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Politico: Supreme Court Draft Opinion Would Overturn Landmark 1973 Abortion Rights Ruling Roe V. Wade; Evacuation Efforts Stalled At Mariupol Steel Plant; Officials: Vladimir Putin Could Declare War On Ukraine May 9; ; Moschun Residents Return to Village Decimated by Russia; Manhunt Underway for Alabama Inmate, Corrections Officer. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 03, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION: Along the way that he made dispose of her. She is a witness.

[00:00:06]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Chris Swecker, thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us.

SWECKER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: And thank you for watching everyone. Our live coverage continues.

[00:00:19]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton at CNN World Headquarters following the latest developments in Ukraine where civilian evacuation of Mariupol citizens is set to get underway this hour.

But first, to the breaking news out of Washington where a bombshell report indicates American women could soon lose their constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion.

The news website Politico has published a draft of what it calls a Supreme Court majority opinion that would strike down the landmark ruling Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.

Now, to be clear, the final opinion has not yet been released. But already, you see it there are people gathered at this hour in front of the Supreme Court just trying to take this all in.

Now, until this becomes a decision, abortion at this hour still legal in the United States, still the law of the land, although it seems unlikely that given this opinion that the votes would change. It has happened before. This though right now the conservative majority has according to

Politico provided a draft of this decision of this opinion that would overturn that law.

Now, the publishing of the draft opinion is a stunning breach in and of itself. It's a stunning breach of Supreme Court confidentiality and secrecy. You see it there, the website actually posting it online. Although CNN cannot confirm the documents' authenticity.

CNN Legal Analyst Joan Biskupic reports now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (on camera): This is seismic news coming from the Supreme Court. In a draft opinion obtained by Politico, the court appears poised to overturn the landmark decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States. This means nearly 50 years of legal access to abortion in any state may soon change. States could have the option of banning abortion entirely once this ruling is officially handed down.

A number of states already have laws ready to be enacted to limit or outright ban abortions. As the law stands now, in America, states cannot ban abortion before about 23 weeks of pregnancy. The case at hand brought on by the state of Mississippi will entirely change that precedent. What is also shocking is how we came to learn about this decision.

Normally, we hear at the very end once a decision is complete from the Supreme Court, we hear from a majority and we hear from a dissent. But this first draft of the majority decision was made available in an entirely unprecedented way. And for some people might further bring into question the legitimacy of this Supreme Court.

According to Politico and our own reporting confirms this, Chief Justice John Roberts would be dissent in an opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he will be even more concerned about the outcome of this ruling now.

Joan Biskupic, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: All right, you just heard Joan there call it seismic. And in fact, the political and legal reaction has been like an earthquake right through this entire country.

CNN's Don Lemon spoke to three of our legal analysts earlier. Here's what they had to say about the Supreme Court and what they might be looking to do when they -- if they vote to strike down Roe versus Wade, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This opinion can be if true, narrowed down and defined quite simply, women are not viewed as equal to men.

PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I think that the fact of the leak is reflective of how serious an issue it must be and how strongly people must feel including on the Supreme Court because we've never seen anything like this before.

As you know, Don, I was booked on the show a few hours ago to talk about the investigation into the insurrection on January 6th, and obviously, the new cycle has changed.

But if you think about it for a minute, I think it's not too great a stretch to say there is some connection between an effort to overturn an election and an effort to overturn Roe. And it's this as I've been thinking about it. There's a segment of the ideological spectrum now, who thinks it has certain kinds of powers and wants to engage in radical efforts to overturn things that they don't like, there's no more incrementalism. There's no more compromise. You don't like the results of an election, you stormed the Capitol. And you talk about hanging the vice president of the United States and you get the presidency back.

Similarly here, we've been talking for the last number of months about this move towards, you know, the eradication of abortion by the Supreme Court and a lot of people were assuming that there would be a nuanced opinion of some sort, and attempt to gut Roe without directly overturning Roe.

[00:05:14]

BHARARA: That's not what you see in this draft opinion, you see a direct onslaught a direct -- and I think, given the history and the precedent, radical effort to erase Roe.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This should not be a surprise, when Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he could not have been more explicit. He said over and over again, I will appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

And what I think he meant by that was, he was going to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. And if this little leak is accurate, and I have every reason to believe that it is. That's precisely what happened.

And you know, when Democrats have tried to point call attention to this, people have said, oh, they're overreacting. They're panicking. It's not true. Roe v. Wade has been around for 50 years, no one's going to ever overturn it.

Well, take a look at this. This is what Republicans and conservatives have been trying to do for decades, and it looks like they succeeded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, that was Don Lemon speaking earlier to CNN Legal Analyst Laura Coates, Preet Bharara and Jeffrey Toobin, as we say, this could possibly change a law that has stood in the United States for nearly a half century. And we will continue to follow breaking news as we continue to have those live protests in fact, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington.

We do now want to go to other news, including the conflict there in Ukraine and now U.S. and Western officials believe Vladimir Putin could formally declare a war on Ukraine as soon as May 9th. That's Victory Day in Russia marking the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.

Now, remember, to this point, Russia has only referred to it as an invasion and a special military operation. They deny that this is a war.

Meantime, Russian forces appear to be pushing further to the west in Ukraine. Local officials report a number of Russian missile strikes now in the city of Odessa. Ukraine's president says a 14-year-old boy was killed and another team wounded in an attack on a dormitory.

There are also signs that Ukrainian forces are fighting back, video posted online shows the aftermath of a large explosion at an airfield in a Russian held area near Kherson. Neither side is commenting on the cause.

Ukraine in fact is claiming success and regaining territory around its second largest city Kharkiv, but to the south of Kharkiv, a U.S. diplomat reports highly credible intelligence that Russia may try to annex the separatist helped Donetsk and Luhansk regions known as the Donbass, as well as Kharkiv along that southern coast.

And for more now on the situation in Ukraine, we want to join our Isa Soares has been following all of this for us from Lviv.

And again, Isa, interesting here as they continue to try and get those civilians evacuated out of Mariupol. A lot of confusion as to exactly how many have been now evacuated and where they've gone.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: A very good morning to you, Paula. A very confusing situation that may bring our viewers up to date with what we know. It's been a desperate situation, of course, going even worse in the besieged city of Mariupol.

The city council says that evacuations are due to resume over the coming hours, we'll keep an eye on those but past efforts to be completely honest have been hit and miss.

And Russian shelling is once again nonstop. That's what we've been told on Monday, some evacuees began arriving in Zaporizhzhia as the city is still under Ukrainian control.

But the fate of civilians trapped inside a bombed out steel plant is even less clear at this point. Around 100 were able to make it out on Sunday.

But another round of evacuations planned for Monday actually never happened. And the Ukrainian commander at the steel plant says they've been under constant bombardment since early Monday. And this video really appears to confirm those reports. It shows a large plume of smoke as you can see there rising over the city from an area near the plant. And for those who did make it out to safety, as you can imagine, the relief is palpable, but the future remains uncertain.

Our Nick Paton Walsh has this report from Zaporizhzhia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After two months when they finally emerged into the light, it was a ravaged world that awaited them. Path out through this Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant battered by Russian explosives for weeks could easily be mistaken for the first steps of help.

[00:10:01]

WALSH: But rescue awaited at its end, these Ukrainians who had endured the savage rumble of blasts above grateful to be whisked out. Even if it is through a hometown now unrecognizable.

(INAUDIBLE) six months the day before they say so has spent a third of his life underground. The children always wanted to eat she says, adults you know can wait.

But this was the beginning of possibly thousands of similar journeys here escorted by the United Nations and Red Cross during a brief pause in the violence after weeks of cajoling in Moscow and Kyiv at the highest level.

Thank you and stay healthy, she says walking out.

These pictures filmed in Russian controlled territory appear to show some of the first movements out of Mariupol guided by the U.N. They are still here under Russian armed guard and Russia's Ministry of Defense Monday claimed 11 evacuees had decided to stay in territory they control and 69 to head to Zaporizhzhia held by Ukraine.

Still, Monday before dusk, none of the convoy either from Azovstal or the wider (PH) tens of thousands of civilians who might want to get out in the U.N. move and arrived here.

A welcome center where slowly people have been arriving from wider Mariupol in the areas around it under their own steam over journeys spending grievance days.

Tatiana (PH) said she got out of Mariupol three days ago, they bombed the buildings or flame, she says, the bodies have been buried. Her unbroken spirits clear when she tries to get up and walk before she's reminded her wheelchair is there for a purpose.

In the days ahead, the numbers under U.N. escort arriving here will be a powerful omen of whether any sort of talking in this war can save lives.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Stay on top of any evacuations that take place this morning.

Joining me now from California, Steve Fish, professor of Political Science at U.C. Berkeley, a very good evening to you there, Steve.

Let me start really what we've heard overnight, your thoughts that U.S. and Western officials believe Vladimir Putin could formally declare war on Ukraine as soon as May the 9th? What would that mean you think in the battlefield? How would it change this war, Steve?

Can you hear me there, Steve? I'm just trying to see if we got you. Can you hear me at all?

It doesn't seem that we have got Steve, we will try and reconnect with him and see if we can talk to him of course, about what is happening not just in Mariupol, but also the developments we have seen on the east of the country and their offensive as Russia continues to push in. We'll try and reconnect and see if we can reach out to him.

In the meantime though, I want to send it back to Paula Newton in Atlanta, Paula.

NEWTON: Thank you, Isa, I'll take it from here. Russia's top diplomat drags out a conspiracy theory about Adolf Hitler in an attempt to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it's not going over well, we'll explain when we'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:48]

SOARES: Welcome back, I'm Isa Soares coming to you live from Lviv, Ukraine. Here joined us just before the break, I was trying to reconnect with Steve Fish who's a professor of political science at U.C. Berkeley.

I believe we have you now, Steve, hopefully you can hear me and I don't if you -- obviously, you didn't hear my question initially. But I wanted really to get your thoughts on what we heard overnight that U.S. and Western officials believe Vladimir Putin could formally declare war in Ukraine as soon as May the 9th. What would that mean really? How would it change this war?

STEVE FISH, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, U.C. BERKELEY: Honestly, it won't change much, Isa. He's already throwing everything he's got at this war. And for him to declare war formally, would then open up the possibility of him pressing more Russian young men into service in Ukraine.

But the point is that -- I mean, he's-- you know, these will be untrained people, troop morale is incredibly low. It's not really obvious at all to me what good is going to do to declare war, when there's actually already a war going on. And he's throwing everything he's got at Ukraine. I think this is just symbolic.

SOARES: Yes, I mean, it could potentially change, it doesn't seem like you potentially change the narrative at all.

But you know, also worrying that we've heard in the last 24 hours or so, from the ambassador, U.S. ambassador in fact to the OSCE, there are plans to create a people's Republican Kherson.

Of course, this follows reports by Ukrainians, they're preparing an independence referendum, and even beginning to use the ruble from next week. What does that tell you, Steve, about Russia's intentions here in the South, as well as the east of Ukraine?

FISH: Well, what it tells us is that Russia, kind of what's been obvious from the beginning, which is Russia wants to conquer Ukraine, all of it, or as much of it is it can actually have.

Now, they can hold all the referendums they want and change to the ruble and try to form a new People's Republic.

But the fact is, I don't think they're actually going to be able to hold this territory. They could do this if they want. But right now, given the abysmal performance of the Russian military, and the truly amazing performance of the Ukrainian military, there's no reason for us to think that somehow they're going to actually be able to conquer this territory and then exit to Russia. We do know that this is what Putin wants to do but his capability of doing so is a whole another matter.

[00:20:08]

SOARES: Yes, we have seen you're quite right. We have seen Ukrainians holding ground and pushing the Russians back. If we turned to Mariupol, of course, we are expecting to see another round of evacuations for the city of Mariupol for those who have been sheltering in the city, about 100,000 or so inside the city looking to get out.

Yesterday's evacuations was somewhat, you know, hit and miss with regards to the ones -- the civilians inside, of course Azovstal, how do you see this playing out? Because clearly trust, as we've seen, the last 24 hours is no longer present here.

FISH: No, there hasn't been any trust for a long time between the Russians and Ukrainians and for good reason, the Russians always turn these humanitarian corridors into war zones. So, I don't think we're going to see any -- we're not going to see anything there that's going to be of great consequence.

Look, in the bigger picture here, Russia is losing this war. And it's losing it in a very big way. What we're seeing here in the big picture is that Russia doesn't have an army. It doesn't have an air force, it doesn't have a navy. This is a world changing revolution finding out that Russia's whole military is a Potemkin operation.

This also reflects on what we know about autocracy. And about Putin's autocracy, which is considered the gold standard of autocracy. Many people have thought that autocracies are somehow stronger, or better at building stronger militaries and so on.

What we're seeing now is exactly the opposite. The Russian military so ill equipped, its soldiers are so poorly rationed, due to the fact that there's so much corruption in the system, that there's been a lot of skimming by the -- on the part of bureaucrats and military officials, that this is not even a war ready army.

And we're seeing democracies on the other hand uniting, we're seeing the weapons that the Ukrainians are using actually working. So, what we're seeing here in the big picture is a kind of vindication of democracy.

And, you know, the revelation that autocracy is not very efficient, it's not very effective. It's not very good even on security policy.

SOARES: Yes, Western democracies uniting and more united NATO too as a consequence of this war.

Steve Fish, appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. Thanks very much, Steve.

And I'll have much more from Lviv in just a few minutes. In the meantime, I'm going to send it back to Paula Newton in Atlanta, Paula.

NEWTON: And thank you, Isa.

Meantime, outrage is erupting around the world over comments the Russian Foreign Minister made about Adolf Hitler, Jews and Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov told the Italian T.V. that Hitler had Jewish blood, and that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.

He was trying to support Kremlin rhetoric that claims the Russian invasion was needed to de-Nazify Ukraine and he shrugged off the fact that Ukraine was -- does at this hour have a Jewish president. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky loudly denounced his remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): How could this be said on the eve of the anniversary of the victory over Nazism? His words mean that Russia's top diplomat is blaming the Jewish people for Nazi crimes. No words.

Such an anti-Semitic thrust by their minister means Russia has forgotten all the lessons of World War II, or maybe they never studied those lessons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, those comments were deemed so absurd that Israeli leaders have called Lavrov's marks unforgivable lies.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more reaction now. He's reporting from Moscow where the Kremlin has imposed strict laws regarding how Russia's presence in Ukraine is described.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister was attempting to justify why his country has sent so many troops across the border into neighboring Ukraine.

They say it's because the Ukraine of today is run by Neo Nazis, and that it represents an existential threat to Russia in the same way that Nazi Germany did in the 1940s.

We've seen that rhetoric from the beginning of this -- of this -- Russians called their special military operation. And we're seeing that rhetoric being set up in the last few weeks, last few days in particular, because we're in the lead up to the May the 9th Victory Day celebrations, our commemorations where Russia commemorates the end of the Second World War, Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. And so, we're seeing more move.

It's a problem, of course, with the -- with that -- with that narrative is that Ukraine isn't run by Neo Nazis. It's run by a Jewish president. And when confronted with that fact, Sergey Lavrov reached for that anti-Semitic trope that its Jews are the worst anti-Semites and sort of reached as well for that conspiracy theory that got a lot of currency on the internet in some quarters that Hitler himself may have been partly Jewish, which is you know, something that's been discredited by historians.

[00:25:16]

CHANCE: And the condemnation has been, you know, there's been no mention of it in Russia, I have to say. But the condemnation from elsewhere has been pretty sharp, particularly from Israel.

The Israeli Prime Minister calling it lies Israeli Foreign Minister saying that the comments by his Russian counterpart were unforgivable, which is interesting in itself, because Israel has been one of the countries that's been sitting on -- sitting on the fence when it comes to its condemnation of Russia. It hasn't fully signed up to the international rafts of sanctions against the country over its action inside Ukraine.

And so, you know, there's a possibility that that could -- that could change. We'll see.

But certainly, you know, a very sharp diplomatic reaction to Sergey Lavrov's words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And our thanks to Matthew Chance there reporting from Moscow.

Still to come for us, we are following late breaking reaction to the news that Politico has published what it says is a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Now we continue to follow breaking news this hour.

[00:30:31]

The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guarantees a woman's right to an abortion. Politico has published what it calls a majority draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. The decision itself would be stunning, but the fact that it has gone public before any official ruling is also unprecedented.

There's already been strong and swift reaction, as you can imagine, to this breaking news, including from the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood.

Now, she spoke earlier with CNN's Anderson Cooper and called the draft opinion unconscionable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON, PRESIDENT & CEO, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: What we have seen tonight is not just a draft. We believe this is a roadmap for how they will take Roe down. And we have already seen it over these last nine months in Texas. The devastation of what we have seen. Patients traveling thousands of miles to get access to basic abortion care.

But I will tell you, abortion is still legal right now. We are letting our patients know, patients who are seeking access to abortion, that they can still go and seek their provider right now. But what is happening right now in front of the court is -- is unbelievable.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How many states do you think would still continue to -- If it goes to state legislatures, how many states do you think would actually still continue to allow abortions to take place?

JOHNSON: Here's what we know. We know that there are 26 states that are poised and ready and emboldened, quite frankly, because of this court to overturn Roe in their own states, right? Once the federal protection is gone, it means that the states will now be making these decisions.

And we've already seen it, as I've said, in Texas. We've seen Florida move to 15-week bans, Arizona moved to 15-week bans. We've seen Oklahoma, Idaho move to six-week bans.

We will see 26 states move to ensure that we no longer have control over our own bodies to make these decisions about ourselves, about our families; and that is actually what is truly devastating right now. So they forecast this in the draft opinion, however it was leaked, which is unprecedented in itself.

But what was almost unprecedented is the fact that we have had this right for 49 years. For 49 years we have fought to make sure that we are able to make these decisions, not some lawmakers down the street. Not somebody who honestly doesn't even know our bodies work. And now, they are determined to take this right away from us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now that was Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. She was speaking earlier with CNN's Anderson Cooper, and she alluded to the fact that what might now exist in the United States would be a patchwork of laws throughout the country.

Now, people in the meantime, have been very active on Twitter, and that includes some people cheering the fact that this may come to fruition. We will continue to follow that breaking news for you in the coming minutes and hours.

In the meantime, people are returning to a village near Kyiv decimated by Russian attacks. Why things remain dangerous in Moschun weeks after a Russian retreat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:55]

NEWTON: After Russians abandoned their campaign around Kyiv in March, residents of the heavily-damaged village of Moschun slowly started coming back.

CNN's Matt Rivers was there and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the entrance to the Ukrainian village of Moschun, an effigy twists in the breeze, a uniform stripped off a dead Russian soldier, stuffed and hung from a tree. People hate Russia here, because of what it did.

The tiny town northwest of Kyiv has been leveled. Russian bombs, rockets, bullets destroyed street after street after street. This was the site of some of the most intense fighting of the war so far. On their drive towards Kyiv the Russians attacked soldiers and civilians alike here. Ukrainian bunkers alongside ordinary Houses, shelled relentlessly, to devastating effect.

RIVERS (on camera): This was probably somebody's kitchen. You can see there's an oven there, some pots and pans, a microwave. This isn't a big city, but the scale of destruction in this village is on par with anything else we've seen across Ukraine.

This House gets hit with artillery, there's subsequent fire, and just look. I mean, it's eviscerated. If there is a building in this village that hasn't been damaged in this fighting, we haven't seen it yet.

VALENTINA FURSA, RESIDENT OF MOSCHUN, UKRAINE (through translator): Boom, boom, boom, fire, fire. It was everywhere. It's a nightmare. RIVERS (voice-over): Valentino Fursa has lived in Moschun for years

and has never known war until it landed on her doorstep and forced her down into a neighbor's basement.

RIVERS (on camera): How scared were you?

FURSA (through translator): We were very scared. My heart was beating very fast. We thought we would die there. The Russians fight indiscriminately.

RIVERS (voice-over): The fighting only eased when Russia withdrew from the entire Kyiv region. Valentina emerging from the basement to find shell casings in her garden, and whatever else the Russians left behind.

[00:40:03]

RIVERS (on camera): So all of these things, she says, the Russians left behind. So this -- washing your hands, another cup of some kind here. There's some sort of lifejacket that the Russians used. And then even here, you've got old mailboxes, even, with some things left inside that you can see.

RIVERS (voice-over): For nearly two months after the fighting, residents stayed away, a trickle have now started to return. For them, Russia's lasting effects here more than just bullet holes and bomb craters.

RIVERS (on camera): Not only do people who are trying to rebuild so often have to start from scratch, but there remains so many mines and pieces of unexploded ordinance that authorities are actually considering closing down this town for a few days until they can clear it.

RIVERS (voice-over): It's open for now, though, which meant Valentina Marhonos could come back home for the first time in weeks. The weather was nice, so her niece and nephew played on the swing. Different than the last time they were here, when they hid in a basement as bombs destroyed everything above.

RIVERS (on camera): Is it difficult to think about that?

VALENTINA MARHONOS, RESIDENT OF MOSCHUN, UKRAINE (through translator): I don't even know what to say.

RIVERS (voice-over): What we can say is that this tiny town has turned into a symbol of sorts, a village mercilessly attacked that, in the and, stood its ground. A microcosm, perhaps, of the country in which it lies.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Moschun, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center in Atlanta. WORLD SPORT is next for our international viewers. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:53]

NEWTON: And updating our breaking news this hour, Politico has published what it calls a majority draft opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court which would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, guaranteeing a woman's right to an abortion.

Now, to be clear, this is not official. The formal opinion from the justices is not expected until late June.

But the early publication of this is unprecedented and is being roundly criticized by conservatives, who feel it is a breach of the court's confidentiality. You see it there. Politico actually published the entire 98-page draft.

Now, Democrats and abortion rights advocates, meantime, are expressing outrage if this draft opinion is indeed true. In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer say this would, quote, "inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years."

And more now from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says she is hoping to get more aid to Ukraine as quickly as possible. She says Congress could take up a $33 billion measure by next week.

Pelosi led a congressional delegation on a visit to Kyiv last week. She's the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.

She says her time in Kyiv with President Zelenskyy was informative and inspiring. Ukraine says more than 9,000 cases of war crimes, meantime, by Russian troops are now being investigated, and many of the victims of those crimes are children.

CNN's Sara Sidner spoke to one grandmother who is mourning the loss of her granddaughter. And a warning: the images you're about to see are graphic and, of course, hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixty-eight-year-old Galina (ph) stands over her 7-year-old granddaughter's fresh grave. This is only the second time she's been able to visit the remains of her sweet, funny girl since the Russians rolled into town, snuffing out life as casually as putting out cigarettes.

These are the faces of the children of Russia's war on Ukraine. Two sisters the family says were shot in a Russian attack in Bucha. Eleven-year-old Lita flinches in pain, hospitalized. Her 7-year-old sister, Anastasia (ph), lies motionless beside her. She never regains consciousness.

SIDNER: Tell me about your granddaughter. SIDNER (voice-over): "Nastia," she says, calling her granddaughter by

her nickname, "she was so nice. Everyone loved me where we lived. She loved me and always asked me to sing a song for her."

SIDNER: Will you sing the song that your granddaughter loved for us?

SIDNER (voice-over): She refuses, because the song that used to bring them both joy only brings her pain now. She was there to witness the murder of 7-year-old Anastasia (ph) and the wounding of a second grandchild, who remains hospitalized.

She says a Russian sniper shot through their vehicle from these woods as the entire family, seven children and three adults, tried to escape the Russian siege of Bucha.

"These children were scared. They were all screaming," she says. "And I asked the soldier to help us. I was begging them, saying, don't you have kids of your own?"

Funeral director Anna Konachenko (ph) says theirs is a story that has played out again and again around here.

SIDNER: What are these families enduring?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Russians would not let them bury loved ones at the cemetery. People had to bury them in their own backyards first, then later at the cemetery.

SIDNER (voice-over): The family, she says, have to endure two burials. They have to go through that pain twice.

At the cemetery these days, Ukraine's old war heroes are being joined by young war victims. In Bucha alone, the local prosecutor says at least 31 children were killed by Russian forces, 19 injured.

SIDNER: Are these war crimes being committed?

[00:50:06]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): War crimes, yes, that will never be forgiven, neither in heaven nor on earth. They must burn in hell.

SIDNER (voice-over): Seething anger pours from her lips. She's seen too much death, too many fresh graves, including the burial of 15- year-old Anya alongside her mother. Both shot and burned to death in their car after encountering Russian tanks as they tried to flee Bucha.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was a nice, happy family. The mom gave all her love to her children.

Anya's 14-year-old schoolmate says the Russians killed a girl with a warm smile and big talent. The art Anya made a reminder of the beauty she brought to the world at such a young age. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They just wanted to save

themselves and they were shot, just because Russians wanted to do so. Those bastards don't know why they came here, but they had fun doing it.

SIDNER: In Anastasia's (ph) case, her grandmother says her son-in-law has already talked to authorities, but for now, her once bright, lively granddaughter is alone. Her final resting place awaits her remains. Anastasia will finally be beside her own mother, who died of cancer not long after Anastasia was born.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Moschun.

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NEWTON: Now to a CNN exclusive. The chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is giving us some insight now into testimony from the former president's daughter, Ivanka Trump.

House Democrat Bennie Thompson tells CNN the testimony was not against Donald Trump himself, but it was useful in confirming other key testimony about what was going on inside the White House on that day.

And Thompson said this. Quote, "There were questions asked about what was -- what she was doing at the time that the insurrection was occurring at the Capitol, and she told us. They asked certain questions about her awareness of what her father was doing, she told us, so, in that respect, we've been able to fill in a lot of gaps."

Now, in addition to Ivanka Trump, her brother Donald Trump Jr. is also expected to testify, and work is under way to schedule his appearance.

A warrant has been issued for an Alabama corrections officer after she and an inmate went missing from a detention center Friday. Now, a manhunt is still under way for both, and the Lauderdale County sheriff says it appears the officer is willfully assisting the inmate, who is charged with capital murder.

CNN's Ryan Young has our details.

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RICK SINGLETON, LAUDERDALE COUNTY, ALABAMA SHERIFF: I'd be surprised if they're still in Alabama.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, a manhunt is under way for a dangerous murder suspect and Correction Officer Vicky White, who may have helped the inmate escape.

SINGLETON: If she did this willingly -- all indications are that she did. I guess we're trying to hold onto that last straw of hope that maybe for some reason she was threatened and did this under coercion, but absolutely, you feel betrayed.

YOUNG (voice-over): Friday morning, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office says Assistant Director Vicky White told her coworkers she was taking inmate Casey White to the county courthouse for a mental health evaluation.

Casey White is awaiting trial on murder charges. Investigators say security video shows the pair never arrived at the courthouse, and no evaluation or court appearance was even scheduled.

Several hours later, White's patrol car was found abandoned in a shopping center parking lot less than a mile away from the detention facility.

SINGLETON: We've gotten a couple of tips from -- on the possible vehicle. We're still pursuing that.

YOUNG (voice-over): Investigators say they still have no evidence of a relationship between them.

SINGLETON: We're still looking into that, reviewing phone calls, reviewing video from the jail.

YOUNG (voice-over): CNN got a first-hand look at security procedures inside the detention center.

You can see how all this works. There's security at every single level. They have to radio it in.

YOUNG (voice-over): The sheriff says Vicky White actually violated protocol when she removed Casey White from the detention facility.

YOUNG: This is the hallway where the inmate would be walking down. You go through this day to a port where he would be loaded into a car.

Normally, it's two deputies per van, but this time, it was just the deputy and the inmate.

YOUNG (voice-over): The sheriff says since Vicky White is in charge of the detention center, no one questioned her.

The sheriff's office says last week, after about two decades with the department, Vicky White put in her retirement papers. Friday was supposed to be her last day.

Casey White was already serving 75 years for a rash of crimes. Next month, he's scheduled to go on trial on two counts of capital murder for the stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway in 2015. Tonight, investigators are hopeful he'll soon be back behind bars.

MARTY KEELY, U.S. MARSHAL, NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA: Keep in mind that Casey White is a large individual. He is 6'9" tall. He will stand out.

YOUNG: Right now, there's a lot of questions about how this played out.

[00:55:03] Of course, Vicky White worked here for more than 15 years, so there's a lot of shock in terms of the deputies who work here about exactly what happened. They're hoping to get some sort of tip that leads them to a break in this investigation. But right now, just a lot of questions.

Reporting in Lauderdale County, Alabama, Ryan Young, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: We're tracking history in the making off the coast of New Zealand. A U.S.-based rocket lab, a company whose goal it is to launch satellites quickly and cheaply, has used a helicopter -- so, think about this -- a helicopter to catch a rocket booster as it parachuted to Earth.

Now, the live stream shows the helicopter snagging the parachute before the pilot decided to drop the rocket. Now, a company official described the catch as spectacular and a monumental step forward.

The ability to catch a rocket, of course, is part of the company's goal of reusable rockets, right? And they have this in mind so that they can cut the coast of going to space.

NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton right here at CNN Center. I'll be back, though, with our two major breaking news stories, both in Ukraine and here in the United States, right after a quick break.

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