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Recently Released Female Soldiers Tortured by Russians; Red Cross Convoy Rescues 500 from Mariupol; Oklahoma Legislature Passes Near-Total Ban on Abortion. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired April 06, 2022 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DANYLYUK: Well, my position is the following. If Russia will exist as it is, with its current leadership, there is no end to the war. Even if we free up all our territory, Russian will find way to come back, either to Ukraine or come back to Belorussia or looking for other enemies in the region.
It is a wounded wolf, right?
The Russians' regime needs to change. That's the end of the war. And the regime is going -- you know, it only could be changed in Moscow. It could be result of the -- for example, if Russia is totally defeated in Ukraine, entirely, that could lead to the regime, a change of regime in Moscow.
If it is not sufficient, then, yes, Ukraine will have to go and to move to the Russian territory because we are -- we -- our role is to protect our future. And if it means that we need to finish this enemy, you know, we'll, in their territory, that's what we will have to do.
However, unlike -- you know, I'm told that, look at the moment. But the closer we are to the next phases of the war, that I think everybody will recognize, that there could be no sustainable peace agreement until the Russian regime is changed.
SCIUTTO: Oleksandr Danylyuk, we appreciate you joining us this morning.
DANYLYUK: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And Jim, that is a point I keep hearing time and time again, that, regardless if whether or not there will be a cease-fire, as long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Ukraine is not safe as a nation. And he just reiterated that. SCIUTTO: You can understand the skepticism, given that Putin made agreements before. Russia has, if you go back to the Budapest agreement, when Ukraine first got its independence but also even the Minsk accords, repeatedly violated. And so that track record creates understandable fears from Ukrainians.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, listen to what he said, time and time again, he said Ukraine is not a real country. So there you have it.
Up ahead, terrifying new details about the horrors women prisoners of war face while in Russian captivity. A live report up next.
And we're just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Stock futures are down, as investors watch more Western sanctions on Russia. They're also keeping an eye on whether the Federal Reserve is going to move aggressively to raise interest rates.
Minutes from their meeting will be released this afternoon. U.S. oil prices are also up again, slightly, at nearly $103 per barrel.
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[09:35:00]
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SCIUTTO: We're learning more now from Ukrainian prisons of war, who were part of the conflict's largest prisoner swap so far and some of their stories are alarming; 86 soldiers returned to Ukraine Friday following negotiations just last week.
GOLODRYGA: Among them, 15 women, who officials now say were subjected to torture and ill treatment. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.
Barbara, what are the women saying?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, by all accounts from Ukraine authorities, these women were taken first into Belarus and then on into Russia; now released and we're seeing those pictures of them being reunited with loved ones, friends, family, in Ukraine.
But look at them. All the indications are, according to Ukraine authorities, that the women were ill treated and tortured, as you said. And some of the things they endured were -- and I'm quoting Ukraine authorities -- they were forced to shave their heads, stripped naked, squat in front of men, take part in Russia propaganda films.
The Ukrainians are calling this a violation of the Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners.
This is so difficult to look at. I think you just can't say it often enough. These women, as thousands, millions of Ukrainians two months ago, were living their lives and now this -- Bianna. SCIUTTO: It's heartbreaking to see and another example of how Russian forces behave in war. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you so much.
STARR: Sure.
SCIUTTO: Coming up next, the refugee crisis in Ukraine. Millions remain displaced. There is now critical effort to get some of the most vulnerable out of the country. We're going to speak to a woman who is leading that charge. That's just ahead.
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GOLODRYGA: Today, a Red Cross convoy, carrying more than 500 civilians fleeing Mariupol, arrived in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya. It is one of 11 humanitarian corridors that Ukraine is trying to use today to get people to safety.
SCIUTTO: CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz is near the Polish-Ukrainian border, which has seen the largest influx of refugees.
So what happens now when people arrive there?
Big question throughout all this is, how long does the hospitality, the warm welcome remain in those neighboring countries?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim and Bianna, 11 humanitarian corridors are opening today. And it is going to take a few more days but oftentimes those families in the most affected areas wind up here at this train station right on the Polish border.
And essentially what you've ended up with is a population of 2.5 million nomadic refugees. That number is expected to rise up to 3 million by the end of the month. I want to give you a sense of that.
If you look behind me here, there is a line of people. Many of them are Ukrainian refugees, who have been here a couple of weeks, now trying to find the next city they're going to go to. They may have spent a day on the border, then they'll find a spare room somewhere in Warsaw. They don't have a plan is my point.
You can ask them that. I've been speaking to some of them. They told me, I don't know; we'll figure out where the next train ticket will take us. Just one more indication of how nomadic these refugees are and how much they are touch and go here.
This sign offering free space, one to five nights, free beds, food clothes. That is about more future planning than many of these families have. Yes, you have this huge population, this huge amount of support. [09:45:00]
ABDELAZIZ: But people are just moving night to night, trying to figure out where they go next.
GOLODRYGA: Some just carrying a bag with them, that's it, not knowing if they'll ever be reunited with their families in Ukraine. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.
I want to bring in Yuliia Sachuk, the director of Fight for Right, a Ukrainian nonprofit, helping people with disabilities escape Ukraine.
Yulia, thank you so much. And let me start by thanking you for all the work that you are doing for Ukraine's at least 2.7 million people with disabilities there. I know your organization, your team, Fight for Right, consists of 40 volunteers. Thus far you've been able to get 500 Ukrainians with disabilities out to safety.
Can you tell us some of their stories?
YULIIA SACHUK, FIGHT FOR RIGHT: Their stories are different. And -- but the common thing is that all those people are left behind from the beginning of war. And humanitarian international missions lost this aspect of disability in their emergency response.
Stories are quite different, of blind people, deaf people, people who use wheelchairs or, for example, the relatives, who now abroad (ph) but they're looking for chances how to survive their elderly parents or relatives in Ukraine.
And for us it is really important to give these people all of us, because this is our community, a chance and believe that their lives are valuable. And they have to ask support and they receive such support because, as I said before, humanitarian support of international and national institutions are left behind people with disabilities.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, and it is really interesting; as I was reading up on the plight of Ukrainians with disabilities, there is internal confusion and disarray -- obviously to be expected during war, where many men with disabilities, who are trying to leave the country, are being held there against their will or at least questioned, because, obviously men in that country between the ages of 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave.
How difficult has that process been for some of these men to finally reach safety?
SACHUK: This process was very difficult and we worked on improvement our legislation from the beginning, because of a lot of gaps regarding men, who has -- have disability but don't have official status, for example, or who have IJV (ph) and don't have official status of disability.
We try to work with our national authorities and we ask of international community about that support and in our aspects. But remains simple (ph) that this, we are all doing as a community of people, this disability. So our surviving is on our hands.
And in the same time we see really a lot of gaps in existing international instruments regarding emergencies response.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, of course. Thankfully, as we see you have managed to leave Ukraine and you are safe in Europe -- you escaped with your son but your husband and your parents remain there.
How concerned are you about their safety?
And how often are you in touch with them?
SACHUK: We are in touch every day. We are trying to be in touch. But yes, it is difficult now, because the situation is changeable. And one day I can receive text messages from my husband. And, yes, it is quite difficult, as for all the Ukrainians now.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, I can imagine, difficult for you, for your son and all of the millions of Ukrainians that have been separated from loved ones now. Such an important point to tell the story of the nearly 3 million Ukrainians, living with disabilities, now trying to flee the country to safety as well. Yuliia Sachuk, thank you so much for caring for them.
SACHUK: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Coming up next, another U.S. state taking aim at abortion access. A look at the future of Oklahoma's bill, banning nearly all abortions now.
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[09:50:00]
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SCIUTTO: Later today the Biden administration is expected to again extend the pause on federal student loan payments. That would push the expiration from May 1st to August 31st.
Most borrowers with federal student loans have not had to make any payments since March 2020, when then president Donald Trump first announced the pandemic relief benefit.
This will be the fourth time the Biden administration will have moved the payment restart date.
GOLODRYGA: And FDA vaccine advisers are discussing the future of COVID-19 shots, whether it will be an annual dose like the flu shot and how they'll choose boosters for a specific variant. They may need additional booster shots for the general public to be given in the fall.
SCIUTTO: Oklahoma lawmakers just passed what could be one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation.
[09:55:00]
SCIUTTO: It makes abortion or attempted abortion a felony, except in the case of medical emergencies. There are no exceptions even for rape or incest. The bill's effects would be devastating for Oklahomans and Texans, who have been seeking abortions there, since Texas' own restrictive abortion law passed last year.
The bill is now being passed to a Republican governor's desk.
GOLODRYGA: Just moments from now, the U.S. attorney general and the FBI director will hold a joint news conference to announce details of an international effort to prosecute Russian criminal activity. We'll bring it to you live.
