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Ukraine: Operation Planned to Get Civilians Out of Mariupol Plant; White House Told G20 Host Russia Shouldn't Be Allowed to Participate; Oklahoma Passes 6-Week Abortion Ban, Allows Civil Enforcement; Lake Mead Plummets to Unprecedented Low Amid Extreme Drought. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 29, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:46]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota. A rescue operation was set for today for the hundreds of people still trapped in that steel factory in Mariupol, Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy's office announced the rescue effort but no word yet on how it can happen. In Mariupol, an official says Russian troops are blocking a section of the city right near the plant. It's possible Russians will still storm that facility.

Survivors say they have not seen sunlight for weeks. This is the video of them in the basement. Diapers are being reused. Food, water, medication are almost gone. In just the past day, Ukraine says 50 air strikes have rained down on that steel plant, wounding more than 600 civilians inside.

A Ukrainian commander from inside told CNN what it's like on day 64 as Russians surround them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR SERHIY VOLYNA, UKRAINIAN 36TH SEPARATE MARINE BRIGADE: The situation is critical. It's beyond a humanitarian catastrophe. These are hundreds of people, and they have dozens of children with them. The youngest is 4 months old. We cannot tell you for sure how long we can hold on for. That all depends on the enemy movement and also on luck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: With so many lives at stake, the Pentagon was asked if Vladimir Putin is a rational actor, and it prompted this response from the press secretary moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It's difficult to look at the -- sorry. It's difficult to look at some of the images and imagine that any well-thinking, serious mature leader would do that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: U.S. officials assessed that Russia is making incremental advances in the Donbas region in the east. But Ukrainians are fighting back. In that same region, a field depot controlled by Russians was hit, and Ukrainians say they have retaken a village near Kharkiv, where we see the Ukrainian flag flying once again over the town hall.

CNN's Anderson Cooper joins us now from Kyiv, Ukraine.

It was hard to hear John Kirby be so emotional, but we're watching minute by minute, praying that they can get out of that factory in Mariupol. And, Anderson, I know where you are in Kyiv, there were also air strikes yesterday, and that was when the head of the United Nations was just finishing up there. So, what have you learned since then?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Yeah, I talked to the mayor of Kyiv today, Vladimir Klitschko, who said that was essentially a middle finger, his words, or his phrase both to the secretary general and obviously to the international community. What one person was killed in that air strike, six others were wounded. The Russian ministry of defense claimed responsibility for striking a facility in Kyiv it says made plane parts and missiles, and in a move to help Ukraine's defense.

Kyiv officials are urging people to not drive their cars because of a fuel shortage in order to reserve the gas for a military.

CNN's Matt Rivers is here with me in Kyiv.

That air strike initially said there were five missiles, and ten people were injured. Now they know one person was killed.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we went to the scene today, and last night when you and I were talking, they were only talking about people being injured. When we were on scene this morning watching rescuers go through the rubble, we actually found -- we watched them find a body, and we learned through friends that it was a journalist, actually, a woman who was living in this apartment complex, a 54-year- old woman, a radio reporter here in town, and rescuers still going through the rubble.

And it goes to show you that these initial reports, the damage in the building was so intense that you might not know about the casualties right away. And this apartment building took the most damage from a strike that Russia says was aimed toward a factory that was in the area, making air-to-air missiles, the largest such supplier in Ukraine. But yet, it wasn't that factory. It was the apartment complex where this woman was killed.

COOPER: The situation is sickening, the number of civilians, we don't know the exact numbers. There's estimates as high as a thousand civilians inside that steel plant, attempting to -- some attempts have been made to get them out.

[15:05:06]

But it is under heavy bombardment, according to Ukrainian officials.

RIVERS: Yeah, and it just keeps getting worse. We spoke directly to a demander inside of the steel plant, part of this Azov battalion, which is really the main fighting force left taking, you know, trying to stave off the Russian advance into the steel plant complex, and they keep saying, the only way this is going to end is with an evacuation corridor, that each day that goes by, the supplies that we've always heard from the soldiers, they can generally last for a long time with the supplies that they have.

But they had to share those supplies with the hundreds and hundreds of civilians, often women and children inside that plant, and there's just a limited number of supplies. They keep saying we need an evacuation corridor. We need the Red Cross to step up and the United Nations.

We thought something would happen with the announcement from the Zelenskyy administration that there was a plan in place to get people out. Once again, we've heard that before, and it didn't materialize today, and now we go into another day where we're still waiting to see if anyone can get out.

COOPER: There are reports an American was killed, a former marine. He wasn't exactly volunteering, was he?

RIVERS: No, he was a paid contractor. He was a military contractor. There are contractors that go to conflicts all over the world and get paid.

According to this young man's family, he's 22 years old, he believed in this fight, and he joined this military contractor outfit because he wanted to come here and fight. And yet he was killed. His family says his body still has not been recovered. He leaves behind a wife and a 7-month-old baby.

This is someone who his family said just really wanted to be here and help, but this illustrates the threat that I think he and other Americans, we know there's other volunteers here from other countries, including the U.S., other countries in Europe. They're facing mortal threat right alongside Ukrainians that they're fighting with.

COOPER: And just the medical facilities, I mean, in the U.S. and the military, you know, they try to get people evacuated within an hour of sustaining a life-threatening injury. It's not that efficient.

RIVERS: Now, and they haven't found his body. I mean, he's been killed, but they still haven't been able to retrieve his body, and I think it just goes to show you when you go out there and you're on these front lines, it's not like the U.S. military which has the capacity to evacuate people. It's just not that way in this particular conflict.

COOPER: Yeah. Matt Rivers, appreciate it. Thanks.

I want to go to Alex Marquardt.

Indonesia, the host of the G20 this fall, says President Putin has accepted an invitation to attend the event, and that now has the U.S. weighing its option to how to handle the trip. The White House says they privately told Indonesia, Russia shouldn't be allowed to participate.

Our national security correspondent Alex Marquardt joins us now.

So, what are you hearing about this?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the White House saying they made clear to Indonesia privately and publicly, they don't want President Putin to attend the summit. This is in six month's time, being held on the Indonesian island of Bali. And, you know, so, a lot can change between now and then. But many world leaders, including President Biden, want to make sure that President Putin becomes an international pariah, as a result of this unprovoked brutal war in Ukraine.

So, the Biden administration is weighing what to do. You could boycott the summit all together. There are risks to that, of course, that would then allow countries like Russia and China to run a bit more of the table, what goes on there. You could send a lower-level delegation. You could attend virtually.

The sense now, according to our White House colleague Kevin Liptak is that President Biden will still attend. Again, a lot can change between now and then. Now, the president of Indonesia said he spoke with both President Zelenskyy and President Putin earlier this week. He says he told President Putin that the war should end immediately.

This is part of what Indonesian President Joko Widodo said today: Indonesia wants to unite the G20, don't let there be a split. Peace and stability are the keys to recovery and development of the world economy.

President Zelenskyy did confirm that he was invited. He said he was grateful for that invitation, but he did not confirm his attendance, of course, Anderson, the war could very well still be going on in November. As for the G20, there was a meeting here in Washington, D.C. last week of G20 finance ministers, and during the that meeting, there was a walkout by the U.S. secretary of the treasury, Janet Yellen, as well as other western finance ministers. Yellen said it simply cannot be business as usual -- Anderson.

COOPER: Alex Marquardt, appreciate it. Thanks, Alex.

Let's go back to Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Anderson, thank you very much.

With us now is CNN military analyst, retired Army General Wesley Clark who once served as NATO supreme allied commander.

General, thank you so much for being here. About that Mariupol siege and the people, the babies and children and

elderly who are trapped inside, is there anything NATO or the U.S. can do to help them survive?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, sure, there is. I mean, we go in and lead a relief, and break the siege.

[15:10:03]

We put aircraft in, strike the Russian forces that are on the outside, and open it up when we can. We could do that. (AUDIO GAP) and consequence if we're to do that.

And the next best thing is to get all the supplies into Ukraine so that Ukrainians can mount a push and to break the siege in Mariupol.

You know, Alisyn, when we look at what the Russians say and what they do, we realize this is a very cruel and crude psychological game. They want to monopolize the news media. They want to be able to claim that they're really humanitarian, and they want to put the pressure on the Ukrainian government, the international community, and of course, the people inside by raising hopes and dashing -- raising hopes and dashing hopes.

It's a game. And they're laughing at the ways they can manipulate the Western world, and our ideas and our good feelings because they don't care about the people.

CAMEROTA: Here's another NATO question. Turns out NATO jets have been scrambled a few times this week to intercept Russian planes who have gotten too close to alliance airspace over the Baltic region. Is that a recipe for disaster?

CLARK: Well, it's not a recipe, it's a good thing. We think the Baltic region is the next party zone for Mr. Putin. If he wanted to horizontally escalate. If he wanted to strike back at NATO, then he would do a play into the Baltics because there's little doubt because through his forces in Kaliningrad, where the various air defenses, nuclear weapons, they'd be able to dominate our ability to reinforce these Baltic nations in a timely crisis or an actual conflict.

We get some NATO forces, a couple of battalions in each country, but you wouldn't know what was happening (VIDEO GAP).

So, so yes, that's a distraction. He keeps those jets out there to keep us off balance, and to remind us, that's your vulnerability. You better watch it.

This is like the same way they're warding off nuclear threats. He's fainting with us, and he might actually go at some point.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, the Pentagon just announced this afternoon, that U.S. service members are training Ukrainian armed forces at military installations in Germany. They wouldn't be specific, but they're providing artillery training, and training on radar systems, and armored vehicles, the Florida National Guard has been training Ukrainians, and helping with all of this.

So, how difficult is this? How long does this take? What does training like that look like?

CLARK: It depends on the system. It might take a week. It might take three days. You've got a lot of really smart people who have signed up. They've been at war for eight years. And they've got a lot of college graduates filling positions that in our service would be filled by 19-year-olds right out of high school.

So when you give them a system like a lot of them really know computers, able to use them like we do. On the artillery, we got to do some basic training, artillery systems, three days, give them diagrams, yes, they've got to read it in the Latin alphabet than the Cyrillic alphabet.

Almost everybody in Ukraine can read the Latin alphabet. A lot of them know English, at least enough to sort of manage it. I don't think it's near the problem that we had in Iraq or Afghanistan, how to train people.

It's the opposite. They want that training. They want those weapons, and they want to get into that fight as rapidly as possible.

CAMEROTA: General Wesley Clark, thank you for your expertise. Really great to talk to you.

Well, back here, Oklahoma just passed a bill that bans abortion at six weeks and put the enforcement of the law in the hands of citizens. We have more on how that will work, ahead.

And drought conditions in the Western U.S. are so bad, one reservoir responsible for supplying millions with water is drying up. We have that story, next.

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CAMEROTA: Oklahoma lawmakers have approved a bill that bans abortions as soon as doctors detect a heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks, before many women know they're pregnant. They also passed a bill modeled after the controversial Texas law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who aids and abets an abortion.

Let's bring justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider. So, Jessica, this is the latest step to completely ban abortion.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It is, Alisyn. Oklahoma has been making a big push here. They've been passing and proposing really an array of antiabortion measures in recent weeks. So, it just passed that six-week ban modeled after Texas's law.

But even more significant is the fact that earlier this month, Oklahoma's governor signed a law that completely outlaws abortion except in a medical emergency. That law imposes penalties up to 10 years in prison, a $100,000 fine for doctors who perform abortions. This ban doesn't take effect until August. The six-week ban that was passed last night, it goes into effect immediately when the governor signs it, which he is poised to do.

Now, both of these laws appear to be redundant, but Oklahoma, it seems they're being strategic here, layering their laws to protect against any loopholes or legal challenges that are already ongoing.

[15:20:10]

And really, we're seeing several states do this. They're increasingly emboldened by the Supreme Court's refusal to block that Texas law that has effectively stopped abortions in that state since September. There's a widespread belief that the Supreme Court is poised to significantly roll back abortion rights or maybe even completely overturn Roe v. Wade.

And, Alisyn, that would allow states to ban abortion outright. So these Republican-led states acting very emboldened here, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yeah. I mean, as you point out, Oklahoma is not alone. So, we have talked a lot about Texas. Also there's Florida. And so what -- what status are all of these other states at? Who's furthest along?

SCHNEIDER: Yeah, interestingly, we've seen three states, Florida as you mentioned, Arizona, also Kentucky. They have passed laws recently banning abortion at 15 weeks. That's a crucial marker. That falls in line with the Mississippi 15-week ban, that's on hold but the Supreme Court is considering that law.

So, really, a flurry of Republican dominated states, passing laws, severely restricting abortion, and they are doing it because they have interpreted signals coming from the Supreme Court, they're interpreting it as allowing them to crack down a lot more on abortion. And, Alisyn, we're just a few weeks away from what will be the Supreme Court's ruling on the Mississippi ban.

It will end, it will rule by the end of June, and crucially here, if that law is upheld or if the court goes even further and overturns Roe v. Wade, we will see more states severely restricting or banning abortions. In fact, Alisyn, several states have trigger laws that would ban abortion the second Roe v. Wade is overturned, if it is. So, a lot to watch coming up -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We'll be watching closely. Jessica Schneider, thank you.

All right. More evidence of the dire climate crisis. Take a look at these new images of Lake Mead. So this is the reservoir that supplies water for millions of people, and it is at an unprecedented low. It's so low, you can see one of its original water intake valves exposed for the very first time.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is following this mega drought.

Stephanie, (AUDIO GAP) can be done to help here?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, we could start saving more water. We can start there, Alisyn.

But, you know, when you talk about climate change and drought, sometimes it's hard for people to see exactly how this is impacting them, and now this is something you can actually see with your own eyes just how low. This valve was put into operation in 1971 by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and now they're saying as of earlier this month, it is no longer able to take in water because it is just too high up now. It's actually exposed to the air.

You see this graphic here from them. You can see they have put in the new low lake level pumping station, and that is that bottom tier. Now that is in action, it is now operating, they're saying it started working seamlessly for the 2.2 million people in southern Nevada that rely on their water out of Lake Mead.

But what this shows us is Lake Mead, which supplies water to some 40 million people across seven states, some Native American tribes as well as into Mexico, rely on Lake Mead and the Colorado river basin for their water. This shows you just how low that water is getting. You combine that with the overall drought that we have and the snow pack which is practically nonexistent in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

So, that is impacting how much water is going to different municipalities here in California. So already, we are starting to see some places saying that mandatory cuts are ahead. For example, in some places in southern California, one day a week for watering outdoors, that's what's going to happen June 1st. If that's not enough, it will be no outdoor watering come September 1st, and this is all because of the fact that there's just not enough water to go around.

And, Alisyn, keep in mind that 70 percent of what people use for water here goes to outdoor watering. So if they cut that out, it actually would help us save a lot of water.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting. Stephanie Elam, thank you for bringing that to our attention.

OK. Now to this, 1,500 books have been banned in public schools this past year. Now one public library is fighting back to get these books to kids.

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CAMEROTA: More than 1,500 books have been banned in public school districts across 26 states just this year. This is according to Pen America, a free speech group, that says Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida are leading the charge. But the Brooklyn Public Library is fighting back, offering free library books to young adults nationwide.

Linda E. Johnson is the president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library and her initiative is called books unbanned.

Ms. Johnson, thanks so much for being here.

Fifteen hundred books, I mean, that's more than any other year and some of these books are books that we read as kids.

Some of them are familiar to us, some less so, but a couple of examples, "To Kill A Mocking Bird," "The Bluest Eye," Maus," "Tomboy", "Lawn Boy", these are just five. But what I'm struck by, "To Kill A Mocking Bird" is 1960, "The Bluest Eye", 1970.

Why this year are these suddenly objectionable.