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Amanpour
Ukrainian Pilot Nears Death in Russian Jail; Oscar Winning Film Highlights Alzheimer's; Imagine a World
Aired March 06, 2015 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, I'm Christiane Amanpour. Welcome to the special weekend edition of our program.
Coming up, we'll explore how to care for our loved ones with dementia in the wake of Julianne Moore's Oscar winning film, "Still Alice."
And we check out a sane new world with comedian and wannabe brain scientist, Ruby Wax.
But first we look back at the assassination of Russia's leading opposition figure, Boris Nemtsov.
At his funeral in Moscow this week, thousands turned out to mourn him and perhaps the very idea of democracy itself. While the British
government sent the former prime minister, John Major, several E.U. politicians and Russia's jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny were
barred from the ceremony.
And as the ramifications of Nemtsov's death play out at home and across the world, another controversial case may be nearing a fatal
conclusion in a Russian jail. And it's sure to spark more outrage and more condemnation of the Kremlin.
Nadiya Savchenko is a Ukrainian military pilot, who's seen here last month. She's been on hunger strike now for more than 80 days. President
Petro Poroshenko this week awarded her the country's highest honor, Hero of Ukraine. And his government has accuses Russia of kidnapping her while
Moscow accuses her of responsibility in the deaths of two Russian journalists in Eastern Ukraine.
But can the Kremlin afford to let her die? Her lawyer tells me her time is running out. First, we get more on the extraordinary story of
Nadiya Savchenko from CNN's Diana Magnay in Kiev.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The songs of the Ukrainian devout in a Kiev cathedral, mothers praying for children caught
between the two sides. Maria Savchenko's daughter, Nadiya, is on hunger strike in a Russian jail. She's very weak after 80 days without food. She
needs her mother's prayers.
MARIA SAVCHENKO, NADIYA'S MOTHER (through translator): I told her, "Nadiya, I think people are supportive. And as a nation born here, we
didn't have (INAUDIBLE). And because I'm 77 years old, I'm asking you to stop the hunger strike because we have a big struggle ahead of us."
MAGNAY (voice-over): But Savchenko isn't the type to stop. She was the only female soldier to serve with Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq.
When her unit wasn't assigned to the front lines in the east of Ukraine, she took time off to go as a volunteer, joining forces with her
comrades from the Maidan protests, to form one of Ukraine's notorious volunteer battalions, Azov. Her sister, Vera, shares her fighting spirit.
VERA SAVCHENKO, NADIYA'S SISTER (through translator): Why do we spend so much energy trying to persuade Nadiya to stop her hunger strike when we
should instead be persuading the Kremlin to release innocent people?
MAGNAY (voice-over): Russia has kept Nadiya in pretrial detention for eight months now, ever since she went missing shortly after this video was
posted on social media last June. It shows Savchenko being interrogated by pro-Russian rebels, cuffed to the railings. But she is unflinching.
"Did you come out here for the money?" she's asked.
"No. I swore an oath to the Ukrainian people to protect them and this country's territorial integrity."
"Against who?"
"Against Russia," she says.
Russia accuses her of being behind the killings of two Russian journalists hit by mortar fire at a checkpoint in Eastern Ukraine. They
say she then crossed into Russia and sought asylum, which is when they detained her. Kiev says she was kidnapped from Ukrainian territory.
In a letter from jail, Savchenko denies involvement in the journalists' deaths, saying they came under friendly fire. And speaking to
reporters from jail last month, she tells of the support she's had from within Russia itself.
"I've very rarely spoken to Russian people before," she says. "But now I've received letters from you. I understand you have your own
reasoning. You understand and feel what's right and wrong. You don't think we're your enemies and we don't think you are ours."
But she's clearly an enemy to some. And on a day when Ukrainians wept for the murdered Kremlin critic, Boris Nemtsov, they prayed for the release
of their captured pilot.
Savchenko has said that she will continue her hunger strike until she's released back to Ukraine or she will die in a Russian jail. She has
become something of a national hero in this country, a symbol of Russia's supposed oppression of the Ukrainian people -- Diana Magnay, CNN, Kiev.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Savchenko's lawyer joined me from Moscow earlier this week, saying that she is determined not to surrender and she wants to await her
trial out of jail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Mark Feygin, welcome to the program.
Mr. Feygin, when did you see your client and what state is she in now?
FEYGIN (through translator): I saw her just now. She is not in the best condition; 80 days of hunger strike and she is close to the condition
where we won't be able to help her anymore.
She's lying down most of the time, despite this is a hospital. They inject her some medication. She uses medication in liquid form. Her
internal organs are sore at the moment.
She -- they have started some morphological changes in her body, irreversible changes, to do with the kidneys, stomach and other organs.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Feygin, it sounds like she's close to death. You're describing a process of general shutdown of vital organs.
Do you believe that she will survive until her May trial?
FEYGIN (through translator): No, no way she can survive until the trial in May under these conditions of the hunger strike, under no
conditions is this possible. It is not my assessment; this is the assessment of the doctors.
AMANPOUR: What exactly does she want?
FEYGIN (through translator): At the moment, her demand is simple: she considers that she's innocent, that she has been for eight months in
prison unlawfully. She wants to leave prison to -- and to have any other form of pretrial detention. But not -- but not the prison. This is what
she's insisting on.
AMANPOUR: You're her lawyer; do you believe the Russian state will allow that, the judiciary will allow it?
And do you believe that Putin can afford to see her die in prison, especially after the killing of Nemtsov?
FEYGIN (through translator): There is no judicial system, no independent court. It is not independent from the authorities. It takes
decision under the pressure of the Kremlin, so you need to convince Kremlin to make a decision to free Savchenko.
Whether Putin will take this decision or not will depend on the level of Western pressure on him.
AMANPOUR: Mark Feygin, we'll continue to watch and follow this case. Thank you for joining me tonight.
FEYGIN (through translator): Thank you, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: On Wednesday, after our interview, a Russian court ruled against Savchenko's release. International officials are speaking out
against that decision, the E.U. foreign affairs chief calling her detention illegal and asking Moscow to let her go on humanitarian grounds.
And by the end of this week, we heard new reports from Russia that Savchenko has agreed to eat some chicken soup but that she remains in a
very grave condition.
Nadiya Savchenko fighting for her freedom and her life.
And coming up, another battle, a battle within. Imagine fighting for your memory, fighting to hold onto your identity, a powerful film
highlights a disease which affects millions of people around the world. That's next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.
The Oscar winning film, "Still Alice," opens here in the U.K. cinemas this weekend and around Europe this month. It is the story of an American
linguistics professor who learns at the age of 50 that she has early onset Alzheimer's disease.
(VIDEO CLIP, "STILL ALICE")
AMANPOUR: Julianne Moore's performance as Professor Alice Howland won her the Academy Award for Best Actress about two weeks ago and she said
that she's pleased to be able to shine a light on this darkness.
Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. By 2050 it's estimated that 135 million people around the world will be affected by
dementia.
Joy Watson joins me in the studio now to talk about the frightening real-life changes and challenges she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's around
18 months ago, and she is now a campaigner for more awareness and care.
Joy, thank you for joining me.
JOY WATSON, ALZHEIMER'S PATIENT AND CAMPAIGNER: You're welcome.
AMANPOUR: Do you think that the film is an accurate portrayal of how you were when you were first diagnosed?
WATSON: Most definitely, yes. It's very, very accurate. When I actually viewed the film, it was like seeing myself on the big screen.
AMANPOUR: What happened with your story?
You were diagnosed, as I said, about 18 months ago.
How did you know that something was up?
WATSON: I think my husband noticed before me. I was just putting everything down to clumsiness. I would bump into things and drop things.
But it wasn't until we actually got proper diagnosis that we realized that it was Alzheimer's.
AMANPOUR: And when you were diagnosed, when they told you that, you're a young woman, what did you think? How did you feel?
WATSON: I don't think I thought anything. I just went blank. Yes, I just didn't hear anything the consultant said after the diagnosis. It
wasn't until I was on my way home in the car that I suddenly said to myself, "I've got Alzheimer's. Oh, dear. I've got Alzheimer's."
AMANPOUR: Frightening?
WATSON: Very frightening, more so for me, because I've nursed people with dementia all my life. So I've seen good practice, bad practice. So I
had a really good idea of what might lie ahead.
AMANPOUR: I want to play another clip from the film. It's when Alice's daughter asks her about the disease.
(VIDEO CLIP, "STILL ALICE")
AMANPOUR: Do you relate to that?
WATSON: Ah, 100 percent, yes. That's got to be for me one of the most poignant parts in the film by I can just empathize and see myself. I
don't actually see it as words hanging there; for me, it's like all my words being in a fishbowl and I'm dipping in to get them and I can never
get the right one.
AMANPOUR: You are now a campaigner. Did you suddenly that's what I'm going to do or did you sort of hit rock bottom before you came to this
awareness?
WATSON: I definitely hit rock bottom. For the two months after my diagnosis, I just was so depressed to the point of being suicidal. I just
didn't see any point in getting up in the morning. I just felt that, you know, what's the reason for living really.
But then it came to me having to make a decision. I could either sit on the sofa all day and feel sorry for myself or I could get out there and
make a difference. And I chose the latter.
AMANPOUR: And what difference are you trying to make? I know you and your husband are campaigning, for instance, to make your own town, Echols
(ph), a sort of dementia-friendly town.
What does that mean?
WATSON: I think it means just alerting people, anyone, the taxi services, the supermarkets, the cafes to just realize that they can do just
a little bit to help people living with dementia and the carers.
AMANPOUR: Would you like to see in a supermarket, for instance, how could they --
WATSON: Well, the very first thing would be to remove all those black mats from the entrances because, to me, a big black mat at the entrance of
a store is a black hole. So me trying to negotiate around a black hole, people behind me get very impatient. "Come on, what are you doing? Move
along there."
AMANPOUR: That's extraordinary. I mean, to us, it's a black mat. And to you it's a terrifying abyss.
WATSON: Exactly.
AMANPOUR: You have spent, as you said, most of your life caring for people with dementia.
WATSON: I have, yes.
AMANPOUR: Is care good enough in this country?
WATSON: It's improving. But we've got a long way to go. I mean, the Alzheimer's Society are just amazing in what they're introducing. But my
dream is to have a community where we've got our own little center, where we've got bungalows that are really adapted for younger people. There's
lots and lots out there for older people.
AMANPOUR: You know, the prime minister has said that he wants to pour a lot of money and a lot of effort into making Great Britain the sort of
center for studies on dementia and how to properly care for it.
Do you feel good about that?
WATSON: Yes. I was actually there when he announced that. It was really exciting to hear him say it. So folks like us will probably hold
him to it. Yes, I think it's really positive.
AMANPOUR: Hold him to it; that's what elections are for. And that's what your campaign is for.
WATSON: Exactly.
AMANPOUR: Thank you, Joy. Thanks very much indeed.
An inspirational story indeed. And just ahead, we continue to focus on the brain; after all, it is the body's most vital organ. A performer
and author using comedy to tackle staying sane in our information overload world -- Ruby Wax, next.
But as we do take a break, let's just play another clip of Julianne Moore portraying the battle with Alzheimer's.
(VIDEO CLIP, "STILL ALICE")
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
AMANPOUR: And finally tonight, it comes at us from all sides. Imagine a world of people so buffeted by the relentless barrage of
information from TV, from our emails, from our phones that we start succumbing to information overload, a condition that is now officially
recognized as being detrimental to our mental health.
Now imagine that it's possible to stay afloat in this sea of anxiety and stress. That is the latest performance science from Ruby Wax, the
writer, comedian and mental health campaigner who's on stage here in London's West End, talking about mindfulness and this week I asked her for
some tips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AMANPOUR: Ruby Wax, welcome to the program.
RUBY WAX, COMEDIAN AND AUTHOR: Thank you.
AMANPOUR: "Sane New World" -- is this like a self-help book?
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: No.
AMANPOUR: -- wide world?
WAX: No. I think self-help is more think positive, embrace, hug your inner elf.
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: -- workshop, yes.
But what I did was I was so curious about the brain, I went to Berkeley when I was young but of course they couldn't look in. It was
corpses -- not interested.
AMANPOUR: You did a further degree on this.
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: I was so curious, yes, and I needed more material for my comedy.
AMANPOUR: I was going to say, where does comedy meet neuroscience?
WAX: It doesn't really. But I needed a niche.
(LAUGHTER)
WAX: So I was so interested I wanted to know not only how does it function but how do you regulate it because this is the next zeitgeist, is
that we'll learn to kind of like a car, put it in neutral, put it behind; if you know it's chemicals, there are ways to lower it. There will be
biofeedback someday. Kids should really know how to lower it, otherwise their little brains will burn out before an exam.
AMANPOUR: So when you say taming the mind, what do you think is the biggest danger for all of us in the future?
WAX: The statistics are that in 2020, it's going to be stress that wipes us out. We'll get a cure for many, many things; the world will go
on. But if we don't watch it, our own thinking will knock us out.
AMANPOUR: And stress, to me, it seems, has gone from adults who generally are the repositories of stress to children. I mean, children,
you can see a whole new generation is growing up super wired and super stressed.
WAX: Yes. Well, there wasn't cutting when I was growing up. So clearly something's being exasperated (sic). And I say great, you got them
those test results. But call me when they're 50 and they're in an institution because you're burning their little neurons out right now. And
it'll have repercussions. There'll be madness.
AMANPOUR: You talk a lot about -- and I hope I get it right -- neuroplasticity.
WAX: Yes.
AMANPOUR: And you use comedy to be able to relate this to an audience, a lay audience.
How does comedy and science work?
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: I don't think it has done before. I know Bill Bryson does it with the history of the world, who's my hero, so I think the only way you
can make something that sophisticated, palatable, is if you make people laugh, it's the greatest foreplay on Earth. And then they can swallow --
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: I agree.
WAX: -- neuroplasticity.
Yes. Well, you know, how to do that.
(LAUGHTER)
WAX: So the thing is I don't know why this isn't the word du jour, you know, why it is not every CNN --
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: The point is we used to think that we came in hardwired, that we were set in stone. And this is the way we work. This is me.
But they can see now the brain keeps shifting. It's malleable because it depends on the experience. So I'm not saying if you're not a nice guy,
you ain't going there. But we have much more elbow room than everybody thought. You know, if you keep saying I'm a victim, I'm shy, you are
embedding that image and you start to confuse your habits of thinking with who you are.
AMANPOUR: Comedy obviously works. You said it's the greatest foreplay. But comedy is such a wonderful entree into so many funny but
also serious things.
Do you think comedy could sort of disarm the deniers and make global warming more palatable?
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: No, I'm not saying let's cure the world. I'm saying cure yourself.
AMANPOUR: Right.
WAX: You know. And then if you do --
AMANPOUR: And then cure the world.
WAX: -- we work like a ripple effect. We work like neuro wi-fi. I'm not responsible for that. But if I can hit you with my oxytocin to make
you feel calmer, then you'll make the next person and the next person and there is a ripple effect.
So my job is just to create rapport with whoever I'm with because this is what goes wrong in organizations.
AMANPOUR: Have we just moved on as a society to be able to really accept the brain?
WAX: This is the thing. I think they should teach kids to understand not the complicated stuff, but to understand when their fear levels are
high -- and in this culture, from 24-hour news, our little brain doesn't know if there's danger behind us or something's happening 20,000 miles
away.
We're constantly besieged by this --
AMANPOUR: It makes one feel --
(CROSSTALK)
WAX: -- wired and helpless.
AMANPOUR: -- helpless.
WAX: Yes. And I think so that is the --
AMANPOUR: So what's the answer, then, since everybody is wired?
WAX: I think you have to look in and see what the effect is. Don't give yourself a whipping for it, because we all have the same plumbing, but
to really understand, this is riling me.
And then there are methods now -- cognitive therapy's good -- to be able before you take an exam or before I do this interview to lower my
adrenaline so that I'm available to talk to you, because if we're all like this, especially in business, you lock antlers and it's a waste of time and
money.
AMANPOUR: "Sane New World," on here in London right now. I'm going to see it next week. You've given me a really good taste of what we're
going to see. Ruby Wax, thank you very much indeed.
WAX: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Sane advice for living in our wild world.
That's it for our program tonight. And remember you can always see the whole show online at amanpour.com, and follow me on Facebook and
Twitter. Thanks for watching and goodbye from London.
END
