>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello, everyone. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. you're watching "cnn newsroom," and we begin with breaking news. a dangerous night across the central u.s. millions of people at risk from a powerful storm system with more than 20 tornadoes reported across five states. have a look at this video. in the background there, yep, you can see a tornado in the darkness. it makes it harder to see, and it does make it even more dangerous as well. at least two people have been killed in arkansas, one at a dollar general store, another at

a nursing home where 20 other people were injured or rescued. in illinois, emergency crews are searching for people feared trapped inside a damaged amazon warehouse. some family members of those who work there still waiting on word from loved ones. >> yeah, it was lightning bad. we lost power for about two hours now, and then my phone died. so it's like i have no idea to get a hold of him. i have no idea what's going on, and beerwe're just worried sick. we just want to know if he's okay. meanwhile, we're learning that a train derailed in western kentucky during the severe storms. the governor there declaring a state of emergency due to heavy damage throughout the state as you can see there. more than 180,000 homes and businesses in six states are without power. meteorologist derek van dam is keeping close track of all of it at the cnn weather center. derek, what are you seeing?

where is the most immediate threat currently? >> currently right now, michael, we have another six to eight hours of the most dangerous part of the severe weather outbreak that we are experiencing from the ohio river valley through the tennessee region, into kentucky, all the way down to shreveport, louisiana. i'll show you the map in one second. but i want to show you at home what one single tornado has done and the long track duration tornado that occurred across four different states, spanning over 200 miles. this is aerial imagery coming out of monette, arkansas. northeastern arkansas where we took a direct hit at a nursing home. that's where we are reporting a fatality coming out of that region. then i want to show you this before and after image from the same tornado. this is from google image, mayfield, kentucky. this is the same tornado. look what happened to the downtown courthouse building. you can see the damage and the trees that have been leveled across this particular governmental building. again, this is the same exact

tornado. look at the satellite -- rather this radar imagery. you can see the beginnings of the life span of this dangerous and deadly tornado. it started late friday evening, just east of jonesboro. there it is tracking through portions of northeast arkansas, through missouri, portions of tennessee, western and central kentucky. and that spanned over 250 miles, and i bring this up because the longest single duration tornado event, the longest trek ever recorded, 225 miles back in 1925. that was a tri-state tornado. the potential exists here to set records if this is indeed verified. that's a lot of fine detail there, but nonetheless that puts into context what we're dealing with. over six tornado watch boxes stretching again from the ohio river valley all the way to northern louisiana. this is part of a large multifaceted storm that is sweeping across the eastern third of the country with a full-on snowstorm on the cold northern end of the low pressure. we have had 24 confirmed tornado

reports so far. i can barely keep up with this graphic because the numbers continue to increase as tornadoes are verified. and you can see the threat of tornadoes diminishes over the next six to eight hours but continues to move east as it does so. michael. >> and of course tornadoes at night, they're that much more dangerous, aren't they? >> oh, absolutely, michael. they're shrouded in darkness. it catches people off guard when you and i are sleeping or supposed to be sleeping, right? and that is exactly the concern with these what are called nocturnal tornadoes. typically within the month of december, we receive about 23 tornadoes across the country into the deep south, and you're talking about nearly 50% of those tornadoes across kentucky, tennessee, and portions of arkansas occurring at nighttime, so really solidifying these statistics and some of these examples here across the region with nighttime tornadoes still ongoing. >> all right. derek van dam, appreciate it. thanks so much.

all right. new details emerging about the potential impact of the omicron covid variant. the centers for disease control and prevention says most of the 43 reported omicron infections in the u.s. have been mild. however, it says a majority of those people have been vaccinated, and 14 of them had already received their boosters. more than half of u.s. states now have identified a case of the omicron variant. it comes amid an uptick in covid infections nationwide, which is pushing some hospitals to the brink. cnn's athena jones with that. >> reporter: u.s. covid-19 cases on the rise again, now averaging nearly 120,000 new infections a day, up more than 50% over a month ago. case numbers increasing in 26 states. hospitals strained in hard-hit michigan, ohio, and arizona. indiana now becoming the latest state to call on the national

guard to help overwhelmed hospital workers. >> hospital beds and monitors don't feel, but we're tired. our people are incredibly tired. >> the surge is definitely upon us. >> reporter: in new hampshire, the governor warning -- >> it's going to be a rough winter. there's no doubt about it. i don't think these numbers are going to finish peaking until early january. >> reporter: the nationwide surge driven almost entirely by the delta variant. >> we are at war with an enemy that's killing 1,200 americans a day, and i just don't see it. >> reporter: doctors say most of those hospitalized are unvaccinated. but as the u.s. prepares to mark one year since the first shots went into arms, the pace of covid vaccinations is up almost 40% over a month ago with nearly 460,000 people getting their first shot each day, and some 2 million total doses administered a day. about half of them booster shots. early studies suggest boosters increase protection against the new omicron variant. dr. anthony fauci telling cnn

the national institutes of health will likely have data early next week from lab tests on vaccine effectiveness. with the cdc today confirming cases among those infected by omicron in the u.s. have been mild and among those already vaccinated, that mirrors what is being seen in south africa, where the variant was nationally identified. >> the cases tend on the whole to be milder, with fewer requiring oxygenation. so it's interesting that it's emerging, it's confirming what we know, and certainly no red flags at this stage. >> reporter: and here in new york, governor kathy hochul has announced a new temporary mask mandate requiring new yorkers to wear masks in all indoor public spaces unless businesses implement a vaccine requirement. the new mandate will be effective starting monday through at least january 15th. violators will face a fine of up to $1,000 and civil and criminal penalties. hochul saying the new mandate is necessary to get ahead of a

winter surge that is seeing increased cases, reduced hospital capacity, and insufficient vaccination rates in certain areas. athena jones, cnn, new york. now, in europe, the uk is urging people to get a covid booster shot as a new study there found that two doses of the covid vaccine are insufficient against the omicron variant. cnn's eleni giokos joins me now. you've got rising cases in france, germany, elsewhere. what is the latest in europe in terms of infections and considerations of more measures like mandates and so on? >> reporter: michael, this is the important move where you've already alluded to it. it's about that third jab to try and get people even more protected as covid-19 infection rates are rising in many parts of the continent. the uk actually put out a warning that omicron cases would

reach 1 million by the end of the month because the doubling rate is occurring every two to three days. in the past 24 hours, 450 omicron cases were identified in the uk, but they think that that is an underprediction. they believe it might be much higher. new restrictions are coming into play, a recommendation to work from home, wearing masks in certain areas. you'll remember a couple of months ago before the summer period, they had lifted all those restrictions, and now going back to try and ensure they bring those numbers down. in germany, at one point this week, they reported the highest daily death toll that had not been seen in february, and the unvaccinated being put under lockdown apart from allowed to go to essential businesses. so there's a general sense here of trying to put restrictions in place, getting third jabs into people's arms base td on the

clinical data we're seeing and trying to figure out just how prevalent omicron is. in france, you're seeing the same where you're got high numbers of positive cases, record numbers coming through at one point this week, as well as hospitalizations on the rise, icu units also coming under pressure. but france has not put in place yet a mandatory vaccinations. they're trying to do that. then of course lockdowns and restrictions are still on the back burner. but cases are rising, and there's major concern, michael, right now in various parts of europe. >> eleni, thanks so much in athens for us. now, south africa has announced plans to begin rolling out pfizer booster shots in the coming weeks as it struggles with the impact of the omicron variant. one epidemiologist says evidence suggests this new strain does spread more easily. cnn's larry madowo is in johannesburg for us. there has been increasing -- despite the numbers going up there by magnitudes, there is still resilience when it comes

to the anti-vaccine group there. >> reporter: and people are almost getting emboldened when they hear that the government might force them to take vaccines, michael. that is correct. there is a growing movement of anti anti-vaxxers in south africa who say the government has no right legally or morally to force them to take a vaccine. especially in a country with a history of apartheid. so south africa has only vaccinated about 38% of the adult population. the plan was to vaccinate at least 70% of the population. >> larry madowo in johannesburg with the very latest. appreciate it, larry. thanks. we're going to take a quick break on the program. when we come back, the top diplomats of the world's wealthiest democracies meeting in england this weekend to

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the u.s. has announced new sanctions against a dozen officials of foreign governments for their alleged roles in human rights abuses. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken making that announcement in recognition of international human rights day. he arrived in liverpool on friday for the g7 foreign ministers meeting. the new sanctions target specific officials in china, north korea, belarus, uganda, bangladesh, sri lanka, and mexico. similar measures were also announced by the uk and canada. blinken and his g7 counterparts will begin gathering soon in liverpool, and topping their agenda, the volatile situation along the border between ukraine and russia. russia's foreign ministry on friday issuing an ultimatum to nate tow to resipd its

membership. mean while a u.s. official says a shipment of u.s. small arms and ammunition has arrived in ukraine. cnn's senior international diplomatic editor nic robertson standing by for us in liverpool. what's going to be the main message these leaders are going to want to come out of this meeting? presumably one of like-minded allies on the same page when it comes to issues like russia. >> reporter: yeah. i think we may get a slight insight into the thinking of secretary of state antony blinken when looking at his spotify playlist for this trip. of course liverpool a city of history, a city of culture, and the fab four, the beatles from this city. at the top of this playlist was penny lane by the beatles. but next on the list is a liverpool anthem, you'll never walk alone, a message perhaps for ukraine because that's the expected message to be delivered from here. i have to say my favorite on that playlist was echo and the bunny men. but maybe i'm just showing my age there, michael. but it is a very serious

discussion about russia as russia is seen to continue to increase its troop presence and go into military drills, live-fire military drills close to the border with ukraine. it's raising concern here. the british foreign minister, who is hosting this g7, has made it the main sort of speaking point ahead of discussions here and saying that key among these leaders who arrive here is that united front. >> i share the view that it would be extremely serious if russia were to take that action. it would be a strategic mistake, and there would be severe consequences for russia. what we're doing this weekend is working with like-minded allies to spell it out. >> reporter: so what she's talking about there is a russian incursion into ukraine. and what we've seen over recent

weeks is an effort by united states, its partners, its allies in europe and across the world to send a very clear, very strong message to president putin that any such action could result in severe economic consequences. sort of no mistake in that message, sort of joining that message up with the new german administration. president biden in recent days calling the new german chancellor. janet yellen calling her opposite number in berlin as well. and here just last night, antony blinken meeting with the german foreign minister. we also know that there's going to be on the table for discussion china, afghanistan, iran a real pressing issue, myanmar, ethiopia to name just but a few. these are going to be the big talking issues. but rest assured russia at the top of the list. >> yeah, and quickly, sunday, nic, there's going to be asean

invitees, most of them virtual. there's going to be a focus on the indo-pacific. what headlines likely there? >> reporter: yeah. i think we're going to see more of, you know, allies across the world, like-minded allies, you know, facing down autocracies. in this case it's going to be a lot of discussion about china. sunday as well, do expect conversations about covid, about vaccines, about omicron, which of course is a variant that people are worried about. if the third world didn't get enough vaccines, remembering that at the g7 summit, a billion doses of vaccine were promised to developing nations. many critics said that wasn't enough. that would allow potential variants to escape, and here we are in that scenario. so again, pressure on delivery on covid vaccines around the world. >> all right. nic, thank you so much. nic robertson there in liverpool for us. and returning to our top story, the powerful storm system making its way through the central u.s. at least 24 tornadoes reported

across five states. parts of western kentucky are being hit hard, and a state of emergency declared. storm chaser michael gordon joins me from mayfield, kentucky. thanks for doing so. just give me a sense of what you have seen there. >> this has been something that i really didn't want to see. devastation. i mean that's -- buildings leveled, homes leveled, rubble everywhere. there's -- it's hard to explain, especially in the dark right now. it's very sad. you look around, and you have people walking on the streets, other families looking for their loved ones still. i was out earlier before this call, going through some of the

homes, trying to help out as much as i could. i think the mayfield -- city of mayfield being on top of it, they got the personnel. they got the search and rescue teams out. they got dogs out now. i'm seeing a lot more rescue efforts. but the damage is pretty much undescribable. >> to put that in context, i mean you chase storms. this is kind of what you do. how does this compare? >> this is probably one of the worst storms that i have seen. the closest i've ever been to such a large tornado in my life, and it's -- like i said, it's really undescribable. there's so much -- >> what did it look like? what did it feel like as you're

looking at this biggest tornado you've seen? what does that felel like? what goes through your head? >> i -- i -- i don't know what i was feeling at that point. i was trying to -- to figure out where it was at, and i could see it. then it would go away. then i could see it again. but after it government past me is when i noticed really how large this tornado was. when it was coming head-on, it didn't look as large until it got past me. then i could see the debris flying everywhere, you know, the width of that tornado and the power. you could just -- you could feel the power. it's almost like being sucked, i mean, all of the air in that area is being sucked up into the atmosphere. so it kind of just takes all of

your -- i don't know how to really explain it, but it's a feeling that -- oh, i guess i don't -- um -- >> did you have a sense of the damage? when it gets light there in a few hours, that's when you're really going to be able to tell. but you had the sense there was a lot of damage? >> yes. after i seen it pass through past me and watching it on radar as it traveled farther up into the mayfield area where i'm at now, i could just see -- you could see the destruction path as it went away from me, and it wasn't giving up. it was very solid, and it was moving pretty much in a straight

line. it was like it was a bulldozer. that's how i -- i guess i could -- seeing it from behind, it looked like it was just a bulldozer. and now seeing the damage, that's what it looks like. >> that's a -- you paint a very scary picture. michael gordon, really appreciate you joining us. incredible images and video you shot, and thanks for giving us a sense of what it was like. really do appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. law enforcement officials say that the truck that crashed in southern mexico killing 55 people was, indeed, speeding as some had feared. officials say it overturned with dozens of people crammed inside, most of them migrants from guatemala. more than 100 people reported injured. mexico and six nearby countries have formed what they call an immediate action group to investigate and prosecute the international traffickers responsible for the deadly accident. authorities in southern lebanon are investigating an

explosion at a palestinian refugee camp. it happened friday. this was in the port city of tyre. fortunately no one killed and no serious injuries. the details surrounding the blast still unclear. the explosion happened when oxygen cylinders stored to treat covid-19 patients ignited. earlier leb nice state media reported it took place at a hamas warehouse filled with ammunition. i'm michael holmes. if you're an international viewer, african voices: changemakers is coming up next. if you're here in north america, i'll be back with more "cnn newsroom" in just a moment.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm michael holmes. the u.s. president, joe biden, says high inflation has reached its peak in the u.s. his comments coming after new government data showed consumer price index at its highest level in nearly 40 years. mr. biden believes his build back better spending plan will provide relief from the soaring prices, but its passage, of course, far from certain. more now from cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins.

>> reporter: with prices at their highest point in nearly 40 years, president biden is predicting it's, quote, the peak of the crisis. >> inflation is affecting people's lives. >> reporter: inflation reached its highest point in november since 1982 when ronald reagan was in office and joe biden was a senator from delaware. tonight president biden is pointing to other signs the economy is recovering. >> every other aspect of the economy is racing ahead. it's doing incredibly well. we've never had this kind of growth in 60 years. >> reporter: that message complicated after the consumer price index, which measures what you're paying for services and goods, climbed 6.8% in november compared to a year ago. >> it's a real bump in the road. it does affect families. >> reporter: rising costs are also challenging the path ahead for biden's legislative agenda. the president sounding uncertain when asked if he can get senator joe manchin to vote yes on his expansive economic bill with inflation numbers this high. >> i don't know the answer to

that. i'm going to be talking to him the beginning of the week. >> reporter: manchin says he's concerned that more federal spending now will make inflation worse. but the president is pushing back. >> economists think it's going to, in fact, diminish the impact on inflation because it's reducing costs for ordinary people, reducing costs for ordinary people. >> reporter: manchin is also concerned by the cost of the bill overall. >> i talked to him this morning. he was stunned. >> reporter: in a new report requested by republicans found that at the temporary spending boost and tax cuts are made permanent, it could add trillion ons to the price tag. >> what this fake cbo score was about was extending all of the programs that would expire without paying for them. the president would pay for them. there's no bill that exists on this front. >> reporter: inflation also a top concern for voters, who are paying more for food, gas, rent, and used cars. but some of the biggest drivers of inflation are retreating as gas prices have dropped and natural gas prices are also down. >> this obviously isn't -- is

not captured in the data since the data was through the course of november. >> reporter: now, president biden will be speaking to senator manchin next week. the white house has not disclosed whether that will be an in-person conversation or a phone call, but you can imagine he will be trying to make that argument to a critical democratic vote that he does believe the inflation crisis has hit its peak. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. the prospect of lower inflation isn't happening fast enough for people in rural america. we have the story of a family in michigan trying to navigate the ups and downs of the pandemic economy. >> hi. you hungry? >> reporter: in the st. cyr household, cricket the show cow and trigger the rescue horse are top priorities. >> they eat before i eat. >> reporter: and these gentle giants eat a lot. the price of their food has gone

up, and with twice daily feedings, they run through nearly two 50-pound bags a week. >> it was about like $16 a bag, and right now it's at -- it depends on where you go. it's about $22. >> reporter: it's just one of the price pinches for this family in rural michigan. spending power for rural americans has dropped by 5.2% compared to 3.5% for urban americans from pre-pandemic. and rural americans typically spend more on the very items that have seen the biggest price increases -- food, energy, and cars. what are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to inflation? >> i think it's just not having the options to offset those costs. it's like, okay, yeah, we could drive another half hour, another hour, but it's like we're paying $3.50 for gas. >> reporter: but gas prices are falling to a seven-week low, down 20 cents in michigan in the last month to $3.22 a gallon.

and for these new small business owners, every cent counts. >> you have a budget that you have to stick to. >> reporter: this year, the couple launched their wood furniture and decor company, pal -- out of their garage. but then the cost of lumber skyrocketed. so to fill orders, they turned to their own barn for wood. >> all of this used to be stalls. this whole -- we deconstructed those to get lumber. >> reporter: the price of wood has come back down, but the cost to ship their orders is up. >> with being out a little farther out in the country, obviously shipping costs, they increase because the farther out they have to drive. >> i think we've been hit with so much, it's like, you know, first inflation and then gas prices and then shipping. >> reporter: but as prices have risen, so have wages, up 4.8%

since last november. dylan still has his full-time job to help support the business. so you feel like it's risen a little bit together, enough to offset? >> it's definitely helped, probably not enough to keep up with inflation. >> no. >> but it's -- it's definitely helped. you always have that in the back of your mind. >> reporter: the couple says there is a positive to living in rural america during a time of inflation. if a family in the community is suffering financially, the whole community rallies around them to try to keep their heads above water. and the st. cyr couple says that despite the fastest rise in inflation in nearly 40 years, they're very hopeful and optimistic about their future and their business' future. they believe that this inflation is temporary. back to you. coming up on the program, covid-19 cases rising in the u.s. and a new study shows

hundreds of lives could have been saved if more nursing home workers were vaccinated. we'll discuss. also a look at the supreme court's ruling on restrictive texas abortion law and the decision's potential impact. stay with us. we'll be right back.

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covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 31st at coveredca.com. welcome back. a new study in the u.s. suggests unvaccinated employees are adding to the high toll from covid in nursing homes. the study in the new england journal of medicine estimates that if all nursing homes had staff vaccinated at the national average, thousands of covid cases could have been prevented as well as more than 700 deaths among elderly residents. michael barnett is an assistant professor at the harvard school

of public health. he joins me from newton, massachusetts. professor, the numbers in this research are pretty sobering. i want you to give people a sense of the life and death impact of unvaccinated workers in nursing homes on the residents who live there. >> yeah. it was sobering is a great word to describe it. we were really surprised by how huge of a difference we saw. we compared nursing homes that had the highest versus the lowest vaccination rates across the country, which corresponded to those that had about 80% of their staff vaccinated versus those with about 30% of their staff vaccinated. and we found in the nursing homes with the lowest vaccination rates, that residents -- that there were three times as many resident deaths in those nursing homes compared to those with the highest coverage. >> yeah, you actually tweeted, and i just want to read it for people too. you did a great tweet thread on this. one of the them was, over one eight-week period of all nursing homes were magically raised to

the highest staff vaccination levels nationally, we would have had 703 fewer resident deaths. i mean that's stunning. that's 700 people who died who didn't have to. how many more lives could be saved if all nursing home staff were fully vaccinated? >> yeah. i don't have an exact answer, but what we know is that those 703 fewer resident deaths, that was half of all of the nursing home deaths in that period. >> wow. >> that was just if we hypothetically raised all nursing homes to the 80% staff vaccination level. so if we could actually take every single nursing home and raise it up to 100%, then it's very plausible we could have saved over 1,000 resident deaths during that period, which would have been the vast majority of the deaths that occurred, you know, entirely. >> it's incredible, isn't it? i mean it's undeniable that the vast, vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated. did you get any sense of why

health professionals would in some areas be so reluctant to get vaccinated given the facts? >> it's a really tough question that a lot of folks are struggling with. i see this every day as a primary care doctor talking with my patients and running into patients every single day who are hesitant to get vaccinated. you know, i don't think health care workers are immune to the same trends that are affecting the country at large. you know, there are two major groups i think of in thinking of those who are hesitant to get vaccinated. on the one hand, we have vaccination as a deeply political topic. we're more polarized than ever before, and it's just something that some people don't agree with. and then there are many others who are just -- they're just wary of the vaccine. they've heard of side effects. they're putting it off. they're not sure if covid is that serious, or maybe they just haven't gotten to it yet because they're busy. and both of those can happen.

>> yeah. of course the biden administration put out a mandate for health care workers to be vaccinated. that's been put on hold by the courts. but it makes you wonder why on earth would employers allow unvaccinated people to work around, let's face it, the most high-risk of communities? i mean it's confounding and it's literally deadly. >> i agree, and it is hard to imagine. however, the nursing home industry has been plagued by horrible staff turnover for years. going into the pandemic, it was actually almost certainly the highest stress that any nursing home director across the whole industry would have faced is finding good staff who would want to stay in a job that doesn't pay that well and, you know, unfortunately is, you know, not very well rewarded. and so a lot of nursing home directors are worried that if they mandate a vaccine, then actually they could even further overstretch their workforce and be in an even tougher situation

providing care to their residents. it's a very hard situation. >> that says a lot about the industry. you're quite right. we're out of time, but i did wa want to get this in real quick. i know this study didn't specifically address this, but have you found elsewhere any evidence of racial disparities in terms of this issue? >> yeah. so like everywhere, especially in the pandemic, there are racial disparities that have come out with nursing homes. we do find -- we have found in earlier research that nursing homes that have a higher proportion of minority residents or staff have lower vaccination rates. we also know those are the same nursing homes that have higher mortality. that was actually going into the pandemic before vaccination. so we really have a double whammy there for nursing homes that serve minorities. >> it's valuable research, and i urge people to have a read of it because this is a massive deal, people dying in nursing homes who literally did not have to. michael barnett, professor, i

appreciate it. thanks so much. >> thank you so much for having me. the u.s. supreme court has allowed a restrictive texas abortion law to remain in effect. many advocates worry that roe v. wade, which protects the right to abortion in the u.s., could eventually be overturned. now, if that happened, these states would ban the procedure immediately. that's according to an analysis from the guttmacher institute. jessica snider has more on the court's decision. >> reporter: the threat to abortion in texas remains. supreme court justices leaving in place a controversial texas law that bans most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected around six weeks. anti-abortion advocates are celebrating. >> the court has allowed the texas law to stay in effect for 101 days now, and we're very confident that it's going to stay in effect. >> reporter: while the supreme court did not step in to block the law, it did rule in favor of abortion providers, saying they

can sue some state officials, sending the case back to the lower courts. chief justice john roberts writing with the court's liberals, saying given the ongoing chilling effect of the state law, the district court should resolve this litigation and enter appropriate relief without delay. but the ruling still dealing abortion clinics a blow. private individuals won't be stopped from suing any person involved in performing an abortion after six weeks with payouts under the law amounting to $10,000 per case if the plaintiff wins. clinics across texas have shut down because of that threat of litigation. >> it is going to be hugely problematic as we go forward that these cases continue to be brought, and they continue to have a chilling effect on people's access to abortion care. >> reporter: the law has now been in effect 100 days since september 1st. in that time, abortion clinics in surrounding states have reported being overwhelmed at the number of texas women coming

in for procedures, and low-income women without the means to travel have been left with few options. liberal-leaning justice sonia sotomayor slammed the supreme court's decision, saying the court should have put an end to this madness months ago. my disagreement with the court runs far deeper than a quibble over how many defendants these petitioners may sue. the dispute is over whether states may nullify federal constitutional rights by employing schemes like the one at hand. abortion rights advocates are vowing to keep fighting even though they say they've only been left with a shred of a case. the supreme court also dismissed the case that was brought by the justice department to challenge s.b. 8. a spokesperson for the attorney general saying that they will continue to challenge the law in the lower courts since the law itself deprives americans of their constitutional rights established under roe v. wade. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. still to come, a british court gives the green light to julian assange's extradition to

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wikileaks founder julian assange is one step closer to being extradited to the u.s. on friday, a british appeals court overturned an earlier decision that blocked his handover to washington. but the court fights aren't over yet as nina dos santos reports for us. assange's supporters are pushing back against the ruling. >> reporter: julian assange's supporters were in defiant mood outside the uk's high court. where two senior judges ruled the wikileaks founder can be extradited to the united states. >> they're imprisoning julian on behalf of a foreign power, which is taking an abusive, vindictive prosecution against a journalist, and this is what it's about. >> reporter: the 50-year-old is facing 18 charges, most from the espionage act related to his

role in the dissemination of classified u.s. military documents more than a decade ago. if convicted, he could be handed a sentence of up to 175 years. >> it's a disgrace. it's a threat to journalists. >> reporter: central to the case, whether assange is a journalist or more of a hacker. the u.s. initially charged him in 2019 with helping his source, the former u.s. army intelligence analyst chelsea manning, to crack into government computers. since then, he's been held in a maximum security prison in london. >> how sweet it is. >> reporter: before that, he sought diplomatic asylum in ecuador's tiny embassy in the capital since 2012, avoiding questioning and extradition by swedish authorities for sexual misconduct allegations there, ones that were eventually dropped but that he claims were politically motivated. he even made his way into the trump story.

>> the hillary clinton documents released today by wikileaks -- >> his fiancee, the mother of two of his children, the extradition would set a chilling precedent for freedom of speech and she's vowed to appeal. >> julian represents the fundamentals of what it means to live in a free society, of what it means to have press freedom, of what it means for journalists to do their jobs without being afraid of spending the rest of their lives in prison. >> reporter: in coming to their decisions judges cited u.s. assurances that assange's mental health would be protected in america and for him to serve out a part of any sentence in his native australia. in doing this, they reversed an earlier decision made by a lower court to block the extradition on the grounds that assange may be at a greater risk of suicide in held in u.s. custody. what happens now? the case will go back to the courts for more legal wrangling. after that, britain's home secretary will have the final

say. all this means while assange's case will continue to divide opinion and question the international boundaries of free speech, his many years of confinement will continue for now. nina dos santos, cnn, london. well, if you haven't received your holiday greeting from the house of windsor just yet, we have a preview. yours is almost certainly in the mail. the duke and duchess of cambridge have released this christmas card of the family when they vacationed in jordan. the palace said in a statement they were delighted to share this year's photo with the world. meanwhile, prince kmcharles and camilla made a point of wearing their masks in a photo they chose. it's from earlier this year at the royal ascot horse racing event. got mine yesterday. i'm michael holmes. thanks for spending part of your day with me. you can follow me on instagram and twitter @holmescnn.

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♪ this is cnn breaking news. i'm kim brunhuber. and we're starting with the breaking news. this hour, a powerful storm system is working its way through the central u.s. millions are at risk. more than 200,000 homes and businesses are without power. and at least 24 tornadoes have already been reported across five states. have a look here. if you look closely you can see a tornado. the darkness makes it harder to see it and even more dangerous. at least two people have been killed i