♪ on this edition for is the may 3rd, as the violence in u crane intensifies, putin's spokesperson says russia is besieged with pleas to intervene. how a possible pharmaceutical mega merger might slow the development of new drugs. and in our signature segment, you might know him from malcolm in the middle or breaking bad, now he's on broadway. >> you cannot attribute one adjective toward lyndon johnson. >> bryan cranston sits down with jeffrey brown on pbs "news hour

weekend." made possible by -- corporate funding is provided by -- additional support is provided by -- from the tisch wnet studio at lincoln center in new york. >> good evening, thanks for joining us. the kremlin said today it had received thousands of calls for assistance from russian-speakers in eastern ukraine. a statement that could signal russia's intention to get more involved in the conflict there. military analysts said they saw

no signs of a russian invasion. all this as ukraine continues its attack on separatists who had seized government buildings throughout ukraine. today they released the people they held captive. >> the osc observers, free after a week under the control of the self-proclaimed mayor. he said this was no kidnap. just an intended visit. >> translator: they're not being released. they're leaving us, as was promised. we celebrated my birthday and now they can leave for home. >> down the road and through the chicane to safety, their colleagues were there to meet them at the roadside. such relief for the seven men who were held first in a basement, then a fourth floor room. >> we were treated pretty well. nobody touched us. we're physically unharmed.

the conditions of our stay there were very tenable. >> more ukrainian armored vehicles rolled into nearby areas, meeting a hostile reaction. [ shouts ] >> many people support the pro-russian rebels here. president putin's spokesman said in the last 24 hours, they had received thousands of phone calls from eastern ukraine asking for russia's help. a phrase they used before annexing crimea. the authorities in kiev were responsible for this too, he said. 46 people died and some 200 were injured in odessa last night when russian supporters clashed with those who back the ukrainian authorities. many have severe burns. they were amongst the pro-russia crowds trapped in the odessa

house. ukraine supporters were throwing molotov cocktails at the building when it caught fire. 36 people died. in kiev, they have their martyrs, those kild on the mid an independent square. now there are martyrs on the other side. more reasons for revenge. ever fewer for rec know silliation. >> despite all the violence, the greatest bloodshed occurred hundreds of miles away yesterday during that incident in odessa. for more we're joined now from odessa via skype by philip with "the wall street journal." what was the situation today? >> on the ground outside the building where the people burned to death last night, there was a russian rally and people were very angry. at times, there were scuffles.

mostly older people, some younger people. they're very angry at the police too, because the police played a peculiar role yesterday, as they have throughout. what's more, there's video of footage that emerged yesterday from several fairly reliable ukrainian television channels and other videos that the police were sympathetic to the russian militants. and maybe sheltered them. this is what the ukrainans are angry about. the russian are angry that when the molotov cocktails were threw at the building, the police were nowhere to be seen and they allowed it to happen. >> so for an american audience watching, what's the significant that this violence is happening in odessa, a western part of ukraine, which isn't close to crimea, isn't close to the other areas that we've been hearing

about in the last few days? >> when you ask people who ethnicity they are, they will say odessa because it's a major port city. it has russians ukrainians, a significant jewish population. a cosmopolitan melting pot. i don't want to prejudge how events will unfold from here, but it had embers of a civil conflict. for the first time in this latest spiral of separatists and russians that we have seen a large number of civilians clashing with other civilians, with massive deaths as a result. we can see both sides are trying to package what happened yesterday to their advantage. >> is there strategic importance, psychological importance if russia makes more claims to odessa? >> it's a very peculiar place

where people do not exhibit a pro-russian sentiment. as in crimea. this is part of the reason why yesterday a pro-russian rally wise, that the pro-russians began with such a forceful response. in odessa, we see people pushing back very hard and sometimes very violently too. >> all right, philip, thanks so much. >> thank you. the landslide that occurred in north afghanistan was even more calamitous than first believed. the search for survivors continued today. as many as 2,700 people were killed or are missing after at least 300 homes were buried, following the collapse of a hillside. one official said the entire village was practically wiped away. relief agencies are racing to get assistance to the stricken area. :m:jz warning americans traveling to nigeria of a

attack against hotels there. the capital city will host a world economic forum later this week, has already been the scene of terror attacks. two bombings there have killed 80 people and wounded dozens more. nigeria is still trying to locate more than 200 girls abducted from a school last month. the centers for disease control has confirmed the first case of the mers virus, which stands for middle east respiratory syndrome, is a health care worker. officials are concerned because of the fatality rate of the disease. 100 of the people diagnosed in the past two years have died. all of them are from the middle east or who have traveled case. the cdc says the case in indiana represents a low-risk because

the virus is not highly contagious. a federal jury in california has awarded apple nearly $120 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against samsung. the award late yesterday represents only about 6% of the damages apple had sought. the judge has yet to rule on apple's effort to block the sale of certainly products including the gal aaxy s iii. condoleezza rice has decided not to deliver the commencement address at rutgers later this month. students and faculty members had protested her selection, citing her role in the iraq war. and zim balist jr who starred as a private eye on 77 sunset strip and as an agent on

the fbi has died. he was 95 years old. he was a veteran, who was awarded a purple heart after being wounded in europe during world war ii. $106 billion bid for astrazeneca has been making news because of its size and suggestions that it's motivated by lower corporate tax rates overseas. but there's another aspect to the story. how the possible merger might affect the development of new drugs. so how does it change the pipeline of drugs that are in there for the companies that are involved in these mergers and transactions? >> well, typically it slows down drug development, and a lot of drugs that are in the process of being tested right now, are probably going to get canceled. if history repeats itself from what we've seen in past mergers. a good example of what will happen, pfizer's last mega

merger. in that instance, $4.5 billion in research spending got cut. thousands of scientists were fired. and six research labs were shut down. people say these acquisitions can slow down the development of a drug in the process by as much as nine months and a lot of projects end up getting killed altogether. >> a lot of times the acquiring company says it's the promising research that's happening in these little fields that we don't know about, that's why we want to buy this company. they change their tune after the merger? >> they always say that, but in pfizer's last acquisition, and so many other acquisitions, they take the stuff that's farthest along in testing, continue moving that forward. the riskier stuff, more cutting-edge research, often that gets terminated. some areas that one company is pursuing that the new acquirer isn't that interested in, for

example, asthma or allergies, so though programs could get killed off or die off. so a lot of times company say it has to do with the research. what they're talking about are the drugs that are further along in the development, the more advanced product. and the early stuff, the promise of medicine for 10, 20 years, that's the stuff that falls by the way side here. >> this isn't just specific to pfizer. what happens in the larger marketplace? what about the drugs that might not be profitable to invest in? >> drug makers have said they're interested in doing more work in rare diseases. but the fewer companies looking for drugs, the less competition there will be and the more companies are going to say we're just interested in these six areas of research, like pfizer has, or we're just interested in cancer, not vaccines. that's fine when there's 20 big companies, but when we only have five companies left and one company says, you know, we're not going to do obesity research anymore. it's too risky.

that's one less company out of five remaining that are in that area. so it just means less competition and some diseases are just going to fall off the map. if you have one of those diseases, it's going to be unfortunate. >> shannon, thanks so much. >> thank you. ♪ he's better known for his work on television than in the theater, but bryan cranston's name was there on the list when the tony nominations were announced earlier this week. cranston is nominated for his work in all the way, a broadway play about lyndon johnson's first year in office. the play was nominated as well. jeffrey brown recently sat down with cranston to talk about his new role and johnson's legacy 50 years later. >> this is the most important election, and the choices couldn't be clearer. >> lyndon johnson, ambitious, impatient, tortured and troubled

in a million different ways. all captured by actor bryan cranston. >> when they would look down their nose at me like i was a country bumpkin. >> in three hours, you see him go through a myriad of emotions. it's rare to be able to have a character of that scope, i'm grateful for it. >> this ain't about the constitution. this is about those who got more wanting to hang on to what they got. >> the play called "all the way" opened on broadway in march. written by robert shankin, it's a look back at the year 1964. president johnson's first year in office after the assassination of john f. kennedy. a tumultuous time for the presidency and the entire nation. >> we got people in this country living in unbelievable poverty. i know, i grew up like that in the hill country. >> i saw you last night and i

saw this character, you know, neck out, shoulders up. >> that was my version of l.b.j. it really is a version of him. because you don't want to try to take on the character specifically in the sense to do an impersonation. you know, i just want to get the sense of who he is. and allow that character just to be absorbed into me, you know. so i'm able to then let him loose on stage. >> it keeps flowing no matter what. >> now 58, cranston is best known for his role on the hit amc drama "breaking bad." he grew up in los angeles, his parents were both actors. he first thought about becoming a cop. he started taking acting classes in his 20s and began landing commercials. >> now you can relieve inflamed him roidal tissue.

>> and small roles on tv. >> just a minute, i don't have much money. [ laughter ] >> he played a dentist with an off-collar sense of humor in seinfeld. ♪ his nearly seven-year stint on malcolm in the middle as the kooky father increased his profile. but it was the wildly praised and popular show "breaking bad" that finally made cranston a major star. >> say my name. >> before the show ended its six-year run last september, cranston won three emmys for playing walter white, a chemistry teacher turned violent drug lord. >> i am not in danger. i am the danger! >> in terms of narrow casting, everybody sees you as that one character. >> it can, if you succumb to that kind of easy out.

when malcolm in the middle ended after seven years, i was offered two pilots for tv that were fun, goofy dad. and of course i turned them down. but it was surprised to those people who offered it, because they felt i was perfect for it. and i went, i'm not going to help you put me in a box. >> right. >> where do you as opposed to this came from? >> that's why cranston chose this latest role. it's his first time to broadway and a chance to take on a multidimensional character caught up in the tide of history. cranston said he prepared for the role by visiting the presidential library in austin and reading from the many books there. he also listened to some of the former president's recorded phone conversations. >> he and i are buddies now. he understands politics and i do too. we're working with republicans 100%.

>> i'm on your side. >> well, you don't ever agree that's a good clause because you know it ain't. >> yes, i am. >> no, you are not going to resign! >> you never knew which lbj you were going to get when you walked into the office that day. >> but god, did i love those kids of mine. >> he could be high, he could be low, he could be angry, he could be happy. and you had to just deal with it. >> what do you think of this civil rights bill of mine? >> much of the play focuses on the passage of the civil rights act of 1964, part of his legislative achievement that's being remembered and celebrated now, 50 years later. and before he was worn down and for many, tarnished by the vietnam war. >> do you feel yourself part of that, looking back at the legacy and therefore some responsibility to telling that history? >> well, there's a certain amount of ownership that happens when you take on a character.

you absorb as much source material as you can. it's like you're making a bouquet. you're taking bits and pieces from each material that resonate with you and you're crafting your own lbj or whomever that character would be. >> that resonate with you in some way? >> yes. >> what does that mean? >> knowing that i physically have to be up on that stage and presenting this text, as it were, you take bits and pieces of information that make sense to you, that make you realize, oh, there's interesting things. for instance, i don't even know where i read it, but he had a standing appointment to get a massage every night at the white house. and he called it a rub down. get himself a rub down. and that informed a couple things. i said, he must have been tightly wound. and so i gave him a back issue

in the play. >> indeed the physical transformation cranston goes through is striking. back bent, shoulders hunched, face scrunched as he cajoles, threatens, and sweet talks lij slators to get his way. as here with hubert humphrey. >> this is about votes. >> you know that's a problem with you liberals. you don't know how to fight! you want to get something done in the real world, hubert, you going to have to get your hands wet. now you call yourself the leader of the liberal wing of the democratic party and show me someday god damn leadership. >> you're doing that towering, looking down. is that fun to do? >> it's a lot of fun to do. >> is it? >> sure. any time a man can boastfully be intimidating, you know, that's fun to do. i lean into you a little bit

now. first time i'd say something like, how's your wife, and i would remember her name. she's so pretty. you're a lucky, lucky man. >> i'm smiling and happy. >> now, look, we need to be able to get this done, don't disappointment me. >> and i'm saying yes, sir to anything. >> yes, you would. because i hook you in. he was uncanny with his political savvy. >> cranston says he's grateful for the start and it now gives him the ability to pick and choose his roles, and the money to live well. with you he comes off as an untortured soul who is happy to have built a life-long career doing exactly what he wants. >> did you have times along the way where you thought, maybe this isn't going to happen the way i had hoped? >> no. >> you didn't? >> no. because my goals weren't to be a

star. it's still not. my goal is not to be famous. by the time i was 25, i started working exclusively as an actor. and i'm 58 now. and that's all i've done since i was 25 years old. and that's my proudest moment is that i can say that i'm a working actor. i make my living as an actor. and that's it. now, whatever happens, happens. >> i march into a bright future, or a retreat into a dark past! >> what happens next for bryan cranston, well, "all the way" runs through the end of june. he's writing a memoir due out next year and he plays a scientist in the new movie "godzilla," that opens may 16th. ♪ >> you submitted the questions 8ñkh see more of the interview,ñ vit

news hour pbs.org. this is pbs "news hour weekend" saturday. >> and now a preview of monday's edition of independent lens, documenting the story of jason blair, the young "new york times" reporter at the center of one of the worst plagiarism scandals in recent times. blair himself in interviewed in the piece. >> jason blair was a great tragedy of the electronic age. he really mastered the art of pretending to be where he wasn't by using the electronic tools at his disposal. >> and none of it was rocket science. if you take a little from here and i steal a little from you here and steal a little from you here, no one really sees that a bunch of my stuff is stolen. they might say, that paragraph is very similar, but the rest of it's different. what they don't know it's been stolen from a bunch of different places, but it looks original

because no one's seen all of it. >> he would call from his cell phone and pretend to his editors that he was in the middle of a tough interview, when he was in brooklyn or manhattan. >> i also, a number of times, literally called the people. i remember one story where i was supposed to be in maryland, about a soldier who had gone to iraq, and it was about his family. i had her describe to me, what is your living room look like? what kind of pictures are here? what color are the plants outside your house? i would just ask all the details that i would have gotten if i literally had been there. >> i had an internal back door in the computer system where i could go in and see all the photo department's pictures. so i was able to pull details after our photographers got there.

♪ >> join us on air and online tomorrow. nearly six years later, how the financial meltdown on wall street is still affecting life on main street. >> fundamentally if this is how the fdic is protecting us, i don't need these kinds of protections. >> that's this for this edition of pbs "news hour weekend." thanks for watching. ♪

>> pbs "news hour weekend" is made possible by lewis b. and louise hershfeld coleman, joyce v. hail, the wallica family, in memory of miriam and ira d. wallic. bernard and irene schwartz. rosalyn p. walter. corporate funding from mutual of america. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by -- and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

"anna may wong: in her own words" was provided by... additional funding was provided by the following... and also the corporation for public broadcasting. she wanted to eclipse that image of being just the chinese, the asian, the exotique female lady. she wanted to become an actress where her ethnicity had nothing to do with it. woman: when it came to playing roles that are written for white females,