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At Least Six Explosions Rock Lviv Saturday, Five People Injured; Putin Eyeing A Korea-Like Divide For Ukraine; How Russia's War In Ukraine Mirrors Its Invasion Of Afghanistan; Ukrainians Disrupt Russian Offensive As War Moves To New Phase; This Year's Academy Awards; Ukrainian Resilience. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 27, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:35]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

And we begin with the resilient Ukrainian resistance. Troops in that country helped by armed civilians have reclaimed several villages from Russian forces in a series of counterattacks in the last few days. It's clearly disrupting the Russian military's best laid plans and it's not just troops and volunteers who are resisting Russia's ruthless invasion, regular Ukrainian citizens continue to find ways to adapt to life inside a warzone whether they're attending concerts underground or continuing their education as online schools will reopen tomorrow in Kyiv.

Then there are the 3.8 million people who have fled Ukraine since start of the war. President Biden got a firsthand book at the refugee crisis yesterday in Poland meeting with people who've been displaced. He was visibly inspired by their courage and increasingly angered by their plight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You see this and you're dealing every day with Vladimir Putin. Look at what he's done to these people. What does it make you think?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a butcher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The United Nations says Putin's forces have killed at least 1100 civilians but they acknowledge that number is likely much, much higher. And just in to CNN, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is claiming that Russian forces have taken 2,000 children out of Mariupol. He says their exact location is unknown. Just heartbreaking information there. CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

But the next round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will start Tuesday in Turkey. While the Kremlin claims Russia will now limit their sights on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the U.S. ambassador to NATO says there was no evidence of that just yet. In fact Russian missiles yesterday landed in Lviv, about as far west in Ukraine as you can get without veering into Poland, which is of course NATO territory.

CNN's John Berman was reporting in Lviv when those strikes happened. He joins us now.

John, what have we leaned since those strikes occurred and what kind of damage are we talking about? And I suppose as we're coming to you, I can hear the air raid sirens behind you. What's happening?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It was almost -- almost as if on cue, Jim. This, we believe, though, is an all-clear siren. What happens is they set off the sirens to warn people to go take shelter when they think that there might be a threat. And there's a wait. And then sometime later they put the sirens off again and tell you all clear.

I think this is the second series, the all-clear. I'll try to get a confirmation for you on that to be 100 percent sure. But people are very much on edge here. At least in a sense on edge after what happened yesterday because 24 hours ago you and I were talking and there was smoking rising behind me. That fuel storage center in Lviv was struck by at least two missiles and the fire there burned for 14 hours.

Now the fire is out. They finally were able to get the fire out. There were five injuries reported from the scene but no -- no deaths, and the mayor here in Lviv says he does think that this was Vladimir Putin trying to send a message to President Biden when he was speaking over the border in Poland. It all happened during a very tight, confined period and while President Biden was speaking, you could very much see the smoke rising behind me -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And John, you were out in Lviv today. What are you hearing from people about this latest strike? Are people more nervous, more rattled? I know Lviv has been something of a safe haven relatively speaking for a lot of Ukrainian refugees who have fled their homes and come to Lviv. Folks like yourself and the news media. What are you picking up on?

BERMAN: Yes, the reason I'm smiling is because what I saw was uplifting in a way today when we went out into the streets. So that's why I hedged when I said that people were on edge today because the streets were packed today.

You're looking at basically what felt like a street fair in front of the opera house. This, these street performers were out playing music and there were all kinds of kids dancing, waving Ukrainian flags. People were out enjoying the day. And the reasons were twofold. And we talked to people about this. On the one hand, they were out, it was a beautiful day. They were out enjoying the fresh air and they were out to prove a point, they said.

They were saying to Vladimir Putin, you can't scare us. You can't force us inside. This is our way of showing you that we will not be afraid.

[16:05:05] Now, another aspect of it, and this is equally as interesting, Jim. As you noted. Lviv is a transit point for so many of the thousands and thousands of refugees fleeing from other parts of the country. One of the reasons that people are out today in Lviv is because they've seen much worse. Frankly these missile strikes that they lived through here in this city yesterday were nothing compared to the threats they've seen in some of the other cities that they've been in or come from.

We spoke to someone from Kharkiv, from Sumy, from Kyiv, and these are cities that have just been devastated so the people aren't scared by what they're seeing here. You know, it's a sad reality. One person said to me it's almost sad when you get used to something like this.

ACOSTA: It really is. All right. John Berman, it's heartbreaking but also uplifting to see the Ukrainians fighting on. Such an inspiration.

John, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Let's bring in retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack. He's a former U.S. senior defense attache to Russia.

General Zwack, great to see you again as always. We appreciate it. You know, I want to ask you about this because I mean, this is another just fascinating wrinkle in the latest news coming out of Ukraine that Russia or Ukraine's intelligence chief today says Putin's aim may be to take over Ukraine's south and east and split the country into two like Korea. You know, for years Putin has been obsessed with this region.

Could we see an East and West Ukraine at the end of all this? I mean, when I was listening to John Berman's report, I just can't imagine the Ukrainians wanting to give up any of this territory that Russia has been pummeling over the last four weeks?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET.), U.S. ARMY: First, John's report, I really liked the reporting on Lviv and yesterday, and the reporting on Kyiv. While it was still a city under -- not siege, but under assault, it looked more normal. And that --

ACOSTA: Right.

ZWACK: And how does one weigh that? The morale, the -- the Ukrainians seemed to have weathered this. They've got a lot of awful fighting ahead of them, but I think maybe they're beginning to have a glimmer of being able to look past it.

OK. First of all, I believe fundamentally the Russians wanted to, on the 24th February, with their offensive, their strike towards Kyiv that was a dismal failure, they wanted to decapitate the Zelenskyy government and work to put a proxy in and drive up the south and consolidate the Donbas and just maybe if they had gone for Kyiv push their forces up and through proxies as well get to Dnipro River line, which might have been -- maybe the long term end state going all the way with ground forces in Kyiv but that Russian force might have been too much. Who knows? But the bottom line, it failed. So damage control. We

talked about it yesterday. Restating the mission. You know, this -- Kyiv almost a diversion or whatever. Nonsense. They were going for it. Now they are trying to save face. Create a -- one of the core issues is the Donbas, all of it, Luhansk, Donetsk, they have about 50 percent or 60 percent of it, take all of it. And as you've been -- we've been watching push down towards Crimea, that might be as far as they can go, I think the aspirational goal of Odessa might be too far.

That could be the end state, a partition, and they're now looking to pull a rabbit trick, if you will, out of the hat, because this has been a fiasco for them and they have to justify to their home population and by the way the world what the heck is going on.

ACOSTA: But I have to ask you, General, because you're right. Much of this has been a fiasco for the Russians. But just in the last few moments we were talking about this interview that President Zelenskyy gave in which he said, and of course, we have not been able to independently verify these claims, but that some 2,000 children have taken out forcibly out of Mariupol.

That kind of action during a war is horrendous. And I just wonder what is to come for those parts of Ukraine, if -- let's just say the best- case scenario. The Russians decide that they want to pull out in defeat and they end this siege on the country.

[16:10:02]

Those parts of Ukraine that have just been utterly devastated by the Russians, where people have been abused in that kind of way that Zelenskyy is talking about, it just seems to me it would just take years to recover from. It's just awful. It's just atrocious.

ZWACK: Whatever happens, and let's hope it's for all of Ukraine there is going to hopefully surely be a major international Marshall plan to help Ukraine especially it's east of the Dnipro get back on its feet. That has to happen, and I'm sure it will. But it's ghastly, I mean, what we are seeing, and this is where I think President Biden was very good in his speech yesterday. He's reaching out to the Russian people. And that firewall is breaking.

The news is getting out. The bodies are coming home. And when they see this, and the Stalinist, and maybe -- there may be some exaggeration, but the whole idea that civilian populations are being sent, deported I would use the old Stalinist term into, into Russia.

ACOSTA: Right.

ZWACK: Or kids being taken, resettlement. These are -- you know, coupled with words that Putin was using for his own society. Cleansing. All of this.

ACOSTA: Right.

ZWACK: This is monstrously ugly any way we look at it. ACOSTA: And you mentioned the president's speech yesterday in Poland.

You know, yesterday Biden warned Putin not to move one inch on NATO territory, and I'm just curious. In your view what would the NATO response have to be if Putin were to perhaps test the American president when it comes to that kind of ultimatum?

ZWACK: Jim, that's a really hard question and I'm sure that NATO planners are working night and day to try to figure out a -- a response. One, is it an accidental fire? Is there a missile that -- yes. You know, that went off course? Or was there a premeditated Russian attack or something -- I don't know.

I think there are shades of gray in here, but the bottom line is the president and, by the way, the Norwegian secretary-general of NATO had been very, very unambiguous about this -- Russia, you're on notice. And by the way, Russia, you're a whole lot weaker now than you were a month ago and already then we're learning you weren't that strong. So I can't tell what the response would be. They're being very careful because of the whole escalation issue that everybody worries about.

But that's not a free ticket for the Russians to push and even the military in Russia have to be sensing that they got to be really, really careful. They can raise havoc in Ukraine and it's ghastly and it's got to stop but if they start poking on the border lands with Poland or Romania or Hungary, no. This will go very, very bad.

ACOSTA: All right. Brigadier General Peter Zwack, thanks as always. Great talking to you, sir. We appreciate it.

ZWACK: Sure. Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. And still to come, what history can teach us about the current Russian war in Ukraine. Don't go anywhere. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:37]

ACOSTA: Would Russia cut its losses and pull out of this war in Ukraine? There is precedent for that. Russia's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 shares a number of similarities with its attack now on Ukraine. Not just in how the war in Ukraine began or the support role played by the United States, but also how because of how many Russian soldiers have died so far.

Joining me now here in Washington CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen.

Peter, you studied both of these conflicts extensively. You wrote an op-ed about his on CNN.com. And there it is right there. The number that puts Vladimir Putin at risk. Let's talk about start of the war, the start of the Russian invasion in Afghanistan. Some of the similarities. What are you seeing?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I mean, the big -- for Vladimir Putin the big similarity is that 15,000 Russian troops may have died according to estimates from NATO officials to CNN, while the official numbers during the 1980 war against the Soviets is 15,000 Russian soldiers dead. So in nine years of war during '80s, 15,000 Russian soldiers died. In one month of war in Ukraine, 15,000 Russian soldiers have died.

Now Vladimir Putin understood that the Berlin Wall fell when the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. He knows it's not an accident. He was a young KGB officer in East Germany at the time. It was a signal event in his life. So he must be keenly aware that, you know, things can change not in his favor if enough body bags start going home. And going further back in Russian history, you know, the Romanovs basically they lost World War I.

They, you know, first of all abdicated and then were executed. So Putin is well aware of this Russian history that if you fail in wars, that it could be a big problem for you yourself.

ACOSTA: Right. They don't typically stick around when they've suffered a loss like they're experiencing right now and the Ukrainians are fighting back not exactly the way the Afghans did during the war in Afghanistan, but they are fighting back in less, I guess, you know, catastrophic terms. They're using Molotov cocktails, they obviously had many demonstrations and so on, but from their perspective, they're making it very clear they're not going to be suppressed by Putin.

They are going to mount this resistance. And in many ways it does remind you of how things went in Afghanistan.

BERGEN: Yes. And the big difference, Jim, is that the Ukrainians are much better armed than the Afghans.

[16:20:03]

The Afghans didn't have Stinger anti-aircraft missiles until 1986. Several years into the war. Here the Ukraine -- they have the Javelin, they have very effective British anti-tank weapons, and, you know, the results speak for themselves. So, you know, the Russian, you know, kind of failure in Ukraine is happening rather dramatically if indeed they say. And we saw it's an open question. But they're clearly not winning and they may be losing.

In Afghanistan until '86, the Afghans put up a big fight but they didn't have the right weapons. The Ukrainians do have the right weapons and also if they get their hands on the S-300 missiles, these are very effective anti-aircraft weapons that they know how to use. There's obviously a pressure to get those weapons into the theater. And that will be even more a game-changer, because right now, you know, they can bring down ballistic missiles and they can bring down high altitude aircraft with these S-300s which the Stingers cannot.

ACOSTA: Right. And I guess you write there's a chance that Putin could feel so cornered in Ukraine that he could use weapons of mass destruction.

BERGEN: Yes. ACOSTA: Even use his nuclear arsenal. God forbid that happens. But

what is the Afghan experience tell us about whether or not Putin would go down that road in Ukraine then?

BERGEN: Well, certainly the Afghan experience showed, I mean, the Soviets, you know, they killed a million Afghans. I mean, that's the minimal number. And as many as two million. They made a third of the population homeless. So, you know, these kinds of Russian tactics, we saw it in Grozny, we saw it in Aleppo in Syria, I mean, the Sorscha tactics are not new.

ACOSTA: That's right. And I want to ask you about the Taliban in Afghanistan and what's happening now. The Taliban postponing the return to school for girls above the sixth grade. The U.S. representative for Afghanistan says that caught the U.S. by surprise. Perhaps that should not have come as a surprise. But help our viewers understand what's happening there right now because we haven't touched base with you on this in some time.

BERGEN: Yes. I mean, you know, I mean, I find it deeply unsurprising.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BERGEN: Seven months after they took power, you know, they are preventing girls who are above age 13 to go to school. Put that in the unsurprising file, not in the I'm deeply surprised file. And you know, that's been part of their project from the beginning is to exclude women from the workplace and exclude girls above a certain age from education.

And the Education Ministry in Afghanistan said, you know, we're going to design a new uniform. And that's the problem. Well, I mean, come on. Doesn't take you seven months to design a new uniform.

ACOSTA: Right.

BERGEN: So it's an excuse. Unfortunately, I don't think it's surprising and it's other piece with kind of their project right now which is they didn't reform, it's just a window dressing when they've sort of said that we're different, and this clearly shows that they haven't changed.

ACOSTA: Yes. The Taliban, we didn't expect a whole lot of changes out of the Taliban and they're not surprising us in the least.

All right, Peter Bergen, thank you very much. Good to see you. And check out his piece on CNN.com. The op-ed still there.

Coming up, an on-the-ground report from Kyiv as Ukraine mounts a counteroffensive in some areas. They've been having a lot of success taking it to the Russians. We'll check in on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:46] ACOSTA: Turkey's presidency says the next round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will happen in Istanbul on Tuesday. Previous negotiations have led to little in way of results. Meantime, Ukrainians say their counterattacks east of the city of Kharkiv have led to the recapture of several villages from Russian forces.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv with the very latest.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jim. Look, on the whole, I would say that today may have been a bit more quiet than what we've seen over the past couple of days. Really throughout this entire week as we've seen that intense fighting. A lot of that of course due to the fact that the Ukrainians are saying that they're pressing that counteroffensive on the outskirts of Kyiv, especially towards the northeast and the northwest of the city.

They say that they've made some gains but of course the going there is still pretty tough. So what we managed to do today is we went out to the north of the city to a small town, I would even say a village up there. And the people who live there, the few who actually still remain, they tell us that the Russian military really hasn't managed to gain any ground over the past couple of weeks. But what they're doing is they're increasingly shelling those areas indiscriminately.

We saw some destroyed houses, quite a few of them actually, and of course it's absolutely unsafe for these civilians who still remain in that area. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian forces that are up there, they seemed to be confident that they're going to be able to keep the Russians at bay and possibly even push them further back. But the leadership of course here they understand that these gains right now are still pretty fragile.

And the Russian army, of course, as we know, is one that is very, very dangerous and has a very large force here still on the gates of the city -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much.

Still to come, Sean Penn with fiery comments that he would destroy his Oscars if Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is not invited to speak tonight on the Academy Awards. Those statements made yesterday on this program now reverberating around the world. We'll discuss next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: The Academy Awards are tonight. Yesterday, Oscar winner, Sean Penn, joined me live from Warsaw. And I asked him if he wanted to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak at the Oscars. And this was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN PENN, ACTOR: If the academy has elected not to do it, if presenters have elected not to pursue leadership in Ukraine who are taking bullets and bombs for us, along with the Ukrainian children that they are trying to protect, then I think every single one of those people, and every bit of that decision will have been the most obscene moment in all of Hollywood history.

[16:35:02]

PENN: And I hope that's not what's happening. If it turns out to be what's happening, I would encourage everyone involved to know that though it may be their moment, and I understand that, to celebrate their films, it is so much more importantly their moment to shine and to protest and to boycott that Academy Awards.

And I, myself, if it comes back to it, I -- when I return, I will smelt mine in public. I pray that's not what's happened. I pray there has -- there have not been arrogant people who consider themselves representatives of the greater good in my industry. That have not decided to check in with leadership in Ukraine.

So, I'm just going to hope that that's not what's happened, and I hope that everybody walks out if it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And now, CNN has reached out to the Oscars for comment and we have not heard back. But with me now to discuss is Adam Parkhomenko, the spokesperson for United Help Ukraine and the Ukrainian American. And Dean Obeidallah, CNN.com opinion contributor and host of a show on SiriusXM.

Dean, great to see you. Adam, thanks for being with me on set here. One critique since the idea of Zelenskyy speaking at the Oscars was floated was maybe embodied best by the comedian, Wanda Sykes, who, quote, "isn't he busy right now?" Speaking of Zelenskyy.

But isn't there something to be said for Zelenskyy appearing at this kind of a ceremony with this massive global audience? I mean, think of the message it would send.

ADAM PARKHOMENKO, SPOKESPERSON, UNITED HELP UKRAINE: Absolutely. I think, you know, one of the things that Zelenskyy has done incredibly from the start is use social media, and other ways, to get his message out. His message is a forbidden message in Russia. And so, for us not to make the Oscars a platform for him to get that message out I think is a terrible decision and direction to go.

And even though, historically, that might not be a place that was used as a platform. But it's incredibly important, now more than ever, to make sure that Zelenskyy can reach millions of Americans. And by doing that, break through, you know, a number of different communications that have been stopped in Russia, and other places like that, where people are having trouble getting word of what's actually going on.

ACOSTA: Right. I mean, it's hard to keep, you know, the Oscars out of Russia entirely. I mean, the whole world is watching the Oscars.

And, Dean, the idea of the Oscars struggling with how to hand the world outside of entertainment is not new. In 2003, Michael Moore was infamously booed during his Oscar acceptance speech, when he spoke out against the Iraq War and President George W. Bush.

What do you think? What's your take on this? Are the Academy Awards an appropriate place for this kind of, you know, talking about issues that are important to people? I mean, it's not -- this is not the first time we've seen something like this. And, I mean, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, I mean, more than anything else right now, just an aspiring example around the world message of amazing courage and bravery?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, CNN OPINION CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's the perfect place, Jim, for two reasons. One is, you know, we follow this closely. But there are many Americans who see the headlines but don't hear from President Zelenskyy. But they like entertainment. They like movies. They're going to tune in to see who wins best actor, best actress. And they might learn a little bit more about the conflict. You're reaching a whole different audience.

Secondly, it is a massive audience, 25 million typically, last year was an exception. The history of the Oscars is filled with using the politics. Fifty years ago, Marlon Brando won the Oscar for "The Godfather." And he had a Native-American woman accept the award for him to talk about the representation of Native Americans. 2009 Sean Penn wins for Harvey Milk and talks about marriage equality.

So, our Oscars are -- I think they're the perfect setting for a five, six-minute video. I'm glad my friend, Amy Schumer, who've I've known for years from New York, was the one that recommended it. And I'll tell you this. It's not partisan politics. It's remarkable, Jim, as Americans, we actually agree on something, politically. 85 percent of Democrats and Republicans support the sanctions.

This is one of the few things that would bring Americans together to watch and cheer in one voice which is heartening and aspiring for us, as Americans, and for the Ukrainians. So, I think it's a win-win for everyone.

ACOSTA: No question it would be odd if we had an Academy Awards without politics involved. And as you said, Dean, and this is one of those issues that, I mean, the whole world has been rallying around this, except for Russia.

And, Adam, you speak to countless Ukrainian Americans. You were at an event down on the National Mall today for supporting the Ukraine cause. Does it matter to Ukrainian-Americans if Zelenskyy speaks at the Oscars? What do you think?

PARKHOMENKO: It's incredibly important to them. And I think that -- a number of things I've heard is everything from, you know, we can all imagine there's a whole bunch of Hollywood executives that are dying to tell the Zelenskyy story. Why not hear from himself what that story is and what's going on?

Personally, I'd love to see him get an Oscar. I think, you know, best performance for president by far.

[16:40:02]

PARKHOMENKO: But it is a critical time. And war has changed in social media. You know? I think that Putin went into Ukraine thinking it would have the coverage that Syria did, which was nothing like this.

And he's been met with just the opposite, where you've got writers that are putting their pens down. And musicians putting down their instruments to fight. And children that can't, you know, volunteer in the army, helping parents make Molotov cocktails in the kitchen. And he was met with a 40 million-person army.

ACOSTA: Yes, no question. And, Dean, we still don't know what the Oscars will wind up doing, regarding Zelenskyy. I've been -- I talked to one source who has been involved in this situation who said it looks like we won't see Zelenskyy tonight. But there's still a lot of hope out there that maybe some pressure will be brought to bear and, perhaps, we'll see him. Who knows?

But we do have a jedi weighing in on the situation on Sean Penn's comments. Mark Hamill, of course, played Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars" just tweeted this a short while ago. He tweeted, looking forward to watching three hilarious unpredictable women hosting and nothing that happens tonight is worth smelting anything whatsoever.

I mean, I -- you know, I've got to be honest. I think it would be kind of amazing to watch somebody melt down a couple of Oscars. I mean, I don't know about you. I'm never going to win one, so I don't have to worry about that. But --

PARKHOMENKO: I think the only thing I would disagree with Sean Penn on is I actually think there could be a really good use for those Oscars in Ukraine. As we've seen, there's at least a couple women that have taken down drones with vegetables and bottles.

ACOSTA: Well, that's true. It might make a good projectile. But, Dean -- and we're looking at some live pictures of the Red Carpet at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

OBEIDALLAH: Sure.

ACOSTA: Are you sure -- I mean, are you surprised we have not heard other big names jumping in on this?

OBEIDALLAH: No. Because I think everyone expects Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Regina Hall -- Regina King, co-hosting this. You're going to hear them talk about Ukraine. Amy said she's got jokes about -- obviously, not about the Ukrainian people or their suffering. I'd imagine about Putin you'll hear some jokes. You're going to hear people who win their awards dedicate it or bring up the situation.

So, even if President Zelenskyy's not there, people are going to hear about it. I also think, in the bigger picture, this is a great setting for President Zelenskyy in that he comes from an entertainment background. It has the gravitas of being at the Oscars. It's not going (ph) "The Masked Singer." That would be the best choice if you look at President Zelenskyy. This is something that's actually fitting, I think, to get the message out to over 200 nations that watch the Oscars, plus on social media afterwards.

So, you know we're going to hear about it. So, I don't think anyone has to worry. We're going to hear a lot about Ukraine tonight.

ACOSTA: Yes. Sean Penn was making this point yesterday, that Zelenskyy is one of their -- one of theirs. You know? He is a former entertainer. A former actor or a former comedian, who beat all the odds and became president of that country and has just been a remarkable figure ever since.

Adam, we've got a little time left. Tell us about some of the work you've been doing with your organization, United Help Ukraine. How can people get involved and help do some good over there?

PARKHOMENKO: Yes. So, thanks for the opportunity. United Help Ukraine is an organization that has been around for years. It's a nonprofit status, C3. They provide everything from bullet-proof vests to tourniquets, and oxygen in hospitals to Ukraine. However, their budget, historically, has been $70,000 a year on average. And they've raised in excess of $10 million in a handful of days.

So, they're partnering and working and have a great division of labor with a number of the other organizations that are on the ground to make sure that they can move things as quickly as possible. If people are in a position to help them, UnitedHelpUkraine.org. And we would appreciate their support.

ACOSTA: OK. Adam Parkhomenko, Dean Obeidallah, great to see both of you. Thanks so much. And I guess we'll be watching tonight.

OBEIDALLAH: Thanks.

ACOSTA: Thanks. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

And we will see how all of this plays out tonight at the Academy Awards. CNN Stephanie Elam is on the Red Carpet. Stephanie, what are you seeing on your end? No smelting, I guess, on your end. Not yet, at least.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hot out here. I can tell you that, Jim. That's as close as we're getting to smelting. That's it right now.

But I can tell you the energy is back. The Red Carpet is back. People are excited to be back here on the carpet. I'm going to tell what you what we can expect as we head into the Academy Awards. Stay with us.

[16:44:28]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Tonight is Hollywood's biggest night, The Oscars. After three years without a host, a trio of funny women, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, are co-hosting the 94th Academy Awards. And CNN's Stephanie Elam joins me now live from the Red Carpet.

You're looking amazing, as always, on the Red Carpet there, Stephanie. What's the latest on your end? What are you seeing?

ELAM: Well, we're just now starting to see some of the stars starting to arrive right now, Jim. But, obviously, this is that day that everyone's trying to figure what's the best in film that we saw last year. And in case someone needs just a little bit of a cheat sheet, if you're going to watch the show tonight, I've got it for you. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready to host the Oscars?

ELAM (voice-over): The hosts are back. The Red Carpet is back. And, of course, so are the stars. Best bets this year include Will Smith in "King Richard" for best actor, as the father of Serena Williams.

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Now, I don't mind you saying we're hard on these kids. Do you know why? Because we are.

MATTHEW BELLONI, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK NEWS: I think the consensus around him is that this is the performance that the academy wants to honor him for. It's sort of a shock that he does not have an Oscar.

ELAM: For supporting actress, Ariana DeBose has all momentum for her role in "West Side Story."

ELAM (on camera): Are you having the year?

ARIANA DEBOSE, ACTRESS: I don't know if it's the year, but it's a year and dagnabit (ph) it's special.

ELAM (voice-over): Expect the stars to support Ukraine. The colors of the Ukrainian flag have been a staple on other Red Carpets.

BELLONI: The fact that Mila Kunis, who is Ukrainian, is going to be presenting, I've heard that there is going to be a nice moment with her doing a tribute to the country.

ELAM: Diversity this year includes deaf actors with "CODA" up for best picture.

TROY KOTSUR: I never thought I would get to this moment.

ELAM: "CODA's" Troy Kotsur is a favorite for best supporting actor.

TROY KOTSUR, ACTOR (translator): We've been separated for so long and there's been a communication breakdown between the hearing community and the deaf community. So, we've pulled them both together.

ELAM: A dark horse could be Kodi Smit-McPhee for the power of the dog. His quiet performance helped the film gain awards momentum.

ELAM (on camera): Do you know what I call you? Mr. slow burn.

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE: Slow burn, I like that. I'll take that. ELAM (voice-over): "The Power of the Dog" has one key best picture

awards leading up to Oscar. But it was shut out at the screen actor Guild Awards.

BELLONI: "The Power of the Dog" has a lot of fans. It also has a lot of detractors. "CODA" is much more of a consensus film.

ELAM: To save time, some Oscars will be handed out off the air, then edited for television. And, of course, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes promise to entertain.

(on camera): Was it time to bring hosts back to The Oscars?

BELLONI: Last year's show was a disaster on many different levels, one of which is that there was no through line. There was nobody guiding you through the show.

ELAM: Now, there's one thing that we do know. The producer of this year's show, Will Packer, says he wants the show to be an escape. That's what he told "Vanity Fair." And he wants it to be an uplifting, uniting moment.

And to that end, we do see that Hollywood is pretty much united behind the idea that what is happening in Ukraine is completely wrong. And so, we expect many of those messages to unite the stars, and perhaps America, tonight during the show -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Stephanie. And the world will be watching. And I assume there will be some viewers in Russia as well watching. So, that'll be fascinating to see all of that unfold. Stephanie Elam at the Red Carpet for us at The Oscars. Thank you very much, Stephanie. We appreciate it.

And Ukrainians are now four weeks into the Russian attack on their country. A CNN Hero's tribute to them now to the tune of John Legend's "Never Break."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came to volunteer because we know that it's our home here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): Glory to Ukraine.

JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: We've got a good thing, babe. Whenever life is hard. We'll never lose our way, because we both know who we are. Who knows about tomorrow? We don't know what's in the stars. I just know I'll always follow the light in your heart. I'm not worried about us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a full-fledged war and in a very difficult situation. We will resist and we will continue to resist.

LEGEND: We will never break. We will never break built on our foundation, strong enough to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): We will be defending our country. LEGEND: We will never break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because our weapon is truth.

LEGEND: As the water rises.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And our truth is that this is our land, our country.

LEGEND: And the mountains shake. Our love will remain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what I wanted to tell you. Glory to Ukraine.

LEGEND: We will never.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Heartbreaking and inspiring. Just such a beautiful moment there.

CNN's audience has already contributed more than $7 million towards the humanitarian efforts that support Ukraine. If you'd like to find out how to help and to watch the full-length salute to the Ukrainian people, it's amazing. You don't want to miss it. Go to CNNheroes.com.

And we'll be right back.

[16:54:15]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. And we begin with a disturbing new claim on the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 2,000 children have been stolen. It's his words. Stolen by Russian forces and taken to undisclosed locations in Russia.

CNN cannot independently verify these claims, but a pro-Russian separatist today says about 1,700 people are being, quote, "evacuated" to Russia from Mariupol and other cities daily. Mariupol. And now, just a shell of what it used to be after weeks of embarkment. Local officials say thousands have been killed in that city alone. President Joe Biden in Poland yesterday, laying blame squarely on one person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see this is your -- you know, you're dealing every day with Vladimir Putin. I mean, look at what he's done to these people. What does it make you think?

[17:00:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a butcher.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Meantime, Ukrainian troops and armed civilians have reclaimed several villages from Russian forces in a series of counterattacks.