had petitioned for asylum as a U.S. green card holder in France, but she was denied. So there's still a question of what or who is actually drawing her to that country.

But what is very clear is that she did expose to vulnerabilities in one of the nation's largest and busiest airports. You can bet that the TSA and Delta Airlines want to address that.

KEILAR: Is she going to be charged with anything, Polo?

SANDOVAL: It's a really good question. And at this point, there still isn't an answer. Will this be some sort of civil penalty or could any state or federal charges be brought against her?

I think that's going to be key in terms of what we will see play out later today and in the days to come. What we are told, according to a law enforcement official speaking to CNN, is after the landing later this afternoon here at JFK, she will meet with federal authorities. She will be interviewed, and that's when authorities will further assess the situation to see if this actually merits charges.

But again, to be very clear, she's currently not in custody during her eight-day stay in France. She was simply held in a specially designed part of Charles de Gaulle Airport for people who do not meet entry requirements and are scheduled for deportation, which is essentially what we saw was currently playing out as she's flying directly here to New York.

KEILAR: All right, Polo, let us know what happens, an eventful landing here soon in JFK. Still ahead, more than $12 billion paid in the last five years just so

you can pick your seat on the plane. Five airline executives grilled on Capitol Hill today about why, but they said about charging you extra.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: Today, top airline executives facing tough questions on Capitol Hill. Senators demanding answers about so-called junk fees. Those extra charges for boarding early, bags, seats.

KEILAR: Well, just wait until you hear how much they've made on those seat fees alone. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has the details. All right, what is it?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's a lot. I'll get to it in a second.

You know, this hearing was pretty tense at times. Especially because the numbers are so big. And it really put airlines on the defensive after they had this huge gangbusters week for Thanksgiving travel. Airlines charging for seat selection, check bags, even carry-on bags.

Not really all that new. But this is likely the first time that airlines have been put in the hot seat for it on Capitol Hill. Also the first time we've gotten a clearer picture of what airlines charge and how much they're making through those fees.

The Senate report that inspired this hearing said from 2018 to 2023, airlines made $12 billion -- there's your answer -- on seat selection alone. Listen now to Senate Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut who called for this hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Airlines call the practice of separating -- separately charging for every little thing, unbundling. Frustrated passengers have a different word for it. They call it junk. Sometimes they use another four-letter word. And understandably, they feel that sense of frustration and anger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: There were no airline CEOs in attendance at this hearing. Only financial officers and lobbyists from American, Delta, Frontier, United and Spirit. This was their central argument.

The no-frills basic economy ticket makes flying more affordable for travelers on a budget. Airlines also say that a one-size-fits-all model would make flying more expensive. And this way, passengers can essentially pay for what they want.

But the biggest fireworks here were over another finding in the Senate report. It said that Frontier Airlines paid gate agents bonuses if they found passengers who were trying to bring carry-on bags on board without paying for them. Here is Senate Republican Josh Hawley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): If people want to know why it's such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today. Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who've already paid. They're there in line because they've already paid. It's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Airlines make this one final point. They say airfare has gone down, though AAA said last week that the cost of tickets is up a few percent -- two percent from last Thanksgiving. But airlines also say you need to consider inflation.

Delta Airlines said it has not increased bag fees since 2018, though its costs, its labor and operational costs have skyrocketed in that time.

MATTINGLY: I feel for them. I appreciate their benevolence.

KEILAR: The thing that I find so frustrating about it is it's really difficult. You're waiting for my rant, right? He's like, I'm not going to --

(CROSSTALK)

MUNTEAN: It's so hard to know what you're going to pay.

KEILAR: Yes, and you can't apples to apples anything it feels like. There's apples, kiwis, grapes like it's all the things. And who even knows?

MUNTEAN: The one thing here and this came up over and over again is that airlines are required by law to essentially tell you the full totality of the price, the total price that you're going to pay for a ticket. But they do ticky-tack these things on at the end.

[15:55:00]

Sometimes, you know, this is a new trend among all the travel bloggers is to wait until the last minute for them to just assign it to maybe one of the best seats possible without you having to pay for a seat selection fee.

So there are some ways around it. And this is kind of emerging now as this debate is happening at the same time.

KEILAR: With children it makes it really difficult --

MUNTEAN: It does.

KEILAR: -- with the kid thing. Yes, I'll do that. My two year old or four year olds like in the way back. I mean, that might be nice. You never know. We do appreciate their benevolence. All right. Pete Monteen, always benevolent. Thank you.

Still ahead. The artists and music that we couldn't get enough of this year. We're looking at what's on our Spotify wrapped playlist next.

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[16:00:00]

MATTINGLY: Spotify just revealed its top artists and songs worldwide for 2024. Taylor Swift, of course, crowned the top global artist for the second year in a row.

KEILAR: Who's your top artist?

MATTINGLY: I had Kendrick, Morgan Wallen, J. Cole, Miles Smith, Taylor Swift.

KEILAR: I have Alanis Morissette, Beyonce's in number two. There's some stuff I'm embarrassed about, like Skibidi Toilet is one of my top ten songs. Not my choice. I have children. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.

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