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Evacuees Flee Fighting in Sudan; Ukrainian Troops Gearing Up for Counteroffensive; Woman Mourns Daughter & Grandson Killed in Texas Shooting; New Protests Against Pension Reform Expected in France; Fuel Crisis in Cuba Changes Plans for National Festivities; Bronze Sculpture of Walrus Unveiled in Norway; Ceremony for Britain's King Charles Steeped in Tradition. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 01, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:35]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a sixth cease-fire in place in Sudan as Sudanese doctors warn the country faces a humanitarian disaster, with bodies left lying in the streets.

Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive is nearing. We will discuss what their tactics might be and how Russia is preparing.

And as police search for the gunman who killed five people at a home in Texas, we'll hear from the family of the victims in Honduras.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: The conflict in Sudan turning even more dire, despite Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreeing to another cease-fire. Sudanese doctors are warning dead bodies in the streets are creating an environmental catastrophe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ARTILLERY FIRE)

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HOLMES: Sporadic clashes reported in and around Khartoum on Sunday, despite a previous truce agreed to by both sides. This new cease-fire is the sixth since the fighting began just over two weeks ago.

Authorities have also extended the closure of the country's airspace to mid-May. Sudan facing a humanitarian disaster as the fighting has left millions trapped in their homes, facing shortages of food, water, and power.

A second group of American evacuees arrived in Port Sudan on Sunday. The convoy, organized by the U.S. government, traveling overland from Khartoum. Most heading to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where many foreign nationals have fled amid the chaos.

CNN correspondent Larry Madowo traveled with some international evacuees on a Saudi ship. Here is his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two a.m. And they are finally getting out of Sudan after many anxious days. Saudi soldiers check documents and let them through. A nightmare almost over.

Thousands of people have made the over 500-mile journey from Khartoum to here in Port Sudan. One person told us it took them 36 hours but finally, on a boat, and eventually to a ship to Jeddah.

A sad final goodbye to Sudan. Victims of the stormy waters in Africa's third largest nation.

HAMZA NAVID, PAKISTANI EVACUEE: It is very hard for me, and very hard and very painful for me, because this is like a second home, my home.

MADOWO (voice-over): CNN joins Saudi forces on an evacuation voyage from Jeddah to Port Sudan and back, bringing more people one step closer to safe shores.

But the demand is high, and the military ships can only take so many people at a time. Our round trip was more than 24 hours but brought back only 52 people across the Red Sea.

Sudanese-American businessmen Adil Bashir can finally sleep undisturbed for the first time in two weeks. He says his car dealership in Khartoum was trashed, burnt, and some vehicles stolen. So he took the risky drive to Port Sudan.

ADIL BASHIR, SUDANESE-AMERICAN EVACUEE: A lot of human bodies, dead bodies on the street.

MADOWO: You say you were detained by men in Rapid Support Forces uniform after you told them you were a U.S. citizen.

BASHIR: They said you are a U.S. citizen, you are a spy. I believe they want to use be like a human shield. But there were 13 ahead of me.

MADOWO (voice-over): As more people escape from Sudan, another cease- fire was broken over the weekend, with fighting in the country entering a third week.

The Saudi port city of Jeddah has become the main landing point for thousands fleeing the conflict. The Saudis are throwing everything at this rescue operation.

GEN. TURKI AL-MALKI, ROYAL SAUDI AIR FORCE: The assets, the capability, military, civilian in Saudi, is taking the civilians who flee Sudan. So as long as it's safe, we'll keep doing our role. MADOWO (voice-over): This large commercial ship brought nearly 2,000

evacuees from Port Sudan, one of the largest arrivals in Jeddah so far.

Hanadi Ahmed and her Sudanese-American family were among those on the vessel received by U.S. embassy staff. They're relieved to be safe but heartbroken for those who couldn't get out.

HANADI AHMED, REFUGEE: Very bad, oh my (ph). It's very bad. Because all my family is here. my mom, my dad. And it's really difficult for me (ph).

[00:05:08]

MADOWO: You're scared for them.

AHMED: Yes.

MADOWO: I am so sorry.

AHMED: It's OK. I'm very (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

MADOWO (voice-over): A few lucky dual nationals and foreigners can leave, but most Sudanese people are trapped in a deadly conflict with no end in sight.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The United Nations will send a high-ranking official to Sudan due to this humanitarian crisis. And the first aid shipment organized by the International Red Cross has also arrived in the country.

Eight tons of materials, including medical supplies, arrived in Port Sudan on Sunday. Medical supplies have run critically low amid the fighting.

An ICRC regional director spoke with CNN about what the shipment contains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK YOUSSEF, ICRC REGIONAL DIRECTOR, AFRICA: We managed to deliver more wounded kits but also dressing kits enough to treat over 1,500 weapon-wounded. And that is, I hope, the beginning of a series of deliveries, in accordance, in agreement with both parties of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The U.N. says some 75,000 people inside Sudan have been displaced. Tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries, including 20,000 who have arrived at refugee camps in Chad.

The agency is increasing resources for those displaced throughout the region. Listen to these two Sudanese refugees describing their ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOUSSEYNA MOHAMED ARABI, REFUGEE FROM SUDAN (through translator): They came and attacked our village. When some of us wanted to get out of their houses, they killed them.

OUIMA ARABI, REFUGEE FROM SUDAN (through translator): It all started around 1, 2, and 3 a.m. We took refuge at the local police station. They told us we cannot stay, because the fighting had started. I called my children and told them to take my grandchildren and leave, and then we fled on foot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Pope Francis says the Vatican is part of a mission to end the war in Ukraine, now raging for more than a year. His comments coming after the pontiff's three-day trip to Hungary, where he met with the prime minister and a representative from the Russian Orthodox Church. He said the focus is on peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Everyone is interested in the road to peace. I am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission in course now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: On the ground in Ukraine, intense fighting being reported along parts of the frontlines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussing those details on a call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

The two leaders also talked about further assistance for Ukraine and the upcoming NATO summit.

Meanwhile, Ukraine signaling its much-anticipated counteroffensive is nearing as preparations come to an end. In comments over the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wouldn't give an exact start date for obvious reasons, but one thing is clear. The move will likely mark a pivotal moment in the war.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with more from Zaporizhzhia.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, increasing signs that Ukraine's counteroffensives, something which is of utter strategic importance to them.

But they've said they will not announce the beginning of signs that perhaps the prelude of it, or even, in itself, is beginning to get underway. For the past week we've heard reports of explosions in the East of

occupied Kherson and along the Russian-held bank of the Dnipro River. There have been reports of Ukrainian forces potentially landing in very small numbers.

Is that a distraction? Is that something in earnest? Ukraine very key not to confirm any of these reports. Or suggest that anything conclusive is underway.

But in the past days we've seen attacks by Ukrainian strikes, artillery possibly taking out key Russian infrastructure.

Also in Melitopol, another Russian-occupied town, there have been reports of explosions, as well. And on top of that, too, Sevastopol and occupied Crimea were hit by a drone, according to Russian occupying officials there. That caused a devastating series of explosions across a vital diesel depot there.

That's so important for Russia's naval presence on that occupied peninsula. Enormous damage caused. It took hours for firefighters to put out.

And another example of how Ukraine, at this point, is able to hit vital parts of Russia's supply line in occupied areas. And that will take a heavy toll on its military's ability to function, to push back.

We heard a bizarrely-pointed warning from Yevgeny Prigozhin, a very public Russian figure involved in the war, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, saying -- and I paraphrase here -- that they're so low on ammo being supplied around Bakhmut, that symbolic city, that they potentially risk having to pull back or lessen their forces in there unless they get a lot more fast.

Pointing a finger, certainly again, at Russian defense chiefs. And also warning that there may be a catastrophe if they are not given what they need quickly.

He has made misleading statements before, but it was bizarre to hear the sort of warning at this particular time when Russia is facing a potentially very decisive Ukrainian military move. We don't know when it will happen we don't know where it will happen but it is certainly beginning to build in anticipation and anxiety ahead of it.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now is retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. He's also a former commander at the Australian Defense College and author of "War Transformed: The Future of 21st Century Power Competition and Conflict."

Always good to see you, Mick. What might this counteroffensive, whatever it begins, look like in terms of objectives and tactics?

MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, good day, Michael. I think what were going to see is not one big push. We're going to see lots of different things. Certainly different areas. Ukrainians will be wanting to confuse, to deceive, to surprise the Russians around where their main effort might be. But also, around where their logistics, their fire power and all these things that are supporting their offensive are located.

HOLMES: You and I discussed at the beginning of the conflict, and have since, as well, that taking territory is different to holding territory. Given that, what then do you think would be the main benchmarks of success? And I know there's more than one.

RYAN: Yes, certainly. I think we need to have a clear view of what will look like a successful offensive. First, Ukrainians do need to take back their territory. They want to liberate their citizens and take back their sovereign territory.

But they're also going to have to capture or destroy Russian forces to ensure the Russians can't undertake counterattacks or pose a future threat for the rest of this year.

Finally, the Ukrainians will have to ensure that their own people, but also politicians and citizens in the West see a successful offensive. So they're going to have to communicate what's going on and communicate a successful offensive in that reality.

HOLMES: Yes. They keep up that all-important Western support, if for nothing else.

Russia has known this was coming, of course. They spent a lot of time bolstering offensives, am array of barriers. There are these huge trench networks you've seen, particularly along the Southern front. They've been re-arming, and so on.

How, then, is the Russian posture looking in terms of defending this counteroffensive?

RYAN: Well, the one thing about all these defensive works they've been undertaking is they're static. They're easy to pick up, and they're easy to target with precision munitions. And they're only as good as the troops who are manning them. If they are watching the obstacles and covering them with direct and indirect fire.

That will be the case for some of them. But I think, too, the Russians will also have mobile reserves which the Ukrainians will probably be wanting to target before the offensives. And that might be some of these explosions we're seeing over the past week.

HOLMES: Yes. It's interesting you mention at the beginning there, and let's talk more about it. Despite the Russian defenses, which are impressive, I mean, it's only fair to say that they're as good as the troops holding those positions and the officers commanding them. Ability-wise but also morale-wise, which you've talked about before.

And these are areas in which Russia has regularly failed during the war. RYAN: Yes, they certainly have. They haven't gotten any better as the war has gone on. Mobilized troops are at a lower quality than many of those who initially invaded Ukraine.

And these troops know they're not defending their own homeland. They're not defending their own people, their own towns. They're defending territory that's been captured illegally.

So, you know, their motivation for staying and fighting will be under question. And it will be interesting to see how long it is before the Russian defenses breaks before this rain of fire and steel that's coming at them from the Ukrainians.

HOLMES: A major offensive takes weaponry, but we've also heard Ukraine, they've pled for more weaponry. But at the same time, they've been using it up at a prodigious rate, just holding the Russians at bay, particularly in the East.

Do they have the materiel to make a sustained push, and do they know how to use it?

RYAN: Well, they've certainly received a lot of materiel over the last 14 months, and they've used a lot of. The commander in chief was sort of alluding in an interview in December made it clear that there are also hoarding material for the offensives to come.

They've also received a lot since Christmas, and they've been training quickly.

And one thing the Ukrainians have proven since the very beginning of this war is they're very quick studies. They're quick to absorb new weapons and new equipment and to use it in creative ways we may not have thought of.

[00:15:09]

I think they're going to surprise us and surprise us pleasantly -- and the Russians unpleasantly -- in these offensives to come.

HOLMES: All right. Always great analysis and good to see you, Mick. Thanks so much. Mick Ryan there for us.

RYAN: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: A manhunt is underway to find the gunman accused of shooting and killing five people, including a nine-year-old child, at a home in Cleveland, Texas.

Authorities say the suspect, Francisco Oropesa, is a 38-year-old Mexican national. More than 20 -- 200, rather -- officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are searching for him, and an $80,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.

But the FBI says it has, quote, "zero leads" on his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the man who lost his wife and son in the massacre told reporters he called 9-1-1 five times on Friday when the suspect was initially shooting his firearm.

The San Jacinto County sheriff says they got there as fast as they could, but they have a small force to cover a large county, and the home is located 15 minutes outside of town.

The Honduran consulate in Houston is offering support to the families of those victims, whose bodies will be repatriated to their native Honduras. CNN spoke to the mother of one of the victims.

Rafael Romo with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANCIA GUZMAN, MOTHER OF VICTIM: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Francia Guzman says that her daughter had a dream. Sonia Guzman left her native Honduras for the United States in 2014, hoping to make enough money to build a house for her mother and her siblings, because they didn't have a home they could call their own.

"We didn't have a house. We didn't have a place to live. We would go from one place to another, and she didn't want that for her siblings," she said.

The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant is one of the five people murdered Friday night in Cleveland, Texas, in what authorities describe as almost execution style. Everybody was shot above the neck, including Sonia Guzman's nine-year-old son, identified as Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman.

SHERIFF GREG CAPERS, SAN JACINTO COUNTY, TEXAS: I don't care if he was there legally. I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is.

German Guzman, the boy's uncle and his mother's brother, says everybody living at the house where the shooting happened were members of the same extended family from Honduras.

"We truly get along very well as siblings, and we also truly got along very well as all of them as relatives," he said. "I have no words to tell their parents and siblings about what happened, because this is very painful."

Sonia Guzman's dream came true. With the money she made in the United States, she was able to help her mother buy a home in the town of La Mision, located in the Honduran province of Comayagua.

"She never left me alone. It's very difficult to know that I won't hear her voice anymore," her mother says. "She left full of excitement, and now I'm just hoping she will come back, even if it is in a coffin, so that I can say goodbye."

ROMO: In the middle of their pain, the family is asking for help to be able to transport the remains of their loved ones back to their native Honduras. Sonia Guzman's mother told CNN that all she wants now is to be able to

give their daughter and grandson a proper burial in the land where they were born.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: May Day has arrived in most of the world, and France is bracing for more protests by workers unhappy they'll have to stay on the job longer before they can retire. We'll have a report for you from Paris.

Also Israel's prime minister talking with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about his controversial judicial reform plan. Hear what Benjamin Netanyahu says about democracy in his country.

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[00:21:20]

HOLMES: Thousands of protesters gathered in London on Saturday, demanding the British government designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

One British-Iranian activist has been on hunger strike for more than two months outside the U.K.'s Foreign Affairs Office. He's demanding the designation be made, because the organization poses a threat. even to those in the U.K.

The U.S. designated the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization in 2019.

Protests are expected just hours from now in France as the world observes May Day. Workers staging strikes and mass demonstrations against an increase in the retirement age. They've been doing that for months now, but it is law now, and labor unions are not ready to give up the fight.

CNN Paris correspondent Melissa Bell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A winter of discontent in France. What began on January 19 with more than a million people in the streets, public and private sectors brought to a standstill, has dragged on.

One poll suggesting that, after months of marches, 62 percent of the French are still opposed to raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

It was the government's decision to force the reform through Parliament, bypassing a second vote, that sparked fury in the streets, with hundreds of police officers injured and hundreds of protesters detained in one single bloody day and night. Amid accusations the government was ignoring the will of the people,

weekly clashes between police and pockets of protesters became the norm.

With the unions dominating the streets, marches have been mostly peaceful, although comparisons have been drawn with the Yellow Vest movement, whose anger consumed France for more than a year.

Marcel (ph), a volunteer medic, has tended to protestors through years of protests, dealing with blunt-force trauma, burn wounds, and the consequences of tear gas. He spoke to CNN under an assumed name for fear of professional retribution.

MARCEL (PH), VOLUNTEER MEDIC: Think back to the Yellow Vest movement, may be a little bit less grenade, a bit less tear gas, because the police and government know that they don't have the support of the majority of the population. So the -- it's still very violent.

BELL (voice-over): That anger in the streets goes beyond just pension reform, as the French vent their fury at President Emmanuel Macron's bullish approach to governing.

DAVID DUFRESNE, WRITER AND FILMMAKER: We live a very -- a very French moment. Democracy is not only OK, each five years, or each four years, I vote and that's it. No, democracy by the street is back again in the -- in the debate.

BELL (voice-over): The pension reform is finally law, but protesters, turning to the kettle (ph), are still making themselves heard.

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): It is not the pots and pans that will move France forward.

BELL (voice-over): As they haunt Macron and his ministers around the country.

MACRON (through translator): Your generation today if we don't do this reform, it won't have a pensions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): we completely disagree with that.

BELL (voice-over): And while protests numbers in recent weeks have dropped, May the 1st, a traditional day of labor marches in France, will be a good barometer of the anger and resentment that still burn in France.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, insists his plan for judicial reform will not weaken democracy in his country.

[00:25:01] Tens of thousands of people have been protesting against the proposed

judicial overhaul since January. They say it would weaken the Supreme Court by giving Parliament the power to override court decisions with a simple majority.

And in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Netanyahu indicated he might be backing away from that controversial aspect. Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: One thing I guarantee you. At the end of this process, Israel was a democracy, is a democracy, will be -- will remain as robust a democracy.

And you can see that by the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are demonstrating for or against this -- and against this judicial reform in peaceful demonstrations, in ways that are not possible within an enormous radius.

And when you have that, as you have in France or protests in France or protests in -- in the United States, it's not a sign of the collapse of democracy. It's a sign of the robustness of the public debate, which I'm sure, and I hope, and I'm working to resolve by as a broad a consensus as I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And the Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy is in Jerusalem on his first trip abroad as speaker of the House. He met with -- on Sunday with his Israeli counterpart.

In the coming hours, McCarthy is expected to lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. He's then set to address the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, the first House speaker to do so since 1998.

Earlier on Sunday, McCarthy stopped at the Western Wall, a sacred place of prayer for the Jewish people.

Cuba, suffering through a fuel crisis, and it's only getting worse. Coming up, why drivers can't find gasoline and what that means for a national holiday.

Also, Paraguay's ruling party maintains its grip on power. The presidential election results coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM and thank you for doing so.

Let's turn to Paraguay now. A huge win there for the ruling party as its candidate, Santiago Pena, wins the presidential election.

Election officials say he won more than 42 percent of the votes, compared to 27 percent for his rival. Pena's win underscores the dominance of the conservative Colorado Party. An economist and former finance minister, Pena is promising economic equality for all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO PENA, PARAGUAY PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): From tomorrow, we will begin to design a Paraguay that we all want, without gross inequalities or unfair social asymmetries.

[00:30:03]

We have a lot to do. After the last few years of economic stagnation, with a fiscal deficit, with the worrying unemployment rate and the increase in extreme poverty, the task that awaits us is not for a single person or just for a party. I call for unity and consensus to achieve our destiny of collective well-being and prosperity without exclusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Pena is facing the challenge of revving up Paraguay's farm- driven economy as the country faces a rising deficit and growing poverty.

In Cuba, gasoline and diesel are in short supply. Tempers there are flaring. The fuel shortage has even forced a change in the annual May Day celebrations.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann with the story from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): It's a country running on empty. Across Cuba right, now more cars seemingly wait online to fill up than drive on the road.

Even at stations when there is no gas, people line up for when, or if, it finally arrives.

For drivers like Elian (ph), the sudden island-wide shortage of fuel means they spend their days trying to fill up rather than working.

"It ain't easy. They sell too little," he says. "Only 40 liters. That only gives me enough for one day. They won't give me more than that."

Some people immediately siphon the gas they manage to pump, either to resell or to hoard it as they get back in line all over again.

Increasingly, Cubans complain that police are letting too many of what they call "indisciplinas," undisciplined behavior, take place.

OPPMANN: What many people do is they save several spots for a car, which multiplies many times over how many people are actually in this line waiting for gas.

Once the gas actually arrives, though, people come rushing back. They cut the line, and that's when all hell breaks loose.

OPPMANN (voice-over): As the lines get longer, tempers get shorter.

Certain privileged groups like foreign diplomats have their own gas stations assigned to them, but it makes a little difference when there's no gas to pump.

The Cuban government has said little about the crisis, the worst in years but acknowledges that there has been a disruption of shipments, from suppliers like Venezuela, Cuba's socialist ally, who they receive oil from in exchange for medical workers.

JORGE PINON, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ENERGY INSTITUTE: The first domino piece that falls out of this is Venezuela, that it's selling its better-quality crude to those customers that can pay cash. So the good-quality crude that Cuba used to get are no longer there, because Cuba doesn't pay cash for crude oil.

OPPMANN (voice-over): The ripple effects of the gas crunch impact nearly everyone on this island.

University classes have been canceled. Farmers don't have fuel for tractors. There's not enough diesel for garbage trucks to empty Dumpsters that overflow with trash.

And the Cuban government was forced to cancel the massive parade held every May Day in Cuba's Revolution Square. Usually, the island's top leadership looks on as hundreds of thousands of workers file by.

This May Day, officials are encouraging Cubans to march in their own neighborhoods. There simply isn't enough fuel for anything on a large scale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

OPPMANN (voice-over): "We will still commemorate May Day," he says. "But rationally and with maximum austerity."

Cuban officials have said the gas shortages will last at least through the end of May. And, as frustrating and as punishing as this crisis is for Cubans, all people can do is hope and endure the long wait.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Britain is just days away from the coronation of King Charles. We'll have a report from London on the preparations, the traditions, and notably, some of the differences to expect compared to his mother's coronation. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:23]

HOLMES: A fitting tribute to a huge global star has been unveiled in Norway. Freya, the enormous walrus who captured the hearts of locals,

tourists, and fans around the world, is being remembered with a life- sized bronze statue after she was controversially euthanized last year.

Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Almost a year after her death, Freya the walrus is once again lying in the sun. A memorial unveiled over the weekend in Oslo to honor the famous creature, who loved to sunbathe, often in inconvenient places for humans.

The ceremony took place on a clear day overlooking the water, not far from where Freya used to bask in the sun and where she was controversially euthanized.

Erik Holm organized an online campaign to build the statute, which cost $25,000, but he says it's the least people can do.

ERIK HOLM, FREYA STATUE ORGANIZER (through translator): I was very provoked by the way Freya was treated and how her life ended. People were a little too curious and were a little too close. And of course, how the authorities chose to end her life.

HOLMES (voice-over): Freya was a charming nuisance in Oslo, wriggling onto docks and boats, sagging under her weight, to get some rays. A simple pleasure that made her a global star, but that attention would be her downfall.

Last August, Norwegian officials said, despite warnings, people were getting too close to the 600-kilogram walrus. So she was euthanized.

The decision sparked both anger and sadness, with some critics saying it was too rushed. But the government said it would have been too complicated to sedate and move such a large animal.

Some people say it's a cautionary tale for humans who get too close to wildlife.

PER EIDSPE, SPECTATOR (through translator): I think that people should show a little more respect for such large animals and not play with them in the water.

HOLMES (voice-over): A crossing of boundaries that ultimately cost Freya her life, but at least now she's been given a chance to rest in peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: After 14 games, and a tie breaker, a new world chess champion has been crowned. The final games were played on Sunday in Kazakhstan, and China's Ding Liren won after the fourth and final tiebreaker.

The 30-year-old is now the highest-rated Chinese player in history, and the men's and women's chess champions are now both from China.

Ding's victory ends the reign of five-time champion Magnus Carlsen, who chose not to defend his title.

We are now just six days away from the coronation of King Charles III. The ceremony this Saturday will be Britain's first in seven decades. Of course, it will have all the pomp and pageantry you'd expect, as well as rituals dating back centuries.

But there will also be some notable differences compared to the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.

CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster with a preview from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): Not since 1953 have we had a glimpse of this sacred moment. The crowning of a monarch.

Queen Elizabeth, then just 27, thrust to the throne after her father's untimely death. Her coronation designed to introduce the young queen to the world and give a morale boost to post-war Britain.

Seventy years on, and amidst a cost-of-living crisis, King Charles's coronation will have many of the same traditions incorporated, albeit, slightly toned down.

[00:40:12]

Up to 2,800 guests in Westminster Abbey, CNN understands, versus the 8,000 who gathered for the late queen's.

ELIZABETH NORTON, ROYAL HISTORIAN: The king has actually ruffled some feathers by not inviting many members of the ancient nobility, including some of the dukes, in fact. Instead, actually, the king has invited members of the community, so charitable workers, for example.

FOSTER (voice-over): A sign, perhaps, that Charles wants to make the monarchy more accessible, though much of the pomp and ceremony will, of course, remain.

He'll sit on the coronation chair, used by monarchs for more than 700 years. And he'll be crowned with the St. Edward's Crown, a gold, velvet and jewel-encrusted piece weighing more than two kilograms.

The coronation is, first and foremost, a religious ceremony. It culminates in the king's anointing with holy oil, which has been consecrated in Jerusalem.

NORTON: It's seen as symbolizing the king's commitment to God, because of course, he's a very religious man himself. He's now the head of the church. And it's a sacred moment.

FOSTER (voice-over): His wife, Camilla, will also be anointed and crowned. Charles's sons, William and Harry, will be there, although Harry's wife, Meghan, will remain at home in California with their two young children.

It remains to be seen what role Harry will play in proceedings, now that he's stepped back from his senior-role duties.

FOSTER: For many in Britain, the coronation is about more than just another public holiday. There will be street parties up and down the U.K., and thousands will come here to Buckingham Palace to witness the famous balcony moment, to see for the first time the newly-crowned king and queen.

FOSTER (voice-over): Many more will line the street for the coronation procession, just as they did for Queen Elizabeth seven decades ago.

The king and queen will travel in this gilded carriage, accompanied by a huge military procession. Nighttime rehearsals, spotted in the streets of London, as the capital gears up for a moment in history.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And CNN will see a special live coverage of the coronation of King Charles III this Saturday, May the 6th. CNN's Anderson Cooper will be live outside Buckingham Palace with Christiane Amanpour and our own Max Foster.

It all starts at 10 a.m. in London, 5 a.m. on the East Coast of the U.S.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. Do stick around. WORLD SPORT is up next. I'll see you with more news in a little over 15 minutes from now.

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