this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, and welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. we're following two breaking news story this is hour, each tied to grand spectacles taking place in their nations' capitals. in paris, ceremonies are set to get under way soon for the inauguration of emmanuel macron for his second term. guests and dig nitaries will be

gathering. and in moscow, rehearsals are being held for monday's victory day parade. it is the anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany. war in ukraine is now into its third month, it's debatable whether president putin has much to show for it. we begin in france. cnn european affairs commentator joins us from los angeles. traditionally, with presidents past, the second inauguration is less glitzy, less showy than the first one. is that going to be the case for macron today? >> yeah, i think compared to 2017, things will be toned down. there will be no schamps-elysee

parade. and i think it's important for him to take the opportunity a few weeks out from the legislative elections to celebrate his victory but to use the opportunity to continue the conversation with the french people after what was a hotly-contested election and to try to build bridges as he heads into that legislative race. >> so is that what you're expecting then from his speech? people were kind of hoping to get a sense of the direction his administration will take. >> i think he has to take the opportunity, on the occasions when presidents have used this opportunity, they tend to talk about the office and their campaign and look to sort of what they overcome, but this really macron and starting again. even his movement has been named as the renaissance movement. and i think he must use this opportunity to speak to the french people and really

position himself as their president for the next five years, and with a clear understanding that the presidential elections reveal deep divisions in french society, which is so many people not even bothering to show up to vote, with the shadow of the far right gaining ground once again in this election. so i think he'll take an opportunity to address some of these issues and concerns without belaboring points on this occasion, which is a celebration of sorts. >> yeah, i mean, you mentioned the far right and his opponents that he beat from the far right, but he will also face threats from the far left. he's facing this united opposition from the left, this coalition spearheaded by the third place finisher. so how do you think this will play out with those legislative elections in the summer? >> so much uncertainty, because the presidential election,

unlike say the federal elections in germany where parties are accustomed to creating coalitions. the presidential election in france is a winner take all. it has nothing to do with the legislative process. a few weeks later we have these legislatures coming around, and we see the deep divisions in which the mainstream parties have virtually disappeared, and actual lit far left and left in general missed an opportunity in the presidential election to work together and arguably, that's problemably the reason t didn't end up in the runoff. i however, the legislatives are a difficult one to predict.

t even though some of the mainstream parties have not done well in the presidentials, they're deeply entrenched in many of these constituencies. they usually end up going to runoffs and it's very difficult for some of these parties to break through. having said that, given the level of kind of dissatisfaction and the way that the two rounds of the french election worked out, there clearly is some uncertainty and it's not a foregone conclusion that macron will be able to obtain a majority. >> he's formed his own sort of center coalition. h explain how this coalition he's forming will counter the threats from both sides. >> it's interesting to see how,

we broke down the numbers in the first round, that france is moving toward three political parties or groups. you'ved a together the left and far left groups and they added up to 30% as canddid the far ri and extreme right. these two rounds and parties can work together to try and block other candidates and so on and so forth. so what macron has established here is really less, you know, ambitious than what is going on, on the left, essentially bringing together some of the smaller center left and center right groups but he's already swallowed up so many of those. the big question is going to be how the disillusioned don't want to go with theiris left wing

coalition. so there is some level of unpredictability and irony as well. because the changes that took place in the political system going all the way back to 2002 were designed to try and give the president and elect the legislative legislative blanch branch. as we've seen in the past, cohabitation governments do flnot seem to be that productive in france. it's going to be an even more uphill struggle than what he currently faces with all these divisions. >> not just for france but for europe with what's going on in ukraine and the unity of europe. so many issues that he has to deal with. we're just going to signal that we have live pictures as the

guests and dignitaries are arriving and we will have the inauguration, at least parts of it, and the president's speech coming up in about an hour, and we'll bring you back, dominick thomas, to talk about that in about an hour. thanks so much. >> thank you. there have been no new evacuations reported yet today from mariupol's besieged steel factory. both russia and ukraine said evacuations should continue. 50 were successfully evacuated friday. buss buses were seen carrying people to ukrainian territory. the factory has been under constant bombardment.

president zelenskyy is hoping to negotiate the safe evacuation of the soldiers still inside. here he is. >> translator: we are also working on diplomatic options to save our military who remain. influential mediators are involved, including influential states. >> russia has been hastily putting its stamp where it can ahead of its victory day monday. have a look here, a flag flies above a hospital. and an adviser to plmariupol's mayor says statues are popping up around the city. for the first time, the ukrainian general staff is accusing russia of blowing up bridges to slow down counterattacks, stating the operation in kharkiv is not going well. cnn cannot independently verify

that claim. let's go to our own isa soares in lviv h, ukraine. >> reporter: as you heard in the last few minutes, no new evacuations have taken place. but both sides promising to try and continue the evacuations following that really glimmer of hope for a select few that we saw yesterday. 50 civilians being evacuated from the azovstal steel plant. this is not empty. their is a large complex. it still has civilians inside, as many as 100 people. at last count there were about 30 children. we don't know how many of course left yesterday. but it is incredibly worrying, given the shelling, the constant shelling we have been seeing

from russia. i'm keeping a close eye to see whether further evacuations do take place. overnight, president biden promising $150 million of aid, military aid, to ukraine. and despite this flurry of course of aid that we've been seeing from the u.s. and the west to ukraine, some of the people i've been speaking to, foreign fighters, tell me that really, they haven't seen that military aid, that help in the front lines. have a listen. for weeks now, these volunteer fighters have been defending a country that is not theirs. >> i saw on the news just like everybody else, the atrocities that the russians were committing. h that's the reason why i came. >> reporter: the two americans and the canadian who prefer we identify them by their nicknames tell me that from their experiences with one particular unit, the ukrainian forces they

have been fighting alongside on the frontline are ill-equipped and cut off from resources. >> specifically, nato munitions in terms of anti-tank weapons as well as artillery, like howitzers. tanks. even like vehicles, it's nowhere on the front. >> reporter: they say they have fought near kyiv and the kharkiv area. >> massive colomumn on the road pushed them here. >> reporter: this footage filmed by them shows the terrain. >> it's filled with nothing but open ground.

>> reporter: without the right equipment can be deadly. >> it's a miracle we are still alive. you basically have to be a tank or artillery or an aircraft right now to fight in the eastern front. >> reporter: so far, the u.s. has approved more than $3 billion in military assistance to ukraine. including thousands of swjaf lynns, stinger missiles. h equipment that these former marines say they haven't seen. so much so though are being teased about it. >> we have guys coming up to us with google translate, where are the howitzers? where is biden's help? or where is nato's help? >> reporter: last month, the pentagon said military gear and equipment was getting to ukraine between 24 and 48 hours after it was shipped. but the u.s. was transferring it

to ukrainian hands and not dictating how fast they get it to the frontline or what unit gets them. these fighters had just one glimpse of one florontline, but they're not alone in their thinking. >> one side has nothing, and it's doing everything it can. and the other side has everything and there hy're too afraid to do anything with that. >> reporter: despite the challenges of the battlefield, doc and rat are moving to the battle line. >> the ukrainians are giving interest all. >> reporter: shadow, meanwhile, staying away from the front lines in lviv, after learning he's going to be a father. comradery and a common cause as

they fight for freedom in a foreign land. and it's important to point out this is their experience with one unit in one part of that floil in frontline. i shall say this. only a few days ago, the defense secretary austin said that these weapons, that this military hardware that's coming in from the u.s. is being put to quote, very good use. >> even with those caveats, you said there's still a fascinating perspective from those fighters. thanks so much. all right, now to a developing story out of north korea. japan's defense ministry believes an unidentified projectile coming from north korea could be a ballistic

missile. it was fired into the waters. north korea has had completed multiple ballistic missile tests this year. will ripley is in taiwan. yet another north korean missile launch. a real flurry of them this year, and we're learning had troubling details about their particular one. what's the latest? >> reporter: 14 launches so far in 2022, more than all of 2020 and 2021 combined, and we are getting new information in the last few minutes that sets this launch apart in a disturbing way for the militaries of south korea, japan and the united states, who would be, you know, in the immediate front lines of an attack from this kind of a missile, a purported sub marine launched missile. it was fired in the waters off the north korean city of simpo. an altitude of just 60 or so

kilometers, less than 40 miles altitude, under the radar literally, if this missile were to be fired in any sort of attack and traveled at a pretty extensive distance. it traveled low but for 600 kilometers, just over 370 miles. if a north korean submarine why to pull up secretly, they could hit a target pretty far inland at such a low altitude it would be pretty much impossible for missile defense systems to shoot down and could potentially happen without any warning, even though north korean submarines are pretty loud. they're a diesel fleet, an outdated fleet, nothing like the stealth nuclear submarines of the united states, but still the fact that north korea is demonstrating this kind of technology and so many weapons, and the united states and japan say a nuclear test could happen this month. it adds up to a potentially very turbulent time in this part of

the world. >> will ripley, thanks so much. a desperate search for survivors is under way in cuba after an explosion at a historic hotel. the latest from havana. plus, a party could be set for a win after a tough night in the uk. we'll have the latest after the break. stay with us. e stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months.. stelara® may increase your risk k of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. feel unstoppable. ask your doctor how lasting remission can start with stelara®. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

at least 22 people were killed from a huge explosion at a hotel in cuba. officials believe the blast at havana's historic hotel sayre toe fa was caused by a gas leak. emergency personnel are combing through what's left of the destroyed building trying to find survivors. >> reporter: human rescue workers continued their grim task of sifting through massive amounts of rubble of what used to be the iconic five-star hotel saratoga, after an explosion ripped through the hotel early on friday. what we're told by cuban officials is that a gas truck had arrived, gas for the hotel uses for cooking as the hotel

workers readied to open the hotel to tourists next week. and somehow as this gas was being delivered to the hotel, a leak apparently caused the hotel to fill up with gas and led to a massive explosion that gutted th this hotel. we arrived moments after the explosion. we saw a woman being taken from the hotel barely able to walk, another covered in blood, seriously injured, taken away in a stretcher and we saw rescue workers clawing away with their bare hands. it was an accident, there's no sign of any intentional terrorism that took place here, but an investigation will be carried out to see what exactly went wrong here, and as the light goes out here, as the day ends, the rescue workers say they will continue the difficult

task of trying to look for any survivors trying to recover the bodies. there concern this body has been damaged so terribly that it could give way. so they're proceeding very cautiously, but they say they will not stop until everyone is accounted for. cnn, havana. british prime minister concedes his party had a tough night after his party lost hundreds of seats in elections. many british voters aren't happy with the tories. >> reporter: it's been a bruising day for prime minister boris johnson, as expected, as results have trickled in from local council elections all across the uk. the prime minister lost more than 300 seats in what was considered to be the first real political test of his leadership since all of the scandals. most notably, party gate, and

the opposition won over 200 seats so far, but it wasn't an unqualified success. they will be looking into the other candidate breached covid rules. it's also a historic night in northern ireland, where the assembly looks to see sinn fein as the biggest party since its existence. i spoke to the president of sinn fein, mary lou mcdonald, about whether northern ireland was ever closer to unification with the republic of ireland. >> we will witness their constitutional change. and it is my determine nation

t that it will be orderly and democratic. we have been saying that the preparation for constitutional change in ireland needs to begin now. there will be no prize for anybody irrespective of their political stripe for burying their head in the sand. we need to be alive to the fact that change is under way, and we also need to be cognizant of immen's, i mean immense, economic and social and cultural opportunities that will be afforded to us. and i want us to grasp those opportunities, and for everybody who calls this island to benefit from that change. >> so while this is a historic night in northern ireland, it's a decisive one for johnson and starmer. he has built his career on being

a proven winner. and if starmer can capitalize on this success, labor could be on track to a much better showing in the next election. cnn, london. at uk gears up to celebrate queen elizabeth's platinum jubilee, there are a few notable changes. prince harry and meghan won't join the royals on the famous buckingham palace balcony, and that is because tradition dictates only working royals will i a continued. it's unclear if the queen herself, who's reigned for 70 years and counting will be there. appearances were canceled in the last few months because of her health and mobility. that will be decided near the time. new statues and road signs have been popping up in parts of

ukraine occupied by russia. we'll tell you what message moscow's trying to send with new signs and symbols, plus, the woman believed to be vladimir putin's girlfriend could face sanctions. stay with us. oh, i had never seen a picture of her until i got on ancestry. it was like touching the past. my great aunt signed up to serve in the union army as a field nurse. my great grandmother started a legacy of education in my famimily. didn't know she ran for state office. ended up opening her own restauaurant in san francisco. paralee wharton elder, lulupe gonzalez, mary sawyers, margaret ross. there's a lot of life that she lived. who are the strong women in your family?

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welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." we're tracking efforts to get civilians out of the besieged azovstal steel plant in

mariupol. russia and ukraine have said evacuations should continue today but there haven't been any signs of them happening so far, at least 100 remain trapped in underground bunkers. on friday, about 50 civilians were rescued and eventually made it to ukrainian-held territory. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says he's working on diplomatic options on getting getting ukrainian soldiers out as well. russian soldiers have begun destroying bridges. they claim they've destroy ed a stockpile of western weapons. >> as russia tries to gain more ground in ukraine, it's already putting its stamp on areas it's already occupied. moscow's trying to send a

message that in those areas, kremlin is in charge. and talking about the message, this ceremony was meant to say that moscow is also in charge in mariupol. these troops received medals for what officials called the liberation of the city, despite the fact that ukrainian defenders are still holding out in azovstal steel plant. for more on this we're joined by an associate professor in the department of international relations in yodesa and speakin us to from lviv, ukraine. when you see ukrainian street signs being changed into russian, the coat of arms, statues of lennin going up in your country, how does that strike you as a ukrainian?

>> it's a vicious chance to continue to erase the ukrainian identity. i mean, nothing new here. we're not surprised. the russian empire's tried to do that in the second half of the 19th century. they were talking about the common entity of calling them t soviet people. and now current day russia is doing the same thing. they are waging the war not against the current ukrainian state but against nation hood, against the nation, the people. they are trying to present the view, which they have been doing, especially under putin now, that ukraine is not a state, some kind of historical aberration. there's no such thing as clacl ukrainian people. it's a deviation from russia.

but this is not working. unfortunately, putin believes this himself. wrote an article himself last summer where he said yes, there's no such thing as ukraine and therefore he's basically acting up on this message that he has himself delivered to the public on a number of occasions, and that's why we're not surprised. >> i wonder if this will have, just like a lot of this war, sort of, you know, railing against nato and then, you know, pushing more countries to try and join nato, whether it will be counterproductive, whether it will make ukrainians more nationalistic, proud of their language, proud of their culture in response to what's going on. >> absolutely, absolutely. the process started in 2014 when the russian aggression started. then starting the war in donbas. and it's ongoing for a few years now. but since february 24th, since

the current hmassive invasion, t has been accelerated. that's what a lot of ukrainians never thought they would switch from theirit, but now it's happ. you have a lot of russian speakers. but for many of them, the experience of sitting in the basement shelter, you know, hiding from russian bombs and missiles, even if you had some sympathy to russia you would do away with it by the time you get from that shelter. and that's what is happening. >> i just want to ask you about th this sort of response, the

de-rusifying. that they are repurposing that american right wing vernacular. but president zelenskyy fought back against that narrative. i want to play ah clyou a clip a recent speech. >> translator: but now you, the russian occupiers are creating this problem. you are doing everything to make our people stop speaking russian themselves, because the russian language will be associated with you. only with you. with these explosions and killings, with your crimes, you are deporting our people. >> on one hand, one can see this as a different type of resistance, you know, cultural resistance. on the other hand, i'm wondering, since you as you just spoke about, so many ukrainians have russian family, russian

roots, is there a concern that they will be alienated by all of this? >> i myself am russian speaking. in my native tongue. it doesn't prevent me from being very strong ukrainian or nationalist or nazi, because according to putin, anyone who is nationalist is nazi. we are having a very stage by st stage. when i deliver lectures, it's not a problem. it's not a problem to talk to me in ukrainian. this big shift is ongoing.

and russian aggression gin influencing this change. >> we'll have to leave it there. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you for having me, bye-bye of the. >> l the woman believed to vladimir putin's girlfriend may targeted by sanctions, alina kabaeva. >> reporter: putin's punishment for the war hitting his most inner circle. the eu's prime target, alina kabaeva, who's said to be putin a putin's girlfriend. the two have been rumored to be in a romantic relationship ever since putin appeared to take an interest in her after she won gold for russia in rhythmic

gymnastics. rumors were that he was separating from his wife, rumors the kremlin vehemently denied but were confirmed in 2013 when they divorced. meanwhile, ckabaeva has risen i importance. washington was reluctant to go after someone so close to the russian president for fear of taking another step toward escalating the conflict. late last month, the president appeared to take a change in approach. >> no one is safe from sanctions. we've sanctioned president putin, his daughters, his closest closest cronies and we'll look

at more. >> reporter: the cardinal of the church has strongly supported putin's peacekeeping operation which he added was a religious cleansing operation to liberate russian speakers in ukraine. he's so close to putin that in a highly unusual comment, pope francis said the patriarch cannot become putin's altar boy, something that put the churches further at odds. there are a number other targets in the eu sanctions, including a promise to wean europeans off russian gas and oil by later this year. some are resistant to that because of their heavy reliance on russian oil and gas. europe's most successful soccer club may soon have new owners.

chelsea has confirmed that a deal is worth more than $5 billion. the current owner, a russian oligarch, is subject to british sanctions and has seen his assets frozen. he put the club up for sale following the russian invasion of ukraine. and tune in monday for our live coverage of the victory day parade in russia. we'll have live coverage as troops and officials gather from 9:00 a.m. russian time. still ahead, the future of abortion rights here in the u.s. appears to be up in the air, and some states are preparing new laws in case roe versus wade is overturned. we'll have detetails on that coming up, stay with us.

clarence tauphomas is the latest supreme court justice to condemn the leak of the supreme court dracft. what do americans think about striking down roe versus wade? it turns out most are against it. according to a new cnn poll conducted after the leak. 66% of americans say the ruling shouldn't be overturned. and that view shared by just over a third of republicans the but most americans want congress to pass a law protecting the right to abortion. meanwhile, many states across the u.s. are preparing anti-abortion legislation to be ready if and perhaps when the supreme court decides to overturn roe versus wade. cnn's jessica schneider reports. >> we want to outlaw abortion in the state of oklahoma. >> reporter: nearly two dozen states are on the brink of

banning abortion, and it will l happen almost immediately if the supreme court overturns row versus wade. 13 states have trigger laws. nine states have so-called zombie laws. the bans would go back into effect in the conservatives on the court eliminate that constitutional right to abortion. >> that very moment prosecutors around the state could begin prosecuting doctors, and i would argue potentially women as well. >> reporter: michigan's law makes no exception for rape or incest but would allow abortions to save the mother's life, but the republican running for attorney general in michigan says he would prosecute even if abortion was performed in an effort to save the mother. >> what about the life of the mother? okay. you have an exception for it. i said i do not.

because there is literally no medical diagnosis that says if the mother's life is in danger, abort the baby. >> reporter: that is just one example of how the enforcement of the statutes could be. one attorney general says he will refuse to prosecute and will leave it to local district attorneys. >> it's my view that we have problems that our law enforcement should be dealing with, like violent crime, drug trafficking, and we don't need to shift hour our efforts. >> reporter: the wide range in prosecutorial approach shows how it would be in a post-roe world. >> i think the question would be

whether they can reach out of their own borders or whether they can prosecute patients for having abortions as louisiana seems to be doing. >> reporter: louisiana passed a bill that would classify abortions a homicides, leaving the door open for patients to be prosecuted, and then there is the question about lhow officias would find out about illegal abortions. that people's searches could be used against them or their cell phones. third parties can buy data from google and they could track who is at an abortion clinic and when. >> the prosecution goes and trice tries to buy theis data, they would know information about the person who was there, the id of your device. >> reporter: they are trying

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mother nature is cooking up a historic early season heat wave in parts of the u.s. this mother's day weekend. experts say as many as 120 record-high temperatures in 13 states are set to be tied or broken in the next several days. this is paired with an alarming drought and water crisis in the west causing some water levels to be at critically low levels. derek, not just uncomfortable but serious consequences. >> let's take the state of california, one of the largest states in the u.s. we're talking about two of the largest reservoirs that feed our agriculture, feed the people, their fresh drinking water, at

critical low levels at a point in the year when they should see the highest levels because they're coming off the winter season with the snow. let's take lake shasta for instance. they're at 40% capacity compared to average. let's bring to you lake oraville to show what you it looks like from above. their is one of the largest reservoirs. and according to the u.s. drought monitors, this lake is at 40% of its capacity, 7you ca see that bathtub ring around the center of the lake. and that is just a good indicator of how low the levels are. this is amongst the drought. and now we have red flag warnings with the recipe for more fire weather ongoing.

in fact, the second largest fire in new mexico's history, only at i 20% containment with gusty winds, and this is amongst a record-breaking heat wave, 170 potential record-break highs triple digit heat and it's only the second week of may. back to you. >> thank you so much. really appreciate it. and that wraps this hour of cnn weekend. we will be back with more news, please stay with us.

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and we'll make this a national holiday. nay. holi-week. just say watchathon into your voice remote to watch now. ♪ >> announcer: this is cnn br breaking news. hello and welcome to all of you watching all around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. two breaking news stories this hour, each stied to grand spectacles taking place in their nation's capitals. in paris, official ceremonies to get under way for the inauguration of emmanuel macron to a second presidential term. guests and dignitaries began arriving about an hour ago. in moscow, red square is getting ready for monday's important victory day military parade. may 9th is the