ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. cnn.w legislation signed by mississippi's governor is expanding the state's law enforcement reach in jackson and making major changes to its judicial system. the akp calls the action a state takeover of the capital city and has filed a lawsuit. cnn's isabel rozelle's has details at the heart of this controversial questions about racial justice and representation. the legislators who introduce these laws is bills represent areas outside of jackson. the state legislature is primarily republican and white. but the city of jackson is primarily democratic and over 80% black supporters of this new bill of these new laws, they point to the crime rate in jackson, which has seen homicide rate per year that has doubled over the past 10 years, peaking in 2021 the murder rate, 12 times the national average, making jackson one of the deadliest cities in the us let's dig a little deeper now into these new laws. here's what you should know that they will allow the state of mississippi to expand reach of

cnn's ben wedeman visits ukrainian troops defending positions in the east armed with resolve and very, very old weapons. mm eugenia prepares his 50 caliber machine gun. he didn't fire this time, but he needs to be always on alert. russian forces are nearby. this position on the northern edge of the heart. kiev region hasn't seen much action of late, but the men here have seen plenty elsewhere. in january, genuine was in the front line, fox hole in donbass from early in the morning. they would shell us with artillery, and right afterwards their infantry would try to take our positions, he recalls. you could see them. much of the area south of here saw vicious combat. last september, ukrainian forces routed the russians for much of the kharkiv region. before retreating. they toppled this soviet era communications tower scorched earth tactic of choice , this position manned by the 209th battalion of the ukrainian armies. 113th brigade is holding steady defense, not offense is the order of the day. lexi was a nuclear physicist before picking up a gun. we have enough ammunition and we have

cnn's ben wedeman is live in eastern ukraine. n these weapons what kind of a difference will they make on the battlefield? we're in and of themselves in themselves. not enough. really i mean, what would we have been seen over the last few months? is that steadily more weaponry? advanced weaponry is arriving from ukraine's western backers, and the anticipation is this is in preparation for the much awaited spring ukrainian offensive we heard from the deputy defense minister here in ukraine today that they're not going to make public any timetable. they want to keep it completely secret. but the goal of that counter offensive, she said, will be the total liberation of all territories currently occupied by russian forces. john and that would include in their minds the east as well as crimea. ben i understand there's been what 60 airstrikes from russia in the last 24 hours. does this mark some kind of new effort by the russians? well these 60 airstrikes were focused very much in the eastern part of the country, and particularly around

cnn's ben wedeman joins us live from eastern ukraine, ben, these battles have gone on relentlessly for and i'm sure it felt like an eternity. there you've you've covered much of it. what are you seeing on the ground today? well the fighting now has gone on now is seven months. the russians desperate to take the city of bomb mood keeping in mind, of course, that earlier this year they launched their much vaunted winter offensive, and until now they have not been able to even take one city, the city of mahmoud, where they have expanded huge amounts of manpower and material . now we did hear you of guinea prakash in the head of the wagner no group. say that in legal terms mahmoud has been taken, say. he added that ukrainian forces are concentrated in the western part of the city now what exactly it means in legal terms, but in reality, it does appear that the ukrainians continue to hold on to at least about 40 to 35 to 40% of that city. unfortunately since the 21st of february, mahmoud for journalists has been a red zone declared by the ukrainians so we don't we're not able to report firs

cnn's ben wedeman is in kiev this morning , ben, what are we learning about this russian on russian strike? what we're learning that john is that it's 15 minutes past 10, p.m. and s u 34 twin engine fighter jet of the russian air force flew over belgorod, which is a city of 400,000 people just 25 miles from the ukrainian border and dropped a bomb. we don't know how big the bomb was. the russian authorities say, are calling it an emergency reliefs of an air ordinance. it hit the sidewalk next to a very busy street we see on cctv cctv the footage of it, uh, a car just goes flying up into the air. two people were injured in this incident. shall we say? this is a town that frequently has come under some attacks by ukrainian forces. but this was definitely a self an own goal as they call it, john damaging on goal and then i talked about this 130 ft crater. i just want to show people what i'm talking about. it's right here on this big screen behind me that is a giant. crater in the middle of the street. you can imagine what that must have been like for the people in the apartment buildings nearb

cnn's ben wedeman has more friday afternoon. a russian s 300 missile slammed into this building here in slovyansk in eastern ukraine. this was one of eight separate missile strikes that happened within minutes of one another here, the biggest strike on this city yet here in this building. they have recovered nine bodies, including the body of a two year old child , he actually was pulled from the rubble still alive, but he died shortly afterwards in the ambulance, his father, according to the rescue workers here. they believe is still under the rebel . they were with a family that had left slovyansk earlier in the war, but it had returned because they thought it was safe . for now, the mayor's office tells us that at least 30 apartment buildings were damaged in this strike and more than 30. houses were also damaged. the rescue contained operation continues. they believe they're still more bodies underneath the rebel continue to dig. i'm ben wedeman. cnn reporting from slovyansk in eastern ukraine. this morning, world leaders are

ben wedeman, cnn, eastern ukraine. japanese prime minister fumio kishida has denounced the attack that took place on saturday as he was speaking at a campaign event. the prime minister told reporters on sunday that violence during elections can never be tolerated, he said japan must strive to provide maximum security during the g seven summit scheduled for next month in hiroshima, and he apologized for the disruption caused by the attack. here he is joanie. before i came here. there was a loud explosion at the speech venue in, say sakigake. police are currently investigating the details, but in any case, i want to apologize for causing many people to be concerned in the trouble caused but we are in the middle of a very important election for our country, and we need to carry this on together until the end. hundreds of inmates are being moved from a jail in georgia. mid claims and incarcerated men died there because of unsanitary conditions and complications from insect bites. that story straight ahead and israel enters

ben wedeman, cnn cvr, eastern ukraine. the u. s.state department has officially designated wall street journal reporter evan gorshkov itch as wrongfully detained by russia. the designation backs up previous assertions that the espionage charges against him are baseless. it also gives the biden administration authority to explore options like a prisoner swap to free him for more on this story. i'm joined now by claire sebastian. live from london. good morning to you, claire. so what is the latest on this? and what comes next? this designation, which was expected as secretary of state. antony blinken had said that in his eyes, he believed that evan gorski, which was wrongly detained, it's comes 12 days after he was arrested in moscow. it's not a legal designation, but it does. as you say, formalize that u. s position that the espionage charges against evan herskovits are baseless. or, in the words of the right house press secretary ridiculous it means that in the eyes of the u. s, he has essentially a political hostages case now moves

i'm ben wedeman. cnn reporting from slovyansk in eastern ukraine.na's defense minister is expected in moscow sunday for talks with his russian counterpart, russian defense minister sergei shoigu and li xiang fu will discuss global and regional security over the next few days, according to the defense ministry in moscow, russia and china have been strengthening their economic, political and military ties since russian president vladimir putin invaded ukraine last year. cnn's claire sebastian joins us not live from london. claire these talks. what more can you tell us about them? yes so i think this later will certainly underscored the level of engagement between russia and china. it comes just three weeks after the chinese president xi jinping was in moscow so it really looks like sort of a follow up to that meeting. publicly they're being pretty vague, pretty open ended in how they describe these talks, saying they'll discuss the state in outlook for bilateral cooperation in the defense sector as well as as you say current questions of global and re

cnn's ben wedeman reports. eugenia prepares his 50 caliber machine gun. he didn't fire this time, but he needs to be always on alert. russian forces are nearby. this position on the northern edge of the heart. kiev region hasn't seen much action of late, but the men here have seen plenty elsewhere in january , genuine was in the front line foxhole in donbass from early in the morning. they would shell us with artillery, and right afterwards their infantry would try to take our positions, he recalls. you could see them. much of the area south of here saw vicious combat. last september, ukrainian forces routed the russians for much of the kharkiv region. before retreating. they toppled this soviet era communications tower scorched earth tactic of choice , this position manned by the 209th battalion of the ukrainian armies. 113th brigade is holding steady. defense not offense is the order of the day. or lexi was a nuclear physicist before picking up a gun. we have enough nomination and we have enough weapon and the mm different armor equipment, but it's all

i'm ben wedeman. cnn reporting from slovyansk in eastern ukraine. in a stark counterpoint to the russian missile barrage. vladimir putin marked orthodox easter this weekend at a service in moscow. russian president went to midnight mass in moscow, echoing the priest in prayers. otherwise, mr putin stood holding a candle but barely said a word. the russian orthodox church has been strongly supportive of mr putin's war on ukraine and mr putin show of piety came a day after he signed a new military draft law creating an electronic draft registry. that means draftees will now receive their call up papers electronically and don't have to sign for them. alright i believe we can now go to claire , who is in london for us. yes there you are, claire. so good to have you with us. let's start . let's start with this electronic draft. a bill that mr putin just signed. what will it mean? yeah this is a interesting bill. the kremlin is denying any sense that this might signify a second wave of mobilization. but of course, that is the widespread speculation around

cnn's ben wedeman has our report. in a war not short of images of brutality and horror.videos purporting to show acts of unimaginable barbarism. too gruesome to air in this series of still frames a man wearing military fatigues is seen using a knife to cut off the head of another man in army uniform. the victim is seen wearing a yellow armband typically worn by ukrainian soldiers from the voices on the recording. it seems the victim was still alive as the beheading began, the perpetrators, identities also hidden, but he's seen wearing a white tie on his leg. a means of identification often worn by russian fighters. ukrainian authorities say they're working to uncover where and when the incident might have taken place, as well as trying to establish the victim's identity and that of the other men in the video. this is something that no one in the world can ignore, says president zelensky. how easily these beasts kill this video of the execution of a ukrainian pow the world must see it. ask about the video during the daily call with journalists, the kremlin spokesman ackno

cnn's ben wedeman is live in kiev this morning. ben, the latest from where you are.ell we did hear lloyd austin yesterday in ramstein say that this that the defense contact ukraine defense contact group had provided ukraine so far with two more than 230 tanks more than 1550 armored vehicles now since the war began, this country has been pummeled daily hourly by the russians but over the border in a russian city. that city got a taste of russia's own medicine. this kind of destruction has been a common scene throughout ukraine since the war started, but this time it was in russia. residents of the city of belgorod close to the border with ukraine, waking up to damaged buildings and destroyed road. the culprit. russia itself moscow saying one of its aircraft accidentally struck the city. cctv footage shows a first impact as the bomb penetrates the ground. moments later, a large explosion. residents feeling lucky it wasn't worse. thank god there are no dead, the belgorod governor says russia was busy after shooting itself in the foot. ukraine was meeting with its allies

cnn's ben wedeman is in eastern ukraine for us, ben. as we said there is now a ukrainian war crimes investigation. what is actually known about these videos that are now out there. well for instance, cnn can't verify the location. there are two videos that appeared on rush pro russian social media channels. the first appears to be shot at this time of year and purportedly in the area of bomb mood involving soldiers of the private military company. the wagner group. what you see in that video is the beheaded corpses of two ukrainian soldiers. next to a destroyed military vehicle. it also appears that their hands were severed as well. now on that video, you can hear a voice say they killed them. someone came up to them. they came up to them and cut their heads off in the second video, which appears to be perhaps shot in a different season. it looks like this summer. it's somewhat blurred, but what you do see is a soldier. cutting the head off of a ukrainian soldier. and from the sound of it, it appears that the ukrainian soldier was alive

cnn's ben wedeman reports. without water.ere is no life and the clean water pouring into the plastic jugs is a vital lifeline for people in the battered eastern ukrainian town of servers just six miles from russian lines. retired building contractor andrey anderson from oregon is an unlikely carrier of water. it was just a calling that i couldn't refuse to do. i can't sit at home and allow allow this to happen without helping the people who need help. he's part of the volunteer group called aqueducts. their routine, simple but essential. turn up. they turn up with their little jugs, and we just fill up their jugs or their buckets or the cow pails and they go away happy and we empty our tank we drive home. and then we come back in the afternoon. we do the same thing and we repeat on every day, the few remaining in sievers tell the usual story dog and attachment to their land and no other options. how can i leave? ask tanya? my son is buried here . and where would i go with my small pension? andres colleague sylvia visa from au

cnn's ben wedeman reports . the extensive damage left behind is a scene. ukrainians are all too familiar with following russia's deadly invasion. this kind of destruction has been a common scene throughout ukraine since the war started, but this time it was in russia, residents of the city of belgorod close to the border with ukraine, waking up to damaged buildings and destroyed road. the culprit. russia itself moscow saying one of its aircraft accidentally struck the city. cctv footage shows a first impact as the bomb penetrates the ground. moments later, a large explosion residents feeling lucky it wasn't worse. thank god there are no dead, the belgorod governor says russia was busy after shooting itself in the foot. ukraine was meeting with its allies in germany. welcome to the 11th. meeting of the ukraine defense contact group and other international partners discussing additional support for kiev ahead of a highly anticipated counter offensive more than a year later. ukraine is still standing strong. in our support has not wavered. and i'm proud of th

people are ben wedeman has the story. friday afternoon. russian s 300 missile slammed into this building here in slovyansk in eastern ukraine. this was one of eight separate missile strikes that happened within minutes of one another here, the biggest strike on this city yet here in this building. they have recovered nine bodies , including the body of a two year old child, he actually was pulled from the rubble still alive, but he died shortly afterwards in the ambulance, his father, according to the rescue workers here. they believe is still under the rebel. they were with a family that had left slovyansk earlier in the war, but it had returned because they thought it was safe for now, the mayor's office tells us that at least 30 apartment buildings were damaged in this strike and more than 30. houses were also damaged. the rescue contained operation continues. they believe they're still more bodies underneath the rebel continue to dig. i'm ben wedeman . cnn reporting from slovyansk in eastern ukraine. lots of questions tonight about a d

i'm ben wedeman cnn reporting from kiev. the g seven is calling for the extension and full implementation of the black sea green initiative. but russia is saying maybe not a top russian officials says moscow will terminate the agreement to allow ukrainian grain to transit the black sea if the g seven bands its exports to russia, but the coalition of seven major countries and the eu says that russia is trying to weaponize food meant for nations most in need. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is due to discuss this grain deal with the u. n secretary general on his visit to new york this week. let's bring in cnn's claire sebastian. now he's covering this close. obviously, lots of difficult facets to this story, but i'm reminded of the recent pentagon league. obviously we're still unsure as to which part of that have been verified in which parts may have been doctored. but there was suggestion in that the u. n u. s were concerned that antonio guterres was too accommodating or sympathetic to russia's interests. in this green

ben wedeman, cnn kiev. thanks to ben for that report, and this note for our viewers coming up on erin burnett outfront right after the situation room. robert zeidman, the man who debunked mike lindell's false election claims he is aaron's guest tonight. that's coming up at seven p.m. eastern, right here on cnn and now to the u. s. supreme court, and they push for chief justice john roberts to testify. before the senate brian todd has been following this story, brian, this is more fallout over justice clarence thomas and his ties to of republican mega donor . that's right, alex. so far, there's been very little accountability and no punish from from chief justice roberts for the alleged ethics breaches of justice clarence thomas. but if the head of the senate judiciary committee gets his way that could soon change the pressure on supreme court chief justice john roberts to hold his court accountable is surging tonight. democratic senator dick durbin, chair of the judiciary committee, has requested that justi

cnn's ben wedeman is in ukraine, ben needless to say, yet another account of a war crime here. what more do we know about these videos? erica bianna there two videos. one of them seems to have been shot. just by the look of the weather fairly recently was purportedly shot in the area of bomb mood by wagner mercenaries now what you see in that video is two beheaded corpses of ukrainian soldiers next to a wrecked military vehicle. it appears also that their hands have been cut off. as well in the second video seems to have been shot in the summer just by the looks of the foliage around it. it's somewhat blurred, but what you do see is a man in uniform, using a knife to cut off another man and uniforms head and it appears that that individual is still alive while his head is being cut off. now what? we heard president vladimir zelensky, reacting to this video did not hold back. petitions in the muscle. there are things nobody in the world can ignore. how easily these animals murder. what kind of creatures are they ? they don't care about a human being a son, a brother, a husband,

ben wedeman, cnn sievers, eastern ukraine. thank you, ben for that report. still to come.evastation across america, tornadoes and storms, just causing a mess across the south and the midwest. now at least 22 people are dead. we have the latest on the destruction. also tonight at a new time, eva longoria's culinary adventure continues in the yucatan peninsula of mexico do not miss the new episode of the cnn original series. eva longoria searching for mexico tonight at nine eastern. let me to feed is 101 years old this year and countnting. i'm billll lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit we had some challenges, like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify to get refunds .com. age is just a number and mine's unlied boostigh protein 20 g of proteinor muscle health rsus 16 g andnsure high protein boost high protein now available in cinnabon bakery inspired flavor learn more boost .com slash t. v when

cnn's ben wedeman joins us now live from kiev, ukrainian officials. n called the situation in mahmoud extremely difficult. what's it like this morning? well we've been hearing for several weeks now the situation being described as extremely difficult by ukrainian officials, but it does appear that it's perhaps this battle, which has gone on for eight months, has reached a critical phase. yesterday the russians were claiming that they had advanced three city blocks. all information indicates that they are using the russians are using intensive airstrikes to make progress, essentially destroying one building after another to drive back the ukrainians, who only control a small part of the western area of bomb mood. now there's only one basically land road into the city and as a result of heavy rains in eastern ukraine in recent days there had the access to the city itself is increasingly difficult. we did have one interesting development not in the mood area, but down in the kherson region in the south, where, according to the institute for the study of w

cnn's ben wedeman reports ukraine is closing ranks with nato even without a membership. blunt message to moscow, the head of the north atlantic treaty organization, keeve, demonstrating the military alliances firm support for ukraine, even though it's not yet a member. nato stands with you today. tomorrow and for as long as it takes. secretary general jens stoltenberg is the first nato representative to officially visit ukraine since the start of russia's full scale invasion. you impressed once thought of as too provocative given president vladimir putin's warnings against the black creeping ever closer to russia expressed strong support. but kiev says it's looking for even more than this type of close cooperation. nation with nato, you support from nato allies and support with weapons, but we want to know when ukraine will be in nato now promised that the topic will be quote. high on the agenda. july's nato summit in lithuania and emphasized the more than $160 billion of support already delivered to ukraine. allies are sending more jets, tanks and armored vehicles , but

ben wedeman, cnn kiev. aquarian says its allies need to ramp up the delivery of military aid in a major way, keith has already received tens of billions of dollars worth of military hardware, including the u. s high mars missiles that you see here. ukraine's deputy foreign minister says his country would need 10 times more to win the war this year, is also urging allies to set aside 1% of their gdp towards helping ukraine. barbie nadeau joins us from rome so barbie, more leopard tanks are on the way to ukraine. but as we just heard the refrain we keep hearing from ukraine is they need more. that's right. and there are six leopard two tanks coming from spain in about 20 heavy military vehicles that should arrive in the next week or so, but they do want more and also president zelensky said that he is urging countries to not go light on sanctions. a lot of a lot of these sanctions, of course, had expirations and he wants these countries that are also offering this military hardware to not go light on sanction

destroyed a children's playground left at least 15 people dead and two dozen others injured as ben wedemanws us. for many, the easter holiday was a time to pray that someday peace will come again. air raid sirens still. sermon you know, reason orthodox eastern slovyansk town battered friday, good friday by deadly russian missile strikes that didn't stop residents from packing the church, with worshippers spilling outside. i always pray for ukraine for our children, says 73 year old anya. i asked for peace as soon as possible to live a little bit longer without war. we don't want to die. onion and others have brought bags and baskets of food to be blessed. in these troubled times more people than ever attend church even if some are reluctant. not everybody can make it to sunday services. these emergency workers have been here all night because they believe they're still more bodies under the rubble. this was the deadliest strike on slovyansk since the start of the full scale russian invasion. and that's 300 missile gouged out the top floors of this apartment block, killing, among others, a

cnn's ben wedeman went along with ukrainian police who use kindness to persuade people to move away.other family is moving out, leaving the frontline town of krasno harry fca with the help of the police, perhaps to lessen the blow to his children quips will be back . it's just a vacation 84 year old ryan doesn't sugarcoated. it's like torture, she says. but don't worry, we'll survive has lived in krasnodar, all her life. life rustam and his colleagues venture out to the front line villages several times a week. trying to convince people to move to safer ground. it's dangerous work, but it's worth the risk to get these children out of harm's way. looking into those eyes, he asks . what else can you do? friendly persuasion doesn't work. there are other means. there's an order from local government requiring that children be evacuated from areas close to the fighting. this is how vassily goes about the job of friendly persuasion, sitting talking, trying to convince those who remain that their lives are in peril. the people in this basement turned bomb shelter have been down here for mor

i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn.well, this just in a judge has ruled that dominion voter systems can force fox executives rupert and lachlan murdoch to testify on the witness stand in the defamation lawsuit that's set to start this month. cnn senior media reporter oliver darcy joining us now and monitoring today's hearing. so what? what more has transpired at that point, that's a pretty big development and it's something we expected. fox however, did not want rupert and lachlan murdoch to testify at this at this trial that's set to start just really next week with jury selection. but the judge was never really buying the excuses and today basically said you know if dominion wants rupert and lachlan murdoch to testify, which they do, he's not going to stop it, and he's going to compel their testimony. and so i think we can say with a pretty good degree of certainty at this point that they are going to be forced to take the stand in this trial unless there is a last minute minutes, settlements between now and really, u

cnn's ben wedeman has our report. done in his flak jacket. pastor igor yearsof of the protestant bethlehem christian church prepares for his rounds. today he is conducting services in the village of maximilian in just a few miles from russian lines. churches a hurried affair. just 45 minutes of no frills sermon in prayer to terry dangerous russian artillery shell recently landed next door sprain. shrapnel on the walls, destroying the roof, shattering the windows. yet when the faithful emerged, there is momentarily a sense of serenity . it calms your soul, says natalia. we feel that we are with god and that he protects us . but for the handful of residents, maximilian is a is a ghost town. the fuse. still here depend upon the kindness of others for their sustenance, including bread brought by pastor igor one loaf per person. once a week every sunday. this is the only time these people can get fresh bread. fresh bread is still warm. but man cannot live on bread alone today, says pastor igor is the most precious thing for people here on the fron

cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman is live in eastern ukraine. so ben what are other ukrainian officials and even the kremlin saying about this video? ukrainian officials. abby are not surprisingly very angry about this horrific video in one of the videos, you see two beheaded ukrainian soldiers who also appeared to have there have had their hands cut off in the other. you actually see what appears to be a russian soldier from the white leg band he's wearing actually cutting off using a knife to cut the head off of what we believe is a ukrainian soldier who is alive at the time. time now. we have heard from, for instance, officials with the ukrainian defense intelligence service, saying that this is an illegal execution by terrorists by the occupying state. he said that it's a violation of all the norms and laws of war and, of course, the ukrainians are going to be launching a war crimes investigation. but that's just the latest they their files of war crimes by russian forces. since the full scale invasion in february of last year is very thick.

ben wedeman, cnn kiev more than 3000. people in the russian city of belgorod are returning home after a second bomb scare in a matter of days. state media says they were evacuated on saturday after the discovery of an unexploded bomb officials say it's now been removed. but there's no word on how it ended up there, but it was found in the same area that was rattled by this explosion thursday night. state media say it was caused by another bomb that was dropped by a russian fighter jet during a mid air emergency. and israel. tens of thousands of people turned out to protest for 1/16 consecutive week against the government's plan to overhaul the judicial system. carrying flags and banners. they vented their opposition to the plan, which they see as an attack on democracy. the weekly protests continued across israel, despite prime minister benjamin netanyahu announcing a pause on the reforms last month. saturday's demonstrations come just before israel marks it's memorial day and independence day this week. demonstrators too

i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. cnn is brought to you by audiobook network.thers tell your story produce an audio book with us earn more profits and find a new audience for your published book produced an audiobook. we handle narration, production and digital distribution 38559. roughly 15 million americans who rely on medicaid could lose their coverage because of a pandemic era policy that expired last week. states across the nation have already begun to re verify eligibility of medicaid recipients, and many people have no idea that they are at risk of losing their health insurance, even if they are still eligible for medicaid. i'm doing wonderful. thank you. mcknight makes dozens of calls every day . i wanted to know if you were familiar with the unwinding period that is happening here in georgia, a certified enrollment specialist with the georgia primary care association. she's been getting surprised reactions as she warns georgia medicaid recipients that they're at risk of losing their coverage my family because i have medicaid for my kids, and i could lo

here's cnn's ben wedeman. air raid sirens. sermon. orthodox eastern slovyansk town battered friday, good friday by deadly russian missile strikes that didn't stop residents from packing the church, with worshippers spilling outside. i always pray for ukraine for our children, says 73 year old anya. i asked for peace as soon as possible to live a little bit longer without war. we don't want to die. onion and others have brought bags and baskets of food to be blessed. in these troubled times more people than ever attend church even if some are reluctant. not everybody can make it to sunday services. these emergency workers have been here all night. because they believe they're still more bodies under the rubble. this was the deadliest strike on slovyansk since the start of the full scale russian invasion. and that's 300 missile gouged out the top floors of this apartment block, killing, among others, a little boy child who died was only two years old, says tatiana . his father is still there. if only they could lift those slabs. they co

call 1 807 50 4500 now i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn. welcome back to long you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brown. who were this is cnn newsroom want to get back to our lead story this hour, striking victory for the biden administration and abortion rights supporters across the united states supreme court has moved to protect access to a commonly used abortion drug, at least for now . now the court didn't explain why it granted the request to intervene in a lower court ruling that suspended government approval of medford, kristen the drug has been used by millions of women's over the past two decades. it's been on the market , justices clarence thomas and samuel alito publicly dissented while the votes of the other justices weren't made public doctors who provide abortion medication to their patients have been reacting to the ruling, cnn senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen explains why mr preston is so important. obstetricians and gynecologists are breathing a sigh of relief after t

ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn. no guardrails.hael smerconish in philadelphia two dozen young men united by an interest in guns and gear and god. hanging out on the discord server in a group they call thug shaker central. according to the new york times, it started as a place where young men and teenage boys could gather amid th

i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn.lose captioning is brought to you by skechers arch fit sandals. skechers teamed up with podiatrists to create a sandal that provides foot and arch support for all day comfort. skechers arch fit sandals, podiatrist certified arch support for men and women. welcome back. officials in israel say they have called up reserve units after reporting to separate deadly attacks on friday night. among the dead was an italian tourist who was killed in a car ramming attack near a beach in televisa. the attack occurred after israel carried out airstrikes on palestinian militant targets in southern lebanon and gaza. tensions have been running high since an israeli raid earlier in the week on the aqsa mosque in jerusalem. the violence is taking place to ring, a sensitive time for both israelis and palestinians. muslims have been marking the holy month of ramadan, while jews are celebrating passover. meantime in televisa, the protest over judicial reform continued despite what has been happening in the

accidental cnn's ben wedeman is joining us now from ukraine with the latest ben tell us more about this admitted admitted blunder by russia as its war against ukraine rages on. yes wolf at 15. minutes past . 10 pm thursday. a russian air force s u 34 twin engine fighter bomber flew over the russian city of belgorod and experience what officials called an emergency release of an air ordinance or in plain english. it dropped a bomb. this kind of destruction has been a common scene throughout ukraine since the war started, but this time it was in russia, residents of the city of belgorod close to the border with ukraine, waking up to damaged buildings and destroyed road. the culprit. russia itself moscow saying one of its aircraft accidentally struck the city. cctv footage shows a first impact as the bomb penetrates the ground. moments later, a large explosion residents feeling lucky it wasn't worse. thank god there are no dead, the belgorod governor says. russia was busy after shooting itself in the foot. ukraine was meeting with its allies in germany. welcome to the 11th. meeting of the

cnn's ben wedeman is in key for us this morning with the latest the russians call it a midair emergencyand accident, ben. well perhaps it was john, but it certainly isn't embarrassing one. it happened at 15 minutes after 10 pm last night when an s u 34 twin engine fighter bomber dropped some sort of bomb. we don't know what kind of on the street and very busy street in the middle of belgorod. it's a city of 400,000 people. you see the bomb go off on the sidewalk. the strength of the blast caused a car to fly up and land on an adjacent roof, according to the mayor of that city, two women were injured, and now the ukrainians and reacting. one official put out a statement that we shouldn't take pleasure in the misfortune of the russians, but there is a certain sense here that perhaps as far as incidents like this go. something's what goes around comes around, john. all right, ben, waiting for us in kiev this morning. thank you, ben. sarah. sure. hi sarah. hi. how you doing? all right. we are now to florida governor ron desantis. he just made it easier to implement the death penalty in his

i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. is cnn. international lead.he oklahoma court upheld the murder conviction of death row inmate richard glossip glossip you may recall was convicted for hiring someone to kill his boss, even though that witness the actual killer seems rather unconvincing to many observers, including the oklahoma state attorney general . glossip's execution is now set for may 18th. this all comes just two weeks after a special counsel in that state released a report that uncovered new evidence in glossip's case. and suggested that his murder convicted conviction should be vacated. cnn's brynn gingras is always is with us on the story and bring in. what was the evidence uncovered in glossip's case of that evidence is from a box that was finally given to the defense team for richard glossip from the prosecutor's office. and in that box, there was just a lot of paperwork that talked about justin sneed, the person that you just pointed out who actually killed barry van trees. the boss of snead and glossip in this murder decades ago. so

ben wedeman. thank you. well, outfront next and emergency move by the justice department tonight after a judge suspends the approval of a popular abortion pill is this case now heading to the supreme court? plus an outfront exclusive. we take you inside what is now a top secret mission. that's goal is to shut down how north korea is funding its dangerous nuclear program. welcome to the next level. this is the lexus nx with intuitive tech traffic. and o or most advanced safety system ever. wait have you surrounded your lawback with scotts turf three jobs done at once. swedes prevents cab gas and keeps it growing strong. get a bag of scots triple action today. it's guaranteed feed it, kid. what if she likes playing golf? it's expensive were outlined golf. wait can i still play with power ? we don't have to worry about planning for a third kid. you can still play golf sometimes. take control of your financial future to empower what's next. take my eyes off my eyes. oh, to islam. if i drops dramatically reduces

ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. cnn. tonight. justice thomas's luxury trips with the gop mega donor for public a revealing decades of perks the supreme court justice received from texas billionaire harlan crow, who owns a private jet and a superyacht. this includes a lavish 2019 trip to indonesia that would have cost thomas more than $500,000 to charter himself . republican reports. thomas hasn't reported any of the trips they identified on his annual financial disclosures. and while it may not be illegal, there are a lot of ethical questions about this. outfront now. justin elliott, one of the propublica reporters behind the story, justin, this is quite an explosive, detailed piece. i know you spent months working on . so you report that justice thomas has traveled all over the world with republican mega donor harlan crow and addition to trips to indonesia. they went on an extended cruise to new zealand, a river trip as well to savannah, georgia. just how long has justice thomas been receiving these types of perks from this dono

customer makes it so easy get started today, a custom inc .com i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn. any moment now. the florida state house is expected to vote on a bill that would effectively ban abortions after six weeks often, women don't even know they're pregnant at that point, opponents say the bill, which has the support of republican governor ron desantis would effectively end legal abortion in the state. now this is all happening at the justice department is asking the supreme court now to intervene in a legal battle over the widely used abortion pill mifepristone. an appeals court overnight ruled that the medication will remain available but can no longer be sent to patients by mail. a texas judge on friday had ordered the fda to halt its approval of the drug. cnn senior political analyst gloria borger joins us now for more on this, so gloria what's notable is the silence from most republicans on what in theory right as a victory for them. restricting abortion access is something that they have been fighting for decades now, and here it is before them. and yet

ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn. no guardrails. michael smerconish in philadelphia two dozen young men united by an interest in guns and gear and god. hanging out on the discord server in a group they call thug shaker central. according to the new york times, it started as a place where young men and teenage boys could gather amid the isolation of the pandemic and bond. about half of them, according to the washington post , playing video games in their basements. for leadership. they look to the o g original gangster, a 21 year old air national guardsman his motivation. said to have been to inform and to impress, allegedly revealing state secrets that became his stock and trade and when his transcriptions of classified information no longer held the interest of the group. he shifted to photographing materials that should never have seen the public light of day on video. he's reportedly shown shouting racist and anti semitic slurs before firing a rifle. and said to be wrought over government action at ruby ridge and waco. after bein

ben wedeman, cnn kiev.kraine's tank forces are getting a boost out of that security meeting in germany. barbie nato joins us from rome so barbie take us through what happened in that vital meeting and what ukraine is getting out of it. you know, there's a lot of support. this meeting comes, you know, it's not just united support for ukraine. it shows a united front against russia that is increasingly important as this war goes on, let's listen to what general mike millie had to say on the back of that meeting. as we stand here today , the ukrainian military continues to perform very well. intense fighting in and around bach mood continues and has for several months. russia is expending significant manpower for very little game. russia is intensifying indiscriminate shelling and other cities and urban areas. and russia continues to pay severely. for its war of choice. unlike ukrainian forces, who are highly motivated to fight for their country. to fight for their freedom, their democracy and their way of lif

ben wedeman in severe eastern ukraine. cnn.the nfl, announcing the suspension of five players for gambling, three of them suspended indefinitely for gambling on nfl games in the 22 season that came through playing in but nfl games . two others were suspended for the first six regular games for other gambling policy violations , the nfl saying in a statement . the gambling policy, which is annually reviewed with all nfl personnel, including players. prohibits anyone in the nfl from engaging in any form of gambling in any club or league facility or venue, including the practice facility review uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or than any game was compromised in any way back now, with our panel, i'm going to go to the athletes on the mr mcenroe feeling you knew you were going to be at first, if you would bet on that you would have won a smile on your face. i saw this and i thought well, yeah. i mean, if you know the rules, of course, you know what's going to happen is there is there a surprise at al

you have jenny precaution, personally interviewing recruits at a call center and ben wedeman is outfrontight on the front line. lines in eastern ukraine in the trenches by the russian lines and a story you'll see first here, outfront. in the trenches, the deeper you dig, the better. the front lines in the open plains of eastern ukraine, or zigzag of earthworks in this area positions have been static for a while. alexei from the first tank brigade has been here for six months. sometimes it's quiet, he says. and sometimes it's loud. sometimes they russians trying to break through. so far, they haven't succeeded. you might want to get down, okay? we are told. russian lines are just one kilometer from here. we're hearing occasional shelling. but nothing coming on this position. yet. this soldier also named alexey peers through binoculars across no man's land, but only briefly to avoid drawing sniper fire destruction. to be honest, at first, i was scared, he says. but humans can get used to everything. they're yet to get used to one threat hovering overhead. alright and we've now taken cover

ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn. my first message to china, there's no need for retaliation. but the one thing i would say to china to at no time. i am the speaker of the house. there is no place that china is going to tell me where i can go or who i can speak to, whether you before or whether you be friend. so it is a very busy morning as headlines about china's role in world relations are flowing in this morning, president xi jinping meeting with french president manual macron, who is asking also asking g to help bring russia back to the negotiating table in the ukraine conflict, but china is warning the united states this morning and vowing to retaliate at the house speaker kevin mccarthy met with taiwan's president on american soil. hours after that meeting, a bipartisan us house delegation landed in taiwan. taiwan's defense ministry says it detected chinese warships around the island after mccarthy summit and they're keeping a close eye on this chinese aircraft carrier aircraft carrier strike a strike group as i

i'm ben wedeman in eastern ukraine. this is cnn.epublicans on the house oversight committee, leaving no stone unturned earned and their investigation of hunter biden. in addition to hearings, we've seen a flurry of subpoenas and demands, insisting they need information on everything from ms taste in art to his bank records, even who his friends were doing business with 14 years ago. joining us now is the chairman of the house oversight committee. republican congressman james comer of kentucky. so as chairman of the house oversight committee, you have been investigating members of joe biden's family and their business with the bidens. have you found anything illegal while he was actually in office? we found a lot that's certainly unethical. we found a lot that should be illegal. the line is blurry as to what is legal and not legal with respect to family influence peddling. i think people in both parties have argued for many years that family members of both republicans and democrats, especially family, members of president have benef

all while russia aims to destroy towns in eastern ukraine , cnn's ben wedeman spoke with some residentswho after more than a year of war finally have accepted that it's time to leave. another family is moving out. leaving the frontline town of krasno. hurry fca with the help of the police, perhaps to lessen the blow to his children . afghan equips will be back. it's just a vacation 84 year old ryan doesn't sugarcoated. it's like torture, she says. but don't worry, we'll survive. ryan has lived in krasnodar, if all her life rustam and his colleagues venture out to the front line villages several times a week trying to convince people to move to safer ground. it's dangerous work, but it's worth the risk to get these children out of harm's way. looking into those eyes asks, what else can you do? if friendly persuasion doesn't work , there are other means. there's an order from local government requiring that children be evacuated from areas close to the fighting. usually this is how vassily goes about the job of friendly persuasion, sitting talking, trying to convince those who remain that

here's cnn's ben wedeman. without water. there is no life and the clean water pouring into the plastic jugs is a vital lifeline for people in the battered eastern ukrainian town of just six miles from russian lines, retired building contractor andrea anderson from oregon is an unlikely carrier of water. it was just a calling that i couldn't refuse to do. i can't sit at home and allow allow this to happen without helping the people who need help. he's part of the volunteer group called aqueducts, their routine, simple but essential. turn up. they turn up with their little jugs, and we just fill up their jugs or their buckets or the cow pails and they go away happy and we empty our tank we drive home. and then we come back in the afternoon. we do the same thing and we repeat on every day, the few remaining in sievers tell the usual story dogged attachment to their land and no other options. how can i leave? ask tanya? my son is buried here. and where would i go with my small pension? andres colleague sylvia pavitt from austria