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Supreme Court Strikes Down Louisiana Abortion Law; Roberts Sides with Liberal Justices to Block Louisiana Abortion Law; South Florida Beaches to Close over Holiday Weekend as Cases Surge; Mayor Rick Kriseman (D-St. Petersburg, FL) Discusses Surging COVID-19 Cases in Florida, Several Beaches in South Florida Closing for July 4th Weekend; CNN Goes Inside Houston Hospital on Frontlines of COVID-19 Fight. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 29, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And thanks so much for you joining me today. A lot of news today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

"NEWSROOM" with my colleague, Kate Bolduan, starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for joining us for the next two hours.

We'll start with breaking news this hour because there's been another major decision coming from the Supreme Court. This time, the justices striking down a Louisiana abortion law, a law aimed at limiting abortions in the state.

A 5-4 decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts again deciding with the liberal-leaning justices on the court to strike down that law.

Let's get right to CNN's Jessica Schneider. She's been going through this decision. She's in front of the court right now.

Jessica, what did the justices say here in this decision.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Kate, this decision saying the Louisiana law is unconstitutional, that in a sense, it was a veiled attempt to restriction abortion. This is a big win for abortion rights advocates.

And notably, it's coming at the hands of the chief justice in this case who voted with the liberals to block this Louisiana abortion law.

This is significant for many reasons, probably the biggest of which being that the chief justice, before this morning, had never voted to strike down an abortion restriction, but in this case he has.

The chief justice really, in a sense, saying that his hands were tied here because of a similar case in 2016 involving a similar Texas law that the Supreme Court in that case said was unconstitutional. In that case, though, it was Anthony Kennedy, the now retired justice, who sided with the liberals to strike down that Texas law.

The Chief Justice John Roberts, in that, case actually vigorously dissented. But here, he said that, because of that precedent, he had to side with the liberals. He said that the burden on access to abortion was just as severe as the Texas law in 2016 that this court struck down.

You know, however, the chief justice, he did side with the majority here, but he also wrote a concurring opinion. And in that opinion, he really left a little bit of an opening here for other states that might try to pass similar laws.

He did say that this Louisiana law was just much too similar to the Texas law. But there's the possibility that other states in different circumstances might come up with a law that is different enough to impose some of these restrictions.

This Louisiana law actually had doctors -- they had to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic where they performed these abortions.

Really, challengers here said that that would have effectively left only one doctor in the entire state able to perform abortions. It would have effectively shut down two of the three remaining abortion clinics.

So the chief justice here, Kate, really proving the linchpin, for the third time in just two weeks siding with the liberals yet again.

This is a huge blow to the Trump administration and to the president himself. And it really probably strikes some fear into President Trump's evangelical base, who was counting on the president's two nominations of Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to really put this court really in the solidly conservative column.

But now we're seeing, yet again, the chief justice striking things down the middle, striking a balance here, and going with the liberals. And in this case, striking down this abortion law out of Louisiana -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, saying that he sees the law as nearly identical to that Texas law, how the chief justice talking about it there.

Jessica, thank you.

Joining me now for more on this is CNN legal analyst, Elie Honig, and CNN Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic.

Joan, I've got to get your take on this. You wrote the book on John Roberts. Take us into the mind here. This majority includes the chief justice. He's the lynchpin here. Nominated by George W. Bush.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes. BOLDUAN: How do explain how he comes down here?

BISKUPIC: That's right. This was a very important moment for him, choosing the integrity of the court over his personal ideology.

You know, Jessica made that point that he's always voted for abortion regulations, that those kinds of instincts go back to his time with the Ronald Reagan administration.

But here, at this moment, with a Trump administration, an election year, it was important for him to say, four years ago, we struck down identical abortion restrictions and there was no going back.

Now I think at a different time and era, with him not being a swing vote justice, he might not have voted this way. But this is a very big stand he took for some sort of stability in the law, public expectations, and the integrity of the court, and his personal legacy over his own ideology that has been very conservative, especially on social issues.

[11:05:08]

BOLDUAN: Yes. Joan, that's why this Roberts aspect of this is so fascinating, because if people are sitting here thinking and wondering saying, are we looking at a transformation of an evolution, if you will, of the chief justice, do you think that that's what people are seeing or is this something else?

BISKUPIC: I think you see him rising to a particular occasion here, again, with the Trump administration, this election year.

And I think you have to step back and look at the three rules from the past two weeks. The one on undocumented immigrants, that was purely a vote by him by very sloppy administrative law on the part of the Trump administration.

And before that, he was the sixth vote, not the fifth crucial vote, in the gay rights ruling. But here he is, on a constitutional issue, departing from his own personal instincts.

So I think what you've seen now is not a transformation in his ideology but a bit of a change in his idea of what he represents on this court and, frankly, represents in this whole country.

He is the chief justice of the United States, not just the chief justice of the Supreme Court. I think he's recognizing the platform that he has at a time when this nation is so polarized.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating.

BISKUPIC: It is.

BOLDUAN: Elie, what's your reaction to this?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Kate, that is a monumental ruling, I think, on two levels. First of all, the Supreme Court clearly tells states, you cannot issue extraordinarily restrictive state laws like we saw in Louisiana and a few years ago in Texas.

I mean, the practical impact of this Louisiana law is it would have made it almost impossible to get an abortion in Indiana. And that's what the court calls an undue right to have access to abortion.

Bigger picture, it shows that the court is going to adhere to, follow its own precedent. And as Joan was discussing, this is what Chief Justice Roberts used as the basis to join the liberal block here.

Chief Justice Roberts hasn't suddenly become a liberal vote and shown real signs of independence. He said we decided this case on an identical statute out in 2016 and have to stick with it.

And this has very broad implications for "Roe v. Wade." What will it take for the court to overturn that? I think Chief Justice Roberts is telling us, don't count on me to overturn "Roe v. Wade."

BOLDUAN: Joan, you said it and Jessica reiterated earlier, this is the first time Justice Roberts has ever voted against abortion regulations.

BISKUPIC: That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I think this is really --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: No, no. I think this moment with the chief justice, I don't think people should, us a take it kind of in the context of what we've seen in the last two weeks with decisions. I think that this is a real important moment to consider.

BISKUPIC: I do, too, Kate. And it's exactly for that reason that, even though there were other tests of precedent that had come before him, he had set those precedents aside. He's done it plenty of times.

No one should be confused about what Chief Justice Roberts does with certain other precedents. He's voted against rulings from the '70s and '80s and earlier that were very important in this country.

But what he's done now is said there's a line that he's not going to cross. And it's very important in the constitutionality of a woman's right to end a pregnancy, and that was a line that he had never crossed before.

So you're right to characterize it as a very big moment. We do not know what will happen going forward. But I think no one should count on Chief Justice John Roberts to either reverse the 1992 Casey landmark or the 1973 "Roe v. Wade" landmark.

Now he suggested that he might be open to some restrictions, as he wrote in his concurring statement. But I think that states will have to be very careful because this is not an invitation. This is definitely not an invitation to return quickly to this Supreme Court.

In fact, he would rather not have to deal with this issue for many months to come, but I think he's laid down a marker that will reverberate for many years.

BOLDUAN: Real implications here, especially on how states should be thinking about when they approach the restrictive laws going forward because that viewpoint really changed when Justice Kennedy stepped down and what that was going to look like going forward. And now he laid down a marker today.

Joan, thank you.

Elie, thank you.

HONIG: Thanks, Kate.

[11:09:57]

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, coronavirus cases in Florida, especially surging to record levels. Several beaches in south Florida, they have now announced they are closing for the July Fourth weekend. Is the rest of the state going to follow suit? I'll talk to the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: It's the reality that no one wants to hear, everyone would love to ignore, but it's the reality, nonetheless. The coronavirus is not going away. And it's not slowing down right now. Quite the opposite in most states, actually. And the numbers are scary.

So let's start here. You can see the numbers that we just showed you on your screen at all times. Now more than 10 million cases worldwide. Half a million deaths.

But here's what I'm getting at. The United States is outpacing all other individual countries with more than 2.5 million cases.

[11:15:05]

Just look at this comparison with the European Union. European Union flattening out. United States clearly not.

And within the United States several states are seeing disturbing spikes in cases, like Florida and Arizona and Texas, states that reopened aggressively but are now rethinking and revising those plans because of the trends that they are experiencing.

So what does that mean in the next few weeks? We'll ask.

But here's how it's being viewed from outside the United States. A leading scientist in New Zealand put it the other way: "It really does feels like the U.S. has given up."

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar pushed back on that concept today but also admitted this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, HHS SECRETARY: Things are very different from two months ago. We now have three therapeutics. We have hospital capacity. We have reserves of personal protective equipment. We're speeding our way towards having vaccines. So it's a very different situation.

But this is a very, very serious situation. And the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Well, let's start in one of the states that's now a new epicenter of the outbreak. CNN's Randi Kaye is in Palm Beach County, Florida.

It's great to see you, Randi.

What are you hearing there right now?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you as well, Kate.

We're hearing from Floridians that they would like to see a flattening of the curve in this state but, so far, that's not happening.

There's been more than 5,000 new cases today. That's down from the weekend, 9,585. That was the number from Saturday. That was an all- time record for the number of cases in a single day. Down a bit on Sunday, about more than 8,500 from there.

But still, the numbers are far too high for people here to be very comfortable with. And it's also they are not comfortable with the group that this does seem to be hitting here in the state of Florida, younger people, mainly those 25 to 30-year-old.

The governor saying that about 25 percent of the positivity rate -- that's the 25 percent positivity rate among that age group, 25-34.

Big reason why they have decided to close bars in this state. But take a look here. They are also closing the beaches. The beaches are open now but they will start to close here in Palm Beach County for the July Fourth holiday. And they will close in Miami-Dade County and Broward County as well.

Lots of folks coming out trying to ensure the sunshine and the water while they can.

You may see not many masks here on the beach. That's because there's no statewide mask mandate by the governor in the state of Florida. A lot of people think there should be. Some have said it's an infringement on their freedom to wear masks but others are on board with it.

We talked to a lot of folks about it. Here's what one gentleman told me. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE BUNGO, PALM BEACH RESIDENT: First of all, I'm protecting you guys because I'm wearing a mask. And I want people to protect me the same way, you know, because I don't want to get it. And it's just selfish to go around without a mask and spread your germs when you're carrying it. Seems very selfish to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Without a statewide mandate, local governments are mandating it on their own, including Miami-Dade, where one-quarter of the new cases are from.

Kate, back for you.

BOLDUAN: Randi, thank you very much. Randi, really in the middle of where the focus should be and likely remain for quite some time.

As Randi just said, in an attempt to stop this trend that they are seeing in Florida, three counties in south Florida have closed the beaches for the July Fourth weekend.

With me is now is the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, for us, Rick Kriseman. Not in the three counties, just to be clear to everybody.

Mayor, thank you very much for being here.

As Randi pointed out, you've got cities and counties closing beaches for July Fourth because of the trends that you're seeing. Are you considering the same?

RICK KRISEMAN, (D), MAYOR OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: In St. Pete, we don't have a lot of beaches. Most of the beaches are in our county and are within driving distance of us, but they are not a part of the city of St. Petersburg.

I'll be speaking with the county administrator, as I do every week, about policies that they are considering. And certainly, I think it's a policy that we have to consider coming up to July Fourth weekend. We know it's always a busy time at our beaches that weekend.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. And the vice mayor of Palm Beach said this morning that the move they have announced in the county there is absolutely necessary abuse of the direction that the state is going now.

Obviously, there's time still to close the beaches. You can do it any time before the weekend begins.

But what do you think, knowing that the peaches are closed in other parts of the state, what do you think that means for your area?

KRISEMAN: Well, certainly, I think the fact that it's happening around the state -- and, look, this should be a statewide policy, but we don't have the leadership right now from the administration and the governor's office. So you're seeing local governments that are doing it themselves and having to take on the leadership.

[11:20:01]

And certainly, it's something that we'll be considering in Pinellas County. Just like our masks, making masks mandatory. This should be a statewide policy. The fact that it's not makes no sense.

If we're going to get a handle on this, we need to be acting collectively, not just piece meal were individual local governments are putting policies in place.

BOLDUAN: As you've noted -- and I want to make sure that folks are reminded -- you have mandated that masks in your -- be worn in your city for employees and patrons in enclosed businesses, if you will.

Have you talked to the governor, Mayor, about making this a statewide order? Do you have any, I don't know, belief, gut instinct that that's anywhere close to something that he'd be inclined to do?

KRISEMAN: You know, I think, quite frankly, that's one of the frustrations that myself and other mayors around the state have had is that the governor has been very inaccessible to all of us. So we haven't had those conversations.

I've certainly been very vocal about the fact that I think it works best when it's statewide policy. And if we can't have that, then countywide policy. And if we can't have that, then individual cities.

I'm lucky in that I have a very good working relationship with our county administrator and the county commission. And we are pretty well working in lock step, which I think is good for our city and all the communities around us. But it really should come down from the state.

BOLDUAN: Well, look, Mayor, the numbers that we have seen, especially over the weekend, the trends we're seeing in Florida are really scary.

KRISEMAN: Yes, they are.

BOLDUAN: It's as if you're looking at April and March here in New York City and what the city is experiencing.

It's really no joke no matter no matter how beautiful it is to be out on the beach how nice it feels to be outside. This is a really scary trend that we're seeing.

The governor has said that the spike in cases is partially because of a backlog of tests. Do you think that's it?

KRISEMAN: No. I think that -- that explanation is really, quite frankly, silly.

Look, what we look at is the percentage of positive tests. So we've had days where maybe we'll have 1,500 tests that are done, other days where we'll have 3,500 tests that are done. But what really matters is what are those percentages of those tests that are being done are coming back positive. And for us here, just as an example, late April, early May, we were

seeing a two-week rolling period of about is .5 percent to 2 percent positive. Over the last two weeks, we've seen a rolling average of 10 percent. That is very disconcerting.

And the explanation isn't the number of tests. It's that more people are exposed right now.

BOLDUAN: Mayor, thank you. We'll check back in. Good luck.

KRISEMAN: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us. Texas also seeing a surge. We'll go inside one Houston hospital on the frontlines for a very revealing and very troubling look at the fight there against the coronavirus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:05]

BOLDUAN: Now to Texas where things are taking a very dangerous turn. The number of daily cases jumped from around 2,000 a day to 5,000 a day in coronavirus cases in just a matter of weeks. The state is also seeing a record high number of hospitalizations, topping more than 5,000.

CNN's Miguel Marquez went inside a hospital treating coronavirus patients. He's joining me now.

Miguel, I still remember in detail the heartbreaking reporting that you did when you went inside a New York City hospital back when the worst of it was happening here. What did you find in Houston?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sadly, the same thing. You know, those hospitals in New York let us in because they wanted the world to see what might be coming their way if people weren't coming home, stay socially distant, and wear a mask when out they're out in public and too close to people.

It's now here in Texas. And it's just as terrifying. We were at United Memorial Medical Center for much of the day yesterday.

I want to show you what's happening right now if I could, Kate. All of these cars -- maybe you can't see beyond the truck. But there are cars that are lined up for a mile or more right now trying to get into United Memorial Medical Center to get tested.

This place has not only let us in to do testing but they are doing testings. They've done about 85,000 tests in total, about 13 percent positivity rate. Health officials say that needs to be below 6 percent before they can really open up the state. So they are way above that.

The doctor we spoke to, Dr. Joseph Varon, who has now worked 100 days- plus, here's what he told us about where he thinks this is going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. JOSEPH VARON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER: You have two types of patients, those who have COVID and those who will get COVID.

My concern, as a health care provider, is when they get sick, they will all come to me at the same time, which is what's happening at the present time. And that's what's going to kill patients because we won't enough resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:30:01]

MARQUEZ: So yesterday, he said he was at 80 percent capacity. He thought he had another two weeks before he was at 100 percent. We spoke to him a little while ago. He's at 95 percent now. They had a bunch of patients come in last night and a few more than came in yesterday, and now they are at 95 percent capacity.