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The Amanpour Hour

Interview With Senior Fellow At The Russia And Eurasia Program At The Carnegie Endowment Foaccr International Peace Dara Massicot; Interview With World-Renowned Cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Interview With Civil Rights Lawyer And Founder Of The Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson; Russian "Black Widows" Accused Of Marrying Soldiers For Money: Interview With "A Sad And Beautiful World" Director Cyril Aris; Europe's Long Struggle With Migration; 40 Years Of Spike Lee Films. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 08, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:37]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to THE AMANPOUR HOUR.

Here's where we're headed this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Ukraine makes daring strikes deep within Russia, but struggles under a barrage of Moscow's missiles. How long can it hold out without more support? I asked expert Dara Massicot, just back from Kyiv.

And music with a message. Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and law professor Bryan Stevenson tell me why they're joining forces and asking, what does it mean to be an American?

Then, the Russian black widows allegedly scamming soldiers into marriage so they can get a government payout when they die. A special report from Saint Petersburg.

Also on the program, "A Sad and Beautiful World", the new Beirut based romcom asking a question facing many Lebanese in their battered nation. Should they leave or stay? I asked director, Cyril Aris.

CYRIL ARIS, DIRECTOR, "A SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD: Yes, it is a country that goes through crises and wars and turmoil, but it's also a beautiful country, and we needed to honor that as well.

GOLODRYGA: And as Europe once again grapples with migration, how has it faced this challenge before? From Christiane's archive, what happened when Eastern Europeans flooded West to escape the Soviet Union?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York sitting in for Christiane.

Ukraine continues its deep drone attacks in Russia, striking several warehouses belonging to Wildberries, known as the Russian Amazon. And in one of the most shocking videos of the week, there appeared to be a surprise drone attack on a Black Sea Beach, killing seven people.

A warning this may be disturbing to some viewers.

Russia says Ukraine deliberately targeted civilians, while Ukraine claims Russia shot down the drone over the beach. But while Ukraine's drones are far reaching, increasingly they're fighting without a shield.

Kyiv currently faces the terrifying prospect of running out of missile interceptors, in particular American Patriot missiles.

Just look at these pictures from Wednesday, when at least 17 people were killed after Moscow fired more than two dozen ballistic and anti- ship missiles at Kyiv, and none were intercepted.

President Zelenskyy is imploring allies to help supply his country with the defenses that it sorely needs.

I spoke about all of this with Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She's just returned from a research trip to Ukraine and joined me from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Dara, welcome back to the program.

I'm so curious to hear your insights because there does appear to be consistencies here with these ongoing long-range strikes, the ballistic missiles that Russia keeps targeting towards Kyiv, other civilian populated areas.

From your perspective, how does Moscow view this particular vulnerability, not what's happening on the battlefield, but this as it relates to air defense for Ukraine?

DARA MASSICOT, SENIOR FELLOW, RUSSIA AND EURASIA PROGRAM, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Well, this is a vulnerability that we've been warning about for some time as global Patriot interceptor stockpiles have been treading over time.

Moscow has unfortunately over the last few months started using more ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles against Kyiv and its defense industrial targets.

At first, I thought they didn't quite believe some of the statements that were coming out of Kyiv that they were running low on interceptors. And so, they did smaller scale test salvos, essentially.

And now, we're seeing them execute 30, 20 ballistic missiles against Kyiv and its neighborhoods every night. This problem doesn't have a solution that involves additional Patriot stocks. And I think it's time to consider other ways to reduce Russia's launch capacity.

GOLODRYGA: So, then do you expect to see Russia take advantage of this shortage from Ukraine and continue these types of launches? And how many ballistic missiles does Russia really have, do we know, in its arsenal?

[11:04:45]

MASSICOT: Yes. So, estimates range of monthly production from 50 to 65 or so per month. And Kyiv, unfortunately, is not receiving that type of interceptor in return.

And they've become very efficient over time at hitting Russian missiles, potentially even more efficient than the United States military is in some cases.

But the math is just not favorable when only relying on Patriot to intercept what Russia is increasingly going to turn to.

GOLODRYGA: Let's get to the images that we began this program with. And that is what appears to be a Ukrainian strike at a Black Sea beach resort and a number of Russians are reported to have been injured and killed.

President Zelenskyy said previously that we are quite literally bringing the war back home to Russia.

Is that how Vladimir Putin is feeling it? And do you think he interprets this as perhaps an opportunity to really settle this war in earnest when he has that kind of pressure on him?

MASSICOT: Well, I think there's two campaigns going on. One is the Ukrainian middle strike, which is covering all of occupied Ukraine up into the Russian border and Crimea.

And that's -- that campaign has been quite successful. It has really reduced Russia's ability to move freely along the land corridor to Crimea. Logistics are impacted and will increasingly be impacted.

We do see that Russia is moving to develop countermeasures to that. So, it's on their radar. It is causing problems in the Crimea for electricity, water, fuel, food. So, that that is an issue, I think, that has his attention.

The Ukrainian deep strike into Russia proper, this is the explosions that we're seeing on the refineries and Wildberries.

It is a young campaign. It hasn't been going on for that long. A lot of those drones are intercepted, but some have very successful impacts. It is making the war visible and palpable for Russian citizens.

But as far as I can tell on the front line, the Kremlin believes that it can still achieve its objectives. And it is very comfortable with surging forces, even though they're experiencing remarkable casualty rates right now -- very high Russian casualty rates. The operations, unfortunately, do continue in the Donbas.

GOLODRYGA: And the manpower advantage that Russia still has in this war, that's ultimately led to more and more pressure on President Zelenskyy, in part leading to the upheaval that we saw with regards to leadership in his defense over the last few weeks, where he fired his top general, fired his defense minister.

That led to mass protests on the streets, probably the largest we've seen since the larger-scale invasion of 2022.

Talk to us about who Drapatyi is right now, as now the third top commander of this war, how he differs from his predecessors and what you learned about him from your most recent trip.

MASSICOT: My understanding is that there is a sense of relief that General Drapatyi has the job. I've had the fortune to meet him before, and I find him to be very impressive, both in terms of his previous battlefield successes.

He has a great reputation among the soldiers. And most crucially, I think he has a very good understanding and hands-on understanding of the role of new technology in warfare, like drones and A.I., but how you still need very classical applications of power like infantry and artillery to hold ground.

So, I think he's an excellent choice for this moment for Ukraine. And I wish him luck.

GOLODRYGA: Part of what doomed Syrskyi was not only how he and many interpreted him as viewing too many of these soldiers as expendable. Again, there are a lot of accolades and achievements that he deserves as well for handling this war and he has many of his supporters.

But those who were hoping to see this change right now point to that. They point to allegations of scandals, torture in training camps, dozens of noncombatant deaths.

Does any of that change now? Can you actually make those changes mid- war?

MASSICOT: I think so. And I think it's important to talk about the cultural shift that's ongoing within the Ukrainian military as they try to, and are largely succeeding, I think, in my opinion, moving away from that Russian past and that Russian-command style, which is often known for its, you know, brutality and draconian control.

Syrskyi, of course, had many operational successes. He's had a long military career that he can be proud of. But there was a sense that he was more in that old-school type of model and that Drapatyi actively works towards a different model of trust up and down the command chain, mission command, and increased empathy.

And it's really having a positive effect on trust. It's helping reduce AWOL under his command in particular. So, I think there -- you know, there is a cultural shift going on in the Ukrainian military, and I think he's on the side of moving towards a distinctly Ukrainian model. GOLODRYGA: Dara Massicot, really appreciate your analysis. Thank you.

MASSICOT: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:09:46]

GOLODRYGA: Coming up later on the show, envisioning a brighter future for America, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson join me to share their reflections on the country's 250th anniversary.

Also ahead, "A Sad and Beautiful World". Director Cyril Aris on how love and humor coexist with an embattled Lebanon.

[11:10:11]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to the program.

What does it mean to be an American? As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary this year, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been exploring answers to that question through music.

In a week-long residency with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ma is hosting "We the People", a series of performances and conversations addressing the American experiment.

The idea for the project was born out of a conversation Ma had with civil rights lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson. And they both join me to share their reflections on what they envision for America's future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Yo-Yo Ma, Bryan Stevenson -- welcome to the program.

You're midweek in "We The People: Our Shared Past, Present, and Future". This is a residency of concerts, conversations, and community gatherings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Yo-Yo, where did this idea come from?

YO-YO MA, WORLD-RENOWNED CELLIST: Well, actually, I was asked to think about how one might program a week of conversations and concerts with young people, with community.

And I just thought, wow, what a privilege to be able to think about that while we're going through our 250th celebration and at a place that I love so much.

Since 43 years ago, I've been coming to Tanglewood, and I've always found this was a place that had a tradition of bringing community together and everybody. And so, the "We The People" title came and says, ok, let's show it.

Let's see what our community looks like in the high school bands, in magicians, in storytellers, in musicians, and in country dancing.

You know, when people dance together, you actually -- that's the beginning of community.

GOLODRYGA: Just tell me, Bryan, about your involvement here and what you're hoping to accomplish.

BRYAN STEVENSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: When he asked me to join, I was excited to do so. He came to Montgomery last October and did an extraordinary event with us here at our legacy sites. And then we were together in Davos to have a conversation with young people who were very focused on creating more peace in the world.

And so, I think Yo-Yo has really built these extraordinary bridges between the arts and communities that allow everyone, no matter what their orientation, their level of interest, their skill, to participate.

And that's very exciting at a time when we are thinking about what democracy requires across the globe.

GOLODRYGA: Bryan, there was a lot of controversy surrounding how the Fourth of July should be commemorated, about how history in this country should be framed.

Last month, President Trump ordered warning signs placed outside the Smithsonian's American History Museum, citing what his administration called "inaccurate information". He calls efforts like yours, I should say, "ideological poison". How do you respond to that, Bryan?

STEVENSON: Well, I don't think there's anything poisonous or unhealthy about just the truth of our history. You don't have to be perfect to be something moving toward what can be better.

And I just feel like we have to have the courage to honestly confront our history. Across the globe, there are places that have made tremendous progress.

In South Africa, if you go to Johannesburg, you see an apartheid museum that documents the horrors of apartheid. And it was created so that people would not forget the pain and difficulty that that regime created.

And so, I think that truth and justice, and truth and repair, and truth and reconciliation, and truth and restoration, truth and redemption, makes any community stronger.

GOLODRYGA: And Yo-Yo, Bryan had earlier in the conversation mentioned the times that you've spent together, both at his National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. I know you spent time together in Davos as well. But for that visit in Montgomery, it is the country's first memorial

to lynching victims. What does that visit mean to you? And can music actually carry history that is so painful, as Bryan just laid out?

MA: Well, Bianna, I'm so glad you asked this question.

And I really want to say something to you and to Bryan and to our audience, that going to the memorial sites was actually one of the most important things I've ever done in my life, in the sense that it changed my life.

[11:19:54]

MA: It changed my view of things.

And to Bryan's point of telling the truth, to your point of saying, well, what can music do?

Well, it turns out that the memorial sites -- Bryan is a visionary artist to me, because by the time I went through the sites, it's not that I had more knowledge, more information. We could get information from lots of places. Very clever people can turn it into knowledge.

But I was left in a state of grace. And by that, I mean, at the end of that, I was so overwhelmed with -- it was not -- it was not ideological in the sense that the truth is non-ideological but the way that we dealt -- that Bryan was able to deal with the truth, took it to another level, which I think is the level that music tries to do, is that it actually joins us together.

GOLODRYGA: You played the cello for a very long time. And Leonard Bernstein introduced you to America in 1962 at the young age of seven. You were performing with your sister for President JFK during an American pageant of the arts.

And here's a clip from the Kennedy Center of that performance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome Yo-Yo Ma and Yeou-Cheng Ma.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Amazing. Do you remember much at all from that performance, Yo-Yo?

MA: Well, Bianna, I don't know where you found this, but I have to say that as a seven-year-old, I knew President Kennedy and President Eisenhower were very important people and they were there and Leonard Bernstein.

But the person that actually a seven-year-old was fascinated by was Danny Kaye, because he was conducting the National Symphony Orchestra. And he was so funny. And I thought I wanted to be like him when I grow up.

But what I do now know is that that event occurred within 12 months of my arriving in the United States and soon after that.

So Jack Kennedy -- JFK was my first president. And within a year after that, he was assassinated. And so, that lives in my memory because I believed and I still believe in that power of that American dream where we can actually make it possible to live together.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you, gentlemen, so much. Really appreciate this conversation.

STEVENSON: My pleasure.

MA: Thank you so much, Bianna. Thank you, Bryan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: When we come back, as casualties climb on Russia's front lines, a special report on the so-called "black widows" allegedly scamming the troops they believe are destined for death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I was being issued the death certificate, they asked if he was married. I said no, but they told me he was. I never even managed to contact the woman.

I simply didn't know what to say to her because I suspected it was a scam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:23:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back.

20 to 30 minutes -- that's how long the CIA estimates that a Russian recruit can survive on the Ukrainian front line due to the deadly accuracy of A.I.-operated drones. It's a bleak statistic that points to the fatality of a war now dragging into its fifth year.

But not everyone is praying for the safe return of their soldiers. Authorities say so-called "black widow scams" are on the rise in Russia, with brides allegedly marrying vulnerable recruits to cash in on compensation once they fall in combat.

CNN's Matthew Chance has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A mass wedding of Russian soldiers before they're packed off to the front lines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I want to shake your hand and thank you for not running away, for not being scared.

CHANCE: But not all marriages offer love. Russian military wives get thousands of dollars compensation if their husbands are killed in action.

And officials say ruthless scammers dubbed "black widows" are now tricking vulnerable recruits into wedlock.

The father of Maria from Saint Petersburg died after being shot in Ukraine last year.

[11:29:46]

CHANCE: She told me she only found out her dad had joined the army after he was killed and only then that he had a new wife.

How did you feel when you found out that your dad had gotten married just days before he went off to war?

MARIA, DAUGHTER OF RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translation): It felt unreal. When I was being issued the death certificate, they asked if he was married. I said no, but they told me he was. I never even managed to contact the woman.

I simply didn't know what to say to her because I suspected it was a scam.

CHANCE: It's just one suspected case in a growing number scandalizing Russia. With the war in Ukraine now in its fifth year and casualty rates at catastrophic highs, it's hard to imagine there are people out there marrying vulnerable men and encouraging them to join the military just so they might financially benefit if they're killed on the front lines. No wonder there's outrage across Russia at the spread of these "black widow" scams.

There are numerous allegations of recruits honey-trapped before dying on the front lines, even marrying on their deathbeds in hospital.

This woman, who married a soldier 10 days after meeting him, then posted images of herself with other men, was branded a black widow in the Russian media and denied compensation when her husband was killed before their divorce went through. She denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations had blackened her name.

But there's growing public anger at how cynical some Russians have become about the war, which the Kremlin calls its special military operation.

"If I want an apartment, where am I supposed to get the money," the host of this podcast asks. "It's simple," the guest, who's a real estate agent, responds. "Find a man serving in the special military operation and when he's killed, you get 8 million rubles," she laughs.

The podcasters were prosecuted and forced to apologize, a rare intervention by the Russian courts. Back in Saint Petersburg, Maria takes us to the block where her dad's old apartment has now been sold off, convinced he was also scammed out of his home.

CHANCE: Do you know who the new owner is?

How long -- how many years did your dad live here?

MARIA: Five years.

CHANCE: Five years. This is it? It's open.

Behind the broken door, the new occupants insist it was a legitimate sale and that they never even met the seller. It means the money and the widow, just like Maria's dad, are now long gone.

Matthew Chance, CNN -- in Saint Petersburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Coming up, a love story scarred by the conflict and crisis that has devastated Lebanon for years. My conversation with the director of "A Sad and Beautiful World".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIS: It feels that even though they're fated to be together and they have this great love story, the country keeps separating them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:33:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back.

U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon faltered again this week as Israel renewed strikes on southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, who they say violated the ceasefire.

For years, ordinary Lebanese citizens have been caught in the middle of fighting between Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and Israel.

But from the rubble and the darkness, love and humor can still emerge. "A Sad and Beautiful World" tells the story of childhood sweethearts reunited as adults whose romance is tested by decades of national trauma from the civil war to the 2019 financial collapse.

Director Cyril Aris joined me to discuss how he crafted their tale.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Cyril, welcome to the show. I loved this movie. Every minute of it, the chemistry, the story plot -- it was just extremely riveting. And I know you wrote it in 2019, the script for this film. Following

that, you had the revolution, the financial collapse, the port explosion, COVID and war -- all before cameras even began to roll.

So, I'm curious, how different is the film that you ultimately made from the original script you wrote?

ARIS: Yes, it was quite different, you know, because when I first started writing the script, Lebanon was in a very different place. And, you know, you just mentioned all of the events that we went through and just hearing about them is quite tiring.

But really, I wanted to explore our relationship with Lebanon, which is a country that we love and we're deeply attached to. But also, it's a country that makes us suffer because of all the political events, all the regional conflicts.

So, it was a way to explore that relationship, that loving relationship and that love-hate relationship we have with the country through these two characters.

Because, yes, it is a country that goes through crisis and wars and turmoil, but it's also a beautiful country. And we needed to honor that as well.

[11:39:49]

GOLODRYGA: And the love story continues throughout all of this chaos between Nino and Yasmina. These are two destined to be together, born a minute apart in a world of chaos. And that is subsequently the life that they find themselves in for decades to go and to follow.

They were childhood sweethearts. They're reunited years later. It's a romantic comedy drama.

ARIS: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And you talk about Lebanese humor as sort of a shield against darkness. And that's not exclusive to just Lebanese humor, that there are a lot of cultures in the world that can relate to that.

Just talk about including that humor while also not negating the very difficult subject matters around it.

ARIS: Of course, I think that this paradox and, you know, this balance is embedded in the title itself, it's "A Sad and Beautiful World".

I think that when we think of Arab cinema and we think of Lebanon, we often think of wars, drama, tragedy. But we are so much more than that. And in our cultures, in Mediterranean cultures and in Arab cultures, we do use humor and comedy as means of survival. We laugh at the situation. We laugh at ourselves because that's the only thing we kind of have left.

So, it was quite important for me to keep that tone in the film, because I think this is very true to our identity. Comedy is part of our identity and it's our tool of survival.

GOLODRYGA: Let's see one of those romantic comedy moments where Yasmina decides last minute not to leave for a job prospect in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Grandpa, of course I won't kill myself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Screw the day I met you. I've been begging for a transfer to Germany for years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Want me to drive you back to the airport?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Screw your stupid jokes. You idiot. Come over here. Screw your dumb face. Screw your stupid stare. Screw every part of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Their chemistry is just -- it is palpable. But it also speaks to, as we began this conversation, not only a relationship between two people who are very much in love, but also the relationship they have, you have, many have with Lebanon.

ARIS: Yes. You know, it's -- they're deeply affected by the social and the political context happening around them. And it feels that even though they're fated to be together and they have this great love story, the country keeps separating them.

Because of the circumstances, Yasmina finds herself drawn to, you know, moving abroad, to migration. And he's deeply affected and he's much more rooted in Lebanon and in wanting to build something there.

So yes, in a way, the relationship becomes a reflection of the social, political context that they grew up in and they evolved in.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And there's a scene I'd like to play a clip from where Nino tries to convince Yasmina to sell his restaurant and stay in Beirut. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Tell you what, see the garden over there? Where we'll farm. Go, start digging.

And how do we buy the land?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The landowner agreed to sway Chez Nino for Chez Yasmina. We pay the difference. He's accepting bank check for up to 30 percent of its value. A deal from heaven. Our money's trapped in the bank, might as well use it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): You really want to sell Chez Nino?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's fine. One must evolve. You taught me that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I won't let you sell your parents' restaurant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, once again, Nino, the optimist, choosing to cling to his homeland, Yasmina can't justify it. I'm wondering where you find yourself. Which character do you identify with more?

[11:44:42]

ARIS: It's the eternal question that we all have as Lebanese. And I think we find ourselves, sometimes we're closer to Nino, sometimes we're closer to Yasmina, depending again, on the state of the country.

I think, rationally thinking we're all closer to Yasmina, we're all more cynical because we see reality as it is.

But at heart, we're all closer to Nino. We want to believe in something a little brighter. So, I think we're all within that spectrum. And it really depends on what we're going through.

GOLODRYGA: And "A Sad and Beautiful World" is out now in select cinemas in the U.S.

And after a break, Europe once again wrestles with migration after these extraordinary scenes from Spain.

from Christiane's archive, how this topic has punctuated the history of the continent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Many West Berliners feel they're being crowded out of their own stores.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pushed the Polish people out of the way and said, I'm German. I want to be first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:45:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back.

The European Union is calling for stronger borders after 70,000 migrants breached Spain's border in Ceuta in a matter of days, prompting Italy to pause free movement with Spain and others to consider tighter controls even though the Spanish territory isn't in the Schengen Zone and the people were returned almost as quickly as they came.

The incident has revived Europe's immigration debate, something which has been raging for a long time.

I'm not just talking about the Mediterranean refugee crisis of 2015, which triggered this more hardline approach we're seeing in action today but for countless years before that in all sorts of different forms.

From Christiane's archive this week, her coverage of one such movement at a time when more than a million Eastern Europeans went West trying to escape Communism and received a strikingly similar response to what we see today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Every night, dozens of East Europeans travel this train to East Berlin, the last stop on their way to the West and a better life.

But many end up camping out here for weeks or even months. Their dreams on hold because they are poor, they cannot afford lodgings and have no family to go to.

This Romanian couple has been at the station for two months.

"I don't want to stay in Romania," he says. "There's no work and no money there."

To make a little money these migrants, mostly Romanian and Bulgarian, spend their days in one of East Berlin's main squares, where they hustle as best they can. Sometimes selling their own clothes and trinkets, or drumming up a black market, money-changing business.

Officials aren't sure exactly how many East Europeans have come here. They estimate between 30,000 and 50,000 in the past few months. And the influx is posing a major problem for the East German government, which has never had any volunteer charities or immigration welfare programs.

As one official put it, East Germany is not used to having people who want to stay. So the authorities are trying to round up the newcomers, housing as many as possible in empty army barracks, where conditions are not much better than at the train station.

Sometimes whole families are stuffed into one room. And as their numbers grow, they are beginning to cause resentment among East Berliners.

"We have many people unemployed here, and more of these people are coming all the time. Why do we have to take them in," he asks.

Across the border in West Berlin, people are asking the same questions about the Poles, who can be seen lining up for hours outside food stores. Hundreds come just for the day to stock up on consumer goods, which they take back home to sell.

But many West Berliners feel they're being crowded out of their own stores.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pushed the Polish people out of the way and said, I'm German. I want to be first.

AMANPOUR: Attitudes which prove that even though the road to a new free Europe is open, it can sometimes be rocky.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN -- East Berlin

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Just a year after that report, the Soviet Union collapsed. But clearly now, as the E.U. makes efforts to strengthen its borders, the dream of reaching the continent grows further out of reach for many.

When we come back, 40 years since Spike Lee burst onto the big screen, what the visionary director told Christiane about how his films have seen the future.

[11:53:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: And finally, today marks 40 years since the debut of one of America's great artists, the cinematic genius that is Spike Lee. His first feature film, "She's Gotta Have It", landed in cinemas on this day in 1986. Soon followed by his masterpiece "Do the Right Thing", widely acknowledged as one of the greatest films of all time.

There have been some 30 movies since then, including hits like "Malcolm X". And through many peaks and troughs of diversity in film, on camera and behind it, Lee's work has managed to be constant, defying a sometimes-fickle Hollywood environment.

His work has always been ahead of the curve, exploring topics like gentrification, police violence and even global warming since the late 80s.

When Christiane spoke to him around his Oscar-winning film "Black Klansman" in 2019, they spoke about this extraordinary foresight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: People around the world have watched your films, as I say, since you first started.

SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: "Do the Right Thing", you said, and you continue to say is still relevant today. The issues that you highlighted and zoomed in on there, you know.

LEE: This coming June 30th will be 30 years.

AMANPOUR: Exactly. Gentrification of minority neighborhoods, police violence, particularly to the character Radio.

LEE: We were talking about global warming.

[11:59:49]

AMANPOUR: Which is incredible when I even think about --

LEE: I wrote that in 1988. We shot in '89.

AMANPOUR: It's remarkable.

LEE: You know what? My friends call me "Negrodamus".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: We'll have to keep an eye on what he prophesizes next.

All right. That's all we have time for.

Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online at podcast on CNN.com/audio, and on all other major platforms.

I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Thanks so much for watching.

Christiane will be back next week.