Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Ukrainian Father Documents Life Inside A War Zone; Oscar's Producer First Thought Will Smith Slap Was "Part Of A Bit"; Red Cross Team Unable To Reach Mariupol, Will Try Again Tomorrow; Treasury Official: Russia Facing Recession That Will "Only Get Deeper". Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 01, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: We showed the video earlier that he's now not even phased by the air raid sirens.

Tell us about how you are doing this in the middle of this war and how is he doing?

ALEX DAYRABEKOV, FATHER OF INFANT, STAYING IN UKRAINE: Well, thank you.

This is really a historical moment for the country. And you know, we feel it. We all know it.

All the Ukrainians fight for their own lands, for their own homes. And we also fight for our own home, what you just showed. Irpin is our land, is our home.

And I'm sure, when my kid grows up, I will tell him about the story, and he will be proud of me and everyone else who did this.

BLACKWELL: What do you need? I saw there was a video that you posted of trying to get water to bomb shelters.

We talk a lot about weapons that the government is asking for. But for the people who are trying to survive this, what do you need?

DAYRABEKOV: Well, people need really basic stuff. If any one of you thinks that some fancy things, no, this is really like tea, water, coffee.

Underwear, believe it or not. People need underwear because the staff that works in the bomb shelters, they've been there for weeks and they haven't changed.

So this is -- we need a lot of stuff. And this is what we have. We have the subway in Kyiv a lot within this past week -- weeks with all of this stuff.

BLACKWELL: I suggest people search out your Twitter page because that is where I'm watching your videos. And you're getting out and showing shop owners and showing the destruction, as we showed, from the attacks from the Russian troops.

Are other people getting out more now, as we're seeing this repositioning and re-imagining what the strategy will be from the Russians?

DAYRABEKOV: Well, we are still -- this is still a war and there's still bombing.

And we're sure that the Russians -- that is what we call them, the Russian Fascists, that is what we call them -- they will continue bombing us.

Even though they stepped back, they backed up, they will continue bombing us from the air because we are not protected. We're not protected from the air.

We do not have enough air defense. And we do not have enough airplanes to protect us. And that is why the president and everyone asks the West to close our sky.

But the people continue -- continue believing in the army and doing everything possible to win this stupid war.

BLACKWELL: Alex, let me ask you about the story of the day, this attack on a fuel depot in Russia.

Russia said that Ukrainians are responsible. And the Ukrainian government said they will not confirm, they will not deny that they're responsible.

Is that what you would like your government, your military to do to be more offensive, to take more aggressive actions against Russia, considering what that could mean, the response, the reaction from Russian troops and from Putin himself?

DAYRABEKOV: Well, in the first place, this is a unfair game. This war is an unfair game from the very beginning. And not just 37 days. For all eight years, it was an unfair game.

So it is like in a boxing. We came out with a rules of boxing and we have an enemy that doesn't care about rules. They don't care about rules. They do whatever.

So, I think, as a citizen, I think we could also do whatever to stop this.

BLACKWELL: All right. Alex Dayrabekov, thank you, sir.

DAYRABEKOV: Thank you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: That was so poignant. To hear him singing and to know that, for his baby, it has become normalized, the sounds of sirens. Just incredible.

BLACKWELL: Yes. They're rattling adults when they hear them. And he's now just, what, 7 weeks old, and is not fazed by them. CAMEROTA: So coming up, how often will Americans need to get COVID

vaccine shots? Dr. Anthony Fauci has an answer.

[14:34:22]

And wait until we show what the COVID hospitalization map looks like today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appears ready to battle the state's largest private employer, known as Disney.

DeSantis signaling that he could strip the company of its special self-governing status because Disney announced a goal to get Florida's new so-called "Don't Say Gay" repealed or defeated in the courts.

BLACKWELL: Disney has had this special status for 55 years. It allows the company to operate as its own government around its theme park.

DeSantis said that Disney's statement crossed the line and alienated a lot of people. And he suggested the park's special privileges could be lifted.

And another encouraging sign that the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. is waning. Look at this map. Mostly yellow.

CAMEROTA: Incredible.

BLACKWELL: This is good news. It indicates low levels of community infection across the country. Remember when this was all red?

CAMEROTA: Oh, absolutely. One of our producers said this is a sight for sore eyes this morning.

[14:40:00]

I mean, if you look at this. And the Department of Health and Services says fewer people are hospitalized in the U.S. today with COVID than at any other point in the pandemic.

Just 2 percent of hospital beds are being used to treat COVID patients.

Dr. Anthony Fauci warns Americans may need to be ready for the possibility of yearly booster shots. He told CNN they may become the norm, similar to the flu shots that we get each year.

At the moment, people 50 years and older can get a second booster shot.

OK, so the producer of Sunday's telecast is speaking out about what happened behind the scenes after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage.

BLACKWELL: Will Packer said that he thought it was a joke at first. A lot of people did.

But when he realized that it was not a joke, Packer said the LAPD was ready to arrest Smith on the spot if that is what Rock wanted. It turned out it was not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL PACKER, OSCAR'S PRODUCER: The LAPD made it clear, we will do whatever you want us to do. And one of the options is that we will go and arrest him right now.

They were saying, this is battery. We will go get him. We are prepared. We're prepared to get him right now. You could press charges and we could arrest him.

As they were talking, Chris was -- he was being very dismissive of those options. He's like, no, I'm fine. He's like no, no, no.

And even to the point where I said -- I said, Rock let finish. And would you like us to take any action. And he said, no. He said no.

I didn't have any conversation with Will. Shalea told me that they were about to physically remove Will Smith. And I had not been a part of those conversations.

And so I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said Chris Rock doesn't want that. I said Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse.

That was Chris's energy. His tone was not retaliatory. His tone was not aggressive or angry. And so I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time.

Because as it's now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. It's been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Packer added that Chris Rock saved what was left of the show that night. Because Smith's attack sucked the life out of the room.

BLACKWELL: Meantime, Will Smith has met with and apologized to Academy leadership.

The Academy's Board of Governors will meet on April 18th and possibly vote on disciplinary action against him. A source tells CNN that the Academy heard Smith out but told him his actions would have consequences.

CAMEROTA: I mean, the more we hear about how Chris Rock handled it, the more superhuman Zen he seems.

BLACKWELL: The presence of mind to say, after having been slapped on stage --

CAMEROTA: In front of millions.

BLACKWELL: -- in front of millions, to say, no, let's not make this any worse. Let's not exacerbate this situation. There's a degree of charity, of restraint that, as we learn more, it is amazing.

CAMEROTA: It's amazing.

BLACKWELL: It's amazing, some of the decisions that he made.

CAMEROTA: I look forward to him speaking out about his process and what has happened and what was going on in his head.

[14:43:37]

Meanwhile, the Red Cross unable to reach the battered city of Mariupol. The latest humanitarian efforts and obstacles, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:27]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: An international team from the Red Cross will try again tomorrow to enter Mariupol, the southern port city under siege where nearly every single building is either damaged or destroyed. And officials fear tens of thousands may be dead.

The aid group said that conditions today en route to Mariupol made it impossible for a group of nine to get there.

The Red Cross spokesperson told the U.N. today that, quote:

"We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered. The situation is deteriorating and it is imperative that people be allowed to leave and aid supplies be allowed in."

I want to bring in Halyna Skipalska. She's the Ukraine country director for Health Right, a humanitarian organization that works on providing shelter and food and crisis counseling.

Halyna, we're so happy that you are on. Thank you so much.

It is believed that about 100,000 people are still in Mariupol. Tell me what other areas are you helping and what are your teams seeing and experiencing there?

HALYNA SKIPALSKA, UKRAINE COUNTRY DIRECTOR, HEALTH RIGHT INTERNATIONAL: Good morning.

Health Right International has worked in Ukraine since 2005. And we have more than 120 staff in Ukraine, psychology and social workers to help people who are facing this humanitarian crisis.

I would mention that, as for March 13, there are around 10.5 million people -- it is more than a quarter of the Ukraine population -- that have been forcibly displaced during the war conflict, including 6.5 million internally displaced.

[14:50:11]

You could imagine. So we are not speaking about those who were able to left Mariupol. But about those who now try to build life from the beginning in west of Ukraine where our organization is working now.

And some provision of specialized services, we call them mobile teams. Mobile teams of psycho-social support for those who face trauma and who come to new places to live.

LEMON: Yes. Health Right has been transporting some of the residents using the designated humanitarian corridors. Have you faced any obstruction during those missions?

SKIPALSKA: I would emphasize we help those who leave. It's place is very hot places and provide psycho-social services.

We collaborate with other organizations, which provide the corridors and ensure safety during this way.

But important is our specialty, for example, each mobile team consists of psychologist of warfare. Now we add mobile teams nurses and also lawyers. They help family who go to other places and start to live there.

LEMON: You mentioned psycho-social services. And I know your organization helps with that in some crisis --

SKIPALSKA: Yes.

LEMON: -- some crisis counselling.

What have your teams been witnessing there among the displaced who have fled?

SKIPALSKA: We expect it will be significant increase demand for mental health and psycho-social support. This is the main service that we provide.

But the fullest we help people also to find shelter, safe shelter in different parts of Ukraine or to help them cross borders.

And we are talking now only (INAUDIBLE), for example, but what makes it worse about it, the women in children. Usually, displaced people are women with children.

It's important to provide services for all these people who are internally displaced in Ukraine.

But mental health services are very different. For our psychologists it's much broader. For example, one of the coordinators, he just helped set up and create a bomb shelter in his village.

For example, he tries to get neighborhoods to bring together drinking water, food. One time up to 50 people use a shelter for more than two weeks.

It's a small village east of Ukraine. About 100 people stayed there in basement. So pe provided psychological support to them but also other important service and shelter during those two weeks.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes.

SKIPALSKA: So it's difficult --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Well, we're happy that you're dealing with that and that your colleague was able to get help. We have been hearing so many stories.

And you're right. These folks need a lot of help, including psycho- social services.

Halyna Skipalska, thank you so much. We really appreciate you joining us.

Alisyn and Victor, speaking to the people here, many of those displaced, they smile one minute and the next it's tears. So they got a long road ahead of them, day to day, moment to moment.

CAMEROTA: Yes. When we think about their physical survival, which obviously is the most pressing, and then all the trauma that will last forever.

Thank you very much, Don. We'll check back with you.

[14:54:31]

OK, next, brand-new insight into how the sanctions are impacting Russia's economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, this just into CNN. A senior treasury official says the sanctions imposed on Russia are pushing the country toward becoming a closed economy. That is something that Russia is ill- equipped to handle.

CAMEROTA: CNN's Matt Egan joins us now.

Matt, explain what's happening with the ruble. Because a couple of weeks ago, it was worth one U.S. penny. Now we hear it's made a full recovery.

How is that possible?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: That's right. It was actually worth less than a penny.

As soon as those sanctions came on, we saw the ruble crashing to record lows but it's staged this full recovery.

And that has raised some concerns that perhaps the United States and the West need to really crank up the sanctions pressure.

[14:59:50]

The Biden administration coming out today, they're pushing back on that argument. They are saying Russia's economy is getting decimated here and the ruble is not an accurate or objective barometer because Moscow is propping it up.

Let me read you a key line from Treasury Department. This from a senior Treasury official, who said:

"The economic consequences Russia is facing are severe -- high inflation that will only get higher, and deep recession that will only get deeper."