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Connect the World
Evacuees from Mariupol Steel Plant Arrive in Zaporizhzhia; Biden: "I believe that a Woman's Right to Choose is Fundamental"; Biden Makes Remarks while Leaving Washington; Leaks Reveals U.S. Top Court could Overturn Abortion Rights; Residents Return to Ukrainian Village Decimated by Russia; Helicopter Snags Falling Rocket Booster by its Parachute. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 03, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. I'm in for my colleague Becky Anderson. Welcome to "Connect the World". Now
after months hiding out underground and days spent on a dangerous journey a convoy of Ukrainian evacuees has finally made it to safety in Zaporizhzhia.
You saw it live here on "Connect the World" last hour evacuees getting off those buses.
The convoy had carried 106 people who managed to get out of Mariupol's Azovstal Steel Plant over the weekend. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in
Zaporizhzhia he's on the ground. He's been covering the experiences of some of these evacuees and we'll go to him shortly.
But back in Mariupol the Mayor says the Azovstal Steel Plant remains under heavy Russian attack. Video from Reuters shows Russian rockets fired at the
plant. CNN is not in Mariupol while hundreds still remain holed up inside the plants.
The Mayor says tens of thousands of others own during dire conditions, with some being forced to big mass graves to bury the dead. Nick Payton Walsh is
in Zaporizhzhia for us. Nick, you have been waiting. It has been an incredible journey just waiting to see when people would find the arrived
from the Azovstal Steel Plant. You've spoken to some people what are they telling you?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I've actually just had an extraordinary conversation with the mother of --. Now
that may not mean much to you unless you saw the video of the first evacuees to emerge from the rubble of the Azovstal Steel Plants - turned
six months the day before he emerged in that video and has spent a third of his life underground, in that basement.
Just been talking to his mother, a French teacher half conversation we had in French and English and extraordinary courage, but talking about frankly,
how it'd been so hard to find anything to smile about, but even still how soldiers in that basement had managed to bring to her diapers for her child
and dealing with the complexity of what on earth is she going to tell this son of hers who from the age of four months to six months has been under
this bombardment.
And she said for her the scariest noise now is an airplane because that is the delivery mechanism. Russia had four explosions that landed on top of
the factory where they were hiding. And she hopes that eventually one day she may be come able to hear in airplanes noise again and not be quite so
terrified, but is deeply concerned about that.
And a number of stories emerging inside of this tent too - in her 70s, who we spoke to injured in her left ankle concerned about her ability to fend
for herself moving forwards a lot of help, though, from NGOs and charity organizations to the United Nations, the Red Cross, also Ukrainian NGO as
well here to be sure people have some kind of assistance as they move forwards here.
But it's a scene of relief in there. It's a scene of frankly, getting the first cup of coffee you may have had in a while. It's a scene of - asking
for us if we had any chocolate; we could give a wish we fortunately did. Talking also too though to people inside the basement stories, certainly or
a great admiration for the Ukrainian armed forces who were not only fending off the Russian onslaught, but still providing food to those people caught
inside that basically the maybe sorry, I heard you talking.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Now I've just - I was smiling. You know, I was thinking it's as simple things like chocolate that people will miss, you know,
things that we take them for granted. And it's incredibly moving to hear the stories that you're sharing with us, we actually saw images of woman
with her baby.
And it's also heartwarming to see kids running around behind you that perhaps they have a better future and some kind of hope. But Nick, I have
to say you've been covering these, you know, harrowing escapes from Mariupol. And they're fragile. The deals that are made between the Russians
and the Ukrainian, sometimes they fall apart. What do we know in terms of trying to keep these car doors open?
WALSH: Yes, I mean, the hope had been Eleni that this first batch of evacuees might have created a mechanism that could be used to increase the
volume. Remember, there were 100,000 people in Mariupol civilians facing imminently disease frankly as an escalating threat but also Russian
occupation shellings as well so much that threaten their lives.
The hope of being that this would be a way to get those first 100 out from the Azovstal Plant. We just have to move on wait for one of the buses here
that's going to arrive to take away some of these evacuees.
[11:05:00]
WALSH: Our understanding might be going to a hotel initially, but this is all part of the best as they could choreograph operation that so many
organizations have been involved in here. I mean, they first of all have to get people out of Azovstal. That was something that Ukrainian military were
assisted with, and then subsequently had to get them through countless Russian checkpoints.
Talking to a couple inside there, Vladimir, and Victoria, they actually said that their journey didn't seem to be spoiled so much by the Russians,
they let them through that maybe because of the United Nations and the Red Cross. That essentially had been a hope that the UN and Red Cross would
create this mechanism.
It would be able to move fast to get a volume of individuals out but people here just delighted to be able to have their first time to sit down and
rest --. You OK? Victoria - his is Victoria on some money. She's from the nearby area. We should leave her to catch her breath there. I think
probably.
I'm just saying that's - here pet there just saying it's quite a strange animal. But we'll find out what that is later anyway Eleni, back to you
sorry.
GIOKOS: Yes. Yes, you know, I mean, I you know, I'm smiling. And it's interesting, because we're seeing smiles right now. But underneath those
smiles Nick I can't imagine the uncertainty, the fear, the concern about what the future holds.
And you've mentioned this so many times because people have had to live their lives, they livelihoods, the entire existence has been up ended and
have been catapulted into a new reality one, which you know, is going to be vastly different to what they used they used to and what they built for so
many years.
WALSH: February 22nd, Mariupol was a peaceful town for most reporting, which just had had no real credence that Russia would launch an invasion in
the way that it did or that its world would be facing the brunt of Russian firepower.
It was always on the road, frankly, for Russia's ambition to create a land corridor within the areas that an occupied held by separatists in the
Crimean Peninsula. But only anybody imagined this sort of ferocity we visited upon them.
And people here have had to deal with that change their country being at war, their city, being the focus of so much of the fighting, and then their
lives being destroyed as they flee in these cases into Azovstal into that bunker for two months of darkness.
And there was water, apparently quite a bit of it down there, but intermittent food, and now emerging in the videos that we saw in the last
48 hours to see the city utterly ruined and destroyed, occupied by Russians who for so many in Mariupol were you know, people have links to Russian
families.
There's not an alien country. But this war is totally altered all of that for so many. And now dealing with the fact they've emerged from all of
those challenges, to hear the good news, and now they have to rebuild their lives from scratch.
And there are resettlement program that doesn't appear to be a hotel where many of these people are going to now but still, the changes people have
gone through here to start. I mean, I can't imagine how they would digest or process that Eleni.
GIOKOS: And then yes, it's really difficult to hear and see. And I remember we were talking over the time when the attack started in Mariupol and you
were telling us it's an industrial city. It's a port city, it has vital importance. And to see it being in this situation is distorting, you know,
it actually creates an enormous amount of pain.
Nick, thank you so much. We'll catch up with you later, but really appreciate the work you're doing for us on the ground.
Russia's Defense Ministry has released a video that claims to show civilians from Mariupol arriving in a Russian controlled town and keep this
in mind. This is what Russia wants the world to see. Its Defense Ministry says more than 1 million Ukrainians have been evacuated into Russian
controlled territory, but it's impossible to verify that number or know how many of them went there willingly.
Now to our other top story this hour, the seismic change possibly coming to U.S. abortion law, a draft version of a Supreme Court opinion published by
POLITICO reveals the court may be poised to overturn a 1973 ruling ensuring the right to abortion.
It is an emotional issue in the United States and demonstrations for and against the move erupted almost immediately. Roe versus Wade is one of the
most well-known decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that state laws forbidding abortions are unconstitutional and place limits on
state regulation sins of abortion and the case was filed in the State of Texas by a woman going by the pseudonym Jane Roe.
[11:10:00]
GIOKOS: Against him V. Wade, the District Attorney in Dallas County who enforce Texas law.
In a statement U.S. President Joe Biden called a woman's right to have an abortion fundamental. And he urged to voters to elect officials who will
support abortion rights.
Joining us now to discuss all of this is CNN Legal Analyst Elie Honig, as well as the White House Correspondent Jeremy Diamond. Elie, I want to start
with you. And I want to bring to the attention for our audience to understand this particular passage of elitist draft opinion.
This is one of the justices it says, and I'd like to quote this Roe however been remarkably loose in its treatment of the constitutional text. It held
that the abortion rights, which is not mentioned in the Constitution is part of a right to privacy, which is also not mentioned.
And it goes on to criticize that the right to privacy springs from a number of constitutional amendments. What impact could of course now this have in
terms of limiting of rights to privacy, on other rulings?
And of course, this is such an important question here, because it basically says this is not the law of the land. Could you give us some
insight into this?
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Eleni, so this is really all about a constitutional right to privacy. As Justice Alito notes, the word privacy
doesn't appear verbatim in the Constitution. However, starting back in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to recognize under the 14th Amendment
due process clause, a right to privacy in a person's sexual relations, marital relations inside the home.
And perhaps the best known of those decisions was Roe vs. Wade, which said essentially, the states cannot prohibit a woman from getting an abortion.
And so the criticism that you hear from Justice Alito, in this draft opinion, is that the right to privacy is not specifically stated in the
Constitution, nor is the right to an abortion.
However, there are many rights that have been recognized by the Constitution, even if they're not in the exact text of the Constitution
itself.
GIOKOS: Jeremy, I want to bring you in here and President Joe Biden has weighed in and importantly said this is, of course, has not this ruling
hasn't happened yet. And things could have changed. But he was very vocal about the risks and also the potential steps that can be taken.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, even before this draft opinion, was published by Politico, President Biden has been warning
about what he says is an assault on women's rights to choose to get an abortion.
And he has been preparing for this day and the president saying in a statement, we do not know whether this draft is genuine, or whether it
reflects the final decision of the court.
He says I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental. Roe has been the law of the land for almost 50 years, and basic fairness and the
stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.
The president is also saying that his administration, as I mentioned, has already been preparing for this possibility, and has been looking at what
kinds of federal tools it could potentially use, in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
They've been doing that also, as several states across the country have in recent months passed laws that restricted women's access to abortion
services in several states across the country.
The president also in this statement, making a fundamental point, which is that this is now going to become a central issue in the midterms,
particularly for Democrats who are going to look to galvanize their voters to get out to the polls.
And it could potentially help Democrats who have been facing stiff odds heading into these midterms, the probability of losing the house the
possibility of losing the Senate as well.
Now, this could potentially change that equation somewhat, particularly if this decision does indeed come down to summer. President Biden making very
clear that look, Democrats do not currently have the numbers to codify Roe v. Wade through legislation as the law of the land.
But he says that this is why it's up to voters in November to elect pro- choice officials. And his hope is that it can ultimately be codified through legislation.
GIOKOS: Elie, I'd like to ask you in terms of the immediate impacts, and while we're still waiting to hear what the final decision will be. You've
seen many people go to the streets and voice their concerns, because we just saw that heat map in terms of the states that are ready and waiting to
trigger their own laws.
HONIG: Yes, well, it's important. First of all, the impact will be seismic here. There's no question about it. It's important to understand though, if
this decision ends up getting issued, as we've seen it that does not mean abortion will be illegal across the United States.
That means it will be up to each individual state to decide. Now you've seen the heat maps shows that somewhere around half the states either have
laws that go into effect immediately as soon as Roe v. Wade is overturned or essentially will go back to the old state where they made abortion
illegal.
[11:15:00]
HONIG: However, the effect could be even broader than that, because some states have laws that make it illegal to travel to go get an abortion to
finance an abortion. So this will have an enormous impact. Essentially, it will leave it up to each individual state, but it will change the face of
the nation.
GIOKOS: Yes, it'll cause incredible restrictions for women wanting to terminate pregnancies. Thank you to both of you for your insights. Now, on
the date, we thought that Vladimir Putin might declare victory.
He could instead declare war and state where Jews sought refuge after World War Two accused of supporting a neo Nazi regime in Ukraine. Russia doubles
down on its accusations, coming up after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: More now on our breaking news a convoy of Ukrainian civilians evacuated from Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant has arrived in the Ukrainian
controlled city of Zaporizhzhia.
Some of youngest and oldest among those who had been trapped inside the plant exited the buses as you can see them and they had looks of relief and
even bewilderment.
And normally short journey took a few days as a convoy moved slowly through Russian controlled territory and countering what Ukrainian officials called
Russian obstacles along the way.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new $376 million aid package for Ukraine and praised its war efforts as President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy watched remotely in Kyiv.
The Prime Minister invoking words used by Winston Churchill during World War Two, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: You have exploded the myth of Putin's invincibility. And you've written one of the most glorious chapters
in military history and in the life of your country. The so called irresistible force of Putin's war machine has broken on the immovable
object of Ukrainian patriotism, a love of country. This is Ukraine's finest hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And also today the French presidents said that Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked on the phone for more than two
hours. The Kremlin says Putin told Mr. Macron that he is still open to dialogue.
President Putin could move now to formally declare war on Ukraine as soon as May 9. That's according to U.S. and Western officials who say that would
allow for the full mobilization of Russia's reserve forces as they try to concur eastern and southern Ukraine.
May 9 is known as Victory Day in Russia and it commemorates Russia's defeat of the Nazis in 1945.
[11:20:00]
GIOKOS: Scott McLean is in Lviv, Ukraine for us. And we'll get more from him in just a moment. But we also have Natasha Bertrand, joining us from
Washington Natasha, good to see you.
Look, the Russian president is already at war. He's just calling it something else. It's semantics for him so why now the formal declaration?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. So as we know, the Russians have been describing this as a special military operation. And
they have said that a central goal of this operation has been to de-Nazify Ukraine.
And of course, that is a lie that the Russians have told in order to justify this operation to their population. Now, what we're told from U.S.
and Western officials is that on May 9, which is that Victory Day commemorating the Russians defeat of the Nazis, it is possible that
President Putin declares a formal war on Ukraine, which would be important symbolically.
And it would also be important logistically symbolically, because, of course, it would allow him to tell the population look, we're now declaring
this formal war on the Nazis, of course, a lie that he has told to the population.
And that could galvanize public opinion even further for this conflict. But logistically, it would also be very important because it would allow the
Russian president to mobilize the full reserves the full Russian reserve force.
And that is important because they are facing a real shortage of manpower as they tried to wage this new phase of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,
but also allow him to draft conscripts.
And it's unclear how effective those conscripts would actually be at this point in the war, they can't serve very long, it's pretty much up to a year
that they can serve. But still, this could be a way for him to kind of boost the forces there in eastern Ukraine.
Now, this is not the only thing that the U.S. and Western officials are watching for. They also believe that May 9 could bring another escalation
of hostilities, including the annexation of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine.
And here is what the Ambassador to the OSCE said yesterday about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CARPENTER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE OSCE: According to the most recent reports, we believe that Russia will try to annex the Donetsk
People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in "so called to Russia". The reports state that Russia has plans to engineer referenda on joining
Russia, sometime in mid-May, and that Moscow is considering a similar plan for Kherson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: So the bottom line here is that Russia, U.S. and Western officials believe needs a victory on May the ninth, need something in order
to justify continue justifying this operation to the Russian population.
Of course, they have faced extremely numerous difficulties in this war and it does not seem to be getting any better for them, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Natasha Bertrand, thank you so very much. We also have Scott McLean in Ukraine for us in Lviv. Scott, you know, hearing what the anticipation
is, in terms of the announcements on May the ninth.
If you believe what they say in terms of Putin will announce, you know, full declaration of war, which basically could mean that his full military
might and wrath hasn't actually been deployed in Ukraine as yet. Are you hearing that that is a worry that the aggression and escalation could occur
after that date?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so if there were a formal declaration of war, Eleni would give President Putin the power to formally implement a
draft call it preserve, which may well bolster the troop counts in eastern Ukraine, which surely would help.
American estimates were that before the war, there was about 110,000 or so Russian troops surrounding Ukraine. At the moment, the most recent numbers
that we have are roughly 85,000, or so estimated to be inside the country, maybe 18, 20,000, waiting outside the country just outside of the border.
Now, a military leader, a Ukrainian Military leader in the east of the country, says that the Russians have found it quite difficult to take towns
and villages on the ground using regular manpower.
And so what they've resorted to instead is airstrikes and heavy shelling, essentially flattening these towns. And forcing the Ukrainians to retreat
whereas they could otherwise hold that piece of ground but they wouldn't want to take the heavy troop losses and so they retreat instead.
Just today the Ukrainian says that nine civilians were killed in an artillery strikes across the Donetsk region. Ukraine also says that it's
fighting back it's managed to repel 12 attacks in the last 24 hours, including bringing down seven different drones.
The Ukrainian says that Russians are now bringing some heavy equipment out of storage to bring it to the frontlines.
GIOKOS: --interrupt you there. I'm going to take our viewers to Base Andrews where President Joe Biden is speaking, let's listen.
[11:25:00]
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The main reason why I've worked so hard to keep Robert Bork off the court reflects his view almost was anyway. Look, the
idea that concerns me a great deal that we're going after 50 years decide a woman does not have a right to choose within the limits of a Supreme Court
decision on page number one.
But even more equally as profound as the rationale used and it would mean that every other decision we make the notion of privacy is thrown into
question. I realize this goes back a long way.
But one of the debates I had with Robert Bork was whether, whether Griswold versus Connecticut should stand as long. The state of Connecticut said that
the privacy your bedroom, your husband and wife or a couple could not choose to use contraception.
The use of contraception was a violation of the law. If the rationale of the decision as released were to be sustained, a whole range of rights are
in question, a whole range of rights.
And the idea with letting the states make those decisions, localities make those decisions would be a fundamental shift and what we've done. So it
goes far beyond in my view.
If it becomes a law, and if what is written is what remains, it goes far beyond the concern of whether or not there is the right to choose. It goes
the other basic rights, the right to marry, the right to determine a whole range of things.
Because one of the issues that this court, many members of the court, a number of amendments has not acknowledged is that there is a right to
privacy in our constitution.
I strongly believe there is I think the decision on his wall was correct, overruling. I think the decision grows correct, because there's the right
to privacy can be limitations on it. But it cannot be denied.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think - the court. Do you think you've never seen this happen before?
BIDEN: Well, you know if this decision holds, is really quite a radical decision. And again, the underlying premise and again, I've not had a
chance to thoroughly join to the report.
But it basically says, all the decisions relating to your private life, which you're married, whether or not you decide and conceive a child or not
whether or not you can have an abortion, a range of other decisions, whether or not how you raise your child. What is this do?
And 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. So there's a whole it's a fundamental shift in American jurisprudence --.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --whether the filibuster to codify Roe?
BIDEN: I'm not prepared to make those judgments now. But you know, I think the codification of Roe makes a lot of sense. Look, think what Roe says.
Roe says what all basic mainstream religions have historically included that right that the existence of a human life - is a question.
Is it at the moment of conception? Is it six months? Is it six weeks? Is it quickening? And Aquinas argues? I mean, so the idea that we're going to
make a judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child, based on decision by the Supreme Court, I think
goes way overboard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you guys!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --the midterms, what does this mean for Democrats argument in the mid-terms?
BIDEN: I haven't thought that yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The changes need to be made support in light of this - -holds?
BIDEN:--
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your changes need to be made to the court in light of this if this was--
BIDEN: No, we just had to choose. I mean, look, one of the reasons why I voted against the number of the members of the court they would choose to
acknowledge that there's a Ninth Amendment.
They refuse to acknowledge the right to privacy. I mean, there are so many fundamental rights that are affected by that. And I'm not a law. I'm not
prepared to leave that to the winds and the Republic at the moment and local areas. Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you guys.
GIOKOS: Right, President Joe Biden commenting on the draft opinion by the Supreme Court, of course. We don't know if it is going to come through. But
he says that if it is sustained and of course this is the draft opinion about overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent that was said 49 years ago.
[11:30:00]
GIOKOS: He says that if it is sustained it is going to have far reaching ramifications more than just focusing on whether a woman has a right to
choose to terminate a pregnancy then it brings into question other privacy laws in terms of marriage or how to raise a child.
He did not answer the question about the potential of a filibuster. But he did say that it just brings into question so many other precedents that
have been said, this is an important moment.
It could have huge implications for women's rights. It's a story we will be following very closely. President Joe Biden on his way to Alabama to visit
a javelin manufacturing plants, we'll be following his moves as well. We're going to have a short break, more CNN after this stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: It's being called a stunning breach of Supreme Court confidentiality and secrecy and its sparking protests across the U.S. among
abortion rights advocates and legal analysts.
Politico has obtained what it calls a draft of Supreme Court opinion suggesting the conservative majority may be about to outlaw the
constitutional right to an abortion.
Planned Parenthood, the organization that provides women's reproductive health care tweeted and I quote, "Let's be clear. This is a draft opinion.
It's outrageous. It's unprecedented, but it's not final. Abortion is your rights. And it is still legal".
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has issued a statement on that leak. He says and I quote, "This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust
that is an affront to the courts and the community of public servants who work here".
I have directed the marshal of the court to launch an investigation into the source of that leak. To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of
the court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed.
I want to now bring in Wendy Davis, former Democratic State Senator of Texas who held a 13 hour filibuster to block a restrictive abortion bill
back in 2013.
Wendy, so good to have you on. Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws, and frankly, has been waiting for something like this to occur. When
you read this draft opinion, what were your initial thoughts and what ramifications could it have for women in Texas?
[11:35:00]
WENDY DAVIS, FORMER TEXAS DEMOCRATIC STATE SENATOR: Well, thank you so much for having me on. You know, my initial thoughts, I'm sure were like those
of so many people across this country. While we've been expecting this to see these words written on paper, and I understand that this is a draft.
But it seems as though five justices on the court are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. And for them to pull away completely, any protections embedded
in the constitution for these privacy rights on which Roe depended, really is sobering not only for what it will mean for reproductive rights, but
what it will mean for other decisions, for example, marriage equality, which also find its underpinning in the privacy rights recognized for
decades in the Constitution by the U.S. Supreme Court.
GIOKOS: So Wendy, we actually heard from President Joe Biden a short while ago, and he said similar to what you're saying that this could have far
reaching ramifications with regards to other privacy laws in terms of marriage or how you raise your children.
And he actually mentioned quite a few and he said, well, what are those going to be overturned as well? What does it mean for those precedents? So
what kind of legal recourse would you say is that hand wired, perhaps available to specifically protect the rights of a woman to terminate a
pregnancy if she wishes to do so?
DAVIS: Well, if Roe is indeed overturned in late June, as expected, the only way that women will be able to access legal abortion care in this
country will be either through state legislative action to specifically allow it or federal protections.
Right now, the Women's Health Protection Act is before Congress. The House voted to pass it, the U.S. Senate has not voted to pass it; they haven't
had the votes to do that.
And if the federal level fails to codify the protections of Roe, we are going to be left in a country where more than half the states have said
that they will make abortion illegal following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
And what that means is hard really to describe 49 years of protection for abortion rights in this country will go away overnight for people in more
or about half of our states here.
And it's going to create a tremendously difficult dynamic where only people who have the privilege to afford to travel to receive abortion and states
where it's allowed, we'll be able to exercise that right.
And we're going to see more and more marginalized people unable to access the right to safe and legal abortion.
GIOKOS: Yes, it is a scary thought. Wendy, you held a 13 hour filibuster to block a restrictive abortion law in Texas. President Biden did not answer
when he was asked about a potential filibuster this time around. Do you think that this could potentially be an outcome?
DAVIS: I certainly hope so. I mean, I know as part of the November elections here across the country, this issue is going to be an important
referendum on the ballot. Are we going to fight to protect this right or are we not?
And I expect that not only are Democrats going to be fully charged up and turnout in record numbers to vote. But I think Independents and moderate
Republicans who also support abortion rights, many of whom have continued to vote for Republican nominees who have said that they will overturn Roe,
I think they just haven't believed it would really happen.
And this sobering moment that we find ourselves in, I think will reveal a very different outcome in our November elections than we were expecting.
GIOKOS: Yes. Wendy Davis, thank you so very much.
DAVIS: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Great to have you on. People are returning to a village near Kyiv decimated by Russian attacks. Why things remain dangerous in motion? Weeks
after a Russian retreat. We're coming to you right after the short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
GIOKOS: Russia and Vladimir Putin have consistently made the false claim that Ukraine is riddled with Nazis. And now Russia has accused Israel of
supporting a neo Nazi regime and keeps the comments double down on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's surgeon Monday that Hitler had Jewish blood.
This was in an attempt to justify his claims that Ukraine is in the grips of Neo Nazis despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being Jewish himself.
Joining me now CNN's Hadas Gold,
Hadas, I have to say Israel has been sort of trying to take a very diplomatic stance on this wall but the latest comments from Russia over a
few days making it ever so hard for Israel to remain neutral here.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's kind of reached a new absurd level accusing Israel of supporting a neo Nazi regime and keep. So yes, the
Jewish state created in the aftermath of World War Two of the atrocities of the Nazis of the Holocaust, somehow supporting Neo Nazis.
The Russians also today released a 1000 word document they said would claim their need to de-Nazify a country with a Jewish president and included
examples of forced Jewish collaboration with the Nazis and contemporary instances of anti-Semitism in Ukraine.
Yesterday after - yesterday Israeli officials reacted very angrily to those initial comments from Sergey Lavrov demanding an apology the Russian
ambassador was summoned for talks.
So far today we have not seen any sort of official reaction from the prime minister or the foreign minister to this latest absurd accusation that
Israel supporting a neo Nazi regime.
We did hear from the health minister who was on the Israeli cabinet, who said there is no neo Nazi regime in Ukraine. Zelenskyy is not a Nazi. And
his Judaism is unrelated.
He went on to say that the Russian rhetoric that connects the invasion of Ukraine to the soviet struggle against Nazi Germany with comparisons to
Hitler is a terrible lie.
You're right to mention that Israel has been in this sort of tricky diplomatic balancing act while they have condemned the invasion. They've
accused Russia of war crimes; they've been sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Israel has not yet gone so far as to join, for example, Western sanctions against Russia or sending military equipment to Ukraine. But yesterday
Foreign Minister Lapid did warn that while Israel had been trying to maintain good relations with Ukraine, Israel had been trying to act as a
mediator between the two countries that Russia had crossed the line with these statements and that they were demanding an apology.
But whether this will actually push Israel any further right now experts I've been speaking to say that as it stands, they don't think so. But if
this escalates further, if, for example, Russia kicks out Israel's ambassador over this sort of rhetorical war of words, and then we might see
things change only Eleni?
GIOKOS: Hadas Gold, thank you so very much. Now some of the most devastating scenes from the war in Ukraine have come from towns around
Kyiv, where Russian troops stormed in and then withdrew.
CNN's Matt Rivers spoke to Ukrainians who are trying to pick up the pieces in a village virtually flattened by the brutal campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At the entrance to the Ukrainian village of Moschun and 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 after street.
[11:45:00]
RIVERS (voice over): This was the site of some of the most intense fighting of the war so far. On their drive toward Kyiv, the Russians attack soldiers
and civilians alike hear. 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 and microwave. I mean, 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.
I mean, this house gets hit with artillery, there's a 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.
VALENTINE FURSA, RESIDENT OF MOSCHUN, UKRAINE: Boom, boom, boom, fire fire, dum, dum. It was everywhere. It's nightmare.
RIVERS (voice over): Valentina 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: We were very scared; my heart was beating very fast. We thought we would die there. No, the Russians fired indiscriminately.
RIVERS (voice over): The fighting only East 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.
RIVERS (on camera): So all these things she says the Russians left behind. So this for washing your hands, another cup of some kind here, there's some
sort of life jacket that the Russians use. And then even here, you've got old, old mailboxes, even with the simple things left inside there 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 has
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: 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 of village mercilessly attacked that in the end stood its
ground, a microcosm perhaps of the country in which it lives. Matt Rivers CNN, Moschun, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And ahead on the show horrific incident and COVID stricken Shanghai, a man was sent to the morgue and then workers realized he was
alive. I will tell you what officials say happened and how they're responding to the outrage gripping Chinese social media.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GIOKOS: All right, before we go, we want to get you up to speed on other stories that we are following this hour. Now in Shanghai when millions of
people are under government enforced COVID lock down and elderly care home resident was mistakenly declared dead and then sent to the morgue on
Sunday, but he was still alive.
The district government says the man is now in the stable condition. Video of the incident was posted on Chinese social media including the moment the
workers realized that the man was alive.
It has triggered a wave of horror and outrage online. For more I'm joined by Selina Wang, who is in Kunming in China. And honestly had to do a double
take on the story that I read, I couldn't believe my eyes. It is clearly incredibly shocking, and also scary that it's reached this point.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are horrified Eleni and it only adds to the anger and frustration of Shanghai residents. And they see this as
another sign of the dysfunction and the failures of the government in executing this city wide lockdown.
In response authorities they have fired several Shanghai officials including the head of the nursing home where this man was taken from,
they've also revoked the credentials of the doctor who was involved.
And in the video, you can see the workers taking a yellow body bag to the morgue. You can see the workers unzipping the yellow bag only to realize
that the elderly man inside is still alive.
Now the bystander who was filming all of this happening Eleni, he said in the video, quote, "The nursing home is such a mess". They sent a living
person on a hearse and said they were dead.
It is irresponsible, really irresponsible. And Eleni as we've been talking about this lockdown, it has triggered this logistical mess. Many in
Shanghai they're still struggling to get enough food and daily essentials.
They are still struggling to get what they need to get by day to day. Now last week, authority said that some neighborhoods would be able to release
to relieve some of these lockdown restrictions. But still you've got millions sealed in their homes.
And for those who can go out this are a very tenuous freedom since most stores first of all are closed. And if any COVID case is found in their
community, that lock down clock for another 14 days in their homes that restarts again.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, to be honest, I can't remember the last time we saw so much outrage that has sort of seeped through into social media about the
way the government is dealing with COVID.
But the whole point is to try and avert you know, hardcore lockdown similar to what we saw in Shanghai. Is Beijing on the path of having a different
experience and I'm sure government is trying to make sure that this doesn't cause more outrage on the ground?
WANG: Yes, exactly. We're seeing more organization in Beijing so far. They are reacting a lot earlier and more aggressively to the outbreak. They're
desperately officials are desperately trying to avoid the failures and chaos that we've seen in Shanghai.
But still, this has been disrupting people's daily lives. Even though the daily case numbers are quite low parts of the city are locking down.
They've shut down schools major entertainment venues like Universal Studios have closed down in restaurant.
Dining has been banned and the city has been launching mass testing and rounds and rounds and rounds are testing more than 20 million residents
three times in just three days.
And also residents need to start showing proof of negative COVID tests in order to enter any public venue in order including to take public
transportation. But we have seen residents stocking up they are concerned after seeing what happened in Shanghai that this could potentially get
worse.
GIOKOS: Right Selina, thanks so much. And I have to say I'm actually counting down for your freedom as well. So stay safe. Good to see you, much
appreciate it. OK, so heat wave gripping India and Pakistan is endangering the lives of millions of people.
And as global warming worsens, experts warn there will be more frequent and longer heat waves across both countries. Right, so that's the story that
we'll be following and let's move on.
Alright, so a U.S. space flight company called Rocket Lab is celebrating what it calls a monumental step forward. It used a helicopter to catch a
rocket booster as it parachuted to Earth.
The live stream shows the helicopter snagging the parachute before the pilot decided to drop the rocket. Take a look at that. Incredible footage
OK, so officials describe the catch as spectacular.
Private space flight companies are increasingly looking to reusable rocket send spacecraft to make their launches more affordable. And imagine waking
up in a hotel room with a view of the solar system.
[11:55:00]
GIOKOS: The Company Orbital Assembly is planning to launch two space stations within the next five years. One of them will be able to hold 400
people and it's slated to open in 2027.
And then another smaller station will be able to have 28 people and could be as operational as early as 2025. Both stations will also include office
space and research facilities for rent. So basically, this is a space hotel.
It sounds very exciting. If you want to run away from your reality on Earth, I guess this would be an option, if you of course have very deep
pockets, incredible times that we're living in.
Alright, so thank you so very much for joining us. That was "Connect the World". I'm Eleni Giokos, and CNN's coverage of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine continues after this short break, you're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
