- I used to carry around
a little card in my wallet.
Printed on it was a passage
written by
Pulitzer Prize-winning
playwright William Saroyan.
His words have served me
as a a kind of
aspirational instruction
on how I might best
live my life.
In its few
and poignant paragraphs
I held it as a Bible of sorts.
Its thoughts had resonated
deeply with me
from a young age
and on a visceral level
and for decades.
But it had not become
so crystal clear
in its relevance until
this past year and half
as I made seven trips
to and from Ukraine
for the making of this film.
- For those of you watching,
Vladimir Putin
has just declared
that a special m*llitary
operation is now underway.
- This speech
by Vladimir Putin
basically saying
that this w*r
is on the hands
of the Ukrainians who resist.
Oh. I tell you what.
I just heard a big bang.
- And the distinct sound
of explosions
on the horizon here in Kyiv.
- Go, go, go.
- A democratic country
has been invaded
by its nuclear-armed
neighbor.
- At least three explosions
rocked the capital of Kyiv.
- We should go
a little bit faster.
- Russia is picking off
Ukraine's m*llitary facilities
one after another.
- No, no, guys.
- Okay.
- What the f*ck is going on?
- If the Russians
did att*ck,
they'd have a short run
to Kharkiv.
We're driving north
towards the border
with Russia,
which is now about
15 or 20 minutes away.
About half an hour beyond that
is the city of...
- I really want to get back
over there.
- They pulled back
logistical units
that they could move back
to bases
that are already close by.
All the, like, the things
that would be essential for--
to take Kyiv
they've left in place.
- But then the counterpoint
from the Unites States'
position is that
they've also moved things
in what looks like
a strategic movement towards--
- You have to spend this money
to train the troops
on logistics
on how you make these moves.
- I had a conversation
with a former
State Department official,
and he, like us,
"I don't think it's going
to happen" kind of feel.
Some of these pieces will
be edited out of the film,
because it might be us saying,
"It's not going to happen.
- And then they f*cking...
- No.
In fact, though,
it's a valuable time capsule
to, you know...
- With feeling.
- Yes, we will admit it.
But it's not going to happen.
- Erin's hearing
from the Zelensky office.
How do you feel about
jumping on the plane Sunday?
- Let's say things get weird
and they shut down airlines...
- Right.
- Into Kyiv,
should we go to Poland?
- There's a natural
kind of avenue to get there.
We fly in and drive in.
- Yeah.
Is there a train?
- I'll check on the train.
- f*ck, that was tits.
That was really great.
That was one of
the great nights in my life
just being able to look
out the window
at the distant little lights
and villages.
- So...
- We're gonna follow your lead,
because we're starting
from zero.
- Okay.
- This project started with,
"Oh,
what a cute human interest.
"This comedic actor,
this nice little guy
"has become
the president of Ukraine.
This is going to be funny."
I talked to Sean about it
just as a friend.
I said, "Oh,
I'm doing this, you know,
this project on Zelensky."
And Sean said, "Oh, you know,
I've been watching
"a little bit about this guy.
He seems, like,
really interesting."
And I've seen Sean do this
with other things
and people
that he finds interesting.
- Before the quake,
actor Sean Penn
had never been to Haiti.
He has been there almost
full-time since January.
- I've often been asked,
"What's a Hollywood
actor doing
by going to places
of disaster..."
- We arrived in Baghdad
this morning.
- "Of conflict..."
I cannot conceive why they
would not have shared
the evidence
of weapons of mass destruction.
- Remember that Sean Penn
is an arrogant
and self-involved person.
- You know, even his poop
doesn't stink.
- "Spending time with alleged
enemies of America
- Two-time Oscar winner
Sean Penn...
- "Or much worse?
- Shaking hands
with El Chapo.
Who do you think you are,
Walter Cronkite?"
- Unbelievable,
you see these celebrities...
"Do you have
a savior complex?"
- Just stick to what
you're good at,
but stay out of our politics.
I just don't quite get why CNN
keeps having him on.
- What really motivates you,
Sean Penn?
The best response
that I've ever
been able to muster
is that I'm curious.
I've been lucky in life to
be able to afford to travel.
And weathered
though it is,
my famous face
gets me access
to places and people
I may otherwise
not have known.
And sometimes I feel
I can be helpful.
This film is unusual.
When Billy Smith and I set out
to make this film
there'd been no recent sign
of accelerated thr*at
to Ukraine by Russia.
Most of what I knew
about President Zelensky
was that he had too
had been an actor
and that as president
he had the very unfortunate
international perception
of having an attempt
at him being puppeted
by then U.S. president
Donald Tr*mp.
- Tonight
an expl*sive allegation
by a government whistleblower.
- It details
President Tr*mp's conversation
with the Ukrainian president.
- It was on that call
President Tr*mp
told the Ukrainian president,
"I would like you
to do us a favor.
- Suddenly I had to do
what I do,
listen to smart people.
- In the early 1990s, when
the Soviet Union collapsed,
Ukraine had on its territory
the world's third-largest
nuclear arsenal.
If you go back and you look
at the George H.W. Bush
administration
and then the first year
or two
of the Clinton administration,
a real focus was on getting
rid of those nuclear weapons.
And the Ukrainians
at the end of the day
were prepared to do that.
Their one condition was,
they said, "Look,
"nuclear weapons
offer security.
If we get rid of them,
how do you replace that?"
And we came up with something
that seemed like a good idea
at the time.
And it was
the Budapest Memorandum
on Security Assurances,
where the United States,
Britain, and Russia said,
"We will respect
your sovereignty,
"your territorial integrity,
your independence.
"And we will not use
or thr*aten
to use force against you."
Russians, of course,
have violated all of that.
- We'd originally set out
to tell the whimsical tale
of a real-world president,
who had been
a comedy superstar
in a series
about a rural history teacher
who becomes a president
only later
to actually become one.
- Reality
had mirrored fiction,
and Zelensky
had made it difficult
for many of us to know
where the television president
ended and the real one began.
- It was feeling
ever more strangely
like a movie within a movie
within a movie.
What would it take
for Ukraine
to be accepted into NATO?
- NATO said,
"Enlargement will be a matter
"between the alliance
and the country in question
and no third parties."
Well, I think
it's fairly obvious
Russia's gotten
a de facto vote.
I think the concern here is,
if Ukraine joins NATO
on Monday,
on Tuesday, is NATO
then at w*r with Russia?
- The situation
in and around Ukraine
remains fluid
and unpredictable.
There is no certainty
about Russia's intentions.
We see a significant
and unusual
concentration of forces,
which is, you know,
unjustified and unexplained.
- And with the current
Russian buildups...
- Yeah.
- How does that go
for a president like Zelensky?
- I think Zelensky
is a problem for Putin
in the sense
that he contradicts
the Russian narrative.
I mean, the Russian
narrative of Ukraine
is that there's an ultra-right
neo-n*zi government
that hates Russia
and hates Russians,
including Ukrainians
who are ethnic Russians.
Zelensky is a problem
for that.
He's Jewish.
- Let's be serious.
We're now living in the world
where...
He made an entertainment
empire making movies,
coming to shows all over
the post-Soviet space.
He was a star in Russia
as well.
- The situation
was changing
and feeling more urgent
for us as trying to tell
a story about Zelensky
to get over there
as soon as possible
to give Sean a feel
for the place
before it all
might go sideways.
- We took in a bit
of nightlife,
met with some veterans
of the Crimea invasion...
Then ultimately with
a very big and strong man
who was posed to challenge
Zelensky for the presidency.
- Vitali Klitschko has made
history as a boxer.
- Vitali Klitschko
retained his share
of the heavyweight title.
- But he's recently
left the ring
for a far more dangerous
arena.
- Right now
I continue my fight,
because I see the great
future of my country.
- There's a lot of parallels
between Ukraine
and the United States today
politically.
One of them is how people
define freedom.
- Regarding Ukraine,
it's our freedom
to be independent,
independent to make
a decision where we go.
Not so many people know
about Ukraine,
because we're
a very young country.
We just celebrate
30 years' independency.
We was in Soviet Union,
and somebody have an idea
to rebuild
big Russian empire.
- Somebody has an idea
to rebuild the Soviet Empire?
- Yeah.
- Yeah. That's right. Okay.
- We don't want back to USSR.
We're fighting
to build democracy,
to have a choice.
To be part of modern world,
I guess, is freedom.
But just after 2014,
we clearly understand
what this mean,
territorial integrity
and independency.
People pay for that
highest price.
- Thousands upon thousands
of demonstrators
have taken to the streets
furious with the government
of President
Viktor Yanukovych.
- Yanukovych reversed
his decision to sign
a long-awaited trade deal
with the European Union
in a move that favored
stronger ties with Russia.
- I can't imagine us living
in the pre-Maidan times,
in the country
with authoritarian rule.
We didn't have
strong institutions
that were pro-Ukranian.
Our information space
was merged with Russia.
We didn't think much
about Ukrainian identity,
but people changed.
- I am Ukrainian.
We are not a Soviet Union.
We want to be free.
Maidan was such
an empowering moment
for my generation.
Like, each of us,
we felt that our voice matter,
our persistence matters,
and that we can win.
- Before Maidan,
Ukraine was kind of
a gray area on the map.
- No one understood
what's really the difference
between Ukraine and Russia.
We were completely, like,
in this kleptocratic state,
like, where everyone
was stealing everything.
And one of the goals
of this protest
was to clean up corruption
from Ukrainian government.
And it was so hard.
- Fallen bodies
in the streets of Kyiv.
Protesters confronting
security services,
who respond
with live amm*nit*on.
- We're hearing
from medical officials
that possibly
100 people have d*ed.
That figure is going
to inflame
an awful lot of anger.
- Ukrainians have
this historical willingness
to be a democratic state.
And because it is so hard
to get,
it becomes very precious.
- At the ceremony, the lady
who spoke before you said
he wanted to build Europe here.
Is that dream one
that will be realized
in the future of Ukraine?
- Euromaidan gave a great push
to build our own sense
of responsibility.
We started to realize,
it's our country.
We have to do something.
- In a special session,
Ukraine's parliament
voted to remove
President Viktor Yanukovych.
- He fled to Russia,
urging Moscow to retaliate.
- Annexation of Crimea
was made possible
because of Euromaidan.
It allowed Putin
to switch on the propaganda.
- Shame on me having focused
so little of my attention
on Ukraine's 2004
Orange Revolution
or its significant leader,
Viktor Yushchenko.
After being elected president
in 2005,
Yushchenko became Ukraine's
first modern leader
to stand up for Ukraine's
sovereignty
against Russia's unrelentingly
invasive grip.
While I,
like most Americans,
remembered little beyond
the headlines
about the dioxin poisoning
of Yushchenko
by Russian assets,
this had been
a sanguine moment
in Ukraine's
sovereign evolution.
In the ten politically corrupt
and chaotic years
of disappointment
that followed,
the masses had maintained
that rumble of freedom calling
until that rumble
became the river
that burst into Maidan.
- We were all through
eastern Ukraine,
and we traveled down
to Mariupol.
- Mariupol, which had been so
consistently scarred
since 2014,
would later become the site
of so much death
and destruction.
Why did you decide to serve?
- And you rose to position
of commander?
- And you're a sn*per?
- It's November 2021.
Where is general troop morale?
- After Maidan, it was hard
to imagine myself
anywhere else in the world,
because Ukraine
is a country in the making.
And, like, being a part
of the historical process
of building a state,
it's bigger than anything.
Like, you're building
something
that will influence life of
people for hundreds of years.
- After Maidan,
people expected
a new political elite,
a new government
will change
the situation dramatically,
will fight corruption,
will change internal rules,
and so on and so forth.
But, unfortunately,
the old corrupted elite--
Western-related
but still corrupted--
came to power.
- He was one of the wealthiest
people in the country
from day one.
- Ukrainians perceived
Poroshenko, many of them,
as another oligarch,
a rich man going to power
and becoming
even more rich man.
- There's a saying here,
which may sound bad,
but as long
as there's corruption,
you can count on justice.
- This kind of idea
of Ukrainians,
that there are oligarchs
who privatized the country,
and they put
the private interests
over the public interests.
So Zelensky
was playing on this,
that, "I will come,
and I will break this system."
- His political life began
with that really incredible
coup on New Year's Eve.
- Zelensky was, you know,
ally with Kolomoisky,
one of the oligarchs.
And Kolomoisky TV channel,
1+1,
instead of address
of the president, Poroshenko,
they put address of Zelensky.
- Zelensky has done a lot
to try to separate himself
from Kolomoisky,
but I don't get the sense
that he's as compromised
as someone
like Viktor Yanukovych
or Petro Poroshenko,
who are legitimate oligarchs.
- In Ukraine, it's not
necessarily a country
that's black and white;
it's shades of gray.
- Here's a young kid, pure,
innocent, white,
fluffy bunny rabbit
untouched by the dirt
of politics.
- He knows what to do.
- I saw his show,
"The Servant of the People,"
exactly what he would do
if he was president,
which is destroy oligarchy,
destroy corruption.
Be careful.
- He was one
of the most famous actor
not just in Ukraine,
of all territory
of the Soviet Union.
He not be an actor
who is sitting and waiting,
what happened around him.
He was producer.
He was director.
- Whoo-hoo!
- The choice is very simple,
either or.
Zelensky is hope.
- Sometimes he is not
very well-prepared.
- He's really trying.
It's just, like, not his role.
- I mean, we don't know
what he thinks
about almost anything.
- Well, indeed.
- Test out the policies
in the TV show.
See if they bump, you know,
and implement them.
- Yes.
- Zelensky came in,
a political novice,
supposedly,
but I think he ran
an excellent campaign.
You know, his themes were,
"I'm going to fight corruption.
"I'm going to grow the economy.
"We're going to stop
the w*r with Russia,
and we're going to get
our territory back."
- We are living
in the country
in which all the presidents
was from
some politic elite.
I've been not sure
that it can be possible,
but I was sure about him.
Absolutely.
- A political earthquake took
place in Ukraine this weekend.
On Sunday an electorate
sick of the status quo
voted overwhelmingly
for a political satirist.
- We were meeting
with people every day
while waiting
for it all to line up
to meet with the president.
Between people on the street,
people in bars
and restaurants,
people from all walks of life,
I don't think
we found anybody
who said, "This is the guy."
Did you vote for him?
- Were you a fan
of "Servant of the People"?
- I think a lot of people
who voted for them
were also confused,
and they were choosing, like,
from lesser evil.
- I didn't vote for him,
and I was very skeptical
about him.
He did belong
to Russian world.
He worked
and made money in Russia.
I think that for a long time,
he expected that he could find
some understanding.
- Who is Zelensky to you?
- He's the president,
you know?
I don't vote for him,
because for me,
president in Ukraine
must be a man with the balls.
Because when we have president
which want to speak
with the Russians
about the peace,
what the f*ck, man?
Russians don't care
about peace.
- How old were each of you
when you went to fight?
- I was 27.
- 35.
- What led you to it?
- My father was born
in Crimea.
My mother lived in Donetsk.
And Crimea and Donetsk
now is occupied by Russians.
So I don't want Russians
in my house.
Our neighbors,
f*cking neighbors.
- Da, f*cking neighbors.
f*cking neighbors.
- We're currently
in this situation
where there's
a major Russian buildup.
- We live with this
for 7 1/2 years.
We understand that
they can go to w*r at us.
So maybe for United citizens,
it's like, you know...
For Ukrainians, it's like,
"Okay, we know, yeah."
When your enemy is Russian,
you must be f*cking tough guy.
And it's a time when president
must, mm,
do some difficult decisions.
- More now
on our top national story.
The whistleblower
at the center
of the impeachment inquiry
by the House
of Representatives alleged
that President Tr*mp abused
the power of his office.
- President repeatedly urged
Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky
to investigate
his political rival.
- Allegations
of a quid pro quo,
that U.S. president
Donald Tr*mp
made m*llitary aid to Ukraine
dependent on the country
digging up dirt
on Tr*mp's
political opponent.
- It is improper for the
president of the United States
to demand a foreign government
investigate a U.S. citizen
and a political opponent.
We missed a huge opportunity
because
of the Ukrainian scandal
to work with Zelensky.
And also, those moments
indicated to Putin
that there was
an opportunity here.
You don't have to worry
about the U.S. government
coming down on you
like a hammer.
This is a wedge issue.
We could separate, you know,
the parties,
the bipartisan support.
If we didn't have that,
maybe we could have warned off
Russia's aggression.
- I can see you're angry
with President Tr*mp.
Maybe a little bit, huh?
A little bit?
- Zelensky
is incredibly careful.
And, I mean, at that point,
you can tell he understands
that there's a huge trap here,
and he very carefully
walks around it.
And then in December of 2019
there's a summit meeting
in Paris.
President Macron of France,
Chancellor Merkel of Germany,
they're there with Putin
and Zelensky,
tried to mediate a solution
to the conflict in Donbas.
- I think Putin
kind of thought
he could play Zelensky,
but he challenged Putin
in a way that I think
Putin was kind of
surprised about.
- How does this play out now?
- Now we have the same Putin,
but we have
absolutely different Ukraine
and absolutely different mood
in your country.
- While Zelensky had coalesced
a new centrism in Ukraine,
the United States
had fallen into
a populist lap dance
of extremes.
We'd all been feeling
the unimaginatively toxic
divisiveness at home,
so to see Ukraine's vibrant,
young,
and united democracy downrage
of Russian tyranny
was chilling.
- If Putin goes
full-strength forward
using conventional weapons,
is Ukraine ready?
- I want protect my country,
my mom, my family.
To protect democracy is
really important to everyone.
All Ukrainians,
we all is strong.
And I know that our future
is great and big
for everyone Ukrainian.
- In a 2005 address
to the Russian Federation
Putin said,
"We are a free nation,
"and our place
in the modern world
"will be defined
only by how successful
and strong we are."
His statement played out
as mockery
in the absolutely
authoritarianism
he'd adopted
in the years that followed.
But its true embodiment
was happening
in the sovereign Ukraine.
And we could feel
its simmering unification.
It was a different kind
of air I was breathing.
- So f*cking great.
- There has been a dramatic
and worrying shift
in Russia's readiness to
att*ck in the past 48 hours.
Russia has now moved
rocket launchers
and long-range a*tillery
into f*ring positions.
- Vladimir Putin,
in a dramatic escalation,
announcing tonight
he's sending Russian troops
into eastern Ukraine.
- Hello.
- Fernando,
we have a camera on you.
- Okay.
- What was your impression
of Putin's speech
the other night?
- But what is your
human perception
of his state of mind?
- Up until last night
I had some faith
that maybe there is some plan
that Putin had in his mind,
bust just on his demeanor
he may not be rational,
and maybe we should seriously
consider the fact
that there's a madman
in Europe again.
- I don't think
he's an irrational man.
I don't think it was
a crazy speech.
- He challenged Ukraine's right
to exist.
- He makes all sorts
of absurd assertions,
like, you know,
"Ukrainians are attacking
Russian soil"
and that sort of thing,
but in some ways I think the
point that he's making is that,
"You Americans behave this way
for decades already.
And now I'm gonna behave
this way myself."
And I think Zelensky
has a problem,
because he's the target.
They want a regime change here.
- People would never support
some puppet--
- No, no, no.
- No.
- Isn't it ridiculous, though,
that they got to this point
because of their hubris.
Zelensky comes to power saying,
"I can make a deal.
"I'm not particularly wedded
to any ideological position.
"Language, politics,
don't care about it.
"Ukrainization,
don't care about it.
"I just want peace.
I want everybody in Ukraine
to live like what they want."
He says,
"Let's have a dialogue."
None of it works.
Putin says,
"Meh, meh, no, no deal."
I--you know--
- "You're a nationalist."
- Yeah, "You're a nationalist."
And he keeps calling him
a n*zi Jew.
Putin kept calling him
a nationalist so many times
that ultimately it's like,
"Okay, fine.
NATO, I'm gonna speak Ukrainian
in public all the time."
'Cause there's nothing that
the people in the Kremlin
are willing to do in order
to make a dialogue happen.
- Isn't it a story of, like
Russia's policy
against Ukraine
the last eight years?
Every single things
they've done
has completely backfired
on them.
- Totally.
- They thought they'd launch
a w*r to split
this country apart,
and it actually unified
the country.
And I think in my
interpretation last night is,
this is about vengeance.
He's angry.
This country wants to divorce
itself from Russia forever,
and he wants it back.
- Yeah, and there's
this ideology in Russia
Slovak people can't have
a democracy,
and, you know,
Russians actually believe it,
and then, if, you know,
if they have something
that's successful here, it is
an existential thr*at to them.
- We're looking
at something now,
we're gonna have air power,
missiles, cyberattacks,
jamming GPS.
It's--
- If it happens like that.
- But I think if--if--
- I think the chances
are up to 10% of--
- Ooh.
- I say, for me,
it's 50/50 right now.
- 50/50 of Kyiv on fire.
- Yes.
- I mean, I just think
the U.S. government
isn't worrying
about these things for nothing.
- Have you been to Russia?
- In 2001 Jack Nicholson
and I had a film
at the Moscow Film Festival.
That night has become
a deviant memory.
- Rising tension has prompted
the United States
to remove its personnel from
the U.S. embassy in Ukraine.
- The U.S. State Department
issuing its highest level,
level 4,
"do not travel" advisory.
- It felt increasingly
like Putin's special operation
was coming our way.
- The U.S. is rushing more
m*llitary aid to the country,
the first shipment
of a new $200 million
package arriving,
including amm*nit*on.
- You are likely
in the last few hours
of peace
on the European continent
for a long time to come.
- Vladimir Putin
has just addressed
the Russian people moments ago
announcing what Putin called
the start of
a m*llitary special operation,
in his words,
to demilitarize Ukraine.
- We may be witnessing now
what is the beginning
of the bloodiest conflict
in Europe since World w*r II.
- Russian president
Vladimir Putin
has 150,000-plus troops
near the border.
- Russia has got forces
effectively
surrounding Ukraine
on three sides,
by land and sea and air.
- We were nearing the end
of our scheduled week in Kyiv
when we got the called
we'd been waiting for.
It was February 23, 2022,
when our first
in-person meeting
with President Zelensky
would happen.
We did not bring our cameras.
I myself am suspicious
of trusts built
on electronic communications.
I wanted the president
to have an opportunity
of sizing me up in person
before asking him to commit
to participate in our film.
By the end of our meeting
he did indeed commit to us
bringing out cameras
on the following day.
On any other day
I might have been ecstatic.
But this was not anyone's
average day on planet Earth.
And both this warm,
young president I'd just met
and his nation were in
a heart-wrenching degree
of danger.
- Sean, I just talked
to the security guy.
We have to leave the country
in the morning.
Yeah, so we'll try to meet
the president tomorrow.
- There's a big difference
in my conversation
about leaving one day early
versus leaving tomorrow.
I don't--I'm not prepared
to leave tomorrow.
Who do you think you are,
Geraldo Rivera?
- The w*r in Ukraine
has begun.
- Three explosions rocked the
capital of Kyiv this morning.
A rocket hit
an apartment building
starting a fire.
- When was the last time
you heard something?
- Like, that was, like,
a half an hour ago.
I heard, like,
the sounds of explosions.
- If we need them
at some point,
who's providing vests,
helmets, and all that sh*t?
- Peter.
- Okay.
- I mean, we just got
a call that there was--
- They had two impacts
in town.
They're hitting the airport.
- No.
- Yeah.
- f*cking A.
- Airspace shut down.
- I agree.
- What are we doing?
- Just going over
to the InterContinental,
find out what's going on,
because nobody here
seems to know what's going on.
No maps, nothing.
They'll have stuff...
- f*ck it.
- We're just going to go
to the InterContinental,
that hotel right there.
- Right. Right.
- To that?
- Just the hotel right there.
- To that hotel that is
on the opposite side?
- Yeah.
- And it says, like,
the recent rocket att*cks--
- Rocket att*cks?
I hear ya.
I hear ya.
- Here.
- Thanks.
I just heard
from Robert O'Brien.
He said, "Get the f*ck out."
- The U.S. did hear
from the president
of Ukraine earlier tonight.
He's there.
He has not fled his country.
- He obviously is determined
to say.
- Your attention, please.
There is second-level thr*at
in country.
We'll leave upon you
the decision
to leave the hotel or stay.
We'll help to organize this
at a point in the hotel.
In a crisis,
you will get the shelter.
In the announcement
of this thr*at,
use stairwell
down to the lobby.
Follow staff instructions.
You will be leaded
to the shelter place.
- The air raid sirens
had escorted us
into the day break
of the 24th.
The modern country
was suddenly at w*r.
It was a sad, surreal,
and shocking day.
But admittedly,
one also surrenders
to some exhilaration.
It keeps you awake when sleep
is a distant memory.
And though completely
unexpected,
the president's office
confirmed
that the president would still
keep our appointment.
- President Biden unleashed
new sanctions against Russia.
- This aggression
cannot go unanswered.
America stands up to bullies.
We stand up for freedom.
- President Biden
has said again and again
no U.S. troops
will be involved in this w*r.
- I assumed that journalist
and quasi-journalists
around the world would scoff,
but there was not one cell
in my body
willing to prepare a question
for the president,
not on a day like this.
I hoped the film
would be useful.
That's about it.
- This is the center
of the universe
for democracy today,
right now.
- Okay, we have
ten minutes for that.
- We knew by that time
about the Russian commandos
that had taken the airport.
And that was only
about 15 kilometers away.
There was talk
about how long it would take
for the Russians
to completely encircle Kyiv.
It was imminent.
- Hi.
- I'm well.
- To be here at this time,
in this country,
with you,
with your countrymen,
I mean, there's so much
inspiration to be had here.
- Where does it end?
I mean, what does he want?
What does he--what is the--
- Rosa arrange this.
- Yes. Right.
- Please don't say
you were in the bunker.
- No.
- You say only
Office of President.
- Okay.
Oh, man.
- Right.
No, we're the good guys.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Bye-bye.
- Yeah.
Who's the Zoom with?
- With Ksenia Sobchak--Russia--
who's staying in Moscow.
- Okay, but is it on TV
or just a person?
- On TV.
- You think it's TV?
- Yes.
- Russian TV?
- Russian TV.
- Okay.
All right, let me tell him.
- Thank you for coming out
to our broadcast.
Sean, tell us, please,
where are you, first of all?
- I am in Kyiv.
- Why you're in Kyiv?
Were you aware
of the thr*at
you're facing there?
- Well, I think all reasonable
people were considering
all possibilities.
- As far as I know,
as far as I understand,
today you met with
President Zelensky.
What were the things
you were discussing?
- What an unimaginable
position--
it is my thought--
that any man or woman
in this world could be in.
I believe with everything
in my heart
that this is a man of love,
intelligence, and courage,
and I still believe
love is proving itself
to be the most powerful w*apon
on Earth.
- Protests tonight
across Russia
in more than 50 cities.
- How much resistance
is there to President Putin?
- These Russians
need to be the example
of peace
for the rest of the world.
This is the height
of that moment
in my lifetime, certainly,
and I think we can all assume,
perhaps, ever.
Okay, any questions?
- Yes.
Is there a w*apon in the bunch?
Where is it?
- Oh, my God.
- Russia's brutal w*r
on Ukraine
begins its second day.
- Right now, I--
we've been, like,
for the last 12 hours,
we've been on the road
kind of zigzagging to get
to the Polish border
going a foot at a time
in cars on different roads,
because they
bombed out a bridge on one,
and it's just a lot of,
you know--
but I'm completely fine.
And we got to sh**t
with the president.
Just moving.
- Ukrainian president
Zelensky
remains in the capital
despite threats
from the Kremlin
against his young family.
- Reports emerged the Americans
had offered an evacuation,
to which
Mr. Zelensky replied...
- How many kilometers
away are we, 20?
- About 28.
- Hey. Yeah, so we're just
going to abandon this.
There's no order to it.
- Let's see if there's
a dirt road
behind those trees.
- All right, this is it?
This is all we're taking?
You're going to take that
backpack and your other bag.
- I got it.
- You need to put the backpack
on properly.
- Hey.
How you doing?
- Hey. How are you?
- It is, man.
It is. It is.
My wife's devastated.
- It's unbelievable.
It's surreal.
- It's crazy.
- Come on, Mick.
- Now they're just
picking up everyone.
- Yeah.
- I mean, it's unreal
what's happening.
- Yeah, man. Mickey.
- Yeah?
- All right, man.
- All right, man, cool.
- While the men of Ukraine
ages 18 to 60
were compelled
to stay in country
and get into the fight,
women and children dominantly
occupied these miles and miles
of cars inching their way
toward the Polish border.
These heroic women set off
to a different front line
and the heartbreak
of husbands, fathers,
brothers, sons,
and businesses
all left behind.
They fled for their
children's safety,
many without any certain
destination or support.
Just three days earlier,
they were you and me.
- w*r has returned to Europe.
- Explosions and the exodus
are only the beginning.
all: Stand with Ukraine!
- The Russian invasion
of Ukraine
continues to spark an outcry.
- People around the globe
are rallying
in solidarity with Ukraine.
- My feeling is,
I'd rather fail, you know,
trying in my little way
to be a uniter, you know, by
going and talking to somebody
who's already labeled me
full screen
the enemy of the state.
- And finally tonight,
the enemy of the state.
This week,
actor, activist,
and all-around
very angry man
Sean Penn
takes the honors.
You are this week's
enemy of the state.
- I flip between Fox and CNN.
And, like, each time,
it's like,
"Sean Penn's
going on 'Hannity.'"
- The least we can do to honor
what they're doing is try.
It was important for him
to get the word out
about what he had seen,
what he had heard,
what he had experienced.
- It's a pleasure.
Thanks for everything.
You've been great.
- If you were on this set,
99 out of 100 times,
we probably would be
in full disagreement, right?
- No question about that.
I don't trust you.
Is there a reason
you didn't trust me?
- Yeah, there's a lot
of reasons I don't trust you,
but I don't think
that I've got time
to indulge my lack of trust,
which it becomes a petty thing
as people and babies
are being vaporized.
- A lot of the world didn't
think that Putin would do it.
I did think he would.
So you get there.
You're interviewing Zelensky
at this time.
Did he see this coming?
Did he believe
that this was real?
- Yes.
He is the face of something
that you see
in all the Ukrainians we saw
and talked to
whether they were in uniform,
out of uniform,
schoolteachers,
even children,
this extraordinary courage
that's come up.
It is clear to me that the
Ukrainians will win this.
The question is,
at what cost?
- In this buildup
I thought NATO countries
and Western European countries
and the U.S.
should have been arming
the Ukrainians for that moment.
- This could happen
tomorrow also.
We could get F-15s, F-16s in.
Then they can fly those
with three weeks of training.
They can fly the MiGs
and the Sus now.
- Poland offered--what was it--
28 or 29 MiGs.
- Yeah.
- Every report says Joe Biden
vetoed that.
Forget politics.
- Not everybody says
he vetoed it.
- Whoever vetoed it,
Ronald Reagan had a doctrine.
And the doctrine was in the
case of the former Soviet Union
invading Afghanistan
in the '80s,
he supplied Stinger missiles
to the mujahideen.
I support that doctrine.
I support the Tr*mp doctrine
that,
if you're gonna fight a w*r
you push buttons
using new m*llitary weaponry
and technology,
and you b*mb the sh*t out of--
- Okay, but I would argue...
- Hang on.
- You've made this political,
and now give me a chance
to respond to it.
- Hang on. I will.
- Because I'm not talking
about anybody's doctrine
that got us into
a lot of other crap.
- Republicans and Democrats,
they're all gung ho.
They start these wars.
They don't fight them
to win them.
- We--we absolutely agree
on that.
- And fight the w*r to win it.
- That's right.
- And that means
to defeat Russa--
- Or let them fight it
to win it, because they will.
- Well, that's what I'm saying.
Let the Ukrainians
fight themselves.
- Yeah, we agree.
You and I can argue all day.
But I look at you,
and I think you believe
in this country in your way.
I believe in it in mine.
- 100%
- When you step into a country
of such incredible unity,
you realize what we've all
been missing.
- You'll never talk politics
with me on this show, will you?
- We--we've all got to
figure out--
- Wasn't that bad.
Do you trust me now
more than you did?
- There's a lot
of physical therapy necessary
after a big car accident.
You don't get it all done
in a day.
- Our prayers are with
the innocent,
and I wish you luck
in helping them.
- And the heroes
who are fighting for them.
- Next time we'll battle over
Hugo Chvez or something fun.
- That's an interesting
conversation.
- All right.
- All right.
- Thank you for being with us.
- Former Speaker of the House,
Fox News contributor
Newt Gingrich is with us.
Your thoughts
on the conversation and more.
- That may have been
one of the most impactful
and amazing interviews
of your entire career.
- I'm going to talk
to Sean Hannity,
to Fox News, MSNBC.
I'm going to go do talks
at presidential libraries.
We're going to get
this message out
and help get
what Ukraine needs.
- You called
and said get the hell out,
get the F out, whatever.
- Yeah, yeah.
There's
going to be a serious attempt
at a quick decapitation strike
with the Russian paratroopers.
- The Ukrainians had something
to say about that, obviously.
- Every fundraiser I've been
to, every event I've been to
for the last several months,
people are up in arms
over Ukraine.
- I mean,
when we do the stories,
the ratings
go through the roof.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome
our distinguished panel.
- It's amazing
to see the Ukrainians
and the resilience.
The Ukrainians are fighting
and fighting hard.
And you think Ukraine
can win this.
- I'd go further, and,
you know, I wager everything.
The Ukrainians
are going to win.
And what we're going
to be doing is saying,
"How many lives
did we let them lose?"
- You know, in Zelensky,
this is a leader
who is pretty remarkable
in this moment.
- Part of what makes him
so particularly extraordinary
is that in that courage,
he's the face
of so many Ukrainians.
This is leadership.
No one on the planet's
been tested
in leadership
like this one human being.
- Mr. President, what is it...
- Tonight
a world-exclusive interview.
- What is the situation?
- Thank you so much
for talking.
- Thank you very much.
- If you do win,
will Vladimir Putin survive?
- You know,
Ronald Reagan once said,
"I don't know how anyone
could have held this position
without having had
acting ability."
And he said, "The ability
to be a good actor
is to be yourself
when the camera comes on."
When Zelensky got elected,
a lot of people
made the comparisons
to Ronald Reagan.
And, "He's an actor,
and he's not prepared."
And yet Zelensky
is just himself,
when the camera's on,
when it's off.
He is who he is.
This moment right now,
he is perfect.
- The Ukrainian president
has been praised
as a master of social media.
- I mean, one thing that's
very important to remember
is, he is a performer.
- Social media
has allowed him
to dominate
the information w*r.
- He has
the bully pulpit now.
People feel comfortable
that he has a vision now.
- All three of you
really being versed
in this over time,
take me back
before the invasion.
- 1999, I had an opportunity
to do a project in Ukraine,
and I was in Ukraine
until a month ago,
two days before the w*r.
- I was in 2008
when the second invasion
happened in Georgia.
We got in, and we were lucky
we got out.
- I was in Iraq in 2007,
2008 during the surge.
- So I was the main
interpreter for Lech Walesa.
So I was all over
Central and Eastern Europe.
Yeah, so I've seen
a lot of stuff.
And I've seen regression.
And it breaks my heart.
I was sent twice...
- What does the healing
look like
between Russians
and Ukrainians?
- Unless they kick
the Russians out
or the Russians take off
and literally give everything
back to the Ukrainians
that would be perhaps
the beginning,
except when you look at
the number of dead civilians
and children and women
and old people
that the Russians,
they've been k*lling.
- Go this way, guys.
- Thank you very much
for talking with us.
What is your assessment?
- Taking Ukraine may come easy
to the overwhelming Russian...
- Like just come out
of an intelligence
with a Western official.
Ukraine is in a battle
for its life right now.
- Ukraine's capital city
of Kyiv
might soon fall
to Russian forces.
- Russia's actions
are outrageous.
Every hour of inaction now
is a thr*at to the lives
of Ukrainians.
Ukraine loses the w*r,
there will be no Ukraine.
And when stakes are so high
for us,
of course we will
keep fighting.
Whatever it takes.
- The people are mobilizing.
- People signing up to fight.
People bringing in supplies,
anything they think
that will help
the Ukrainian w*r effort.
- We never seek to leave.
This our homes.
We defend our children,
family,
our buildings, our city,
and our future,
future of Ukraine.
- Can Ukraine outright win
this w*r?
- Ukrainian resistance
is having
a huge b*ttlefield impact.
- There's a recording
between Ukrainian
and Russian forces.
- Snake Island,
and appears to have been
att*cked by a Russian warship.
- The man behind those words
was awarded a medal
for his bravery.
- Now we've seen
impressive gains
by the Ukrainian army.
- Russia's flagship vessel,
the "Moskva."
- Ukraine says it hit the ship
with cruise missiles
launched from the coast.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky
visited at extreme risk.
- Tonight a stunning
breakthrough.
- How are the Ukrainians
pulling this off?
- Nobody believed in us.
- "Oh, they're going--
you know, they will fail."
And now the whole world
is basically watching.
- This moment in Ukraine to
represent a human phenomenon.
Like,
everyone who I was calling
was doing something
for the army.
It was such a huge network
of volunteers.
- Ukraine is extremely united
right now
for so many of us.
And it gives us strength,
and that's why we are not--
we are not afraid,
because we realize that they
have to k*ll all of us.
- In Ukraine
it's not difficult
to find a great diversity
in political opinion.
Just as in the U.S.
one can find
every impassioned
nationalist idea,
every impassioned
humanist idea.
And yet they've someone found
a complete recognition
in the interdependence
that allows for independence.
It's tangible.
- President Zelensky
called on the United States
to send more weapons.
- They asked for
heavier weapons faster.
- The Pentagon has rejected
a surprise offer from Poland
to fly all of its MiGs
to a U.S. airbase in Germany.
- Saying it risks setting off
a wider w*r with Russia.
- We continue.
We continue fighting.
We just need support.
I--I need to say to you,
because you're our friends,
that we still waiting.
We still talking every day
with international w*r leaders.
We need some help
by the weapons.
We still, for example,
waiting this jet
from Poland.
- Right.
- Thank you, Sean.
Thank you.
Thank you very much,
my friend.
- The people and government
of Poland
had opened their hearts
and borders
to some 8 million
Ukrainian refugees
but found challenges
when seeking
to provide fighter jets.
What did happen
with the MiG proposal?
- We don't want to act
unilaterally.
Such weapons
like the jet fighters,
it would require the NATO,
and our collective decision
was not to go
farther with our action
of delivering the MiGs.
- Some countries make the point
that Ukraine
should only be provided
with defensive weapons
and we should not receive
any offensive weapons.
The real point
is that any w*apon
that is being used
by Ukrainian army
in the territory of Ukraine
is defensive by definition.
Because we are not using it
to att*ck anyone.
We are using it
to defend ourselves.
We don't have the feeling
that neither Poland
or the United States
are not willing
to do something for Ukraine.
But they do have differences
in understanding
who will assume
the responsibility
for making the decision.
Use the bloody weapons
necessary to win.
- Ukraine needs
w*apon supplies.
We need heavy a*tillery,
armed vehicles,
air defense systems,
and combat aircraft,
anything to repel
Russian forces
and stop their w*r crimes.
Arm Ukraine now
to defend freedom.
- It's an apocalyptic vision.
- How much more
can the civilians withstand?
- Accounts of Russian abuses
are widespread.
- We saw undeniable evidence
of atrocities.
- New fallout and outrage
sparking more calls for
a w*r crimes investigation.
- I don't want to live
in a world
where a gangster with nukes
gets to dictate
what we have to live under.
I just don't want
to live in that world.
And the Ukrainians won't live
in that world.
It's a real w*r.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's in real life.
- We all thought that Kyiv
was going to fall
in two days,
and now here we are.
- Russia is aware that
it's not winning this w*r.
- The new narrative
is being born right now
about Ukraine,
this narrative
about very strong,
brave, courageous country.
- The recipe of victory
is Ukrainian stamina
and Western sanctions
and weapons.
These are the three elements
that will make us prevail.
- The Russians,
they have been bloodied.
- The Russians are taking
a tremendous number
of casualties,
probably taken
70,000 or 80,000 casualties.
- I hate to say this.
You know,
these Russian soldiers,
17, 18, 19 years old, right?
They're just cannon fodder.
And they're getting blown
to bits by the Ukrainians.
You've got
refrigerator trucks
and refrigerator train wagons
full of dead
Russian soldiers,
because Putin does not want
society to see this.
- Make no mistake, while
I believe they're winning,
the longer
that this w*r goes on,
the more likely it is
that it will start to fray
and fracture.
So Mr. Zelensky needs
to have an outright win here
pretty soon.
- I'm glad to see you,
Mr. President.
How are you holding up?
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Sean.
All the best.
- He looks like he's been
awake since we saw him.
- Because the Ukrainians
have performed so well,
because the democratic world
has consolidated
with regard to sanctions
and supporting Ukraine
with weapons,
it is not going to escalate
towards a conventional w*r
with NATO
because we provided
the Ukrainians with planes.
Since before this w*r,
I've been talking
about giving the Ukrainians
weapons to deter Russia.
We should be able to peer
around the corner
and see how this w*r
is going to unfold,
the fact that we're going
to have to step in
and provide more.
But we're going
to do it too late,
and we're going to miss
opportunities
to make this a short w*r.
We're going to miss
opportunities
to reduce the human toll
for Ukraine.
We're going to miss
opportunities
to really decrease
the risk for the U.S.
with a long-w*r scenario.
- One part of the w*r
that we've gotten
very little insight into
is the battle for the sky.
- This rumor
of the Ghost of Kyiv.
- The Ghost of Kyiv.
- The Ghost of Kyiv,
they call it.
- The Russian Air Force
has not been able
to get air supremacy.
Can you just talk a little bit
about why that is?
- Because they have a fear
of our air defense.
But we need effective tools
to do this efficiently.
- How do the Russians
get stopped?
- The conflict will be
going on for some time,
and we need
the weapons flowing,
and without U.S. assistance,
that would be close
to not possible.
We need new fighter jets.
- That's much more exciting
for him than it is for you.
- Yeah.
- We just watched your movie.
The next "Top g*n" movie
should be made in Ukraine.
- You know,
you put the world on notice
that Ukraine, you know,
isn't f*cking laying down
for anything.
It's a real honor
to talk to you guys.
- Thank you for support.
- As this w*r went on,
it got more
and more difficult
to keep attention
and interest in it.
- Other stories
we're following for you...
- Will Smith clashed
with comedian Chris Rock.
- There's a time limit.
- The world watched
Johnny Depp's...
- And there's an energy limit
to what people can put
on the horrors
of something
taking place far away.
For Sean,
it was very important
to get back to Ukraine...
Get back
to see what's going on
and experience
what it was like now in June.
And we knew the important
thing was getting Sean
and Zelensky back together.
- Ukraine's president
is accusing Russia now
of bombing a crowded
shopping mall
in the eastern part
of the country.
- The capital, Kyiv,
once again in the crosshairs.
- This morning,
the most serious att*ck
on Kyiv in weeks,
two apartment blocks struck.
- In residential buildings
hit by rockets,
the number of civilian
casualties is rising.
- Is this it?
- Yeah, this is--
this is it.
Who's coming?
Wow.
This was the living room.
That was a bedroom
and restroom.
- Yeah, this is not
structurally sound anymore,
is it?
- No.
- So what are you doing now?
Just hearing out the things
that can be salvaged?
- Yeah, so actually,
I asked the m*llitary guys
to help me out.
They came here.
They clear everything.
They try to make sure that
we actually can take anything.
I tried to find, like,
really sensitive stuff,
like maybe pictures
or, like, some other stuff.
Yeah, that's it.
Like, I just wanted
to find something.
- What can we help you carry?
- Nothing.
It's done.
- It's done. Okay.
- It's done.
We took everything
that we could.
That's it.
Welcome to my home.
- Because you can?
- Because I can.
- Thank you.
- And here too.
- I'm a little bit late.
Maybe not little.
Sorry. I'm so sorry.
- No, you're fine.
Once the invasion began,
what was the first moment
that you were able to check in
with your family?
- In the night, I think.
In the night.
It was in the night.
And I had phone call.
My wife, I said,
"Tell children,
"detailing everything.
What does it mean,
the w*r with Russia?"
- The day of the invasion,
when you walked in,
I saw a change in you.
There was an air of,
you were born for this moment.
It was so clear
that we were in a moment of...
extreme history.
- Everybody has to be--
has to become older,
older at this moment
to understand what to do
and what we are doing,
because we need to live
in the real life,
not in fairy tale.
- There it is.
- So this is
the direct impact crater?
- Yeah.
And he's like wise...
political man.
So even our children
began because of the w*r.
They began to speak, like,
you know,
to speak not like children.
He understand why I am not
with him every day.
He said to me that,
"I understand you,
"and I think
that in the future,
maybe we can have something
like it was before the w*r."
He understand that it will not
be such way like it was.
Only now we know what country
we have to build.
I made a lot of decisions.
For example...
And we'll see the result
only after the w*r.
From this point,
we can't come back
to the political,
economical
securities strategy.
It couldn't be
just democracy,
just liberal attitude
to everything.
It couldn't be so.
But we should know
that soldiers with w*apon
will be in the streets.
You know, how can everywhere
be people with g*ns?
Why you are looking
what is in my bag
when I'm entering shops?
Now we should do it.
It's a pity.
It's not about Ukraine.
That is the result
of all the wars.
- Yeah, this kind of stuff
is still shockingly stupid,
and the idea
that one evil little man
could be so generating
the force behind it,
it's just unimaginable
and has to change
somehow for--
I think about it for my kids,
because everything
that happens here
is going to affect
every other place
in the world today.
And I think that's the reason
that we're all
so invested in this,
and because Ukraine
is representing
the greatest aspirations
that we all share.
- They will not stop...
never.
A lot of people die.
And...
so--so it's tragedy,
but I understood that this
tragedy result of the w*r.
I understood it.
They will destroy everything.
People want to forget
what's going on in the East.
Believe me, now they destroyed
everything on the East.
We need to go and talk
to the soldiers
who are fighting the fight
and spend some time
on the front line.
- Yes, it's possible.
We could help.
We're very interested
to show the world
what's going on here.
We are fighting.
We destroyed
a lot of Russian troops,
and they destroyed us.
That is the w*r between two.
They are not waiting,
and we are fighting.
They will dig in.
So that is the problem.
We should press on them.
That's very difficult
with such,
I think, slowly way
of getting weapons.
With such speed...
you can't move forward.
- Ukraine is intent
on pushing Russian troops
back to their border
with the help
of advanced
long-range m*ssile systems
en route
from the United States.
- The U.S. is sending
a*tillery rocket systems
known as HIMARS.
- The weaponry includes
the M142
high-mobility
a*tillery rocket system.
- Once you fire
from a position,
does that immediately mean
you're gonna move positions?
I think that because of our
proximity now
to active combat, that's where
our sights should be set.
- Let's put that
in this truck.
- Yeah, we're gonna do this.
- Let's do that.
- Okay.
Okay.
- Up.
- Okay.
So that means
we're getting close.
During last ten days...
During last ten days.
Because shells are going
without stopping.
No stop,
shelling without stopping,
any stopping,
different kinds.
And it's, you know...
that is what we have.
- Russia is intensifying
its as*ault
in the east of Ukraine.
- And the Ukrainians
may have to decide do they,
as it were,
dig in in Severodonetsk,
or do they give up
the city now
and leave while they can?
- Can you speak
to what importance it was
to the solidary of this fight
that the president stayed
in Kyiv?
- These Russians,
they k*lled a lot of people.
And it was, for me, shock,
also for everybody,
that they--
- r*ped, yeah.
When they began,
when they r*ped
some women and some children,
it was f*ck--
I can't find,
you know, right words
and never find.
I will never find for this,
because it was shock.
So many children,
so many blood.
- Russia is bombing
kindergarten schools,
maternity hospitals.
- They are crimes.
They're not really soldiers.
They did crime
against the humanitarian...
- Right.
- Values.
- Latvian MPs
have declared Russia
a state sponsor of terrorism,
saying its invasion
of Ukraine
amounted to genocide.
- Ukrainian officials saying
there are 1,000
new w*r crimes investigations
now underway in just one
newly liberated city.
- For those who've lived
under occupation,
it's been hell.
- There is
very serious erosion
of moral values in Russia,
which is dangerous
for the whole world.
- History will remember
and talk about Zelensky.
He went
beyond the expectations,
went beyond what anybody could
have imagined he would do.
But Russia's
not going anywhere.
This toxic environment
doesn't go away
for many, many years.
- What are the challenges
in the short term?
- To fly,
you need two wings.
Don't give me one wing
and waiting,
when you will fly?
I will never fly
with one wing.
I need two,
and if you want me to fly now,
I need two now.
So we should win now, jointly,
with all the world now.
- It's already
economic warfare,
sanctions, energy warfare.
It's refugee flows
destabilizing countries.
What happens if Russia
starts to fracture,
Chechens start to break off...
It's a recipe for the Chinas
of the world
to make territorial grabs,
for the Irans of the world
to make territorial grabs.
- If you want to keep China
out of Taiwan,
keep Ukraine in the fight.
Push Russia out,
and keep that fight
from coming to us,
'cause if Ukraine loses,
we lose.
If Ukraine fails, it's not
just a failure for democracy.
It's a failure
for the global economy,
because we're seeing
how dependent we all are
not just on oil and gas,
but also, global supply chains
are affected.
So their fight is our fight,
and the tip of the spear
right now
is the fight in Ukraine.
- And if these people
are ready to k*ll children,
are ready to k*ll civilians,
why will they stop?
For what?
- If Ukraine not stop
the Russia
and not win,
they not a reason
to stopping in the future.
Next will be Moldova.
Next will be Lithuania,
Poland.
It means that it will be w*r
against NATO.
And it means that,
once again,
American soldiers
will be sent
for the new w*r in Europe.
I went many cities,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston
what I could with
those money I had,
not a lot of money,
to understand,
what does it mean, democracy?
What does it mean, feeling--
this feeling...
I loved to run.
Especially in the morning,
you could understand
where you live.
I wanted very much to go
to the country
where freedom--
to find this feeling.
Ukrainians so long time
wanted to be free.
- Hmm.
- And Ukrainians
didn't understand--me also.
We didn't understand
that we have to pay for that.
And we didn't understand
the high price of it.
This understanding of freedom
came with a w*r,
with the fighting
for this freedom.
For Americans to understand
what's going on here
and to understand the price,
they can feel it only
if they will be on the w*r,
and I don't want them
to fight in the w*r.
They had already--had already
many different wars,
many different dead guys
and soldiers
on different wars.
If we will not win now,
Americans will fight
in some years with this enemy.
Can tyranny win or not?
What will be the end
of this w*r?
If I fight, I should win,
because if you
are not ready to win,
don't fight.
- One year ago,
we interviewed you,
and you said what?
And...
yeah, yeah.
- I hope, I really hope
that when he's an old man
and I'm an even older one
that I might be sitting
with him
in a peaceful and prosperous
free Kyiv
laughing like a couple
of kids
at what William Saroyan called
"the infinite delight
and mystery of life."
You have a job as a head
of state to lead...
To inspire,
to communicate,
to sacrifice...
It's been said
that leadership's
first responsibility
is to define reality
in courage in the face
of unspeakable terror.
Volodymyr Zelensky
has done that.
And he's done it despite
a next-level problem set.
He'd done it for his country.
He'd done it for his children.
And he'd done it for ours.
Going to Ukraine, I got filled
with this feeling of unity.
That's not because
I'm closing my eyes
to what the cost of it is
right now.
It was about how they were
paying it
in common cause.
The weapons and amm*nit*on
are not being supplied quickly
or completely,
yet Ukrainians battle on
with otherworldly courage
in a freedom w*r
for sovereignty
and the right to dream.
And we in the United States,
if we don't find
common cause,
then we're only going
backwards.
And we're gonna k*ll
each other.
- Free in the knowledge
That one day this will end
Free in the knowledge
That everything is change
And this
Was just a bad moment
We were fumbling around
But we won't get caught
like that
Soldiers on our backs
We won't get caught
like that
A face using fear
To try to keep control
When we get together
Well then who knows
If this
Is just a bad moment
And we are fumbling around
But we won't get caught
like that
Soldiers on our backs
We won't get caught
like that
I talk to the face
in the mirror
But he can't get through
I said,
"It's time that you deliver
We see through you"
I talk to the face
in the mirror
But he can't get through
Turns out
we're in this together
Both me and you
- Mr. President, what's the
first thing you're gonna do
once Ukraine wins this w*r?
Superpower (2023)
Moderator: Maskath3