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The Amanpour Hour

Interview with Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich; Interview with Former Commander of Joint Special Operations Command Gen. Stanley McChrystal; How Russia Targets Students for Military Recruitment; Interview with Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA); A Painful History Repeats Itself in Sudan; Looking Your Best Even in the Worst of Times. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 18, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:40]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to THE AMANPOUR HOUR. Here's where we're headed this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: "I am not afraid." Words of an American pontiff as he clashes over war with an American president. Pope Leo's ally, Chicago Cardinal Cupich joins me with the moral imperative.

CARDINAL BLASE J. CUPICH, ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO: Comments were that attack the Pope really are not about attacking one person, but attacking the church itself and its mission.

AMANPOUR: Then -- leadership in war. As a four-star general, Stanley McChrystal, who led U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, joins me.

And with MAGA splitting over this war, former congresswoman and loyalist, Marjorie Taylor Greene tells me why she has finally lost faith in Trump.

Also on the program, mired in four years of unwinnable war against Ukraine, how Russia is now using video games and university professors to recruit students.

And from my archive, what war actually looks like for the innocents caught up in it. What I saw in Sudan.

And finally -- dignity, defiance and dressing up. What these photos tell us about elderly Ukrainians choosing to look their best under the bombs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London, where this week the world has watched aghast as President Trump's spats with allies like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni have extended into a spiritual sparring with the first American pope, Leo XIV.

The pontiff coming under fire from the American president and vice president as he continues to push back against any divine justification for the war on Iran. Here are some striking comments he made while on a trip to Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

Billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Well, that's clear. Earlier this week, the president labeled him soft on crime and staunch Catholic JD Vance tried to warn the Holy Father off, speaking about religion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Now, this was just part of a White House crisis of faith this week. There was, of course, that A.I. Truth Social post, where the president portrayed himself as Jesus, which drew major blowback, perhaps especially from allies.

Trump swiftly deleted the post and claimed this image of him in robes, surrounded by angels and light emanating from his hands, was presenting himself as a healer.

Ok. This week, one of the Catholic Church's most senior figures and Pope Leo's staunch ally, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, joined me to explain the meaning of faith and a pontiff's moral obligations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Cardinal Blase Cupich, welcome to our program.

CARDINAL CUPICH: Thank you, Christiane. Good to be with you.

AMANPOUR: Cardinal, you've probably obviously heard what the Pope said, he used the word "filth". He talked about tyrants and autocrats.

Tell me why this kind of escalation of words is happening.

CARDINAL CUPICH: Well, I think it's in keeping with his obligation and his sacred mission of sharing the gospel. And that I think is something that has always been a part of the church's teaching that tyrants and those who wage wars really do harm to the common good.

Those teachings go back many years. And so, he's in keeping with that mission.

AMANPOUR: Do you think, Archbishop, that Trump is right or the others in the administration are right when they think that Pope Leo is addressing him with these comments? And is he?

[11:04:51]

CARDINAL CUPICH: Well, I think that he's addressing the -- as he says, the zeal for war, where war is now in vogue. As Pope Francis said, it's being a world war that's being fought piecemeal.

And so, the Pope, again, is simply, you know, fulfilling his sacred mission of sharing the gospel. And I would also say that comments that attack the Pope really are not about attacking one person, but attacking the Church itself and its mission.

AMANPOUR: Well, the attacks are pretty strong. And I mean, honestly, I have covered, you know, the world for a long, long time. I've actually never seen such an ad hominem attack from the United States towards a pontiff.

What do you make of that?

CARDINAL CUPICH: Well, for me, it has all the appearance of an organized effort to discredit and marginalize the voice of the Catholic Church in the public square. And it would be really sad if this turns out to be a new chapter in the sad history of anti- Catholicism in this country.

AMANPOUR: You know, very interestingly, after Trump sort of went at the Pope for calling him weak, et cetera, the chairman of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Committee, doctrine committee said, for over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught "just war" theory.

I just want to first ask you about the concept of "just war".

CARDINAL CUPICH: Yes, so the concept of "just war" has always been defined by -- you have to make sure that you have an objective that's clearly defined, that's going to restore order and justice.

We've seen so many comments about this particular war in which the objective is not clearly defined because it jumps from one topic to the other.

But you also, I think in this modern era where you have weapons that can impact a wide range of innocent victims in a population, that we have to make sure that we understand that when you wage that kind of war with these weapons, you have to look at what damage you're doing to a society, to people who are innocent victims in a country.

And so, there has to be a proportionality in the actions that are taken, but also very clearly defined goals.

AMANPOUR: So, do you then, and the Pope then, does not believe this war is just as defined?

CARDINAL CUPICH: No, it is not just.

AMANPOUR: So, obviously this July 4th is the 250th anniversary of the -- you know, of America. The Pope has declined an invitation. Instead, he's going to minister to migrants, immigrants at Lampedusa in Italy. Do you support that decision?

CARDINAL CUPICH: Well, of course, because it's clear that he's showing that his priority is to reach out to those who are poor, those who are marginalized, who are forgotten.

And the fact that these are migrants fleeing either poverty or war and distress is really in tune with our American legacy that's inscribed on that tablet held by the Statue of Liberty.

So, it's a very -- it's a very Catholic thing to do, but also a very American thing to do.

AMANPOUR: And maybe a very American thing to do. Finally, I want to ask you, I was struck by the words of Pope Leo when he said, "I am not afraid".

And we exist, I think, many people feel that they're in an environment right now that if they speak the truth or speak their moral beliefs, they might face consequences.

Tell me about that, about the fear factor and sort of, you know, confronting fear.

CARDINAL CUPICH: Well, I think that he responded to that in terms of whether or not he's going to continue speaking and speaking boldly. And it's at that moment that he said, I am going to do this. I'm not afraid to do this and because it is my mission to preach the gospel.

And so, I think that it's not just a matter of not being afraid, but it's also a boldness of spirit to make sure that he's true to his mission and obligation as a successor of Peter.

AMANPOUR: Well, it is something very fascinating to watch, and we really do appreciate you coming on to our show.

So, Cardinal Blase Cupich, thank you for joining us from Chicago.

CARDINAL CUPICH: Thank you, Christiane. Good luck to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And the Pentagon, the secretary of Defense, keeps portraying this war in divine and biblical terms.

Coming up next, a region in crisis, a standoff between the United States and Iran. Are we seeing a shift in American power in the Middle East? I speak to General Stanley McChrystal.

And later MAGA split -- former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on why she broke with Trump and the movement's future.

[11:09:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

The events of the past month in the Middle East have been head spinning and brutal, from threats to wipe out a whole civilization that some call genocidal to peace talks in Pakistan.

[11:14:47]

AMANPOUR: While American allies in the region are increasingly wondering whether Washington is in fact here to stay in the Middle East, or will it abandon its allies to a new regional order following this war on Iran?

I speak to one of the most important military voices of our time, General Stanley McChrystal, who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan and also in Iraq. I asked him about Americas role in this new emerging order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, U.S. ARMY (RET): Thank you for having me, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: So, look, this war between the United States and Iran, and I'm not even sure whether the United States has declared it officially a war, but it has veered and swung from the early parts to now.

Would you say right now, with this U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, that for the moment it's swung back to the U.S. advantage?

MCCHRYSTAL: Yes. I think it's dangerous to look at a war, and this is a war because we're killing each other. And we may or may not declare it, but that's what on the ground it is, to look at it like a game where we go by innings and see what the score is in the second inning or the third inning or the fourth inning. The outcome will take time to be clear.

that outcome won't just be how many targets we hit in Iran. It won't be the length of our blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. It will be what the status or what is the condition of the region afterward.

What do our regional allies feel about their security? How does essential commerce flow, primarily oil? What kind of regime remains in Iran? And what are their intentions?

And so, all of those things will play out over time, so I think it's too early for us to call the outcome.

AMANPOUR: There really does seem to have been, you know, a total upheaval in the way the allies, i.e., the Gulf allies in this case, were looking at the United States for protection, hosting U.S. bases.

And for them, their nightmare, their insurance policy was precisely against Iran. And they do not appear to have come out, you know, with that insurance having worked for them.

MCCHRYSTAL: I think they are in an uncertain position. If we think back to, which I know we both experienced, our incursion into Iraq in 2003, there was the idea that we would remove a dangerous regime of Saddam Hussein, and he was a dangerous person.

But in reality, Iraq was not a threat to us, certainly not to the United States and not generally to the world.

Iran regionally has been a threat to the Gulf States, of course, a threat to Israel.

The challenge there, of course, by geographic location, is it doesn't take a lot for Iran to maintain enough threat to make commercial shipping too high risk for most companies to do.

And so, we would have to likely completely destroy Iran's capability, which might mean putting soldiers and Marines on the ground to do that. And so, a negotiated settlement that opens up that Strait, I think, has to be a critical or maybe the critical outcome.

AMANPOUR: What do you think the U.S. side should know about their adversary and about how that adversary thinks and approaches negotiations?

MCCHRYSTAL: Of course, I'm a great believer we should go back and reorient ourselves on the history, even just as recently as 1953 with the American and British involvement, the overthrow of the elected prime minister, the support of the Shah for decades.

And then when the Iranian Revolution came, there were two perspectives of what happened after that.

Our perspective is our people were taken hostage in the embassy. There was a series of friction points.

An Iranian perspective, which can't be discounted, includes the fact that we helped Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran War. We shot down an Iranian airliner, mistakenly, but the USS Vincennes did that.

And so, from their standpoint, they see things very differently.

I think one of the most important things in this warfare is understanding what motivates your enemy. What's their frame of reference? Because if we think that everybody sees it the same and they're just being difficult, I think that's a big mistake.

And so, the people who are leading Iran now have gone through a problematic last few decades. And so, particularly the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, those are some pretty determined people. And so, I think we need to take that into account.

AMANPOUR: What do you think the Trump doctrine is? Do you see a coherent Trump doctrine for the world?

MCCHRYSTAL: I think they have used military force in Venezuela and now in Iran.

[11:19:45]

MCCHRYSTAL: And there's a reinforcing aspect to it. We were able to bring out the president of Venezuela. We were able to hit a tremendous number of targets with relatively limited American losses in Iran.

The problem with military force is it has its limits. I refer to the length of the dog's chain. Once you bomb Iran for 30-plus days and you don't topple the government, at a certain point, they become inured to it.

Similarly, if we talk about destroying the infrastructure of a country, I think we need to think the long-term implications of that.

I believe that over time what we're hoping to happen is Iran becomes a regional player in the Mideast, a sovereign country with a healthy economy that's part of the world order.

And the more damage we do, the longer it takes them to get back and be in a position to be that.

AMANPOUR: What do you make in all your years as a soldier and an officer, now retired, of the Pentagon, what we know about firing people based on DEI and other political grounds, talking about stopping promotions based on similar criteria? What do you think, in general, that will do to the military?

MCCHRYSTAL: Well, I think it's disappointing, and I think it's dangerous. My perception of what's happened is you've had very capable leaders, very respected leaders, removed largely for political reasons.

And so, when that happens, even just the perception of it happens, it resonates through the force. We've always had, particularly for the last 60 or so years, we've had a very apolitical military, and we want that.

But at the same time, we want a technocratic ethos in it that says we are going to serve the popularly elected leaders, but we also expect that the force is going to be protected from the idea that if you aren't aligned enough with a certain political feeling, that you're vulnerable.

I think that would be a mistake, and I think we've lost too much talent already.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: After the break, targeting university students, Russia's latest tactics to boost its exhausted military ranks. CNN investigates when we return.

[11:22:08]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

Russia this week launched fierce bombardments across Ukrainian cities, killing at least 16 people, including a child while Moscow makes only incremental gains and faces mounting losses on the battlefield.

A new CNN investigation reveals how universities in Russia, once a refuge from military service, are increasingly being used to funnel students into the war through a mix of financial incentives and misleading promises.

Young people are being recruited without really knowing just what they're signing up for. As casualties rise and recruitment falters, the cost of sustaining Putin's war is being pushed onto the next generation.

Here's Clare Sebastian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is not a war-themed computer game. It's a recruitment video designed to convince students to join Russia's drone forces.

"You were told you were wasting time on video games," says this clip, "but there is a place where your experience is especially valuable."

The videos, which began appearing on university Web sites and social media pages around the start of the year, all advertise military contracts in Russia's newly-formed Unmanned Systems Forces.

Here you see a gamer on the left, a drone operator on the right. One university captioned it "Choose the Right Skin".

But behind the flashy PR, there is a darker side to this. Few students will speak out publicly, but some of those we have reached have told us anonymously that the pressure on them is rising.

"Everything changed this year," wrote one student. "All the top people in the university are now calling on students to go to war."

Students at risk of failure are a common target, hardly consistent with an effort to form an elite brigade.

In this video sent to CNN by one student, a woman tells the group, "If I were you, I would consider an option to join the drone forces. It will be as if your missing credits never existed."

Another student told us on a single day in February, his university almost expelled a third of our group and forced them to sign a contract on the spot to keep their place.

Through videos, posters and in person meetings, sometimes with soldiers serving in Ukraine, students are being promised an easier war experience -- a one-year fixed term, an opportunity to serve far from the front line, huge payouts and high-tech skills.

And yet --

ARTEM KLYGA, RUSSIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: Everything is a lie. It's a simple contract with the Russian army without deadline, without special term.

SEBASTIAN: This is the small print. Russia's 2022 decree on mobilization, which was never cancelled, states, "every military contract remains in force until that decree is revoked". No exceptions.

[11:29:48]

And no guarantees experts and anti-war activists say that the drone unit is where they'll end up.

GRIGORY SVERDLIN, FOUNDER IDITE LESOM: As soon as the person signs a contract, he's literally a slave of Ministry of Defense and he can be sent to whatever unit Ministry of Defense will need.

SEBASTIAN: It's not clear yet how many students have been recruited so far. The Russian Ministry of Defense has not responded to CNN's request for comment. But none of the students we spoke to are buying it.

"I don't find this nonsense convincing," wrote one. "I'm deeply opposed to the military propaganda."

"Among my classmates no one is considering signing a contract, even those in a very difficult financial situation," wrote another.

Russian losses in Ukraine have been mounting in recent months. Its system of enticing soldiers with huge salaries and bonuses under increasing strain.

KATERYNA STEPANENKO, RUSSIAN TEAM LEAD, INSTITUTE FOR STUDY OF WAR: There's a lot of estimates in terms of the recruitment getting more expensive for the Kremlin, which is why coercion is becoming more prominent.

SEBASTIAN: "The main battle for peace is inside you," claims this recruitment video. Russia's internal battle for manpower is escalating.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: The Russian defense ministry didn't respond to CNN's request for a comment.

Now, after the break, the MAGA movement fractures as loyalists turn on Trump. My interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene is next. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA), FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: I really think that he -- his mental capacity needs to be examined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:31:24]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

Now, earlier, we talked about the battle for the soul of America. Now, we turn to the battle for the souls of MAGA as splits emerge in the president's own support base. With longtime loyalists like former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene leading the U-Turn.

Just a year ago, she was sporting a baseball cap that read "Trump was right about everything." Today, not so much with the president backtracking on his "no more wars" promise to the people, not to mention the Jesus debate. Marjorie Taylor Greene joined me from Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome to the program.

GREENE: Hi. Thank you for having me on.

AMANPOUR: You've been very critical of President Trump recently when he, you know, made that very apocalyptic threat to essentially wipe out, "a whole civilization will die tonight and will never be brought back". That's what he said about Iran.

You responded "25th Amendment". Tell us what you what you meant.

GREENE: I was absolutely shocked and horrified that the president, the man that I supported and helped get elected, would call for an entire civilization of people to be murdered.

I really think that he -- his mental capacity needs to be examined. His rhetoric has been shocking to many Americans and people around the world.

This is a war that that many Americans, especially younger generations, who I side with most of the time, do not support. We made campaign promises in 2024 to the American people, no more foreign wars, no more foreign regime change. And to put America as our focus, that means the American people and our economy and our future, really.

And however, we've seen a drastic change here. I call this war an unprovoked war. And President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu engaged this war against Iran. There's not been a single bomb fall on America. And yet, here we are spending nearly $2 billion a day.

Yes, I do think that it should be discussed, although it's very unlikely the 25th Amendment will be used.

AMANPOUR: And are you concerned? Like, you know, many people were immediately very offended and concerned, particularly many Christians around the world when first of all, President Trump essentially attacked the Pope, calling him weak on just about everything. And then somehow presented himself in a Christ-like image.

How did you read it?

GREENE: I read it as blasphemy. That's exactly how I read it. It was President Trump presenting himself to be Jesus, presenting himself to replace God.

And that was extremely offensive to Christians and Catholics all over the world. And it is completely wrong.

And then even further, he tried to, you know, sweep it away saying that, you know, he thought he was representing himself as a doctor, which is lying.

And he didn't apologize, which he should have apologized. And it's just -- it's ridiculous, really. Absolutely ridiculous.

And so, it is blasphemy and it's wrong. And President Trump owes Christians an apology.

AMANPOUR: As we've noted, you essentially have broken with Trump. And he has, I suppose, broken with you. He does a play on words with your name, "Marjorie Traitor Greene", et cetera.

Can you explain to me what is going on?

GREENE: Thank you for bringing that up. Just to be clear, President Trump called me a traitor because I fought to release the Epstein files, defending women who were raped at 14 and 16 years old.

[11:39:48]

GREENE: And I would not obey his demands of taking my name off that discharge petition. That's why he calls me a traitor. I'm not a traitor to the United States. I stand with women and stand with victims.

I don't know what's going on. But I think that is the conversation that needs to be had. As a matter of fact, I think it's an extremely important conversation.

Why the President of the United States wants to portray himself as God and why he would dare even use the words, "wipe out an entire civilization".

AMANPOUR: I think I've heard you talk about your worry that this split and these, as you say, broken promises to Republicans and to the MAGA base is showing up in a lack of turnout in what potentially might happen at the midterms. Is that a worry? Am I reading that right? GREENE: We've seen it in races all over the country that have been held in 2025 and now in 2026, where Democrats are surging and Republicans are losing or either barely winning by much smaller margins like the special election in my district. This is a huge warning for the midterms.

And there was an event yesterday in Athens, Georgia for Turning Point USA, where Vice President J.D. Vance came to speak at the University of Georgia in Athens. And there was barely -- I think there were somewhere between 300 to 500 people in a nearly 7,000-seat auditorium.

This should be warning signs for the Republican Party. And it's particularly concerning for my home state of Georgia that could easily flip blue if Republicans are still so angry and furious at President Trump that they just don't turn out to vote.

AMANPOUR: You know, in terms of the opposition to the Iran war, you are not alone amongst MAGA. Very prominent influencers and media figures such as Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones and Candace Owens, all quite controversial, as you know, have also been accused of supporting anti-Semitic tropes or platforming anti-Semitic views.

So, is that an issue?

GREENE: Yes, I don't -- I don't answer for other people. What I can tell you, in my opinion, is it's not anti-Semitic to be against the secular government of Israel and their wars. That's not anti-Semitism. That's being anti-war.

I've got a strong history of being anti-war, not just the war on Iran or against Israel's, basically, genocide in Gaza and what they're doing in Lebanon now.

I was also against U.S. funding of Ukraine and my voting record shows that.

And we're tired of seeing our military serve in these wars in foreign countries because many of them are our friends and our family members and they come home forever changed with PTSD or in a flag-draped coffin.

And we're against that. That's not anti-Semitic or hateful towards any people group. That's literally saying that we're tired of America fighting different countries' wars on their behalf. And that's what's happening in Iran.

AMANPOUR: Marjorie Taylor Greene, former congresswoman, thank you very much for being with us.

GREENE: Thank you. It's good to speak with you

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Also ahead, three years into a brutal war and Sudan faces the world's worst humanitarian crisis. History is repeating itself. We look into my archive next. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: About a million are displaced within Darfur itself. And another 125,000 have had to flee to exile here in Chad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:43:16]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

This week marks three years since war erupted in Sudan, a conflict that has spiraled into what the United Nations still calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Nearly 34 million people, around two-thirds of the population, need assistance, and more than 19 million are facing acute hunger, according to the World Food Programme.

It is a manmade catastrophe and one that echoes a very painful past. More than two decades ago in Darfur, I witnessed the same pattern of brutality, displacement and indifference from the international community.

Then, as now, the world had said, never again. And yet here we are again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Bahai is so poor it can barely sustain itself. But for more than a year, it's been sharing its meager resources with 15,000 refugees.

The U.N. and other international agencies only turned up a few months ago, and they still haven't managed to set up camp this far north. Now, they're in a race against time to keep all these people alive.

HELENE CAUX, UNHCR: The rainy season is coming at the end of May, beginning of June. All of this area will be completely flooded.

AMANPOUR: Children are now dying of preventable diseases, like diarrhea, for lack of water and health care.

Helene Caux tries to give this little girl rehydration salts. Her mother then tries to drip feed her with a syringe, but she won't take the liquid.

Dr. Camilo Valderrama works for the International Rescue Committee. His job is to try to plug the health care hole. Chad has exactly 271 doctors for a population estimated at over nine million.

[11:49:44]

DR. CAMILO VALDERRAMA, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: The (INAUDIBLE) for this area is one technical agent who has basic training for 30,000 people almost. AMANPOUR: One for 30,000 people.

The babies are the most vulnerable. This little boy is 22 days old, his parents say. And yet, he's not growing. His hands are shriveled. His face that of an old man.

Severe malnutrition, says Dr. Camilo.

These people say they had a decent life in Darfur until the Sudanese government, which is Arab, went to war against Darfur's indigenous African people -- a war for power and resources.

The refugees told us about the attacks.

"They send in aircraft to bomb our villages," says Ahmed Sada (ph). "And then the militias come on horseback and burn down our houses and take all our possessions."

Adham Suleiman (ph) told us, "They killed the men and brutally attacked the women and young girls."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of them, older and younger they're raping.

AMANPOUR: So, they're raping old women and young women?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old women, yes.

AMANPOUR: So, just at this border point alone, the refugees keep coming.

Every week, about 300 new refugees are crossing this riverbed, which forms the border between the Darfur region of Sudan and Chad. They're fleeing what amounts to a campaign of ethnic cleansing, conducted by the Sudanese army and its marauding militia called the Janjaweed.

According to American and other human rights officials, thousands of Sudanese villagers have been killed. About a million are displaced within Darfur itself and another 125,000 have had to flee to exile here in Chad.

With great difficulty, the U.N. and Human Rights Watch gained access to Darfur and paint a picture of appalling human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity that match the testimony of survivors.

The U.S. and Europe have brokered a fragile cease-fire. Yet, they say the militias continue their reign of terror.

Back across the border in Chad, the IRC is burning the refugees' only wealth -- the carcasses of their animals which are dying of exhaustion and lack of food and water.

GILLIAN DUNN, IRC: The goats, the sheep are food, and the donkeys are transport. So, without their animals, they really have no resources left. AMANPOUR: Further north in Karfour (ph), the U.N. is making its first food deliveries since these refugees arrived months ago. What they're getting today will only last two weeks.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN -- on the Chad-Sudan border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now, that was in May 2004. A few months later in September, the United States declared the atrocities a genocide and the International Criminal Court issued war crimes charges for genocide against Omar al Bashir, the president. That was in 2010.

And imagine if it was difficult to get aid to these people then, all these years later, with the slashing of aid budgets from the United States to Europe and elsewhere, things in today's war in Sudan are so much worse.

When we come back. Amid Russia's brutal war on Ukraine, how an older generation in Odessa is dressing up to the nines to cope with the emotional toll of conflict

[11:53:15]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: And finally, we wanted to end our program in fashionable style from Ukraine. When I saw these amazing images recently of elderly Ukrainians choosing to look their best even as the bombs fall, I knew it was an act of defiance and resistance. Because it immediately took me back to covering the siege of Sarajevo some 35 years ago, when that city went without much food, electricity or water for months on end. And yet every shuttered beauty salon and barber shop sprang to life the minute the lights came back on and blow dryers for a moment drowned out the bombs.

Listen to those voices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's fantastic. Psychologically, it helps a lot. You have to look good.

AMANPOUR: But it's more than just looking good. Mehmet wants to remind the world that even though Sarajevo has been abandoned, the people have not let down their standards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a type of resistance. We belong to a civilized world. It's an example of our struggle for survival in this besieged city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: All these years later, journalist Alyona Synenko (ph) was similarly inspired by the dignity of the residents of Odessa, recently featured in "The New York Times". And here's what she told me. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALYONA SYNENKO, UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST: It is a lot of inspiration to see these people, because when you see them, they just brighten up your day. And we haven't had a lot of things happening around here that to lift our spirits lately.

So seeing them, I think we can learn a lot from them. But also hearing them because when you sit down and talk to them, some of the things that they say about their experiences and about how they see things, again it is very -- like, it inspires me a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:59:51]

AMANPOUR: And just like in Sarajevo, under siege and bombardment, in Odessa after more than four years of war, these men and women donned their beautifully-tailored suits. They reclaimed their humanity and perhaps even look in a mirror and envision a different future.

That's all we have time for. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.