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Evacuations Begin From Mariupol Steel Plant; Another Mass Grave Found In Bucha; Evidence Of Torture, Rape And Forced Deportations By Russia; Israeli-Palestinian Violence; Country Music Legend Naomi Judd Dead At 76. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 01, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Isa Soares, live in Ukraine.

A small but significant sign of progress: a successful evacuation in Mariupol for the very lucky, very few. That story just ahead.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm Paula Newton at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I will be bringing you the other top stories we're following.

Clashes erupt in the West Bank. We'll take you to Jerusalem for a live report.

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SOARES: Welcome to the show. It's 10:00 am in Ukraine. We begin with an unannounced visit to Kyiv by some U.S. lawmakers. This video just coming in to us in the last few minutes.

You'll see that is U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leading a small Democratic congressional delegation to meet with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pelosi says it was a message that America stands firmly with Ukraine. We'll bring you details as soon as they become available.

This video coming in to us in the last 10, 15 minutes. The visit comes amid a glimmer of hope for people trapped in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks under siege by Russian forces and several failed evacuation attempts. A handful of civilians managed to leave on Saturday.

A Ukrainian commander at the steel plant, the last bastion of Ukraine's defense in Mariupol, says 20 women and children got out after a cease-fire. But that really is a tiny fraction of the hundreds still trapped inside the plant and the thousands, of course, believed to be sheltering in other parts of the city. About 100,000 or so trapped in other parts of the city, it's believed.

Meanwhile, missile strikes hammered southern as well as Eastern Ukraine on Saturday. In the southern port city of Odessa, as you can see on your map, witnesses reported hearing several explosions.

Ukraine's military also confirmed that the runway at Odessa's airport had been destroyed. In his nightly address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to rebuild, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The runway of the Odessa airport was destroyed. We will, of course, rebuild it. But Odessa will never forget such a Russian attitude toward it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Zelenskyy urged Russian soldiers not to fight, saying Russian commanders already know thousands of them will die. He added Ukraine's army has destroyed more than 1,000 Russian tanks and nearly 200 Russian aircraft.

We also have new video from the Russian defense ministry, confirming what Ukraine's military has been saying for almost a week now, that Russia is using submarines in the Black Sea to launch missile attacks on Ukrainian targets.

CNN's Matt Rivers has a closer look at the efforts to try and get civilians out of Mariupol and the growing concerns about Ukrainian soldiers, who could be potentially left behind.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Out of Mariupol today, the first little bit of good news in terms of evacuations that we've had in some time now, with word coming from a Ukrainian commander inside the Azovstal steel plant complex, that some civilians have managed to be evacuated.

That complex, of course, the last remaining pocket of Ukrainian resistance in a city that Russia has otherwise completely controlled. Inside that complex, hundreds of civilians alongside Ukrainian fighters.

The commander is saying about 20 people managed to be evacuated during a cease-fire agreed to between Russia and the Ukrainian side, with the Red Cross, according to this commander, involved.

The plan, according to the commander, get those civilians to the city of Zaporizhzhya, which is currently in Ukrainian hands. But the fate of those 20 civilians CNN cannot independently verify at this time.

But we can say is that the conditions inside this complex are horrific and the people that are in there desperately need to be evacuated. And with a tweet coming from Ukraine's official parliament account

earlier on Saturday, saying, quote, "Powerful and deadly epidemics could soon break out in the city due to the lack of centralized water supply and sanitation, the decomposition of thousands of corpses under the rubble and a catastrophic shortage of water and food."

So a horrific situation that people desperately need to escape from.

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RIVERS: Meanwhile, I did manage to have a conversation with a commander in the Azov Regiment, which is one of the units that has been fighting for weeks and months in Mariupol.

He was injured during the fighting in that city. He managed to get smuggled out to get treatment. But he told us from the treatment facility that he is at right now, that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, should not forget about the soldiers, if these civilians can get evacuated and he should try to do the same for the military.

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GEORGE KUPARASHVILI, AZOV REGIMENT: It is not only civilians that the president's responsible to save. It is the president's responsibility as well to save their military. No man stays behind.

And it is his responsibility to deal as well. I would say, we need to a third country -- third country, third side need to be involved as a guarantee with the international nongovernment organizations or government organizations who will provide guarantee for safe leave and evacuation for civilians or military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: You know, I asked that commander several times, I've asked people inside the steel plant complex, why don't the soldiers just surrender to the Russians?

And the answer is the same every time. These soldiers who were fighting in that complex do not believe that they can safely surrender to the Russians. In fact, many believe that they would be summarily executed.

They told me that personally. They think that they would be killed by the Russian forces, if they were in fact to surrender. So that's why they're calling on this third party country to get involved with these evacuations, to guarantee their safety.

But as far as we can tell, at least publicly, no substantial progress made on that front as of yet -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Kyiv.

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SOARES: Of course, we'll stay on top of this story to see if there are any evacuations, if they continue today. I mentioned that Russian missiles have again struck Ukraine's third

most populous city. Residents of the southern port city of Odessa on the Black Sea fear it's about to become a target of the invaders. Our Nick Paton Walsh has the latest for you.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Strikes on Odessa have been intermittent since the war began, targeting often military infrastructure. And the one we've just seen, no exception, hitting the airport.

Apparently, its runway -- and it's unclear where they originated from. There've been, of course, images of Russia putting submarines and launching missiles in the Black Sea. We've seen Russian ships are off the coast, one key one hit and destroyed recently.

So a lot of Russian activity to try and pressure Odessa. The broad issue many people in that Russian-speaking city of over 1 million will be asking themselves, is this the prelude to some wider assault on that city?

Or just like we've seen over the past weeks, a bid to try and pressure it and keep Ukrainian military officials guessing as to what's Russia's goal on the Black Sea coast actually is?

They did say, a couple of weeks ago, that the move toward the Black Sea coast to be part of a wider bid to control that area. But they've been trying that for months and they failed. They feel to get past the first city of Mykolaiv in multiple bids over the past month.

So that feeds into the broader question about, what is the current southern push we are seeing from Russia actually aimed at?

Is it west toward Odessa, like broadly advertised?

Or is that a distraction?

Are they coming for here, Kryvyi Rih, where I'm standing, the economic hub, the hometown of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine?

Or are they perhaps headed east to join up with the offensive that Russia has been pushing hard over there as well?

You are hearing air raid sirens behind me here in Kryvyi Rih, not uncommon. No explosions tonight. But a broader sense of concern here in this quiet but well populated central city, that something is brewing to their south.

We're seeing villages change hands fast and Ukraine pushing back at times, too. But certainly concerns that Russia's goals are in this direction.

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SOARES: Nick Paton Walsh there. While the fighting may have shifted south and east, Ukrainian

investigators remain laser focused on the devastation Russian troops have left behind. A warning: the images we are about to show you are graphic and very hard to watch.

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SOARES (voice-over): On Friday, Ukraine's president announced another mass grave had been discovered in the town of Bucha, just outside of Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say they've recorded around 900 civilian deaths in the areas around the capital since Russian troops withdrew last month.

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SOARES: Joining me now from Kyiv is Oleksandra Matviichuk, a human rights lawyer and heads the non-profit the Center for Civil Liberties.

Oleksandra, good morning to you. I want to start with breaking news. In the last hour or so, we learned that the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and met with President Zelenskyy. We saw the video.

First of all, what does this tell you about Washington's commitment, first of all, to Ukraine?

OLEKSANDRA MATVIICHUK, KYIV-BASED HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: It's a very important symbolical gesture because Kyiv and situation in Kyiv is not stable.

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MATVIICHUK: Two days ago, when we had official visit, of which secretary-general of U.N., we have two rockets shelling on residential district. And our colleague from Radio Liberty was killed because one of the rocket was shelled directly into her apartment.

SOARES: And our condolences for the passing of your colleague. We did report this on CNN. Our thoughts are with you and everyone close to her and the family.

And these horrors we've been seeing, not just in Kyiv as well, Oleksandra, but really across Ukraine, images we're seeing, horrifying images, out of Bucha. We've had terrifying stories with that. Give us a sense of what you've been seeing, what you've been hearing.

MATVIICHUK: We, since the beginning of Russian large-scale invasion, they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity around the country.

And we -- they committed different crimes under the Articles 7 and 8 of (INAUDIBLE) statute from the International Criminal Court, like deliberate shelling on civilian objects, deliberate destroying of critical civilian infrastructure, deliberate attack to civilians, like killings, tortures, rapes, enforced disappearances, attacks to medical personnel and hospital and other kind of crimes. And it show us, because we see the dissection (ph), this very

systematic, well-organized and (INAUDIBLE) going not only in Bucha but in Kharkiv region, in Suma region, in Chernihiv region and other regions of Ukraine.

That Russia simply use war crimes as a methods of for fear. So it's a pattern of behavior which encouraging and legitimized by the high officials of military and political Russian Federation.

SOARES: And just explain to our viewers what constitutes a war crime. This is really important.

MATVIICHUK: Like when we speak about war crime, I will provide examples of occupied territories. Because now the world was shocked after visible picture of atrocity, when Russians retreat from Kyiv region, from Bucha, (INAUDIBLE), Irpin.

Like I would like to remind that (INAUDIBLE) Mariupol (INAUDIBLE) and other cities and settlements now under current Russian occupation. And we received information, like I mean, not information, it's a request for help from relatives of people, who were abducted, who were illegally detained, who were tortured in this occupied territory, where there is no international presence.

And people are left alone with the Russian occupiers. And majority of this individual cases, which we try to follow -- and we have a database of them -- it's active people, like civil society members, local authorities, journalists, human rights defenders, volunteers.

So it's a deliberate policy of Russia how to stay in control of their occupied region. They purposely targeted active civil society minority in order to stop even nonviolent resistance on this area.

SOARES: Oleksandra, as you were talking, we have been hearing from the Mariupol city council and we've got a comment from them, claiming that Russia has killed twice as many in Mariupol than Nazi Germany did. I want to bring part of what they said. This is the Mariupol city council post on its telegram channel.

"In two years, the Nazis killed 10,000 civilians in Mariupol. And the Russian occupiers killed over 20,000 Mariupol residents in two months. Over 40,000 people were forcibly removed."

This coming from Mariupol mayor. CNN is not independently able to verify these claims. But talk to us, if you could, of the challenges of verifying this.

MATVIICHUK: It's difficult to verify because we have isolated city of Mariupol in part of reach the Russian troops and other part is still struggling, regardless of the Russian comment that they have control over the whole city. Is not true. And there is no international presence there.

And Mariupol city council also work in exile, a distance. So it's hard to verify. But it's understandable. The situation is dramatic because Russians use a military method of sieges city. What they have done for these two months.

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MATVIICHUK: First, they destroyed critical civilian infrastructure in order to deprive people from water, electricity, heating. I will remind you that it started in February. It's winter. People were without electricity in the winter.

Second, they put people into the basement because they regularly shelling residential objects. And people were in the basement without medical care and other appropriate assistance.

Also, they don't provide the possibilities to bring humanitarian assistance to the city and don't let civilians to vacate from the city. They shell all the evacuation corridors. That's led to the situation where, if you even occasionally were injured, you have a very small chance to survive because the whole system of medical assistance were ruined in the city.

So I don't like comparisons but I will wait to the end of the story, when we will reoccupy Mariupol and will be able to identify all wounded and dead people and see this intense of two months of these casualties, can show us a picture even worse than in Aleppo.

SOARES: It is hard to verify important work. You're predicting it's going to be worse than Aleppo, it's just so hard to comprehend. Oleksandra Matviichuk, I appreciate you taking time to speak to us. Thanks for all your incredible and hard work.

MATVIICHUK: Thank you.

SOARES: The number of Ukrainians who have fled the country because of the war continues to grow. It now stands at more than 5.4 million people. That is a number -- that's an estimate according to the U.N., roughly the same as the entire populations of Slovakia or Norway.

The U.N. also says far more Ukrainians are stranded near the battle lines because of security concerns and damage, like Oleksandra was saying, to roads as well as bridges.

Actress Angelina Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N.'s Refugee Agency, was seen visiting the Lviv region on Saturday. She visited children at a boarding school, a medical institution and also went to a train station to meet with the displaced. There she expressed here gratitude to the volunteers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTOR AND SPECIAL ENVOY FOR UNRWA: Very complicated, yes. But I imagine just to have a room, where somebody shows that they care and is listening, is so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: The Ukrainian journalist says she ran into Jolie during a coffee run in the outskirts of Lviv. The journalist said many other people inside the cafe did not even notice Jolie. The U.N. Refugee Agency says they're not involved in her visit and she's in Ukraine in her personal capacity.

When we come back, unfortunately, more deadly violence in the Middle East. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians break out as two separate shootings kill people on both sides of the conflict. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem just ahead.

Then Shanghai in lockdown as one of China's biggest theme parks closes due to COVID. We'll have both those stories after a short break.

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NEWTON: Israeli police arrested two Palestinians they say are suspects in the killing of an Israeli guard late Friday night. Earlier they detained two other Palestinians in connection with the attack.

The shooting comes during a rise in violence between Israelis and Palestinians that started in early March. Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins me from Jerusalem.

Good to see you today. At this point in time, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claims responsibility, saying it was, in their words, a response to Israeli aggression.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shot back, saying there is no terrorist we cannot reach.

All of that is fairly predictable.

Is there an effort to try and reduce tensions here at all?

Because the last few weeks have been pretty unnerving.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: They have been unnerving. We have seen an uptick in violence over the past month. We've seen 13 Israelis and two foreign workers in Israel being killed by Palestinian or Israeli Arab assailants.

Since March 22nd, 31 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces. Before this uptick in violence, there were, from both sides, no one wanted to see any kind of wide-scale escalation. This is what we were hearing from the Israeli security establishment.

There was a sense that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and other militant groups, have no interest in a broader escalation.

But we've seen during Ramadan, Passover, Easter, on Monday we've got Eid, Memorial Day and Israel Independence Day this week as well. So there are concerns this uptick in violence will continue over the next few days.

As mentioned in your introduction, this latest incident, an Israeli security guard in the settlement of Ariel, about 50 kilometers north of Jerusalem, was killed by two gunmen Friday night.

The security forces say that he actually moved to protect a female security guard from being hurt. She was unharmed. And that female security guard reportedly was his fiancee.

In another incident in the Palestinian town of Azzun, a Palestinian man, a 27-year-old Palestinian man, was killed in what Israeli security forces say was a violent riot. And there were further clashes at that man's funeral.

Unfortunately, no sign things are abating. If there is a positive, it is that we haven't seen the wide-scale escalation that we saw more or less a year ago, when we saw clashes in mixed towns inside of Israel. We saw the wide-scale escalation between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

[03:25:00]

GOTKINE: So if there is a positive takeaway, it is that things haven't got to that point. At the moment, it doesn't seem that we're heading that way.

NEWTON: As you point out, things have escalated in that direction before. Elliot, thanks so much, I appreciate your update.

Police in Afghanistan say an explosion in a Kabul residential area killed one and wounded three others Saturday. Authorities say the blast was caused by a magnetic mine attached to a van.

So far there's been no immediate claim of responsibility. The incident highlights, of course, the growing security concerns in the Afghan capital, where, a day earlier, an explosion at a mosque killed at least 10 and wounded dozens.

The U.N. condemned that attack and called it the latest in a series of indiscriminate assaults on civilian targets.

Universal Studios Beijing will be closed starting on Sunday because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The theme park did not say when it might reopen.

After several weeks in lockdown, Shanghai reported nearly 7,900 new COVID cases Saturday and 38 deaths. The number of new local cases and deaths, we should point out, has declined slightly over the last two days. At least 27 Chinese cities are now under full or partial lockdown, affecting some 180 million residents.

Coming up for us, we'll have more on the unannounced visit by U.S. lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Kyiv this hour.

Also, there's no end in sight for at least some civilians, who were stranded in Mariupol's besieged steel plant. Next, a small number of them did manage to leave after weeks of relentless Russian bombardment.

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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isa Soares coming to you live from Lviv, Ukraine.

The latest developments out of Ukraine, we've shown you videos, a video of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, making an unannounced visit to Kyiv. President Zelenskyy says they met earlier this morning with a group of U.S. lawmakers.

Pelosi said the trip was meant to, quote, "send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world, America stands firmly with Ukraine."

A glimmer of hope for hundreds of people believed to be trapped in the besieged steel plant in Mariupol: a Ukrainian commander says 20 civilians were evacuated on Saturday. He says he's hoping evacuations will continue today and include not only civilians but also wounded Ukrainian troops.

In the south of Ukraine, President Zelenskyy is pledging to rebuild a destroyed runway in the city of Odessa. He says the airport was struck by Russian missiles on Saturday. Witnesses reported seeing military planes in the sky and hearing multiple explosions in the area.

For more on the surprise visit to Kyiv by U.S. lawmakers, I'll bring in Matt Rivers, who joins me from the capital, Kyiv.

Matt, so unannounced visit here today from Nancy Pelosi.

What more can you tell us?

RIVERS: She was joined by several senior members of this congressional delegation, including representative Gregory Meeks, including Adam Schiff, a pretty high-level delegation.

It followed more along the security protocols that we're used to, Isa, compared to the last senior visit that was undertaken by Secretaries of State and Defense of the United States. President Zelenskyy foreshadowed their visit the night before, saying they would be coming, which was against kind of normal security protocol.

This time, this congressional delegation came and went. That is normally what happens with this high-level delegation, where there's a lot of security risks involved. Generally the VIPs come and then leave, then they announce the visit.

That is what appears to have happened here. We don't know exactly when that visit took place, both sides putting out statements about the meeting with President Zelenskyy, as you mentioned, putting out a video.

President Zelenskyy saying, during that meeting, that he takes this visit as a sign of support and a signal that the United States is the, quote, "leader" of the support that Ukraine is receiving against its -- for its fight against Russia.

We heard from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi inside that meeting with President Zelenskyy. I want to play a little bit of the sound of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom, that we are on a frontier of freedom and that your fight is a fight for everyone. And so our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: Really kind of signaling that she's been lockstep with what we've heard from President Biden recently, which is that the United States is all in, in a way perhaps they weren't about a month ago.

Critics would have said a month ago the United States needed to be providing more heavy weaponry, more of the kinds of things Ukraine says it needs. We've seen a real increase in terms of the scale of the United States support for Ukraine in terms of that kind of heavy weaponry they're sending here.

President Biden recently asking Congress for some $33 billion in aid to come here to Ukraine. That is something that is now in Nancy Pelosi's hands, as she tries to shepherd that funding request through Congress.

SOARES: Coming weeks after Secretary Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited, of course. Matt Rivers for us in Kyiv, appreciate it, Matt, thank you very much.

One Ukrainian lawmaker does not have much faith in the future evacuations we were telling you about from Mariupol. He told me a short time ago, he doesn't believe Russia is interested in allowing many people to leave, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DMYTRO GURIN, UKRAINIAN MP: I'm very, very pessimistic about relocation from Mariupol, which is the golden ballot in Russian propaganda. They all this 80 years, they decide that Mariupol is a Nazi nest. And they decided to destroy this Nazi nest.

And all the time they said we are opening humanitarian corridor, all this time is lie.

[03:35:00]

GURIN: After the general secretary of United Nations came to Russia and then came to Ukraine. And the main reason was Mariupol and the situation is in Mariupol. They, yes, made this for 20 people.

But I am really pessimistic about all the other people in Mariupol, more than 1,000 civilians, and our army.

SOARES: Yes, we're talking about what we've heard about inside the Azovstal steel plant, where the Ukrainian commander tells us 20 civilians have been evacuated. So you're saying that you are pessimistic of further evacuations for the remainder of the civilians inside that steel plant, is that correct?

GURIN: Yes.

SOARES: Do you know whether they're going to try again today?

GURIN: We are trying day by day. We are trying to locate people. We are trying to have this deal with Russians every day, every day. And it doesn't work. They don't want.

SOARES: And what does that mean?

We've talked about the civilians.

Do you have details about what this deal entails?

Do we know what will happen to the soldiers, including the wounded soldiers?

Are they even part of this evacuation plan, Dmytro?

GURIN: Of course we want to locate all the wounded soldiers and the civilians. That's understandable. Most of the civilians are families of Ukrainian soldiers. And after Bucha, we know what will happen with them if they will be captured. These women, these children, they will be raped and they will be killed.

So, of course, we're trying to locate all of them. But unfortunately, as for now, without success.

SOARES: Yes, but we don't know whether the soldiers are part of the evacuation plan.

Is that correct?

GURIN: From our side, of course, we're trying to locate soldiers, wounded soldiers, and all the civilians from other (INAUDIBLE).

Where would that mean, if they are evacuated or if they surrender, this basically gives, in many ways, a win to President Putin taking Mariupol.

What would that mean, you think, for this city that's so beloved by many that I've been spoken to?

GURIN: I'm not sure that will be victory for Putin because he already announced this victory. He already announced that they captured Mariupol. So doesn't look like he can have this victory twice. So for us, it will be a really very, very hard situation because all

that Ukrainian army, all our guys are doing there is far beyond heroic. And for us, of course, they're a symbol of resistance.

And we can -- we -- all of us we hope they can stay there until, with your help, with your weapons, with your offensive weapons, we can kick out Russian troops out of from Mariupol and save our guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: The lawmaker also believes Russia will try to continue with missile strikes across Ukraine but says its missile stock has been severely depleted.

Life is hard enough in Ethiopia. Now there's a massive drought and people are starving. Coming up, the problems, its causes and what's needed.

Plus parts of the United States reeling from several storms this weekend and another system might be in the works. Details from the CNN Weather Center just ahead.

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NEWTON: Ethiopia has faced civil war and famine in the last years. Now a drought and a war thousands of miles away are making a bad situation even worse. Eleni Giokos has our details.

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In southeastern Ethiopia, malnourished children fill this pediatric ward, desperately in need of help. The hospital receiving as many in one month as in all of last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an increasing number --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): -- the increase in starving children started about five months ago. It's largely because of the drought. Some families are arriving with two or three children, who need treatment.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Ethiopia is among countries in the Horn of Africa facing the driest conditions in more than four decades, as climate change wreaks havoc on the region.

According to the United Nations' World Food Programme, three consecutive rainy seasons have gone with little rain, killing crops and livestock and making food and clean water scarce, leading to a crisis forcing thousands into displacement camps. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This drought has devastated

my family. It's displaced me from my home. Our children eat once a day but the adults go for days without food so that the children can eat. That's how we're surviving this drought.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Now the crisis could deepen, as UNICEF warns that the lives of 10 million children across the Horn of Africa are at risk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know that over a quarter of children are suffering malnourishment. And over a third of pregnant and breastfeeding women are suffering, are severely malnourished because of this drought. So it's essential that we get nutritionally fortified foods to them right now before it's too late.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Making matters worse, the World Bank warns that the war in Ukraine is contributing to an historic rise in global prices of energy and food. That's hitting communities in Ethiopia, that rely on staples like grain, particularly hard, relief groups say.

Humanitarian need in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa growing more dire, as war in Europe and the global climate crisis converge in one of the most vulnerable areas of the world -- Eleni Giokos, CNN.

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NEWTON: Millions here in the southwestern United States are bracing for water shortages as reservoirs continue to dry up. CNN's Camila Bernal has our details.

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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Evidence of this mega drought is becoming easier to see and, in particular, in Lake Mead, which provides drinking water for more than 25 million people.

If you look at these images, you're going to see that original valve that was put in, in 1971, it now sits above the water. Officials realized this was going to be a problem in 2015.

They started building a new valve that goes deeper into Lake Mead.

[03:45:00]

BERNAL: That's what's being used right now. It went into operation this week.

It appears to be running smoothly. People are still getting their drinking water. But it goes to show how big of a problem this is because water levels are just extremely low. And it's not just Lake Mead. It's many of the reservoirs and lakes in this entire region.

It's part of the reason why, here in Southern California, many are being asked to conserve water. In fact, beginning June 1st, about 6 million people are being told to only water their lawns once a week. And the situation could get worse. We spoke to the Metropolitan Water

District of Southern California and here's what their general manager said.

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ADEL HAGEKHALIL, METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: If I don't see the response between now and September, then I will go in and mandating a full ban of outdoor watering across the service area that's impacted. That's serious. And I'm ready to do it.

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BERNAL: And this is the first time that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California implements these restrictions. They say it is unprecedented. They say it's serious because we are running out of water -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Sylmar, California.

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NEWTON: Cleanup is underway in Kansas after at least seven tornadoes swept through the state Friday night. On Saturday, crews worked to get power back in the area. City officials say several people had minor injuries but, thankfully, no deaths were reported.

Dozens of homes were hit and the extent of the damage is still being assessed. You never get used to seeing scenes like that, incredible. Experts warn a new storm threat is evolving, which could impact the state yet again.

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NEWTON: Parts of the Southern Hemisphere got to experience the first partial solar eclipse of the year on Saturday. In the Chilean capital, it became visible just minutes before sunset.

A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and only partially covers the sun's disk, giving the impression a bite has been taken out of it. NASA says the next partial eclipse won't happen until October. It will be visible in northeast Africa, Western Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe.

Tributes are pouring in after the sudden death of Naomi Judd. After the break, we bid farewell to the country music legend, who passed away this weekend.

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NEWTON: In Washington, the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner made a grand return on Saturday after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic. The black tie event featured President Biden, journalists, government officials and, yes, some celebrities.

The night was filled with jokes roasting Mr. Biden, the Republican Party and the news media, including CNN. Here's part of Mr. Biden's lighthearted speech.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not really here to roast the GOP. That's not my style. Besides, there is nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn't already put on tape.

You know, at the -- at the same time, a lot of people say the Republican Party is too extreme, too divisive, too controlled by one person. They say that's not your father's Republican Party.

Ronald Reagan said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down. Today's Republicans say, tear down Mickey Mouse's house. And pretty soon they'll be storming Cinderella's castle and you can be sure of it. Our Republicans seem to support one fellow. Some guy named Brandon. He's having a really good year. And I'm kind of happy for him.

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NEWTON: Now the dinner, it's not just a party; it honors journalists for their work, raises money for scholarships, important ones, and pays tribute to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and the media.

The music world is mourning one of its most beautiful voices. Country music legend Naomi Judd passed away Saturday at the age of 76. She and daughter, Wynonna, rose to fame in the 1980s as The Judds.

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NEWTON: And left their mark, quite a mark, on country music. Polo Sandoval takes a look.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a loss that has shaken the entire music community and beyond, Naomi Judd, dead at 76 years old.

It was one of her daughters that made that announcement on social media on Saturday, writing, "Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief. And know that, as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory."

Naomi Judd teamed up with her daughter, Wynonna, in the early '80s. That's what created the singing duo, The Judds. The eventually created a very long list of memorable songs. In fact, in just seven years, they were able to earn five Grammys and a total of 14 number one singles.

This weekend, they were even scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with their announcement recently that that organization wrote that the duo helped take country back to its roots in the 1980s with lean, tuneful songs influenced by traditional folk music, acoustic blues and also family harmony acts.

And we saw the duo as a family coming together on stage for the first time in years less than three weeks ago, as The Judds performed during the CMT Music Awards. You see mother and daughter coming together there.

In 2011, The Judds had actually finished their farewell tour but recently they announced a 10-day final tour scheduled to begin in September. Now her famously, her friends and, of course, her fans are grieving this loss, as her lyrics continue to live on -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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NEWTON: Our thanks to Polo. Many people shocked to hear of her death.

I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. I'll be back with more news including that unannounced visit by Nancy Pelosi and other U.S. lawmakers to Kyiv. Stay with us, you're watching CNN.