WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:05.599 Hudson River Radio dot com. It beats listening to nothing. My goodness, 2 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:14.720 being Frank Frank, where the only way to be is Frank. Well everyone, 3 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.559 and welcome to being Frank. We're the only way to be is Frank. 4 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.199 I'm your host, Frank Leblona, and i'd like to thank you for 5 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:26.199 joining us on what we like to call the Intelligent Conversation podcast, where no 6 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:31.879 conversations out of bounds and all points of view are welcome. We are recording 7 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:36.520 live to tape on the eighteenth of July, so you have some relevance as 8 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:41.119 to what's going on while we're reporting it. In the nearly two and a 9 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:47.719 half years since Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine, one reporter has committed himself from 10 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:53.359 the very beginning to make sure the world knows of the Ukrainian people's inspirational resistance 11 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:58.920 against Vladimir Putin's brutal tyranny. He remains there as one of the few Western 12 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:03.959 voices reminded us that the war continues. The attacks on civilians continue, but 13 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.959 so does the fight to resist, and it will never stop until the Russian 14 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:14.640 invaders are forced out of their beloved Ukraine and our guest has vowed to remain 15 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:19.239 there until that day happens. He has been a frequent contributor to Being Frank, 16 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.799 often taking great risks to join us with his intelligent conversation and first hand 17 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:30.560 live accounts of the situation on the front lines in Ukraine. Please welcome back 18 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.799 the intrepid mister Philitner. Phil. Thank you so much for joining us. 19 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.840 I know it's not easy, rolling blackouts, etc. So let's start there. 20 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.760 What is the current situation where you are? Where are you? What's 21 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:51.680 happening? Well, I'm in the Kapalu Kiev. We're suffering from, as 22 00:01:51.680 --> 00:02:00.000 you mentioned, the rolling blackouts, and we get about six hours of electricity 23 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:05.879 a day blocked off in two hour segments, usually in the morning, one 24 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.360 in the morning, one in the afternoon or evening, and then uh they'll 25 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.520 do one in the middle of the night. And I think that's just basically 26 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:19.439 to you know, to take advantage of the relative lack of usage at those 27 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.879 at those kind of hours. But you know, it's it rules your life. 28 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:30.520 You have to you you schedule your life, whether you're doing you know, 29 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:34.919 well, in my case, like uploading video or or something, you 30 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:40.319 know, where I need the Internet, and I only get you know, 31 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:46.159 during the during non UH electricity hours. I can only go off of a 32 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:53.759 you know, a mobile phone kind of UH Internet hotspot, which is you 33 00:02:53.800 --> 00:03:00.360 know, insufficient or you know, it's something as mundane is doing laundry or 34 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.800 you know, whatever it is. Where you need electricity, you schedule your 35 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:09.520 life around it. But even then it affects you because you may need to 36 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:15.400 go shopping and you go up to a store and it's either closed or or 37 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:21.319 you know, it's not functioning fully, you know, no credit cards for 38 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.840 example, or using plastic because there's no signal. They've the Russians have succeeded 39 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.520 in greatly hampering the life of your average Ukrainian. And that's in addition to 40 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:39.120 the near constant ARAID sirens and the attacks going on. So this, this 41 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:45.840 has not let up at all as far as what's happening on the ground here 42 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:55.000 in Ukraine. But there is still absolutely no prevailing attitude of letting it force 43 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.240 Ukraine to the negotiating table prematurely. In fact, quite the op it, 44 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:10.520 they're determined not to start any kind of substance substantive peace talks unless you know 45 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:17.279 there is unless there is a just piece in a way that they look at 46 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:23.560 it, and that means not incentivizing Russia to come back. So it's been 47 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:28.360 rough with the electricity issue certainly, and we've been going through a heat wave, 48 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:32.199 so no AC or anything like that. I wanted to mention that perspective 49 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:38.360 here in New York and you had and I do follow your posts and talk 50 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:42.360 a little bit about your podcast and on the edge too as time allows. 51 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:45.240 But you know, it was brutally hot in here in New York, and 52 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.519 I hope you can help us to understand from a perspective standpoint of view, 53 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:55.680 things that we take for granted. It's equally as hot in Ukraine right now, 54 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.639 and you posted it was near ninety five degrees fahrenheit, which was around 55 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.839 We hit one hundred and five yesterday. Wow, that's one hundred and five 56 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:08.399 with a please help us to understand that. Again, things that most of 57 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.240 us, certainly not all of us in this country. There are poor people 58 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.639 who still unfortunately live without air conditioning. But it's another one of the things 59 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:17.720 that we just it it's always going to be for there for us. We 60 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.759 flip a switch and it's there. We put the water on and it's there 61 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:28.000 how to try to make us understand how how it is to live without those 62 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:33.199 things that we take for granted. Well, it's just constant deprivation. You 63 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:40.279 know, it can go to uh you know, you you you choose, 64 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:45.000 you know, you can't open your refrigerator door. Anybody who's gone through a 65 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.439 natural disaster or a hurricane or a flood or something like that will will understand 66 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:58.639 this. You It's it sifts down to your basic standard of living, your 67 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.879 basic life daily experience, your daily life experience. I mean, as I 68 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.439 say, you can't, I can't. You know, for eighteen hours of 69 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:13.240 the day, I'm reluctant to open up my freezer door because all that cold 70 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.560 will come out and uh it will, you know, things will start to 71 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:21.120 faw sing, things will start to spoil. It's it sounds ridiculous, but 72 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:26.560 it is. It goes down to those basic, those very basic needs. 73 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:32.360 And you know, uh, you know, buying candles obviously, because you've 74 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.160 got no lights now right now it's so hot. You don't want to burn 75 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.279 a candle in your rooms. You know, you know it's you're you're going 76 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:46.360 on natural light. Uh. People live by their USB power banks. Uh, 77 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:50.279 you know, normally things that you carry around, uh with you and 78 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.040 your you know it's your you've got a purse or a sack or a bag 79 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.399 or something, you've got your little about. Well, these things are now 80 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:01.720 enormous. You know, this the their brain because we're not just using them 81 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.079 to charge our phones. We run our laptops off of them. We have 82 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:13.920 adapters so that we can run small electrical devices off of them, whether or 83 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:18.040 not you know, even as I say lights, just a wide range of 84 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:26.319 things, because there is the electrical grid has been devastated. And do in 85 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.519 no small part and and I you know, well look I'll just say it 86 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.160 the way it is, do a no small part to the GOP and to 87 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:43.079 Speaker Johnson. For seven months we did not get a single we didn't get 88 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:48.680 a new package. We had some trickling in basically done by the Pentagon and 89 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:54.720 not by the Senate. You know, for seven months there was no new 90 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:01.480 aid package. So they were rationing their ammunition and we just couldn't defend the 91 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:11.920 skies. And they hit some very the Russians hit some very key generator locations, 92 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:22.519 electrical generation locations, mostly thermo dynamic locations, and and that's still that's 93 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:28.399 deliberate film, but mostly to cause, to cause misery, to make it 94 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.960 even more difficult for the people of Ukraine. So it's tactical. It's also 95 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:37.879 strategic in it's probably more strategic than even that it is tactical. If people 96 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.600 understand military terms, right, I would think, yeah, I mean there's 97 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.960 well, there's no reason to do it. It is in essence of war 98 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:52.360 crime. There's no reason to do it. This is civilian infrastructure. It's 99 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.799 it's not justifiable what they're what they're attempting to do. But then they're also 100 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:03.080 they're also just straight up to rorizing the people of Ukraine. I mean not 101 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.879 this Monday past, but the prior Monday was a day of enorm you know, 102 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:18.279 extensive UH attacks and it included a child's oncology center here in Kiev. 103 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:24.840 There's no reason, there's no rhyme or reason to hit a children's cancer ward 104 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.759 and that's what they did. They did just that. It's it is, 105 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.720 you know, the seven months that Johnson delayed AID is a great stain on 106 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.360 on what is happening here because we didn't necessarily have to be like this. 107 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:45.240 And I don't know when we're going to return to any semblance of normality. 108 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.000 But it's it's you know it, they are the Russians are trying to make 109 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:58.279 life unbearable in Ukraine because they think they can force the Ukrainians to the table, 110 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.840 and they can't. They just can't. They have the you know it's 111 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:09.399 every Ukrainian with a few exceptions, is aware the fact that this is an 112 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:15.600 existential fight for them. You know, if they if they accept an unjust 113 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:20.960 peace, there will be more suffering. The Russians will be incentivized to come 114 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:28.000 back. They it will not end well for them. And in addition to 115 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:35.639 that, the stated goal of the Russians is to eradicate the idea of Ukraine 116 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:39.799 as a sovereign, independent, not only country, but culture. They want 117 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:45.120 to eradicate the Ukrainian culture. It is a genocide. It's it's one hundred 118 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:50.919 percent a genocide. The purpose is to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians. But what 119 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.480 the Russians don't understand is that there they've crossed a rubicon here. They've they've 120 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:01.120 they've they've they've gone, you know, they've they've crossed a line in Ukraine 121 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:05.600 and they're never going to bend the knee to Moscow again. They're just never 122 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.679 going to do it. There's been too much blood, too much suffering, 123 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:16.240 too much harm, too much history, and the Ukrainians have just decided and 124 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.799 it's you know, no small bro because they're getting killed and they're getting being 125 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.559 terrorized, but they're just never ever going to be under Moscow's thumb again. 126 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:33.639 It would it's it's inconceivable. It really is the determination never to submit to 127 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:39.840 And the Russians only every time they bomba an apartment building or you know, 128 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.480 there are stories of you know, mass graves or something like that. Every 129 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:48.440 time those stories come out, and they come out with far too much frequency, 130 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.919 it just steals their result. They can they can never be brothers or 131 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.000 friends or in a partnership or an alliance with Moscow again. It's going to 132 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:01.759 take generations, if ever. And I want to talk a little bit more 133 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:03.639 about the morale, and I do want to talk about Speaker Johnson in the 134 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.080 future, Donald Trump to be nominated tonight, and his vice presidential nominee jd 135 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:15.360 Vance, who we know is no friend of Ukraine. I want to talk 136 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.159 about that in a bit, but since you brought it up too, before 137 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:20.360 we get to that, I want to talk a little bit about and you 138 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:26.080 mentioned how morale has not really waned, but there's been a tremendous amount of 139 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.679 physical suffering, as you've mentioned in terms of deprivation, but there's also the 140 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.039 emotional suffering. A lot of Ukrainian young people have been lost, particularly young 141 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:41.840 men, and it reminds me of there are certain situations even during the American 142 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:46.960 Civil War in the American South where entire villages and towns were virtually devoid of 143 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:52.080 young men because so many had been lost to the war and the long lasting 144 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:58.440 effects that can have on individuals but also society as a culture. How are 145 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.799 the Ukraine's dealing with it? And again, I don't want people to lose 146 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:07.679 sight of the fact of the tremendous loss that Ukraine has suffered in terms of 147 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:13.519 its its youth, its young people. Well, they're exhausted. We're all 148 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:18.399 exhausted. Anybody who lives in this country is exhausted. This is this is 149 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.720 incredibly taxing. And I'm and I can leave at any time I want to. 150 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:28.279 So I have that advantage that people who live here and make this you 151 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:31.679 know, this is their home, they can't as readily just pick up and 152 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:37.360 leave, although many have. It's it is. I say that morale is 153 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:43.919 still steadfast. It is, but there is exhausted, there's really bone tired, 154 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:52.799 weariness and just depression. I did about a year ago, I did 155 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.799 and I'm still in touch with them. I did a vlog with a suicide 156 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:03.240 prevention hotline and I'm still in touch with them. Occasionally, suicide is skyrocketing 157 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:13.480 because there's no future, there's no everything, there's no solid grounding upon which 158 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:20.879 to plant your feet, and when you're a young person, you're you're you 159 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:26.480 don't know what your future will hold, and so sadly, real serious depression 160 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.440 PTSD and suicide rates are are are going through the roof. Now you say 161 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.799 that there are a lot of young men that are that are disappearing from villages 162 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:41.279 and are sadly sacrificing everything. That is true, but there's also a large 163 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:48.399 number of middle aged men. This The dynamics of the Ukrainian military are different 164 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:54.080 than any other military I've ever experienced in my thirty some odd years of war 165 00:14:54.440 --> 00:15:01.679 coverage, in that the older men are the ones that are going to the 166 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.759 front, that are volunteering and going to the front in disproportionate levels, not 167 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:11.360 completely obviously, but but it's I would you know, I don't want a 168 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:15.240 hazard. A guess I'm just gonna pull out of my hat. But there's 169 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.639 a huge percentage of men that remember the Soviet Union that may have you know, 170 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:24.720 maybe my age in their you know, late forties, fifties, and 171 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:30.279 even older sometimes who remember the Soviet Union, who remember what they went through 172 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:35.039 when they lived under Moscow's dominion, and they don't want their children or grandchildren 173 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:39.639 even to go through that. So there's you go to the front, and 174 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:43.919 more often than not, you see a lot of old, you know, 175 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:48.399 gray hair, wrinkly old men like you mean, frank doing it frankly right 176 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:52.039 now. But take our word for it. They can't. But I am 177 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:56.399 an old, wrinkly man. Yeah yeah, me too, me too. 178 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:00.000 But you know they can still they can still uh fire an artillery round, 179 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.679 or they can still you know, drive an ambulance or you know. Well, 180 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.159 that's a great point. But there's there's another thing about it, though, 181 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.759 and I'll explain, and it's important in the understanding why that is so. 182 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:17.000 Not only is it because they understand and they remember the Soviet Union and 183 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:22.399 they never want that to return here. But secondly, you have to understand 184 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:27.600 the demographics of Ukraine, because in the nineties and the aughts, this place 185 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.440 was chaotic as all get out. It was, it was corrupt, There 186 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:40.159 was no you know, there was no prosperity, there was no hope for 187 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.679 prosperity. It was you know, aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, 188 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.519 and birth rates plummeted in the nineties and the Tutah and the early aughts, 189 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:53.759 so there aren't a lot of twenties, you know, mid twenty, 190 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:00.879 early thirties because it it just absolutely the birth rate absolut collapsed because people weren't 191 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:04.519 having kids. So yeah, I have to take it in the context of 192 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.880 Ukraine's recent history, but it's a very different front line than I have ever 193 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.119 experienced, and in no small measure because of these demograpt people were people were 194 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.839 shocked when you know, about three months ago, give or take, there 195 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:25.559 was a change in the mobilization law to include twenty five to twenty seven year 196 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:29.839 old and I remember talking to Westerners and they were like, well, why, 197 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.319 I mean that should have all that should have been you know where you 198 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.640 start from. And I and you know, I had to look into it 199 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.480 as to why it was and it's it's that it's the combination of older people 200 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:48.400 not wanting their their their children and grandchildren to grow up under Moscow's thumb. 201 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:52.519 And two they just simply aren't the young people to spare and the and the 202 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:59.119 country recognizes it. Somebody's going to have to rebuild this place after the war's 203 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.640 over. So it's a fascinating demographic but still nevertheless, I mean, the 204 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:07.279 important thing is you are right, there are far too many Ukrainians dying in 205 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:14.880 this war. And the graves, the graveyards, oh, Frank, it's 206 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:22.799 it's it's there's a graveyard in Levv and it's a it's a huge, huge 207 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:30.000 graveyard, part military, parts civilian. And when I first showed up here 208 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.799 two and a half plus years ago, when this full scale war began, 209 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.160 there was a field adjacent to the cemetery that used to be a parade ground 210 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:42.920 for Victory Day parades for commemorating in the Second World War. Well, they 211 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:49.039 tore that up and they started creating graves, and sadly, you know, 212 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.400 I saw the first grave, you know, the first you know, five 213 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:56.720 or six graves that were planted, you know, there were there were put 214 00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:00.240 there. And now every time I go in and out, I go through 215 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:06.200 Poland, so I'll go through Leviv and the field is now three quarters the 216 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:11.599 way full, and that's two and a half years. It's they're just burying 217 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:19.359 so many Ukrainians and it's really rough. But again, they know what they're 218 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:23.400 fighting for, and it's not I mean, obviously it's difficult, and people 219 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.960 get angry and upset all the rest of it, and some of that anger 220 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.920 gets directed this way and that way. But at the end of the day, 221 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:34.880 the vast majority of Ukrainians, while they hate the cost and they're exhausted 222 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:41.759 of the war, it's it's it's existential. They can't stop fighting because if 223 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:47.279 they stop fighting, they get disappeared. This brings me to a maybe a 224 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.720 rhetorical question. And I'm sure you've heard of Project twenty twenty five. You 225 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:55.839 must be following what's going on in because there were certainly, yes, and 226 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:02.200 there are parallels obviously of the idea that free could be removed. And I 227 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:06.880 think about if that were to be implemented, would I have the courage at 228 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:11.440 my age and I'm pushing seventy years old to continue to speak out. Would 229 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.279 I have the ability to speak out and if I couldn't, would I have 230 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:19.599 the courage to fight, to continue to speak out even to the death as 231 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:27.160 these Ukrainians have you, what are some of your thoughts between knowing what's involved 232 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:33.119 in Project twenty twenty five and then we can lead into the whole platform of 233 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:37.759 the GOP and jagents and Johnson had said, why don't we take it from 234 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.200 there and lead right into that? Why not? Yeah, you know, 235 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:49.400 I've been you know, both of us veterans of the house that Murrow built. 236 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:56.640 I take my journalistic ethics very seriously. So this is not I am 237 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.559 not speaking as a journalist right now. I'm speaking as an America and I'm 238 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:04.359 speaking as an eyewitness to a criminal war in Russia, and that Russia is 239 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.920 committing here in Ukraine, a country that I love. So I'm going to 240 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.079 tell you straight up, this is you know, this is this is my 241 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.759 opinion, and this is where I this is where I'm coming from. The 242 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:21.759 GOP and Donald J. Trump and JD. Vance are all compromised by the 243 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:26.799 criminals, all of them, the entire the entire we have been attacked full 244 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:30.720 stop. America is under attack. It's the same war that is happening here 245 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:36.759 in Ukraine, but in America, the Russians have attacked our body politic, 246 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:45.319 our civilian our, our civic society, our judiciary, our press, our 247 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:53.240 industry. The corruption that has seeped out of Russia and has infected America is 248 00:21:53.279 --> 00:22:00.799 not is not a byproduct of just criminal activity. It's an attack. They 249 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:04.799 are they are attacking our body politic. It happened in twenty sixteen, and 250 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:10.359 it's been happening ever since. Donald Trump is compromised. He is, I 251 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:15.200 don't know at what level. I don't know if he is you know, 252 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:21.640 willing, a willing participant, or if he just sees benefit from cooperating with 253 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:26.839 the Kremlin. Certainly, by now he's got to know that the Kremlin is 254 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:32.960 is engaged in information warfare in the United States, and he continues to, 255 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:41.119 you know, chuck along with that knowledge. It's it's disgraceful, it's traitorous 256 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:48.519 in my opinion. You know, this doesn't lobby that the Russians have been 257 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.799 doing. This isn't manipulation or kind of interference. This is an attack. 258 00:22:52.839 --> 00:23:00.960 It's a full bore military operation. I mean that the the operation comes out 259 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.000 of the g r U and the Russian g R U is the equivalent of 260 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:12.400 our military intelligence. So it's not even like it's a civilian attack. It's 261 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:18.720 not like the CI. So when the CIA goes in and does you know, 262 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:23.559 some sort of coup or something in a Banana Republic, the CIA is 263 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:30.559 not an organ of the Department of Defense. It's it's it's our intelligence wing. 264 00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:37.240 In the Russian attack on the United States is coming from the g r 265 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:44.079 U, which is their military intelligence. This cannot be overlooked anymore, and 266 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.559 it cannot be, in my opinion. Uh uh, you know, ignored 267 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:55.319 or or allowed to continue. Uh. We really have to have a public 268 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.920 I we you know again, now I'm falling back on my journalistic athlete. 269 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.920 I'm couching my answer here because it's you. I tread on careful ground here 270 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:10.559 because I don't want to be hyperbolic. I'm going to follow up on that, 271 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:15.640 but please continue. But certainly, but I one hundred percent believe that 272 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:21.839 we have to have There needs to be an open discussion from our intelligence community, 273 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:30.319 from our law enforcement community, from those in the know who are aware 274 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.160 of what the Russians are doing. It is long overdue that they come out 275 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:41.160 and say this has never stopped the GOP is complicit, if not, you 276 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.680 know, working in conjunction with the Russians, certainly the Trump camp. I 277 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:52.000 mean, for goodness sakes, we saw Paul Manifort on the floor of the 278 00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:57.799 of the Republican you know conference, just last night. You know, Paul 279 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:07.079 Manifort, who was passing along opposition research from the GOP to the Russian ambassador. 280 00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:11.000 We know this. It's not disputable, it's it's it is a fact 281 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:15.920 he did that. Victed. Yeah, so and there he is on the 282 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:19.519 on the floor of the of the of the conference. It's it is mind 283 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:23.759 blown. I'll tell you one quick thing before I let we turn this back 284 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:29.759 into a conversation instead of me just on a diatribe. I I, as 285 00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:34.079 you know, as a journalist, I you know, made a lot of 286 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:38.839 contacts in the intelligence community. And I remember one time, it must have 287 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:45.000 been twenty eighteen or so something like that, I was spent. I was 288 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.279 back in the States and I went to go have dinner with a guy I 289 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:59.119 know in Homeland security and he pointed out to me that there was a in 290 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:03.960 the run up to the twenty sixteen election, there was a planned press conference 291 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:07.880 with all the intelligence the heads of all the intelligence agencies, and they were 292 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:14.839 going to come out and say Russia is engaged in information warfare and our elections 293 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:19.920 are being attacked. And the day that they planned this press conference put out 294 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:27.240 a a you know, a press statement, you know, right before they 295 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:33.480 were about to take to the podium, the Access Hollywood video dropped and all 296 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.640 the auction oxygen was sucked out of every newsroom, and nobody cared about the 297 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:45.160 fact that every intelligence agency and you know, military intelligence, d D all 298 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.880 the rest of it. We're saying, hey, we're being attacked by Russia, 299 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:56.440 and it went largely unnoticed. That is not a coincidence. That's not 300 00:26:56.279 --> 00:27:02.799 you know, you know, it's Russia isn't just conducting war here. They're 301 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:07.000 conducting war around the globe. And it's it's it's hybrid war. It doesn't 302 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:11.079 necessary it's not necessarily always kinetic. By that, I mean people dying, 303 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:15.960 although bodies have as we all know, Russian body you know, bodies have 304 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:22.240 popped up of oligarchs, diplomats, you name it. There are lots of 305 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:26.200 you know, lots of dead Russians out there who uh, for one reason 306 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:32.319 or another, uh, we were silenced by the Kremlin. So This is 307 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:37.440 very complex, it's very dangerous, and I fear that if Donald Trump gets 308 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:44.480 a second do in the Oval Russia, will you know, Russia and other 309 00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:48.640 autocracies around the world will only be in bolden. So it's it's not just 310 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:52.880 domestically that we have to worry about Donald Trump. It's it's also in a 311 00:27:52.920 --> 00:28:00.680 global war with Russia, and if the Russians win, the American may not 312 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:04.759 survive it. And that's where I run into hyperbole. I recognize that I'm 313 00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:11.519 deadly serious about well, a good point to be made here. Anybody who 314 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.640 knows me a little bit on social media knows my crazy sleep schedule and my 315 00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.559 insomnia and off and up at two or three am New York time. But 316 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:25.599 there are certain advantages when you can get through the awful crap television that's offered 317 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:29.319 at that hour. Every once in a while you stumble into something worthwhile on 318 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:33.960 PBS and I caught two parts of a multi part series of the Rise of 319 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:38.599 Hitler and Nazi Germany. And people say, oh, that's perbole, and 320 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.720 you can't compare the two things. Well, I beg to differ. If 321 00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:47.519 you watch and you learn and you listen, the similarities are so similar. 322 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:51.200 And one of the points that I think and I want you to expand on 323 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:56.079 a little bit is how the violence came after the media campaign. Okay, 324 00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:03.400 there was a brilliant propaganda media campaign that convinced the German people that he was 325 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.960 right for the job. Okay, he was right for the people, so 326 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:12.359 they gave him everything until it was too late. Okay. If there's not 327 00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:17.440 a lesson to be learned there, I don't know where. When you see 328 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:22.440 things like Project twenty twenty five and some of the future plans, particularly from 329 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:29.599 the Republican administration, I believe the parallels are striking. There was a deliberate 330 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:34.680 campaign of misinformation directed at hateful comments, particularly against as we know, Jews, 331 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:41.240 Gypsy's, intellectuals, etc. Anyone who opposed their point of view, 332 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:45.160 Okay, was squelched, and we see it happening today. And what's amazing 333 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.839 to me it seems like so many Americans are willing to go down that path. 334 00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:53.279 And I don't understand it. Again, it may be a rhetorical thing, 335 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:57.640 but certainly your opinion is very valid considering what you've been through and where 336 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:03.039 you are now. Well yeah, I mean, well they're this, you 337 00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:07.079 know this time they're they're doing they're doing the same thing that that Hitler did 338 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:08.640 do. So I don't think it's hyperbole, and I don't think and I 339 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:15.000 and I disagree that we need to turn a blind eye to it for fear 340 00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:22.880 that it will aggravate or you know, heighten the tensions, uh between Americans 341 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:29.039 and the division. You know, when when you're stating what they themselves are 342 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.400 saying, that's not an attack on them, You're just saying, hey, 343 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:36.559 I'm pointing out that you're saying these are this is your plan, and it's 344 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:40.400 it's a pretty atrocious one from where I stand. And I you know, 345 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:45.839 it's the the war. This is the same war. It's the exact same 346 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:49.839 war. What is happening in the United States with Donald J. Trump and 347 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:57.480 the war here in Ukrainian's connected. It's autocracies trying to destroy the American project, 348 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:02.799 which is the cornerstone of democracy. I mean, thank god the Europeans 349 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:07.359 have pushed back on it recently, on on kind of autocratic uh, far 350 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:12.640 right parties and what have you, notably in France and in and in Britain 351 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:19.880 book Poland as well. Uh Uh, I'm very concerned. I'm deeply deeply 352 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.920 concerned because it's the same battle, and if we lose the battle at the 353 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:30.640 ballot box in the United States, the Ukrainians will will get it in the 354 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:34.839 neck next and and we will, we will. You know, jd Vance 355 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:41.640 is openly and this is the VP candidate has openly said, uh, nope, 356 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:45.559 I'm not going to support Ukraine anymore, which means, uh, you 357 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.240 know, we're the arsenal of liberty. Uh you know, are so called 358 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:55.359 Uh you know, without our industry, Ukraine's going to have a real tough 359 00:31:55.400 --> 00:32:00.319 go at it. The Europeans are stepping up, but they're they're not you 360 00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:04.359 know, they're not going to be a replacement. And certainly, you know, 361 00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:10.240 it's better together. So I would say that the concern isn't just in 362 00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:16.680 Ukraine. But obviously the Ukrainians are desperately concerned about a second Trump administration. 363 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:22.680 But I'm starting to get the perception that the entire European continent is now looking 364 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:29.240 at America and going, we can't rely on you anymore. And that's devastating. 365 00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:34.640 People don't realize how there's our closest trading ally it is. It is 366 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:40.759 a security alliance that has that has protected Europe from wars that ultimately do draw 367 00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:44.799 in the United States, as much as we tend not to want to be 368 00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:49.119 drawn into these things because we think our oceans will protect us. Not anymore. 369 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:57.599 And if if if Ukraine is sacrificed to Moscow, Moscow will be emboldened, 370 00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:00.319 it will it will expand its power. And I'm not saying that we're 371 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:07.279 going to see Russian tanks rolling down the streets of Warsaw or in Estonia or 372 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:14.640 Latvia, but they will be emboldened and they will destroy liberal democracies wherever they're 373 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:20.839 able to do it. And because it doesn't suit their their their position on 374 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:24.319 the global stage, they they want to act as an autocracy with no checks, 375 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:31.720 no restraint, power for power's sake. You know, I have a 376 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:36.319 bigger stick than you, So you're going to do what I tell you to 377 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:42.200 do. Is the mentality of Moscow, and we are at an inflection point. 378 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:45.160 This war is the same war that we are having. Uh you know, 379 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:49.119 certainly a let's not call it a war in the United States because I 380 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:52.480 don't want to contribute to that temperature. But let's say the conflict and the 381 00:33:52.200 --> 00:34:05.079 strife and the the the the chaos and the just the unprecedented erosion of our 382 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:12.800 civil liberties, of our civil society, of our disco a discourse that is 383 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:17.159 being aggravated by Russia. I don't know exactly where and how, but it's 384 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:21.920 happening. They have never stopped since twenty sixteen. If you don't think that 385 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:27.519 right now they are trying to divide us and trying to undermine the United States 386 00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:32.599 or any Western liberal democracy, then your naive. And it's this. This 387 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:37.400 is the point. This is the pointy edge of the stick. This is 388 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:44.000 where people are fighting and dying in very real terms. Blood, treasure, 389 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:47.320 all the rest of it is being spent here. But it is also a 390 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:52.480 war that is happening in the West and notably, most notably in America with 391 00:34:52.519 --> 00:35:00.159 Donald Trump. It's the same thing. Russia is desperate because they know that 392 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:04.639 if they lose this war, which I think I think by the way, 393 00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:07.679 they are still going to lose this war regardless of what happens in November, 394 00:35:08.280 --> 00:35:13.559 but it'll be far worse if Trump gets back in. But ultimately, there 395 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:15.960 is still going to be a Ukraine, and there's still going to be a 396 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:20.280 Ukraine that includes, you know, places like Odessa and access to the Black 397 00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:25.159 Sea and Harkiev and some other major industrial towns, and that's going to exist 398 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:32.199 at the end of this war. But if we don't actually support Ukraine and 399 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:39.119 beat the Russians, the Moscow will be in Bolden. And conversely, Moscow 400 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:45.639 knows that if we are able to push them out and a strong liberal democracy 401 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:53.000 and a sovereign state in Ukraine is able to grow, it will it will 402 00:35:53.280 --> 00:36:00.159 harm Russia deeply because they their sense of self is so tied into empire that 403 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:06.440 this will be a completely new phase in their history because Russia will no longer 404 00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:10.400 uh be Uh an empire and will no longer have colonies because this is the 405 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:15.079 cornerstone, this colony, Ukraine is the cornerstone, as the as the Great 406 00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:21.960 uh uh is Harvard or Yale professor Timothy Snyder uh you know puts it is 407 00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:29.320 that Russia sees itself as an empire, and and without Ukraine it is not 408 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.400 an empire anymore. And it's gonna have to look in the mirror and do 409 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:37.039 some very hard transitions and and changes that it wants. It should have done 410 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.519 at the collopse of the Soviet Union, but it kicked the can down the 411 00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:47.280 road with Putin this this nobody gets somebody's gonna win in this war, and 412 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:52.199 somebody is gonna lose, either the West and liberal democracy and Ukraine will win 413 00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:58.559 or Moscow will win, and autocracies will be emboldened and we will and sadly, 414 00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:01.400 with Donald Trump and the Oval, we'll just become another autocratic state, 415 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:07.239 the dream of our forefathers, our founding fathers. You know, it's the 416 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:09.159 old Ben Franklin thing. You know, what kind of government is he? 417 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:13.320 Have you given us, mister Franklin, a republic if you can keep it, 418 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:15.119 if you can keep it. Yes, that's very fair, Yes, 419 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:21.360 yeah, very famous saying. And I'm definitely afraid that Vladimir Putin knows this 420 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:24.119 very well, and he's found a fellow traveler in Donald Trump. If not 421 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:30.519 a useful idiot. We have to I'm sorry to be completely partisan here, 422 00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:32.960 frank, but we have to reject him. We have got to vote, 423 00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:37.840 we've got to cast our ballot, and we have to reject Donald Trump because 424 00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:45.119 from my perspective, the man is working for the Kremlin, and we don't. 425 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:47.599 I've lived in Russia. We do not want to live like they live 426 00:37:47.639 --> 00:37:53.039 in Russia. We don't great perspective. As always, my very special guest 427 00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.360 is Phil Igner. He's with us live. We are live to tape. 428 00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:01.480 He is in Ukraine again at great personal limited power, you can make yourself 429 00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:05.880 a target. We know these things still and with that in mind too, 430 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:09.840 And you mentioned something, both of us, being experienced journalists and PTSD, 431 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.960 we always tend to think that you know soldiers and you know, but we're 432 00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:19.440 human beings also, and we try to approach things with a workman's eye, 433 00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:22.679 if you will. And I always felt in tough assignments, as long as 434 00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:27.239 I concentrated on the assignment, I was okay. It was afterwards, in 435 00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:30.039 the quiet times, when you realized what you had seen, in what you 436 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:35.760 had witnessed. And the example, I spent almost two weeks at ground zero 437 00:38:35.880 --> 00:38:40.159 from September twelfth on, and while I was working, the enormity of it 438 00:38:40.199 --> 00:38:45.559 all didn't strike me at that moment. But the day after the day or 439 00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:49.320 the day after I actually got home from assignment, and in a quiet moment 440 00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:54.599 I cried for a solid hour because it overwhelmed me what I had just witnessed, 441 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:02.039 the importance within the world, so the tremendous loss of human life and 442 00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:07.320 it affected me, and you know what has to affect you as well. 443 00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:09.880 And you've been in I've been in hurricanes and stuff, and you've covered many 444 00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:15.800 more wars and seen atrocities. You cannot be not affected, if you will 445 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:22.679 forgive the double negative. But how does phil Ititner then deal with this day 446 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:25.679 after day, the stress of it, the PTSD, how do you deal 447 00:39:25.719 --> 00:39:35.440 with it? Well? Well, so I I actually before this war started, 448 00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:40.880 was in the process of retiring, as a lot of us did during 449 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:49.639 the coronavirus. I did a lot of reflection and reassessed my life at you 450 00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:52.920 know, fifties plus, and I said, I don't I don't want to 451 00:39:52.960 --> 00:40:00.199 surround myself with pain and suffering anymore. I'm done. I don't want I 452 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:06.400 don't want my time on this planet to be completely consumed with just pain, 453 00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:12.559 suffering, trauma, you know, constantly. And so I was in the 454 00:40:12.599 --> 00:40:15.800 process of leaving and maybe starting a production company. I still, you know, 455 00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:21.599 use my skill set to you know, do documentaries about Yosemite or the 456 00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:24.119 Pacific Coast Highway or the Great Lakes or you know, take your pick, 457 00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:30.679 something nice, get you out in the sun. Well. And also and 458 00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:34.960 also just had you know, about positivity as opposed to the pain and the 459 00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:40.000 suffering I witnessed. But I was on my dawn in twenty fourteen when this 460 00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:46.800 whole kind of freedom and sovereignty movement in Ukraine's started, and the Ukrainian people 461 00:40:46.840 --> 00:40:53.199 on Mi Down Square, Independent Square. You begged me often, you know, 462 00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:57.519 don't please, don't They're gonna come back. We know the Russians, 463 00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:00.119 they will not let us go. They're going to come back. Please please 464 00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:07.239 don't. You know our history has a long history of betrayals. Please don't 465 00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:12.280 let that happen again. And so after COVID here I am trying to transition 466 00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:19.079 into something more positive and life affirming, and along time this and I said, 467 00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:22.159 well, you know, I made a promise and I've got to go. 468 00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:25.360 And plus I love this country. And also in addition to that, 469 00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:30.599 I mean I am still continuously humbled by the strength of the Ukrainian people. 470 00:41:30.599 --> 00:41:34.559 There is positivity here amongst all, amongst all the pain and the suffering, 471 00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:39.360 because they're really, they really are fighting for countless generations stretching out into the 472 00:41:39.360 --> 00:41:45.360 future, not to live under Moscow's thumb. And we don't want that either, 473 00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:47.920 trust me, Frank, we don't want to live and like the Russians 474 00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:52.760 do. Uh, and that's what they're aiming for there. They don't want 475 00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:55.719 We thought at the end of the Cold War, when the when the wall 476 00:41:55.800 --> 00:42:01.199 came down, our system would would go eat Obviously, you know, capitalism 477 00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:07.599 is it is, you know, it's you know, it's a functioning system 478 00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:12.280 that you know that'll go east. But more importantly, the rule of law 479 00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:15.239 and democracy will go east. Well, no, that's not what happened. 480 00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:20.920 What happened is the poison of the autocracy and the corruption that had been stewing 481 00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:25.280 in Russia during the Soviet Union and frankly before then came flooding out. When 482 00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:29.239 the wall came down. We thought we would go east. What happened was 483 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:34.559 their poison came west. We we have to draw the line in the sand 484 00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:38.079 and say and say no more so. I'm glad to be here standing with 485 00:42:38.119 --> 00:42:43.599 these people and it and it humbles me, and it does I am constantly 486 00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:46.159 reminded of the strength and the goodness in people when when I see some of 487 00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:50.960 the stuff happening here. But you're right, this is this is and I've 488 00:42:51.480 --> 00:42:55.599 you know, this is extremely difficult, being surrounded by pain and suffering it 489 00:42:55.840 --> 00:43:01.360 is difficult. I lost a very very good friend, a cameraman, Pierre 490 00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:07.119 Zachowski Uh from Fox at the very beginning of the war, was killed and 491 00:43:07.239 --> 00:43:15.760 Pierre, Pierre and I were we we're uh, we were carpool buddies in 492 00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:19.719 London. I I he was one of my dearest friends. He was a 493 00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:22.800 very sweet soul and a wonderful cameraman, good guy to have on the road. 494 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:25.880 You know, it's not the first time I've lost the people I lost, 495 00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:31.800 you know, Paul Douglas and he Rock, most notably it's CBS colleague. 496 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:35.079 I mean, it's not the first time. It's not the first time 497 00:43:35.119 --> 00:43:43.159 I've lost friends and colleagues to war. Now, this is this is I'll 498 00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:52.960 be I'll be brutally honest with you right now. I'm I'm deferring. Uh. 499 00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:59.199 And I know that's not healthy. Uh, I'm not. I've been 500 00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:04.639 doing this long enough to know when I need to stop and you know, 501 00:44:05.039 --> 00:44:10.760 turn off everything and shut down and get some downtime and just reflect. But 502 00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:15.639 you know, it's it's a constant here. As long as you're in Ukraine, 503 00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:16.880 there is no safe place. As long as you're in Ukraine, you're 504 00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:22.000 constantly surrounded by pain and suffering. And it is not unusual to just be 505 00:44:22.039 --> 00:44:27.440 walking down the street and you know you're crossing, you're walking past men missing 506 00:44:27.480 --> 00:44:34.360 limbs, You're you're walking past people on phones openly on the street weeping, 507 00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:37.599 and you know what it's about. You don't have to guess. It's not 508 00:44:37.679 --> 00:44:42.320 like they just broke up with their boyfriend. These people are weeping because something 509 00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:45.960 awful has happened to them. Their life has inevitably, you know, has 510 00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:51.679 irrevocably changed because of this god awful war, and that affects you. Of 511 00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:57.159 course it affects you. But my mission is to try and keep this in 512 00:44:57.320 --> 00:44:59.760 the news cycle. And I'm doing my best with the podcast and all the 513 00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:02.840 rest to it, Uh I do. I'm not reckless with my mental high 514 00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:09.519 I've seen people break down. You and I both know people you know in 515 00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:15.760 the business who who who deferred for too long or they try to get into 516 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:22.639 self destructive and get into self destructive behavior, and it it, you know, 517 00:45:22.760 --> 00:45:27.280 you you can't ignore it, you can't stuff it down and lock it 518 00:45:27.320 --> 00:45:32.199 away. But right now I have I'm I got my eyes on the prize 519 00:45:32.199 --> 00:45:36.559 and sort of thing, and I'm putting my head down and doing the work. 520 00:45:37.719 --> 00:45:43.559 But but I am constantly aware that I'm no good to anybody if I 521 00:45:43.559 --> 00:45:46.199 if I break down and and and lose it, you know, if it 522 00:45:46.440 --> 00:45:49.719 if it all, if it all breaks down. But it's hard, man, 523 00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:54.239 it's really really hard. Yes, I feel you. But it's important 524 00:45:54.280 --> 00:46:00.559 too, It's really important. And I'm ashamed that the news that the Western 525 00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:05.039 media is not here in greater numbers. I don't think that this war has 526 00:46:05.079 --> 00:46:08.360 been covered properly. I don't think it's comprehensive enough. I don't think the 527 00:46:08.400 --> 00:46:15.880 West understands, certainly not Americans what's at stake here. Europeans are increasingly becoming 528 00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:22.360 aware of it, and some have always been aware of it. But our 529 00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:27.519 news media, and as a veteran of the news media and the news industry, 530 00:46:28.280 --> 00:46:34.719 I feel I have sufficient knowledge to cast this criticism. We're not doing 531 00:46:34.760 --> 00:46:38.719 our job here, man, We're not. The news media is letting the 532 00:46:39.119 --> 00:46:45.199 audience and they don't Americans don't understand because of this failure of the media to 533 00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:50.480 understand that this fight is our fight. It already is. As I already 534 00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:54.519 explained, our body politic is under attack. Moscow is all sectors of the 535 00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:59.719 United states undermining us, some to great levels, some to very small levels, 536 00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:02.800 will never know about. It happens in the shadows, but it is 537 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:08.880 happening, and we are not explaining to the American people in particular how desperately 538 00:47:08.960 --> 00:47:14.599 the important that this war is, and how this is an inflection point between 539 00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:19.639 autocracy and liberal democracy, and it's being fought here, you know, the 540 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:22.920 hot warriors being fought here, and we have to support him. So I 541 00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:30.480 feel justified, and i'm i'm I am willing to take the hit, as 542 00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:35.119 it were, to suffer the slings and errors of the potential PTSD and the 543 00:47:35.159 --> 00:47:40.519 emotional turmoil because this is so damned important. Well, you mentioned great journalism 544 00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:44.079 and great journalists, and I know you want to take a moment. We 545 00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:47.719 just lost one of the great ones. And Tom Fenton a great, one 546 00:47:47.719 --> 00:47:53.039 of the great international Many people consider him the father of international reporting. I 547 00:47:53.039 --> 00:47:57.519 know you had some exposure and worked with him. I know we work together 548 00:47:57.519 --> 00:48:00.639 in the London Bureau. Legendary. Please tell us, please tell us a 549 00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:06.679 little bit about he was a wonderful journalist. He was a great, a 550 00:48:06.719 --> 00:48:13.480 great broadcast journalist. He was he could package and his writing was lovely and 551 00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:21.559 his understanding of of people and of the human condition in terrible situations often was 552 00:48:21.800 --> 00:48:25.320 admirable. And he was a He was a soft hearted or not soft heart, 553 00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:30.719 but kind hearted gentleman. Uh. He was a true gentleman. Uh 554 00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:37.519 in in a generation of journalists that I don't think we're going to see again. 555 00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:42.880 I think those those days are gone. But he will be missed. 556 00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:45.159 Tom was a Tom was a great guy. He was a great journalist. 557 00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:50.400 I learned a lot from him and it was always a pleasure to spend time 558 00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:53.519 with him. And he was he was. He was a lovely man and 559 00:48:53.559 --> 00:48:58.639 he lived an amazing life. And you know, if it were up to 560 00:48:58.679 --> 00:49:00.679 me, I would have given him many many more years later. But in 561 00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:06.480 his ninety four years he did something. Well, let's talk about another amazing 562 00:49:06.559 --> 00:49:09.199 journalist, Phil Hittner. I know you have your podcast, you have your 563 00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:13.519 vlogs. Tell us a little bit about how people can stay with you and 564 00:49:13.639 --> 00:49:16.079 stay informed with what's going on in Ukraine. In a minute or so, 565 00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:21.480 we have left, Well, I've got the studio. I've got this studio 566 00:49:21.599 --> 00:49:27.320 here that I created in keV and we're going to be doing a weekly interview 567 00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:31.679 show. It'll be released pretty much on Sunday. We might be changing the 568 00:49:31.719 --> 00:49:36.719 time, but every Sunday we're can be coming from this studio talking to people 569 00:49:36.719 --> 00:49:40.719 who have a unique perspective, primarily Ukrainians, to give Ukraine a voice, 570 00:49:42.639 --> 00:49:46.480 and we've had some great guests on so far. We just had the wonderful 571 00:49:46.800 --> 00:49:52.400 member of the Ukrainian Parliament, kier Rudik here, and I'll leave you with 572 00:49:52.480 --> 00:49:55.519 one of the things that she said to me in that interview, and you 573 00:49:55.519 --> 00:50:00.079 can find it on YouTube. It's got its own channel on the Edge with 574 00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:04.280 Philip Ititner on YouTube, or just on my personal channel which is Philip Ititner 575 00:50:04.320 --> 00:50:07.840 one L and Philip Tutti's and Itner all one word on YouTube. And then 576 00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:10.880 we're going to be putting out as audio podcasts as well. We just haven't 577 00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:15.039 gotten around to how we're going to do that format, but anyhow, I 578 00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:21.440 will leave you with this with Our last episode was with Kiera Rudik, who 579 00:50:21.480 --> 00:50:29.639 is a parliamentarian and opposition parliamentarian in Ukraine's Rada, their parliament, and she 580 00:50:29.800 --> 00:50:32.480 told me the story of the day that the full scale invasion happened February twenty 581 00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:37.960 fourth, twenty twenty two. As many deputies of the Parliament rushed down to 582 00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:42.719 the body, to the actual parliament building as they could possibly get, and 583 00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:46.639 they got some three hundred out of four hundred deputies there. The security forces 584 00:50:46.679 --> 00:50:52.039 said, this is potentially a target. Bombs were falling everywhere. There was 585 00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:55.360 massive attacks on the capitol here, and the security guy said, we don't 586 00:50:55.400 --> 00:50:59.400 know if this the parliament is going to get hit. It's potentially a target. 587 00:50:59.719 --> 00:51:02.280 We give you ten minutes, no more. But because they believe in 588 00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:07.920 democracy and in the rule of law, they went into this body and into 589 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:12.960 this structure, and they voted on the installation of martial law, which would 590 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:17.840 allow them to fight Vladimir Putin, an existential threat. She is an opposition 591 00:51:19.159 --> 00:51:22.440 party member, and she said as they were signing and voting, they were 592 00:51:22.440 --> 00:51:29.519 weeping and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. And on that day they decided that 593 00:51:29.719 --> 00:51:35.119 until the war was over, until Russia was pushed out of their lands, 594 00:51:35.440 --> 00:51:39.239 that they would not fight political battles in public, that they would present a 595 00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:45.079 unified front to an existential threat in the form of Vladimir Putin. And as 596 00:51:45.159 --> 00:51:50.119 I watch the dysfunction within the Democratic Party in the United States and the infighting 597 00:51:50.519 --> 00:51:57.320 over the fear of Donald Trump that is causing this anxiety and this fracturing because 598 00:51:57.360 --> 00:52:00.199 of course we're all afraid about Donald Trump coming back to the Oval office. 599 00:52:00.360 --> 00:52:05.880 But take it from the Ukrainians who did this while their city was being bombed. 600 00:52:06.119 --> 00:52:08.840 They said, we're going to stow all of that until the enemy, 601 00:52:09.079 --> 00:52:14.760 the existential threat is done. Democrats have got to unite. I don't know 602 00:52:14.800 --> 00:52:19.360 how it's gonna happen. I hope I have my own hopes as to how 603 00:52:19.400 --> 00:52:22.480 that will happen. But personally I hope that it will be Joe Biden. 604 00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:25.840 Then he won't be pushed aside. But what troubles me is the infighting when 605 00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:30.840 we are facing an existential threat. So take it from Kira Rudik, a 606 00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:37.599 Ukrainian parliamentarian. You either stand together or you're gonna fall individually. We remember 607 00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:42.360 what Franklin said, we should hang together or we will certainly hang separately. 608 00:52:42.639 --> 00:52:45.400 A little double entendre there, but we know what he meant. Phil Ititner, 609 00:52:45.480 --> 00:52:50.559 you will always be an inspiration to me and to hopefully to my audience 610 00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:53.119 here at being frank What a pleasure to have you. Please be safe, 611 00:52:53.159 --> 00:52:55.960 I know it sounds trite and people say it all the time, but it 612 00:52:57.000 --> 00:53:01.199 comes from the heart from us. Thanks so much for joining us. Hey, 613 00:53:01.199 --> 00:53:04.800 don't go anywhere you We're gonna take a quick break. When we come 614 00:53:04.840 --> 00:53:07.840 back. We've got some great music. A relative and a filial love it. 615 00:53:07.840 --> 00:53:13.039 It's called a Prayer for Ukraine. It was composed by Peter Danish. 616 00:53:13.079 --> 00:53:15.880 He's going to join us talk a little bit about how we created it and 617 00:53:15.559 --> 00:53:22.039 his singing partner, Rita Harvey Beautiful Broadway Store will help him sing it. 618 00:53:22.119 --> 00:53:24.519 And we'll have all of that when we come back. After these brief commercial 619 00:53:24.559 --> 00:53:29.199 messages. This is Being Frank. I'm your host, Franklebono. Please don't 620 00:53:29.239 --> 00:53:37.960 go anywhere yet. Thanks again, Phil Hudson Riverradio dot com. This is 621 00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:49.719 Hudson Riverradio dot com, your local Rockland County station, Hudsonriverradio dot com. 622 00:53:51.840 --> 00:53:57.159 Welcome back to Being Frank, the Intelligent Conversation Podcast. Thanks for sticking with 623 00:53:57.239 --> 00:53:59.880 us. I'm your host, Frank Lebuono. You know we bring you a 624 00:54:00.039 --> 00:54:05.079 fresh topic every week and we stream from Hudson River Radio, which is located 625 00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:08.639 in beautiful and historic Stony Point, New York. Neil Richter, the Mailman, 626 00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:13.159 is our engineer. I call him that because he always delivers. But 627 00:54:13.320 --> 00:54:16.360 remember, you can catch any Being Frank anywhere you get your favorite podcasts. 628 00:54:16.639 --> 00:54:21.960 That includes Apple, Spotify and all the rest. And because Being Frank is 629 00:54:22.159 --> 00:54:24.960 archived, you can listen to any of our programs anytime you like. You 630 00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:30.360 can find a link to Being Frank on the Hudson River Radio Facebook page or 631 00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:35.320 at our website Hudson Riverradio dot com. Leave us a comment and please consider 632 00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:39.079 subscribing to the podcast, and if you really like us, please share us 633 00:54:39.079 --> 00:54:44.000 with your family and friends. Okay, we've got another special guest up and 634 00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:46.000 I think you're really going to enjoy him and his music. He's my friend. 635 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:50.840 He's a composer, of musician and author. Another renaissance man. I've 636 00:54:50.880 --> 00:54:53.920 got all these renaissance people here. They make me look good, I hope. 637 00:54:54.239 --> 00:55:00.199 Okay, welcome Peter Danish. Thank you for joining us. I want 638 00:55:00.239 --> 00:55:04.039 to talk in particular about your composition, which is very much related to our 639 00:55:04.079 --> 00:55:07.199 first guest, mister Phil Igner, who has been in Ukraine since the very 640 00:55:07.239 --> 00:55:12.519 beginning of the war, and you composed a special song called a Prayer for 641 00:55:13.159 --> 00:55:16.119 Ukraine. Tell us about how you came about that and how you created it. 642 00:55:17.440 --> 00:55:21.679 Let's say it's a very long start, not just kidding. We've got 643 00:55:21.719 --> 00:55:25.639 four minutes. Of course, the truth is it's not my composition, it 644 00:55:25.719 --> 00:55:30.480 is my arrangement. Okay, thank you for an old folk song, an 645 00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:37.440 old Ukrainian folk song and very long story made short. About almost ten years 646 00:55:37.480 --> 00:55:46.400 ago. Now, I did a charity single for hurricane victims in Haiti, 647 00:55:47.800 --> 00:55:52.480 and because a friend of mine here in Nayak, his father is a pastor 648 00:55:52.679 --> 00:55:55.199 of a church down there, and he asked me if I could help out. 649 00:55:57.199 --> 00:56:04.760 And I got legendary Tripolitan opera soprano a prelay milo to sing the piece, 650 00:56:04.760 --> 00:56:10.000 and it was an ave Maria and a prelay was used to singing with 651 00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:13.960 an orchestra. I didn't have an orchestra. I thought we just did it 652 00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:15.880 with piano. So she said, see if you can get an orchestra. 653 00:56:16.599 --> 00:56:22.000 And one of my little side gigs is I'm the classical music editor for BroadwayWorld 654 00:56:22.159 --> 00:56:28.840 dot com. So I put out the call on Broadway World and asked everybody, 655 00:56:28.960 --> 00:56:32.880 would you be interested in possibly being part of a charity single to raise 656 00:56:32.920 --> 00:56:40.960 money for hurricane victims in Haiti. The response was absolutely overwhelming more than I 657 00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:46.840 could possibly use. In fact, but I met a fella from the Ukraine 658 00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:52.519 at that time named Boris, and he was just a wonderful fellaw he was 659 00:56:52.559 --> 00:56:58.519 a cellist, but he's really an arranger. And he said to me, 660 00:56:59.159 --> 00:57:06.920 there is this group of women who are absolutely marvelous string players, and they 661 00:57:06.960 --> 00:57:14.639 have a group called the Infinito String Quartet, and they also have a full 662 00:57:14.679 --> 00:57:17.480 string orchestra now as well. So I reached out to them and they played 663 00:57:17.480 --> 00:57:25.239 on the single and they were absolutely wonderful, magical players. So after the 664 00:57:25.280 --> 00:57:31.480 invasion of Ukraine two years ago, now it's a scary thought, I reached 665 00:57:31.519 --> 00:57:37.800 out to them again just to see how they were doing. And they said, 666 00:57:37.800 --> 00:57:42.639 well, we're okay. We're living in a basement, bombs are going 667 00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:46.000 off around us. But send us work. They said, what do you 668 00:57:46.039 --> 00:57:51.599 mean? They said, please send us work. We need some sense of 669 00:57:51.679 --> 00:57:57.320 normalcy, something to keep us sane. Send us music and we'll record it 670 00:57:57.360 --> 00:58:01.280 here. So I thought, wow, what a lovely idea if I could 671 00:58:01.360 --> 00:58:14.119 send them some music. And I remembered a Ukrainian folk song that I had 672 00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:21.000 heard. It was actually in Ukrainian church, and I couldn't remember the name 673 00:58:21.039 --> 00:58:25.360 of it agredibly. So I went to YouTube as you do, and went 674 00:58:25.400 --> 00:58:31.800 through about one hundred different a hundred different iterations of the song. And it's 675 00:58:31.840 --> 00:58:37.760 mostly done by the joke we say, it's mostly done by a bunch of 676 00:58:37.920 --> 00:58:47.320 old men with long black beards and tall black hats and they sing it and 677 00:58:50.519 --> 00:58:54.480 and I thought, wow, you know who would be great to sing this, 678 00:58:54.719 --> 00:58:59.960 Rita Harvey, because when I think old men with long black beards, 679 00:59:00.119 --> 00:59:01.960 I think Rita harriy Oh, she's gonna love that. I'm sure, well, 680 00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:07.440 we love that, Rita. Uh. One way to guarantee someone will 681 00:59:07.480 --> 00:59:15.960 listen to the podcast. So I brought the song to Rita and she loved 682 00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:21.960 it. That was good news. And then literally the next night we were 683 00:59:21.960 --> 00:59:27.840 watching Saturday Night Live. I was at my house shoes at hers and the 684 00:59:27.920 --> 00:59:32.800 opening, the cold opening to Saturday Night Live was this Ukrainian choir from Queens 685 00:59:32.840 --> 00:59:37.960 singing the same song, and I said, that's karma. We have to 686 00:59:38.039 --> 00:59:45.800 record this. And Rita is one of Rita's best friends. Her mom was 687 00:59:45.840 --> 00:59:51.280 in Harsan in southern Ukraine at that time, which has been was bombed, 688 00:59:51.400 --> 00:59:58.400 was overrun occupied, it's been I sent the music to my friends at the 689 00:59:58.400 --> 01:00:06.960 Infinito and they literally recorded the string parts you'll hear in the basement in between 690 01:00:07.079 --> 01:00:14.320 bombing raids. It was and their performance was sensational. They're really advanced, 691 01:00:14.320 --> 01:00:21.599 advanced musicians, advanced players and wonderful people. And I lost touch with them 692 01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:28.280 for over a year after we did the recording, and thank god, we 693 01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:30.960 managed to get back in touch. It turns out they had to move. 694 01:00:31.360 --> 01:00:39.079 They were in Kiev and they moved to Harkiev and then back as various hotspots 695 01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:45.119 started to emerge during the bombings. But they're back now and they're working again. 696 01:00:45.159 --> 01:00:49.119 I'm working on some other stuff and I promised them that this song will 697 01:00:49.159 --> 01:00:54.519 be on the next CD that Rita and I release. And Rita, God 698 01:00:54.559 --> 01:01:02.679 bless her, called her friend and Yuba and asked her to coach her for 699 01:01:02.840 --> 01:01:07.440 all the Ukraine. And she did a real hell of a job singing I 700 01:01:07.480 --> 01:01:13.360 think three or four voices on this same song. She did all the parts 701 01:01:13.400 --> 01:01:20.039 yourself and all in Ukraine. Really remarkable performance by Rita. Peter, thank 702 01:01:20.079 --> 01:01:22.000 you so much. I guess we'll just have to listen to it. It's 703 01:01:22.039 --> 01:01:25.400 a wonderful song. I saw it performed live in a church here in Nayak. 704 01:01:25.880 --> 01:01:30.800 Very special. You read a great orchestra. It's going to be exciting 705 01:01:30.840 --> 01:01:32.320 to hear. So we like to thank you and of course for your intelligent 706 01:01:32.360 --> 01:01:38.320 conversation. Always my question. You have a short film out that I want 707 01:01:38.360 --> 01:01:43.119 to talk about that is very relevant to what's going on in this country. 708 01:01:43.119 --> 01:01:45.679 But that's just a tease. We're not going to get into that today. 709 01:01:45.519 --> 01:01:49.960 We'll talk about that at another time. I can certainly do a whole podcast 710 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:52.920 about that. Yeah, certainly, and we shall, so I'll hold you 711 01:01:52.960 --> 01:01:55.679 to that. You got it. Of course, we got to thank Phil 712 01:01:55.719 --> 01:02:00.800 Ititner and always wish him safety. Phil put some in harm's way for our 713 01:02:00.880 --> 01:02:05.800 benefit to know what's going on. Of course, special thanks to Neil Richter, 714 01:02:05.920 --> 01:02:07.159 the mailman. He keeps us on the air, so I have to 715 01:02:07.199 --> 01:02:10.400 be nice with him, to him for another two or three minutes, otherwise 716 01:02:10.400 --> 01:02:14.719 he'll cut me off. And of course a big special thanks to our listeners 717 01:02:14.760 --> 01:02:17.480 who take a time, take some time to give us a voice in their 718 01:02:17.519 --> 01:02:22.320 lives. Remember you can catch us anywhere you get your favorite podcasts, Apple, 719 01:02:22.440 --> 01:02:24.960 Spotify and all the rest. Check us out on the Hudson River Radio 720 01:02:25.039 --> 01:02:30.480 Faith Facebook page. You can tell him hustling to get this done. But 721 01:02:30.599 --> 01:02:32.199 we want to leave you with a couple of things. Of course, Peter 722 01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:36.559 Danish just Prayer for Ukraine will end the show, but just before that, 723 01:02:36.679 --> 01:02:39.440 I want to give you something from Angela Davis who said, I am no 724 01:02:39.480 --> 01:02:45.440 longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot 725 01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:52.719 accept. A lot going on there. In two sentences, I'm your host, 726 01:02:52.719 --> 01:02:55.079 Frank Lebono for our engineer Neil Richter. I want to thank you for 727 01:02:55.199 --> 01:03:00.280 joining us here on being Frank up. Next Prayer for you Ukraine with Peter 728 01:03:00.400 --> 01:03:51.400 Danish and Rita Harvey. Thank you guys. Oh, no Ukry move not 729 01:03:58.480 --> 01:04:45.639 very boom wrong, most c Lomo series, the Lobo, not Scolls cocky, 730 01:04:49.119 --> 01:06:11.400 most school, same co. Please Shap must take no b s Hudson 731 01:06:11.480 --> 01:06:14.079 River Radio dot Com m HM