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Ukraine Prime Minister Says They Will Not Surrender; Pope Francis Calls For Peace During Easter Sunday Mass; Missing California Teen Found In Utah Three Years After Disappearing. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 17, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone.

Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

We begin in the besieged Ukrainian City of Mariupol where forces are defying an ultimatum by Russia to surrender despite weeks of shelling. Ukraine's Prime Minister is saying today that the city has still not fallen. The country's troops holding out as some 100,000 civilians are trapped in the city that has been bombed to ruins.

Defiant in the face of Russia's push in the east, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is open to negotiations, but he adds the assault on Mariupol makes that less likely to happen. Zelenskyy also insisting that he will not give up any territory to end the war.

As the fighting drags on, so do the atrocities. Search teams recovering bodies of over 40 innocent civilians killed when Russian shelling hit a high-rise apartment building near Kyiv.

President Zelenskyy tells CNN Jake Tapper that Ukrainians have grown skeptical that the western world is truly prepared to stop the war.

Here is more from Jake's exclusive interview from Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You lost ancestors in the Holocaust. Every year, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, politicians put out statements to say, "Never again, never again." Those statements must seem really hollow right now to you.

When the world says never again, do they ever mean it?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I don't believe the world, after we've seen what's going on in Ukraine.

We -- I mean that I don't believe to this feeling that we should believe to the -- to some countries or some leaders. We don't believe the words. After escalation of Russia, we don't believe our neighbors. We don't believe all of this.

Even I don't believe documents because we also had a Budapest Memorandum. I think you know all the details of this. For me, that is just a piece of paper, and it costs nothing, and that's it. So we just believe contractual, pragmatic things. If you our friends or partners, give us weapon, give us hand, give us support, give us money, and stop Russia, kick Russia, you can do it, if you're our friend.

If you think about this, you know this democracy and everything, yes, all these moments, if we have the same thoughts. If we are speaking about freedom, not because we want to have dialogue about freedom, if we are really -- things, yes, if we are the same sort. I mean --

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): The only belief there is, is belief in ourselves, in our people national, belief in our Armed Forces, and the belief that countries are going to support us, not just with their words, but with their actions, and that's it.

ZELENSKYY: Never again.

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): Really, everybody is talking about this, and yet, as you can see, not everyone has got the guts.

TAPPER: President Biden called what Putin is doing here genocide. President Macron of France said that he didn't think it was constructive to raise the rhetoric like that, that it wasn't healthy. What was your response to both Biden and Macron?

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): I have the same opinion as President Biden, and I immediately saw what was happening here, especially what happened in Bucha and in the east of our country.

I speak about this because Russia calls it a military operation, not a war. But look what happened in Bucha, it is clear, that is not even a war, it is a genocide. You just killed people, not soldiers, people. They just shot people in the streets.

People were riding bicycles, taking the bus, or just walking down the street. There were corpses lining the streets. These were not soldiers, they were civilians. They bound their hands.

[15:05:10]

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): They forced children to watch as they raped their mothers, then they threw them in a well or in mass graves, children, adults, the elderly, and we have substantial evidence that points to this being a genocide.

Audio and video, where they talk about just how much they hate us. I did not even know that there was such hatred of the Russian military and for the Ukrainian people. They say they are going to destroy us. Just to steal a toilet and a washing machine from an apartment, they shot an entire family. That is genocide.

As far as Emmanuel, I talked to him yesterday. I think he wants to take some steps to ensure that Russia engages in dialogue, I just told him that I want him to understand that this is not war, but nothing other than genocide. I invited him to come when he will have the opportunity, he will come and see, and I'm sure he will understand.

TAPPER: Do you want President Biden to come here?

ZELENSKYY: Yes.

TAPPER: Are there any plans for him to come?

ZELENSKYY: I think he will.

TAPPER: You think he will?

ZELENSKYY: I think he will. And I think he -- but it's not. It's his decision, of course, and about the safety situation. It depends. I mean, but I think -- I think he is the leader of the United States, and that's why he should come here to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Let's talk further about what we just heard. Let's bring in Aaron David Miller. He's a CNN Global Affairs analyst and a former State Department, Middle East negotiator. So good to see you always. So is the most powerful weapon Ukraine has right now the resolve of this President, in Zelenskyy?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, if you ask the President Zelenskyy that as he told Jake Tapper today in the interview, he would say he was not a hero. He would basically say it's the Ukrainian people, the military, the sheer courage and resistance, and moral force of what Ukrainians are doing now in the face of savage and brutal Russian aggression that would be Zelenskyy's answer in keeping with his humility and his low key aspect.

But there is no doubt, Fred, that nations in crisis, and under this kind of pressure, we need leaders to inspire and to motivate, and if there was ever a case for the importance of individuals in the course of history, it has been savagely demonstrated in the case of Vladimir Putin, and I think brilliantly inspired by the example of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

I do not believe even with U.S. leadership that the moral force and the arguments in favor of sanctions, bringing the Europeans around and keeping NATO together would have been possible without Zelenskyy's efforts, and certainly for those fighting in Ukraine, to have someone who can inspire and conserve as that emblem of Ukrainian defiance and courage has got to be critically important. So yes, I think your assumption is correct.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, he is making the world pay attention in a way that doesn't seem possible, had it not been for his fortitude, his bravery, and you know, this resolve that's constantly on display, it seems.

So, flipside of that is Russia, you know, trying to convey that it is dominating this war. But this is how the Prime Minister of Ukraine put it on ABC this morning. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENYS SHMYHAL, PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE: More than 900 cities and towns and villages in Kyiv, Chernihiv, some regions are freed from the Russian occupation, and our do keep them occupied during the last weeks. So, we still are fighting and we have battle in Donbas region right now, but we do not have intention to surrender.

We will not surrender. We will not leave our country, our families, our land; so, we will fight absolutely until the end, until the win in this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean, so he says, you know, there are 800 -- I'm sorry, 900 cities and towns in Ukraine that are free from Russian occupation and with real clarity, there he says, you know, they're not going to surrender. Period. That's just not going to happen.

So, when you look at the $800 million in military equipment that the U.S. has brought in, some of it this weekend, you know despite the horrible human life losses and carnage, is it Ukraine that has the advantage right now.

[15:10:09]

MILLER: You know, phase one clearly -- phase one is the Battle for Kyiv, or at least keeping the Russians from taking Kyiv, decapitating the government and setting up a puppet government. Then clearly phase one, is for the Ukrainians and Ukrainian military, no question about it.

We're about to enter a different phase now where Russian supply lines are shorter, the terrain favors Russian artillery and tanks and Russian armor. It's the kind of fight presumably the Russian military is prepared to fight, so I think it's far too premature to say that the advantage that the Ukrainians have maintained during phase one, during the last two months will continue in phase two.

I mean, there's a good chance given the fact that the Russians still have logistics problems, they suffer from terrible morale. The United States and NATO is ramping up the effort. But it's far too, too early, I think, to call this one for the Ukrainian military. It's a long way to go, and I think it'll be four, six, to eight weeks before we'll have a better sense of where the trajectory on the battlefield is going.

WHITFIELD: So how discouraging is it when you have U.N. nations from China to Brazil to India and 21 others refusing to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council in the midst of this invasion? I mean, what does this tell you about Russia's power hold, whether it be via energy or something else, on so many nations?

MILLER: You know, the world is a complicated place and it is rarely a matter, even in the face of this kind of moral clarity for many nations to basically come down on one side or the other.

You'll look at the international response to COVID. It is fundamentally disappointing. The W.H.O. now is saying that 15 million have been killed as a consequence of the virus. We have a group of nations and remember, interesting fact, the 10 most populated nations in the world, I believe we are the only ones, the United States that has signed on for sanctions.

Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, some of the Gulf countries, even the Israelis have different interests that they want to protect. The Indians want military equipment, Brazil favors strongman; China has a key interest in maintaining its connection with Russia's strategic interests.

So you're not going to have a world united, as much as it seems to be a world united, it is not a world united around the kinds of sanctions that a handful of nations led by the United States are seeking to impose, and that is double for military -- the shipment of military equipment, which is largely coming from the United States, and the former Warsaw Pact countries and E.U.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, I also want to shift gears now to what is happening in Jerusalem. There have been clashes between Jews and Muslims at the Al-Aqsa compound also, you know, known to Jews as the, you know, Temple Mount. What has triggered these clashes? What do you see this symbolizes?

MILLER: You know, violence and terror threat has been a constant companion of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship for decades now, and the reality is, even though some of his violence, several of these attacks were carried out by Arab citizens of Israel, reportedly, inspired by ISIS, there may be a copycat terrorist attacks as well. But the reality is, only Israeli security is guaranteed when Palestinian national aspirations for statehood is achieved and we're nowhere near either of those two things being fulfilled.

Until it happens, this sort of violence, particularly now in confluence of Passover and Easter, that is always a worrisome period, and that has not happened since 1991.

So it's sad. It's tragic. I still believe that the vast majority of Israelis and the vast majority of Palestinians want a better future. But yes, the odds that we're going to get there anytime soon, frankly, are slim to none, and that's what makes this such a terrible, terrible tragedy.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Aaron David Miller, thank you so much for joining us this holiday weekend. Happy Easter and Passover.

MILLER: Thanks, Fred. Same to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, you heard it, moments ago President Zelenskyy asking President Biden to come to Ukraine, is Biden considering that, live to the White House, next.

And this quick programming note, the unbelievable true story of the man who took on Putin and lived to expose the truth. The Sundance award-winning CNN film "Navalny" airs next Sunday at 9:00 PM right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:28]

WHITFIELD: The first shipment of new U.S. military aid for Ukraine has begun arriving in the region. The latest $800 million package includes heavy weapons such as long range artillery, helicopters, and armored personnel carriers.

President Zelenskyy discussed the aid in an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: President Biden just agreed to another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, bringing the total American contribution to $2.5 billion, are you satisfied with that? Do you need more?

[15:20:04]

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): Of course, we need more, but I'm happy that he is helping us now. I feel that right now, we are having a cleaner dialogue. It has been a dialogue that has had some twists and turns and not just talk.

It's been very, very difficult because there aren't many countries that have really helped us.

The assistance from the United States led by President Biden, and they are doing it again today, but there will never be enough. Enough isn't possible. There is a full scale war ongoing today. So we still need a lot more than what we have today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Arlette Saenz joining us now from the White House.

Arlette, Zelenskyy also told Jake that he would like to see President Biden come to Ukraine and actually sounded very positive that he thought it could happen. So will it? Could it?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the White House says that they are not planning to send President Biden into Ukraine, even as the President himself told reporters just a few days ago that he is ready to go. Of course, travel by an American President into a war zone like Ukraine carries massive security and logistical hurdles, when you think about the Secret Service and the aides and press that would be required to travel with him. So a presidential trip at this moment really seems to be off the table.

But there are discussions underway about sending another high ranking official from the U.S. to Ukraine, possibly Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin or Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Now, sources have cautioned that such a trip may not exactly materialize, but while a visit from a high-ranking official would certainly show an image of solidarity, the U.S. continues to show their support and solidarity with this latest round of military assistance that they've sent in to Ukraine with the shipments beginning to arrive over the course of this weekend, part of that $800 million of security assistance that President Biden announced earlier in the week.

Now, Zelenskyy there you heard him saying that he is appreciative of these supplies, but also welcomes more and there is some concern among U.S. officials about the ammunition inventories of the Ukrainian part, particularly as heavy ground combat is expected to play out between the Russians and Ukrainians in the coming days.

Now, while that military assistance has been sent to Ukraine, we'll include those 18 Howitzers, as serves as well as 40,000 artillery rounds. Sources say that that could be used up in a matter of days. Pentagon leaders have also been holding daily phone calls with counterparts, allies, urging them to send more supplies, but it is clear with this latest round of what is heading to Ukraine, the U.S. is stepping up their assistance sending in more sophisticated and heavy-duty weaponry assistance for Ukraine as they continue to fight off those Russian forces -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House, thanks so much.

All right still to come, this weekend marks one of the holiest times of the year for Christians and Jews, many celebrating under the shadow of war.

Next, the role the Vatican can play in bringing peace to Ukraine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:44]

WHITFIELD: The war in Ukraine casting a shadow on religious celebrations this weekend for Christians and Jews around the world. Pope Francis saying today, the world is marking an Easter of war.

During Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, the Pope denounced the violence and bloodshed in Ukraine and repeated his pleas for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so solely tried by the violence and the destruction of the cruel and senseless war in which into which it is dragged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now to discuss is CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck.

Father Beck, good to see you. Do you think the Pope's message can break through to Russia? Can he plant the seeds for peace?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGIOUS COMMENTATOR: You know, Fred, one of the things that Pope Francis said in that message is that people have to stop flexing their muscles while people are suffering, and I don't think there is any doubt of who Pope Francis was referring to.

I mean, can anyone get through to a madman? I think that's the question.

So, we have not seen Pope Francis try to negotiate obviously, with Vladimir Putin. He has reached out to the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Kyrill, and it is mindboggling to me that that Archbishop is actually supporting Putin and this invasion. You know, in the name of Christianity, no less.

So I think the Pope is doing what he can behind the scenes, but there are many obstacles and whether or not he can get through to Russia -- look, the Russian people themselves, many of them are not behind this. We know this is Putin and his henchmen, and it is not necessarily a popular decision in Russia.

So who does the Pope need to get to? He needs to get to sane thinking people who can actually begin to make a difference.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, there is great penalty for any Russian citizenry and perhaps even for the Archbishop to speak out publicly against Putin.

So let's talk about today's program with the Pope, a meditation text co-written by a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman was scrapped from Pope's Good Friday, not today's service, but the Good Friday service after a Ukrainian Archbishop called it offensive.

Was this an issue of it's too soon or is it something else?

[15:30:20]

BECK: Well, I thought it was kind of beautiful that they wanted to bring together a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman as a sign that they can, in fact, be agents of peace. So for people to criticize this, I think it caused me a lot of dismay, and so what they wound up doing is they scrapped the text, but both women helped carry the cross to the 13th Station on Good Friday.

And it was simply a symbol that both are suffering, the Russian people are suffering, the Ukrainian people are suffering. People are dying on both sides.

And so this is not about supporting Russia by allowing a Russian woman to participate, it is by saying when can we broker peace here? How do normal people come together? These women are friends, they are nursing friends. They have been friends for many years. So they shouldn't be able to participate together because of some political disparity? And I think the Pope didn't back down on it. They both were there, but they did scrap the text, and they let the silence of the image speak instead. WHITFIELD: Well, that was one effort. But then I wonder, what's your advice, you know, to viewers of any faith, who feel like they are struggling right now to have hope this season?

BECK: Yes, so many people are struggling, Fred. I mean, how rare is it --

WHITFIELD: For a host of reasons right?

BECK: Of course, I mean, look at all the shootings recently. I mean, here in New York, the subway shooting, now South Carolina. I mean, you walk through all of this violence, and you say, "Where is God in this?" How do you have any hope in the midst of it? And I think that is what Christians are celebrating today, that Good Friday, that the suffering is not the final word, that three days later, what we're celebrating today is something else happened, and that is that God showed God's presence, and that the resurrection, the life is stronger than the death. And I think that's what all the religious traditions hold on to.

In Passover. It was the sense of the Israel people that God was with them, that God led them out of slavery, out of the suffering, that God passed over them when death was inflicted upon the firstborn.

And so in Ramadan, we're in the middle of Ramadan as well. The Islamic people are holding on to the same God where love is stronger than death. Goodness overcomes evil, and that's the central message here. So I think even in the midst of all of it, we have to hold on to the fact that it's not the final word. That it is about something else and that is why we're celebrating today.

WHITFIELD: Well, thank you for giving us hope, no matter what the religion. Father Edward Beck, good to see you. Thank you so much. Happy Easter.

BECK: Thank you, Fred. Happy Easter to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, he went missing nearly three years ago, and last week Deputies found the young man shivering outside a gas station 700 miles away from where he was last seen. His parents simply in shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing person photo that we located was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the photo that came from Nevada for the arrest was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit older, but yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:38:13]

WHITFIELD: An autistic teen from California who went missing nearly three years ago has been found in Utah.

Deputies in Summit County discovered a young man in front of a store who had been wandering the area with a shopping cart for weeks. Well, the teen neither refused nor just couldn't give his name, but officers eventually figured out his identity by searching through a list of missing people.

The discovery led to an emotional phone call with the teen's family who had feared that he was dead.

CNN's Camila Bernal joining us now.

Camila, oh my gosh. What a story. Tell us more.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Yes, this is really a remarkable story.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office in Utah describing it as serving with compassion, but I'll start at the beginning.

There were a number of calls that were made to report Connor Jack Oswald, and he is 19 years old. He was not breaking any laws, but officers went out there anyway and they were checking up on him.

Initially, he had refused any help, and then last Saturday, the Deputies went out there again, and this time, they were able to help him.

All of this was caught on bodycam video and take a look at what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think you're shivering cold. You cold? You want to come sit in his car and warm up for a minute?

We can have you sitting in front of the door here all night.

CONNOR JACK OSWALD, MISSING TEEN FROM CALIFORNIA: As long as I am not being taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, I can't hear you.

OSWALD: As long as I am not being taken anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're not being taken anywhere. Just come sit in the car and warm up. Where's your shopping cart at?

OSWALD: It got stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got stolen?

OSWALD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's no good.

OSWALD: I think the last (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go and sit in my front passenger seat where it's warm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just come in here and warm up.

[15:40:10]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, you have a knife or a gun or anything like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bazooka? A crossbow?

OSWALD: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Just have a seat. Where were you at when your shopping car got stolen?

OSWALD: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?

OSWALD: It doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now after this encounter, it was a dispatcher who went through pages and pages of missing children, and that person was able to find Connor Jack Oswald's, they went back to the report and realized that he had been missing since September of 2019 from Clear Lake, California. They were able to get a hold of his mom and she told officers that he had a very distinctive birthmark on his neck.

The Deputies found that birthmark and then his stepdad went to Utah to identify him in person. That moment was also caught on police bodycam and it was a really moving moment when the stepdad called the mom to let him know that he was indeed alive.

Take a listen to that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing person photo that we located was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the photo that came from Nevada for the arrest was this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit older, but yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what stood out to me was the ears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, not knowing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looks pretty similar to this. His hair is longer right now. His beard is a little bit thicker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Oh wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sweetheart is alive. Oh my God. Then can he come home now, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I definitely will do my best to bring him home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And the Sheriff said there was not a dry eye in that room. We know that he is receiving care and resources and is expected to reunite with his mom -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: There is not a dry eye in the studio. That is amazing.

Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:12]

WHITFIELD: All right, one of Ukraine's most successful and popular soccer teams is back on the pitch for the first time since Russia's invasion.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk was forced to move from its home as the Russian invasion began, back in February. Their hometown now a warzone after weeks of bombardments and fighting.

The team is touring to play at a series of charity exhibition matches, bringing attention to the plight of their people, and raising money for the war effort. And in doing so, the team has become a beacon of hope for Ukrainians and an enduring example of the resilience so many are showing in the face of Russia's invasion.

Here with us now, the Director of Football for FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Darijo Srna. So good to see you, Dario, welcome.

I mean, this -- this war has taken so much from Ukraine. Why was it so important for you personally, and for the team to play again?

DARIJO SRNA, DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL, FC SHAKHTAR DONETSK: Hello to everyone.

First of all, we lost our home, first time 2014, twenty-second of May. We must go out from our city named Donetsk. And after eight years, again in in Kyiv, the Russians start to take to us another home. And for us, it is not easy. We are without home already of eight years and the second time to lose our home in eight years is not easy.

We are fighting and we are doing everything in this moment to try to help our citizens in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: And what is being able to play, continue to play together, and show the world about your love for country and your fight to stay together. How has this helped you?

SRNA: I think that helped us, it helped all people in Ukraine because our life is football. We can do our best on the football pitch. And for that reason, we left Ukraine three weeks ago with permission of Minister of Sports and we start to play friendly game against very good teams in the Europe and all income from this game, we are sending to a foundation in Ukraine we are helping to children and to families. We are trying to help in the best way in this difficult moment.

WHITFIELD: How was this felt for you?

SRNA: It's not easy, because like I said we lost secondary our home, our home city, Donetsk, Shakhtar is from Donetsk and we will be always from Donetsk.

[15:50:04]

SRNA: Unfortunately, we are in a difficult situation. We are praying for the peace. We are trying to find a way to help all citizens, together with our President, Rinat Akhmetov who is there, who is trying to help every day to Ukrainian citizens. In this kind of the moment we can see who is our friend and who is not our friend.

In these difficult moments, we must try to find the way how to help each other.

WHITFIELD: And Darijo, I mean, this is like a broken record for you. I mean, you played for FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Now, you're a top official. You are originally from Croatia. You were there during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. You just described what you went through in 2014. I mean, this would now make the third war right that you have lived through. How has this made you stronger? How as this, I guess, helped your heart in this ongoing fight?

SRNA: I mean, when you say to someone that 39 years, you passed already three wars, I mean, it's difficult. But I already lived in Ukraine 19 years, and today I'm Ukrainian, like all the world. And I will do my best to help these people because they are innocent. They are very good people. They received me like part of their family 19 years ago, and they teach me a lot in my life.

I live there, I bought a house in Donetsk. I lost my house. I bought now an apartment in Kyiv. You know after 19 years, this become to be your country and I'm so proud that I play in Shakhtar Donetsk 18 years. I'm so proud that I am part of Shakhtar Donetsk today, and for sure in the future, I will be part of Shakhtar Donetsk group because we believe in Ukraine. We believe in our victory and we believe in peace.

WHITFIELD: Darijo Srna, you, your teammates, the team and so many in Ukraine continue to be an inspiration. Thank you so much. Thanks for talking to us today.

SRNA: Thank you so much, and I wish you all the best.

WHITFIELD: All the best to you.

The United Nation says more than four and a half million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war. The enormous humanitarian crisis is spurring so many to help including musician, Dave Matthews. He released a song for aid today and he did that on "State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE MATTHEWS, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Those of us, you know so many of us are part of this chorus of people that are trying to, or hoping that we can somehow turn the tide.

And so, I thought I would just join in and in as many ways as possible, raise people's awareness and so get some friends together and play a song that I just finished writing that I think somehow pertains to it, but at least it pertains to all of us. It is called them "Something to Tell My Baby."

Thank you very much, Jake.

Well, you know, someday we're all going to leave here, maybe sooner than we wanted. It's special because it's fleeting in all of the things that we do. What do we leave behind us, something that will remind them, something to make them smile.

When they think about it, something to tell my baby, something she can reach for. We all need to hold on to. When I try to believe it, stuff that dreams are made of. The cut that just won't heal, the smoke after the fire. As long as we remember, it's as good as real, as good as real.

Something to keep us hopeful, something to tell my baby

[15:55:09]

MATTHEWS: Forever I'm feeling. Impossible, but just maybe. When you think about it, there's something to remind them, something to make them smile. Maybe make things easier, something to tell my baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:00]