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WTA's Bold Move; Most Important U.S. Abortion Case In A Generation; Growing Number Of Countries Confirm Omicron Cases. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 02, 2021 - 02:00:00   ET

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

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[02:00:24]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, as the Omicron variant spreads our vaccine mandates the way forward. European officials are beginning to ask that question.

In a bold move. The Women's Tennis Association suspends its tournament's in China because of ongoing concerns about the safety of tennis star Peng Shuai. And the U.S. Supreme Court considers its most important abortion case in a generation which could lead to cutting reproductive rights for millions of women.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, add the United States, Norway and South Korea to the growing list of countries reporting their first cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. At least 28 countries and territories have now confirmed cases. Even though the World Health Organization says the Delta variant remains dominant around the globe.

WHO leaders are stepping up their criticism of blanket travel bans to stop Omicron's spread. But they're also advising people in higher risk groups to postpone travel to areas with communities spread. Scientists in South Africa where Omicron was first identified say the cases they've seen are mild. And most of the people who end up in the hospital are unvaccinated. And WHO specialist says answers on the variant's severity and transmissibility could come soon.

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MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WHO EPIDEMIOLOGIST: We don't have all the information yet on transmission in terms of if there is a fitness advantage if it's more transmissible. There is some suggestion of that. But again, it's early days, we expect to have more information on transmission within days.

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CHURCH: The top infectious disease expert in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Fauci says people can protect themselves from Omicron by getting their vaccines and a booster shot.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: The level of antibodies that rise and go up following a boost is much, much higher than the peak level that you get after your second dose of a two-dose vaccine. That's what you really want to see. Because we know from our experience with Delta, that even though the vaccine is not directed specifically at Delta, it's directed against the ancestral strain, the Wuhan strain.

Yet when you get your levels of anybody high enough, you protect against Delta. That's where we're hoping we'll see with the Omicron variant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN is covering this developing story with our resources around the globe. We will hear this out from correspondents in Europe, Asia and Africa. Well, first to Europe, a fifth wave of the pandemic is hitting France, nearly 50,000 infections were reported in the past 24 hours. A new record since April. And we turn to Jim Bitterman, who joins us live from Paris with the latest.

Good to see you, Jim. So, how is France responding to this rise in Delta their own cases in terms of restrictions, vaccination efforts, and of course, the healthcare system there?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's kind of contradictory, Rosemary. Basically, those numbers are as high as you mentioned that we -- as we've seen here since last spring, just shy of 50,000 infections in the last 24 hours. An incident rate of over 300 per 100,000 population. So very high indeed. And yet, this morning, when you look to the morning newspapers through the leading morning newspapers here, you have to pay through to page 10 before you find an article about COVID.

And in fact, it seems that there's almost a kind of acceptance of the fact that it's going to be with us. Omicron is showing up all across the country. There are a number of things to indicate, though that, in fact, it may not be quite as serious as that South African soundbite that you played just a minute ago. The factors that may not be quite as serious in terms of symptoms. And one of the things that France is doing because of that is that they're imposing a mandatory PCR or antigen test for people coming into France from outside of the European Union.

The idea is that of course you can come up with the COVID but be asymptomatic if you've been vaccinated. So no matter what the vaccination status, you not to have a PCR or antigen test before you get here.

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BITTTERMANN: The fact is too, that just like you're finding in South Africa that your chances if you've been vaccinated, have ending up at an ICU are one in 10 compared to those people who are not vaccinated. So you're 10 times more likely to end up in an ICU. Elsewhere in Europe, U.K. is ordering more vaccines. Germany is considering the idea of going the way of their Austria neighbors and perhaps mandating vaccines.

France is talking about that too, but they're not at the point of taking any measures yet. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Jim Bittermann joining us live from Paris bringing us the latest from across Europe. Appreciate that. Well, not only is South Korea confirming its first cases of the Omicron variant, it's also setting new daily COVID records. Authorities report more than 5200 infections from Wedensday, the second day in a row to set a record. And CNN's Paula Hancocks is live this hour in Seoul, South Korea. She joins us now Good to see you, Paula.

So, what is the latest on these first Omicron cases and on the rise in Delta variant infections across South Korea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary at this point, South Korea has confirmed five positive cases of the new variant. But even before we start talking about Omicron, there was a particularly dire situation already in South Korea, not just new cases, records as you say the second day in a row, we've seen a record here, but also the critical cases.

Those hospitalizations, and the number of deaths have been hovering around record highs as well. And we are back talking about a lack of ICU beds here in the greater Seoul area, which is really the center of the -- this fourth wave at this point. According to officials, there's over 90 percent of ICU beds are full at this point. They have 345, 311 are taken. Now I've spoken to one doctor that we actually spoke to right at the beginning of the pandemic, almost two years ago now.

And he was saying how difficult it is becoming as they are having to make decisions based on the resources they have. And based on the patients that they can possibly save. He said that there's no ICU beds left in his hospital. And even if they were able to find new beds, they simply don't have enough qualified doctors and nurses in order to man them. So that is really starting to be a crunch here in South Korea.

The four-week old decision to live with COVID, that policy is being walked back. We've seen restrictions being -- that the easing of restrictions come to a halt. The president, Moon Jae-in called the situation severe. And they're now also introducing quarantine for everybody coming from overseas, Korean nationals included. So a 10-day quarantine whether you're vaccinated or not. So well, they do have five cases so far of the new variant that have been confirmed.

The situation and the level that they were at even before the new variant was discovered, was extremely worrying for officials here. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Paula, China's northern border city Manzhouli is reporting dozens more COVID-19 cases. What more are you learning about that? HANCOCKS: Yes. China's one of the only countries really or very few countries that still sticking with it zero COVID policy. So we know that this city of some 300,000 people is effectively on lockdown. People unable to leave their homes at this point. And there are rounds of mass testing that are undergoing be -- that are being carried out at this point. Now this is just on the border with with Russia.

And according to today's figures, there were 53 new cases that had been confirmed. And certainly from China's point of view, they still want this zero COVID policy. They're just a couple of months away from the Beijing Winter Olympics as well. They are really trying to stamp out any clusters that they find and what we have seen which is what we have seen consistently from China, that they have no qualms about locking down an entire city to try and make sure that there is no community spread outside of that location.

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul in South Korea. Many things. And in South Africa, health officials now say the Omicron variant is dominating in one key province. I want to go live now to Johannesburg with CNN's Eleni Giokos who's standing by. Good to see you, Eleni. So what do South African scientists saying about this dominance of the Omicron variant in one key province and what do they think this might signal and are they learning more about how severe symptoms with those who are infected?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's such a good question. And of course, this just gives us a little bit more information about how prevalent the Omicron variant is in South Africa. This probably ones that you speak of is Gauteng.

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GIOKOS: It's where I am right now. The Metropole of Johannesburg. This is one of the most densely populated cities on -- in the country. But let's take a look at the data because this is important to note. Genomic sequencing is occurring in almost every single province in South Africa right now. And it's a sample that is taken. And then of that sample is a percentage. Right now, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases is saying that 74 percent of the genomes that were tested of the sample that was taken shows that it's of the Omicron variant.

So again, a lot of genomic sequencing is occurring, where -- we're talking about a sample here, and that's really important to note. I was just listening to the other reporting of cases in the tens of thousands per day in parts of Europe. In South Africa right now, we are seeing a doubling of positive cases. But we're sitting at 8500 positive cases yesterday. In the last 24 hours, around 52,000 case -- tests were conducted in a population of over 50 million people.

So it's important to note these ratios and important to note the prevalence generally of COVID. But experts are saying that there is a surge, and it is concerning. However, what we're hearing anecdotally from a lot of hospitals is that the cases look mild, but don't look severe, specifically in the younger population. The question now is that in the older demographic, what would that mean. We still reiterating this. So we don't know very much in terms of vaccine efficacy..

But anecdotal evidence shows and in terms of hospitalization is still prevalent among the unvaccinated. So again, here, vaccination is absolutely key. And then taking it a step forward in terms of backdating Omicron variant in South Africa, the earliest case, in terms of genomic sequencing that was found comes through beginning of November, on the 8th of November. So, there's a lot of backdating that's occurring here, Rosemary, to understand where it was first detected, how it spread.

And it was first detected according to the latest data here in Gauteng. And as you're seeing so many more countries around the world are doing this backdating that we've had found a very early case in the likes of the Netherlands as well. So we starting to get a sense of our prevalent Omicron is in South Africa. Delta was the dominant variant until the end of October. So something fundamentally changed in early November.

And that's what scientists are trying to ascertain through this genomic sequencing that is happening at a rapid rate.

CHURCH: Yes. And each day, we learned just a little bit more information. Eleni Giokos joining us live from Johannesburg. Many thanks.

Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips is the Chief Clinical Officer at Providence Health System. She joins me now from New York. Thank you, Doctor, for all that you do.

DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM: Thank you for having me here tonight, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Absolutely. So we don't yet have enough scientific evidence to answer the three critical questions of how contagious Omicron is, how severe it may be and whether COVID vaccines are effective against it. But what do you make of the anecdotal evidence from the case just confirmed here in the U.S. and what we've learned from cases in South Africa and Israel?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Well, I think that the good news is if signs are looking positive, that it's at least no worse than any of the other variants. When people do get infected with COVID. And particularly from the case here in the U.S., the person who came back from South Africa and have the germ with them had been vaccinated and had a mild course the disease and got better without infecting anybody else.

And so, it is hopeful that the vaccines that we have today work against this variant, even though that's the big concern for everyone.

CHURCH: Right. And that certainly seems to be the anecdotal evidence so far. Of course, we need to find out in the next few weeks. A whole lot more, but President Biden will deliver a major speech in just a few hours from now on his strategy to defeat the Omicron variant. What are you hoping to hear him say given his emphasizing they will fight this variant with science and speed and not chaos and confusion? COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I really hope that he doubles down on the things that we know absolutely work. And that's wearing particularly medical grade masks when you're in a crowd or you're somewhere that you can't be socially distance from other people. It's investing in ventilation and filters that make sure that we have enough air exchange. It's making sure that if you are somewhere in public, that you have an option to go to or not that you show your vaccination card and get in.

And that we make testing very widely available, particularly that antigen testing that's cheap and inexpensive and people can do on a regular basis, and then have contact tracing for people who do get infected so that we can nip the spread of this particular variant in the bud.

CHURCH: And Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging that everyone get their two shots and their booster if they're at that stage.

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CHURCH: Do you agree with that advice to protect against Omicron and even though we do know, whether these vaccines fully protect? And what other advice would you give everyone to better protect themselves?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I completely agree with Dr. Fauci. I think that everybody, you know, over the age of five should be vaccinated. And if it's been more than six months, since your last vaccine, get your booster. If you had the Johnson and Johnson thinking you were one and done, you need an mRNA booster to really make sure that you up your antibody levels for that. Because the more people we have with high levels of antibodies floating around in their bloodstream, the less likely Omicron or by the way, Delta, delta is still around.

And it's really contagious and it's surging in multiple parts of the country. The more people we have vaccinated with the appropriate antibody levels, the less likely we'll have people dying of yet another fourth wave this winter from this entirely preventable virus.

CHURCH: Yes, it is so important to emphasize that we have the tools available to us. All of us right now. We need to use them. So, how much confidence do you have in the Merck COVID pills that could be authorized here in the U.S. within a matter of days? Do you think this could be a turning point, particularly with this new variant?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I think that the Merck pills are definitely a good add into the treatment armamentarium. Now between things like Dexamethasone and Remdesivir, and the Regeneron antibody cocktails, and now the Merck pill, we have several tools that we can use to fight COVID when people get it. By the way, there's another antiviral pill that is hopefully will be approved in the not too distant future from Pfizer.

That looks like it has even better efficacy than the Merck one. But all that said, still the best prevention is the vaccine. We have tools to treat you if you get the infected with the germ these days, but it's so much better not to get it in the first place. CHURCH: Yes. It's so much easier. Just get the vaccine, right? That's the big message here. Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, always a pleasure to have you with us. Many things.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: Great advice there. And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a stark warning from America's top diplomat on Russia's intensifying aggression towards Ukraine. We'll have meeting between Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart ease tensions. Plus, Facebook says Belarus created fake profiles to stoke the crisis at the Poland-Belarus border. Details on that after the short break. D you stay with us.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Russia is showing no signs of backing down from its aggressive stance towards Ukraine.

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CHURCH: Moscow announced Wednesday the 10,000 of its troops have begun winter military drills in its southern region, paths of which border Ukraine. It comes on the same day U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of severe consequences for any Russian military action against its western neighbor.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Should Russia follow the path of confrontation, when it comes to Ukraine? We've made clear that we will respond resolutely, including with a range of high impact economic measures that we have refrained from pursuing in the past. We will, at the appropriate time, share that with my scouts so that they again understand fully what's at risk, what the consequences would be if they commit further aggression against Ukraine.

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WALLACE: Blinken is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm in the coming hours. CNN's Matthew Chance has our report.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the United States is again warning about Russian aggression towards Ukraine, the Secretary of State's Anthony Blinken expressing deep concern but what he says are plans that include efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within as well as large scale military operations. For weeks now, the U.S. has been warning of a dangerous filled up Russian forces near the borders of Ukraine threatening another invasion of the country, something Moscow denies.

And last week, the Ukrainian president said that a coup plot involving Russians and Ukrainians had been uncovered in the country, although no intelligence proving that has yet been made public. Ukraine has also been pushing back on Russian allegations that it is itself intending to stage a major military operation to retake control territory in the country (INAUDIBLE) Moscow says it's got reports that 125,000 Ukrainian troops.

That's half of the Ukrainian army which is already been deployed to the complex. Ukraine's Foreign Minister rejecting that saying the country is committed to a diplomatic settlement of the (INAUDIBLE) U.S. Secretary of State is now due to meet Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers in the Swedish capital, Stockholm on Thursday. Meanwhile, Moscow, which says it wants agreements of the U.S. and its allies to end NATO expansion.

It says it has started what it calls a regular winter military drills involving more than 10,000 troops in areas. Some of which are close to the Ukrainian border. Matthew Chance, CNN, Kiev.

CHURCH: William Taylor is a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. He joins me now from Arlington, Virginia. Thank you so much, sir, for talking with us.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Thank you, Rosemary. Good to be here.

CHURCH: So the U.S. is telling Russia to pull back its troops from the Ukrainian border or face sanctions. What's Russia's intent here do you think?

TAYLOR: Rosemary, that's a great question. It's hard to get into President Putin's mind. He's done some unusual, unexpected, dramatic things in the past, as we know. He invaded Ukraine in 2014. So it's difficult to say there are -- there are two possibilities in my view. One is, he is masking these forces on the borders -- on several borders of Ukraine, in order to put pressure on President Zelensky of Ukraine or to put pressure on NATO or to put pressure on President Biden.

To put pressure on his opponents to give him what he wants. Or he may actually want to invade Ukraine. He may actually want to control, occupy Ukraine more than he does now. Of course, he's occupying illegally part of Ukraine already in Crimea, as troops in another part of Ukraine, Donbas. So it couldn't be that he wants to be a great Russian leader gather of lands and pull Ukraine back into the Russian control.

So, hard to tell in either case. What we need to do is what you said, that is trying to deter him from that invasion. And make it clear to him that Ukraine is a sovereign country that we support.

CHURCH: And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is threatening Russia with these sanctions and says that they would hit Moscow harder than any imposed in the past. If Russia doesn't agree to pull back its massing troops. But is that enough of a threat to persuade Russia do you think?

TAYLOR: I think the combination of things that -- actions that Secretary Blinken is talking about that is very tough sanctions.

[02:25:05] TAYLOR: And Rosemary, there are some very tough sanctions that have not been imposed on on Russia to date. That could be, and that would be very painful for the Russian economy. President Putin undoubtedly knows this, indeed, he's made some statements that indicate that they're trying to make themselves less vulnerable to these -- to these sanctions. So that it would clearly have an effect.

But it's not the only thing they talk about, as you know, Secretary Blinken has just been consulting with his NATO allies at the NATO foreign ministers meeting. And they have strong support from not just the United States, but also from the rest of NATO allies for not only sanctions, but also increased military assistance to Ukraine to help them defend, again with the idea of deterring a Russian invasion.

So military support, economic sanctions, diplomatic support, the -- all of these things, again, in combination with Europeans, is -- they're all designed to influence President Putin's thinking so that he doesn't (INAUDIBLE)

CHURCH: And of course, we don't know what Russia's President Putin is planning to do here. But what do you think his end game might be? And what needs to happen if this ends in conflict with Ukraine?

TAYLOR: This ends in conflict on your last question. It will be sadly, very bloody. Ukrainian military is much stronger today than it was in 2014 when the Russians last invaded. The Russian military has been fighting for more than seven years coming on eight years. They are battle hardened, Rosemary. They know how to fight this opponent. They have better equipment now. They have better training now, they have better leadership.

The Society -- the Ukrainian society is more unified now against the Russians because the Russians have invaded them 7-1/2 years ago. The Ukrainian society is now united against them, and it will be a very difficult fight. So this is -- this will be hard for the Russian people to see their brothers and fathers and sons come back. Children wounded from conflict that they don't support. So this is -- this is a problem for President Putin.

CHURCH: Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Good to be here.

CHURCH: Blinken also announced that the US. is preparing new sanctions against Belarus for "using migrants as political weapons." It comes as matter formally known as Facebook says it has evidence that the Belarusian KGB used fake accounts to fuel tensions over the crisis at the Poland-Belarus border. The company says these fake personas claimed to be sharing their own negative experiences of trying to get from Belarus to Poland and posted about migrants' difficult lives in Europe.

They also posted about Poland's strict anti migrant policies and anti- migrant neo-Nazi activity in Poland (INAUDIBLE) is the network behind the fake accounts originated in Poland and included pictures and videos about Polish border guards allegedly violating migrants rights.

Well, the Women's Tennis Association takes a stand against China over tennis star Peng Shuai. Why the organization says it's suspending all tournaments in the country. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. So, let's get you up to speed now on our top story this hour.

The president of the European Commission says it is time to start thinking about mandatory COVID vaccinations. Ursula von Der Leyen's comments come as at least 28 countries and territories have now confirmed cases of the Omicron variant. The U.S., South Korea, Ireland, Ghana and Norway are among the latest. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is criticizing blanket travel bans, but says people in high-risk groups should postpone travel to areas with community spread.

In an unprecedented move, the Women's Tennis Association is suspending all tournaments in China and Hong Kong. The WTA chairman says Chinese officials have failed to address sexual assault allegations made by Peng Shuai last month against a retired senior communist party leader. Chinese state media posted several videos of the tennis star, but the WTA says they have serious doubts Peng is free, safe and not subject to censorship. Its CEO says they are willing to take a significant financial loss in order to uphold their principles.

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STEVE SIMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION: I can only imagine the range of emotions and feelings that are likely going through Peng right now. We hope that she feels that none of this is her fault and we are very proud of her. But this is something we can't walk away from. If we walk away from this, we are basically telling the world that not addressing sexual assault with the respect and seriousness it requires is OK because it is difficult to do. That is something that we simply cannot happen and it's not what we stand for as an organization.

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CHURCH: And CNN's Will Ripley joins me now live from Hong Kong.

Good to see you, Will.

So, what is being said from the Women's Tennis Association suspending its tournaments in China in protest essentially?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is a bold move. You mentioned unprecedented because very few sporting organizations, including the all-powerful international Olympic Committee have actually stood up to China on the issue of Peng Shuai. But the Women's Tennis Association taking a very different stance. Saying from the beginning of this, that if they don't get that investigation, if they don't have a direct line of communication with Peng and proof that she's not being held under duress, that she's not being concord and silence, they will walk away from a lucrative 10-year deal worth of reported $1 billion.

So, they are getting praise and they are also getting criticism. We'll start the criticism, predictively coming from members of Chinese State Media. One of their high-profile propagandist, Hu Xijin, said in his tweet, the WTA is coercing Peng Shuai to support the West's attack on the Chinese system. They are depriving Peng Shuai's freedom of expression, demanding that her description of her current situation must meet their expectation.

It's widely believed by human rights activists and those who have been detained in China that these videos that we have seen of Peng Shuai, that the e-mails purportedly from her walking back her allegations are all being done under the carefully scripted guidance of government officials along with probably coaches and friends and family who have all been told to tell her that what she did by posting very emotionally and very detailed description of alleged sexual assault at the hands of Zhang Gaoli, China's retired vice premier. A very powerful member in the ruling party elite of China.

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Perhaps she has been convinced that what she did was wrong. And they don't want her to think that what she did was wrong. They don't want her to think that this is her fault. And the support for the WTA putting player well-being before profits is widespread. Certainly, in the sporting community. Billie Jean King, one of the higher profile famous athletes tweeting about this, saying that, I applaud Steve Simon and the WTA leadership for taking a strong stand on defending human rights in China and around the world. The WTA as on the right side of history in supporting our players.

But the right side of history doesn't necessarily mean access to the multibillion-dollar Chinese market. And the IOC's longest serving member, Dick Pound, when he was speaking with Erin Burnett on her program last night, he said that, look, from the IOC's perspective, there are video call that provided proof of life was good enough proof for them. That Peng Shuai is relaxed. That this is in fact what she wants. That she is just resting with her family. That she was happily appearing in those propaganda, some are saying propaganda videos where she is smiling but not talking and they just happen to mention the exact date when they're sitting at a dinner in a Beijing restaurant.

For the IOC, that's good enough for them to considering this case closed and move forward in the Beijing Olympics that are less than two months away. Of course, not to mention, there are, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars of ad revenue on the line with those Olympics as well. And certainly, Beijing doesn't want to have any side of scandal overshadowing their games, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. Very important point there. Will Ripley joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

And much more on the WTA decision coming up on World Sport.

Well, the stakes are high as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a landmark abortion case. Still to come, protesters hold competing rallies while the justices debate the future of abortion rights in America.

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CHURCH: A Michigan teenager is being held without bond in the deadliest U.S. school shooting this year. 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley is charged with first degree murder, terrorism and a number of other charges. He made his first court appearance Wednesday. Authorities say he opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun his father bought four days earlier. Four students were killed, six others and a teacher were wounded. School officials met with crumbly and his parents the day before and the morning of the shootings to address concerns about his behavior in the classroom.

Abortion rights in the United States could be on the line as the U.S. Supreme Court starts looking into one of its most important cases in decades. It involves a Mississippi state law that would ban most abortions after to 15 weeks of pregnancy. But the end result could be overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion for all women in America. As Paula Reid reports, protesters made their voices heard outside as court arguments got underway.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Supreme Court took up its biggest abortion case in a generation. Hundreds on both sides of the emotional debate gathered outside the high court as the justices inside heard two hours of dramatic arguments considering a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. The law is a direct challenge to abortion rights established by the landmark Roe v. Wade in 1973 and reaffirmed by Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992.

Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart took aim at those precedents in his opening.

SCOTT STEWART, MISSISSIPPI SOLICITOR GENERAL: Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey onto our country. They have no basis in the constitution. They have no home in our history or traditions. They've damaged the democratic process. They have poisoned the law.

REID (voiceover): Justice Sotomayor a consistent supporter of abortion rights grilled Stewart.

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: Will this institution survived the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don't see how it is possible.

REID (voiceover): While Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to be looking for a middle ground to allow states to ban abortion earlier than 23 to 24 weeks when a fetus is considered viable.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS: Why would 15 weeks be and inappropriate line? For viability it doesn't really seem to me has anything to do the choice, but if it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time?

REID (voiceover): Justice Alito seem to want to go further.

JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO: A fetus has an interest in having a life. And that doesn't change, does it, from the point before viability, to the point after viability?

REID (voiceover): U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar who argued the case on behalf of the federal government warned about the dire consequences of overturning Roe.

U.S. SOLICITOR GENERAL ELIZABETH PRELOGAR: Nearly half of the states already have or expected to enact bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Many without exceptions for rape or incest. Women who are unable to travel hundreds of miles to gain access to legal abortion will be required to continue with their pregnancies and give birth with profound effects on their bodies, their health and the course of their lives.

REID (voiceover): The courts six to three conservative majority appeared poised to uphold the Mississippi law, but it was less clear if there was a majority to end the federal right to abortion. A key vote, Justice Kavanaugh appeared skeptical that the interests of pregnant women and fetuses can both be accommodated.

JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH: The reason this issue is hard is that you can't accommodate both interests. You have to pick. That is the fundamental problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID (on camera): We don't expect an opinion in this case until June or even early July when major rulings are released. The justices also recently heard arguments on a Texas abortion law that prohibits most abortions in that state. They haven't issued an opinion on that case either. So, we may have to wait until early summer for any answers on this critical issue.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back in 15 minutes with more CNN Newsroom. World Sport is coming up next.

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