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Woman Who Escaped Mariupol Describes 45 Days in "Hell"; DeSantis Moves to Strip Disney of Special Governing Status; Russian Billionaire Slams Putin's "Insane War" in Ukraine; Prince Harry Says He Wants "To Make Sure the Queen is Protected". Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 20, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

TATYANA BURAK, ESCAPED FROM MARIUPOL, UKRAINE: But what about food? It's even more horrible. Sometimes the occupants bring their so-called humanitarian aid. And people, again, thousands of people have to spend days in lines to get this food.

And there are days when they cannot get anything. So I really don't know how the people are surviving now.

There were some, you know, some stock of food in different stores and different places but people have taken everything. So some of them are starving.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Tatyana Burak, thank you for sharing with us. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones, your friends and your neighbors. Wish you the very best.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:57]

CABRERA: Now to the escalating feud between Florida's governor and his state's largest private employer, Disney.

Governor Ron DeSantis is now pushing to end Disney's 35-year special status that allows its theme parks to operate with tax breaks and other benefits, a 55-year special status.

And the timing here is raising some serious questions about retaliation because Disney doesn't support what critics call Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law.

In short, the new law bans classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity for young children.

CNN's Leyla Santiago in joining us from Miami.

Leyla, explain this special status? And is Disney truly at risk of losing it?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, Ana, Disney, which, by the way, employs 75,000 people here in Florida, has that special status, called a special district. It essentially allows them to operate as an independent government in the Orlando area theme park.

So the Republicans yesterday introduced a bill that could eliminate that special status for Disney.

They also introduced a bill that could subject Disney to a new law in Florida that essentially allows people to sue big tech companies like Disney.

Now that law was blocked by a federal judge. And the state is appealing that.

But where things stand right now, the state Senate just passed these two bills minutes ago. This will head to the House tomorrow. And by all accounts, expected to pass there.

CABRERA: So let's back up here for a second, Leyla. Because before this was a fight between DeSantis and Disney, the company was also targeted by many others who were unhappy over its handling of the so- called "Don't Say Gay" bill.

SANTIAGO: Right. Many others, being the LGBTQ company, which criticized Disney for not coming out in a very strong forum against what critics called the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Disney then came back, apologized to its LGBTQ employees. And did take a stand against this, even went so far to say we are no longer doing political donations in Florida as a result of this.

CABRERA: So what is Disney saying now about the governor's threat to end its special status?

SANTIAGO: They're pretty quiet. We're not really hearing much from Disney with the latest development.

So we're still waiting to hear what Disney says.

And then, also, to see how this all plays out. Expect it to pass. But also, quite frankly, expected to end up in court.

CABRERA: Leyla Santiago, thanks for that update.

[13:38:32]

He's Russian. He's sanctioned. He's a billionaire. And now Oleg Tinkov is taking on Putin and his, quote, "insane war."

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[13:43:32]

CABRERA: The billionaire founder of a big Russian digital bank is blasting what he calls Russia's "insane war" on Ukraine.

In a post on Instagram, Oleg Tinkov claimed that 90 percent of Russians are against the war. And he urged the West to help Putin find an off ramp to, quote, "stop this massacre."

He says, "I don't see a single beneficiary of this insane war. Innocent people and soldiers are dying. Generals, waking up with a hangover, have realized they have an (EXPLETIVE DELETED) army."

"And how could the army be good when everything else in the country is mired in nepotism, groveling and senility?"

Joining us is Ariel Cohen. He's a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center. And he's also the author of "Russian Imperialism, Development and Crisis."

Ariel, first, your reaction to what I just read, this Russian billionaire speaking out. Do you think this makes a difference?

ARIEL COHEN, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL EURASIA CENTER: It does. And there's a lot of the (INAUDIBLE) in Russia. Other oligarchs also express their opinions, maybe more cautiously than Tinkov.

A lot of people who made their money independently of Putin are horrified with what's going on.

And, yes, all the data we have now suggests that there are a lot of people in Russia that support Putin. There are a lot of people who are staunchly against this war, and others who are just afraid to speak up.

[13:45:59]

CABRERA: I mean, he did not mince words here. How risky is it for him to make a statement like this publicly?

COHEN: Well, it's funny that his bank actually said that they distanced themselves from the founder. So it is risky for him. It's risky for his business.

But some people in Russia say that they just cannot shut up seeing the atrocities the Russian military is committing while prosecuting the most inept war in living memory for the Russian military.

CABRERA: I want to pivot because the G-20 finance ministers are meeting today, the Russian finance minister is attending virtually, as I understand it.

And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, along with finance ministers from other nations, walked out when the Russian delegate began his prepared remarks. You said that is a mistake. Why?

COHEN: Well, in general, abandoning turf to the Russians is a mistake. But demonstrably walking out is fine. That's a signal that the United States is protesting.

And the G-20 should not be a platform for the Russians to talk about anything other than, you know, admitting their crimes, their horrible behavior.

I wish our allies -- I wish the United States orchestrated a more massive walkout, not just Ms. Yellen, but others would have walked out. I understand the Ukrainian representative walked out as well.

CABRERA: You don't think it's worth confronting that Russian counterpart directly?

COHEN: Well, these are finance ministers. Ms. Yellen would not stand up and yell at a Russian counterpart, especially if he's in Moscow talking remotely.

But Russia is using its revenue today, its oil and gas revenue. It's selling tons of oil and gas to Europe to China, to India. And they're financing their bloody war in Ukraine through that oil revenue. So that is a financial issue.

CABRERA: We definitely have been talking about the sanctions and whether they could be as impactful as other countries are still getting that energy supply from Russia.

We are told, here in the U.S., additional sanctions may be coming against Russia.

My big question is, how has the U.S., how has the West not maxed out sanctions at this point? Why hasn't the full hammer come down yet?

COHEN: The tragedy is that Europe dug itself in. It dug its own hole and now it's stuck in it. And the hole is strategic dependence on oil and gas, especially gas, and especially Germans.

And they knew what was coming. They were shutting down their nuclear reactors. They were phasing out coal.

I understand why you want to phase out coal. But they cannot rely on the renewables just yet. The technology is just not there yet.

So they needed to diversify away from the Russian gas and not get the strategic dependence around the throat that Putin has to his advantage.

CABRERA: Ariel Cohen, I appreciate this discussion. Thank you very much for taking the time.

COHEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Ahead, Prince Harry is talking about his first sit-down with his grandmother, the queen, since he and Meghan Markle moved to the U.S. What did he mean when he said he wanted the queen to be protected?

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[13:53:03]

CABRERA: Prince Harry and his wife, Mehran Markle, have met with the queen now for the first time since they moved to the U.S. and talked to Oprah in that interview that sent shockwaves through the royal family.

Here is the duke of Sussex on his recent afternoon tea with his grandmother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSESS: It was great. It was just so nice to see her. She's, so grateful. She always has a great sense of humor with me.

And I'm making sure that she is protected and the right people are around her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN's royal correspondent, Max Foster, is live for us in England.

Max, an interesting choice of words there at the end from the prince saying that he wants to make sure the queen is protected.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Suggesting that perhaps that he might not think that she is protected or is around the right type of people. It's not really clear. We're not getting any more guidance on that.

But it certainly raised a few eyebrows here in the U.K. A suggestion that he needs to support her, basically, and the people around here.

It was quite a wide-ranging interview. He was speaking to NBC. And it got a lot of coverage here.

He also talked about Diana and how she is very much present in his life he feels right now in the last couple of years since he's been settling into California life.

She spent some time, he believes, looking after William. And now it is his turn.

And he actually feels at home in America as well. And he spoke to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY: Home for me now is for the time being is in the states. And it feels that way as well.

HODA KOTB, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Does it?

PRINCE HARRY: Yes. We've been welcomed with open arms. And it has such a great community up in Santa Barbara.

KOTB: So you feel like that is home more for you.

PRINCE HARRY? Yes.

KOTB: Is that weird to say?

PRINCE HARRY: No, but I'm sure it will become a thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Home for now, you notice he said, Ana, which is also being analyzed here. Every detail of the interview being analyzed. Does it mean potentially he could come back to the U.K.?

[13:55:57]

He was asked whether he would come back for the jubilee, which is a key moment in royal celebrations in summer, celebrating 70 years on the throne for the queen. He said he is not sure yet. And he cited security concerns.

He's talked about how he feels he should have police security in the U.K. That has turned into a bit of a row. Why should he get police security when he left his royal role? So that is another debate here.

The other thing that people picked up on was the fact that he was asked about whether he misses Prince Charles and Prince William and he very quickly changed the topic.

So glowing about the queen, less so about other members of the family.

CABRERA: Too soon to go there, it sounds like.

Max Foster, thank you.

And that does it for us. I'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place. Until then, follow me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera.

See you tomorrow.

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