March 28, 2022 • 28 mins
Join Olivia and her DWTS partner, Val Chmerkovskiy for an important conversation. Olivia wanted connect with her friend about the heartbreaking situation in The Ukraine. She wanted to learn more and get his perspective.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Conversationous with Olivia Jade in My Heart Radio podcast.
Hello everybody, is Olivia Jade. Welcome back to another podcast episode.
I am really grateful for today's guest. Not only is
he a really good friend of mine, but I think
that this episode is so important and it's so fitting
(00:24):
for what's going on right now and today I have
Val Schmerkovsky coming on my podcast. He was my partner
on Dancing with the Stars. He was born in Ukraine
and he has been doing a lot to help those
that are in need in Ukraine right now, and it's
something that you know, a little a little can go
(00:44):
a long way, and so I want him to come
on and talk to you guys about what's happening, how
you can help with you've been curious and um just
get a little history lesson on why and how this
is all going down. So with that being said, he's
welcomed out. What's somebody? How are you good? I'm I'm
(01:06):
very excited for this episode for the I mean, most
people are going to be listening to this, but if
you do see on social media, like the little clips,
you'll see where Val is right now. And this episode
is very important because fall is from Ukraine. He was
my partner on Dancing with the Stars. Everything that's going
on right now is very near and dear to his heart.
(01:28):
And I kind of want to let you take it
away and explain whatever it is you think people should
know the history how to help what you're doing where
you are. And I'm going to shut up because I
don't know anything. So well, first of all, thank you
for having me, thank you for giving me a chance
to talk to your audience. I would, and I mean
(01:48):
that I would all due respect. I would hope that
people are learning in history books, you know, the things
you know, world history, not just American history obviously brainwasher.
This conflict Eastern Europe in general and especially in the
last century, you know, that's that's world history, you know.
And uh, I'm just gonna get into it. Ukraine and
(02:10):
Russia have been neighbors, have been brothers in arms. I'm
not gonna go extensive history of like Kivs Carouse, which
is you know, kind of the empire was one under
the key of empire a few world back back in
the day. But let's just talk about the last you know,
let's say a hundred years. Uh, there was a union
(02:34):
called Soviet Union, right, and it was fourteen republicans that
were under under the same flag, um and Ukraine and
Russia being part of it. Now the Russian language was
then the main language of all of these republics. Now
that included Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania. A lot of the
(02:54):
you know countries that we're very individual, have their own
individual history that decided to unite together under let's say
a common cause, but by no means that they become
one country. They yes, for that time they were let's say,
one nation under the flag of the Soviet Union, but
they have extensive individual history and their own languages. Uh.
(03:17):
And so in just fast forward in nineteen nine and
started it was official that the Soviet Union fell apart,
and all these republics gained their own independence. And in
the last thirty years these republics, with this new found independence,
a lot of them adopted you know, democratic principles. And
(03:38):
with those democratic principles came also a lot of pride
and developing and now adopting back their their history, which is,
you know, their own language. Let's start with that. Now
that didn't complicate things. I am a product of with
some would at the moment consider a complicated situation. It's
(03:59):
not a company get a situation. I am from Ukraine.
I'm from a Ukraine. I speak Russian. I speak Russian
because that was the language that I at the time,
when I was born, a long, long time ago, was
still part of the Soviet Union. So I learned Russian
because that was the you know, the language that everybody learned.
A lot of people in my city speak Russian, a
(04:20):
lot of them Ukrainian, a lot of them speak Yiddish
because they were of Jewish descent. It's a melting pot city,
you know, just like you know, you go to New
York City. There's a lot of dialects, but it's still
New York City, which is part of the New York State,
which is part of America. UH. Anyway, the point is
that all of these republics had the right to pursue
(04:41):
their own independence in the democratic fashion, and that's what
they did. In Ukraine, because we are speaking about Ukraine,
did just that. And there were a lot of growing
pains right in the nineties were really difficult time for
all of these republics, particularly Ukraine Russia as well. UH.
But in two thousands and and now in the last
(05:03):
decade with a new generation of kids that that are
now united by the Internet and then the world kind
of shrinking, but we're all adopting each other's cultures were all.
You know, your generation especially is becoming you know, it's
kind of leading the this this storm leading the way
on kind of like not being divided, united by you know,
(05:27):
just the humanity of it. So um, I mean, that's
why this is so sad because you know, Ukrainians and
Russians and not just neighbors, you know, are great. Our
grandparents lived through the Holocaust together. They you know, they
fought in World War Two together. The Soviet Union lost
twenty seven million people in World War Two, seven million
(05:51):
people that included not just Russians, that included Ukrainians and
Bela Russians and Lithuanians, Estonians and Armenians and everybod I
just mentioned. You know, we all fought in that war.
And so for you know, some of these grandparents haven't
died yet. For them to see the situation that's happening
is heartbreaking, you know. And so that's just kind of
(06:13):
the history of I guess, you know, just because there's
so much propaganda and fake news and misleading news, if
you will. Uh. And I'm the type of person that
always tries to see every angle, right. I think it's important,
you know, there's never just one side to a debate.
I think it's important to also be empathetic enough to
(06:34):
see what the other side is thinking, of feeling, or wanting.
But I think in this particular case is it's kind
of very clear. I have to confront my elasticity sometimes
as well and be like, no, bro, listen, there's also
some things that are right and some things are wrong.
This is an unprovoked invasion by a neighbor that feels
(06:57):
not just invasive, it feels it feels like betrayal, you know,
it feels like real betrayal because these are cities that
celebrated Russian artists and and would with respect to Russia,
Russia celebrated Ukrainian artists. You know, it's they were It's hard,
you know. I'll give you my example. You know, I
(07:18):
immigrated to America ninety four, um, and for a long time,
you know, even with you, you were like, hey, where
are you from from Ukraine? Where is that? I'm like,
it's basically near Russia, you know. So you're right, Yeah,
I'm Russia. You speak Ukrainian, No I speak about Okay,
you're right. You know, this is a real conversation we had,
(07:40):
you know, and the truth is, no, I I'm I'm
Russia speaking Ukrainian. And now more than ever, you know,
the unfortunate silver line and they came out of this
is now people know where Ukraine is, and not only that,
they know the difference. And you know, my sadness is
apps salutely with the Ukrainian people, absolutely, but it's also
(08:04):
with the Russian people because unfortunately, these actions are setting
that country back and isolating that country, you know, and
it's going to be a long time, but the sanctions
and everything, you know, it's for the first time in
a long time. You know. I grew up in this country, uh,
you know, and every blockbuster thriller, you know, there's always
a Russian guy trying to take over the world, and
(08:27):
and I was always like, damn, I has always got
to be the Russian guy. Um And you know, and
I feel like there's done a lot of work that
was done in the last you know, like I said,
twenty years that finally assimilated Russian culture and tradition into
into the fabric of the world. And because there's a
lot of incredible human resource, there's inquiring a lot of
(08:47):
incredible talent, a lot of amazing people. And you know, this,
unfortunately is h is a huge leap back. It's not
a step back, it's a lead back for Russia. And
and in the most obvious way, it is absolutely devastating
for Ukraine. Um. But on the flip side, the way
(09:10):
it has rallied the world behind this country. And you know,
I'm sitting in Portly, New Jersey, a largely Korean neighborhood,
you know, with with Eastern Europeans and Italians and the
Spanish community and the Black community, and you know, we
we this is right outside of New York City, and
it's a microcosm of what this country is all about.
(09:33):
And the volunteers that are coming into UH into this
initiative that we found at here are every single color
of all ages. This is not a scoulsive East Europeans
that are coming to help. It's thousands of people from
you know, like I said, all different cultures. And you know,
for me, that's been kind of the most um the
most beautiful thing is that you know, it's it's easier
(09:57):
to rally around a cause that is you know, touch
to you personally. Uh, it's much more difficult to take
the time and and and take your hard earned dollar
and donate it, or take your time again and volunteer
or donate a piece of clothing or you know, rally
behind a cause and a country that is very very
far away from you, you know, and and doesn't affect
(10:22):
you immediately. It's it's a beautiful thing that they you know,
it's I said this to somebody. You know, I haven't
felt this type of you know, I put I put
up a flag on my car two times in my
life because you know, as bravado and extra as I
can be sometimes, you know, this type of patriotism I've
only felt twice in my life, you know, I mean
(10:45):
many times. But like again, I never went as far
as putting a flag up my car. It was after
no eleven, after not eleven here driving around the city. Uh.
You know I had the American flag with pride, and
and now after this I have you know, I have
the Ukrainian flag driving around the standardas so. Um, it
is the incredible situation that we're in and I hope
(11:08):
you know, yet again, it is the youth. It's it's
your generation, it's our generation. I guess in some regard
that has the power to really spread the word. Uh,
you know, I don't want to you know, I don't
wanna encourage bullying each other. I don't want any you know,
further animosity. I just want kids to kind of open
(11:32):
their eyes and and and do their due diligence and
if they have the time, maybe maybe you know, kind
of research and and do their best to to help
because again, uh, you know, today it's Ukraine, Tomorrow it's
it's going to be somewhere else, and you know, we
have to be really you know, we have to just
(11:53):
really work hard to make sure that we're not going
backwards and that the next generation is living in a
world that you know, you're not bombing cities and uh,
you know, kindergartens and and kids aren't living in bomb shelters.
(12:24):
It was really personal besides me, you know, looking at
my heritage in my birthplace and wanting to do something.
You know, my brother was in Key of when the
invasion started, and uh, you know, we're all really nervous obviously,
and he was petrified. We talked about it, and you know,
he was grateful to get out. But you know he's
(12:47):
now right back at the Polish border trying to do,
you know, whatever he can. He's we'll get into where
I am and what we're doing, uh as far as
you know, our resources. But yeah, there is a lot
of sadness still, you know, because it's good that you know,
we're safe here in the privilege of living in this country,
(13:09):
but you know, there are a lot of our friends
and family and peers that are in Ukraine right now
that are, like I said, in bomb shelters. And I
think we're getting a little you know, used to hearing
that word, and we're kind of like, okay, cool, No, No,
Like you don't know, you don't understand what that is.
That means you don't have a home and you have
to hide in the shelter with with nothing there, there's nothing.
(13:31):
It's not like you're swiping through your you know, Internet,
and the tension and the fear, you know, so, uh,
we wanted to do something, you know, I don't I
don't you know. Um, It's crazy to me the courage
that it takes for a fellow dancer yesterday, we're you know,
(13:52):
we're competing at a dance competition today. He you know,
he picked up an A K forty seven and he's
you know, patrolling his story like like, that's not I
don't know if that's the kind of life we wanna
have in this world. You know, I don't know if
that should be a reality for anybody that's a young
(14:13):
man trying to you know, one thing, my mom says like,
you know, well this was a couple of weeks ago,
you know, but she was like, you know, the war
has been going on for now ten days. You know,
just eleven days ago, these kids went to bed like
nervous about their test that's coming out, you know, they
were excited about maybe their wedding day coming up. They
(14:36):
were grieving, you know, some sort of pain, or they
were nervous about something else. So they were dreaming about
getting into their I don't know, like accomplishing that thing
that they always wanted, you know, or excited to go
on that date with that boy that they finally asked
them out. And literally overnight, just all of that shatters,
(14:58):
and all of that shatters immediately and for the foreseeable future,
and I just you know, sometimes we look at things
on TV and is devastating, but we can't understand it,
you can't feel it. And when you kind of like
everyday humanize the topic that the subject matter, I think
it hits home a little bit more, you know, realizing that,
(15:22):
like these are old people that do all of this.
They love playing basketball just like me. They you know,
they like good fashion, they love you know, they they
love Jack Harlow and whoever else is popping right now
and Cardi B. Like these are these are kids that
(15:44):
grew up again. Ukraine has done a tremendous job moving forward,
moving uh, you know, kind of progressing into the future.
It has just an incredible again human resource and natural
resources and history and beautiful cities and architecture. It's a
country that's over a thousand years old, you know, just
(16:06):
to put it in perspective, this country's not even you know,
it's two and fifty years old. It's over a thousand
years old. There's so much history there, uh, and you
know it's literally being bombed and leveled as we speak.
And that's yeah, that's kind of my little feel for you. Well,
(16:27):
I think it was very informative. Um I mean, yeah,
it's really hard to wrap. Yeah, it's hard because I
can't even imagine how like I feel a certain way
about it immediately when I heard about it, just because
I know you and love you so much, and it
then it feels personal to me. And then it's like
when you really sit here and you think about like
kids and moms and people that were living their daily
(16:50):
life in their complete normal bubble and now they're in
bomb shelters like you were saying, and just these terrible,
terrible situations. It's it's hard to even believe that's where all.
But you know, like can you imagine a young family,
like I said, you know, just a short while ago,
(17:11):
dreaming about their you know, buying their home or just
just moving into their home, starting their family. And now, uh,
the guy has to go, you know, the guy has
to go and serve on the front, you know, being
a trench somewhere while his wife and kids are refugees
in a neighboring country if they're lucky, and when they
(17:34):
do get to a neighboring country, Like the challenges, the
just the everyday challenges. I I don't want to again
paint this, you know, gloomy picture but we start to
celebrate when we see kids be accepted by these countries
as refugees, and it is a beautiful thing and it's
a testament to the world for opening it his doors
(17:54):
to the Ukrainian people. But then once they're there, like,
let me just put it in perspective, it's like, now up,
you know, where's that? What are we doing? What language
are we speaking? What do I do? I'm a professional engineer,
Like do I go and clean somewhere or like like,
(18:15):
which is also a noble job, but it's like even
that job is scarce. Like we also live in a
tough it's tough for everybody, not just Ukrainians. But you know,
to add this, it's like you look around and you know,
the ego, the pride, for get the ego, but just
like self respect, you know, you kind of it just
it just kind of it shatters everything at every level,
(18:40):
war in general, and it's just that's where we ad
And I never thought that, like after two years of
a pandemic, you know, this would be now this this
other hurdle for the world to kind of try to swallow.
Ye do you kind of want to talk about the
(19:12):
President of Ukraine a little bit because I I was
fascinated when you were talking to me. And also fun
fact he won Dancing with Stars in Ukraine, right yeah, yeah,
So this guy, you know, he was an amazing actor, artist,
comedian in particular, UM who got a degree in economics.
(19:37):
I believe economics. Don't call me on that, but he
you know, he's an educated man, right uh, but pursued
the arts and was really good at it, really you
know charismatic. Um as a celebrity, right like in Ukraine,
he was, he's a celebrity. Yeah, yeah, he was. He
was a celebrity in Russia too. He was a celebrity
in Ukraine and in Russia he was celebrated, you know,
(20:01):
the celebrity, but he was. He was a very well
respected artist. And in two thousand and six he actually
competed in the Ukrainian Dancing with the Stars and one
just to kind of like full circle moment for me
to just kind of get a little attachment to the guy.
But yeah, he he's a fellow Dancing with the Stars,
an alumni, UM and he actually you know, he came
(20:26):
out with the show that where he you know, he
built his notoriety and then he came out with the
show where he actually plays a president, and the whole
concept of the of the show was that this regular guy, uh,
you know, within the turmoil of the country and a
lot of corruption and political corruption and unrest. Uh, this
regular everyday guy um runs runs for office. I mean
(20:51):
it's more complex than that. But somehow he ends up
being in this campaign, you know, for for office and
he wins you know, short along story short, and it
was such a popular show and it was just you know,
I guess again. Ukraine has been through a lot of
growing pains politically and uh, you know, it had a
(21:14):
revolution in two thousand and fourteen, and had a revolution
in two thousand and four before that thousand and eight. Uh,
and then in two thousand and fourteen, Uh, there was
a huge again the people rose up to their government.
It was a huge again revolution that was that was
led by the people to have a democratic process because
(21:36):
they didn't believe in their representation. Uh, and there was
a lot of corruption and uh, they fought for their
democratic right to elect their president. And so you know
that a show about the everyday man rising to the
occasion and with humility and no political agendas or rather
(21:57):
there no you know, I guess no option attached to
the history of his political career. Um. This this everyday
man gets elected and he becomes a national hero and
then he does a good job as president, etcetera. And
it was such a popular show that as a like,
(22:18):
people online started kind of messing around with him and
and going like, yo, you should actually run for president
because he's an off camera he you know, he loved
his country. Is his grandfather, you know, fought in the
Great War, um, and you know, he comes from a
family of military men, you know that served Ukraine, so
(22:41):
he has a lot of pride in Ukraine and being there,
and uh, you know, it went viral, this this kind
of like the notion of him actually running for office
because again, the people were exhausted of politicians and you know,
career politicians, if you will, with certain agendas, self serving agendas,
(23:03):
and and one thing led to another they kind of
like volunteered him into into, you know, run for office.
And in Ukraine it's a little different how it goes.
There's multiple parties, it's not just a two party system
like in America. And uh, you know, he kind of
ran as under his and and then the slogan was
(23:23):
the same as in the show, and uh yeah, he
kind of ran under a very like a similar brand,
if you and he passed the first round of elections
and people were like, oh, shoot, like this and people
(23:44):
really rallied and he won by like sevent like sev
which is unbelievable, you know, but he was revered and
loved and and then again he stepped into the office
and I guess two thousand nineteen, I believe, and my
man was hit with the pandemic, you know, and and
(24:06):
rallied his country out of that, and then and now this,
you know, and and the way he's you know again,
if you turned on the news or you've been following
the story, I mean, this man has really rose to
the occasion. You know. His his famous quote that I
guess went around the world is America. I guess called
(24:26):
him to to help extract him from the country when
the invasion started, and h he said, you know, I
don't need a ride, I need an ammunition. Uh. And
so you know, he's he's hunkered down and he's with
the people. And you know, when you're fighting a bully
that's overpowering and oversized and overmatched, when you're all out overmatched.
(24:48):
I guess is the word morale is huge. You know
when they say it's not it's not the dog, it's
not the size of the dog in the fight, as
the size of the fighting the dog. Like this is
a perfect example, opinions are you know, really you know
they have a reason. You know, they have the morale
because there is no reason for Russian military to be there,
(25:10):
no real reason for them is going to go in
there and there. You know, like I said, they're the
military is is winning on the ground, and he's leading
the way in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, you know,
the skies are open and the bombs are falling, and
you know, this is very little that they could do
about that. But you know, otherwise this is you know,
(25:35):
the entire world kind of mobilized in their defense. And
you know, hopefully they you know, hopefully kids and people
and the guys in Ukraine know that they were all
behind them and we're all going to continue to support
them as long as they need us. And yeah, yeah,
for sure, it's I think it's really yeah, it's really
(25:55):
admirable that. Um. I often think about when if I
think if a US president, if we were going to war.
Do you think a president in the United States is
going to step up and fight or they're going to
get like Matt security and hidden. And it's just it's
it's it's really incredible. But I mean, he's he's yeah,
(26:16):
he's in the Capitol, and and he is the number
one target too, Like they are specifically saying that we're
we're going for him. This is who we want, you know.
And uh, he's not fleeing. He's there, he's fighting, and
he's giving hope to to an entire nation that again,
(26:37):
just five years ago looked at him as a as
an actor and a comedian and now they're looking at
him as as the leader that they never thought they
needed but they needed. And I you know, it's not
it's it's very specific to him because I don't know
how many other presidents, even in Ukraine, not just in
(26:58):
this country, around the world, how many presidents would would
you know, stick around to to be there in the trenches.
But that's you know, hopefully he doesn't become a martyr,
you know, And that's the things that we celebrate people
after they die and we hold them off and we
celebrate them. Hopefully he he lives to get a chance
(27:23):
to leave this country in a peaceful time and lead
it in the in the right direction. Okay, guys, we
are taking a quick pause at this point in the episode.
Please tune into the next episode for part two with
val and to hear more very very important and interesting
and crucial information on how to help personal stories. And yeah,
(27:43):
just make sure you tune in because the next half
is also really special. So um, we'll chat to you then.
This is Conversationous with Olivia Jade in My Heart Radio podcast.
Hello everybody, is Olivia Jade. Welcome back to another podcast episode.
I am really grateful for today's guest. Not only is
he a really good friend of mine, but I think
that this episode is so important and it's so fitting
(00:24):
for what's going on right now and today I have
Val Schmerkovsky coming on my podcast. He was my partner
on Dancing with the Stars. He was born in Ukraine
and he has been doing a lot to help those
that are in need in Ukraine right now, and it's
something that you know, a little a little can go
(00:44):
a long way, and so I want him to come
on and talk to you guys about what's happening, how
you can help with you've been curious and um just
get a little history lesson on why and how this
is all going down. So with that being said, he's
welcomed out. What's somebody? How are you good? I'm I'm
(01:06):
very excited for this episode for the I mean, most
people are going to be listening to this, but if
you do see on social media, like the little clips,
you'll see where Val is right now. And this episode
is very important because fall is from Ukraine. He was
my partner on Dancing with the Stars. Everything that's going
on right now is very near and dear to his heart.
(01:28):
And I kind of want to let you take it
away and explain whatever it is you think people should
know the history how to help what you're doing where
you are. And I'm going to shut up because I
don't know anything. So well, first of all, thank you
for having me, thank you for giving me a chance
to talk to your audience. I would, and I mean
(01:48):
that I would all due respect. I would hope that
people are learning in history books, you know, the things
you know, world history, not just American history obviously brainwasher.
This conflict Eastern Europe in general and especially in the
last century, you know, that's that's world history, you know.
And uh, I'm just gonna get into it. Ukraine and
(02:10):
Russia have been neighbors, have been brothers in arms. I'm
not gonna go extensive history of like Kivs Carouse, which
is you know, kind of the empire was one under
the key of empire a few world back back in
the day. But let's just talk about the last you know,
let's say a hundred years. Uh, there was a union
(02:34):
called Soviet Union, right, and it was fourteen republicans that
were under under the same flag, um and Ukraine and
Russia being part of it. Now the Russian language was
then the main language of all of these republics. Now
that included Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania. A lot of the
(02:54):
you know countries that we're very individual, have their own
individual history that decided to unite together under let's say
a common cause, but by no means that they become
one country. They yes, for that time they were let's say,
one nation under the flag of the Soviet Union, but
they have extensive individual history and their own languages. Uh.
(03:17):
And so in just fast forward in nineteen nine and
started it was official that the Soviet Union fell apart,
and all these republics gained their own independence. And in
the last thirty years these republics, with this new found independence,
a lot of them adopted you know, democratic principles. And
(03:38):
with those democratic principles came also a lot of pride
and developing and now adopting back their their history, which is,
you know, their own language. Let's start with that. Now
that didn't complicate things. I am a product of with
some would at the moment consider a complicated situation. It's
(03:59):
not a company get a situation. I am from Ukraine.
I'm from a Ukraine. I speak Russian. I speak Russian
because that was the language that I at the time,
when I was born, a long, long time ago, was
still part of the Soviet Union. So I learned Russian
because that was the you know, the language that everybody learned.
A lot of people in my city speak Russian, a
(04:20):
lot of them Ukrainian, a lot of them speak Yiddish
because they were of Jewish descent. It's a melting pot city,
you know, just like you know, you go to New
York City. There's a lot of dialects, but it's still
New York City, which is part of the New York State,
which is part of America. UH. Anyway, the point is
that all of these republics had the right to pursue
(04:41):
their own independence in the democratic fashion, and that's what
they did. In Ukraine, because we are speaking about Ukraine,
did just that. And there were a lot of growing
pains right in the nineties were really difficult time for
all of these republics, particularly Ukraine Russia as well. UH.
But in two thousands and and now in the last
(05:03):
decade with a new generation of kids that that are
now united by the Internet and then the world kind
of shrinking, but we're all adopting each other's cultures were all.
You know, your generation especially is becoming you know, it's
kind of leading the this this storm leading the way
on kind of like not being divided, united by you know,
(05:27):
just the humanity of it. So um, I mean, that's
why this is so sad because you know, Ukrainians and
Russians and not just neighbors, you know, are great. Our
grandparents lived through the Holocaust together. They you know, they
fought in World War Two together. The Soviet Union lost
twenty seven million people in World War Two, seven million
(05:51):
people that included not just Russians, that included Ukrainians and
Bela Russians and Lithuanians, Estonians and Armenians and everybod I
just mentioned. You know, we all fought in that war.
And so for you know, some of these grandparents haven't
died yet. For them to see the situation that's happening
is heartbreaking, you know. And so that's just kind of
(06:13):
the history of I guess, you know, just because there's
so much propaganda and fake news and misleading news, if
you will. Uh. And I'm the type of person that
always tries to see every angle, right. I think it's important,
you know, there's never just one side to a debate.
I think it's important to also be empathetic enough to
(06:34):
see what the other side is thinking, of feeling, or wanting.
But I think in this particular case is it's kind
of very clear. I have to confront my elasticity sometimes
as well and be like, no, bro, listen, there's also
some things that are right and some things are wrong.
This is an unprovoked invasion by a neighbor that feels
(06:57):
not just invasive, it feels it feels like betrayal, you know,
it feels like real betrayal because these are cities that
celebrated Russian artists and and would with respect to Russia,
Russia celebrated Ukrainian artists. You know, it's they were It's hard,
you know. I'll give you my example. You know, I
(07:18):
immigrated to America ninety four, um, and for a long time,
you know, even with you, you were like, hey, where
are you from from Ukraine? Where is that? I'm like,
it's basically near Russia, you know. So you're right, Yeah,
I'm Russia. You speak Ukrainian, No I speak about Okay,
you're right. You know, this is a real conversation we had,
(07:40):
you know, and the truth is, no, I I'm I'm
Russia speaking Ukrainian. And now more than ever, you know,
the unfortunate silver line and they came out of this
is now people know where Ukraine is, and not only that,
they know the difference. And you know, my sadness is
apps salutely with the Ukrainian people, absolutely, but it's also
(08:04):
with the Russian people because unfortunately, these actions are setting
that country back and isolating that country, you know, and
it's going to be a long time, but the sanctions
and everything, you know, it's for the first time in
a long time. You know. I grew up in this country, uh,
you know, and every blockbuster thriller, you know, there's always
a Russian guy trying to take over the world, and
(08:27):
and I was always like, damn, I has always got
to be the Russian guy. Um And you know, and
I feel like there's done a lot of work that
was done in the last you know, like I said,
twenty years that finally assimilated Russian culture and tradition into
into the fabric of the world. And because there's a
lot of incredible human resource, there's inquiring a lot of
(08:47):
incredible talent, a lot of amazing people. And you know, this,
unfortunately is h is a huge leap back. It's not
a step back, it's a lead back for Russia. And
and in the most obvious way, it is absolutely devastating
for Ukraine. Um. But on the flip side, the way
(09:10):
it has rallied the world behind this country. And you know,
I'm sitting in Portly, New Jersey, a largely Korean neighborhood,
you know, with with Eastern Europeans and Italians and the
Spanish community and the Black community, and you know, we
we this is right outside of New York City, and
it's a microcosm of what this country is all about.
(09:33):
And the volunteers that are coming into UH into this
initiative that we found at here are every single color
of all ages. This is not a scoulsive East Europeans
that are coming to help. It's thousands of people from
you know, like I said, all different cultures. And you know,
for me, that's been kind of the most um the
most beautiful thing is that you know, it's it's easier
(09:57):
to rally around a cause that is you know, touch
to you personally. Uh, it's much more difficult to take
the time and and and take your hard earned dollar
and donate it, or take your time again and volunteer
or donate a piece of clothing or you know, rally
behind a cause and a country that is very very
far away from you, you know, and and doesn't affect
(10:22):
you immediately. It's it's a beautiful thing that they you know,
it's I said this to somebody. You know, I haven't
felt this type of you know, I put I put
up a flag on my car two times in my
life because you know, as bravado and extra as I
can be sometimes, you know, this type of patriotism I've
only felt twice in my life, you know, I mean
(10:45):
many times. But like again, I never went as far
as putting a flag up my car. It was after
no eleven, after not eleven here driving around the city. Uh.
You know I had the American flag with pride, and
and now after this I have you know, I have
the Ukrainian flag driving around the standardas so. Um, it
is the incredible situation that we're in and I hope
(11:08):
you know, yet again, it is the youth. It's it's
your generation, it's our generation. I guess in some regard
that has the power to really spread the word. Uh,
you know, I don't want to you know, I don't
wanna encourage bullying each other. I don't want any you know,
further animosity. I just want kids to kind of open
(11:32):
their eyes and and and do their due diligence and
if they have the time, maybe maybe you know, kind
of research and and do their best to to help
because again, uh, you know, today it's Ukraine, Tomorrow it's
it's going to be somewhere else, and you know, we
have to be really you know, we have to just
(11:53):
really work hard to make sure that we're not going
backwards and that the next generation is living in a
world that you know, you're not bombing cities and uh,
you know, kindergartens and and kids aren't living in bomb shelters.
(12:24):
It was really personal besides me, you know, looking at
my heritage in my birthplace and wanting to do something.
You know, my brother was in Key of when the
invasion started, and uh, you know, we're all really nervous obviously,
and he was petrified. We talked about it, and you know,
he was grateful to get out. But you know he's
(12:47):
now right back at the Polish border trying to do,
you know, whatever he can. He's we'll get into where
I am and what we're doing, uh as far as
you know, our resources. But yeah, there is a lot
of sadness still, you know, because it's good that you know,
we're safe here in the privilege of living in this country,
(13:09):
but you know, there are a lot of our friends
and family and peers that are in Ukraine right now
that are, like I said, in bomb shelters. And I
think we're getting a little you know, used to hearing
that word, and we're kind of like, okay, cool, No, No,
Like you don't know, you don't understand what that is.
That means you don't have a home and you have
to hide in the shelter with with nothing there, there's nothing.
(13:31):
It's not like you're swiping through your you know, Internet,
and the tension and the fear, you know, so, uh,
we wanted to do something, you know, I don't I
don't you know. Um, It's crazy to me the courage
that it takes for a fellow dancer yesterday, we're you know,
(13:52):
we're competing at a dance competition today. He you know,
he picked up an A K forty seven and he's
you know, patrolling his story like like, that's not I
don't know if that's the kind of life we wanna
have in this world. You know, I don't know if
that should be a reality for anybody that's a young
(14:13):
man trying to you know, one thing, my mom says like,
you know, well this was a couple of weeks ago,
you know, but she was like, you know, the war
has been going on for now ten days. You know,
just eleven days ago, these kids went to bed like
nervous about their test that's coming out, you know, they
were excited about maybe their wedding day coming up. They
(14:36):
were grieving, you know, some sort of pain, or they
were nervous about something else. So they were dreaming about
getting into their I don't know, like accomplishing that thing
that they always wanted, you know, or excited to go
on that date with that boy that they finally asked
them out. And literally overnight, just all of that shatters,
(14:58):
and all of that shatters immediately and for the foreseeable future,
and I just you know, sometimes we look at things
on TV and is devastating, but we can't understand it,
you can't feel it. And when you kind of like
everyday humanize the topic that the subject matter, I think
it hits home a little bit more, you know, realizing that,
(15:22):
like these are old people that do all of this.
They love playing basketball just like me. They you know,
they like good fashion, they love you know, they they
love Jack Harlow and whoever else is popping right now
and Cardi B. Like these are these are kids that
(15:44):
grew up again. Ukraine has done a tremendous job moving forward,
moving uh, you know, kind of progressing into the future.
It has just an incredible again human resource and natural
resources and history and beautiful cities and architecture. It's a
country that's over a thousand years old, you know, just
(16:06):
to put it in perspective, this country's not even you know,
it's two and fifty years old. It's over a thousand
years old. There's so much history there, uh, and you
know it's literally being bombed and leveled as we speak.
And that's yeah, that's kind of my little feel for you. Well,
(16:27):
I think it was very informative. Um I mean, yeah,
it's really hard to wrap. Yeah, it's hard because I
can't even imagine how like I feel a certain way
about it immediately when I heard about it, just because
I know you and love you so much, and it
then it feels personal to me. And then it's like
when you really sit here and you think about like
kids and moms and people that were living their daily
(16:50):
life in their complete normal bubble and now they're in
bomb shelters like you were saying, and just these terrible,
terrible situations. It's it's hard to even believe that's where all.
But you know, like can you imagine a young family,
like I said, you know, just a short while ago,
(17:11):
dreaming about their you know, buying their home or just
just moving into their home, starting their family. And now, uh,
the guy has to go, you know, the guy has
to go and serve on the front, you know, being
a trench somewhere while his wife and kids are refugees
in a neighboring country if they're lucky, and when they
(17:34):
do get to a neighboring country, Like the challenges, the
just the everyday challenges. I I don't want to again
paint this, you know, gloomy picture but we start to
celebrate when we see kids be accepted by these countries
as refugees, and it is a beautiful thing and it's
a testament to the world for opening it his doors
(17:54):
to the Ukrainian people. But then once they're there, like,
let me just put it in perspective, it's like, now up,
you know, where's that? What are we doing? What language
are we speaking? What do I do? I'm a professional engineer,
Like do I go and clean somewhere or like like,
(18:15):
which is also a noble job, but it's like even
that job is scarce. Like we also live in a
tough it's tough for everybody, not just Ukrainians. But you know,
to add this, it's like you look around and you know,
the ego, the pride, for get the ego, but just
like self respect, you know, you kind of it just
it just kind of it shatters everything at every level,
(18:40):
war in general, and it's just that's where we ad
And I never thought that, like after two years of
a pandemic, you know, this would be now this this
other hurdle for the world to kind of try to swallow.
Ye do you kind of want to talk about the
(19:12):
President of Ukraine a little bit because I I was
fascinated when you were talking to me. And also fun
fact he won Dancing with Stars in Ukraine, right yeah, yeah,
So this guy, you know, he was an amazing actor, artist,
comedian in particular, UM who got a degree in economics.
(19:37):
I believe economics. Don't call me on that, but he
you know, he's an educated man, right uh, but pursued
the arts and was really good at it, really you
know charismatic. Um as a celebrity, right like in Ukraine,
he was, he's a celebrity. Yeah, yeah, he was. He
was a celebrity in Russia too. He was a celebrity
in Ukraine and in Russia he was celebrated, you know,
(20:01):
the celebrity, but he was. He was a very well
respected artist. And in two thousand and six he actually
competed in the Ukrainian Dancing with the Stars and one
just to kind of like full circle moment for me
to just kind of get a little attachment to the guy.
But yeah, he he's a fellow Dancing with the Stars,
an alumni, UM and he actually you know, he came
(20:26):
out with the show that where he you know, he
built his notoriety and then he came out with the
show where he actually plays a president, and the whole
concept of the of the show was that this regular guy, uh,
you know, within the turmoil of the country and a
lot of corruption and political corruption and unrest. Uh, this
regular everyday guy um runs runs for office. I mean
(20:51):
it's more complex than that. But somehow he ends up
being in this campaign, you know, for for office and
he wins you know, short along story short, and it
was such a popular show and it was just you know,
I guess again. Ukraine has been through a lot of
growing pains politically and uh, you know, it had a
(21:14):
revolution in two thousand and fourteen, and had a revolution
in two thousand and four before that thousand and eight. Uh,
and then in two thousand and fourteen, Uh, there was
a huge again the people rose up to their government.
It was a huge again revolution that was that was
led by the people to have a democratic process because
(21:36):
they didn't believe in their representation. Uh, and there was
a lot of corruption and uh, they fought for their
democratic right to elect their president. And so you know
that a show about the everyday man rising to the
occasion and with humility and no political agendas or rather
(21:57):
there no you know, I guess no option attached to
the history of his political career. Um. This this everyday
man gets elected and he becomes a national hero and
then he does a good job as president, etcetera. And
it was such a popular show that as a like,
(22:18):
people online started kind of messing around with him and
and going like, yo, you should actually run for president
because he's an off camera he you know, he loved
his country. Is his grandfather, you know, fought in the
Great War, um, and you know, he comes from a
family of military men, you know that served Ukraine, so
(22:41):
he has a lot of pride in Ukraine and being there,
and uh, you know, it went viral, this this kind
of like the notion of him actually running for office
because again, the people were exhausted of politicians and you know,
career politicians, if you will, with certain agendas, self serving agendas,
(23:03):
and and one thing led to another they kind of
like volunteered him into into, you know, run for office.
And in Ukraine it's a little different how it goes.
There's multiple parties, it's not just a two party system
like in America. And uh, you know, he kind of
ran as under his and and then the slogan was
(23:23):
the same as in the show, and uh yeah, he
kind of ran under a very like a similar brand,
if you and he passed the first round of elections
and people were like, oh, shoot, like this and people
(23:44):
really rallied and he won by like sevent like sev
which is unbelievable, you know, but he was revered and
loved and and then again he stepped into the office
and I guess two thousand nineteen, I believe, and my
man was hit with the pandemic, you know, and and
(24:06):
rallied his country out of that, and then and now this,
you know, and and the way he's you know again,
if you turned on the news or you've been following
the story, I mean, this man has really rose to
the occasion. You know. His his famous quote that I
guess went around the world is America. I guess called
(24:26):
him to to help extract him from the country when
the invasion started, and h he said, you know, I
don't need a ride, I need an ammunition. Uh. And
so you know, he's he's hunkered down and he's with
the people. And you know, when you're fighting a bully
that's overpowering and oversized and overmatched, when you're all out overmatched.
(24:48):
I guess is the word morale is huge. You know
when they say it's not it's not the dog, it's
not the size of the dog in the fight, as
the size of the fighting the dog. Like this is
a perfect example, opinions are you know, really you know
they have a reason. You know, they have the morale
because there is no reason for Russian military to be there,
(25:10):
no real reason for them is going to go in
there and there. You know, like I said, they're the
military is is winning on the ground, and he's leading
the way in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, you know,
the skies are open and the bombs are falling, and
you know, this is very little that they could do
about that. But you know, otherwise this is you know,
(25:35):
the entire world kind of mobilized in their defense. And
you know, hopefully they you know, hopefully kids and people
and the guys in Ukraine know that they were all
behind them and we're all going to continue to support
them as long as they need us. And yeah, yeah,
for sure, it's I think it's really yeah, it's really
(25:55):
admirable that. Um. I often think about when if I
think if a US president, if we were going to war.
Do you think a president in the United States is
going to step up and fight or they're going to
get like Matt security and hidden. And it's just it's
it's it's really incredible. But I mean, he's he's yeah,
(26:16):
he's in the Capitol, and and he is the number
one target too, Like they are specifically saying that we're
we're going for him. This is who we want, you know.
And uh, he's not fleeing. He's there, he's fighting, and
he's giving hope to to an entire nation that again,
(26:37):
just five years ago looked at him as a as
an actor and a comedian and now they're looking at
him as as the leader that they never thought they
needed but they needed. And I you know, it's not
it's it's very specific to him because I don't know
how many other presidents, even in Ukraine, not just in
(26:58):
this country, around the world, how many presidents would would
you know, stick around to to be there in the trenches.
But that's you know, hopefully he doesn't become a martyr,
you know, And that's the things that we celebrate people
after they die and we hold them off and we
celebrate them. Hopefully he he lives to get a chance
(27:23):
to leave this country in a peaceful time and lead
it in the in the right direction. Okay, guys, we
are taking a quick pause at this point in the episode.
Please tune into the next episode for part two with
val and to hear more very very important and interesting
and crucial information on how to help personal stories. And yeah,
(27:43):
just make sure you tune in because the next half
is also really special. So um, we'll chat to you then.
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