- an award-winning actor takes on a new role helping ukraine. this week on "firing line". - madam prime minister, i am first an american, second, i'm secretary of state and third, i am a jew. - you forget that in israel we read from right to left. - [margaret] he plays secretary of state henry kissinger in the new movie, "golda". - of course. - actor liev schreiber's career includes portraying the marvel character sabretooth in "wolverine". he's been a director, starred in productions of shakespeare and spent seven years as the lead on the showtime series "ray donovan". - you go near my family, i'll freaking kill you.

you hear me? - [margaret] schreiber, who is of ukrainian descent, now has a role on the world stage. [bomb blares] shortly after russia's 2022 invasion of ukraine, he founded bluecheck ukraine, an organization dedicated to supporting humanitarian efforts on the front lines. - it's an existential situation. - and some in the u.s. oppose increasing support for ukraine. - [margaret] what does actor liev schreiber say now? - [narrator] "firing line" with margaret hoover is made possible in part by, robert granieri. vanessa and henry cornell. the fairweather foundation. the tepper foundation. peter and mary kalikow. the asness family foundation. the beth and ravenel curry foundation. the mckenna family foundation, charles r. schwab. and by the pritzker military foundation on behalf of the pritzker military museum and library. the rosalind p. walter foundation. damon button. craig newmark philanthropies. roger and susan hertog. cheryl cohen effron and blair effron.

al and kathy hubbard. corporate funding is provided by stephens inc. and by pfizer inc. - liev schreiber, welcome to "firing line". - thank you for having me. - your maternal grandfather immigrated to the united states from ukraine. i understand that he rarely spoke of his upbringing but that you embarked on a search for his village in ukraine after he died. did that search influence your work and your sense of identity? - my work is, that's my work. my work is this like constant search for my own identity and trying things on. but pretty much everything i've ever done or written has had something to do with my grandfather in one way or another. - most people know you for your roles on television, also in the movies, but i wanna stick in this discussion to what you've done with ukraine.

you founded bluecheck ukraine, one month after the invasion of ukraine. and i'm curious how you decided to create an organization that would vet and identify organizations already existing on the ground to then channel funds from the united states to directly. how did you figure that this is the model, this is the way that you could have impact? - well, the fair answer to that question is there are people who are a lot smarter than me who were helping me get there. humanitarian outcomes which is a watchdog organization for humanitarian aid, published a couple reports. one last june where they said that of the $2.6 billion, this is last june that had been sent to ukraine, only six million of that 2.6 had actually gone to the frontline ngos in ukraine who were doing the work. because it's such an acute situation and we have to respond quickly,

the importance of working with people on the ground in ukraine, in other words, localizing aid. 'cause it's the people in the country that are doing the work. finding ways to get them directly, the money that they need and the support that they need to do their work was the solution that we came up with. and that's why we went into ukraine and came out of that with our first seven or eight partners. - your bluecheck focuses on medical assistance, mental health, organizations that are providing support for children, providing food, providing shelter. you've called the needs fluid because they've changed from the beginning of the war to now. what are you seeing are the most pressing needs now and how has that changed from the beginning? - it changes a lot. you know for instance, a great example is the kakhovka dam.

when the russians exploded the kakhovka dam, it created a huge crisis and there's a bunch of different components to that. obviously, there's the need for sheltering and evacuations but a big thing that people weren't really immediately aware of and thankfully one of our partners was, is water. they need fresh water. so one of our partners, project victory, these guys went in right away with trucks full of water and are now installing water filtration systems. so once you kinda stick your finger in the dam as it were, then you have time to kind of look at the bigger sort of civil sector issues. like children and education, children are going through a lot of trauma, getting training to their teachers, to their parents, to them on how to help them understand this. it's a huge component of this. another thing that like every time you watch the news and you see a another town sort of destroyed by missiles, inevitably it'an elderly woman

walking in front of the camera bleeding. so we have an organization called starenki who works specifically to help elderly people 'cause it's the elderly people that are staying in these frontline villages who are saying, "what else is there to my life? "this is all i have right now. "let 'em come." you know they have these defiant attitudes towards the russians and sure enough, more often than not, they don't rvive these attacks. so for us, it became pretty clear that we needed to come up with aiverse enough portfolio of partners so that we could be able to react to any situation. and we're feeling like, we are now 22 and we're we're pretty confident about their ability to touch pretty much everything. - how do you track the utilization of funds that go to these organizations that you've vetted? - well, first of all, we wouldn't exist without our incredible partners who do all the verifying and vetting for us. obviously, because of the perception

and the climate of corruption that people talk about in regards to ukraine, it's extremely important that we really are very, very careful about how we spend the money and how we account for it. - you know, you mentioned corruption, how big of a problem is corruption in ukraine from your observations? - from my observation, i think it's probably a bigger problem in perception than it is in reality. but i don't wanna understate it. and i think this administration in particular, president zelenskyy has been pretty open to criticism on this point and has kinda made it known that if anybody has any information or sources that sugge that there's anything happening corrupt, he's prepared to act on it and wants that information as being fairly open about it at least from what i've seen. - in 2022, transparency international ranked ukraine

as the second most corrupt country in europe after russia. and zelenskyy has fired more than a dozen senior officials due to allegations of graft and impropriety. so what do you say to critics who have legitimate concerns about corruption in ukraine and the country's ability to reform? - it's a long trip, and what i would say is they should look at people like natalie jaresko, the extraordinary ex finance minister for ukraine who had the unenviable job of coming in to that country and trying to turn around what was a system that was essentially really following in the model of the old soviet system because that's how the government has been controlled for so many years. i don't know if people realize this but ukraine, in more ways than one, has been struggling to get out from under the shadow of its soviet neighbor

for quite some time, and now the russian federation. and there have been several gimes that have arguably been a lot more loyal to moscow than they have been to the people of ukraine. so there is this system, this bureaucratic kind of arcane system that people like natalie and people like president zelenskyy have been trying to turn around and it's very, very difficult to change. but i think they're doing a pretty great job at least from my perspective. and certainly i think the president's openness to allegations and pursuing them suggests that this isn't something he's trying to sweep under the rug. - yeah, this week president zelenskyy delivered his first in-person address to the united nations general assembly and he raised alarms about russia's weaponization of food, russia's weaponization of nuclear energy, russia's kidnapping of children, and he appealed to the global community

to continue supporting ukraine in this fight. take a look at what he said. - the goal of the present war against ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources, into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order. many seats in the general sembly hall may become empty if russia succeeds with its treachery and aggression. the main thing is that, it is not only about ukraine. - he also said russian actions are clearly a genocide. how effectively do you think he made the case to the global community to stay involved in supporting ukraine? - well, if his own level of risk and passion and emotion

isn't a sign of something, i don't know what is. i also know for a fact, from our partners on the ground, that what he's saying is true. that what's happening in the agricultural, this is the breadbasket of the world and the way that will it impact both us in the west in terms of our trade and our food resources, and in particular, more vulnerable communities like africa where the ukrainian grain is really, really essential. he's absolutely right that imy opinion, that putin is weaponizing these resources. and i know that for a fact because one of our partners is a guy named ryan hendrickson who's an ex special forces officer who was injured by a landmine in afghanistan and now makes it his life work to go to other countries where there are mines that need to be removed and taking care of it. but they've laid minds throughout all these ag lands so that these farmers who go out

on their combines and tractors are then killed. so i know that that's happening, i know intimately because we're funding the work to try to make it safe for these farmers to go back into their fields. i also know for a fact that one of our partners, save ukrai, so far has rescued 176 kids that they've pulled back into ukraine. kids that were kidnapped by russians and fed a steady diet of hate and violence towards their own country. and that these kids then have to be brought back to ukraine, given a place to rehabilitate where they can be reminded of who they are and where they come from and that they are not at war with anybody, that they are just children. and it's, i know because i see these operations so it's so hard for me to listen to people say that it's, or that it's not happening or that it's not real

'cause i know. i've seen the kids, i've seen the farmers with one leg. i've seen the work, i've seen the people and they're incredibly strong and resilient. and everyone's said it 100 times but it's gotta stop. - the value of the un has been debated for decades, including on the original "firing line" with william f. buckley jr. when he hosted u.s. ambassador to the united nations, daniel patrick moynihan. take a look. - the fact is that that place is a good parliament, debate is what that place can in fact do. what it can't do is legislate. what it can't do is act and it has no such powers and its pretension to those powers are what get it in most trouble. but precisely, as a setting, in which to encounter what you've called moral reality, it seems to me that's a place where we should be. - you know, there he's arguing that the value of the un

is that it creates this platform where you can make a moral argument for the whole world to see. - that's right, i do think that's the value of it. and i think that's what president zelenskyy has done. you know, a lot of this, it is really simple i think, if you just look ck to the the budapest memorandum of 1994. we asked, we the americans and the russians together, asked the third largest nuclear power at that time which was ukraine to give up their arsenal in exchangfor our solemn promise to protect the sovereignty of their borders. those borders were crossed in 2014 with the annexing of crimea and now with the full scale invasion by russia, a country that swore to protect it. so it just couldn't be any clearer than that.

and i think that that's the sort of thing voiced in the platform of the un that is incredibly important for everyone to remember. not just to supportive of ukraine but to be aware of the dangers that are out there when dealing with russia. - president biden also addressed the un general assembly. he argued and emphasized that u.s. support had to continue for ukraine and that the threat of russian victory could pose a threat to sovereignty everywhere. he mentioned ukraine finally, 20 minutes into his 30 minute speech. was president biden's message strong enough? - you know, i should reiterate here that i terrible at politics. what i understand about this coming election is that biden needs to be very careful about what he says to the american people.

and i think has advisors who are far more intelligent than me who said, "put ukraine 15 minutes in." and i believe that there's a reason for that. what i'm not as comfortable with is the fact that there is a reason for that. that there is a faction in this country who is denying a country that's fighting for its sovereignty and the same values, democratic values that we fight for here, and denying that relationship and not willing to understand the symbiotic relationship that we have to ukraine and what would happen, what will happen and i think, that was zelenskyy's point and his speech in the un. what will happen should they lose the fight that many people believe they're fighting for us as well. - to what do you attribute the decline in enthusiasm

for support for ukraine that you see piping up on both the left and the right in this country? - it's a hard, it's a troubling time in the world. there are a lot of issues, you know? it's a troubling time to raise children, you know? and i think people are tired. i think people are really, really tired. that's why people throw around the phrase, ukraine fatigue. - how do you combat it? - go see them, that's how i do it. - but for 300 million americans. - for 300 million- - 320 million americans who can can't go to ukraine. - i'll tell you, this is something that i say a lot but it bears repeating. i think that america is a nation of grandchildren. i don't think you'll find many americans who don't have a grandparent who didn't come from somewhere else, whdidn't claw their way out of some authoritarian regime or some bad situation

so they could come here and find freedom of expression, religion, whatever else they wanted. and to find a way to give their kids the best opportunity that they could possibly give them so that you and i could be sitting here doing this rather than fighting in the front lines in donbas. - yep. - and i think we owe a debt to our grandparents to say we care about the values that they fought for. because we wouldn't be here without those values, frankly. and i think that's what we need to remember or at least what i want my kids to learn from this is that's what it is to be american. that those are the freedoms that exemplify who we are and what we're capable of. you know we're still the greatest country in the world because we're still the place where everyone else wants to come to give their kids a shot. so let's keep being the place that gives our kids a shot.

and that means no matter where you're from, you've got a shot here. and that's what the ukrainian people are fighting for. - you've been to ukraine several times. you've been on the ground. what have you observed about the will and resolve of the ukrainian people? because you have maintained your optimism that they will triumph in this battle. - okay, i'm gonna say some things that i shouldn't be saying because the reality is, i'm not here to do anything political. what i'm trying to do in ukraine is really about humanitarian aid. i see people that i think we can help and we found a way to do it and that's important to me. having said that, having gotten involved with them, i have some feelings about it. they're tough as hell, they're tough as hell. i'm a huge boxing fan and you only need to look at oleksandr usyk or vasiliy lomachenko to know that these people

are some of the greatest fighters in the world. and in my opinion, putin made a huge mistake picking this fight. personally, that's one thing i think about it, knowing the ukrainian people. the other thing i feel about it is no one in this day and age deserves to suffer like that. no one in this day and age deserves to worry about their children like that. it seems barbaric. and there's no need. it's outrageous, it's uncalled for, it's inhumane, it's barbaric and it is an attempt at genocide. it's an attempt to wipe a people and a culture off the map. and that's not how we do things in this day and age. - you've said you're hugely proud of american democracy. your patriotism comes through in your answers to the questions.

but you've also expressed, even though you say you're not political, you've expressed a concern about the decline in political discourse. - yeah. - and the ability of individuals to be on different sides of political issues and transcend those political differences and see eye to eye. reminds me of your showtime series, "ray donovan" where your father was played by former president trump's most famous hollywood celebrity, jon voight. - [liev] i love jon. - and you say that. you say you love him despite political differences. - i love him probably because of our political differences. - how do we get more of that? - i don't know, into political discourse. i don't know, we've screwed up and we've gotta figure out some way to backtrack civility into this process. - but you sat here and you said it's 'cause you love him. - yeah. - and it strikes me, it seems to me that there's some kind of human component. - if push came to shove, i'd lay my life down for him. and i think he'd do the same for me.

and i think there's something about that that's, i hate to say it 'cause it sounds corny, that's very american. and i think that's what we need to do for our brothers and sisters in ukraine right now. is we need to have that kind of pride and compassion. - you've balked at the idea of making a movie about this episode in ukrainian history but have you thought about how cinematography might capture this moment in a future effort? - i have, we just sent the first cut of our documentary portrait of the president to his office and we're hoping to release it as soon as possible. - it's a documentary on president zelenskyy? - yes, about the olution of this former actor

from a small steel town in southern ukraine into this extraordinary person who took on the russian federation. - you have said that being an actor was perhaps the perfect training to be the leader in war. why is that? - actors aren't good at much but what they're good at in the course of a narrative is choices, that's what defines a performance. how am i gonna play this moment? how am i gonna play that moment? and what's that gonna add up to in the overall narrative arc of the piece? and i think it took an actor, and this is, you know slightly outrageous thing to say but i do think it took an actor to know that the second act of this play had to be henry v. - saint crispin's day. - in his case, that meant putting his life on the line.

so it's an extraordinary role but he knew he had to play it that way. and he's got that level of intelligence, not all actors do, but he's educated enough and understands the overall world picture and the shakespearean world picture enough to know that sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand and you have to say, "this is bigger than my life. and when people do that, we take notice. - not all great actors are great leaders? - that's right, they're not. and most of them aren't. there've been a few but this one is. and i think his lack of selfishness, in my perspective, to me, seeing, knowg what he went through and knowing the choices that he made, yanukovych got on that helicopter and went home. - [margaret] yeah.

- he stayed. he stayed, he got his cell phone out and he said, [speaks in foreign language]. in ukrainian means i'm here, we're here. and the simplicity of that message and how important that message was, not just to the ukrainian people but to all of us to know we're here together and we can push back. that's the power andhe function of our democracy. if we don't like it, we can say no. and that's i think he set an incredible example for people who are dealing with these authoritarian regimes popping up everywhere now. - [margaret] yeah. - so you can say no, that's what democracy gives us. but we have to get together. [liev speaks in foreign language] we are here. - liev schreiber, thank you for coming to "firing line". - thank you for having me. [bright upbeat music] - [narrator] "firing line" with margaret hoover is made possible in part by, robert granieri. vanessa and henry cornell. the fairweather foundation. the tepper foundation. peter and mary kalikow.

the asness family foundation. the beth and ravenel curry foundation. the mckenna family foundation, charles r. schwab. and by the pritzker military foundation on behalf of the pritzker military museum and library. the rosalind p. walter foundation. damon button. craig newmark philanthropies. roger and susan hertog. ch cohen effron and blair effron. al and kathy hubbard. corporate funding is provided by stephens inc. and by pfizer inc. [bright upbeat music] [bright upbeat music]

- [speaker] you are watching pbs.

- [announcer] this program was made possible, in part, by contributions to ur pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [uptempo string music] - [southard] within each of us is a key to who are... each strand of your dna holds secrets... secrets... that can be revealed. - [narramore] i always felt that there was something missing. and it wasn't until dna testing emerged, that it provided some answer. - [dasgupta] it's just incredible to think about