Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Zelenskyy Tells G-7 Leaders He Wants War Over By End Of Year; Ob-Gyns Fear Overturning Roe Could Impact Care For Miscarriage, Ectopic Pregnancy; Delayed & Cancelled Flights Threaten Holiday Travel Weekend; Supreme Court: School District Cannot Prohibit Coach From Praying On Field After Game. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired June 27, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That is going to be tough because, Alisyn, the Russians get a vote in this kind of a thing. As we say in the military, the enemy always gets a vote in what actually happens on the ground.
It is possible, if the Russians are stopped in several things -- so, for example, if they were going to be stopped in the east, in these areas right here, if they didn't extend their territory beyond this line, that could result in a stalemate.
That stalemate may result in the Russians basically saying, we'll stop here for now and then move forward in a different direction or using different goals a bit later on.
It's always key to remember, I think, Alisyn, that the Russians have a long-time horizon. We have a much shorter time horizon.
And the Russians are banking on the short-time horizon to force us into an agreement and force the Ukrainians, by extension, into an agreement that would allow them to keep territory or even extend territory, depending on how the fighting on the ground actually goes.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you for explaining all of that.
So the overturning of Roe v. Wade has millions of women worried about the future of their health. That's everything from birth control to recovering from a miscarriage. We talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:35:49]
CAMEROTA: The American College of Ob-Gyns is warning that the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade will also impact women who suffer from miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, particularly in states that will soon ban abortion without exception for the health of the mother.
They write, quote, "These oppressive laws will force many people to face the known risks associated with continuing a pregnancy, including potential pregnancy-related complications and worsening of existing health conditions, as well as the morbidity and mortality associated with childbirth."
Dr. Lisa Masterson is an Ob-Gyn based in Los Angeles and Jessica Grose is an opinion writer for "The New York Times." She wrote about the procedure she received after a miscarriage.
Thank you both for being here.
And, Jessica, I want to start with you because miscarriage is so common, and yet not many people talk about it publicly. It's something that women so often suffer from silently.
And so just tell us briefly about what happened in your experience and the procedure.
What, did we just lose her?
OK, hold on. We will get Jessica back.
Dr. Masterson, if I can switch over to you while we wait.
How will this effect women who have miscarriages?
DR. LISA MASTERSON, OBSTETRICIAN & GYNECOLOGIST: It's horrible. I mean, this is a health issue. And women already are devastated.
And for some woman to be criminalized at a time that's just one of the worst times in her life is just terrible. I just can't even fathom what's down the line for so many women, because it's a devastating time.
And then, again, it's also a health issue. In some places, they haven't really thought this out. Because if you have a missed miscarriage, where it doesn't completely go, and you need to evacuate that so a woman doesn't go into septic shock, have infection, all these types of problems.
And so, again, it's an issue of when you're trying to protect the mom, the health of the mother, keep the mother alive for these medical issues that aren't being addressed.
And then the doctors ourselves, we're trying to figure out this legal -- this new legal environment and figure out is it OK for this? Am I going to be taken to jail? Are vigilantes coming after me? It's awful. It's awful.
CAMEROTA: Jessica, sorry about the technical glitch.
Tell us about your experience when you had a miscarriage.
JESSICA GROSE, OPINION WRITER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Absolutely. When I had a miscarriage in 2014, I was offered three options, wait and see, which is allow the miscarriage to pass naturally. You can take medication to help hasten the miscarriage passing, or you can get a minor surgery called a D&C. At the time I chose a D&C because that seemed to end the process
quickly. I had already waited to make sure the pregnancy was not viable. And it was a really painful two weeks. I was incredibly grateful to have options.
And what may happen and what a lot of experts think will happen is that those options may not be available.
And every person in a state where abortion is no longer legal might just have to wait and see because medication may not be available and that surgery may not be available.
There are already reports in Texas of women having trouble accessing those drugs because pharmacists are concerned that they will be using those drugs for elective abortions rather than for miscarriage.
So we're already seeing the impact of these laws.
CAMEROTA: Jessica, you write about how, had you not been given those three options, it would have made your miscarriage worse. Obviously, miscarriage is so painful on every level for a woman who wants to have a child.
But if you hadn't been given those options, what would have happened?
GROSE: I would have had to wait indefinitely. It could have taken a couple more days after the two weeks I had already been waiting, or it could have taken as long as a month.
And I believe, as the doctor said, this can cause risks, not only mental health risks, but also physical risks. You can be at greater risk for a rare but serious blood clotting complication.
[14:40:08]
In very unfortunate circumstances, there are risks of sepsis. So this is no joke.
And it's not only allowing women the choice to end a very difficult period in a way that gives them some agency, but it also is protective of their health.
CAMEROTA: Doctor, the abortion pill, I think there's even confusion about this.
There's confusion, obviously, about miscarriages. People think that it sort of passes easily at home for women. That's not, certainly, always the case. We all know examples of how it has been much more complicated.
And similarly, with the abortion pills, you can only use them up to a certain point. And they're not foolproof either.
MASTERSON: Absolutely. They can fail.
And as far as abortion, you can only give them to a certain time period. After that, there are other instances where you can use them. But, yes, I think people have a huge misconception about these.
Again, it's a health issue. If you don't get proper treatment in the proper time, you're putting that woman's health at risk, besides her mental health, also her physical health.
And all of these things need to be acted upon very quickly sometimes. And so, you know, it's a danger. It's a threat.
And because of all of the influx, nobody knows what's going on exactly. If somebody comes to you, crossing lines, a doctor may hesitate trying to figure out is it OK for me to do this.
And it may put a woman's health in jeopardy, her life in jeopardy.
CAMEROTA: Jessica Grose, Dr. Lisa Masterson, thank you both.
Jessica, thank you so much for sharing your personal story. We really appreciate that.
GROSE: Absolutely. Thank you.
MASTERSON: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Now to this. Hundreds of flights canceled today. Thousands of others are delayed. How staffing shortages could affect your 4th of July travel. We have all the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:46:39]
CAMEROTA: Nasty weather, flight cancellations, long security lines, and airline staffing shortages. If you're getting on a plane this weekend, consider yourself warned.
CNN's Pete Muntean is at Reagan National Airport.
Pete, what do we all need to know?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the pressure is on airlines to perform, not only from the federal government -- remember, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told airlines they have to have their act together going into the July 4th holiday travel period.
But also from passengers after these two back-to-back weekends of major cancellations.
Look at the numbers from Flight Aware. More than 600 flights canceled on Saturday nationwide. More than 800 on Sunday. And the number for today keeps going up-and-up. We're at about 760 now so far today.
Because we know bad weather moved through the east coast. That, combined with airlines getting smaller over the pandemic, fewer pilots, fewer workers, fewer planes leads to more and more cancellations. In fact, Delta leads the pack in cancellations consistently and
accounted for about one-third of all cancellations nationwide yesterday.
Delta put out a statement accounting the blame on a few different things. Not only worker shortages. Remember the pandemic is not over. Sick calls are going up. Bad weather as well.
But also it's putting some of the blame on the federal government in terms of air traffic control.
Now, the FAA insists this is not an issue, it is staffed up on air traffic controllers. And it is moving some controllers around to those delay and cancellation hot spots.
No doubt, though, that this will be a big weekend for air travel any way you slice it. United Airlines says bookings are about 92 percent of the same holiday weekend back in 2019 before the pandemic.
In fact, just yesterday, we achieved a new pandemic-era air travel record, 2.46 million people screened at security at the airports nationwide. That is a new record. Numbers we have not seen since before the pandemic back in 2019.
It seems like this weekend will be really big, Alisyn, although the big question is whether or not it will be smooth.
CAMEROTA: Pete Muntean, thank you.
So the Supreme Court sided with a coach today who said his free speech rights were violated when a school district blocked him from praying on the field. How this court's conservative majority is quickly changing the landscape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:53:06]
CAMEROTA: Today, the Supreme Court ruled that a Washington State school district wrongly fired a football coach for praying on the field's 50-yard line.
The 6-3 opinion, divided along conservative ideological lines, stated that the district violated the coach's First Amendment right.
Justice Gorsuch wrote, quote, "The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.
Joan Biskupic is a CNN legal and Supreme Court analyst.
So, Joan, give us the significance of this decision.
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL & SUPREME COURT ANALYST: It's part of a pattern, Alisyn. This court has been ruling with religious conservatives in recent years, and even more so now that it has a conservative super majority.
It was just one week ago that the justices, by the same 6-3 vote, voted in a main case to say that if a state is going to subsidize private schools, it has to include religious education.
They have in recent years required more government funding for church schools, increased the religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate, allowed Christian prayers at public government meetings.
So this is part of a piece. And it's part of a piece by a court that I think has suggested in its rulings that it believes that religion is under siege.
And that it has to be on the watch for any kind of suppression of religious believers, any kind of censorship. Those are two words that Neil Gorsuch used in today's ruling.
And the other thing I would note, Alisyn, is that I have been making a lot of the fact that, in the major abortion rights case that rolled back a half century of reproductive rights, Chief Justice John Roberts was not with the five on the right-wing block.
[14:55:00]
But in this case, and in other religious liberty cases, Chief Justice John Roberts is with this conservative group driving the agenda. He wrote the decision last week in the main case. And here he signed on fully with Justice Neil Gorsuch.
In dissent were the three remaining liberals on this bench, Alisyn. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for those dissenters, joined by Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.
And what they point to was the fact that this Coach Kennedy was actually not praying privately on the 50-yard line after games. He was surrounded by other adults and students.
And that there was a great fear here that he was actually coercing students, even though he said he wasn't. But the dissenters said effectively pressuring students to join.
And also showing that the school appeared to be endorsing religion. And that was the school district's argument. That's why it suspended Coach Kennedy, saying he shouldn't have done that as an official of the school -- Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: Really interesting context.
Joan Biskupic, thank you.
BISKUPIC: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Well, a surprise announcement from the January 6th committee. They are adding a new hearing set for tomorrow. What that means, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
