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Russia's War on Ukraine; Odessa Curfew Begins Tonight Amid Threat of Russian Missile Strikes; CNN Gets Access to Chernobyl after Russian Troops Leave; Donald Trump Jr. Texted Meadows Ideas for Overturning 2020 Election Before It Was Called; Gridiron Club: 53 Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 after D.C. Dinner; Ukrainian Railways Has Evacuated 3.5 m People; Will Smith Banned from Academy Events for the Next 10 Years. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 09, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:07]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're watching breaking news unfolding in Ukraine.

A stunning show of solidarity. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveling for a surprise meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. The two reportedly discussing a new package of financial and military aid for Ukraine.

And it comes as Ukrainian officials brace for a suspected major offensive by Russian forces in the east, heavy shelling already under way in the eastern city of Kharkiv, much of the city decimated.

And efforts are under way to evacuate civilians ahead of any heavy fighting. Today ten new humanitarian corridors are opening. And we're getting our first horrific images from the aftermath of a Russian strike on a train station in Kramatorsk on Friday.

A warning: some of the video is disturbing to watch. But we feel it is important to show you exactly what's happening to civilians there.

The Russian strike killed at least 50 people, including five children. Almost 100 others were wounded in the blast, all attempting to escape the carnage.

As Russian forces withdraw from northern Ukraine we're getting a clearer picture of the devastation. New video from Chernihiv, in a city of 300,000 people, showing utter destruction all waged by Russian -- Russia rather, in an unsuccessful attempt to capture that city.

And fears mounting that Russia may be getting desperate to seek victory by any means necessary. One European official now saying a quarter of Russia's forces are effectively inoperable following heavy losses and poor planning. Let's begin our coverage now in Odessa, Ukraine. That's where CNN's Ed

Lavandera is. So Ed, officials say, there was an explosion there earlier today and a curfew is set to begin soon. What else is happening?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello Fredricka. Well, it's been a rather active 36 hours here in Odessa as you mentioned. One explosion happening on the southern edge of town. Officials here say that there were no injuries. That there's no reason to panic and everything in that situation is under control.

Yesterday we experienced more severe rounds of attacks in the overnight hours. There were three missile strikes on a military facility. Ukrainian officials say several people were killed and wounded in that strike.

And then there was a daytime strike that resulted in, we're told, no injuries. Russian military officials are saying that the initial strike at the military facility was targeting Russian foreign fighters here in Ukraine, but we tried to get as close as we could to that scene yesterday.

And many of the residents there were skeptical of that claim saying, you know, this is a -- military facility that's been used for decades, dating back to the 1970s Soviet era.

But all of these attacks kind of coming ahead of what is a rather kind of strikingly different approach to the curfew here in this city, starting at 9:00 local time, there will be a full-on curfew in place, even during daylight hours until Monday morning.

And this coincides with April 10th which is a major city holiday here in Odessa, the Odessa Liberation Day, when the city celebrates its liberation from the Nazis back during the World War II era.

But officials here are saying that the curfew is connected to the strike at the train station where you had so many civilians gathered and that in light of that, that's why they wanted to implement this basically a 36-hour curfew here in the city, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then what about in Kharkiv, where officials are bracing for this increased Russian onslaught?

LAVANDERA: Right. A very volatile and continuing dangerous situation there in the northeastern part of the country. Regional military officials saying that there has been about 50 different strikes from artillery, mortars, tanks and multiple rocket launches into that area. 15 people injured.

But this is significant because Ukrainian officials and military officials are saying that they believe that this is an area where the Russian forces are regathering and are going to make a major offensive push into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

And that is why that battle there in Kharkiv will be so significant, to be able to slow that move down by the Ukrainians. And that's why they're paying so much close attention to that particular -- those particular battles and the fighting in that area.

WHITFIELD: And what about these new humanitarian corridors that are going to be opening up? I mean, we've seen already that these aren't always safe spaces for people. So how are they approaching the idea?

[11:04:55]

LAVANDERA: Yes. No, far from safe, fully safe, and all extremely volatile. And because of the strike at the train station yesterday, there are adjustments being made to these routes. But even on the best of days, these are still dangerous corridors.

You know, there are still tens of thousands of people trying to evacuate from Mariupol, for example, and the only way out right now is a corridor that takes you to a city which I believe is 30 to 40 kilometers away and you have to do that in your own vehicle.

So there are no red cross buses reaching that city to ensure safety for many people trying to evacuate. And as we saw yesterday, evacuating is not simple. And that is the message that is being sent to tens of thousands of civilians in eastern Ukraine, especially in some of these areas that are -- that is beginning to experience renewed fighting, that they're urging people to evacuate and seek safer places and safe passage to other parts of the country, if not out of the country.

WHITFIELD: Are we hearing anything more about that train station attack? We know 50 people killed, five of them were children. What more do we know about the experiences that people had?

LAVANDERA: Well, we were told by managers there at the train station that the area that was targeted was a waiting area for people coming to that train station.

And to give you a sense of, you know, we've talked a lot about how this particular train station in particular was a lifeline and an important conduit for civilians there to get out of that region, the management there of that train station says that on any given day, recently, they could expect to have about 8,000 people per day traveling through that station.

And at the time of the attack yesterday, there were 4,000 people there. So that really gives you a sense of just how vital these train stations are for many people who are feeling so desperate right now.

WHITFIELD: So sad.

All right. Ed Lavandera, be safe. Thank you so much.

All right. Let's get some analysis now from "Spider" Marks. He's a retired major general in the U.S. Army and CNN military analyst. So good to see you.

So this -- there was an explosion heard earlier today in the Odessa region. Is this the start of what could be the larger offensive by Russia? MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, that

by itself, would not be a significant indicator of the beginning of a -- of the Odessa surge. I mean there's been so much fighting that's been ongoing in that entire region for the last six weeks.

What you would really want to see from the Russians would be naval gunfire from the Black Sea providing what's called shaping fires going against specific targets and what the Russians have been doing as we've been seeing all along is really going after these civilian targets, stationary targets -- the hospitals, the schools. I mean it's total criminal activity.

So you would see a continuation of that, primarily from the Black Sea. You would also see forces that have been able to maneuver from the Donbas region in the vicinity of Odessa that can provide some long- range fires, surface-to-surface missiles like the BM21 that we've seen used a bunch and additional artillery fire. So all of that is the initial stage of what we would see would be a siege against Odessa.

WHITFIELD: And so when you try to evaluate what the strategy is here, by taking out, you know, civilians in what would seem to be safe spaces or these soft target areas, what is the message that Russia is trying to send? I mean, besides intimidation to its civilians, but it's not seemingly targeting what military presence Ukraine has.

So what is the overarching goal here? Just annihilation, or is there something else to be gleaned from this kind of strategy?

MARKS: Yes. What you're describing clearly is a battle of annihilation. You've described it, Fred.

The strategy is to subjugate Ukraine. That's the strategy. The tactics that they're using are these indiscriminate dumb weapon systems, artillery and rockets that are not guided and they're going against civilian targets primarily because as we've seen when the Ukrainians engage with Russian forces, the Russian forces get slaughtered.

They're poorly led. They don't know what they're doing. They have been exposed for being inept, but they have modern equipment and got a lot of folks. So they back off from those kinds of engagements and they take on these long-range fires.

They're not going to (INAUDIBLE) any close fights with the Ukrainians. They don't want to. So they're going to the Donbas. They're shifting forces to the Donbas region where a lot of Ukrainian forces do not exist right now. Yet they will maneuver, Ukrainians will maneuver into those locations.

[11:09:58]

MARKS: And I guarantee you, we'll probably see a repeat of what we've seen in the vicinity of Kyiv where the Russian forces are going to levy a bunch of power. So they've got a bunch of tanks but so do the Ukrainians and we're going to see the Ukrainians in a home game. This is their territory. They understand it better than anyone else and do quite well. WHITFIELD: To that point of the, I guess, Russian vulnerability at this point, we heard from a European official who said about a quarter of Russian forces are now effectively inoperable.

And we've seen reports that Russia was starting to recruit upwards of like 60,000 troops. So what is this -- you know, effectively inoperability mean in terms of, you know, their arsenal destroyed? Their, you know, personnel killed? Or is it some other way they're suspended?

MARKS: Yes, what you see is the readiness of these Russian forces has really been degraded by the Ukrainians. It's quite phenomenal. Ukrainians have also taken a lot of that Russian equipment that they've captured. They're now using it against the Russians.

The additional soldiers that Russia wants to recruit, bring into the force and then try to deploy into Ukraine, that's going to have zero impact on the immediate battles. I mean these will be raw recruits --

WHITFIELD: That's long term.

MARKS: Yes. Absolutely. It's a longer term engagement. But they haven't fixed the primary problem which their inept leadership from top to bottom. These guys have been described as totally upside and naked. They're horrible.

And so that's good news for everybody. And the Ukrainians are taking advantage of that. What the Russians do have is numbers and they have equipment.

WHITFIELD: Yes and something tells me recruit really in country for Russia, that really means, you know, drafted. You're not going to have a choice. You're going to be --

MARKS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

MARKS: That's right, Fred. You're conscript and you're brought in. You're told, this is what --

WHITFIELD: Yes. So Russia apparently has complained to Turkey, you know, about Ukraine's use of Turkish drones, how beneficial have these drones been?

MARKS: Yes, the larger issue here, and I'll talk about the drones in just a second. The larger issue here is that Turkey has been siding up next to Russia over the course of the last decade. They bought equipment from them, they've had this buddy/buddy relationship.

And so the Russians and the Turks are kind of walking this thin line. Turkey is all in with NATO although we were concerned -- we've been concerned about them for the longest time. And these Turkish drones are quite effective and they're using those in support of Ukraine.

And so Russia feels like they've got an opportunity to complain against their buddy that they shouldn't be using these drones. Turkey needs to man up and say look, we're in this, we're all in to assure the preservation of sovereignty and as much as we can do to stop this killing that's taking place in Ukraine.

And oh, by the way, Russia, you need to back off. Everybody has been striking their individual deals with Russia. Those now need to be looked at very, very closely and terminated.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right. Retired Major General Spider Marks, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

MARKS: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Russian troops have now left the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant. CNN was given exclusive access to the plant for the first time since it came back into Ukrainian control. And what has been found is very concerning.

Here's CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Simply getting to the Chernobyl exclusion zone is a treacherous journey. Many streets and bridges destroyed. We had to go off road, crossing rivers on pontoon bridges.

Finally, we reached the confinement dome of the power plant that blew up in 1986, the worst nuclear accident ever. Russian troops invaded this area on the very first day of their war against Ukraine and took Chernobyl without much of a fight.

Now that the Russians have left, Ukraine's interior minister Denys Monastyrsky took us to Chernobyl and what we found was troubling.

The Russians imprisoned the security staff inside the plant's own bomb shelter, the interior minister told us. No natural light, no fresh air, no communications.

(on camera): So the Russians kept 169 Ukrainians prisoner here the entire time they held this place. And then when the Russians left, they looted and ransacked the place.

(voice over): Among the prisoners, police officers, national guard members, and soldiers. Ukraine's interior minister tells me the Russians have now taken them to Russia and they don't know how they're doing.

"When I arrived here, I was shocked," he says, "but only once again realized that there are no good Russians and nothing good comes of Russians. It is always a story associated with victims, with blood and with violence."

[11:15:00]

PLEITGEN: What we see here is a vivid example of outrageous behavior at a nuclear facility. While the plant's technical staff was allowed to keep working, the Ukrainians say Russian troops were lax with nuclear safety.

And as we enter the area Russian troops stayed and worked in, suddenly the dosimeter's alarm goes off, increased radiation levels.

"They went to the Red Forest and brought the radiation here on their shoes," this national guardsman said. "Everywhere else is normal. Only this floor is radioactive."

I asked "Everywhere is ok, but here is not normal?"

"Yes," he says. "The radiation is increased here because they lived here and they went everywhere."

"On their shoes and clothes," I ask? "Yes, and now they took the radiation with them."

"Let's get out of here," I say.

The so-called Red Forest is one of the most contaminated areas in the world, especially the soil. The Ukrainian government released this drone footage apparently showing that the Russians dug combat positions there. The operator of Ukraine's nuclear plants says those Russian soldiers could have been exposed to significant amounts of radiation.

We went to the edge of the Red Forest zone and found a Russian military food ration on the ground. When we hold the dosimeter close, the radiation skyrockets to around 50 times above natural levels.

Ukraine says Russia's conduct in this war is a threat to nuclear safety in Europe. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant hasn't been in operation for years, but of course, this confinement needs to be monitored 24/7, and also their spent nuclear fuel in this compound as well.

And it's not only in Chernobyl, Russian troops also fired rockets at Europe's largest nuclear power plant near Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine and are now occupying it.

Ukraine's energy minister tells me the international community must step in.

GERMAN GALUSCHENKO, UKRAINIAN ENERGY MINISTER: I think it's dramatically impacting. That is the really the act of nuclear terrorism, what they are doing.

PLEITGEN: Chernobyl is close to the Belarusian border. The Russian army used this road as one of its main routes to attack Ukraine's capital. The interior minister says his country needs more weapons to defend this border.

"Today the border between totalitarianism and democracy passes behind our backs," he says. The border between freedom and oppression. We are ready to fight for it." And the Ukrainians fear they may have to fight here again soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin replenishes his forces, continuing to put this nation and nuclear safety in Europe at risk.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, we have new details about how former President Trump's son, Don Jr., was involved in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

And later why Washington, D.C. is coping with a cluster of high- profile COVID-19 cases after a series of public events exposed high- level officials.

[11:18:01]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're learning new details about how former President Donald Trump's son Don Jr. may have been involved in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

A CNN exclusive report reveals Trump Jr. texted then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows detailing steps that he thought would ensure Donald Trump a second term in office.

CNN's Zach Cohen joining us right now. I mean Zach, this is explosive. What more did you find out?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPROTER: Yes, that's right, Fred. Our team breaking this story last night about a text exchange between Donald Trump Jr. and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that really is revealing on a number of levels.

As you can see here, Meadows -- sorry, Jr. texted Meadows on November 5th, 2020 and he's really proposing several ideas about how to overturn the 2020 election. Now, he makes clear it's very simple. Quote, "We have multiple paths, we control them all."

Now, the first thing I want to point out like I said, is the date of this text exchange, November 5th, 2020. That is two days after the presidential election before the election was certified for President Joe Biden. Meaning votes were still being tallied as Donald Trump Jr. was pushing these ideas about how to overturn the election and keep his father in power.

Now, the second thing I want to point out is the ideas themselves. This text exchange really foreshadowed what would become the Trump team's strategy over the next several weeks and months. We saw the mention of fake electors. We saw mention of filing lawsuits and audits to delay certification in certain states. And we even see a mention of January 6th being sort of the ultimate deadline for the last chance to overturn the election.

So it really mirrors what the Trump team put into action in the weeks that followed.

Now the last thing is probably pretty obviously but I want to point out who is involved. You had the son -- the oldest son of the then president and the then president's senior White House adviser exchanging these ideas and talking openly about them. Now, Donald Trump Jr.'s attorney tells us that he received numerous messages from supporters and other people, but that this -- based on the date, it looks like it was something that was forwarded along to Meadows rather than written by Don Jr. himself.

But still, you know, we've -- CNN has reported and are aware of another text that Don Jr. sent to Meadows earlier that says, quote, "This is what we need to do. Please read it and please get it to everyone that needs to see it, because I'm not sure we're doing it."

So it's -- that makes clear that Don Jr. was putting his stamp of approval on what was to come. And look, the January 6th committee has had this text message, this text exchange and it's clear that it's part of their investigation, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. It will be interesting to see how that information is folded into whether it's a DOJ investigation or congressional investigations. Zach Cohen, thank you so much for that.

[11:24:56]

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, the number of COVID cases linked to that elite Gridiron dinner in Washington, D.C. continues to grow. Why Dr. Leana Wen says outbreaks like that may be part of our new norm in living with COVID. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The U.S. Attorney General and the Commerce Secretary are among a number of high-profile positive COVID cases that have hit the nation's capital after an elite dinner event.

[11:29:51]

WHITFIELD: And now we understand there are 53 people in all who have tested positive after attending that dinner or are among those who attended the dinner. Attendees had their vaccination status checked, but negative tests were not required for entry.

With me now to discuss is Dr. Leana Wen. She is a CNN medical analyst and a former health commissioner for Baltimore.

So Dr. Wen, good to see you. This is going to be hugely -- this is hugely discouraging for a lot of people who feel like there have been multiple green lights to say it's ok now to be in large number settings, settings where there are a large number of people. And now you would have two cabinet members who would test positive after being in attendance at this dinner.

So how are people to interpret what our new norm is? How to behave from here on out, what? DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the outbreak at the

Gridiron dinner is our new normal, as in these are the cases that we know of. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't outbreaks happening all around the country at weddings, at funerals, at gatherings where they're not elites in Washington, they're not getting tested all the time. Those outbreaks are also happening.

But that doesn't mean that events should be canceled. It means that we have to accept that COVID is going to be here with us. There are ways to make events safer by requiring proof of vaccination, by also requiring same day negative testing on top of that. And that I think individuals need to choose what is best for them.

If you're vaccinated and boosted, your chance of becoming severely ill is extremely low. If you want to be even more careful on top of that, you can still choose to wear a high-quality mask while you're at the event and don't even remove it to eat or drink.

But I think it's time for us to acknowledge that we have to move on. That we have the tools to be live with COVID and we can't eradicate COVID. COVID is going to get each and every one of us unless we take extraordinary measures to avoid it. And so we need to figure out how to live with it.

WHITFIELD: Every one of us, including say the president of the United States, because the White House communications director Kate Bedingfield says, you know, it is possible that President Biden will eventually test positive.

Of course, we just saw an event, even though it was outdoors, a big event involving, you know, his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, but remember, a very similar setting was a huge super spreader event during the Trump administration.

Granted, you know, COVID was at a different place but should the expectation be that no matter what, whether you're the president of the United States or any one of us, that you're likely to be hit in some way by COVID? Test positive?

DR. WEN: Well, first -- right, so Fred, I do want to first distinguish between the Rose Garden ceremony with President Trump back in 2020, that was September 26th, I believe of 2020, before vaccines were widely available.

And so it's a totally different situation now that we have. I think it's very reasonable for the president or anyone to be holding events outdoors and indoors because we have vaccines that are available, as well as treatments and testing and masks and things that were not widely available back in 2020.

But yes, it is only a matter of time before President Biden, Vice President Harris and basically all of us get COVID. I would not be surprised if President Biden comes down with COVID in the coming days and weeks and that's because of how prevalent COVID is.

When you look at the surge, the omicron surge, 50 percent of Americans got omicron. And so we have to prepare for when that happens.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Congress left for a two-week recess without passing a massive COVID relief package. How might this impact future, you know, COVID surges, the availability of vaccines, boosters?

DR. WEN: Part of accepting that COVID is here with us is also making sure that we have the funding to get the tools that we need. We now have Paxlovid, the antiviral pill that reduces the chance of severe illness by 90 percent. What a tragedy it would be if we can't purchase this pill for people who get ill.

We also have Evusheld, the preventive antibody for people who are severely immunocompromised. Why are we leaving them behind if we can't even purchase the amount that's needed for every person who is severely immunocompromised in this country.

Second boosters, we need to have the funding to purchase them. But right now, the administration is saying they don't have the money to purchase second boosters for all Americans.

And so what a tragedy if Congress has not yet learned our lesson, that the time to prepare is now, during this relative lull, not when there is a true crisis on our hands.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Dr. Leana Wen, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

All right. Coming up, nearly 4.5 million Ukrainians have left their country since the beginning of Russia's invasion. And the trip could become even more dangerous. We'll be live from Poland's border with Ukraine next.

[11:34:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An official with the Ukrainian State Railway Enterprise says they have evacuated 3.5 million people since the Russian invasion began. And they say most of the refugees come from Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbas.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is back with me now live in Poland. So Salma, tell me more about all of the measure that Poland is helping to carry out, to assist all of these refugees.

[11:39:53]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Fredricka. And when you talk about those over 3 million people that fled by train, that fled on railways, this is one of the main train stations they come to.

And what we're seeing increasingly from speaking to refugees here is that many of them are coming from the far east of Ukraine, the hardest-hit areas, that means their journey took days. And when they arrived here, the volunteers know they're going to need some extra support. This is no longer just an ordinary train station. It is also a medical point, if people need it. You can see there's an ambulance right here and there's always a paramedic inside, a first aid person if somebody needs to be checked out.

It's also a place where families can get food. The can get clothes. They can ask a question because one of the first things that happens, Fredricka, when they get here is they start having to figure out where they're going to sleep tonight.

I want to show you something else here. This is one of the charities that has been serving hot meals every day all day to these families. And that hot meal, Fredricka, means so much to people who again have just been fleeing violence, then need a moment of calm, they need a moment of respite because their journey is not over.

Now they have to figure out where they're going to sleep tonight and where they're going to stay for how many ever weeks, months, even longer, that they have to stay here.

WHITFIELD: And so how long is Poland prepared to host these refugees?

ABDELAZIZ: It's a good question, Fredricka. You have over 2.5 million refugees here in Poland. And what's important to understand is that this welcome that they've got and it's been an overwhelming welcome, an overwhelming amount of support, it's entirely organic. It is ordinary people stepping up, trying to help, giving charity when and if they can.

We've seen people put up families in their homes, families in abandoned buildings. I mean it seems like any building that they can turn into a shelter for fleeing women and children -- it has turned into that.

But the Polish authorities have been clear, Fredricka, they keep saying, look, we can't carry this burden alone. Again, over 2.5 million people, those are people who need to go to school, of course, if they're young children. They need to find a place to sleep long term. They need to be able to find jobs.

So over and over again, you hear from the Polish authorities, we need help. We need the international community to step in and shoulder this burden with us.

WHITFIELD: It is a lot. But I know the many millions who have sought refuge there are incredibly grateful.

All right. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.

Still ahead, the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences hands down its punishment to Will Smith after that infamous slap at the Oscars. The details and the actor's response next.

[11:42:28]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Nearly two weeks after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now taking action, punishing the actor with a ten-year ban from the group's future awards ceremonies.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Los Angeles with more. So what's the reaction coming from Hollywood and of course, Will Smith?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, first of all, Will Smith putting out a very short statement where he says, "I accept and respect the academy's decision."

And this is the decision, what the Academy said was essentially adequate for the consequences of his actions. This is about more than 50 people who are very famous actors, producers, directors, and they were supposed to get together on April 18th. But once Will Smith resigned from the academy, what happened here was that they decided to meet sooner and that's when they decided on this ten-year ban from the awards.

Now, we do know that they will continue to have to figure out what to do next because there are other consequences to all of this. In a statement they said that they thought the Academy Awards were supposed to be essentially a place to celebrate the accomplishment of so many people who were there that night but instead all of it was overshadowed by this incident.

I want to read part of that statement where the board says, during our telecast, "We did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example to our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world and we fell short, unprepared for the unprecedented."

Now, they went on to say this is part of a larger goal because they say this is about safety and about the future and the trust in the Academy, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camilla Bernal, thank you so much.

Chef, writer, traveler, friend -- Anthony Bourdain played a special role in millions of people's lives around the world from loved ones to strangers. CNN's New Film "ROADRUNNER", a film about Anthony Bourdain reveals how he went from chef at an obscure New York restaurant to one of the most notorious and beloved figures in the food world and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, FORMER CHEF: My life, it's a gift, a dream, a curse. I shall explain.

I got very lucky. One minute I was standing next to a deep fryer, and the next, everything in my life changed. I was unqualified for the job. I was in deep waters and fast flowing ones at that. The currents could change at anytime without warning.

[11:50:03]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was definitely searching for something and it was a kind of agony for him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was such a romantic about life, about families, and reality was never going live up to exactly how he pictured it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was about Tony learning how to be a better person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a good karma.

BOURDAIN: Oh. How is this food related? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) if I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And of course everybody loved that candor in Anthony Bourdain. There was no one like him. This is a story that you haven't heard from the people who knew him best, "ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN" premieres tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.

And we'll be right back.

[11:55:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The European Commission president says the Ukraine city of Bucha is now the latest example of unthinkable crimes committed by Russia. That's after accounts and pictures of executions, brutality, and indiscriminate shelling.

And Ukraine's president gave a graphic description to the United Nations about rape as a weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road just for their pleasure. They cut off limbs, slashed their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them.

This is not different from other terrorists such as ISIS. And here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Absolutely horrible graphic detail.

Joining me right now to discuss the harsh reality of rape in war is Kateryna Cherepakha. She is the president of La Strada-Ukraine, a charity that supports survivors of trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual violence. Kateryna, so glad you could be with us. I mean, this is a horrific arsenal in this war, that there have been many accounts of rape being carried out. And I understand that you and your group have heard from women on your hotline who are describing what has happened to them.

What are the stories that you're hearing, and how are you able to help them?

KATERYNA CHEREPAKHA, PRESIDENT, LA STRADA-UKRAINE: Well, thank you. Thank you Fredricka for the possibility, you know, to talk about this. Yes, we do have the hotline, and we do receive calls like that from women who suffered from sexual violence and from rape and from those who were witnesses of such crimes.

In fact, it's -- sometimes it's very difficult to organize practical help to them because very often we receive this information when people are still at the territories that are temporarily occupied by Russian troops. And in fact there are no options or no chance, you know, to inform, to get assistance to apply to any institutions.

And definitely this is extremely traumatic experience that they see, they survive, and they are suffering.

WHITFIELD: And sadly, rape is a weapon that has been used in so many wars. This is not unique now but even at the beginning stages of this invasion, could you have anticipated the number of cases that have escalated, the number of victims who have said they have been raped during this invasion?

Was there anything preemptively you were able to do to prepare yourself or prepare women and children for something like this?

CHEREPAKHA: Well, definitely it's not something new that is used during the war. And back to 2014, 2015, then the actual war against Ukraine started, there were cases like this. But today, we are speaking about like a full-scale invasion of the country of Ukraine by Russia. And of course, the amount of people who are suffering and the numbers of them are extremely high.

And when we clearly realized that we are going -- unfortunately we are going receive much more cases, much more datas, much more reports about that because being in the danger, like a really life danger and threat situation, being extremely traumatized, survivors of these crimes are not like quickly reportable, not openly reportable these, because the first thing is to survive and, you know, to stay alive.

And then maybe when they will receive the therapy, the support, they'll be able to, you know, stay in the safe situation and to restore their resources, they might be ready to talk about it.

And definitely in the upcoming future, we will have much more cases and much more information involved in these cases.

[11:59:52]

WHITFIELD: Kateryna Cherepakha, thank you so much. I'm so sorry we're having to talk about it. I'm so sorry that it's a reality that too many are having to deal with right now.

CHEREPAKHA: Yes. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.