, arwa. wow. >>> dramatic developments overnight in ukraine. and again, very much on the table as the president meets with angela merkel today. there will be a press conference live at about 11:30, 11:40 between the two leaders. cnn will be taking that live. >>> now, a heartbreaking loss for the l.a. clippers and their fans last night. they're going to need a game seven to advance in the playoffs after losing game six to the golden state warriors, 100-99! oh, my goodness. meanwhile, a panel of nba owners met thursday, unanimously agreeing to proceed as expeditiously as possible to oust clippers owner donald sterling from the league for his racist words. three-quarters of the owners need to approve his removal. and the president of the los angeles chapter of the naacp has resigned. leon jenkins stepping down for his decision to honor sterling for promoting civil rights. >>> and happening right now, the east coast cleaning up after historic flooding just covered communities with water. and this

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arwa damon. she is live in donetsk in eastern ukraine. bring us up to speed with, i guess, what has been an escalation in the crisis over the weekend. >> reporter: and the concerning thing about this escalation is that it really, christine, underscores just how lawless the situation has become and just how potentially even more difficult it could be for the ukrainian authorities to try to bring it back under control, not only with that jailbreak in odessa, where the authorities were effectively helpless and unable to stop it from taking place, but also, here in eastern ukraine, a number of incidences that saw the pro-russian camp taking over additional buildings and even going so far in the city of luhansk, for example, of issuing a deadline, telling the authorities that they had to evacuate certain locations. there have been reinforcements that were sent to eastern ukraine in some of these instances. the pro-russian camp wanted to see them out. and at the end of the day, the pro-russian side got

arwa, what's going on this morning? >> reporter: well, those events in odessa most certainly are throwing fuel on the fires here, especially in the eastern part of the country, where we're seeing the pro-russian camp gaining even more territory, taking over even more buildings, despite the fact that the ukrainian government has launched this so-called antiterrorism operation and does have its own military perched outside of some various key cities. but within these different cities, the pro-russian camp very much in control, very much asserting its own authority. people are blaming a lot of what is taking place, especially the violence that happened in odessa, on the government in kiev, and you have this blame, counterblame, fiery rhetoric coming from all sides but no concrete steps being made towards any political reconciliation. this part of the country is still planning on going ahead with that referendum on may 11th. they have absolutely no regard for the central government in kiev, and they continue to believe that

our arwa damon in abuja this morning. new details this morning about the days leading up to the terrifying massacre in southern colorado. six uc santa barbara students were killed. 13 other people were injured before elliot rodger took his own life. police say three of those he murdered were his roommates, and now a friend of his family says rodger had a long-running feud with these roommates, claiming they were noisy and played video games at all hours. but the mother of victim weihan wong says her son was planning to move out because it was rodger who was noisy. classes on campus are expected to resume tomorrow after a memorial today. >>> and president biden pledging to follow the sacred obligation to take care of veterans. several facilities are being investigated over doctored wait times. speaking at a bike event for veterans, the vice president vowed to do something about this. >> the only truly sacred obligation we have, before every other obligation that exists in this country is to equip those of you who we send i

arwa damon is live in abuja in nigeria this morning. and arwa, explain this to us. was this an off-handed remark by a defense official in nigeria, or is this a legitimate claim, hey, we really know where they are and we can get them when we want? >> reporter: well, that's exactly what we've been trying to figure out, placing numerous calls to various spokespeople within the ministry of defense, ministry of information, trying to ascertain exactly what sort of intelligence is behind that comment made by the defense chief of we know where the girls are but we're not going to tell you just yet out of concern for any sort of operational security. also saying that they would not be launching or would not be using force to try to rescue these girls. the u.s., for its part, saying that it does not have solid evidence at this stage about where the girls actually may be, but they do have information, and that's pretty much what we've been hearing all along. they are believed to be somewhere in the northeastern part of the country, split up into smaller groups. very difficult

what is happening there, arwa? >> reporter: well, yesterday we saw the pro-russian camp taking over yet another building here in donetsk, the prosecutor's office, clashing with riot police there. kiev coming under harsh criticism for its lack of control over various cities throughout eastern ukraine, launching its own operation in the early hours of the morning to try to at the very least reassert its own authority to a certain degree. according to the ministry of defense, though, two helicopters have been shot down by pro-russian militants. two soldiers, potentially, possibly killed as well in that effort to try to retake control over the towns. reportedly, the ukrainian military managing to take back around nine barricades, bearing in mind, though, that these are barricades that are in place outside of the cities themselves. the big challenge as the ukrainian government does, in fact, move forward in this military operation is going to be the fact that these pro-russian militants have hold up, have barricaded the

arwa, what are you seeing and what are you hearing?oving very quickly over the last 24 hours, wolf. in the city of slavyansk, the ukrainian military twinning the beginning their operations there around 24 hours ago at this stage. at least two military officers killed when the pro-russian militants managed to shoot down two helicopters. according to the self-proclaimed mayor of slavyansk, five pro-russian militants were killed in clashes plus two civilians. conflicting death tolls throughout all this. the you krukrainian forces at t stage seeming only to want to move to the outskirts of the city, itself, then hold those positions. as that was happening just a short while ago, coming under attack by the pro-russian militants. according to officials, at least two more ukrainian soldiers were killed just in the last few hours. and then, of course, you have the violence that began raging in the southern city of odessa that had been relatively quiet up until now. earlier in the day, clashes breaking out between the pro-russian camp and the p

what are you seeing, arwa, on the ground?>> overnight, ukrainian troops had tried to move in and they crashed are pro-russian militants on outskirts according to a spokeswoman, killing five of them. they did manage to regain control of city hall after pro-russian protesters evacuated. when we arrived this morning, it was the ukrainian flag that was flying. with no reason given to anyone whatsoever, the russian troops occupying the building evacuated it and within seconds that ukrainian flag was down it the russian flag and the regional one right back up. the crowd there moving to the police station where they were trying to free detainees it the police firing shots over their heads to try to disperse them. we've been seeing this growing anger at a checkpoint that is along one of the routes from mariopol to the russian border. there people gathered yelling at the military, at one point even forming something of a human chain to try to prevent military armor from moving forward. it's still a very tense and volatile situation. >

arwa damon is in abuja. the was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com trwith secure wifie for your business. it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. >>> for more than six weeks, the parents of the kidnapped nigerian schoolgirls have been waiting for word on the children. this is what they got from the government. >> the good news for the girls is we -- okay, we cannot tell you military secrets. leave us alone. we are working. we gill get the girls back. >> our senior correspondent arwa damon is joining us from the capital abuja. you just heard it, they say they know

senior international correspondent arwa damon is live for us this morning in donetsk. arwa, you witnessed firsthand some of the fighting yesterday. what are you seeing now? >> reporter: well, it seems to be fairly quiet, comparatively speaking, but these lulls in the violence that we see tend to be misleading. with regards to that referendum, the reaction on the ground here one of surprise at president putin's comments but also caveated with the fact that they do most certainly respect what he thinks and they do respect moscow's position. that being said, the self-declared mayor of donetsk, where we are right now, is expected to be holding a meeting/press conference, probably within the next half hour, a vote as to whether or not they should move ahead with the referendum. in luhansk, another hotspot, people there saying that as of now, they are still continuing with their preparations for that referendum, but they are going to be holding a vote as well. one has to go back to what happened after the geneva talks took place, where we would have expected to see these var

arwa damon live for us in donetsk.ery much. >>> in washington, the house today set to take a significant vote, deciding whether to start a special committee to investigate the benghazi attack and whether the white house has tried to cover up what really happened at that diplomatic compound back in 2012. the u.s. ambassador to libya, three other state department employees died in the attack on benghazi. and former secretary of state hillary clinton insists the administration has been truthful. >> despite all of the hearings, all of the information that's been provided, some choose not to be satisfied and choose to continue to move forward. that's their choice, and i do not believe there is any reason for it to continue in this way. >> democrats are pushing for a no vote, calling the committee a partisan witch hunt. republicans say it's necessary to find out what really happened. >>> contempt of congress, the new charge now officially leveled at a former top irs official. the house voting to hold lois lerner in contempt

arwa damon on the ground in eastern ukraine.eed zakaria, host of "gps." what arwa was talking about, there is this fear now, dozens of deaths in odessa over the weekend. there is this fear that vladimir putin might make that step to say, ah, we now see a reason to invade. i do wonder, though, is russia really wanting to invade further? do you think vladimir putin is just happy with the instability that's already being created within ukraine right now? >> that's the million-dollar question, kate. is he doing this to create an atmosphere of instability, which allows him to prove his point, which is, you can't solve ukraine without me. you can't hold elections there. and this is -- you know, this is all about the run-up. we're 20 days away from the elections and he is trying to prove, it seems to me, that nothing can happen in ukraine, unless he decides it's going to happen. now, the west has made several offers of diplomatic meetings and solutions. right now, he doesn't want to take them, because i think he still wants to continue

arwa damon, cnn, ukraine. >> we're going to take a short break right now.ll to come on cnn newsroom, donald sterile brought the clippers for a pittance decades ago. >> $12 million is a pittance to some. but now the team is worth a lot more. the question is, how much will sterling profit from his racist rant? >> and it appears that actor/director ben affleck has an unexpected talent that got him banned from the blackjack tables in las vegas. the details when we come back. on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that game show hosts should only host game shows? samantha, do you take kevin as your lawfully wedded husband... or would you rather have a new caaaaaar!!!! say hello to the season's hottest convertible... ohhh....and say goodbye to samantha. [ male announcer ] geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. >>> it's the first full trading week of the month. but will investors sell in may and go away? the stock traders almanac shows the time frame from may through october is typically the worst six months of the year for the market. o

arwa, it's stunning that those two men -- you got these men to talk to you.ave any idea how close they are in determining where these girls are? >> reporter: that's the problem, brooke. it seems as if the authorities really don't at this stage. now, the nigerian government has said that it has beefed up its aerial surveillance. there were those talks that you're mentioning earlier that took place over the week end that the u.s. was attending as well. america being quite vague, though, in its rhetoric as to how much cooperation, how much intelligence sharing actually exists and then one also must look at the terrain. the forests among many locations where the girls could be. other similarly difficult to navigate parts of the country they could possibly even be split up into smaller groups. but that's what's so horrifying and so difficult for so many people to grasp is this notion that these girls have been missing for five weeks and there is still no concrete evidence or intelligence as to where they may be. >> thank you for shining the light and having certai

and if they do take the military option, potentially very bloody. >> all right, arwa damon, stay safel right, up next, raphael sollecito speaking out regarding the case of amanda knox and what he has to say about the case, the new allegations. >>> also, a deadly virus believed to have come from the middle east, and we'll talk to dr. sanjay gupta how worrisome this development is and what you need to know about it. you are loved. celebrated. but things have changed since you got into this business. at philips, we're creating led light that people can color... adjust... even make beautiful sunsets. dear sun, you might be number one, but we're getting closer. innovation and you philips and we're here in detroit ent michigan helping folks refinance their homes and save money. does it make sense to refinance right now? a lot of times we can lower the monthly payment, we can consolidate debt. we just want to make sure that you know your options, and we're here for you. we're not just number crunchers. i specialize in what i do and i care about my clients. from beginning, the middle and to t

our senior international correspondent arwa damon is standing by in nigeria. what do we know?comments by the chief of defense who is air chief is fairly vague in the sense that he was simply saying that at this stage the government, the military know where the girls are but are not going to be disclosing that information. really urging people to give them some room to continue with whatever military operation they may have in place. saying, though, that they would not be using force to try to rescue these girls, that any sort of risk to the girls' lives would not end up being worth it in the end. here's the challenge, though, jake, as we've been reporting all along. does the military, in fact, know exactly where these girls are? have those various surveillance missions over various areas of interest in the eastern part of the country actually been able to lead them to specific locations or were these comments broadly made in the sense that, yes, we know they are in the northeastern part of the country. this is where we believe they are. we still don't know, for example, if the

arwa damon, cnn, ukraine. >>> tonight is washington's very own nerd prom. that's the affectionate nickname for the white house correspondent's dinner. but is the event actually bad for reporters? >>> search teams looking for flight 370 might not have one cutting edge device forever. they're up against a deadline with a high tech device so many were counting on. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare and i'm his mom at the dog park. the kids get trail mix, and here's what you get after a full day of chasing that cute little poodle from down the street. mm hmm delicious milo's kitchen chicken meatballs. they look homemade, which he likes almost as much as making new friends yes, i'll call her. aww, ladies' man. milo's kitchen. made in the usa with chicken or beef as the number one ingredient. the best treats come from the kitchen. >>> hollywood has the oscar's, washington has the white house correspondent's dinner. for one night only, d.c. reporters trade n

arwa damon has the latest live from ukraine on the ground. arwa? >> reporter: good morning, chris.just outside of that international airport that was shut down this morning. just a handful of flights leaving domestically from here and it will be shut down indefinitely. exactly why, we don't know. we are not being given a specific explanation. it's contributing to the instability. a lot of the fighting between the ukrainian government forces and the pro-russian militants centering two hours from where we are now. as ukrainian forces try to push into the city yesterday, they clashed with the pro-russian militan militants. casualties on both sides, but civilians being caught in the cross fire. this as global powers continue to blame one other. the west blaming the russians for the unrest that's happening here. it does seem to remain firmly in control of key strategic cities and locations within those cities. chris? >> if it keeps going this way, as we all know, there's going to have to be more action. it can't be just about sanctions anymore. we'll keep track of it. be safe on the gro

arwa, just give us a sense of what the situation is like where you are now.sumed at all? >> reporter: they have. aviation authorities gave no explanation as to why they decided to shut down the airport for those few hours earlier in the day. of course, causing a lot of questions. especially amongst the population living in such times of uncertainty. a lot of the fighting has been concentrated in the city of slaviansk, about two hours away from here. yesterday, government troops tried to push their way and clashing heavily with pro-russian militants. casualties on both sides. the ukrainian military seems to have pulled back a little bit. in the city itself, according to one of the cnn teams that was there, the pro-russian camp was using that as an opportunity to fortify some of its positions to ready themselves for what they believe to be an imminent government offensive. we're not really seeing the ukrainian troops really making any sort of concrete progress on the ground here. all the while, that pro-russian camp digging in even more, brianna. >> arwa, the u

all right, arwa, thanks for an excellent report.amid the ongoing violence, putin also says he's going to withdraw troops from the ukrainian border, about 40,000, 50,000 positioned there. the white house is saying that's not necessarily true yet. they haven't seen any evidence of that. let's get more with two experts on the region, julia yaffi and correspondent jim sciutto. if he's asking the pro-russian ukrainians to postpone a vote on separating parts of ukraine from ukraine, part of russia, if you will, and if he's moving troops away from the border, can we conclude, julia, putin has blinked? >> no, we cannot. we can conclude putin is fainting, he's doing things that seem like de-escalating the conflict and postponing another round of sanctions from the white house. in the meantime everybody seems to, all western officials conclude no troops moved off the ukrainian border which also by the way, him saying that he's going to move troops is an admission they weren't there just for exercises, which putin had been maintaining for a lo

our arwa damon is live in abuja niger with the very latest. arwa?phone calls to various spokespeople and officials here to try to determine exactly what the defense chief meant by, we know the location of these girls. have they managed to, given that they have been running numerous aerial surveillances pinpointed the location of these girls or was this just another statement to appease the frustration anding a zioty of the parents? taking the military option off the table, understanding that, trying to launch that would prove to be challenging if not impossible even with the best of militaries. about a week ago we spoke to do boko haram informants who lived among its members telling us they have not doubt boko haram would not hesitate to use these girls as human shields. understandable, then that no nigerian official would want to say that a military operation would be worth risking these girls' lives even further. negotiations also phenomenally difficult given boko haram is not a top-down organization. these girls are believed to have been split in

our senior correspondent arwa damon is there. what is happening at this hour?lly freed after negotiations were facilitated by a russian envoy. release happening a short while ago. they were saying they had been treated well so far. they were held and picked up on the 25th of april. previously one of their other members had been released. a man who was diabetic. all of the other signs on the ground are ominous. there has been more fighting and clashes happening as the military moved in from the city of slavyonstk. at least 46 people killed in odessa after declaring three days of mourning. the outlook for ukraine looks grim at this stage. >> arwa, ukraine is three weeks out from national elections now. are ukrainian leaders optimistic they will make that goal, that deadline? or will the next three weeks be an approach to the all-out civil war that we discussed? >> reporter: there is a lot that could happen between now and then. there is also the referendum that the pro-russian camp is holding on may 11th. preparations underway for that. you have the united states

arwa?ary retaking nine barricades outside of the key cities in an operation that began in the early hours of the morning. according to the ministry of defense, two helicopters were shot down. two officers, military officers, killed, a number of others wounded as well. the ukrainian forces at this stage not pushing into the cities that are being held by the pro-russian militants. a lot of the buildings that are under their control are in residential areas are in the center of the city. any sort of combat in those areas would see a lot of destruction and a lot of bloodshed. this coming the day after the pro-russian camp seized yet another building this time where we are in donesk, that is the office that has seen fierce clashes but eventually pro-russian militants did manage to control the building after they humiliatingly forced riot police off the scene. chris, kate? >> it gets worse and worse there, arwa. be safe. president obama and german chancellor angela merkel are not giving up hope t

of measures to try to regain any semblance of control over the rapidly disintegrating situation. >> arwathank you for that latest there in ukraine. >>> meanwhile, back at home, serious damage being caused by all sorts of bad weather across the east coast. hundreds of people have been evacuated in laurel, maryland, after a dam opened up releasing thousands of gallons of water. in pensacola, largely under water after a storm of epic proportions. the weather could be responsible for a deadly gas explosion at a local jail. one woman was killed by flood waters yesterday. we're go to talk about the damage. the mayor of pensacola will be joining us on "new day" in a few minutes. meanwhile, the winds have died down. mandatory evacuations have been now lifted for over 1600 homes in the foothills east of los angeles. wildfire in the areas has burned over 1,000 acres. families in the northern neighborhoods are still being urged to evacuate voluntarily. since winds are still too high to fight the fire from the air and we certainly know firefighters have their work cut out for them. there's a red fla

arwa damon, cnn, nigeria. >> hollywood stars and others continue to stri to raise awareness on those sylvester stallone, harrison ford, wesley snipes walked the red carpet with their signs bring back our girls. they're in cannes promoting expendables 3. here at cnn we're not giving up on those girls either. we'll bring you the latest. if you would like to help girls worldwide try to overcome barriers to education, go to our website, the address is cnn.com/impact. i'll be back. captain: this is a tip. bellman: thanks, captain obvious. captain: and here's a tip. when you save money on hotel rooms, it's just like saving money on anything else that costs money. like shoes, textiles, foreign investments, spatulas, bounty hunters, javelins... the only thing better than the smell of fresh-cut grass... is the smell of perfectly level, fresh-cut grass. that yellow seat's my favorite chair. you wanna find a john deere dealer? just set your gps to tractor expert. when my grandson grows up, it's his. but it's all mine now. that's how we run, and nothing runs like a deere. get 600 dollars off all