>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY. WE'RE BACK WITH ANDERSON COOPER
VIA SATELLITE FROM LVIV, UKRAINE.
IN MOMENTS LIKE THIS, IN HUGE CRISES LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY
OVERSEAS, WHERE CNN HAS THE RESOURCES TO COVER A STORY LIKE
THIS, WE LOOK TO CNN BECAUSE NOBODY DOES THIS STORY BETTER
THAN Y'ALL. BUT I'M CURIOUS, AS SOMEBODY
WHO'S COVERED A LOT OF WARS, HOW DO YOU AVOID THE "FOG OF WAR,"
WHEN SO MUCH IS GOING ON, SO MUCH MISINFORMATION SPREAD BY
THE OPPOSING FORCES, WHEN SO MUCH OF THIS FIGHTING IS, IF NOT
GUERILLA STYLE, CERTAINLY NONCONVENTIONAL IN THEIR
RESISTANCE, HOW DO YOU VET WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AND MAKE SURE
YOU'RE NOT LOSING THE TRUTH IN THE FLAG OF WAR HERE.
>> YEAH, AND THE OLD SAYING IS THE TRUTH IS THE CASUAL OF WAR.
THAT IS CERTAINLY THE CASE. IT CERTAINLY HELPS TO HAVE AN
INCREDIBLE ORGANIZATION LIKE CNN WITH INDIVIDUALS IN ODESSA AND,
YOU KNOW, ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES.
I'M IN RELATIVE SAFETY OF LVIV, BUT RISKING THEIR LIVES EVERY
SINGLE DAY TO FIND THE FACTS AND TO BE GOING OUT, SEEING WHAT'S
HAPPENING AND REPORTING THAT AND, YOU KNOW, SARAH'S AT THE
BORDER AND SEES THINGS, SEES PEOPLE GOING THE OPPOSITE WAY.
SHE GOES UP AND TALKS TO THEM AND THEY ARE AMERICANS AND
OTHERS WHO ARE DECIDING TO FIGHT IN UKRAINE.
IT IS OLD-FASHIONED REPORTING, AND IT IS VERY BRAVE WHAT THEY
ARE DOING, AND I THINK THAT'S ESSENTIAL BECAUSE THERE IS SO
MUCH MISINFORMATION. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE RESOURCES,
OBVIOUSLY, THAT WE ALL SEE VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA, YOU CAN NOW
GEOLOCATE VIDEO TO TRY TO ASCERTAIN EXACTLY IS IT WHAT THE
SENDER OF THIS VIDEO IS SAYING IT IS.
BUT WE ARE DEVOTING A HUGE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES TO COVERING
THIS FROM AS MANY COUNTRIES AS POSSIBLE, AND I THINK THAT'S
ESSENTIAL. I THINK IT'S -- YOU KNOW, IN
ALEPPO IN SYRIA, IN WHICH, YOU KNOW, RUSSIA WAS DROPPING BARREL
BOMBS, WHICH JUST OBLITERATED COMMUNITIES, THEY WERE ABLE TO
GET AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH REPORTERS ON THE
GROUND. THERE WERE A LOT OF BRAVE
REPORTERS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE GOT KILLED THERE AS WELL
REPORTING, BUT, YOU KNOW, CHECHNYA, IN 1995, I WAS A
FREELANCE REPORTER, A ONE-MAN BAND, I WAS SCARED TO GO TO
GROZNA, IT WAS SO BRUTAL, THE WORLD DIDN'T SEE WHAT WAS GOING
ON THERE ON A DAILY BASIS. AT LEAST WE CAN SEE WHAT'S
HAPPENING HERE. NO ONE CAN SAY THEY DON'T KNOW
WHAT'S GOING ON. NO ONE CAN SAY THEY DON'T KNOW
RUSSIA IS LYING TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
NO ONE CAN SAY THEY'RE NOT TARGETING CIVILIANS.
WE HAVE SEEN THIS, IT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED, ALREADY.
IT IS THE THING I THINK THAT DRIVES EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO BE
HERE COVERING THIS IS TO BEAR WITNESS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING
BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN PEOPLE DYING IN SILENCE.
>> Stephen: AS YOU SAY, LIFE IN LVIV IS RELATIVELY EACEFUL
COMPARED TO THE REST TO HAVE THE COUNTRY, BUT THERE ARE
1.5 MILLION UKRAINIANS HAVE FLED ACROSS THE BORDER, 200,000 ARE
INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN AND AROUND LVIV AND 50,000 REFUGEES
PASS THROUGH THE TRAIN STATION THERE EVERY DAY.
WHAT ARE THEY EXPERIENCING AS THEY FLEE WEST?
WHAT KIND OF HELP ARE THEY GETTING RIGHT NOW?
>> IT IS HELLSH FOR PEOPLE GETTING OUT.
IF YOU ARE IN KHARKIV, IF YOU ARE IN KYIV, THERE ARE TRAINS
THAT COME, THE SCHEDULING IS HARD, SO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE ARE JUST WAITING AROUND FOR A TRAIN AND, WHEN IT COMES,
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE RUSH THE TRAIN AND, YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE ARE,
YOU KNOW -- IN UKRAINE, PEOPLE ARE TOGETHER AND UNIFIED AND
PEOPLE WANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO GET ON THE TRAIN FIRST, AS IT
SHOULD BE, AND MEN HAVE TO STAY BEHIND.
MANY MEN COME TO BRING THEIR WIVES OR THEIR CHILDREN ON TO
THE TRAINS, BUT THESE TRAINS ARE PACKED.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S TOO MANY PEOPLE TRYING TO GET OUT,
THERE'S NO SEATING AND IT CAN TAKE HOURS AND HOURS AND THEN,
YOU KNOW, DAYS EVEN GETTING TO THE BORDER.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE A CAR, YOU'RE IN LINE FOR 24 HOURS OR
48 HOURS, HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES, DEPENDING ON WHAT BORDER
CROSSING YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE AND, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE SEPARATED
FROM YOUR HUSBAND, YOUR LOVED ONES YOU'RE LEAVING BEHIND.
SOMETIMES IT'S MOTHERS CARRYING SICK KIDS.
I TOLD YOU I WAS AT A CANCER WARD IN LVIV WHERE CHILDREN
WITH, I MEAN, REALLY SEVERE CANCERS, STOMACH CANCER, BRAIN
CANCER, WHO WERE BEING TREATED IN BASEMENTS IN KYIV UNDER
BOMBARDMENT. THEIR DOCTORS ARE SAYING, LOOK,
YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE YOUR CHILD FURTHER WEST TO ACTUALLY GET
TREATMENT, AND THERE'S NO AMBULANCES TO TAKE THEM.
THERE'S NO, YOU KNOW, SPECIALIZED CARE VEHICLES TAKING
THESE KIDS. IT'S MOTHERS CARRYING THEIR KIDS
WITH REALLY SEVERE CANCERS ON A PACKED TRAIN WHERE THEY HAVE TO
JUST HOLD ON TO THEM AND STAND FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND THEN
THEY GET TO A HOSPITAL IN LVIV AND THERE ARE STILL NOT ENOUGH
SUPPLIES FOR THEM, AND THEN THEY HAVE TO TRY TO GET INTO POLAND
WHERE THEY CAN GET BETTER CARE. SO IT'S JUST AWFUL.
IT'S JUST AWFUL. EVERYBODY HAS A STORY, EVERY
FAMILY HAS BEEN DIVIDED. THERE IS SO MUCH LOSS AND IT'S
ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE AS THIS GOES ON.
>> Stephen: ON FRIDAY, CNN STOPPED BROADCASTING FROM
RUSSIA. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN PRACTICALLY?
>> I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE. I MEAN, I'VE SORT OF BEEN SO
FOCUSED ON HERE, BUT I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT DOES THIS
MEAN. THE RUSSIAN DOUMA PASSED A LAW
THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN PUT THROUGH BASICALLY OUTLAWING ACTUAL
REPORTING ON THE WAR. YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T CALL THE
WAR A WAR THERE, THEY DON'T CALL THE INVASION AN INVASION, THEY
SAY THEY ARE NOT TARGETING OR KILLING CIVILIANS.
SO ANY ACTUAL, FACTUAL REPORTING OF IT, FROM OUR READING SO FAR
OF THIS LAW, SEEMS LIKE THAT CAN BE LABELED AS FAKE REPORTING
AND, THEREFORE, YOU CAN BE TARGETED AND PUNISHED AND A
REPORTER CAN BE JAILED FOR MANY YEARS.
SO AT THIS POINT, AS FAR AS I KNOW, A LOT OF NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS HAVE STOPPED REPORTING.
I THINK THE "WASHINGTON POST" HAVE STOPPED PUTTING REPORTERS'
NAMES ON ARTICLES. EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO ASSESS
WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS AND WHERE THIS KIND OF GOES, BUT
IT'S CERTAINLY AN INDICATION OF VLADIMIR PUTIN'S ATTEMPT TO
CONTROL INFORMATION, AND, YOU KNOW, I SAW THIS VIDEO OF THIS
LITTLE OLD LADY ON THE STREETS IN RUSSIA AT A PROTEST.
SHE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN FIVE FEET TALL.
SHE WAS IN HER '80s. SHE HELD UP TWO HANDMADE SIGNS
PROTPROTESTING THE WAR, AND SHES WHISKED OFF THE STREETS AND
ARRESTED BY RUSSIAN RIOT POLICE. TO ME, IT WAS THE MOST
INCREDIBLE IMAGE BECAUSE I THOUGHT THIS, YOU KNOW, VLADIMIR
PUTIN WHO LIKES TO APPEAR HALF NAKED RIDING AROUND ON A HORSE
OR IN HIS BLACK BELT DOING JUDEOAS A TOUGH GUY IS SCARED OF
AN 80-SOMETHING-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WHO IS SIMPLY STANDING ON A
STREET HOLDING UP A SIGN PROTESTING A WAR.
SO ME, THIS KIND OF A LAW IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS AND A SIGN OF
FEAR AND A SIGN OF THE REALITY OF THE DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
THAT RUSSIA WAGES. >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A
BREAK. WHEN WE COME BACK, I'LL ASK
ANDERSON ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING A
WITNESS TO WAR. STICK AROUND.