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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Is Being Interviewed About The Importance Of Holding Both Allies And Adversaries Accountable As The U.S. Navigates Complex Geopolitical Challenges; Bucha Survivors Remember Russian Atrocities Two Years Later; CNN Talks With United States Ambassador To Ukraine On Two-Year Anniversary Of War; Voters Hit Polls In South Carolina's Primary; Documentary Explores Restaurant's Support For Ukraine; Interview With Carl Bildt, Former Swedish Prime Minister, On Ukraine; Amy Schumer Reveals She Has Cushing Syndrome; Wendy Williams Diagnosed With Aphasia & Dementia. Aired 1-12p ET

Aired February 24, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And vowed more NATO aid.

[13:00:01]

Meantime, Russia's defense minister chose this day to meet his troops inside parts of eastern Ukraine that they now occupied.

The extent of Russia's atrocities were clear right from the start. Back in April 2022. The world saw evidence of mass murder in Bucha. This marked a critical turning point in the war hardening Ukraine's determination to defeat Russia and showing the rest of the world exactly how Putin operates.

Now, almost two years later, I went back to Bucha. And, of course, some of the images you're going to see are indeed disturbing. But here is my report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice over): Father Andriy Halavin, of St. Andrew's church, walks me through Bucha's grisly place in history. Hundreds were brutally killed here during Russia's month-long occupation, including women, children, the elderly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 99 years old.

AMANPOUR: Oh my god, 1923 to 2022

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

AMANPOUR: 99 years old and a child of 2 years old.

AMANPOUR (voice over): These people died not during the fighting, but during the occupation says Father Andriy, when the Russian world came here, and this is its face, these are corpses. These are rape people. This is every apartment and house looted. This is the face of the Russian world.

Father Andriy became known after the Russians were pushed back for revealing the side of a mass grave just here on his church grounds, filled with 160 people.

He shows me the original posting about it on Facebook, March 12, 2022, when Russian forces were still occupying Bucha and from this memorial, you can see that red house, most of the family was killed as they tried to flee. When the Russians turned a heavy machine gun on their car.

It still haunts and horrifies the grandmother, Valentyna Chekmarova.

It's very hard for me to remember this, two years have passed, and it seems like it happened today, she says. I saw them off to get out of this hell, but they didn't. They were shocked.

This is the fate they were trying to escape. The main street, Yablunska, in this residential Kyiv suburb, strewn with bodies, all clearly civilians. The discovery of basement torture and execution centers. People forced to kneel and lie with hands tied behind their backs, women and girls raped.

TETIANA USTYMENKO, RESIDENT OF BUCHA (through translator): How could this happen? How could this happen?

AMANPOUR: Standing in Yablunska Street today, feels a little like standing in a graveyard. It's where the horrors of the Russian invasion were first exposed. And it remains a field of evidence, a memorial and a pilgrimage site.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We believe that these are war crimes, and this all would be recognized as a genocide by the world.

AMANPOUR: President Zelenskyy came here, April 4th, 2022, right after his forces drove the Russians out. And he brings all his international visitors and world leaders to Bucha to remind the world just what they're fighting against.

Moscow has claimed without evidence that this was all staged and was a planned media campaign. Ruslan Kravchenko was the war crimes prosecutor. He is now governor of the Kyiv region.

Do you remember when the Russians said it was fake and the bodies were fake? And that the Ukrainians had killed people themselves? He asked me. When we seize the phones, we proved to the whole world that it was the Russians who killed people -- Ukrainians.

Ruslan says the war crimes investigations continue, using a trove of evidence from multiple cameras, phones, and other recordings. But when they inform the Russian soldiers, they identify, they don't cooperate.

And Father Andriy tells us the awful truth is, that bodies are still being discovered today. Two years on.

From time to time, we find someone by accident, he says. The Russians had hidden their bodies somewhere and we find them.

So, unfortunately, the number of people who died is increasing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (on camera): Now, at the two-year mark, I hear many soldiers and others say that it's one thing for America and other allies to voice support for democracy and freedom here, but then, they must deliver the means to fight for it.

Here with me now in Kyiv is the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. Welcome. Welcome to the program.

Can the Ukraine -- can Ukraine win without American military support?

[13:05:02]

BRIDGET BRINK, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: I do not believe Ukraine can win without American military support, and I absolutely believe Ukraine can win, with it.

AMANPOUR: Can you tell me and tell the American people who are watching this debate unfold in Congress, what Ukraine has achieved in the two years since it's had your military support?

BRINK: Christian, first, thanks for coming here. And thanks for also going out to the frontline area. This is a good news story of two years of achievement, based on our and partner support around the world.

I'll tell you three things. Number one, Ukraine has taken back 50 percent of its territory.

Number two, it's protected its energy grid, which has powered homes and businesses throughout the conflict.

And number three, Ukraine has created a humanitarian corridor to send cargo and grain out of its Black Sea ports.

Feeding the world and also helping its economy. Through these efforts, collectively, Ukrainians have risen their GDP by five percent in this year alone, despite Russia's brutal attacks ongoing.

AMANPOUR: We had the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, standing right here a few days ago. And he essentially said that they would not have lost Avdiivka, had it not been for the blockage in the -- in the weapons and ammunition supply line. I guess you agree with that.

BRINK: We agree with this assessment that the Ukrainians withdrew from Avdiivka, because they did not have enough ammunition. And I just want to repeat and make clear to the American people that Ukrainians are not asking for our soldiers. They're only asking for the weapons to defend themselves, their families, and their country.

AMANPOUR: And what do you think will happen with this bill is hung up by a certain number of Republicans in Congress? Do you think it will be unblocked, in other words?

BRINK: I'm confident that the United States will send additional support to Ukraine, not just because it's the right thing to do. But because it's in our strategic national interest.

Putin isn't going to stop. And also, the signal it sends, if we don't, to other would-be aggressors is not in our or the democratic world's national interest.

AMANPOUR: So, I think that's really an interesting point, because it's also what Democratic leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer said just a couple of days ago, when he was here to also mark the anniversary with, I think, it was a bipartisan delegation. And in an event, he brought colleagues from Congress.

He did say that if Russia wins and Ukraine loses, that this would have a very negative impact on America's national security and the way other adversaries and even allies look at America. This is a turning point.

BRINK: Yes, it's a decisive moment. We've already supported Ukraine, with $75 billion, we need to double down and help them finish the job. And as I said, our support is not for some, and ending goal. Our support is to help Ukraine become self-sufficient to move closer to the E.U. and to NATO, and to be the kind of partner that we want and need.

And if I have one message to the American people, is that the time is now. There's an urgency to getting the support to Ukraine so that we can support them, but most importantly also, support U.S. national interests.

AMANPOUR: So, you've been, you know, an ambassador and an official in this reason -- region. You've been in the Balkans, you've been out -- you've seen, you know, the challenges on this landscape. And you've seen the brave people. You go to hospitals as well, you know, Frontline, frontline wounded warriors.

What do they say to you, when you visit them with multiple amputees in their hospital beds?

BRINK: Well, Christiane, I know that you went Dnipro. And you went to the hospital that's taking most of the soldiers from the frontlines.

AMANPOUR: Yes.

BRINK: I was just there a couple of weeks ago. It was the most moving experience of my entire career, over 25 years. I met a young soldier, Mihaylo (PH). He looked at me, and he said, thank you. Thank you to President Biden, thank you to the American people, we aren't going to give up.

There wasn't a dry eye in the House, it's even hard to recount it. But I know, from both the leadership here, the government here, the people here and the soldiers on the front line, that they are determined to fight for their freedom. And fighting for that freedom is also an important fight for all of us for all democratic and free nations.

AMANPOUR: Even as they are having to ration their ammunition and decide what is the most, you know, useful time to use their dwindling ammunition. It is remarkable that you here thanks at this point.

So, I want to ask you, what is the American policy? Is it for Ukraine to win? We've heard over the last few years that Putin must win, Ukraine must, you know, we must -- you know, defeat the forces of autocracy, et cetera. What is the U.S. policy? Is it defined as a win for Ukraine?

BRINK: Well, I was just back in Washington in December, and our president, President Biden met with President Zelenskyy. And President Biden was very clear. He said, our goal is for Ukraine to win. That is our goal. And we're going to do everything in our power to make that happen.

AMANPOUR: Ambassador Brink, thank you so much, indeed, for joining us.

BRINK: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Now, Fred, back to you for the rest of the show.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Thank you so much, Christiane. We'll check back with you. All right. Let's turn now to South Carolina where voters are heading to the polls today for the Republican presidential primary matchup between former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley.

[13:10:07]

Trump is the overwhelming favorite in a state where Haley served as governor for six years. While he is looking for another decisive victory today, Haley vows to continue with her campaign regardless of today's outcome. She arrived at a polling site this morning with her kids and her mother, where they cast their ballots. We have team coverage of today's election.

Omar Jimenez is at a polling station in upstate South Carolina. And Alayna Treene is at a polling site near the coast. There you are both. All right, Alayna, you first.

The turnout looks pretty extraordinary behind you. Long lines of people since earlier this morning. What's going on?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS REPORTER: That's right, Fred. We are here in Mount Pleasant, at Jennie Moore Elementary School. And as you can see from this long line, of very impressive turnout here today.

And I'll say Fred, it is a big day. This is the state where the former president's campaign is expecting to deliver the final blow to Nikki Haley's campaign, despite her insistence to stay in the race beyond Super Tuesday, regardless of her performance here.

But Fred, I do want to just mention that. I think there's something really interesting that I'm watching for today, which is, you know, whether the dynamics of the state's primary will at all help Nikki Haley.

The state is an open primary in South Carolina. That means Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike can vote here. And I did talk with some voters today who brought that up.

One voter who said she voted for Nikki Haley and is a Democrat, and another named Roy, who also voted for Nikki Haley. Oh, however, he is a registered Republican. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her campaign has been texted me three times a day, sometimes, like for weeks now, saying that you can vote. I didn't know that we can vote on the Republican primary. So, it educated me. I think it's pretty smart.

TREENE: If Donald Trump were to go on and to win the Republican nomination, do you -- would you choose him over Joe Biden being a Republican?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a tough question. I don't know. Stay tuned. I've thought about it, but I don't know the answer to that question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, I also talked to many voters who did come out today and vote for Donald Trump. Some of whom also said that if Nikki Haley were to eventually go on to become the Republican nominee, they are not sure if they would vote for her over Joe Biden.

So, a lot of different opinions. And we'll see how that plays out when the polls close at 7:00 p.m. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alayna, thank you so much. And beautiful weather also helps encourage folks -- encouraging folks to come out.

TREENE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's go to Omar Jimenez. now. Omar, Nikki Haley, well, she is vowing you know, to stay in the fight no matter what the outcome is today. At the same time, she's taken a few more shots at Trump, after casting her ballot, what did she say?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She definitely has. I mean, she was reacting to some of the comments that Trump made at a previous rally where he implied that black people would support him or more. Inclined to support him because of his indictments.

So, I want to give you an idea of where we are right now. Outside Greenville, in Mauldin, as it's known. This is the polling sites. A little bit of a small setup here. And the crowds have swelled and shrunk over the course of the day, depending on the time of day. We're in one of those lulls right now, but you get a sense of where people have been coming, how they have been voting. You see the big, I voted familiar little privacy booths that they've got here.

We've also been trying to talk to some voters as well over the course of this -- (INAUDIBLE) Clemson there.

And some of these voters that we've been speaking to, in particular, like this man here. How is it going in, Omar?

OMAR, VOTER, SOUTH CAROLINA: (INAUDIBLE)

JIMENEZ: Nice, nice to meet you. So, tell me, who did you vote for here and why?

OMAR: I voted for Nikki Haley. You know, I wasn't very happy with the Trump presidency. I think, you know, we've been politically degraded, you know, in our, you know, just how he acts. You know, it doesn't seem like a politician to me. So, I voted for Haley. I'm still undecided between Haley and Biden in the general. But, you know, I'm much more-happy that Haley is on the ballot and Trump.

JIMENEZ: And lasting I asked before we go really quickly, did you vote for Trump before?

OMAR: No. I voted in the Democratic primary last time. And I voted -- well, I didn't vote for Biden in the general I wasn't 21. But we're 18. I'm in.

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: Yes. Got you. Got you.

Well, cool. Thanks for -- thanks for stopping real quick. We're just coming to you real quick, there you go.

I mean, look, we're going to have a wide range of opinions over the course of this primary day here in South Carolina. Of course, as Nikki Haley continues to make this final sprint to try and make up whatever ground she can, despite what polls have shown as Trump being the clear favorite heading into this contest.

WHITFIELD: All right. All right, Omar. Hey, I love that people are willing to be spontaneous there and kind of speak off the cuff. So, we appreciate his input and we saw Mr. Clemson behind you for a second. Maybe he was waiting for his turn to him, so you can catch up with him.

[13:15:02]

All right, Omar Jimenez. Alayna Treene, thanks to you as well in Mount Pleasant. All right.

And join CNN for live results and analysis of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, coverage starting tonight at 6:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

All right, still to come, President Biden slamming Russia with the biggest round of sanctions since the beginning of their war with Ukraine. What's at stake for Ukraine as they wait for Congress to pass a bill for much needed aid?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour in Ukraine. As we marked two years since the beginning of this war, the full-scale Russian invasion of this country.

[13:20:01]

Ahead of a major address, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with visiting dignitaries.

Let's bring in Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is in Maryland right now, as we just see the pictures of Zelenskyy, talking to one of your -- you know, colleagues, Senator Schumer there in Kyiv, yesterday.

Senator, what do you think is actually going to happen with this bill? It's all anybody here can talk about. Even soldiers on the front line are basically looking at their phones when they can to see whether this bill is going to pass or not, because they are short of everything.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): Well, Christiane, failure is not an option here, because this is a historic moment. Chuck Schumer and colleagues are there to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people. And it's essential that the House Speaker Johnson, now bring up for a vote. The bill to ask the United States Senate 70 out of 100 votes, a big bipartisan vote, because senators recognize this was a historic hinge moment.

And not only the future of Ukraine is on the line, which is extremely important, but the larger battle against authoritarian is -- authoritarianism is on the line. We can be sure that both friend and foe are watching very carefully. Friends, to see whether or not we will abandon the people of Ukraine, and therefore, diminish the credibility of our own guarantees to our friends and foes, watching for the same reason. To see if the United States betrays the people of Ukraine and cuts and runs at this very important moment.

AMANPOUR: For the American people who may be listening, can you just be more specific? This is obviously as Ukraine says, they are right here. The battlefield between the democratic world and the autocratic world. And they have said to us, you know, it's one thing for allies to voice support for them, it's another to actually provide the means to keep defending it. What would it look like if America does not do that, and Putin does win?

You mentioned President Xi, you mentioned, you know, the other adversaries and challenges?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, what it would mean is that the Ukrainian soldiers will fight on, but they won't have the ammunition to succeed. And what has been a strategic failure for Putin could turn into a win for Putin.

You know, right now, everybody remembers that he wanted to march into Kyiv when he first started this war. He failed. We've expanded NATO to include Finland and soon Sweden.

But if the United States cuts and runs, and Putin ends up succeeding, and being perceived by the world is succeeding, what that will mean for Americans is the world will be much less safe for democracy, for the rule of law, and for sovereignty, whether it's Ukraine, sovereignty, or questions of sovereignty of other allies around the world.

So, this is why we know that, you know, President Xi is keeping one eye on Ukraine as he keeps another eye on Taiwan, because all of this boils down to is the credibility of, in one case, U.S. partnership, in this effort with our NATO allies to support. Ukraine, and the other with our allies in East Asia and other places around the world.

AMANPOUR: I just spoke to the U.S. ambassador here, Ambassador Brink. and she basically told me that it's very possible that Ukraine could lose this if it doesn't get the wherewithal to fight. And I just wondered, I had Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska on the panel in Munich. And he is a Republican, saying that he believes that the U.S. will end up doing the right thing.

democracy is messy, he said, but he believes that this will eventually be passed.

Do you share that belief? And if you do, when do you think the earliest could be?

VAN HOLLEN: I do share to that belief, because I know that if Speaker Johnson would allow the Senate Bill with support for Ukraine to come for a vote in the House, I know it would pass on the House. So, the question is whether, you know, Speaker Johnson wants to be complicit in giving Putin a victory, a win, at this historic moment or not.

And I do continue to have confidence that at the end of the day, the House will do the right thing that enough members of the House will demand a vote because of this historic moment that we find ourselves in.

So, exactly when Christiane, I don't -- I don't know. Obviously, time is of the essence. As you mentioned, you've got Ukrainian soldiers literally checking their phones from the frontlines to see whether or not we'll be suddenly more ammunition so that you continue to fight against Putin's aggression.

[13:25:04]

AMANPOUR: Can I just quickly switch direction. We've got 30 seconds left, but something you are also very interested in. And the -- what is your assessment of Prime Minister Netanyahu's whose post-war plan for Gaza, et cetera? Complete security control indefinitely and the like?

VAN HOLLEN: Right. Well, once again, we see Prime Minister Netanyahu totally disregarding the position of the president of United States, President Biden, because, essentially, what he is doing is throwing the idea of a future possibility of a two-state solution under the bus. And, of course, also my important relations with his neighbors like Egypt.

So, this is again, you have Prime Minister Netanyahu, listening to the most extreme, far-right members of his government. People like Smotrich, people like Ben-Gvir.

AMANPOUR: OK.

VAN HOLLEN: They are clearly running the show. And it's bad news for Israel. It's bad news for the United States. It's bad news for Palestinians. It's bad news for the world.

AMANPOUR: On that note, Senator Van Hollen, thank you very much indeed.

VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Still to come. With U.S. support for Ukraine in limbo right now, the pressure is mounting for European countries to keep the money flowing.

The former prime minister of Sweden joins me next on where the war fatigue is starting to set in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:30:37]

WHITFIELD: Today's second anniversary of the war in Ukraine takes on new significance for one restaurant, right in the center of New York City in the Ukrainian community.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us live from the Veselka Restaurant.

Polo, tell us more about this restaurant and what people are thinking and feeling there today.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Fred, it's important for now that when that initial sound of sirens that marks that initial round of bombing over the Ukrainian capital, that sent shockwaves throughout Ukrainian-American communities here the U.S.

But especially here in Manhattan's East Village, in Veselka. If you visited the region, if you live here, you know it very well. For the last nearly 70 years, it's been serving more than just Ukrainian food staples, like perogies.

This has been really a rally point for Ukrainian-Americans, a source of not only resistance supporting Ukrainian people, but also for Ukrainian aid.

And it's important when out that it continues to do so. In fact, it's even become a main character in a recently released documentary. And in that, you find some pretty remarkable stories.

Including the story of Vitalli, who not only serves as sort of overseeing operations here, but earlier in that invasion, was able to bring his mother here to the United States, with the relative peace of living in the us.

And I want you to hear directly from him the significance of this two- year anniversary, what it means to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VITALLI D, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, VESELKA: Of course, today, the day that marks two years of invasion, there'll be a little, you know, spike in the media. But then after it, it's going to go down.

Let's please not forget that while we are able to be around here and enjoy the peaceful sky, there's the worst still going on in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Really important point that also Vitalli shared with me is the importance of continuing to remind lawmakers, for example, that that Ukrainian aid package that is stuck in limbo, this is certainly something that they would like to build momentum on.

But it's certainly not stopping folks at this restaurant. They have already been able to gather well over half a million hours in aid and support.

Not only people of Ukraine, but also some of the Ukrainians who have settled temporarily here in the United States as well -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, in New York City, thank you so much.

Let's get back to Christiane Amanpour in Ukraine.

Christiane?

AMANPOUR: Fred, thank you.

And just to pick up from what Polo was reporting, whether it's culinary, whether it's history, whether it's novels, this culture here is being defended very, very much by everybody here.

Because, because they want to stand up and prove that Putin is wrong, you know, when he says there is no Ukraine, there is no Ukrainian separate nation, there are no Ukrainian people, they are all part of Russia.

So it's really interesting to see that cultural interlude there.

Now with me now is Carl Bildt. He's the former prime minister of Sweden and now co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

So you have a huge amount of experience in this -- in this kind of thing. You were a high representative in post-war Bosnia. And I just wonder what you make of the situation that the world is in right now, this two-year mark. But also, do you see it as a turning point?

CARL BILDT, CO-CHAIR, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I started to say that's an important situation.

Because, if Putin were to get away with what he's trying to do -- as you said, he's been very explicit -- is not a question of NATO, Donbass or whatever. It's a question of getting rid of Ukraine because Ukraine doesn't have a right to exist independent of Russia.

He gets away with that, it's extremely bad for Ukraine. Needless to say, it's extremely bad for Europe. But also send full signals to thugs all over the world that, can Putin get away with this, we could get away with whatever.

And then it has profound implications for global stability. So it's far more than just Ukraine that's at stake.

AMANPOUR: So today, the E.U. president will soon land with a group of international prime ministers, allies of Ukraine came here.

But she said, you know, Ukrainian soldiers on this battlefield have saved Europe, not just Ukraine, but all of Europe in the last two years. And frankly, as this war has been going on for 10 years. Talk about that.

BILDT: That is, of course, true. This war has got varying different versions. They are full-scale, trying to get rid of all of the nations. It is two years. And the war ain't over.

[13:35:02]

They have been fighting for Ukraine. They are fighting for Europe. They are fighting for global stability. They fight for the national order.

But that fight continues. Mr. Putin hasn't given up. His playing his hope on things might happen in different parts of the world, in different countries without going into the details of that.

And that is why it's important that we stay the course, intensify and strengthen the support for Ukraine, do more in order to support the brave people who are risking their lives and losing their lives.

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: So why don't you don't want to -- and losing their lives, and we've been speaking to them. And as we said, they're out of many -- they're out of a lot of the ammunition they need as well as the slow delivery of a lot of the weapons systems.

But I want to ask you to discuss the relative aid supplies to Ukraine. Some in the United States, but particularly in the so-called MAGA wing of the House of Representatives, believe that the U.S. is shot during too much of a burden.

But these graphs show a really interesting story because, yes, the U.S. is providing the most military aid, but by a longshot, the E.U. and institutions in Europe are providing the bulk of actual financial aid. So just explain to an American audience what -- what -- what this

means.

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: Are you shouldering your burden, in other words?

BILDT: Well, I mean, we could do more and I think we will do more. But it's right, as you say, by far the largest amounts of money is coming from the European Union countries and the U.K. by far.

And then we have others, Japan, international financial institutions. The U.S. is particularly important in the military side.

But we should not forget that war is a very costly thing. And is not only artillery ammunition, because it's paying soldiers, paying the nurses, having the hospitals running, the railroads, the schools.

If society collapses because of lack of money, the front line will collapse.

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: Is there a risk of -- of the government not being able to pay those salaries?

BILDT: Not at the moment. But were the financial support to decline, there's a serious risk of that happening.

So absolutely, the military support for the frontline, absolutely important. But we should not forget the support that is necessary for to sustain Ukrainian society.

Because the Russian onslaught has been terrific in -- it's sort of violence and strength. And that needs to be compensated, and we are doing that.

It's -- from our point of view, it's a lot of money if you take the billions. But if you take it as a proportional of our economies, 0.2, 0.3 percent of our economies, can we afford that? We can certainly afford it if the political will is there.

AMANPOUR: That's so interesting because I spoke to U.S. generals who told me, particularly the former commander of NATO, said Ukraine can win, but it depends on the political will, as you've just said, of the U.S. and obviously of everybody else.

BILDT: It depends primarily, of course, on the political will of the Ukrainians. I just want to point that out.

But --

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: But they have the will.

BILDT: Quite --

AMANPOUR: You can see it.

BILDT: -- quite. I mean, it's -- it is -- it's important for us that they are enormously determined --

AMANPOUR: Yes.

BILDT: -- not to give in. They will defend their freedom, their dignity, their sovereignty as long as they can. But of course, they are dependent upon our support.

AMANPOUR: And will -- just quickly, will the E.U. step in where the U.S. is leaving gaps?

BILDT: Well, I wouldn't say step in because that the U.S. -- but you would have a meeting by European leaders, called by President Macron in Paris on Monday.

He wouldn't call the meeting if there would not be new things coming out of that.

AMANPOUR: All right. Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, thank you so much.

Fred, back to you now.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Christiane. We'll check back with you.

Coming up, voters in South Carolina are casting their ballots right now in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. We're there live as Donald Trump and Nikki Haley face-off.

[13:39:04]

Plus, two big Hollywood stars, two very unique medical diagnoses. What we're learning about Comedian Amy Schumer and Television Personality Wendy Williams' health conditions, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here are the top stories were following today.

Voting is underway right now in South Carolina for the Republican primary. Former Governor Nikki Haley is vowing to stay in the race, even if she loses to former President Donald Trump in her home state. Several recent polls show Trump beating Haley by at least 30 percentage points.

And a suspect for the murder of a 22-year-old college student in Athens, Georgia, is in custody. Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested on Friday for felony murder and aggravated assault charges. His brother was also arrested for possessing a fake green card.

The body of Laken Riley was found near the campus of the University of Georgia on Thursday. Police say she was killed by blunt force trauma.

And in the entertainment world, two popular entertainers opening up about serious health conditions, Wendy Williams and now Amy Schumer.

First, we just learned Comedian Amy Schumer revealed that she has a form of Cushing's syndrome brought on by an excess of the hormone cortisol in her body. The "Life and Death" star's condition can cause weight gain, fatigue, moon phase, and other symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.

I want to discuss this more with my next guest, cardiologist and executive director for Piedmont Healthcare, Dr. Jayne Morgan.

Dr. Morgan, great to see you.

So let's begin with Amy Schumer's condition and her announcement of this Cushing's syndrome. Let's start with that. What is Cushing's syndrome?

[13:45:01]

DR. JAYNE MORGAN, CARDIOLOGIST & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PIEDMONT HEALTHCARE: And so it is a difficulty with managing the hormones in your body, but specifically the hormones that lead to us producing cortisol in our body.

And hers seems to be exogenous, meaning it's not a problem with her body producing it. It's that she is receiving steroids outside the body as medications and they are interfering with the production.

And so it's causing an increase of cortisol because of medications that she's receiving, either via her physician or for some other medical --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I see. So it's a conflict when there's something else going on?

MORGAN: It said her body or her treatment. That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: So if you do for treatment, he described it as exogenous. So it's a consequence of treatment.

And how does this happen?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MORGAN: Oftentimes, as someone may be on chronic steroids or people with rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease or autoimmune disorders. There are many disease processes that require steroids as a part of the therapy to control the disease process.

But here's one of the side effects. We don't see it commonly, but you can develop Cushing's syndrome.

WHITFIELD: So what's her journey going to be like?

MORGAN: Well, presumably, they will begin to taper these medications. You cannot stop them cold turkey.

WHITFIELD: OK.

MORGAN: So you have to gradually reduce the dosages of the medications such that she doesn't have any ill effects of being withdrawn from the medication themselves.

But it can be a long and complicated journey and difficult to diagnose as it seems to be with Amy Schumer. She saw multiple physicians, was not able to get to the root cause what was happening with that.

And yet people were noticing the change in her appearance. You can get a more rounded face or you can get fat deposition in your shoulders, in your neck and in your upper torso or a fat deposit on your back between your shoulders.

And presumably, people were noticing these changes in her appearance as well.

WHITFIELD: OK, we're going to wish her well on the journey.

MORGAN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: And now former talk show host, Wendy Williams, a lot of people were wondering, where is she, how she doing? And now her family revealed that she's dealing with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

MORGAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: These are two separate things that don't always coincide with each other.

But tackle for us aphasia. People have heard it more recently because Bruce Willis was diagnosed with having that. But what's going on with her, you think?

MORGAN: So when you look at this frontotemporal dementia is sort of an umbrella term for number of disease processes.

We have two areas of our brain for language. One is called Wernicke's, on the side of our brain, that temporal area, where we actually received information, we receive language.

And the other is Broca's, which is in the front, the frontal area, where we produce language.

This type of dementia impacts both. And so it damages the language centers and you can have aphasia, meaning difficulties speaking.

But it's not only difficulty speaking. You're also having difficulty understanding language. You no longer know the meaning of words. So this is how this can develop.

WHITFIELD: So it's interesting because there have been clips that have been released of kind of a bio-pic for the series on her. Her family says that she was complicit and in agreement with this series.

But then, in her dialogue, she does seem to comprehend what is being said to her and seems to comprehend and intentional about what she's saying.

Do you think those are -- that exhibits maybe the early stages of, or what's likely our viewers to see are people to learn about her condition along the way. Does it only worsen and never really get better?

MORGAN: That is such a great point. As people watch this documentary or this film, there are seven stages, starting with the early stage, going all the way to the final stages.

And you will see that there will be progressive difficulty in utilizing language and understanding language.

But what we generally see as an initial symptom are behavioral symptoms. People tend to lose social graces, have a loss of inhibition, maybe a decrease in personal hygiene.

They can also develop obsessions, obsessive disorders, like hoarding or inability to throw things away, touching objects within their environment, putting objects into their mouth.

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: So huge inappropriate behaviors that are social behaviors that you may notice first in a person with frontotemporal dementia as opposed to Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's generally presents initially with a memory loss as opposed to frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, can present with behavioral issues first and language difficulty.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MORGAN: So those are one of the two hallmarks that really can separate those two.

WHITFIELD: Oh, we're wishing her, she and her family, the best, too, because this is going to be very difficult --

[14:50:01]

MORGAN: It is.

WHITFIELD: -- as you've painted the picture.

Dr. Jayne Morgan, great to see you.

MORGAN: Thank you. WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot.

Oh, and you are our last guest here in this building --

MORGAN: I'm closing it down.

WHITFIELD: -- at the CNN Center. Closing it down. We're not going anywhere as a program, but we are relocating to a completely new physical building. And we just had to let you know.

And let Dr. Jayne Morgan know that you're our last --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: -- live guest here. I appreciate it.

MORGAN: Thank you. It is a --

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: And I will just take it all.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Next time we see you, it will be at a new --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: All right, very good.

MORGAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right, the most-trendy meat substitutes to eat are mixtures of beans and other plant-based options. We take a bite in todays "START SMALL, THINK BIG."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:55:07]

TYLER HUDGEONS, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, MEATI: At Meati, we are creating a whole new food group.

Mushroom group cutlets are made out of the root structure of mushrooms.

These are Meati cutlets and our midi steaks. The same sort of cooking and eating experience as you would find from conventional meat.

Meati cutlets are really nutrient dense, has nearly 25 percent of your daily fiber, nearly 25 percent of your protein for the day, with no cholesterol, no saturated fat, very healthy for you.

This is where it all starts. We do a teaspoon of spores, get it growing, and then we put it into the largest tanks. All it really needs to grow is sugar and a few other nutrients.

Then we harvest it. From here, it'll go towards where we form into the different columns.

We start with a teaspoon of spores. That whole process takes about four days to produce a meat equivalent to several hundred cows and ultimately will be able to produce tens of millions of pounds out of this one facility.

In total, it's just a fraction of the water energy and land footprint of traditional protein and meat production.

So when we set out on this journey, we set a bar of global positive impact. How do we create more nutrition in a more sustainable way? We now have a blueprint. That's what we've done here at Meati. And that's what I'm so passionate about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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