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New Day

Russian Restaurants in U.S. Take Hit; Key Inflation Measure Hits 40-Year High; Veronika Didusenko Shares Her Story of Escape from Kyiv. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 10, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:27]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Alex Marquardt, live in Ukraine for CNN's special live coverage.

Just in to CNN, we have new video of the fighting that is underway in this country. The Ukrainian military is claiming it has defeated a Russian tank regiment and eliminated, in their words, its commander. That's the Russian commander.

This is in Brovary, which is northeast of the capital Kyiv. You can see Russian forces that had been approaching in an effort to encircle and cut off that capital city.

Ukrainian anti-tank weapons have held them off, so far, according to Ukraine's military.

Brianna, back to you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alex, thank you so much.

Russian restaurants in New York City have quickly become a target of the anti-Putin backlash, though many of the owners are openly against the war. They have close ties, some of them, to Ukraine. One famous Russian restaurant in midtown, Russian Samovar, is even facing a steep drop in business within 24 hours after the news of the Russian invasion. And that was quickly followed by hate mail, by name calling and nasty online comments.

Joining me now are former Russian refugee Vlada Von Shats. She is the owner and operator of the Russian Samovar Restaurant, and Misha Von Shats, who is a third generation restauranteur of the Russian Samovar Restaurant.

Vlada, and maybe you both can weigh in on this, just tell us about the backlash, how much business you've lost and what people are saying on social media to you.

VLADA VON SHATS, FORMER RUSSIAN REFUGEE, OWNER/OPERATOR RUSSIAN SAMOVAR RESTAURANT: Well, the first day the war broke out, even though we put the flag and stand with Ukraine signs on our doors, our business has dropped drastically. I would say to 60 percent. We started receiving one star reviews on Google, telling us to stop the war, calling us fascists, sending us pictures from Ukraine. Those have been taken down already.

But -- and the phone calls started three, four phone calls a day calling us Nazis. Yesterday I got one wishing our restaurant to burn, calling us names. All of that in English. None of that was done in Ukrainian or Russian.

So, people are misdirecting their anger just because we have the Russian -- word Russian in front of our name they are lashing out. And, you know, it's been tough ever since. We are working as hard as we can to let people know that we are against this war. No Russian American that I know, that I've spoken to is pro-Putin. None of the money that we make here goes to the regime. Everything is taken out of proportions. We --

KEILAR: And, Vlada, I can -- I can see as you're --

V. VON SHATS: Go ahead.

KEILAR: I can see as you're speaking, I can see the pain. I can see the pain on your face. I can hear it in your voices as you're speaking.

You're married to a Ukrainian.

Misha, I know there's so --

V. VON SHATS: I'm married to a Ukrainian.

KEILAR: You are married to a Ukrainian. Your kids are Russian Ukrainian.

And, Misha, I know that even the employees there, so many of them, have ties to Ukraine. I understand that one of the musicians who performs at your restaurant lost a niece last week. Is that right?

V. VON SHATS: I -- I -- we have a lot of Ukrainian -- yes.

MISHA VON SHATS, THIRD GENERATION RESTAURANTEUR, RUSSIAN SAMOVAR RESTAURANT: Yes, I came in on Friday. The first thing I ask is, how is your family? What's going on? I was not expecting by any chance -- by anything by the man coming who I've known for about 10, 15 years crying on my arm saying my niece, my big niece, she's gone.

[08:35:09]

My brother is torn up. You're speechless. You know, you're holding them, consoling them. There's no right words to tell them, you know? And, you know, that really, like, breaks your heart in two. And then you have to show the solidarity for your staff who is, in turn, just like your family. This is a family establishment. And even those that work not for us but with us to make this place as special as it is, it's heart-wrenching to seeing some like that and to be a part of something like that and to see anything we can to help. V. VON SHATS: It's mind boggling.

M. VON SHATS: Yes.

KEILAR: Mind boggling.

And, Vlada, what do you want -- what do you want people to know about making a distinction between Russian American business owners, or Russian Americans, and the Putin regime?

V. VON SHATS: would like them to stop and think, the Russians that live here, they live here for a reason. They escaped. They ran from the regime. The regime, first the Soviet Union, now Putin and the war. We are here because we want to be here. This is our country. We escaped from Russia. We want to --

M. VON SHATS: The oppression.

V. VON SHATS: The oppression. We want them to know that we are here, and we're against the war, we're pro Ukrainians, and we're just a place of entertainment. We just want people to know that this is a place where you go to forget all your trouble. We have music that's gypsy music that reaches your soul. It's a place where you can relax for a minute and get away from the news, get away from the phone calls. And by supporting us, we support our staff that's sending the money back to Ukraine.

M. VON SHATS: (INAUDIBLE).

V. VON SHATS: It's a domino effect. And think because before you call us Nazis, we have Jewish roots. We, you know, we went through (INAUDIBLE) during the Cold War in the '80s and we were called the commies (ph). And that was OK. Now we're called the Nazis, and that hurts. We're not pro-Putin. We are anti-war. We are Russian Ukrainian Jewish Americans, and we want this to stop, please.

M. VON SHATS: Absolutely.

KEILAR: Vlada and Misha, I thank you, both, so much. It's incredible to hear from you.

M. VON SHATS: Thank you.

KEILAR: Thank you for being with us.

V. VON SHATS: Thank you. Thank you.

KEILAR: And more on our breaking news.

We are following some developments in two Ukrainian cities. There's Mariupol, where you've probably seen these images. A hospital hit. A maternity hospital. A children's hospital. We're getting word that Russians are bombing a corridor that is meant for civilians to escape.

And then in Kyiv, heavy fighting is underway around the city. Plus, back here at home, the highly anticipated inflation report is

about to be released any minute now. So we'll be bringing you those numbers.

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[08:41:54]

KEILAR: Breaking here just moments ago, brand-new numbers on inflation. So, let's get straight to CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

All right, what do they say, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They say that inflation is accelerating. These are pre-war numbers as well. So many people had thought we'd see a peak in inflation in March, maybe. Well now we have a war in Russia not captured -- a war in Ukraine not captured here.

Year over year, 7.9 percent is the inflation number. That is a 40-year high. Month over month, up 0.8 percent. That shows it even month to month inflation is accelerating. It is gas. It is shelter. It is food, groceries, all these things you basically can't live without are rising here. So, when you dig into these numbers, you can see just why so many Americans are so sour on the economy, on those opinion polls, it's because they're paying more for just about everything.

Used cars, look at that, Brianna, up 41 percent from last year. Gasoline up 38 percent. And, again, these numbers don't capture the big disruption in the economy from Putin's war in Ukraine.

We'll continue to watch the numbers. But I will say, a lot of economists are hoping that all of that coronavirus relief, some $5 trillion worth of it that flooded into American households savings over the past couple of years, that that may be a bit of a buffer for right now, at least, for these high energy costs and high grocery costs, but it all depends on how long this lasts, and we just don't know the answer to that.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, let's hope. Those are some big numbers behind you there.

Christine, thank you so much.

A former Miss Ukraine takes her young son on a grueling journey for days to escape Russia's invasion and finds safety in a new country. She's going to join us live with her harrowing story, next.

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[08:47:43]

KEILAR: A former Miss Ukraine is sharing her terrifying journey as she fled her home in Kyiv with her seven-year-old son in tow on the first day of Russian's invasion of her homeland. Veronika Didusenko says that she and her son Alex woke up to the sound of air raid sirens and explosions in the early morning hours of February 24th. You can see low-flying Russian helicopters in this video that she took as she and her son began their escape.

It was a multiday journey that took them through four countries before they finally arrived to safety in Switzerland.

And joining me now is Miss Ukraine 2018, Veronika Didusenko.

Veronika, thank you so much for being with us to talk about this.

Can you just tell us what it was like? It sounds like it was incredibly harrowing to escape.

VERONIKA DIDUSENKO, MISS UKRAINE 2018, ESCAPED UKRAINE TWO WEEKS AGO: Hi. Good morning, everyone.

So, yes, it was really -- it -- it -- first of all, invasion of Russia is a big tragedy for Ukraine. And millions of people are fleeing to save their lives to Europe and to United Kingdom and to United States.

It was real horrible to realize it at 5:00 a.m. the worst was target in Kyiv and Russian military started bombing Ukraine. So, I took my son, took my cat, and we just left to -- to the Ukrainian border. And it was a long, long journey. It was big traffic jams on the way to it. And we spent, like, I think, 18 hours driving like 200 kilometers, but some people are spending, for example, on the border of Ukraine, like around 60 hours to get -- to get out.

But I had -- at least I had a chance to leave Ukraine because right now city of Mariupol in Ukraine besieged by Russians and the people, they don't have a -- they don't have humanitarian corridor and people don't have a choice, they can't escape, cannot leave Ukraine, cannot leave Mariupol. People are, like, dying in shelters with no food, with no water. Yesterday the girl died from dehydration there and more than a thousand people were killed in the beginning of the war just in Mariupol.

[08:50:05]

KEILAR: Yes. We -- we know (INAUDIBLE) --

DIDUSENKO: So, I'm good and safe now, but I mean there's -- yes.

KEILAR: But there's so many people who are -- who are facing these struggles. And I'm really glad that you point that out, dehydration, I mean, they're without water, they're without power.

DIDUSENKO: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

KEILAR: I know someone -- someone may be looking and saying, you're in Los Angeles now. I just want to be clear, you had a previously scheduled trip for International Women's Day.

DIDUSENKO: Yes. Yes. KEILAR: And you ultimately decided that you were going to make that trip anyways, but now to talk about what's going on in Ukraine.

DIDUSENKO: Yes.

KEILAR: So, what do you want to tell people about what Ukrainians need?

DIDUSENKO: Yes, so I'm in Los Angeles because of prescheduled trip. But what is more, I'm here to speak about and witness what happened to Ukraine. And I'm going to speak about it. And it's my -- it's my duty to do so. So, Ukraine needs help, desperately, like we need help. We need like weapons supplies, military jets, aircraft, anti-missile systems. We need humanitarian corridors for our people who could -- so that they are able to leave occupied territories.

It's very good move from Biden to stop buying gas from the Russia. So, more sanctions against Russia. Stop buying gas, oil, support the opposition in Russia. Now it's time for Russian people to understand that they are under a totalitarian regime of Putin, basically a terrorist. So, it's informational -- informational support also so the people in Russia understand, where is he leaving (ph) and what's really happening in Ukraine. And, of course, like, financial assistance for Russia and NATO peacekeeping missions.

So, all of these things Ukraine desperately need at the moment.

KEILAR: I know you your son -- you told one of my producers that your son said to his friends after he got out, mommy took me out of Ukraine so I don't get shot by the Russians.

DIDUSENKO: Exactly.

KEILAR: And we now know that about half -- half of the more than 2 million people who have gotten out of Ukraine are kids. What has this been like for him?

DIDUSENKO: So, he understands it is a war. Unfortunately, kids from Ukraine, they know this war, they know what is war like. So military cars, like and so (INAUDIBLE) tanks. So he heard, like, rockets. So he's aware what was happening. And, unfortunately, kids are forced to go through it.

But what is important now to make sure that millions of people who are -- who are living in Ukraine, although there are many, many, like, 38 million stayed in Ukraine to protect their land. All of this amazing people. They don't want to go anywhere. They want to stay there, be united and protect their land, freedom and democracy. So, it is -- that is amazing.

But kids -- mothers and kids who are forced to flee for their lives, they need protection from European Union, they need protection from the United States, they need protection from the United Kingdom and the whole world because they have no home, no food, like no money and, like, it is -- it should be organized to refugees from Ukraine to have peaceful life in -- away from their homes. KEILAR: Yes. And, look, I know like any mother, you just want a

beautiful future for your child. That's what parents in Ukraine want as well.

And, Veronika, I thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

DIDUSENKO: Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you.

KEILAR: Some new video just in to CNN of the aftermath of a Russian attack on a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol. You can see here just the sheer size of the crater that was created by this blast. We're live on the ground in Ukraine next.

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[08:58:44]

KEILAR: An Atlanta man wants to end the silence and stigma around colon cancer and encourage other men to get tested in today's "The Human Factor."

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several people in my family had cancer and a few of them had colon cancer. But they didn't talk about it. So, I didn't know about it. It was a hush-hush thing for some reason.

I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. I was 43 years old at the time.

This album stops here. Men in general don't want to go to the doctor. Black men don't want to go to the doctor. But if you understand that if you just go get checked, then you might be able to get in front of it. I just want people to understand that colon cancer is detectible, is treatable and is beatable. And early detection is key.

At the first chemo treatment, me and my wife was talking, and I was just so determined to beat this. I'm an avid motorcycle rider. We started a Facebook page called Beat Cancer Then Ride. We've vlogged every two weeks on what was going on. We've pretty much videoed the trip to the -- to the doctor's office because when it happens to you, you feel really alone.

I don't have a fear of dying, but I didn't want to leave her. That was my biggest drive, to be cancer free for her and for my boys.

[09:00:03]

I've been really fortunate to be able to beat cancer and ride my motorcycle. And she rides with me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And CNN's coverage continues right now.