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Republicans Focused On Investigating Supreme Court Leak; Mariupol Steel Plant Evacuees Arrive In Zaporizhizhia; Western Officials Warn Vladimir Putin May Ramp Up War Efforts Soon; Oklahoma Governor Signs Abortion Bill Modeled After Texas Law; Elderly Woman Survives Artillery Attack; Trump-Backed Vance Wins Ohio GOP Senate Primary; Protests in U.S. after Abortion Rights Draft Opinion Leak. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 04, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
And an explosion of shock and fury is being felt right across the United States after the revelation that the Supreme Court could be on the cusp of ending a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. A right millions have held sacred for nearly half a century.
You hear their protests have erupted everywhere from the steps of the Supreme Court, you see the video right there. But that is well continued to capital cities right across the country and many places in between.
The outrage was triggered by the leak of a draft opinion that indicates the Supreme Court is preparing to strike down Roe versus Wade. Now, that's the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion rights the law of the land.
The author of the opinion, Samuel Alito calls Roe egregiously wrong. And that carries a lot of weight as he and four other conservative justices now hold a majority on the Supreme Court.
U.S. President Joe Biden, meantime says a woman's right to an abortion is "fundamental". And that the Supreme Court's decision if it becomes official, could end up affecting all decisions in Americans' private lives.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: if this decision holds, it's really quite a radical decision. Does this mean that in Florida, they can decide they're going to pass a law saying that same sex marriage is not permissible? It's against the law in Florida? And so, there's a whole -- it's a fundamental shift in American jurisprudence. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, on the flipside, many conservative Republicans see the likely demise of Roe v. Wade as a victory in their decade's long battle against legalized abortion. Some are celebrating loudly and proudly.
Others are taking a more subdued approach for fear of alienating moderate voters ahead of those crucial midterm elections. And they're also trying to shift the focus to investigating who was behind the leak, the unprecedented leak of that draft opinion.
CNN's Paula Reid has that story.
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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The leaked draft sparking protests across the country. And prompting questions Chief Justice John Roberts --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you plan to investigate the leak?
REID: -- seen here leaving his home Tuesday, issued a statement calling the leak and egregious breach. He has directed the marshal of the court to investigate.
The court confirms the draft is authentic but cautioned it does not represent a decision or position of any member on the issues in the case.
The nearly 100-page opinion says a majority of justices are prepared to uphold a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks and overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a right to abortion 50 years ago, leaving it to individual states to determine abortions' legality.
Justice Samuel Alito, author of the draft stating there is no inherent right to an abortion. Writing: The Constitution makes no reference to abortion and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.
Alito says Roe was egregiously wrong from the start, and that its reasoning was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging consequences.
The opinion is not expected to be published until late next month, and could still be modified as draft opinions circulate and justices can change their vote.
Sources tell CNN Roberts do not want to completely overturn Roe. It appears Alito was joined in his majority by justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
Even though Kavanaugh and Gorsuch called Roe the law of the land during their confirmation hearings.
BRETT KAVANAUGH, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: It is an important precedent of the Supreme Court.
NEIL GORSUCH, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: That's the law of the land. I accept the law of the land, Senator, yes.
REID: Senator Susan Collins who voted in support of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said today in a statement, the draft opinion was completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office.
President Biden called the draft decision radical and echoed concerns that this decision could serve as a template for limiting other individual rights previously recognized by the court, like same sex marriage and access to contraception.
[00:05:06]
BIDEN: If the rationale of the decision as released were to be sustained, a whole range of rights are in question.
REID: But in the wake of this draft opinion, Democrats are vowing to fight to protect abortion rights.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Will go down as an abomination. One of the worst, most damaging decisions in modern history.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): We could pass a law to protect every woman's right to an abortion. And we should do that.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): If this turns out to be the opinion of the court and it's issued, it could have a major impact on the outcome of this election.
REID: Republicans are condemning the leak itself.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Whoever committed this lawless act knew exactly what it could bring about.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Whoever did this leak should be prosecuted and should go to jail for a very long time. This has shaken the independence and the ability of the judiciary to function.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Donald Trump apparently still has that magic touch with Republican voters in Ohio. CNN projects J.D. Vance will win the state's GOP Senate primary.
Now, the former president endorsed Vance, a venture capitalist best known as the author of the book: Hillbilly Elegy. Vance will face Congressman Tim Ryan in November's midterm election and the winner will replace retiring Republican Senator Rob Portman.
Now, in the Ohio governor's race meantime CNN projects incumbent Mike DeWine will win the Republican primary. Trump did not endorse any candidate in that race. DeWine will face former Dayton Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley, who won the Democratic primary there.
To some developing news here, South Korea and Japan are reporting another suspected ballistic missile launch by North Korea. Seoul says an unidentified projectile was fired to the east of the Korean Peninsula just a short time ago. Japan's Coast Guard believes the missile has already fallen into the water.
Now, late last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to ramp up his development of nuclear arms, including an intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts say it puts the entire U.S. now -- the entire U.S. mainland that is in range. And we of course will bring you more details on this story as they become available.
To Ukraine now and it is assessing the damage after several regions were hit by Russian missile strikes in the west. The mayor of Lviv says two people are injured after missiles hit their. Images you see their show a power station on fire in the aftermath, knocking electricity for most of the city Tuesday, water supplies were also affected. For instance, missile strikes throughout the country caused severe damage to railways and infrastructure.
Meantime, a new video shows Ukraine's artillery and attack drones continue to be effective against Russian armor in the East. A number of Russian military vehicles destroyed in the village south of Kharkiv. Heavy fighting has devastated the area as Russia continues to push ahead with its offensive and Ukrainian forces continue to resist.
And for more on the situation in Ukraine, we want to bring in our Isa Soares who is in Lviv for us and really some harrowing hours on Tuesday for that city that is usually spared, right?
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: A city that by the way, has seen very little in terms of missile strikes, and it's been a refuge, I think it's fair to say Paula for so many.
But yes, our team on the ground did see large plumes of smoke really here from this vantage point yesterday. But all lies of course not just on those missile strikes, but also on the harrowing journey Paula, that to safety for so many in Mariupol finally complete for dozens of civilians fleeing the besieged city of Mariupol. Before hundreds of others of course, the terrifying wait continues at least for now.
A Ukrainian official say there are planning more evacuation efforts in the coming hour to the city of Mariupol if it's safe enough to do so. Of course, we'll keep an eye on that.
In the Ukrainian health city of Zaphorizhzhia, there were tears of joy and relief of course on Tuesday. More than 150 evacuees from Mariupol finally arrived, you can see there around 100 of them had been evacuated from the bombed out Azovstal steel plant.
But Mariupol's mayor says hundreds remain trapped inside the sprawling industrial complex under relentless attack.
Well, according to officials from both sides, Russian forces have launched a fresh round of attacks on the planet. A Ukrainian commander inside the Azovstal says they've been under constant fire and he says at least two civilians sheltering in a bunker were killed during these attacks that you saw there on Monday.
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SOARES: CNN's Nick Payton Walsh was in Zaphorizhzhia for us when those evacuees from the Mariupol steel plant began to arrive on Tuesday. He spoke with two women about some of the horrors they endured while trapped underground.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Five buses only, but within them, the world's hopes of a way to deliver innocent Ukrainians to safety from Russia's onslaught.
Just over 100 civilians, the first to leave the basement of the Azovstal steel plant to Mariupol, bringing with them stories of the circle of hell they lived in underground for weeks.
This is Olga (PH), after two months in the dark, she struggles in sunlight still.
I asked her if she can see OK. Bad, she says, I can't see anything in the sun.
Age 78 and she keeps saying completely alone. Her entire life is in these two bags.
48 hours earlier, she was pictured in a Ukrainian military video just walking out of Mariupol cheerfully across a bridge.
Now, via the U.N. and Red Cross, talks in Moscow and Kyiv and countless Russian checkpoints, she is here, worried she cannot fend for herself as a wound to her leg isn't healing because of her diabetes.
The head torch that was her only source of light still around her neck, her toilet roll in her pocket.
OLGA, MARIUPOL STEEL PLANT EVACUEE (through translator): Toilet paper. Everything I own, I have with me. I went to the basement with just a bag and left with it.
I thank the boys who carried me out. Thanks to them. Lord bless them. I can't say anything bad about our soldiers there, Azov or not Azov.
They held me in their hands, brought me out. One of them wanted to lift me up but I said you can't. They took each other's hands to lift me. It's hard to carry an old lady like me.
WALSH: Also coming off the bus is another familiar face. Anna (PH), with six month old Skatoslav (PH), embraced by her brother. One of many family reunions here. She was also seen in the same video as Olga leaving Mariupol. The day
after Skatoslav turned six -months-old. She is a French teacher in happier times.
How do you feel now?
ANNA, AZOVSTAL EVACUEE: Now, I feel happy and exhausted. Because two months in basement.
WALSH: How do you live for two months in a basement with a four-month- old boy?
ANNA: Now, I smile because I can smile finally. Because all these months I was crying to the Lord every day. Emotionally it was really very, very difficult. When we didn't have any hot water for him, we just took a candle and we heat the water on the candle.
WALSH: The busy world she's emerged into now different for her.
ANNA: For me now, how to say it?
WALSH: Air strikes.
ANNA: Yes, it's the most difficult and the most scary. Because now, I when I -- sorry, it's emotional. Now, when there are lots of noise, I have like a reflex to hide myself, you know?
WALSH: What are you going to tell him when he's older?
ANNA: I just tell him that. He was really very, very brave boy. Very brave. He's very calm. He's the best child in the world. I can say he's an angel (PH).
WALSH: Sleeping well, so that's good.
ANNA: Yes, all the time. And also, I can say that he I didn't want for him to repeat this story -- to repeat the story with his child.
WALSH: Yet, the terror they bore witness to will fuel a loathing that won't pass quickly.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaphorizhzhia, Ukraine.
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SOARES: A brave boy and indeed a very brave mommy too. Joining me now from Milan, Italy is Gerard Roland, a professor of economics and political science at the University of California Berkeley.
Gerard, a very good morning to you. Let me start really with the missile attacks that we have seen late last night here across the country, including here I am in Lviv. It seems from what Ukrainian officials are telling us, Gerard, that Russian forces are targeting once again the logistics, the transport of military equipment. What does this tell you about how the battle is going here?
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GERARD ROLAND, ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE A PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY: So, what we see is that, you know, on the ground, it's now been two weeks since the Donbass offensive started, and they're not really moving much.
However, they are bombing Ukraine, like, you know, all over the country, yesterday, they've been targeting electricity, infrastructure, trying to stop transport and they're continuing to bomb, you know, major cities.
Mariupol is completely bombed down, Kharkiv, and so, they're going to continue bombing and bombing even if they're not advancing very much.
SOARES: And do you think then, Gerard, on that point, do you think that these attacks will only start to ramp up as we get closer to that May 9th day that Russia's Victory parade?
ROLAND: Well, it doesn't seem that there's very much of a victory that they can announce, but they will always probably put some spin on it.
But the truth is that the Russian army is doing quite badly in this war so far compared to their initial objectives.
On the other hand, you know, the damage done to Ukraine is absolutely massive.
SOARES: Yes. And we see, of course, and we've seen right around -- right across Ukraine those missile attacks. But the fear is, from those I've been speaking to Gerard, that Putin could leverage the symbolic kind of significance of this state, use it as a propaganda value to then mobilize his forces and increase hostilities. How real is this?
ROLAND: It's still possible that Putin could mobilize more troops. As I said, they're going to continue bombing as long as they can. But you know, the morale of troops on the ground is not that great.
So, they already have over 100 battalions inside Ukraine. And they can continue mobilizing but it's not clear that this is going to have a major impact. I think, right now, they're just continuing to bomb and they think that they can terrorize Ukrainian population, but it has exactly the opposite effect.
SOARES: Yes, it has in many ways like you're saying, it has united them and made them even more defiant. I don't know if you heard in the last 24 hours or so Gerard, but U.S. intelligence officials saying that Russia will try to annex the separatist occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by mid-May. The U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE said yesterday, this is straight out of the Kremlin's playbook. Your thoughts on this?
ROLAND: Well, you know, exactly, they will announce an accession they're trying to organize a referendum in Kherson, apparently it's not working. They're forcing the population there to use rubles, but you know, they're really, you know, not winning any sympathy on the Ukrainian side.
SOARES: Yes, not winning in sympathy. And we saw the Ukrainians really standing their ground defiantly, pushing back against those forces in Kherson and we're seeing similar pushes, of course, in Kharkiv in the last 24 hours.
Professor Gerard Roland. I appreciate you taking time to speak to us. Thank you, professor.
And I'll have much more from Lviv the next hour. But first, I want to go back to Paula Newton in Atlanta. And Paula, of course, we'll keep it -- keeping an eye this morning once again on Mariupol on the possibility of more evacuations, of course 100,000 people still stuck stranded in within the city and so many hundreds more inside that steel plant. No word though, as to whether there'll be evacuations from the steel plant today, Paula.
NEWTON: OK, Isa, we'll continue to hope for good news. Appreciate it.
Still to come for us, the governor of Oklahoma says he wants his state to be the most prolife in the country as he signed a new abortion bill into law. We'll have the details of that up next.
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NEWTON: There's growing backlash to a draft opinion that shows the U.S. Supreme Court may be poised to end a woman's right to an abortion by striking down Roe v. Wade. Now, the news has sparked protests right across the country, including in Washington you see there in front of the Supreme Court.
Vice President Kamala Harris echoed the shock and anger and some pointed remarks saying if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it will be a "direct assault on freedom".
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How dare they? How dare they tell a woman what she can do and cannot do with her own body? How dare they? How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: In Oklahoma meantime, the state's Republican governor has just signed a bill modeled after the controversial Texas abortion law. It will prohibit abortions when a heartbeat is detected, which could be as early as six weeks.
Lucy Kafanov has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some conservative states like Oklahoma are already bracing if the leak draft opinion becomes the final decision.
EMILY VIRGIN, OKLAHOMA STATE HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: It signals something devastating for reproductive rights in Oklahoma and across the country.
KAFANOV: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, has said he would back any legislation that restricts abortion. Last month, he signed a bill into law that makes performing an abortion illegal in a state except in medical emergencies.
JIM OLSEN, OKLAHOMA STATE HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Criminalizes abortion makes it a felony for the doctor with penalties up to 10 years in prison and up to $100,000 fine.
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KAFANOV: The law bans all abortions unless the life of the mother is at stake. There is no exception for rape or incest.
NATHAN DAHM, OKLAHOMA STATE SENATE REPUBLICAN: Two wrongs don't make a right. And as horrific as rape and incest are, that innocent child should not lose their life because of that.
KAFANOV: The Oklahoma legislature also passed a Texas copycat bill called the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act, which would prohibit abortions as early as six weeks before many women even know they're pregnant. The measure does allow for exceptions in medical emergencies. The bill also allows private citizens to file a civil suit against anyone performing an abortion or knowingly, quote, aiding and abetting an abortion, including paying for the procedure. Abortion providers have already filed challenges to both bills to try to block them before they take effect.
What is the reality when it comes to abortion rights for women here in Oklahoma?
VIRGIN: Well, they're already severely restricted. They're not ending abortion for people who live in Oklahoma, they're just forcing them to go to another state.
KAFANOV: Oklahoma has already felt the effects of the Supreme Court allowing the Texas law to stand.
VIRGIN: We have very few abortion providers in Oklahoma. And those that do still exist are, of course, right now over burdened by folks coming in from Texas. And so, we can't meet the need that we currently have in Oklahoma.
KAFANOV: The number of women coming from Texas to get abortions in Oklahoma rising to more than 220 in each of the two months after the Texas law took effect in September, up from about 40 a month. Abortion rights activists saying ultimately, as more red states pass restrictive laws, women will have fewer and fewer choices. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the past, we've been able to rely on the court as a backstop to block some of the most egregious laws they've proposed. But we know that's not true anymore.
KAFANOV (on camera): Oklahoma's Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has signed the new restrictions into law on Tuesday. This is the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act modeled after that strict Texas law which bans abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, which is a time that most women don't even realize that they might be pregnant.
Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Oklahoma City.
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NEWTON: Just ahead for us, we go to a hospital in eastern Ukraine where an elderly woman describes how she and her mother survived a Russian artillery attack.
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NEWTON: As the fighting rages in Eastern Ukraine, the scars of war are plain to see among some Ukrainians who defiantly choose not to abandon their homes. And that includes an elderly woman and her 96-year-old mother -- 96 -- who somehow survived a Russian artillery attack, but another family member was not so lucky.
CNN's Sam Kiley has their story.
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SAM KILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since Russian rockets destroyed her home and killed her brother, all she has left is her mother and her life.
LUDMILLA (through translator): All at once, it had fallen one by one. There were explosions everywhere. All through the kitchen and the house, the windows and frame blew into the room. We were standing there. My brother was making the sign of the cross, and I'm shouting.
I turned away from him to look at the house, and then another rocket hit, and I was trapped under the rubble. I can't see my brother anymore. I fell, and I don't even know how I woke up and started pulling myself out. I'm all scratched and battered. I yelled, "Vita (ph), Vita (ph)," but he was gone.
KILEY (voice-over): Ludmilla's home was flattened in Lysychansk during the battle for Rubizhne, which is now in Russian hands. Putin's forces have been driving Southeast along the Donetsk River and South from Izium. Russia's stated aim is to capture all of the Donbas, and that includes Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
The governor of Luhansk says that Ukraine can hold the Russians back, for now.
"But," he says, "we need powerful long-range artillery. And that, unfortunately, is not here yet. And it could completely change the whole war. Without the heavy weapons already promised by the U.S. and other Western allies," he says, "the Russians will destroy everything with artillery and mortars. They destroy with aircraft. They use helicopters. They're just wiping everything off the face of the earth so there's nothing left to hang onto."
For Ukraine, this is an existential battle. Reinforcements have been rushed to the front lines, but there's no sign of the heavy weapons needed to block a Russian advance, much less reverse it.
The doctor says Ludmilla will be moved West for more treatment. But her fate, and that of her 96-year-old mother, is unknown.
"We simply cannot physically handle so many wounded with such severe injuries," he says.
This elderly woman, a victim of Russian shelling that morning, joins the ward. And more than 13 million other Ukrainians have fled their homes to escape Ludmilla's fate.
LUDMILLA (through translator): I was brought here naked. I had nothing at all, no money, no documents, nothing.
KILEY (voice-over): Yet, her very survival is a small victory over Putin, because she's been neither beggared nor beaten.
Sam Kiley, CNN, in Bakhmach (ph).
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NEWTON: Now, Russia is also doubling down on some controversial comments about neo-Nazis in Ukraine. And now Israel is right in the middle of this dispute. The latest lines from Moscow just ahead.
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NEWTON: Russia is raising the stakes in a high-level dispute with Israel over Ukraine, Adolf Hitler, and anti-Semitism.
The foreign ministry accuses Israel -- accuses Israel now -- of supporting, quote, "the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv."
Israeli officials are livid over comments from Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov. On Sunday, he claimed Hitler and Jewish blood and that the most -- Hitler had Jewish blood, and that the most ardent anti- Semites are usually Jews.
Israel has voted in the U.N. to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine but hasn't fully joined Western sanctions on Moscow.
U.S. President Joe Biden made a trip to Alabama on Tuesday to thank workers for supporting Ukraine's fight against Russia. The president spoke to employees at a Lockheed Martin facility. He told them the Javelin anti-tank missiles they manufacture make it possible for Ukraine to defend itself and keep U.S. troops out of the fight. [00:40:07]
And he again called on Congress to pass the $33 billion package of new aid to Ukraine.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know that the United States is leading our allies and partners around the world to make sure the courageous Ukrainians who are fighting for the future of the nation have the weapons and the capacity and ammunition and equipment to defend themselves against Putin's brutal war.
The U.S. Has delivered more than 5,000 Javelins to Ukraine and nearly 500 more have been received from allies.
The U.S. State Department is now classifying pro basketball star Brittney Griner as being wrongfully detained in Russia. That means that the U.S. won't have to wait for Griner's case to move through Russia's legal system and the U.S. will now seek to negotiate her return through President Biden's special envoy for hostage affairs.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February and accused of smuggling narcotics, it is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Now, I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center in Atlanta. WORLD SPORT is next for our international viewers.
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NEWTON: So, the field seems set for what's expected to be one of the most hotly-contested U.S. Senate races this year. CNN projects J.D. Vance, backed by Donald Trump, will win Ohio's Republican primary.
Now, he will face Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan in November. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In one of the first big primary nights of the 2022 midterm campaign season, a big Republican victory in Cincinnati for J.D. Vance, who emerged the victor in a crowded primary field for the U.S. Senate.
ZELENY (voice-over): Now this is the race to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman. He was running against a field of five other major candidates and emerged as the winner at the end, thanks to the endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
This has been viewed as a test of the former president's strength inside the Republican Party, and one of the first people J.D. Vance thanked tonight was Mr. Trump.
J.D. VANCE (R), OHIO SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I have absolutely got to thank the 45th, the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, ladies and gentlemen, one, for giving us an example of what could be in this country. Ladies and gentlemen, remember 2019 when wages were going up and not down? Remember 2019, when workers were doing well in this country, not struggling terribly? Thanks to the president for everything, for endorsing me.
ZELENY (voice-over): J.D. Vance, of course, best known for that best- selling book, "Hillbilly Elegy," has never run for public office before.
In his first campaign, he not only defeated several seasoned Republican candidates, he also introduced himself to Ohio voters.
Now, for the next six months forward, he'll be running against Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan, who Vance accused of trying to act like a Trump Democrat.
Of course, this will be one of the most competitive races in the fall campaign. But more importantly, urgently, this is a big test of the former president's strength going forward. He's offered endorsements in several House, Senate, and governor's races. The strength will be tested throughout the month of May, if he's a king maker in his party.
ZELENY: The first try on that stop here in Ohio, Mr. Trump showed that he still is.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Cincinnati.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, we are tracking new developments out of Alabama, where a search is ongoing for a corrections officer and an inmate who disappeared together after leaving a detention center Friday.
Now, new surveillance video shows Casey White shackled and in an orange jumpsuit, being escorted into the back of Officer Vicky White's patrol car. The two are not related.
The Lauderdale County sheriff says from there, they drove to a nearby shopping center and got into another vehicle. The sheriff says the officer accused of helping the murder defendant escape had a relationship with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SINGLETON, LAUDERDALE COUNTY, ALABAMA, SHERIFF: We have confirmed that there was -- what we call a special relationship. It was not a physical relationship that we can have any evidence of, but they did communicate at times when she was not at work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:50:00]
NEWTON: Now, the sheriff says the two met in 2020 when Casey White was brought in for an arraignment after confessing to a murder.
And we want to go back to our top story this hour, anger and frustration among millions of women right across the United States as the country's decades-old battle over abortion rights erupts again.
Protesters took to the streets after the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft opinion that might overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortions nationwide.
Now, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, 26 states could feature abortion bans if Roe is overturned.
Chief Justice John Roberts, meantime, announced an investigation into the leak, calling it a betrayal.
Meantime, Democrats and some moderate Republicans are expressing their dismay over what it all means now for abortion rights. Here's Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I am angry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Angry and upset?
WARREN: Angry and upset and determined. The United States Congress can keep Roe v. Wade the law of the land. They just need to do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen you so angry. You seem to be --
WARREN: This is what -- the Republicans have been working toward this day for decades.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: For more, I'm joined by Maleeha Aziz. She's a community organizer at the Texas Equal Access Fund.
And it's good to have you here with us, especially as we continue to have a great deal of debate about this right around the United States. I want to start by getting your reaction to the opinion. It is a draft opinion, not a ruling yet, but what's at stake if it stands?
MALEEHA AZIZ, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, TEXAS EQUAL ACCESS FUND: I mean, millions of people will be harmed if this actually becomes the law of the land, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and abortion is illegal. Millions of people will be harmed by this decision.
So, for me, and you know, lots of people, my initial reaction is shock and horror and disbelief and anxiety. Nothing good. No good feelings.
NEWTON: When you talk about the anxiety, it's important to really go through the experience in Texas, right? A law passed last year. It means it's illegal for a woman to obtain an abortion after about six weeks. I mean, you testified in Congress about the harmful effects of the new
law in Texas. I mean, how has abortion access been transformed in your state?
AZIZ: I mean, SB-8 is radical and extreme and so wrong; and it's already harming so many people here in Texas. And, you know, a lot of people are having to leave the state to access basic health care, that is their right, that is something that they deserve.
Based on my personal experience, I've been one of these people in the past. You know, I've had two abortions, and I've had to travel out of state for one of them while I was living in Texas, as well.
I traveled to Colorado Springs, because I thought abortion was illegal in Texas at a time when it actually wasn't, but I was misled by a crisis pregnancy center.
And I can tell you, going out of state to access health care, one, isn't right, but also, it's not easy, and it's extremely expensive.
Most of the clients that we serve at TEA Fund are low-income people of color, people that are already struggling to make ends meet. Most of them are already parents, so child care is another added barrier for them, too.
You know, and for me, I think of my first abortion, before I was a parent, and I think of my second abortion, while I was a parent. There was no way, you know, that I would have been able to travel to another state while not having anyone to care for my daughter that I have now.
It's just -- even if someone provides, you know, someone with some resources or some funds to travel out of state, it still doesn't make it easy.
NEWTON: Some pro-life advocates, meantime, say striking Roe means abortion will return to the states, and that will be decided by elected officials, not judges.
And some have also raised the issue of the viability of a fetus. Pro- life advocates say they really want Roe struck down for this reason. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALLORY CARROLL, VP OF COMMUNICATIONS, SUSAN B. ANTHONY LIST: To start to move the United States back in line with modern science and medicine and the rest of the world, to really humanize and modernize our laws. That will be the hopeful outcome of overturning Roe v. Wade, is that we can start to move to more of a middle ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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NEWTON: I mean, you heard what she said there. In terms of that middle ground, do you think that there are reasonable limits that should be put on abortion? I mean, some people say it's 15 weeks.
AZIZ: No, I don't think there should be any limits put on abortion. I think that's a load of B.S. Middle ground and science, because all of that is absolute rubbish and not backed by any facts.
Abortion should always be the decision of the pregnant person and the pregnant person alone, regardless of their circumstances.
You know, people shouldn't have to go through life-altering tragedies to have bodily autonomy to make the right -- to make the decision that is right for them.
I hear when people talk about abortion, they go to extreme circumstances: Oh, what about rape and incest? What about -- you know, what about sexual assault? What about abnormalities? What about medical issues?
Yes, all of that, obviously, is valid, and those are heartbreaking, but someone shouldn't have to go through those extreme circumstances to be able to decide what they need to do with their bodies, to decide what is best for them and their families and their lives.
It is not acceptable, it is ridiculous. So, no, I don't think there should be any limits to when someone can have an abortion.
NEWTON: Yes, and many have indicated, of course, that this is a women's health issue and that, in states like Texas, where it's restricted, that it does start to become a health issue for women.
All right. Well, thank you for your input on this, and we'll continue to follow the debate. Maleeha Aziz, thanks so much.
And another voice we heard from today. Abortion rights activists say women should be allowed to make their own decisions about their bodies, and here's what one Democratic congresswoman says about her experience as a young girl with an unplanned pregnancy.
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REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): I was a young teenager, 15 years old, and I got pregnant. And my mother gave me all the options. She was so loving with me. And she said, It's your decision. We'll talk about it, but it's nobody else's decision. I have a friend who knows a doctor in a back alley in Mexico, Juarez, and if you want to do this, if we decide this is what you want to do, I'll send you to her, and she will take care of you.
So I decided at 15 that was the only option I had. So I flew to El Paso, and she took me to an alley, I can still see the lights shining down. It was dark. It was about 10 p.m. at night.
You know, this was some -- it was traumatic for me, but this was my decision. And I never talked about it before, because as my mother said, that was my decision, nobody else's business, quite frankly.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: That was U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. And we will continue to cover all the controversy surrounding Supreme Court and abortion rights here at CNN.
I want to thank you for joining us this hour. I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center in Atlanta. We'll be right back with more news right after a break.
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