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Mass Grave Discovered In Ukrainian Town Of Bucha As Russian Troops Withdraw; U.S. To Help Document Russian Atrocities Against Civilians; Interview With Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) About Helping Residents Pay For Gas; New Florida Law Presents Challenges For Same-Sex Parents; Ukrainian Family Finds Sanctuary At South Florida Home. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 03, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Bucha massacre is the most outrageous atrocity of the 21st century.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We can't become numb to this. We can't normalize this. This is the reality of what's going on every single day.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Indeed, this is genocide. The elimination of the whole nation and the people.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Just before sunrise multiple air strikes struck a fuel storage facility here in the city of Odessa.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Seeing clearly the threat he poses not just to Ukraine, to Europe, to democracy and global stability.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bucha is indeed completely destroyed. We were going through Bucha accompanied by the Ukrainian National Police and then they actually took us to a church, and it was on the compound of that church we walked around to the back and that's where we saw this mass grave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday.

The horrors of war in Ukraine as Russian troops pull back from the Kyiv region, the barbaric and grotesque campaign against civilians comes to light. The images that you're about to see are from Bucha right near the capital. They are graphic, they are shocking and they are tough to see but they are also vitally important in capturing the cold-blooded brutality of the Russian occupation.

A CNN team came upon this mass grave. At least a dozen bodies can be seen. They are not alone. Residents say that about 150 people are buried there.

These satellite images show mass graves being dug on the grounds of a church. The burials are cold and efficient. And many victims are not even afforded that. Again, a warning of graphic images ahead here. These are the bodies of about 20 civilians left scattered across just one street there. They were apparently shot execution style. Some had their hands restrained behind their backs. Their bodies discarded in a final cruel indignity.

Russia is dismissing this evidence of a massacre as, quote, "staged." Ukraine's president calls it, quote, "genocide."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): Some things that they have done when we find people with, with hands tied behind their back and decapitated, such things I don't understand. I don't comprehend. The kids who were killed and tortured, so it wasn't enough just to kill for those criminals. Maybe they wanted to take gold or washing machines and they were killing but they were also torturing them as they did this. Indeed, this is genocide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Our Fred Pleitgen was part of the CNN team that captured the images of the mass grave. He's in Kyiv with the latest.

PLEITGEN: Hi, there, Pamela. Well, as the Russians continue to withdrawal from areas here around Kyiv and towards the border with Belarus, and Ukrainians move into these territories, I think two things are becoming increasingly clear. On the one hand, a lot more Russian military hardware was taken out than anybody would have thought, and on the other hand, a lot more civilians also came to harm as well.

We witnessed some of that firsthand. Here's what we saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): As Russian forces retreat from the area north of Kyiv, in their wake, scenes of utter destruction. Whole blocks of houses flattened, Ukrainian authorities saying they believe dead bodies are still lying underneath. But here, the dead also lay in the open. Ukrainian National Police showed us this mass grave in Bucha, saying they believe up to 150 civilians might be buried here but no one knows the exact number. People killed while the Russian army occupied this town.

This is what it looks like when the hope is crushed. Vladimir has been searching for his younger brother, Dmitri, now he's convinced Dmitri lies here even though he can't be 100 percent sure. The neighbor accompanying him with strong words for the Russians.

Why do you hate us so much, she asks, since the 1930s, you've been abusing Ukraine, you just want to destroy us, you want us gone, but we will be, everything will be OK. I believe it. [20:05:08]

Video from Bucha shows bodies in the streets after Russian forces left the area. Some images even show bodies with hands tied behind their backs. The Russian Defense Ministry denies killing civilians and claims images of dead civilians are, quote, "fake." But we met a family just returning to their house in Borodianka, which they say was occupied by Russian soldiers. They show us the body of a dead man, in civilian clothes, they had found in the backyard. His hands and feet tied with severe bruises and a shell casing still laying nearby.

Russia's military appears to have suffered heavy losses before being driven out of the area around Kyiv. This column of armored vehicles in Bucha completely destroyed.

(On-camera): The way the Ukrainians tell us is that the Russians were trying to go towards Kyiv and they were then intercepted by Ukrainian drones, artillery and also the Javelin anti-tank weapons. It's not clear how many Russians were killed here but they say many were and others fled the scene.

(Voice-over): A national police officer says the Russian troops were simply too arrogant.

They thought they could drive on the streets and just go through, he says. That they would be greeted as though it's all right. Maybe they think it is normal to drive around looting, to destroy buildings and to mock people, but our people didn't allow it.

And now it appears all the Russians have withdrawn from here. Ukraine says it is now in full control of the entire region around Kyiv but it is only now that the full extent of the civilian suffering is truly coming to light.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And, you know, Pamela, what we saw there in Bucha was obviously awful but unfortunately, it's not something that is necessarily unique just to that one small town around the capital of Kyiv. In fact, just today, we were in various other places, various other small towns and satellite towns around the Ukrainian capital and every single one of them we saw the same scene.

We saw utter destruction, destroyed buildings where the local authority said there is still dead people underneath, you know, dead bodies in the street, dead bodies in backyards and as the time progresses, as the Ukrainians make more and more inroads and access a lot more of these areas, unfortunately, they're probably going to find more of the same -- Pamela.

BROWN: So disturbing. Thank you.

Well, the U.S. State Department will help document any Russian atrocities committed against civilians. CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House for us tonight.

So, Arlette, what are you hearing from the Biden administration?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the Biden administration today is expressing their shock over those horrific scenes coming out of Bucha with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing it as a punch to the gut.

Now Blinken also said that the U.S. and the State Department will document any possible war crimes and atrocities that are occurring in Ukraine at this moment. Of course, the U.S. has officially accused Russia of committing war crimes but there are still that official investigation investigations that is going forward. But both today Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said that Russia must be held accountable for their pattern of brutality in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: You can't help but see these images as a punch to the gut. There needs to be accountability for it but I think the most important thing is we can't become numb to this. We can't normalize this.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: It is a brutality against civilians so we haven't seen in Europe for decades and it's horrific and it's absolutely unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, even as they issued those condemnations, they did not go as far as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who described what the scenes playing out as genocide. Now, the next questions are whether the U.S. and allies might take additional steps to try to punish Russia for its actions. The U.S. has consistently said that sanctions -- the option of additional sanctions remain on the table and of course the U.S. has been sending more military equipment into Ukraine.

Sources telling us that the U.S. is going to help facilitate the transfer of Soviet air tanks from allied countries into Ukraine as the U.S. and allies are further trying to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against this assault from Russia -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz from the White House for us tonight. Thank you.

And joining me now, retired Army Major General Paul Eaton. He served as the commanding general of operations to train Iraqi troops during Operation Iraq Freedom.

General, as a career military officer, what is your visceral reaction to what we have seen? Wide spread bombardment of civilian areas and now the apparent execution style killing of civilians.

[20:10:00]

MAJ. GEN. PAUL EATON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Pamela, it only gets worse. What we've seen are thousands upon thousands of Russian mothers' sons, and they're all make doing this, who have committed atrocities. They've pulled triggers. They've pulled lanyards. They've pushed buttons. They've done worse. And we need to reassess the entire Russian culture and the entire world needs to move with us to isolate Russia and to hold them accountable in the courts of law that we have established to deal with such things.

I was the deputy commander for U.S. forces in Bosnia. I've seen this before. And it is a testimony to how evil an imperialist approach to life can be.

BROWN: Do you think we're going to see more evidence of war crimes similar to this and worse as Russian forces pull out of more areas?

EATON: This can also bring us back to World War II when we would see atrocities committed in and around Germany. We thought that we had seen the worst and then we would uncover even more appalling scenes of inhumanity. So the Russian culture is on trial here and will be for many, many years to come.

BROWN: So what more could be done in your view to isolate Russia and hold Putin accountable for these just horrendous grotesque crimes, these war crimes against innocent civilians?

EATON: The entire world needs to repudiate all things Russian. Their ships must not land in foreign ports. Their aircraft must not land on foreign airports. Their people must be bottled up in Russia. They must be held accountable and an absolute economic diplomatic cyber isolation of Russia is what we need to do.

BROWN: I do want to ask you, though, what would you say to the argument that the Russian people in large part there, you know, being brainwashed by the propaganda there and so forth and that they shouldn't be punished, that Putin is the one where the focus should be? What do you say to that argument?

EATON: We have lived this before during World War II and we have held accountable the entire German population, the entire Japanese population for their deprivations during World War II. We have allowed those countries to recover. We have allowed those countries to rejoin the league of civilized nations but it was a long path for them. There was atonement by them and I believe that that is what we're looking at right now to see happen to the Russian people.

BROWN: All right. General Paul Eaton, thank you for your time tonight.

EATON: Thank you very much, Pamela.

BROWN: So what should Ukraine's next steps be after alleged Russian atrocities near the capital? I'll talk to the former deputy prime minister of Ukraine just ahead. He has actually met face-to-face with Putin so you're going to want to stick around for that discussion.

Plus, a mass shooting in California's capital city. Six people killed and 12 wounded. Tonight, police ask for the public's help to find the shooter.

And Chicago wants to make it a little easier to afford the sky-high cost of gas so what is the city's plan? Gas cards. I'll talk to Mayor Lori Lightfoot about it, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:11]

BROWN: As gas prices around the country remain sky high, some cities are coming up with creative ways to bring relief to drivers. In Chicago where the average cost is almost $5 a gallon, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is unveiling a plan to give thousands of residents prepaid gas gasoline cards.

Now the city says the cards would be worth $150 each and given randomly to about 50,000 people. To be eligible, recipients would have to live in Chicago and earn less than 140 percent of the city's median income.

Mayor Lightfoot joins us now. Hi, Mayor. Thank you for coming on the show.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO: It's my pleasure.

BROWN: So let's talk about this plan. As you well know critics of it say it would just be easier to reduce Chicago's 8 cents per gallon gas tax, why do you think this is a better approach?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, our percentage of the gas tax is actually just 3 cents. And we believe that this is a more effective way and to have real impact, we're going to be rolling this out over the successive spring and summer months. You know that traditionally gas prices go up in the summer as more people drive. And we're going to be able to reach about 150,000 people, 50,000 with the gas card, and then we're going to provide some discounts on public transportation, as well.

BROWN: Would you look at also amending the gas tax?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, that's something that's going to be done at the state level. But we think that this is a way to immediately impact people.

Look, I'm old enough to remember when a regular gallon of gas was under a buck, and now when we see prices that are $5, $6, we knew that we had to get some immediate relief to our residents. Not wait for state legislation and put money in the pockets of drivers right away.

[20:20:06]

BROWN: So you're right, I mean, the average cost as of right now at last check there in Chicago is $4.80. So that means a driver could fill up roughly two or three times with one of these cards. Additionally 50,000 gas cards only covers around 5 percent of Chicago households. So is this really meaningful relief?

LIGHTFOOT: I think it will be meaningful for relief for the people we're able to help. We obviously can't reach every single driver but for those who really are struggling to fill up their tanks, to get to work, to get to school, and just, you know, run their ordinary errands. This is going to be a big help and boost for them. BROWN: And if you would just tell our viewers a little bit more about

the city is going to be paying for this.

LIGHTFOOT: Right. This is coming out of our corporate dollars and, you know, we found the money. It's going to cost us about $12.5 million in total and we think this is well worth the investment in our residents who are really struggling with these very high gas prices.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, people all across the country are struggling with it for sure. I want to talk about something else and that is crime data. You know, after seeing the most violent years since the 1990s new crime data from Chicago shows shootings and homicides are down significantly in the city and analysis from the "Chicago Sun-Times" found that the drop in shootings has been the greatest in 15 of the city's most violent areas that have been targeted by your administration.

If this trend holds, what is your takeaway from this success? What do you think is behind this?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, look, we are grateful that our first quarter ended with homicides down, shootings are down and carjackings down. We're not doing a victory lap. The year is young. We got more work to do. I think that it's attributable to the number of different things, not the least of which is a real focus on gangs and guns, and intervening their partnership with the federal government.

We just announced with the attorney general of the U.S., Merrick Garland, on Friday a gun trafficking case that the federal authorities are prosecuting. Dangerous guns that were being sold and then ended up on the streets of Chicago. So we are relentless in our focus on driving down the number of shootings and homicides and carjackings, but we're also relentless in making sure that we're making necessary investments for the long term.

We know after many decades of just throwing law enforcement at a problem, we've got to deal with the violent dangerous people for sure and we can't just invest our way out of this problem. We've got to also invest our way. And we're investing in our youth, in people, in places and ways that are going to be meaningful for the long term.

BROWN: And I know you said, you made very clear you don't want to take a victory lap by any means. But, you know, we're heading into the summer. That is obviously as you well know when crime tends to rise. Do you think that this trend will hold?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, we're certainly going to do everything we can to make sure that it does. We started planning for the summer last year. We never really stopped. We looked hard at ourselves after 2021 where we ended up in a place that no one wanted to be in, and so we implemented new strategies. We put more resources into our patrol division, into our detectives and homicide resolution.

We solved more homicides in 2021 than we had in the previous 19 years but we also have done more to be in partnership with the community because they have got a stake in also bringing peace to their box and neighborhoods, and more that we're doing this year, so we're cautiously optimistic but we've got a long way to go.

BROWN: I want to ask you about refugees, Ukrainian refugees before we let you go. The Biden administration says the U.S. will take in up to 100,000 of them. You have said you would welcome many of them to Chicago. So what can tell us about how the city is preparing and what you've seen so far?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, we've got an incredibly strong group of folks who are involved in refugee resettlement. We -- a number of organizations with the city's assistance settle Afghan refugees who are here. And we've started to see a trickle of Ukrainians start to come. Ukrainians have been living in Chicago since the 1880s so we've got a big vibrant Ukrainian community. A lot of other Eastern Europeans, the Poles, in particular, have been fantastic.

So we are ready to make sure that we provide the support once we see that the administration is starting to relocate people to the United States. But we absolutely will welcome them, support them, and make sure that their transition here in the United States is as smooth as possible and we got plenty of people on the ground that are themselves of Ukrainian heritage or Ukrainian immigrants that already live here in the city of Chicago so we're ready.

[20:25:11]

BROWN: All right. I got to ask you before we let you go. We're less than a year away from the Chicago's mayoral election. Will you run again in 2023?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, look, I've not made any formal announcement now. But I'm interested in making sure that we keep the progress going. We've done a tremendous amount of work in the city, make great progress and bringing equity and inclusion to all of our neighborhoods. Our economy is absolutely booming and like any good gardener, we planted the seeds and I want to be around to reap the harvest along with the many people across our city who've done the yeoman's work in the last three years. So stay tuned.

BROWN: That sounds like a yes to me. Is that a yes?

LIGHTFOOT: So stay tuned.

BROWN: All right. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, thank you.

LIGHTFOOT: Pleasure.

BROWN: People around the world are expressing shock and outrage over images of dead civilians in a mass grave right outside of Kyiv. Up next, a former Ukrainian deputy prime minister will be here to weigh in. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:43]

BROWN: The horrific images of dead civilians in Bucha have drawn international condemnation. Leaders in the West like Secretary of State Blinken are calling for war crimes investigation. While the Russian Defense Ministry has called the footage, quote, "fake."

Oleh Rybachuk is here with me now. He is the former deputy prime minister of Ukraine for European Integration and co-founder of the Center for United Action.

Thanks for joining us again. You were here a few weeks ago and since then, obviously, there has been a lot of just horrible atrocities that have happened including what we are seeing in Bucha, these images coming in. What was your reaction when you first saw these images of these civilian civilians seemingly killed execution style?

OLEH RYBACHUK, FORMER UKRAINIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: There are no distant words to describe. You are filled with rage. It's incomprehensible. But what I thought of because there is certain symbolism. Bucha, you remember that President Biden called Putin a butcher. It sounds almost the same because it has different meaning but it just proved to what extent President Biden was correct, to what extent those who were calling Putin just a senseless maniac killer, butcher.

They have been right. And the worst thing here is that this is just the beginning of the story. One of your experts just said that when more towns and cities will be liberated, we'll be witnessing much bigger scale of atrocities done by Russia. So my inner question mark is how somebody can remain neutral in this? I'm referring to elections in Hungary, for example. I am referring to E.U. response. Is this enough to understand that this madness must be stopped? It can't be stopped by words. It can be stopped only by sheer force.

BROWN: Yes, because ongoing attacks on these civilians are going to continue to add pressure, right, on the U.S. and on NATO to get more involved in Ukraine, do more. You heard former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking to NBC this morning about what else needs to be done. So let's listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Now is the time to double down on the pressure. I think we are really looking at this with our eyes wide open, and seeing very clearly the threat that he poses, not just to Ukraine, as we can watch every night on our news. But really to Europe, to democracy, and the global stability that we thought we were building in the last 20 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So what does doubling down on pressure on Putin look like? I mean, again, for our viewers, you have actually sat face-to-face with Putin. What do you think that looks like?

RYBACHUK: Even that time when he was not just complete mad, he was presenting himself as normal person who spent some life in Germany. He was trying to convince people that he a European type of leadership. He would like to serve his term and then retire, enjoy life with other ex-leaders of the European Union. That was the message I was getting from his close friends.

He was -- at that meeting he was relaxed. We chatted like we're chatting with you. Quite easily. Until I raised the issue of origin of Maidan, of Orange Revolution. When I only tried to explain to him why because I was right there in the middle, he has frozen. You know, his face was frozen. His eyes were ready to kill me and he said immediately, he cut me short. Like he -- the change was amazing.

You see a relaxed person who is talking about business cracking jokes and then right as soon as you touch the nature of Orange Revolution, I was honestly believing, I wanted to explain to him.

[20:35:04]

The reaction was unbelievable. He cut me short and said, come on, you're a smart guy. Let's cut the bullshit. You're a smart guy. I know. I know who financed. How trained, I know about what Americans did, what Soros did, what Europeans did. I know that this is a special operation against Russia. And after that all the atmosphere was ruined. I couldn't feel that kind of relaxed --

BROWN: Right.

RYBACHUK: Atmosphere to talk. The guy completely changed. And I emphasize, that was autumn 2006. After that he lived through Maidan 2014 when he was again humiliated. And now he's absolutely crazy. This is confirmed by people who saw him more than me. Condoleezza Rice and Macron says that three years ago Putin was very different person.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, there has been a lot of speculation, right, about his mindset. I've heard different theories from different people. Some say, you know, he's very different now. He's acting irrational. Others say no, what he's doing right now is right out of Putin's playbook.

But you actually had that face-to-face interaction with him. And I'm wondering, given what you know just from your interaction with him and given what we know now, whether you think there could actually be diplomatic talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. There are talks about that as you well know.

RYBACHUK: You are touching right -- you're a dentist touching the nerve of my tooth because this is something I don't understand. Honestly. I don't understand the sense of seeing Putin now specifically after Bucha. Let's imagine I am Zelenskyy. What do I do when I meet Putin? Shake his hand? I sit with him in the same room. I sign something with this butcher. It's uncomprehensible.

And what is the purpose? How you can trust a single word, a single vowel of that person who is lying every minute as you talk to him, who was meeting President Biden, who was meeting Chancellor Scholz, who was meeting Macron dozens of time telling the whole world that he's not going to attack? What's the point? Because the logic should be that this madness must be stopped.

Zelenskyy is saying yes, without getting Putin involved, we cannot do that but Putin must be forced, he must be forced not diplomatically talked into the deal because this is -- this will not be sustainable ceasefire. If Putin sees that he can get away from this situation, after all those atrocities, the danger is imminent. Therefore, all these talks with Zelenskyy raises about guarantees of practical importance now.

That means Zelenskyy cannot sit alone across with Putin without reaching prior understanding of democratic countries emphasized because I don't know how to call Hungary if Hungary elects or won again because that is close aide to Putin.

BROWN: Right.

RYBACHUK: In everything and his member of the E.U. and member of NATO. I mean, it's not only about them. About German position. French position. Many European countries, members of NATO, are now sending very confused signals so they cannot actually be taking guarantees. But the U.S. can. The only country which can really prove that they are with us 100 percent with us, is U.S.

And that may happen only when U.S. will very clearly say that in case of another aggression of Russia, U.S. is prepared to defend Ukraine with all its force. This is up to American politicians, up to Senate. I think that American voters will understand that, but we will see it. But I know without U.S. leadership, we'll get nowhere.

BROWN: OK.

RYBACHUK: The Putin get a break and then he would attack with more vigor and then probably he will go into other countries, not only Ukraine.

BROWN: All right. Dentist hitting a nerve on a tooth. That's quite the analogy.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Thank you so much, Oleh. Really great to have you back. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:44:03]

BROWN: Florida's governor signed into law the Parental Rights and Education Bill last week. Critics call it the "Don't Say Gay" law and claim it will damage LGBTQ students, teachers and parents.

CNN's Leyla Santiago talked to some families who are facing the challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JEFF DELMAY, FLORIDA PARENT: Oh, my gosh, haven't seen it in a long time. Like oh, wow, this is my marriage certificate. That's right, I'm married. LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This piece of paper

marks a moment in history. Todd and Jeff Delmay were among the first same-sex couples to marry in Florida when it became legal seven years ago. They had to fight for marriage equality and had to fight to adopt their son, Blake.

TODD DELMAY, FLORIDA PARENT: There have been times in history when we have fought for a new right, and fought for something. And there was a joy in expanding rights and access. And here we are fighting something where they're trying to take it away.

SANTIAGO: The fight today, a new law in Florida officially titled Parental Rights in Education, what critics call the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

[20:45:01]

The new law limits how schools can address sexuality and gender particularly among the youngest students. The Delmays now fear their son may not be able to talk about his two dads in the classroom.

J. DELMAY: There's some anxiety about it. You know, Blake actually asked me, maybe even yesterday, you know, what does that mean?

SANTIAGO: At the dinner table of the Conde-Parlato home, they've been having many of the same conversations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, papi.

EDDIE CONDE-PARLATO, FLORIDA PARENT: I feel like it's, well, yes, you can adopt these children, but like keep your business at home.

SANTIAGO (on-camera): Have you guys had that conversation as a family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SANTIAGO: And what's that like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of like sad.

HERB CONDE-PARLATO, FLORIDA PARENT: Come for me and him, don't come for my son. Don't make my son feel uncomfortable at school.

J. DELMAY: It feels like someone is really just trying to, again, push you aside, push you and push you back to slowly back into a closet, back into a corner because of, quote-unquote, "parental rights."

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: We insist that parents have a right to be involved.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): Surrounded by supporters advocating parents' rights, Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law at a Florida charter school on Monday.

T. DELMAY: They are using children as a prop to say that we need to stop something that in most cases isn't happening.

SANTIAGO: But for one mom who spoke at the governor's press conference.

JANUARY LITTLEJOHN, FLORIDA PARENT: We learned the middle school had created a transgender nonconforming support plan with our 13-year-old daughter without our knowledge or consent.

SANTIAGO: And while the governor's supporters considered this a win, LGBTQ advocates say it's not over yet and are now taking this to court.

(On camera): You had to fight to get married. You had to fight to adopt your son. You're fighting this now. You think you'll ever stop fighting?

J. DELMAY: Well, I hope so. I hope so. Hope we get to a point where we feel like we can stop. It doesn't look like in the foreseeable future that we have that luxury.

BROWN: Our thanks to Leyla Santiago. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:51:32]

BROWN: As families flee the increasingly dangerous conditions in Ukraine, some are finding refuge in places they never imagined.

CNN's Randi Kaye has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IRYNA TIMOSHENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: I realized something happened because at 5:30 maybe a.m. that the neighbors they call me and ask, Iryna, did you hear something?

RANDI KAYE, CNN JOURNALIST (voice over): Iryna Timoshenko was on a business trip last month in Lviv, Ukraine near the Polish border when Russia started bombing her country. Her husband and their three children were hundreds of miles away at the family's home outside Kyiv.

TIMOSHENKO: I just asked my husband to bring the kids to me.

KAYE: Iryna and her husband Oleksandr devised a plan. He would drive them through the night about seven hours one way to meet her in Lviv.

(On-camera): So, as your husband drove toward Lviv, you were able to track him on your phone?

TIMOSHENKO: In WhatsApp, it's the one option, share your location. And I can online check where he is. Because you know it was like a hardest hours when you realize that all your family, your husband and your kids, driving and it can bomb in and it can be anything. KAYE (voice-over): When the family reunited, Iryna thought her husband

wasn't able to cross the border since men of a certain age were being told to stay and help defend Ukraine. So Iryna and her kids ages 3, 7 and 9, boarded a train to Poland. Meanwhile, around the same time, half a world away, this man Philip Bradford, was watching the Russian siege on TV at his Florida home.

Phillip's mother was Croatian and his wife's stepmother was from Ukraine. So he felt the urge to help.

PHILIP BRADFORD, OPENED HOME TO TIMOSHENKO FAMILY: I heard my wife and my mother, and my step mother-in-law, my mother-in-law, telling me get off of my dupa which is rear end and go do something.

KAYE: Just a few minutes away from Philip's home in Cooper City is St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

BRADFORD: I went to the church. And I gave them a couple of $100 thinking I've done my good deed like a Boy Scout might. And I said if I can help more, let me know.

KAYE: It turns out, there was more, a lot more. Iryna had made her way to Miami with her kids. She visited that same Ukrainian church last year. So, when she went back and shared her struggle, a church volunteer called on Philip to help.

BRADFORD: I was told about this mother with three children from Ukraine.

TIMOSHENKO: And he said, yes, I want to help. I have the big house. I want to give you the place to stay for your kids, you will have the separate room for all of them.

KAYE: Philip's wife has been in a nursing home for the last four years. So he's been living alone. Not anymore. Iryna and her kids moved right in.

BRADFORD: I'm almost 80, so it's like having grandkids running around again.

KAYE (on-camera): How do you feel about a stranger opening up his home to your family?

TIMOSHENKO: You know, I was shocked. And now we are like one family all together.

KAYE (voice-over): Philip even insisted Iryna take the kids to Disney World, his treat.

(On-camera): You sent them to Disney.

BRADFORD: Oh, she told you about that?

KAYE: We know all your secrets.

BRADFORD: That's what grandfathers do I guess. KAYE (voice-over): Meanwhile, soon after Iryna left Ukraine, she found

out men who had three or more children were allowed to leave the country.

[20:55:05]

So a few days ago, this happened.

Upon his arrival, as a gesture of thanks, Iryna's husband who will also live with Phillip brought him this bracelet in the same colors as the Ukrainian flag.

(On-camera): What does that bracelet mean to you?

BRADFORD: Well, it kind of makes me one of them in a sense. Yes.

KAYE: Bonded.

BRADFORD: Yes. Right.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Cooper City, Florida. I just asked my husband to bring the kids to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A CNN crew in Ukraine today saw the firsthand the aftermath of Russian occupation, a mass grave right outside Kyiv, and this comes just one day after photos showed the bodies of civilians in the street. We'll have the very latest up next.

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