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Middle East Tensions Intensifying as Prime Minister Netanyahu Vows to Continue Fighting; Israelis Remember Loved Ones Killed in October 7th Hamas Attacks; Powerful Cat 5 Storm Milton Barreling Towards Florida's Gulf Coast; Harris Does "60 Minutes" Interview, Trump Declined. Israel Marks Anniversary of October 7 Attacks; Supreme Court Returns to Bench after Contentious Term. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 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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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and a very warm welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

Ahead this hour, a day of mourning and intense fighting in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire. Hurricane Milton strengthens to a category five storm at a dizzying pace, becoming the strongest storm in the world this year. And Vice President Kamala Harris sits down for an interview with "60 Minutes." How she plans to pay for her economic plan. That's ahead.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Paula Newton.

NEWTON: And we do begin with an especially active day of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and more deadly attacks in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces says Hezbollah fired approximately 190 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel.

Video from Tel Aviv shows Israeli interceptors taking out some of those rockets. The IDF says others fell into open areas. Now the Israeli Air Force reports it struck more than 120 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon within an hour on Monday. The IDF says the extensive strikes were aimed at degrading the Iran-backed militant group's capabilities.

Now one explosion lit up the Beirut night sky late Monday. You can see it there. The IDF warned residents it was planning to target two suburbs about 30 minutes earlier.

And video from Israeli strikes on Gaza is especially disturbing. Palestinian officials report at least 10 people were killed in the Jabalya Refugee Camp. At least 11 more were killed in strikes elsewhere in northern and central Gaza.

The fighting came on the one-year anniversary the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked the occasion with this stark warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In every meeting between me and my wife, with our fighters, with our wounded, with the bereaved families, we hear the same message again and again. The campaign must not be stopped prematurely. As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now from Washington is retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst, Cedric Leighton.

And really it is unspeakable the kinds of things that so many people in the Middle East have had to go through in the last year. The obvious question after such a torturous day of grief for people in Israel, its citizens took incoming from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Does that single fact to you tell you that we're looking at a much wider and longer war, without a doubt in the year to come?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think so, Paula. I think what you're looking at is a lot of conflict coming up in the next few months and possibly extending into the entire year. And that's, you know, really sad. The reality for the Middle East, too. But the Israelis of course are bent on trying to break out of basically what amounts to a containment operation that Iran and its proxies have mounted against it.

And by the same token, the proxies as well as Iran are trying to keep that containment ring focused on Israel and allow it to reestablish itself. That's really part of the problem. Both sides are very intransigent at this particular point in time. They are set in their particular polls and for each side it's an existential issue.

NEWTON: And that's the key what you said there, it's an existential fight as far as they're concerned. I am wondering, though, what do you make of Hamas' residual strength in particular, given an entire year of battle in Gaza?

LEIGHTON: Well, in many ways, it's remarkable. On the one hand, when you look at, say, what the Israelis have been able to do, Paula, it's pretty clear that they've decimated the standard military structure that Hamas has, they've killed off many of Hamas' leaders. They have gone through the tunnel systems within Gaza. They have destroyed many of those.

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But what you're seeing with Hamas is a remarkable resiliency, but it's not a surprising resiliency. These fighters have been training for this kind of war really for a very long time and what they're doing is basically moving into the shadows and then from those shadows they'll move back out to go attack IDF forces again. And this is something where the conflict is basically perpetuating itself and we see that every day.

NEWTON: We certainly see the toll on the civilian population as that goes on. You know, much of what happens going forward in the region will depend on how Israel decides to strike back at Iran in the coming days or weeks. I mean, what do you think they're contemplating and do you think they are listening to U.S. advisers to perhaps tread carefully and with restraint?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think they're listening to them. Whether or not they'll follow their directions or their advice is a very (INAUDIBLE). General Kurilla, the commander of CENTCOM, was just in Israel and of course there have been conversations between Mr. Netanyahu and President Biden. And the Israelis of course have a vested interest in maintaining not only their momentum operationally, but also in securing their borders as well as the longevity of the Israeli state.

And so they have that perspective, whereas from the U.S. perspective, they are trying to contain the possibility of a wider Middle East conflict. And they want to make sure that something like that does not happen, or if it does happen that it is somehow really contained within the borders of the Middle East. And that's really the issue. Both sides, both the U.S. and Israel have not necessarily opposing objectives, but different objectives in this particular case.

NEWTON: You know, you have argued that what Israel is facing now is obviously historic in the sense that it is a multi-front war that perhaps could go on for years. Do you think Israel is up to that at this point in time, meaning it is actually preparing for that kind of a conflict?

LEIGHTON: Well, when you listen to Israeli rhetoric, Paula, you know, you definitely get the sense that they are psychologically preparing their population for something like this, a multi-front war. They're talking about seven, in some cases even an eight-front war, depending on who you talk to. But the key problem is this. That's well and good from a rhetorical standpoint. But it's very hard for a nation to continually be fighting a war on multiple fronts.

The Israelis have done it in the past all the way back to 1948 when Israel gained its independence. But the problem that they have now is those particular wars, we're talking 1948 or 1967 or 1973, those are fairly short duration and they were against comparable state actors. In this particular case, you're dealing with one-state actor, Iran, but you're also dealing with non-state actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah that have a para-state type apparatus associated with them and a paramilitary associated with them, but it's a very different entity and it's an entity that's very hard to fight because it's really ideologically based more than anything else.

And it's really hard to stamp out an ideology and that could very well tax the Israeli state and the Israeli military in the months and years to come.

NEWTON: Yes, and that is certainly what makes for what they call, what they coined the forever wars. Certainly something that Israel may be up against right now.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, for us, really appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, Monday marked an emotional day, as we're saying in Israel, as thousands attended vigils, memorials, and ceremonies right across the country to honor the 1200 people killed in the Hamas attacks one year ago.

Now among those killed, a group of female soldiers who had observed worrying signs ahead of October 7th.

CNN's Jim Sciutto has more now from southern Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): One year after October 7th, visiting the Nahal Oz Base in Southern Israel, brings Eyal Eshel both a chance to honor his daughter Roni and the most painful memories.

EYAL ESHEL, FATHER OF OCTOBER 7 ATTACK VICTIM: From here they came in the October 7th.

SCIUTTO: This is where they entered the base here?

ESHEL: Yes, this is the way they came from Gaza.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Roni was one of more than a dozen IDF soldiers in an all-female observer unit who raised the alarm as Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel that morning after warning for months of an impending attack.

RONI ESHEL, IDF OBSERVATION SOLDIER, NAHAL OZ BASE (through text translation): Four people are running towards the fence, confirm received. I see two armed people running towards the fence, confirm received.

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SCIUTTO: As Hamas fighters overran the base, even filming themselves as they did it, Roni and her fellow observers waited six hours for a rescue that never came. They were killed along with more than 30 other Israeli soldiers at the base while several others were taken hostage.

For Eyal today each location inside the base brings pain.

ESHEL: Here is the table that the girls was sitting and eating and smiling and laughing.

SCIUTTO: Just what they were doing the very night before the October 7th attack in this video recorded by Roni's fellow soldier.

This week in the destroyed operations room, Eyal lit a candle to mark the Jewish New Year at the very same spot where Roni issued those ominous warnings, and close to where she died.

ESHEL: We don't have any holidays. We hate holidays. She's not here. She's not with us. SCIUTTO: This is where the observer unit was based. This is where they

were issuing those warnings prior to the attack that something was coming, and sadly, on the morning of October 7th, this is where many of them were killed.

(Voice-over): The IDF's failure, not just to heed the observers' warning, but also to come to their rescue remained crucial questions a full year since October 7th, part of a much broader security failure that day. It was on these now burned up computer screens that Roni and her colleagues told their parents they had seen worrying signs from Hamas, including accounts of fighters testing the fence line.

The Israeli military ignored other warning signs as well, including these training videos Hamas posted openly online in the months before and earlier intelligence since uncovered by Israeli media about Hamas' intent to attack Israeli communities and even take multiple hostages.

Retired Brigadier General Amir Avivi is former deputy commander of the IDF's Gaza division.

AMIR AVIVI, FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF IDF GAZA DIVISION: They thought that Hamas is mostly worried about the stability inside Gaza and the economy.

SCIUTTO: So you're saying it was a misreading of Hamas rather than not listening to internal warnings.

AVIVI: Generally speaking, yes, but I think that also, at a certain point, what the observers said again and again and again, that I think things that are out of usual. At a certain point, there were commanders who said, OK, that's it. We don't want to hear about this anymore.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The IDF and Israeli government have insisted a full investigation into what went wrong that day cannot take place while the country is fighting a war on multiple fronts now.

ESHEL: We put the picture of the whole girls.

SCIUTTO: Today Eyal and the other families have built a memorial for their lost daughters overlooking Nahal Oz Base.

ESHEL: Here is Roni.

SCIUTTO: But they're still waiting for what he wants most now -- accountability.

Has anyone from the army or the government ever said to you, I take responsibility?

ESHEL: No one. No one.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone ever said, I'm sorry?

ESHEL: No one. I need answers, and I need the responsibility, and I need the truth. SCIUTTO (voice-over): A father's simple demand after the worst loss

imaginable.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Nahal Oz, Southern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: The strongest storm the world has seen this year is headed right for Florida's Gulf Coast. Now Hurricane Milton has exploded in both size and strengths on Sunday, growing from a category one to a category five storm in near-record time. Its top sustained winds right now about 270 kilometers per hour.

Now those wind speeds should weaken some thankfully with Milton forecast to make landfall in Florida late Wednesday as a category three. But for a state already crippled by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago now officials are warning Milton's impact will be catastrophic.

Here's a look at the storm from space. I mean, it's just incredible. Milton's unpredictability comes from its small pinhole eye, hallmark sign that the storm can fluctuate in its intensity.

Florida's highways, meantime, you see them there, they're jammed. They were jammed today. They continue to be jammed at this hour. So many people trying to head north or east all at once to get out of harm's way. Officials are urging everyone in the storm's path to leave as soon as they can. The mayor of Tampa did not mince words, ominously warning, quote, "If you choose to stay, you're going to die.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA MAYOR: This is a storm of the century. Everybody in Tampa Bay has been warned over and over again. You need to evacuated. This is a life and death situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN meteorologist Chad Myers tells us what to expect as Hurricane Milton draws closer to the United States.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the latest from the 11:00 advisory, 165 miles per hour. Earlier today, it was 180 so it's come down just a little bit, but still a very dangerous storm. This has everything to do with the evolution of a major hurricane. It will fluctuate up and down. Even throughout the night it may go up and may go down. What won't change is the track, still getting right into the western parts of Florida.

Hurricane center says this may be the most catastrophic storm that the west coast of Florida has ever seen. So it's there, it's still coming. The surge will be coming. The wind will be coming. Notice this large area here of major hurricane winds. This is 110 or greater and then hurricane winds all the way off the coast of Florida. So all the way through the most populated areas of Florida there will be so many power outages for so very long.

The other big problem is going to be storm surge. So 10 to 15 feet. And this number could actually still rise depending on where you are. There could be places that could pick up 18 feet of surge. With a storm Katrina, that was a cat five and it went down to a cat three, still had 26 feet of surge in Bay St. Louis. It really is going to depend on where you are in landfall. And we still don't know where landfall is exactly going to be.

But this was Helene. Helene did devastation to parts of Tampa Bay area, and that was only a six-foot surge, a seven-foot surge. On up here into Cedar Key, a nine-foot surge. We're talking 10 to 15. Now for the first time in 103 years, another major landfall will happen around Tampa Bay. But think about what Tampa looked like 103 years ago. How many millions less people were involved? Probably 95 percent less population at that point in time.

So we have a lot of people in the way. The track is still getting I guess focused here over that area. Nothing related to the south, nothing turning to the left right now, and it's still about 36 to 48 hours away from what we would call considerable landfall when it would actually make landfall over the Florida peninsula. If it makes it farther to the south, it'll be quicker, farther to the north and has farther to go. So that landfall could change plus or minus a couple of hours.

But we could see some spots with 10 inches of rainfall, flooding rainfall from this, its freshwater flooding. Not even with the saltwater flooding that will be pushed in from all of that win.

We started off with Alberto and now were at Milton, another category five in the books, we hope that it does taper off to be that category three. That's always a question. We still don't know whether that's going to happen or not.

That's the forecast. Forecasts can change.

NEWTON: Joining me now is Maltane Olabarrieta, a physical oceanographer and professor of coastal engineering at the University of Florida.

And I thank you for joining us on what are obviously tense days ahead in Florida. We want to get to the science of all of this. But first to the situation on the ground this hour. You know, as someone who studies these kinds of storms, what is your advice to people in its path right now?

MALTANE OLABARRIETA, PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHER: Well, first of all, thank you for inviting me over for this interview. My advice to everybody is to take very seriously this storm. It's a very biggest storm and very intense storm. You need to basically like take into account that the evacuation orders evacuate as soon as possible because it's a life threatening storm.

NEWTON: In fact --

OLABARRIETA: That's my first comment.

NEWTON: In fact, you say that the storm surge could be unsurvivable? It could be that extreme?

OLABARRIETA: It can be. It can be. We are still have uncertainty both in the truck and in the intensity of the storm. But we are looking predictions, predicting storm surges of three to five to 4.5 meters. And that's storm surge might not be survivable.

NEWTON: Now, what is it about this storm that makes it so historic? We see it intensifying so rapidly. Is there any doubt that the climate change contributes to its strength and its potential for destruction here?

OLABARRIETA: There are many factors affecting the intensity and the path of these storms. But one of the main factors affecting the rapid intensification is the sea surface. The sea surface temperature. If the ocean is very warm the probability of having rapid intensification becomes higher.

[00:20:07]

And what contributes to warming the oceans, that's the global warming. So the climate change, it's actually affecting this probabilities and making these probabilities this higher.

NEWTON: Yes, it is an incredible monster of a storm. The amount of rainfall, the sheer amount of water that we even just saw from Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago was extraordinary. And yet Milton could be just as dangerous.

Is the ocean temperature, what you just explain to us, also affecting the amount of water associated with these storms?

OLABARRIETA: That's exactly -- that's correct. As the water temperature increases, the capacity of water to evaporate increases as well. And these tropical cyclones are able to capture more water and to carry more water with them. When they make landfall, what happens is that all these water basically becomes rainfall, and with that increases the probability of flash flooding, compound floods and inland flooding.

NEWTON: Does this storm scare you when you've seen the forecast in the last day or so, just how rapidly it's intensified?

OLABARRIETA: Yes. Yes. I was scared and I was trying to advise all my friends about the potential danger -- the danger of this storm.

NEWTON: Now, we don't have a lot of time left, but I want to ask you, you're a Florida resident and I know you're not in the eye of the storm or anything, but you're used to going through this. Given what you've seen in the season, do you believe Floridians need to change kind of the way they live, the way they rebuild, given what we're seeing from these storms?

OLABARRIETA: Well, we expect this type of storm to become more frequent so something has to change. We have to adapt and also I think we need to fight against climate change, at least tried to make the rate of change a little bit slower somehow, but the adaptation part of it is very important because it's already happening and it's already affecting us.

NEWTON: And I'm sure many people are wondering today how to get through that adaptation. But right now, as you've said, just get out of the way of this storm.

Professor Olabarrieta, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

OLABARRIETA: Thank you very much

NEWTON: Now, an alarming new report from the U.N.'s weather agency finds the global river flows fell to new lows last year amid record- breaking heat. They're referring to this "State of Global Water Resources" report, now that was released Monday. The head of the World Meteorological Organization warns water is the canary in the coal mine of climate change and that water insecurity will only get worse unless immediate action is taken. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELESTE SAUB, SECRETARY-GENERAL, WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION: 2023 was the driest year for global rivers in 33 years. Second, glaciers around the world lost most water in 50 years -- in the last 50 years.

The water cycle is becoming more erratic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: It's so crazy. We were just discussing all of this water and all this flooding. And then we have this report. The agency's director of hydrology expects more water scarcity this year in parts of the world which have seen new heat records.

OK, from border security to how she'll pay for her economic plans. Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris fields tough questions from "60 Minutes." We will hear some of her answers.

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NEWTON: On the anniversary of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks, Donald Trump repeated his claim that the massacre in Israel would have never happened if he were president. In a radio interview on Monday, the Republican can presidential nominee called Joe Biden the worst foreign policy president in history, saying the Israeli prime minister is not listening to him at all.

Trump also claimed, quote, "Nobody has done more for the Jewish people than I have," and that it would be amazing if he doesn't get 100 percent of the Jewish vote in the November election. Now Trump has accused rival Kamala Harris of avoiding interviews

because, in his words, she's not good at them but the Democratic nominee appeared Monday on the in-depth news program, "60 Minutes," and Trump did not. She answered about -- she answered a few of contentious topics and that included immigration. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a longstanding problem, and solutions are at hand. And from day one literally we have been offering solutions.

BILL WHITAKER, CBS "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: What I was asking was, was it a mistake to kind of allow that flood to happen in the first place?

HARRIS: I think the policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem. OK. But --

WHITAKER: But the numbers did quadruple under your watch.

HARRIS: And the numbers today, because of what we have done, we have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half. We have cut --

WHITAKER: But should you have done that --

HARRIS: -- the flow of fentanyl by half, but we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now the vice president was also pressed about how she would get the funding for her economic plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So the other economists that have reviewed my plan versus my opponent and determined that my economic plan would strengthen America's economy, his would weaken it.

WHITAKER: But --

HARRIS: My plan -- Bill, if you don't mind, my plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America's economy. Small businesses are part of the backbone of America's economy.

WHITAKER: But pardon me, Madam Vice President, the question was, how are you going to pay for it?

HARRIS: Well, one of the things I'm going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it pay their fair share in taxes.

NEWTON: Now, before the interview, CBS News reminded viewers that it's been a decades-long tradition for major party nominees to sit down with "60 Minutes" in October in all those election years. This year, Donald Trump accepted the invitation but changed his mind last week and canceled. His campaign had complained about the interview being fact-checked. Trump has also demanded an apology from the program from their pre-election interview in 2020 that he found unfavorable.

Coming up for us, nothing will bring us back what we lost. Survivors and families mourn the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre one year after the October 7th attacks in Israel. Their stories ahead.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Paula Newton, and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:31:41]

The U.S. State Department says it still believes Israel's ground operation in Lebanon is limited, but a spokesperson refused to say the same about Israeli airstrikes in Beirut.

Now, officials tell CNN the U.S. is no longer pushing for an Israel- Hezbollah ceasefire but is resigned to trying to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan had this advice for Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The challenge going forward is to turn tactical wins in battle into a strategy that secures Israel's people and its future. That takes real discipline.

It takes courage. It takes foresight to match the conduct of war to a clear and sustainable set of objectives. And to turn tactical advantage into enduring strategic gains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue to fight, meantime. That was in a speech marking one year since the Hamas attacks on October 7, as the families of the victims gathered at ceremonies and memorials to honor the 1,200 killed, including more than 300 at the Nova Music Festival.

CNN's Nic Robertson spoke with those still obviously grappling with the horrors of that day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): before dawn, a day of pain about to break.

A minute's silence, commemoration where 347 were brutally killed, 40 taken hostage. A year ago, these fields filled with fear. Hamas overrunning the Nova Music Festival. Raz Grofi survived, missing her friends, riven by guilt.

RAZ GROFI, SURVIVOR (through translator): Unequivocally crazy guilt feelings. I have friends who came here because of me, and they are not with us. It's something you live with every day, probably forever.

ROEY DERY, SURVIVOR: Nothing will give us back what we lost. We came back here with other friends that we were together. Some didn't come back.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Roey Dery trembles as he talks, here for his friends who didn't make it.

DERY: Yes, it's been memories every time we remember another piece.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nova today, a sea of sorrow, sadness, tears and suffering. A rawness that knows no easing.

RINAT LIOR, AUNT OF VICTIM AMIT LAHAV: Feel like yesterday. And we still -- we still haven't accepted that she's gone.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Aunt of Amit, 23 when she was murdered.

LIOR: She was murdered with her best friend, Sher (ph). And that's very difficult to be here.

ROBERTSON: As far as the war going on in Palestine, I mean, what -- what are your thoughts about that?

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LIOR: We didn't anticipate that it's going to be one year. We thought it's going to be one week; we're going to bring all the hostages back. And that's it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): That war still close. Helicopters overhead deterring attack. Remembrance, punctured by explosions.

Suffering not limited to these families and these fields.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Re'im, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, there were tensions on U.S. college campuses as students marked the anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel, and of course, the start of the Gaza war, as well.

At New York's Columbia University, pro-Palestinian protesters marched, chanting, "Free Palestine," while pro-Israel students held a vigil and chanted, "Let us mourn in peace" and "Bring them home now."

There was a similar scene at New York's Union Square at the University of Maryland. Both pro-Palestinian and several pro-Israel students attended a peaceful rally organized by a pro-Palestinian student group. OK. Coming up for us, the U.S. Supreme Court is back in action, and

they're striking down more abortion protections in the United States. We'll have that ahead.

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NEWTON: Georgia's Supreme Court has restored the state's six-week ban on abortions, at least for now. The decision comes a week after a Fulton County judge struck down the near total ban, saying it's unconstitutional and infringes on women's personal healthcare rights.

But the Supreme Court has blocked its ruling while it considers the state's appeal.

Governor Brian Kemp issued a statement in response to the judge's decision saying, quote, "Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge. Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is back to work. In the next few weeks, they'll hear several highly-charged, contentious cases. The justices have already started, rejecting a Biden administration effort to enhance federal protections for abortion care.

Joan Biskupic has our details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Supreme Court was back on the bench on Monday for the first time since July 1, when it issued its opinion giving former President Donald Trump substantial immunity against prosecution.

The justices have seen their public approval ratings drop because of that decision and others dating at least to 2022, when they reversed abortion rights in America.

Now, with a new session, the justices will hear disputes in upcoming weeks and months over the death penalty, gang control, and transgender rights.

[00:40:02]

On Monday, however, among its most eye-catching actions came in a Texas case that could have given the justices another abortion controversy.

The justices left in place a lower court order that prevents the Biden administration from stripping federal funding from Texas hospitals that do not provide emergency care for abortions.

A federal law requires hospitals to offer treatment when necessary to stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition, including if that means an abortion, in the case of pregnancy complications. Some states that ban abortion have objected to the law, saying the

federal government should not be able to preempt their bans in emergency-room situations; or, as in the Texas case, Texas argue that the administration was going too far in its interpretation of the 1986 Emergency Treatment Law.

Last session, in a case from Idaho, the court dismissed an Idaho challenge to the administration. The court said more lower court fact- finding and litigation was needed.

In the Texas case, though, the Biden administration said that justices should not hear the case because of some factual and legal issues, but the administration wanted the justices to throw out the lower court order that had sided with Texas.

The justices declined to take the case, but they left that lower court appellate decision favoring Texas in place. So, it's a win for Texas.

The action though, applies only to the Texas situation. The Biden administration's emergency-room guidance would still allow abortions for pregnant women facing complications.

The conflict between state bans and the Biden administration will continue to play out, but without a resolution by the Supreme Court in this election year.

Joan Biskupic, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Finally for us this hour, if you've ever hoped to own a piece of pop culture history, listen up. More than 1,800 famous movie and television props are up for auction.

Everything from Yoda's cane from "The Empire Strikes Back" to Michael Keaton's "Batman Returns," his bat suit; and Clint Eastwood's duster coat from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

Now, the entertainment memorabilia auctioneer running the sale believes all the pieces, altogether, could bring in more than $13 million.

I'd be looking for Mary Tyler Moore's hats that she threw in the air.

I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. WORLD SPORT is next.

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