0:01

I'm Hillary Clinton, and this is

0:03

you and me both. During

0:07

my time as Secretary of State, I

0:09

encountered firsthand the challenges

0:12

of managing multiple crises

0:14

across the globe. You

0:16

know, every conflict requires

0:18

your attention, every opportunity requires

0:21

your attention, and it all happens

0:23

at the same time. Success

0:26

in the job means being able to balance

0:29

it all while never losing sight

0:31

of the bigger picture. And while

0:33

the world is rightly focused

0:35

now on the horrific violence

0:38

that erupted in the Middle East because

0:40

of Hamas's inhumane

0:42

attack on Israeli's

0:45

men, women, children, babies,

0:48

while that crisis is continuing,

0:51

we also have to stay focused

0:54

on Russia's brutal and barbaric

0:56

war against Ukraine, which

0:58

rages on. Ukrainians

1:01

need our help, you

1:03

know. Back in September, I had the opportunity

1:06

to join with leaders, activists

1:08

and philanthropists at the annual meeting

1:11

of the Clinton Global Initiative what

1:13

we call CIGI in New York.

1:16

Together with First Lady Olena

1:18

Zelenska, we announced the launch

1:20

of a CGI Ukraine Action

1:23

Network that's a coalition of

1:25

partners committed to supporting the

1:27

people of Ukraine.

1:30

Since its invasion of Ukraine in February

1:32

of twenty twenty two. Russia

1:34

has violated all the rules

1:37

of engagement, committed war

1:39

crimes and genocide.

1:41

Thousands and thousands of Ukrainian

1:44

civilians have been injured and killed

1:47

indiscriminately, and thousands

1:49

of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped.

1:53

In the face of this violence and devastation,

1:55

people of goodwill all around the world

1:57

are stepping up, helping to supper

2:00

sport the humanitarian crises

2:02

on the ground. I want to share

2:04

with you my conversations with two

2:06

such people who are making an incredible

2:09

difference. Both

2:11

of my guests today have been doing everything

2:14

they can to support the people of

2:16

Ukraine in their brave and

2:18

necessary fight to defend

2:21

their homeland, to defend their freedom,

2:23

to determine their own future,

2:26

and both are members of our CGI

2:28

Ukraine Action Network through

2:31

their respective organizations.

2:33

Later, I'll be talking with actor and

2:36

director Liev Schreiber, who

2:38

co founded Blue Chech Ukraine,

2:41

an organization that he will tell

2:43

us about. But first I

2:45

want to introduce you to Olga

2:48

Rudneva. Since Russia

2:50

first invaded Crimea back in

2:52

twenty fourteen, Olga

2:55

has been working to support veterans,

2:57

women and to train paramedics.

2:59

The following Russia's

3:02

full scale invasion in twenty

3:04

twenty two, Olga and two

3:06

partners quickly saw the need for

3:08

another vital service, providing

3:11

prosthetic limbs along with

3:13

rehabilitative services to

3:16

the hundreds of soldiers as well

3:18

as civilians who have lost their

3:20

limbs in this terrible war,

3:23

and so they created the Superhuman's

3:26

Center, a rehabilitation clinic

3:28

that does just that. As CEO,

3:31

Olga brings her invaluable skills

3:33

as a leader and an entrepreneur. But

3:36

you know, even more impressive to me, as

3:38

you'll hear, is the courage

3:40

and humanity she brings to this

3:43

very difficult and emotionally

3:45

challenging work. I am honored

3:48

to be speaking with her, So,

3:51

Olga, welcome to you

3:54

and me both. And I had the

3:56

honor of seeing you at the Clinton

3:58

Global Initiative in September

4:00

in New York City. Recently. Where

4:02

am I talking to you now?

4:04

Right now?

4:04

I'm in Kiev and we just survived

4:07

a very horrid night of rocket

4:09

attacks on Odessa, so

4:12

it was a lot of air as Syrians during

4:14

the nighttime. But I'm in Kiev for the

4:16

next couple of days and then back to Lviv to

4:18

Superhuman Center.

4:20

Well, I'm sorry that you

4:22

and every other person in Ukraine

4:24

has to continue to suffer

4:27

from this terrible war, but

4:29

there are so many Ukrainians who are

4:32

doing everything they know to do, and you're one

4:34

of them. And I want you to

4:36

tell our listeners about

4:39

the organization that you and others

4:41

have started called Superhumans.

4:43

What is it? Olga?

4:45

First of all, I want to say, please

4:48

do not feel sorry for us. We know

4:50

what we are fighting for. We are fighting

4:52

for our freedom, independence

4:54

and the right to be a country. So

4:57

please be proud of us, and we need

4:59

support. You know, we can win this

5:01

war, but we can't win it without external

5:04

support. A year ago

5:06

we decided to look what we

5:08

can do today for tomorrow because

5:11

we are doing at the beginning of war with my partners,

5:13

that humanitarian warehouse where

5:15

we are helping foreigners who

5:17

collected humanitarian aid to bring

5:20

this aid to Ukraine and distribute

5:22

that amongst those who needed. So

5:24

we thought, okay, what else can we do because

5:26

we couldn't sleep, we couldn't eat normally.

5:29

The only thing that you can do is work hards

5:31

you know, to help your country, and

5:33

we realized that losing cleams and

5:36

amputation is going to be a very big problem.

5:39

So Andrestevenitzer said, let's

5:41

do the prosthetic center, and

5:44

we will do the predeases for

5:46

people who lot their limbs. We will do rebilitation,

5:49

and we will provide psychological support. So

5:52

with this picture in mind, we started building

5:54

superhumans in Lviv, and

5:56

we built it over four and a half months

5:58

during the full scale invasion, and we

6:01

opened our doors on April fifteenth.

6:04

Well, it's an extraordinary story,

6:06

and I am in great

6:09

admiration of what you and others have

6:11

done. You know, I served in the

6:13

United States Senate with Danny Ineway,

6:15

a Medal of Honor winner during World War Two

6:18

who lost his arm, And I remember

6:20

having a long conversation with him about

6:22

that, and I'll never forget

6:24

him saying, you know, I could have

6:27

not just lost an arm, but lost my life

6:29

even if I'd stayed alive. But

6:31

the people who took care of

6:33

me, who gave me the support, who

6:36

taught me how to address myself and

6:38

how to do day to day activities, they

6:40

gave my life back to me.

6:42

Exactly.

6:43

You know, sixty percent of those

6:45

people who get their brutises never used

6:47

them because they actually

6:50

don't know how to use Nobody taught them. And

6:52

then we realized that, I

6:55

know it sounds weird, but we don't

6:57

need lax and we don't need arms. We need

6:59

lax to come somewhere and arms

7:02

to grab something, to hold, something to give

7:04

a haalk to someone. So we need

7:06

to give the reason for these people

7:09

to leave their apartments so

7:11

they will wear their prestiges. That

7:13

was a point where we added one more service

7:16

to Superhuman Center, the service

7:18

of finding new roles for our patients,

7:21

giving them not only in new

7:23

arms or lags, but giving them a

7:25

new life, bring them back to

7:27

the economical system, to the civil life

7:30

and to their families.

7:32

It's a big challenge you're facing. I mean, you

7:34

do have thousands of Ukrainian civilians,

7:36

even children, as well as your

7:39

brave soldiers needing prosthetics,

7:41

and it's important

7:43

to underscore that part of the reason

7:45

you have so many injuries is

7:47

how absolutely evil

7:49

the Russians have been in their

7:52

placement of bombs and minds.

7:54

Is that correct?

7:56

Absolutely? There are two issues

7:58

that Ukraine is facing. The first one

8:00

is mines. They are all

8:03

over Ukraine forty percent of

8:05

Ukrainian territory is mine.

8:07

And you know, we often say that if the war

8:09

over tomorrow, it'll take us years

8:12

to the mine. And also mines

8:14

are very tricky. You know, sometimes they

8:17

look nice or they are are hidden

8:19

in children toys. In my

8:21

own house, it was in the Washington machine.

8:24

Andre Stavnitzer had it at

8:26

his house at the kitchen. So they are

8:28

targeted at civilians. That's

8:30

one issue. Another issue, Russians

8:33

are targeting paramedics and medics

8:35

at the front lines. Medics are very

8:38

often to be killed first so they

8:40

can't save lives, and medic

8:42

vocation course, they are targeted

8:45

by Russian So that means the person

8:47

who was wounded, even with a minor

8:49

injury, they put turniquets

8:51

very high and then it takes sometimes

8:54

ten hours by his or her comrades

8:56

to take the person out to the stabilization

8:59

point. During these ten hours,

9:01

you just lose your hand up to

9:03

the shelter and that brings

9:05

us multiple amputations. It

9:08

brings us high amputation.

9:10

They're very expensive to deal with and

9:13

they are very difficult to you

9:15

know, to teach this person to walk

9:17

or to operade within new hand. So

9:19

that's two issues. And it's it's a

9:21

barbarian approach. Because every war

9:24

has some rules. This war doesn't

9:26

have any rules. Russians breaking

9:28

the rules all the time. They don't

9:30

care about civilians. They target press

9:33

when they see that it's media. Ah,

9:36

they target paramedics, and

9:38

they don't care about children.

9:39

And that's the war. You know, we

9:42

are surviving for year and a half already.

9:44

It's really important to me to stress that

9:46

as terrible as war is under any circumstance,

9:49

which we all understand, the

9:52

attitude of the Russians

9:54

led by Putin is genocidal.

9:57

I mean, he wants to wipe

9:59

out Ukrainian people because

10:01

you've had the courage,

10:04

the temerity even to stand up

10:06

and defend yourselves. And so nobody

10:08

is safe. There's no mercy shown,

10:10

there's no rules, so violating every

10:13

convention, the Geneva Conventions on war,

10:15

everything one can imagine. And

10:17

it's why I want Americans to realize that

10:19

your war is our war, Your fight is

10:22

our fight. But you know, Olga, you've

10:24

set this up so quickly. How

10:26

did you do it? First of all, you were building it in

10:28

the middle of a war, and

10:31

you were equipping it, and you

10:33

were recruiting personnel for it.

10:36

How were you able to get all that

10:38

done in such a short period of time.

10:41

I should say, you know, huge thanks

10:43

to American people. You

10:46

know, we have amazing donor Howard

10:48

Buffett Foundation. Howard

10:50

was the first person who trusted in us,

10:53

and we told him we want to do that, and

10:55

he took the most difficult part, which

10:57

is you know, building and reconstruction and

10:59

equipment. He said, okay, you do the work

11:01

and I'll cover expenses. And yeah,

11:04

we did reconstruct that in four and a half

11:06

months. Equipped that, you

11:08

know, understanding that we need to act

11:11

as fast as possible. I remember

11:14

Christmas Day when all construction

11:16

workers said they're not going to work because it's

11:19

a holiday. So we said,

11:21

okay, we will bring you to the

11:23

installation of bionic arm.

11:26

For construction workers, losing the arm

11:28

is actually, you know, the end of the

11:30

world. So they saw the guy who lost

11:32

the arm and we were installing this bionic

11:35

arm and we said, listen, we have to install it in

11:38

the corridor literally, and

11:40

they said, okay, wait, we understand. And they

11:42

all went to the construction site

11:44

and they all worked all holidays, including

11:47

Christmas Day, because they realized

11:49

what we are doing and why we are doing and the

11:51

most important for whom we are doing that.

11:54

So that helped us. You know, this motivation

11:56

and the fact that everyone on the construction

11:59

site knew what they do and why they do. That

12:02

helped us to be very quick. And

12:05

when we started hiring the team and

12:07

we realized that it's not enough just to

12:09

build amazing center and bring the best

12:11

equipment.

12:12

We don't have expertise in Ukraine.

12:14

So we started training especialists

12:16

all over the world and the world was very open.

12:18

They said okay, some came to Ukraine,

12:21

some accepted us. So we trained

12:23

the team starting like from February

12:26

and on April we were al ready to opened

12:28

our doors and we already at that time

12:30

had three hundred patients inline.

12:33

Right now we have eight hundred patients

12:35

in line waiting for their prestiges.

12:38

And how many people have you treated

12:40

since you've been.

12:41

Open since mid of April.

12:43

We installed two hundred precises.

12:46

But it's important to say that we

12:48

are dealing with the most difficult cases.

12:51

It's a lot of people who

12:53

got rejection from other

12:56

centers because of very high imputations,

12:59

double triple and putations.

13:01

We have a patient in Ukraine.

13:02

He was told in Ukraine and abroad that

13:04

he's probably will never ever gonna walk. And

13:07

I see him walking on a daily basis.

13:10

I mean he's absolutely I see

13:12

him planking. He's double amputy.

13:15

Yeah, he's planking. I will

13:17

send the video. He is literally

13:19

he's planking and he's doing

13:22

you know, his apps.

13:24

And I look at him. He is

13:26

absolutely amazing.

13:27

He's already going out on the street

13:29

and every time I ask him it's difficult,

13:32

He's like, no, I'm fine, I'm gonna walk. So

13:34

he is an amazing inspiration for me.

13:36

So we take difficult cases. These

13:39

patients are with us for more than

13:41

a month very often, and I

13:43

wish we could do more pertises.

13:46

But who would look after difficult cases?

13:48

Who would look after cases where people

13:50

had psychological problem? Because we

13:52

had several patients and they

13:54

were feeling pain all the time and we

13:56

couldn't. You know, we had this civilian lady,

13:58

she was in a bus for her son. Out

14:01

of eight people, four were killed,

14:03

so she survived. We brought

14:05

her to Germany at that time and she

14:07

said, I can't wear prestigos because it's

14:10

I'm feeling pain because of burns. We

14:12

brought her to Kief and then psychologists

14:15

said that she has psychogenic pain.

14:18

She thinks she is in pain, but she is

14:20

not. And the problem was she's

14:22

from her son. Her house

14:24

was fully burnt out, and

14:27

she was afraid that. As soon as we installed

14:29

her proteases, we discharged her.

14:31

She has to go back home and there is no home,

14:34

and her mind was thinking

14:36

that she is in pain. So we

14:38

helped her to find a job, We found

14:40

her place to live. She's wearing prestiss.

14:43

She is fifty six. She is happy,

14:45

she reunited with the family. She's living in

14:47

the western part of Ukraine. You

14:49

know that kind of support people need here.

14:51

Sometimes it's just to talk with the psychologist.

14:54

So lots of stories, lots of stories.

15:00

Taking a quick break, stay with us.

15:12

You know, the courage of the Ukrainian people

15:15

has been tested time and time again.

15:17

How do you keep that energy? How do

15:19

you keep being resilient? You know, every

15:21

one of us as human beings, you know, we get exhausted,

15:24

we get tired. How do you keep going?

15:26

The first thing again, we

15:29

know what we are fighting for. It's very

15:31

important. We just know what

15:33

we are fighting for. I think this is the most

15:35

important thing that you know, we

15:38

understand that we are fighting for

15:40

our right to speak our language, for

15:42

our right to wake up in our country,

15:45

in our cities and our houses, and

15:48

we want to have the rights.

15:49

To go on my done if we don't like our governments.

15:52

You know, that's Ukrainians, that's

15:54

democracy, that's free.

15:56

Yeah, you know, for the Russians,

15:59

I guess it's going to be very big tragedy after

16:01

the war. People don't know what are they fighting

16:03

for.

16:04

I agree with you that there is going to be some kind

16:06

of reckoning. I don't know what it is, but there will be

16:08

some reckoning inside Russia. So

16:10

how do you see the next year

16:13

for superhumans? Are you trying to

16:15

get more funding, are you trying to

16:17

build satellite offices? Are you

16:19

trying to recruit more people?

16:21

First of all, we are launching one more service,

16:23

which is reconstructive surgery. We

16:26

have people who literally lost their faces,

16:28

and losing your face is like closing care

16:30

identity. So one more service

16:32

restoring faces, ability to breathe,

16:35

ability to see, ability to hear, and

16:38

we want to scale up. We are looking

16:40

at five more regions. I'm

16:42

not sure we're going to do five more next year,

16:45

but at least two more because

16:47

we need to provide services closer

16:49

to the places where our patients are.

16:52

Ukraine is a very big country. We are at

16:54

the western part of Ukraine at the most

16:57

safe place, but we want to go closer

16:59

to the front lines to open one more two

17:01

more superhumans in twenty twenty

17:04

four, one more service feeding

17:06

with the prestigious more people. Right

17:08

now, we can do fifty patients.

17:11

It's one million dollars only in prosthetic

17:13

components. It's very expensive

17:16

things, but we need to do two

17:18

hundred three hundred per months because

17:20

the need is very big.

17:22

Well, part of the reason I wanted to talk with you is

17:24

that I have a small understanding

17:26

because along with the late Senator

17:29

John McCain, I helped to raise money

17:31

for the Intrepid Center that

17:33

does exactly what you're talking about in

17:35

our country, and it was established

17:38

to take care of our returning soldiers

17:40

who had been injured in Iraq at Afghanistan.

17:43

So I have a special caring

17:46

for what you're doing because I know

17:48

what a difference it can make as we

17:50

get close to closing oga.

17:53

What gives you hope for the future

17:55

of your country.

17:57

You know, maybe we are over evaluating,

18:00

you know, the role of Ukraine. But we

18:02

see right now Ukraine as a

18:04

country that fights the

18:06

world evolved, which is Russia.

18:09

If Russia will invade Ukraine,

18:11

it can do to anyone in this world.

18:13

So that gives us hope that we have a special

18:16

mission, you know, to fight for

18:18

the whole world. And I think that it's probably

18:20

it helps, you know, sometimes to feel

18:22

that you are a hero. Also,

18:25

these people that I see every day. There's

18:27

people that walk in in a wheelchair

18:30

and three days later they walk to

18:32

me and they hug me. They

18:34

give me hope every time when I tell

18:37

them, I'm sorry that it happened

18:39

to you, and they tell me, don't be sorry.

18:41

I'm very proud of losing my legs

18:44

because it's my input in the victory of

18:46

Ukraine. When I hear that, that gives me

18:48

hope. What else gives me hope? People

18:50

are delivering kids in this country, you

18:52

know. I was really surprised

18:55

when I heard about my first friend who

18:57

was pregnant, and I was like, oh my god,

18:59

people still want to have kids, and

19:01

she's like, of course, life's go on. When

19:04

I go on the streets, I see

19:06

food delivery. It gives me hope. You know, even

19:08

during air Syrians there is someone cycling,

19:11

you know, delivering the food because they have to

19:13

be on time. That gives me hope,

19:15

you know. And kids go to school,

19:17

That gives me hope. You know, women

19:19

put on makeup, go to work,

19:22

you know, and providing for

19:24

their children when men are

19:26

at the war. So we didn't give up, and

19:29

that's enough hope to keep moving.

19:31

When you see that we are still alive, it

19:33

gives you energy to keep living, you

19:35

know. I think that's how it works.

19:38

I think that's how it works. And it

19:40

is an existential struggle between

19:42

good and evil. And when the

19:44

history of this era is written

19:47

and the final victory is one,

19:50

the world will owe Ukraine and the Ukrainian

19:52

people a big debt. Augus,

19:55

thank you so much. I'm going to give you the last

19:57

word. Anything else you'd like to tell our listeners.

20:00

Please stand with Ukraine.

20:02

We proved that we are brave, but

20:05

we need support of the world to keep

20:07

going. And we will definitely win this

20:09

war. And one day we're going to celebrate

20:11

the victory the whole world together

20:13

with Ukraine.

20:15

Well, I look forward when we can get it arranged

20:17

to come to Ukraine and visit Superhumans

20:20

and so many of the other wonderful

20:22

people we're working with at the Clint Global Initiative

20:25

who understand how important

20:27

it is that we stand with you. Thank you

20:29

so much, Olga, and keep doing that great

20:31

work.

20:32

Thank you very much. Waiting for you at Superhumans.

20:34

It'll be a great present and surprise

20:37

for our patients and our doctors.

20:45

To find out more about Superhumans

20:47

and to donate to support their essential

20:50

work on the ground in Ukraine. Go

20:52

to superhumans dot

20:55

com. Now

20:57

my next guest, I think it's fair to

20:59

say is is more of a household name.

21:02

Maybe you first saw him on

21:04

the big screen in the Scream

21:06

trilogy if you're into horror films.

21:09

Leev Schreiber also wrote and directed

21:12

the film Everything Is Illuminated,

21:14

which he filmed on location in

21:16

Ukraine. He's also done a

21:18

lot of stage work, Shakespeare, the

21:20

Classics, you name it. But I'm

21:22

talking to him today because of the remarkable

21:25

way he has stepped out onto the

21:27

world stage to lend a hand

21:30

to Ukrainians. Leev

21:33

is the co founder and major

21:35

cheerleader for Bluezech Ukraine,

21:37

an organization that identifies

21:40

vets and fasttracks urgent

21:43

financial support to Ukrainian

21:45

groups providing critical humanitarian

21:48

aid on the front lines. Lee

21:50

have also joined us at CGI in

21:52

September, and I'm really happy to

21:55

be able to speak to him again.

21:58

Hello Secretary Glinton.

21:59

Hello, Hello, Oh, how are you doing today?

22:02

I'm great. We've resolved all of

22:04

the technical issues.

22:06

That's always a good sign.

22:08

I was really good at this stuff until

22:10

I hit about forty and then for some reason

22:12

it just stopped. And now I have to

22:14

find a young person, which is a clear

22:17

sign.

22:17

That's called evolution. It's called evolution,

22:20

right, Well, thank you so

22:23

much for joining us on the

22:25

podcast. I'm not only a

22:27

fan, which I will confess before we start

22:29

of your body of work, but I

22:31

am a bigger fan because of

22:34

you, know the very smart way that you

22:37

are working to help Ukraine in

22:39

its struggle against the barbaric

22:42

invasion by Russia. I

22:45

would love for you to tell our listeners

22:47

what is Blue Check Ukraine, How did

22:49

you get involved, and what makes it different

22:51

from other aid organizations.

22:54

Well, the headline answer

22:56

is that Blue Check is an effort to fast

22:59

track financial support primarily

23:01

to local NGOs in Ukraine.

23:05

A humanitarian watchdog group out of

23:07

the UK called Humanitarian Outcomes,

23:10

published two reports, one last

23:12

June that reported that of the two

23:14

point six billion that had been donated

23:17

to Ukraine, only six million

23:19

of that had made it to the actual local

23:21

NGOs on the ground, who arguably

23:24

are really doing most of the work. They

23:27

published a new one in May which

23:29

said that one percent of the

23:31

donations were going to these local ENGOs

23:34

and so that they were recommending really figuring

23:36

out ways to localize aid because it's

23:38

these local communities who are most

23:41

knowledgeable about what the needs are, how to

23:43

fulfill them, the language, the intelligence,

23:45

the resources, the personnel,

23:48

and so Blue Check is really just a group

23:50

of friends trying to get

23:52

the message through to people that the Ukrainians

23:55

are really the best equipped people to

23:57

help themselves. Need

24:00

to do is support them, is really to continue to support

24:02

them. And so I got into it because

24:04

a friend a friend

24:06

called me and I'd made a film about Ukraine, and so

24:08

they thought I would know something about Ukraine, which

24:10

I really don't. I just made a film and

24:13

they said how can we help? And

24:16

I really didn't know where to send them. So I just thought

24:18

the normal avenues like Red

24:20

Cross and all of these international aid

24:23

organizations who are all doing great

24:25

work. The problem is that in a situation like

24:27

a war, it's very acute and you have

24:29

to move very very quickly, and

24:31

a lot of these larger international aid groups,

24:34

because of their overhead, because of their liability,

24:37

because they are not always

24:39

able to work in country, are

24:42

a little slower to react. And we've

24:44

got a situation, as you well know, that is

24:48

very acute and we need to respond

24:50

as quickly as possible.

24:51

You know, there's so many important areas

24:54

of need right now in Ukraine

24:56

that people can feel overwhelmed.

24:59

And you I've been there, talk a little

25:01

bit about what you've actually seen on the ground,

25:03

because the resilience,

25:05

the smarts of the Ukrainian

25:08

people who are trying to

25:10

deliver this aid is really impressive.

25:13

They're extraordinary, they really are. We

25:15

have twenty two partners right now.

25:18

For the most part, we were looking for NGOs

25:20

that are in Ukraine, but we're also finding

25:23

people who have volunteered their services,

25:26

extraordinary Americans. There's a guy named

25:28

Ryan Hendrickson who I am just

25:31

so impressed by, who is a retired

25:33

Special Forces Green Beret Army guy

25:36

who was injured by a landmine himself

25:39

and now he makes these humanitarian

25:41

missions to Ukraine to demine these

25:43

villages, which is an extraordinary

25:46

service to them because obviously he's really knowledgeable

25:48

in this from given his experience and background. There's

25:51

another group called Project Victory, which is

25:53

a group of US veterans who

25:55

have gone over there to basically

25:57

do everything. They initially came to

26:00

teach stop bleeding techniques and

26:03

they've gone on to do evacuations,

26:06

shelter reinforcements. When

26:08

the Kokova Dam was

26:11

destroyed by the Russians, they were

26:13

our first contacts on the ground who told

26:15

us that we needed to get water into the populations

26:17

there. And because these guys our veterans,

26:20

they know how to handle themselves in frontline situations.

26:24

You know, we pretty much have a

26:26

group in every oblast in the country

26:28

with a concentration on vulnerable

26:31

populations, particularly elderly people, women

26:34

and children, injured civilians. We

26:37

have a group called Stirrenki, which is support

26:40

for the elderly, which is actually quite

26:42

a big issue in terms of the work

26:44

we do on the front lines, because they're the ones who don't

26:46

leave.

26:46

Explain that you talked about that at CGI,

26:49

and I think a lot of people were surprised because

26:51

they might have thought, oh, well, first

26:53

get the elderly out, but the elderly won't leave.

26:56

They don't want to leave. It's their land and

26:58

they're there, as you could understand. Actually,

27:00

you know, these people have built their farms and their

27:02

homes on these lands, and it's

27:04

their land, and in their minds they're not giving it

27:06

up. And as you mentioned,

27:08

they're very strong, resilient, and

27:11

I would add.

27:11

Tough people, stubborn, maybe stubborn

27:14

a little bit.

27:16

They're not afraid of the Russians. And so unfortunately,

27:18

when you have these missile attacks,

27:21

it's very often that you see elderly people becoming

27:23

displaced or losing their homes or getting

27:25

injured. So Sirrenki is

27:28

a group that exclusively works to service

27:30

them, to evacuate them, to bring unfortunately

27:32

because most of them won't evacuate, to bring them warming

27:35

kits, to bring them food, to reinforce

27:37

their homes, shelters, things like that. And

27:40

then of course you have the non material

27:42

support, you know, like gender specific aid

27:44

groups like the Women's Center, because as

27:46

you probably know, the men

27:48

who are of fighting age are all conscripted

27:51

into military service, so that leaves a lot

27:53

of these single moms out there,

27:55

and the Women's Center was an extraordinary

27:58

group that was team

28:00

of lawyers that was really working for gender equality

28:02

before the war, and after the war switched

28:05

over realized that they needed to provide

28:07

evacuation services, women's health services,

28:10

counseling, and things like that for mothers and

28:12

children. So there's a lot. They're

28:14

doing a lot.

28:15

They are doing a lot, and you know, when

28:17

you hear the stories of what they're up

28:19

against, it just enrages

28:22

me. That it does to you too, that

28:25

here we are twenty twenty

28:28

three and we have a

28:30

regime led by Vladimir Putin that

28:33

has committed every crime against

28:35

humanity, every war crime. And

28:38

I think there's a real need for

28:40

Americans, all of us, to recognize

28:42

their fight is our fight. But what got

28:44

you so motivated to help?

28:47

Because you've gone pretty far in

28:49

making the case as to why it

28:52

their fight is our fight.

28:55

You know, I've very moved

28:58

and driven in many ways by

29:00

my grandfather's generation, that

29:02

is to say, the generation of Americans who

29:05

fought for democracy in World War

29:07

Two. Primarily, I was also

29:10

very impressed by the ones who fought

29:12

in the Spanish American Civil war without an organized

29:15

military to push back against fascism,

29:17

and it feels like as

29:20

I watched this war unfold on

29:22

television with my children on the couch, and

29:24

I saw these sort

29:26

of normal looking middle aged men

29:29

saying goodbye to their wives and children going

29:31

off to fight a war in which I'm

29:33

sure you and I both thought

29:35

they were vastly outnumbered and out gunned,

29:38

and it felt they're not coming

29:40

back. This is really horrible. And

29:42

as I thought about it, what they're fighting

29:44

for, sovereignty, freedom,

29:47

the right to raise their children the way they

29:49

want to raise them, to speak the language that they

29:51

want to speak. Those are American

29:54

values, and why aren't we in

29:56

this? It has so little to do

29:59

with me having some Ukrainian ancestry,

30:01

and everything to do with what I believe

30:03

American values are and what

30:06

our place is in the geopolitical

30:09

world, of what we provide,

30:12

what we provide to our own citizens, and

30:15

the opportunity that we present to those who

30:17

are persecuted. And it just felt,

30:20

you know, after having spent

30:22

the past twenty some odd years of my life

30:25

being very well rewarded by my career

30:27

and my life here, that it was the least

30:29

I could do to respond to something, and

30:32

the minute that my celebrity,

30:34

which had really done nothing but break

30:37

the misery to this point, and

30:40

my children. It makes raising children

30:43

incredibly difficult, as you.

30:44

Probably, Yeah, I can relate to.

30:45

That extraordinary job. Yeah,

30:48

it just it suddenly

30:50

was paying back in dividends. Like I was

30:52

able to accomplish things. I was able to

30:54

speak to people like you. I was

30:56

able to get the attention of

30:59

the media, and I was able

31:01

to point focus where I felt focus should

31:03

be pointed. And that was an incredibly

31:06

good feeling.

31:08

You know, it sounds very much

31:10

like it was a combination of

31:12

your head and your heart. I mean, you really

31:15

brought it all together in this. And

31:17

you've actually been to Ukraine, most

31:20

of our listeners, haven't. I think you've made a

31:22

film inside Ukraine.

31:24

Well, I've made a few. Now. Initially,

31:27

what I was trying to do was to sort of film

31:29

the situation on the ground in the hopes

31:31

that I would bring those films back and they would raise

31:33

money. Yes, that's obviously what we're trying to

31:35

do, is we're trying to raise money to fund these organizations.

31:38

And then once I got to meet President Lensky

31:40

and had a couple of interviews and talks

31:42

with him, we decided

31:45

together that making a documentary would

31:47

be useful. So I sat down with

31:50

the president for a series of interviews, and

31:52

Andre Singer, who made a really

31:55

wonderful portrait of Korbache'v, worked

31:57

with me on the film.

31:58

Also has that come out yet?

32:00

No, it hasn't. We've just finished.

32:02

Thank you for finishing it. I mean, it's really I

32:04

think we should flood the zone. There needs to be as

32:07

many documentaries, you

32:09

know, fictional narratives that are

32:12

kind of docu dramas.

32:13

It's impossible for people to tell

32:16

unless they've seen it, unless

32:18

they see it and they feel it. And that's the other thing

32:20

is I think that we are essentially

32:22

emotional creatures. And

32:25

you're right to say I

32:27

came in with my head in my heart. I would

32:29

say mostly my heart, because my head

32:32

is getting thicker at this point in my life.

32:33

But well, you've taken a lot of blows to it

32:36

in your film career.

32:39

When you feel something, it's true, you know, you

32:41

know it exists in your bones. And that

32:44

thing about seeing these stories, I'm

32:46

really I can't begin to say

32:49

how impressed I am by the Ukrainian

32:51

people, and also how

32:53

concerned I am that they're getting tired and

32:55

that we need to continue to support them.

33:02

We'll be right back. You

33:12

know, when you talk about what you're doing

33:15

and the fact that you met President Zelenski,

33:18

describe for our listeners

33:21

what you thought of him. This Youngish

33:23

man who you

33:25

know somewhat improbably got elected

33:27

president in the first place, then

33:30

gets thrust into wartime leadership.

33:32

And I see you grinning on the video.

33:35

Well, no one was expecting President

33:37

Zelenski's response. No one

33:40

was expecting that level of courage.

33:42

I grinned because we

33:44

shared a profession. And

33:47

you know people say such awful things about actors,

33:50

Well here's one, here's one who

33:52

proved his metal. But

33:54

no one was expecting that level of courage,

33:56

frankly, and it's exactly what the world. It's

33:58

not just what Ukraine need, it's what the world needed.

34:01

Those principles and that dignity. That

34:05

little recording that he made on his phone

34:08

after the first night, smiling

34:10

with the other generals, saying yatut

34:12

moitut at these

34:15

words in Ukrainians you probably know, mean

34:17

we are here. I'm here, the President's here,

34:20

We're not going anywhere, and the part

34:22

that resonated for me. Moitut,

34:25

we're here, We're here together.

34:28

That's what matters, that we can face this

34:30

down, we can stand down bullies. He's

34:32

not a tall guy, you

34:35

know. Most people know him as one of the funniest

34:37

actors to ever come out of the entertainment

34:39

industry in Ukraine, and super talented,

34:41

super intelligent, but not Henry

34:44

the Fifth. And here he

34:46

had the intelligence, he had the dignity, he had

34:48

the humanity to make the right

34:50

choice. He knew what the right choice was,

34:53

that some things are worth putting your life

34:55

on the line for. And for me that

34:57

resonated so deeply with

35:00

my American values and

35:02

the patriots in our history

35:05

and our life who made our lives possible.

35:08

I owe them a debt, you know, and

35:10

I owe people like him a debt. And so

35:13

I was incredibly honored to get

35:15

to meet him. And Madame Zelenska,

35:17

as you know, as well as also extraordinary.

35:19

In her own she really is too. You

35:21

mentioned that you were watching Ukraine

35:24

coverage with your children. I know you've

35:26

just had a new baby, so I assume it's your two older

35:28

children, right, Yes, that sounded

35:30

so important to me that you were

35:33

watching with your children and

35:35

talking to them about what

35:37

they were seeing. What was that experience

35:40

likelyav.

35:41

I have to admit that it was a selfish one that

35:44

I was looking at these people

35:47

serving their country and I was thinking

35:49

what have I done as I sat there

35:51

with my kids, and how could

35:53

I explain our lives in a

35:55

way that made sense to them?

35:58

But I also I think

36:00

it was important to expose them to

36:03

the situation. They were old enough,

36:05

in my opinion, Guy was thirteen

36:08

and Sasha was fifteen to understand

36:11

it, or at least to ask questions

36:13

and to understand who we are and by

36:15

that I don't mean Ukrainian. By that, I

36:17

mean Americans and

36:20

where we fit into something like

36:22

this, and what we do when

36:25

this kind of barbarism.

36:27

You know, the military strategy

36:30

that he's employing that

36:32

attacks not just civilian infrastructure

36:35

but medical infrastructure.

36:36

That's right, hospitals.

36:37

Intentionally, Which is why

36:40

we really, really really need

36:42

to keep our eye on Ukraine and to continue

36:44

to help our brothers and sisters who are

36:46

fighting for those values.

36:48

Amen, Well, I can't thank

36:50

you enough for stepping

36:52

up and stepping into this important

36:55

matter and using your

36:58

reach to try to keep us

37:00

all focused on what's really important. Thank

37:03

you so very.

37:04

Much, Thank you, Madam Secretary.

37:11

To learn more about the work Blue Check

37:13

Ukraine is doing, or to make a donation

37:15

that they can get directly into the hands

37:17

of people on the ground in Ukraine

37:20

doing essential work, go

37:22

to blue Check dot in. I

37:26

know that the sheer number of critical hotspots

37:28

simmering across our globe right now

37:30

can be overwhelming, and yes it is

37:32

hard to follow it all, to make sense of it

37:35

all, but we cannot look away

37:37

and we cannot turn inward. The

37:40

fight for Ukraine's freedom is far

37:42

from over, and it's vital that

37:44

we not lose focus on the

37:47

essential need to secure peace and

37:49

safety for all people. So

37:53

take care, hold your loved

37:55

ones close, and let's do everything

37:57

we can to keep fighting for peace,

38:00

democracy and security,

38:12

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