06/06/23 06/06/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> just today, russia blew up a major dam causing significant sibling devastation. >> we can state unequivocally we are talking about the deliberate sabotage of the dam on the

ukrainian side. amy: thousands of people have been evacuated in ukraine after an explosion damaged a critical dam in russia-occupied kherson region. ukraine and russian are blaming each other. we will go to kyiv for the latest. plus we look at growing calls in australia from the prime minister on down for wikileaks founder julian assange to be finally freed from prison in london and not extradited to the united states. >> we are making very clear on this case, there is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration. amy: we will speak to assange attorney jen robinson in london. but we will begin in atlanta, where the city council has approved new funding for cop city despite hearing over 14 hours of public comments from residents opposed to the we

organize it against it now. amy: we will speak to reverend james woodall who testified, as well as marlon kautz, who just spent four days in jail after an armed swat team raided the headquarters of the bail fund which has raise money for activists and jeff are cop city. -- activists in jail for protesting cop city. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. evacuation efforts are under way

in southern ukraine, where flood waters are rising after a dam on the dnipro river was breached overnight in the russian-occupied ukrainian town of nova kakhovka. the breach has created an additional humanitarian disaster in an area that has seen heavy fighting since russia's invasion. ukraine's government says flood waters are threatening 80 towns and villages, as well as the city of kherson, home to 300,000 people. the breach could also limit drinking water supplies across kherson and crimea. ukrainian officials accused russia's military of deliberately sabotaging the dam, calling it an act of ecocide. russian officials blamed ukrainian artillery fire for the breach. the disaster has raised fears of a nuclear accident at europe's largest nuclear power station, the six-reactor zaporizhzhia plant, which is upstream of the dam breach. the head of the international atomic energy agency, rafael grossi, said the plant relies on a reservoir formed by the dam for critical cooling systems at the nuclear plant.

>> absence of cooling water in the essential water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and and operability of the emergency diesel generators. however, our current assessment is that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant. we are following -- amy: the dam breach came as russia's military said it had repelled a major offensive by ukrainian forces in the russian-occupied donetsk region. it's believed to be the start of a long-anticipated counteroffensive by ukraine's army. we'll have more on ukraine later in the broadcast. in haiti, at least 42 people have died, dozens more have been injured, and over 13,000 people have been forced from their homes after a weekend of nonstop

rain caused rivers to overtop their banks, triggering flash floods and landslides. even before the flooding, the u.n. reported more than 5 million haitians, or nearly half of the population, were in need of humanitarian assistance. in eastern canada, firefighters have contained a massive wildfire that's driven thousands of people from their homes in nova scotia and triggered air quality alerts as far south as the u.s. state of virginia. another major fire in southwestern nova scotia continues to burn out-of-control. on monday the u.s. national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported the past year saw one of the largest surges of carbon dioxide levels on record, bringing atmospheric levels of the heat-trapping gas to 424 parts per million. that's 50% higher than levels at the start of the industrial revolution and the highest level of carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere in over 4 million

years. china has accused united states of provocative and dangerous actions after u.s. and chinese warships came into close contact in the taiwan strait. video of saturday's incident released by the pentagon shows a chinese warship coming within 150 yards of a u.s. destroyer. this comes just days after the pentagon said a chinese fighter jet cut across the path of a u.s. spy plane as it flew over the south china sea. a chinese foreign ministry spokesperson defended the maneuvers. >> i want to emphasize the truth is the u.s. side stirred up, provocations first while the chinese side debt with this in accordance with corresponding laws and regulations. amy: u.s. lawmakers have invited indian prime minister narendra modi to address a joint session of congress later this month. the invitation came as u.s.

defense secretary lloyd austin met with his indian counterpart in new delhi, pressing cooperation with india in the face of growing military tensions between the u.s. and china. >> today the u.s.-india partnership is a cornerstone of a free and open end of pacific. our deepening bond shows how technological innovation and growing letter cooperation between two great powers can be a force for global good. amy: in the israeli occupied west bank, a two-year-old palestinian toddler has died after israeli soldiers shot him in the head last week while he and his father sat in a car outside their home in nabi saleh. israeli forces stormed the residential neighborhood and started firing indiscriminately, hitting mohammad tamimi and his father, who was also seriously wounded. tamimi succumbed to his wounds monday, four days after being put on life support. relatives are demanding justice.

this is his uncle. >> when he was born, he stayed 30 days in an incubator. after he grew up a bit and started walking and be active, he stole our hearts. mohammed is a social child. he would approach anybody. he captured our hearts and sadly this broke our hearts. amy: at least children have been 27 killed by israeli soldiers according to defense for children palestine. the group said in a statement -- "unlawful killings of palestinian children have become the norm as israeli forces become increasingly empowered to use intentional lethal force in situations that are not justified. this is a war crime with no consequence." in related news, a secretary of state antony blinken has vowed the united states will play an integral role in helping formalize diplomatic relations between israel and saudi arabia.

blinken spoke at the american israel public affairs committee, or aipac, conference monday where he told the crowd washington has a national security interest in brokering ties between the two countries. blinken is scheduled to travel to saudi arabia this week. in georgia, atlanta city council has voted in favor of finding the atlanta public safety training center, nasa police training facility known as cop city. it lasted until 530 time this morning. after headlines, we will go to atlanta for the latest. missouri officials are moving forward with the execution of 42-year-old michael tisius today despite pleas from human rights groups, and even former jurors in his case, to spare his life. the supreme court on monday denied a stay, while republican governor mike parson refused to

grant tisius clemency. he was convicted of killing two jail guards when he was only 19 years old. six jurors, including two alternates, recently came out in support of commuting tisius' sentence to life in prison. his clemency petition describe the horrific violence and neglect he endured as a child, which had detrimental impacts on his neurological and mental health step into thousand, he was sent to jail over a probation violation where his cellmate convinced them to help them escape, leading to the debt that the two guards. oklahoma officials have approved an application by the state's catholic archdiocese to establish the first publicly funded religious charter school in the united states. monday's 3-to-2 vote by the oklahoma statewide virtual charter school board came over the objections of oklahoma's republican attorney general who said it clearly violates the state's constitution.

catholic church officials in oklahoma are hoping that any legal fight over the charter school will reach the u.s. supreme court, whose conservative 6-to-3 majority has overturned decades of precedent on the separation of church and state. federal prosecutors probing former president trump's mishandling of classified cuments ve issuea subpoe seing infoation abt trp's erseas biness dealingsuring hitime in ofce. special unsel ja smith i cused on the trump organization's real estate licensing and development deals in china, france, kuwait, oman, saudi arabia, turkey, and the united arab emirates since 2017. on monday, the group citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington reported trump made over $82 million from his businesses in ireland and scotland while serving as president. meanwhile, nbc news reports prosecutors have convened a separate federal grand jury in florida to hear evidence in jack smith's investigation into trump's mishandling of documents.

author, civil rights activist, and professor of philosophy cornel west has announced he's running for president as a candidate with the people's party. in a short video released monday, west said his campaign will focus on ending poverty, mass incarceration, wars, and ecological collapse while guaranteeing housing, health care, education, and living wages for l. >> iave dided toun for truth anustice wch takes the fo of runng for presidenof the uted stat as a cdidate f the peoe's rty. i enter a qst for tth and sticend the psidency st one vehic to purs that truth an justice, what i've been trying to do all of my life. amy: and in brazil, president luiz inácio lula da silva has unveiled a plan to end deforestation in the amazon by 2030. lula and brazil's environment minister marina silva made the announcement monday as part of their efforts to combat climate

change. this is lula speaking from the capital brasilia. >> mainly because of the amazon rain forest, brazil is largely responsible for the world's climate balance. that is why stopping deforestation is also a way to reduce global warming. i know the size of the challenge of handing deforestation by 2030, but this is a challenge we are looking to achieve. amy: lula's remarks came one year since the murder of brazilian indigenous researcher bruno pereira and british journalist dom phillips, who were shot dead in a remote area of the brazilian amazon last june while investigating threats to the amazon and isolated indigenous tribes. several suspects remain in jail, including the alleged mastermind who is believed to be the leader of an illegal fishing criminal organization in the region. thom tillis wife -- dom phillips

a partially as they continue to receive threats. >> we have received death threats via letters and telephone. when is it going to stop? when is it going to stop. their debts were not enough? we are at a point where we can no longer where the issue of violence in the amazon. it is very important we become more vigilant. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show in atlanta, georgia, where resident shatter the record for turnout at a city council meeting monday as thousands lined up to voice opposition to the construction of a massive police training facility known as cop city.

atlanta police enforcement enhanced security is people signed up to participate at a public comment session ahead of a vote to approve $30 million in additional funding for cop city, bringing the total to 67 million dollars, more than double the original estimate. it would be the largest police training facility in the country. this comes after an atlanta police swat team, guns drawn, raided the atlanta solidarity fund last wednesday and arrested three people who had been raising money to bail out protesters opposed to cop city, charging them with money laundering and charity fraud. georgia democratic senator reverend raphael warnock criticize the arrest in a statement sunday saying -- "while we still don't have all the details, as a pastor who has

long been engaged in justice work, i am concerned by what we know about last wednesday's show of force against the organizers of an atlanta bail fund, and the questions it raises." those arrests come as 42 protesters face charges, including domestic terrorism, for opposing cop city and after atlanta police shot dead the environmental activist manuel esteban terán in january. an autopsy shows they were sitting with her hands raised up in front of their body when police shot them 57 times. this is muskogee indigenous leader mekko chebon speaking at the atlanta city council meeting on monday. >> i have been a part of the united nations forum on indigenous issues and have been with conversations of human rights all across the world. i have walked with refugee camps and other parts of other

nations. of indigenous peoples. i have seen situations just like what we are going through here and other countries. i have seen things going on where people have been killed just like what we're trying to say should never happen here. all over the world. i don't want that to increase. every time in these countries i shared with them, no matter what how you slice it, the increasing of more militarized and is a never establishes a peaceful society. no matter what. it never accomplishes what your hopes, what your arguments are. in fact, it does the opposite. our community, we are already living through the living proof of that. at this moment. today i think it is obvious i don't support cop city. amy: it continued for nearly 15

hours until about 5:00 a.m. this morning. at one point, protesters broke out in song as public comment continued. >> recess has expired. recess has expired. recess has expired. >> ♪ amy: ultimately at about 5:30 this morning, the atlanta city council voted 11-4 to fund the cop city facility. for more we go to atlanta for an update. marlon kautz is an organizer with the atlanta solidarity fund. he was one of the three people arrested last wednesday i just spent four days in jail.

also with us, one of the first to speak during monday's public comment session, reverend james woodall. he is a public policy associate at the southern center for human rights. he is co-author of "wired for racism: how evolution & faith challenge racial idolatry." we welcome you both to democracy now! reverend woodall, when you arrived at the atlanta city hall to give your public comment, can you talk about the different level of security and protocol to enter the premises that you had ever experienced before? just described the scene for us and then what you said. >> definitely. first, let me say thank you for having us on the show today. when we entered atlanta city hall, we were met with bomb dogs and officers donning ar-15's, folks in riot gear. we saw a heightened level of security both in protocol

meaning we entered into the city hall, we cannot even bring in food or water. people were planning to be there literally all day and night. cannot even be able to bring in gatorade, and to throw my gatorade out and walk out of the city hall, throw it out and come back in. it took a miracle, essentially, stephen bring pizza in toward the latter portion of the afternoon and evening. we saw law enforcement officers really on every single level of city hall. i had never see that kind of activity in which our law enforcement response essentially criminalized in some ways what we were trying to do, which was to lift up the voice of the people. juan: reverend, i want to ask you, then mayor of atlanta has claimed that much of the

opposition is from outside agitators and a white movement. could you talk about your own history, in atlanta, and why you got involved in this movement? >> for sure. i may 6 generation atlantan. my grandmother's granddad, his dad purchased pperty inhe heart of theest endf atlta fossential $83 witut a rtgage. our faly has bn in theeart atlanta forlmost a ntury. i amalking befe the emancipaon pclamatio hureds of her peop come in fa, mt everytng a pern we s and hea fm last night and yestday afteron was from atlant grand, thereeople whare trom atlaa but the care. at the e of the daywhat

're fightg for his liber and stice foall, whi they pledged eir alleance to f the ag of th yet to be ited stas. if thes injuste anywhe, the is injtice anyere, the's threat tjustice everywre. democrachas fail us beuse thats just sply not e ca. when i thi about what the yor sai-- i wileven tel you at t mayor's motr taht my grdmother w to d hairhich taut my momow to do here. when i tnk about how i got involvedn this worand i'm sawhat is ppening the ound eacand ever day insid of ouracilitie i'seeing childr andollege sdents pulled o of car and -- t lar tag, bu essentily targeted for being athe wron plac athe wrontime. i'm eing peoe die, literal diedhe hands olaw forcemenbothere and suounding countie, these

communies. is is nojust abo the cit of aanta. we' going tee deparents d agenci all ovethis nation senits people, send s enrcement,irst resnders hereo train on ban wfare. what we wast wednday,hat have se over thcourse o the st few months it relateto destic teorism charges,s concerng. is the nd of reason y we and in cplete opsition to this project. juan: this was a marathon meeting of the atlanta city council. your response to the outcome and vote. did you get a sense that any members of city council removed it all by the testimony? >> what i will tell you is that is an example and it is indicative our democracy has died. the spirit of democracy has died because when people show up and you see both parties -- this is not already versus blue,

democrat versus republican kind of issue. we sell republicans come out in opposition. we saw libertarians come out in opposition. you saw democrats come out in opposition. you saw people not affiliated with any of the above come out. when you see elected officials choose not the side of the people, not of justice and liberty for all, but when you see elected officials take the side of corporate executives and nonprofit leaders who seek to profit off of taxpayer dollars, what we should be talking about is charity fraud on behalf of the atlanta public foundation because what we have seen them do and how the numbers have not added up. i am concerned our democracy is dead because our elected officials are not representing the people. amy: i want to bring in marlon kautz into the conversation with reverend james woodall.

he is with the atlanta solidarity fund, one of the three people arrested wednesday. this was just days before this critical atlanta city council vote where they voted to approve what is now more than doubled the amount originally proposed for this police facility. marlon, if you can talk about, i mean, how unusual the level of force used was in this raid on the atlanta fund, which not only has helped people who have been arrested around cop city, but you do this around for many people who have been arrested. >> absolutely. in terms of the raid, it was terrifying, obviously. you'll have to forgive my voice. i'm still feeling the effects of better half of a week in dekalb

county jail. he woke up to the sound of our door being broken down by a battering ram and our house being surrounded by dozens of swat officers. my first reaction was that this has to be a mistake. naïvely, i thought this was not the kind of thing that could happen to organizers like us. but once i saw the automatic weapons, the body armor, and i heard police discuss throwing a flashing into our living room, i realize these police had come prepared to kill us in the same way police have come prepared to kill activists protesting in the forest -- in fact, did kill manuel tortuguita terán. we quickly surrendered. we were arrested in our pajamas and taken to jail. the experience was terrifying on

two different levels. in this immediate way of what it was like to face this police violence for doing nothing more than nonviolent work to support the rights of protesters, but also othis higr level of what it mea, ght? cause its kind opolice violencean be brght even againsorganize like us who doothing more tn make se acvistsave acce to wyers,ho make re they e ab to make il if th cannot affordt tmselves its ki of violce can bbrought againspeople le us, w is fe in th city and what does that mean for the right to protest in democracy? juan: marlon, what happened at your bail hearing on friday? what was the judge's response to your arrest and the charges against the three of you? >> yeah, i mean, after days in jail, we finally got in front of a judge who confronted the

allegations against as i'm of the arrest warrants. the judge quickly acknowledged the charges are baseless, nonsensical. we were being charged with charities fraud and money laundering. the activities of our organization are completely legal. they are transparent. they are aboveboard. we very carefully follow all laws and regulations related to our work because we know we are in the crosshairs of many political forces. and the judge recognized this. firstly, issued us bail which has been unusual in these protest cases which are usually denied bail flat out. i think this shows the effort of prosecutors to demonize organizers associated with the movement against cop city are beginning to be exposed, they're beginning to become unraveled and shown to be what they are,

which is malicious political prosecution. it has nothing to do with enforcing the law, keeping the public safe. what they really have to do with is bringing the force of violence against tasha police and prosecutors to suppress a political movement. amy: as we began to wrap up, i want to ask reverend james woodall, were deeply concerned about issues that police brutality and abuse of power. this is a police training facility. now you have senator warnock also weighing in deeply concerned about the raid on the atlanta solidarity fund with weapons drawn by a swat team, but if you can comment on your concerned about a police training facility -- isn't that what you would want, police to be trained better? >> it is exactly what i don't want. when we think about police training, we're not talking about police training. we're talking about an

infrastructure project. we have yet to talk about what they are being trained to do. if you were to look at -- i have been in this work a long time. every time we talk about police training, we're talking about furthering urban militarization of law departments or law enforcement officers. we are not talking about de-escalation. we are not talking about ensuring there is equitable accountability for law enforcement officers who disregard training that they were already invoked in the earlier parts of their career and development. we're not talking about the fact every single officer in cases of police brutality and police-involved deaths no last 10 to 12 years, and that is just a small seven of history, b we're notalking aut they have bn traineand theyeen ained thorohly and y these people sll are dng. we haverganized 2020, aer

thmurder of breonna taylor, gege fyd, tatya jefferson, ando many oers. can go dn the li. what we e calling for was accotability and true justice. this $90 million that people are saying is necessary for us to have better policing, really it is an insult. what we are not saying is that we want to build a system of public safety that is inclusive of all of us. not just law enforcement because that is a political football that people can throw so they can win elections. that is what this is about. we have an attorney general who led that grant was trying to position himself to run for governor. we have governor brian kemp who signed off and endorsed that action as he tries to promote someone running for president

and himself possibly for the united states senate. we have senators warnock and also who also weighed in only after a lot of humans pressure on behalf of organizers who are pitstop that they refuse to say anything at all. what we have right now is not about training, not about public safety and has everything to do with political aristocracy that refuses to acknowledge the pain and reality of today life and everyday americans. that is not democracy. that is totally not public safety. amy: reverend james woodall, thank you for been with us, public policy associate at the southern center for human rights, co-author of "wired for racism: how evolution & faith challenge racial idolatry." and marlon kautz, thank you for joining us of the atlanta solidarity fund. one of three members of the bail fund arrested last week during an armed police swat team raided spent four days in jail. next up we look at the growing calls in australia from the prime minister on down for

wikileaks founder publisher julian assange to be finally freed from prison in london not extradited here to the united states were he faces 170 five years in prison. we will speak with his attorney in london. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we turn now to look at the case of julian assange as calls go for him to be free. the wikileaks founder has been locked up for four years in london's belmarsh prison where he awaits possible extradition to the u.s. to face espionage and hacking charges for publishing link documents about u.s. war crimes in iraq and afghanistan. he faces up to 175 years in prison in the united states if convicted. this comes as a growing number of politicians in australia are calling on the united states to

drop its case against julian assange, who is in australian citizen. they sent a letter same u.s. prosecution of a journalist and publisher has "set a dangerous precedent for press freedom." a group of australian lawmakers also met recently with u.s. ambassador to australia carolyn kennedy. australia's prime minister has also spoken out. in may come he talked about assange during an interview. >> enough is enough. this needs to be brought to a conclusion. it needs to be worked through, including we are working through diplomat channels that we are making. clear what our position is on mr. assange's case. when australians look at the circumstances, look at the fact that the person who released the

information is walking freely now having served some time in incarceration but is now released for a long period of time, then they will see there is a disconnect there. there is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration. amy: that is the australian prime minister. lastly, the sydney morning herald made headlines when it reported the fbi has restarted its probe of julian assange. representatives of wikileaks say the u.s. investigation was never closed. we're joined now and then about the australian human rights attorney jen robinson who has been a legal advisor to julian assange since 2010. welcome back to democracy now! you are just back from australia where you live. where actually president biden was expected to go for the quad

meeting with the prime minister of australia but had to cancel that and return from hiroshima to washington to negotiate the debt ceiling legislation. can you talk about what the prime minister is calling for and what response do you have to this information from the sydney morning herald that the u.s. has reopened a probe that no one knew had been closed? >> great to speak with you. great to be back on democracy now! i was in australia for a visit with julian assange's wife. went biden would have seen less a huge amount of support both by the austrian public, there was a huge protest. we saw bipartisan support.

it is not just the prime minister calling for this case to be brought to an end, it is also the leader of the opposition. when -- there was standing room only. there were wanting to hear from his wife and i about the case. you seen a sea change in the political response in australia. overwhelming public support our government in seeking to have this case close. the question is now what the u.s. will do with it. the story last week about the fbi supposedly reopening the investigation, this investigation has been open for a number of years. the trump administration indictment. we know the fbi had been conducting queries in the interim period. it is important to recognize the fbi reached out were allegedly reached out to a ghostwriter on julian's book.

this shows the desperation of the fbi and how they are grasping at straws. there are no new facts. the u.s. government has known the facts since chelsea manning went on trial in 2012. the fact the fbi suddenly starting to make inquiries from bit part players i think goes to show the lack of the u.s. case. juan: i wanted to -- give that other development's in the case, especially concerning the surveillance conducted of julian assange while in the ecuadorian embassy. spain had a story headlined "police admitted -- who was the spaniard and what do you know about this? >> in addition to fighting extradition case and fighting the prosecution of assange, julian and our legal team have

been fighting back through various legal actions. the action i took against the british government for unlawful sharing of information with united states government has julian's, we have the action against the cia and the united states taken by group of lawyers on -- and the spanish case that you just raised where julian has taken a criminal case against evo morales -- david morales who supposed to be providing security inside the ecuadorian embassy. we have learned this week and a disclosure in this proceedings in which mike pompeo sup have been subpoenaed to give evidence about the nature of this unlawful spying on julian and his lawyers which [indiscernible] the spanish police failed to disclose further evidence that

further into kinky involvement at the cia spy on us as lawyers inside the embassy. this is important revelations. as daniel ellsberg leak has said in his case, his espionage case was thrown out for unlawful spying on his doctors. in this case, there are so much more abuse. a trump air indictment now under the biden administration, this execution is still [indiscernible] unlawful spying on lawyers come on privileged information, plots to kidnap and kill julian assange. at this point you need to ask, even leaving aside the re-speech implications of this case, the first amendment concerns that are being raised, there has been so much abuse in this case. if abuse of this nature was

enough to eradicate a case under nixon, wise is still being pursued under the biden administration? juan: you mentioned a group of democrats in congress pushing for the case to be dropped. do you have hopes the biden administration will stop seeking his extradition and that julian can be freed? >> we certainly hope the biden administration do the right thing and drop this case. we now have the australian government and our prime minister coming out hard in support of the case being dropped. we have a special relationship with united states, and the australian government should be able to make this ask of the united states. several from the international concern, we are thrilled to see democrats like rashida tlaib, alexandria ocasio-cortez come have written pointing out the first amendment consequences of this case, asking for the case to be dropped. i think the more there is voice in washington pressuring the doj, pressuring biden to do the

right thing, we will get the right outcome which is for this case to be dropped. amy: any talk about the model the julian assange rings? let's remember, we say four years in the belmarsh prison. before that, seven years really in captivity in the ecuadoran embassy. he could never leave the embassy in order -- the consulate in order to get ecuador because he was afraid of being arrested and extradited. at is issue of a publisher facing these espionage and treason charges in the u.s.? you have evan gershkovich he was arrested and russia in the world recognizes a journalist -- they say was trying to get military secrets, is really what journalists do. what did julian assange do? he published state department, pentagon secrets and he said, and many people agree including human rights lawyers around the

world, evidence of u.s. war crimes in iraq and afghanistan. it may not be convenient for the u.s., but it is the job of a journalist. can you talk about what this case means for how then the u.s. can raise cases like evan gershkovich, that he should be freed by russia? >> thank you for raising this point. it is such an important point. this case means any journalist anywhere in the world could be extradited and prosecuted in the u.s. for publishing truthful information. what message does that send to russia and china? about extraditing and prosecuting journalists who publish truth about russia or china? and then raising free-speech issues. in the evan gershkovich case, russia is using the espionage charges against journalists for the first time since 1987. this is picking up and running

with the precedent u.s. is setting at home because of the assange case. that is dangerous. when you have a country that purports to bring free-speech and democracy to the rest of the world prosecuting a journalist for espionage, it is a dangerous situation. it threatens the first amendment but actually frightens free-speech cash threatens free-speech around the world. amy: final question we just have 30 seconds, what would a resolution of this case look like? how would australia play a role in this? >> we are asking the israeli government to continue -- [indiscernible] amy: jennifer robinson, thank you for been with us, human rights attorney who has been advising julian assange and wikileaks since 2010. she is australian. next up, thousands of people have been evacuated in ukraine after an explosion damaged a

critical dam in russia occupied kherson region. we will go to kyiv for the latest. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. evacuation efforts are underway in southern ukraine after an explosion destroyed a critical dam in the russian occupied region of kherson. ukraine and russia are blaming each other for the blast. ukraine's government says floodwaters are threatening 80 towns and villages, as well as the city of kherson, home to over 300,000 people. the breach could also limit drinking water supplies across kherson and crimea. the disaster has raised fears of a nuclear accident at europe's

largest nuclear power station, the six reactor zaporizhzhia plant, which is upstream from the dam. russian officials say the water levels of the reservoir used to hold cooling water for the plant has already fallen by more than eight feet. the international atomic energy agency said there is no "immediate nuclear safety risk." ukraine says at least 150 tons of sheen oil has been released into the river. ukraine's ambassador at large spoke earlier today at the international court of justice in the hague. >> under the leadership of president zelenskyy and with the courage of the armed forces of ukraine, russia cannot defeat us on the battlefield. so it targets civilian infrastructure to try to freeze us into submission. earlier today, just today, just

russia blew up a major dam located in nova kakhovka, causing significant harsh ecological damages and threatening the safety of the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. russia's actions are the actions of a terrorist state and aggressor. amy: meanwhile, the russian installed governor of the kherson region blamed ukraine for the attack on the dam. >> the reason for this behavior is simple, there's a saying in ukraine, if i cannot eat something, i will at least by did. meaning if we are unable to do something properly, we will play dirty tricks. first of all, it is about creating a humanitarian crisis with food shortages. you know what? we will never starve because the whole of russia's with us now. another reason is to deflect attention from the horrible defeats crane faced -- ukraine faced yesterday. amy: we go to kyiv for we are

joined by olexi pasyuk, deputy director of the ukrainian ngo eco-action, where his focus is on energy and nuclear energy. thank you for being with us. it is not clear what happened at this point. what is clear is there is major flooding and that there is an largest nuclear power plant in europe located in ukraine. the question is, among other things, is that threatened? can you talk about what you understand at this point and what you are most concerned about? >> i will start it is basically what happened. it is not very clear what are the consequences. it was reported last year russians have prepared to mine

the dam because it was what you do and there is a clear situation now with ukraine kind of planning to start military preparations [indiscernible] one of the options on the table was ukrainians crossing the river. it was kind of an obvious military solution to flood the area at this moment. now as tthe impact, obviously, the territory is flooded. on this scale, you have facilities on the ground with oily materials, storage, all of

that -- they're not designed to withstand it. exactly as was mentioned, there is an issue of the reactor flooding but the reserve area is also a source of water. [indiscernible] the reserve is a source of water and that is where the zaporizhzhia stays but we have to understand it is part of the area separated by the dam. the fact the power plant has part of thursday of that will not be needed by the falling water level because it is separated.

also we have to recall currently five of six units are in so-called cold shut down. however, they have one unit operational just to maintain the electricity, the supply for the needs. so there is no immediate threat because now they still have water and electricity, but the question is, for how long will they be able to maintain it? the face of huge risk that our plate would not have enough water to cool down. it is not -- they're still obvious solution at this moment on how this would be solved. they need to provide -- we don't realize yet, the demand

to the dam, water to stay in the reserve. [indiscernible] rush is basically shooting into the areas where it is happening. impacts like you have some areas -- you have this taking over areas where it is not supposed to be. this is obviously -- juan: you mentioned five of the six reactors have already been shut down. they need to still be cooled to some degree.

what are the prospects for that last reactor to be shut down and why hasn't it happened so far? > well, this is i guess a difficult choice now for people who maintain it because the power plants for cooling, they need electricity. you have to have external supply . so when the minds were down and no electricity, so they maintain -- for cooling, need water and you need electricity to puppet. once you stop this, you also have -- she would not be able to pump water even if you have it without electricity. i guess this is the dilemma they currently face. amy: olexi pasyuk, who with this benefit the most? russia says this will hurt more the russian side and that is more proof they say that ukraine

did this, but then you have the you crown -- ukraine counteroffensive says it would be thwarted by this kind of catastrophe. can you talk about the situation and where we are actually talking about? how critical this area is at this point in the ukraine war? >> i think -- having a difficult time to explain to the russian citizens why they are supposed to be saving them, flood them. [indiscernible] there is an expectation on the ukrainian side and when you're saying the dam is an occupied

territory, the dam is in the river which currently separates the two sides. so ukraine is planning offensive and they were also planning -- the russian-controlled areas. flooding -- russians assume ukrainians are ready to start moving forward in the area. juan: we only have about a minute left but i was wondering your sense of the counteroffensive that ukraine has been supposedly launching in the last couple of days, what you are hearing in kyiv about it? >> i think it is long expected and the main as its which we currently hear is to be quiet about it. there is very little information

. whoever has it will not share it. amy: olexi pasyuk, thank you for being with us, deputy director of the ukrainian ngo eco-action, where his focus is on energy and nuclear energy. joining us from the capital of ukraine kyiv. that does it for our show. following up on our his discussion of julian assange, to see our interviews with julian assange when he was in the ecuadorian embassy taking refuge and before that when he was free, go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]