jennifer granholm joins the show. another hour of velshi live from lviv begins right now. ns right now >> good morning, it is sunday april the 10th. day 46 of the war in ukraine. it is four in the afternoon, here in the western ukrainian city of lviv. i'm ali velshi and, after several weeks encircled by russian troops, the capital region of kyiv is now safe enough for world leaders to visit. yesterday afternoon, the president of the united kingdom, boris johnson, made an unannounced trip to kyiv to meet with the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy in person. johnson reiterated the united kingdom's commitment to ukraine, and announced that his country will be supplying ukraine with 120 armored vehicles and new anti ship missile systems. in addition to the hundred $30 million in military aid that was announced yesterday. in a news release, zelenskyy

said, quote, the visit is a manifestation of strong, significant, constant support by the united kingdom for. ukraine we appreciate it and we'll remember it. johnson's visit is the latest sign of how support for the uranium people has continue to strengthen across europe. diplomats are beginning to move back to kyiv, with the european union and italy among those planning to reopen their embassies in the capital in the coming days. additionally, the global pledging campaign stand up for ukraine announced yesterday it has secured 11 billion dollars from european institutions and other foreign governments and companies to directly help ukraine's humanitarian crisis. this new wave of support for ukraine comes during a week when the worst atrocities that we know of so far have come to light. as i have had to repeat too many times in recent days, i must warn you again that some of the following content is disturbing and graphic. in the town of bucha, volunteers have been deployed

to collect that bodies around town. photojournalists have documented the various places where bodies have been found. like many other hard-hit towns, pooches infrastructure has been destroyed. the people that remain there have been left without gas, water, electricity, heating and other resources. some people, like this woman, have resorted to making fire and cooking on a makeshift grill it in the cold. while fighting has start, in the meantime, in the north and the west, the east and south continue to be under siege. ukrainian officials have continued to urge residents to remain in those parts of the country to leave while they can, before russians are expected to intensify their attacks on the eastern region, in pursuit of total control of the area from the donbas to the crimean peninsula. ukraine may not be as successful in fending off the russian military in the east, as they have been in the north. ukraine benefited from a number of factors and its defense of the kyiv region. the weather, terrain, ukrainian citizens willingness to take up

arms and russia's poor planning and failure to develop sufficient supply lines for gas and food for its troops. the washington post notes that in eastern ukraine, quote, the wide open spaces will make it harder from the ukrainians to run grill operations as they did in the forest in the north and the west. and play to russia's ability to do large mechanized formations of tanks and armored vehicles. russia's shifted military strategy, to refocus its operations in the east, maybe temporary. vladimir putin has made it clear, he does not believe in ukraine sovereignty. russia maintains a larger military force and ukraine and nbc news is now reporting that, according to a u.s. official in a western official, russia has appointed a general with extensive experience in syria to take over the war effort in ukraine. an indication that russia is not ready to lay down its weapons anytime soon. joining me now, nbc news foreign kozma's fondant raf sanchez. raf, i hear that you've got new

information about the general who's been appointed by russia to ukraine. what can you tell us about? him >> ali, the man vladimir putin has appointed to lead his invasion of ukraine's general alexander dornoch of. that is the same man who he tapped to lead his intervention in syria, starting in 2015. devoid icon of carried on its presidents objectives with brutal official and see in syria. i cover that. war diverted cause succeeded in the battlefields in propping up the syrian dictator bashar al-assad. in the process, he and his forces flattened the city of aleppo, syria's second largest city. they killed thousands and thousands of sivs syrian civilians, but they got the job done as far as vladimir putin was concerned. this is a very worrying sign, if you are a resident of one of those ukrainian cities in the east under siege right now. mariupol, kharkiv. that a man who is prepared to

use these kinds of tactics that is now at the head of the russian military in this country. as you said, the russian offensive is now switching to the east. we are seeing the focus there now. some new satellite images from maxar, showing an eight mile-long military convoy east of kharkiv. the latest sign of the new russian focus there. ali? >> raf, just to give the audience context. you're here with me and lviv, it's a beautiful day out here. people are trying to maintain some sense of normalcy. and that's what's going on behind. you there are street musicians, buskers, who are playing in the streets behind you. >> that's exactly right. every sunday, musicians gathered here in this beautiful central square in lviv. they play music, there is a crowd here listening to it. we can see some ukrainian flags. we've been talking to young people today, 46 days into this war, trying to get a sense of

how they are thinking about their own futures. we spoke to a young woman called sacha, she talked about how difficult it is to make plans when life in your country is effectively in suspended animation. take a listen to sacha. >> are you hopeful about the future here in ukraine? >> i don't think that i really need to have hope now. because i just can live this day, i wake up in the morning and, oh yeah, i didn't die this night. nice. but i don't have any plans for a future now, just waiting until the war ends. >> now, ali, those are pretty heartbreaking words to hear from a 21 year old who has her whole life ahead of her. but, as you've seen, the young people in this country, like the old people in this country, are extraordinarily resilient. and they are determined to keep

going, even through this invasion. ali? >> raf, thank you for that. we appreciate, it's good to see you. nbc's raf sanchez, here in lviv, ukraine with me. in 1990, a representative the and ivs of more than 190 countries met in rome for a five-way conference to discuss the creation of an entity that would prosecute international crimes. that conference resulted in what was known as the roman statute, a doctrine that guides the work of the international criminal court. the rome statute identified undefined for core distinct international crimes. genocide is described as, quote, the attempt to destroy, in whole or import a national, ethical or racial or religious group. crimes against humanity more broadly refers to act committed against any civilian population as part of a widespread or systematic attack. war crimes is the violation of the internationally accepted rules of war, such as a geneva conventions, during that conduct of a war.

lastly, crimes of aggression refers to the use of military force to threaten a states, quote, sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence. they'd rod al hussein was an instrumental figure in the negotiations for the rome statute and the creation of the international criminal court. in addition to being the first president as the assembly of the room statute, he's also a former united nations high commissioner for human rights. he is jordan's former ambassador to the united states and he is a professor of practice and human rights laws at the university of pennsylvania. essentially, he's a lifelong champion of human rights an international peacekeeping. and he joins me now. prince, thank you for joining us, we appreciate your time today. i have been looking for you to talk about the, is because there are allegations of all of the things i just listed above. all the way from genocide to atrocities and war crimes.

i would like your evaluation of what you have seen happen in ukraine, and what you think can be done about, it legally, outside the purview of war. >> thank you, ali. i'm delighted to be with you on the show, of course. but in grim times. clearly, just looking at what has emerged over the last few weeks, it's almost a certainty that war crimes have been committed. the numbers of protected sites, protected persons, i.e. civilians, that have seemingly been deliberately targeted is quite enormous. which suggests that there has been planning an organization behind. these are not random or sporadic attacks that have led to civilian deaths, this is something far more deliberate. crimes against humanity, basically, require two things. that may be either widespread or systematic. i think we will soon see a

considerable amount of evidence pointing to that as well. genocide is a leadership crime. it requires direction from the top, it requires us to find linkage which is extremely difficult to do. as we've reported on previously, there has to be intent shown and there that has to be proven in court, which is a very high threshold. the crime of aggression, the supreme crime as identified in nuremberg, is also a leadership crime. it is also a crime perpetrated right at the top. there have been a number of calls and we have joined, i'm part of the elders group set up by nelson mandela, we've also joined the calls for a tribunal to be established for the prosecution of those guilty for the crime of aggression in this regard. >> ultimately, though, you know

of cases in the past and now where there are crimes of aggression and there are various war crimes being committed. but, until you get someone to hold them accountable, sometimes no one is held accountable. or they may be held accountable in absentia, but it doesn't stop the aggression, it doesn't stop the war crimes. how do you expect this to happen here? where we see, firsthand, certain things that are happening. you make an important point, that were crimes are easy to witness and see, genocide is tougher. but, even with the war crimes, what do you do about it if no one's ever caught? >> there will be people caught. there will be people prosecuted for war crimes. i have very little doubt about that. i think the allegations of genocide or genocidal acts having been committed. or, indeed, how you bring president putin into custody and then try him for the crime of aggression is a more difficult challenge.

but, you know, strange things always happen. we are not profits to say it won't happen. the age of profits has passed. we continue to connect the evidence, make sure the evidence is well vetted, because i've been a lot of false information making its way in. and then let's see what happens. a lot of bright people thought they could, one day, escape the law. eventually the law has caught up with them. indeed, some will seemingly escape for a long time. i've said in the past, for instance, i have that one day bashar al-assad would be brought to book and he is not in that space there, not in that space now. times do change. what we hope for is that this is a good juncture for all countries who have not yet join to the international criminal court, including of course the united states, to join it.

because it's hard to press the case when you are the countries that are being quite loud about this and are not part of the statute of the criminal court. i hope this will be a moment, or at least will lead to a moment where at least this happens. >> this is the point i wanted to get, to actually, with you. because the united states and russia are not signatories to. it ukraine has accepted some of the criminal courts jurisdiction, because of the russian invasion of crimea and ukraine in 2014. but the united states, prior to, this had been signaling that it may be more open to this. do you think that's a reality? because the president of the united states said that he believes war crimes have been committed, but it becomes difficult when the united states is not a robust supporter of the international criminal court and the things that came out of the room statute. >> yes, no, i understand that during the obama administration there was a very serious discussion on whether or not the u.s. should begin to think

about joining. unfortunately, we saw that, during the trump administration, there is a complete reversal there. almost an assault on the court itself. also, we saw in 2019, with the trump administration did regarding u.s. soldiers accused of war crimes. staff sergeant eddie gallagher featured, of course, very prominently in that story. i would imagine that the biden administration is similarly looking to see, perhaps, maybe not now because preoccupied with ukraine and what can be done to ensure that the people of ukraine will see justice. but in a later phase, that we have this discussion again here in this u.s. about whether or not joining the icc is something that, now, needs to be considered fully. >> zeid rod al hussein, we appreciate your time this

morning. mr. hussein was the first president of the assembly to the rum statute, a former united states high commissioner for human rights on the former jordanian ambassador to the united states. we appreciate your time this morning. coming, up the united states energy secretary, jennifer granholm, joins the conversation with volodymyr zelenskyy calling for a russian oil embargo. i'm going to ask her about the white house's plans to drive down the cost of gas, while keeping the pressure on putin. plus, the long awaited return of the velshi band book club, this time is deadly serious. but, next and on the ground report from the capital of kyiv. you're watching velshi, live from lviv. live from lviv. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. call your doctor about sudden behavior changes or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. one more hour brittle on.

city >> people need to stop underestimating the united states. >> one more hour straight answers for some in the morning. >> you know vladimir putin, how do you think this will? and >> one more hour going to keep inside the story. >> what do you say to people watching about what may be coming? >> when you really need your morning joe. >> there is a difference between good and evil. we are on the side of goods. >> there is one more hour. weekdays six to 10 am, on msnbc. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> for 21 days, russia bombed the northern ukrainian city of chernihiv. the city is now coming to terms with the aftermath of that weeks-long russian siege. it confirms at least 700 people were killed in the attacks.

my next guest is a political editor for the kyiv independent. kyiv and his colleagues visit chernihiv and witnessed the destruction firsthand, capturing these photos that you are looking at. he says that the city and its suburbs were severely damaged by russian airstrikes. joining me now from kyiv is alexei tsirkin, the chief officer of the kyiv independence. and sadly alexei, that is not the only image that you have on the things in the damage and the catastrophe that you have seen with your own eye in the last week. >> yes. unfortunately the atrocities committed by russia in chernihiv, and the nearby villages, is just unimaginable. it completely destroyed houses. people are dead. lives are ruined. >> i want to quote something from your publication. it is by anastasia lapid tina, about mariupol. she says that to safely get

through russian tech points, she's talking about somebody going in, she deleted all social media dumps off her phone. they trucked are these in phones, tymoshenko says. one soldier took a girl's phone and stood there laughing, scrolling through her private text on television. how is mariupol? was it bomb pretty badly? the investigator asked, smirking sympathy. do you see with the ukrainian army does? i am quoting that alexei because we get very little information out of mariupol. we are very worried about what happens when we get access to that place. i was talking to the red cross, unicef, medicine frontiers. we didn't know it is happening there. can you tell us? >> the problem here is that there is so little information from mariupol. but we understand the scale of atrocities is unimaginable there. because in cities that russians love, for example bucha near

kyiv, chernihiv, other cities which we visit a week ago, people are lying dead on the streets. buildings are destroyed. in bucha, people were tortured, women were raped, children were raped. when we are talking about a city like mariupol, which has been encircled and attacked by russia for over a month now, then we are very scared to even try to imagine, trying to picture, the scale of atrocities. for those who left the city, we were able to talk to many people who left mariupol. they are, from the stories, i think it is not possible for me to even mention on live tv. >> it sounds worse than hell. you are talking about borio. you posted a series of tweets from when you are able to get through and walk through, 40

kilometers north of kyiv. it made you superimpose what you were saying with the idea that western european countries and some eastern european countries are still struggling with the idea of stopping the flow of oil, coal, and most importantly natural gas to their country. they do not want the heart of the day will impose on their citizens while you are watching the death of your citizens. >> yes. when you walk through the city of -- were seemingly every high-rise building was destroyed by a russian airstrike, for example the prosecutor general said that only under one building they found 26 bodies. that is one of many buildings that would've been completely destroyed. we understand that it is going to be hundreds of dead people under the rubble. and when you walk through this peaceful town, peaceful before russia invaded, you will

understand that russia has the capacity to do even more damage. when we look at where russian gets its cash, where it gets its money, 40% of its budget is from selling energy resources to the world. and particularly to germany, the midlands, and italy. if we try to understand how russia is able to commit these atrocities, we understand that the european union is basically financing genocide in ukraine. >> alexei, your pin tweeze, which is from the 1st of march just days after this invasion began, you have written, i am so proud of my country. i cannot describe it with words. alexei, thank you for being with us again. alexei circa is a chief officer of the kyiv independence. despite severe showing sanctions, russia continues to fund its war machine mainly through the sale, as alexei just said, of oil and gas.

that has led to calls for a full scale embargo. the energy secretary jennifer -- standing by with more on what the world needs to do to stop the madness and ukraine. raine. wrap their arms around us, could we put little handles on our jackets? -denied. -can you imagine? i want a new nickname. can you guys start calling me snake? no, bryan. -denied. -how about we all get quotes to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer? approved. cool! hey, if bryan's not gonna be snake, can i be snake? -all: no. new poligrip power hold and seal. clinically proven to give strongest hold, plus seals out 5x more food particles. fear no food. new poligrip power hold and seal. >> tech: does your windshield have a crack? fear no food. trust safelite. >> tech vo: this customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home... ...so he scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks.

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everyone has a reason to screen for colon cancer. if you're 45 or older, get started at missiontoscreen.com western countries are taking aim at russia's economic artery, its energy sector. there is nothing russia makes more money on than selling energy. united states has made major slides in its -- efforts. they have banned russian oil gas imports. in addition to these new financial pressures from the u.s., the biden administration to sanction russia's biggest banks, shipbuilders, in the world's largest diamond company. the security council and putin's daughters. they serve it as a result of these sanctions, the gdp will

contract up to 50%, wiping out up to 15 years of economic progress. joining me is secretary granholm, great to see you again. one of the most important things here is the amount of russian gas that russia sends to europe. they have banned it for a long time, it is difficult to shift to buying it from other people. you have to liquefy it, you have to sell it maybe. they have expanded the war to buy natural gas from the u.s., qatar, and australia. tell me about that plan and how long it is going to take. >> there are a couple things going on ali. first of all, we are increasing our exports of liquefied natural gas this year into next year. we permutation will terminals, more capacity is coming online. the second thing that has to happen is there has to be a place in europe to receive that.

in some countries, for example jerry, do not even have a port to receive the specialized equipment, essentially, that has to go with receiving liquefied natural gas, is it is super cold. with a lot of the european countries are doing, particularly germany and france and italy, are looking at these portable floating liquefied natural gas terminals. if you actually build, one it takes about four years to be able to build that infrastructure. medina looking solution is to be able to import those terminals via super tankers, and have them float offshore. >> and of course, countries like poland fought this through a few years ago. they do have this type of port. let's say we get this right with the american allies, the nato allies, the eu countries. it sounds like the secretary is having a problem hearing me, we are going to fix that quickly. because we want to talk about

we do with the non european allies in just a moment. have you got me back secretary granholm? >> i heard you. >> we were just saying that we can put pressure on the eu allies. they might be trying to do this themselves. and the nato allies. but one by the other global players and massive oil buyers? china and india stand out. brazil. south africa. they are not participating in banning russian oil and energy. in america can have some impact on them. how does that look to you? how do we put pressure on places like india to say, i know you like getting discount oil from russia, but you have to stop? >> i think those countries are looking very carefully on it. i only, they are getting a huge discount, and they need energy as well. this market which right now has a huge amounts of russian oil, for example that has been pulled off the market, is about two and a half million barrels per day. that is a reason why gas prices across the world have gotten it,

because of that supply contraction. if you see europe taking the next step to ban imports of russian oil, we are going to see another two and a half million barrels per day taken off the market. can those barrels find their way to these other places? possibly. there will be some absorption by china, india, it's afra. they are also looking at the pressure that they might be receiving. do they really want to be taking, essentially, blood oil from russia? there are a lot of conversations that are being hunted about this. i will say this. if there are additional countries banning russian oil, i am warning you right now that the price of gas in the united states and around the world is going to go up, because that supply will be taken off the market. >> how do you have that conversation. ? zelenskyy has been saying that

they put out commercials in europe with somebody happily filling up their tank. then they switch over to images of dead bodies in ukraine. how do you have that conversation with americans, or anyone else around the world who says this is not really my problem, i am sad for it is going on in ukraine, but i have a life to live in my wages are not going up, inflation is higher nine paying more for gas. >> this is really a question of, we are privilege that we are not sending guys. we are not losing many women in the fight. but we are sacrificing. and the question is going to be, for all people around the world, is it worth paying a bit more, or a lot more, for your gas, do not finance this bloody war in ukraine? to not give putin more money to be able to kill ukrainians? that is really the question. are we as a global willing to sacrifice a bit. and let's just say that it must

accelerate o movement toward decarbonizing our fuel sector. and to move into technologies that will get us off reliance upon different countries that are killing citizens and others. every country is looking at this. every country in europe is looking. we talked about this, i know. >> personally on the east coast. yep. >> secretary, thank you for your time. we appreciated. >> this is an opportunity. you bet, all right, thanks ali. >> next time -- last time we were together, there was no delay, because we were actually in person. but nowadays with the satellites this is what happens. we do appreciate your time. jennifer granholm is the united states secretary of energy. we will put a pause on the velshi banned book club since the start of this, war because

there is no ignoring what is going on in the united states. but there's also no ignoring the censorship that russian flicks on its people. it, is in fact, part of this conflict. we are bringing back the velshi banned book club today. i am talking to a russian author whose texts have been banned, and life has been threatened. threatened allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. (vo) your home internet is going ultra! introducing verizon 5g home. see ya cable!

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the border crossing, desperate to flee to safety. >> in the face of climate change more countries are making the pledge to move to green energy. >> more help is on the way. >> do you believe that the apartment of justice is dragging their feet? >> it republican party is going deeper. >> it is happening here on the ground. ♪ ♪ ♪ it has been seven weeks since

we last convened the velshi banned book club. in that time, thousands of people have died in gruesome ways. families have been torn apart. world leaders have been put to the test. the hardest test that many of them will likely ever face. the world has changed in seven weeks. there been a lot of special editions of the sweltering broadcast from all over eastern europe, and if you have a social meantime you crane. and today we are bringing you a special edition of the velshi banned book club. before we get into who is going to be featured today, i wanted to be clear about why we are doing this at all. it is not because we are fatigued from the heart wrenching coverage of war, or because there is not anything left to talk about in ukraine. we are not tired. this story is not nearly over. the plant book club is not just about banning school boards or paperbacks from library shelves. it is about shining a light on how censorship has created darkness. it is because books and newspapers and tweets and access to all those things have

a place in this terrible story to. books are being banned from schools in the u.s.. and believe me, that is still happening in droves. a new report from the free speech organization, pen america, reveals troubling trends in america. the fact over 1500 book plans have targeted more than 101,000 unique book titles. over 40% of banned books include protagonists or commentary seconder characters who are people of color. dozens of children's books and major civil rights and social justice figures have been banned in the united states, including biographies of rosa parks, martin luther king, and nelson mandela. and while this is highly disturbing for america, which claims to be the land of free speech in free thought, it is far worse in russia. it is getting people killed. russian soldiers led by unabashedly fascist leader are perpetrating obscene and the burnt acts, driven by a lie.

this depravity can be a tribute to many factors, including censorship. russian forces do not have access to truthful accounts of this war or zelenskyy's impassioned words. they do not see the photographs and the videos that you have been seeing. yes papers and magazines are being expropriated by putin not alarming rate. and even outside of this news cycle, most have no access to the works of literature that could potentially push an understanding of the kremlin, other country, or of their nationalist identity. very viewpoints, accurate, covert historical analysis, and with router. those are the seeds that grow critical. thought thought that could weaken putin's power, we can his hold on russia. i'm not taking the onus off of russian forces at all, but if you have ever ask yourself with the world unencumbered by censorship would be like, this is it. today i have invited a man to join us who studied russia through an achingly necessary

critical lens. yuri velshi pinsky is a russian american historian. the author of several books. which putin disapproves of. and the few that have been outright banned. many of these texts center around the communist movement in russia. one of them, blowing up russia, the secret plot to bring back kgb terror. in the day the -- of the same name are strictly banned by the kremlin's. blowing up russia's important. it was coauthored by -- and -- , names that might ring a bell for you. live in yanko it was a prominent ally of putin in a defector. he paid the ultimate price for speaking out against mother russia. death by radiation poisoning. according to a source, three security agents went to boston to finish the job and assassinate built-in scheme self. last year, the european court of human rights ruled that the

russian government was in fact responsible for like the new yorkers assassination in 2006. i am sure you notice that we did not send a tweet or write a blurb urging you to read one of the ocean skis important books for this important meeting. and while i do suggest you buy one right after this show ends, this special editions of the velshi banned book club is not really about the books themselves. it is about who vanished in ski's, and the necessity and the bravery of his work. sometimes books make an impact because of the words on the page. sometimes it is the themes of the tax. and sometimes it is because of a remarkable author. and in this case it is all three. right after the break, you are boston ski joins me about the power of the written word and how vital books, especially his, are to russia today. ussia today. we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪

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evolution ski. he is as a historian, and the author of many books. author of blowing up russia, the secret plot to bring back kgb terror, which has been banned by the russian government. yuri, thank you for being with us. i want to ask about a conversation that was having with vladimir column or saw earlier about some finding by the lattice center, which is an independent non governmental russian poll in organization, that shows putin's approval ranking rose from -- last month to 83% amid the russian invasion of ukraine. and what vladimir was saying to me is that censorship factors largely into why these numbers are so high, and a growing. tell me a bit about this. >> it was 87 83 when russia invaded crimea. so by, itself this is not surprising. what is surprising is that russians very easily support an

invasion of the country. as this is because unfortunately russians are brainwashed. so great to pay -- to it. in 2008, when they invited -- this was 1713. this is happening now. how to say? -- which the government uses very much. no real harm, they want to see if you really want to see it. then we'll go to opportunities for russians to get information. if they really would like to have this information. i am afraid that some of them just do not really want to know what's happening. >> despite, that it is not

stopping you from your writing. you have two new books coming, it they are quite appropriate given what is going on right now. one is titled world war iii, putin's battle for ukraine. one is called from red to tara to mafia. state state security in the struggle for russian domination. they are not even out yet, if they have already been banned in russia. tell us what these books are about. >> one of course was banned by the russian court. this is the only one which was banned by a court decision. and now you do not even have to go through -- could reach out and publish books. again, i'm a pro enforcer in russia. i have released dozens of books there. unfortunately, it is not russia

of 1991. publishers are simply afraid to publish. it is very simple. there is no official censorship. it's not that there is no way to submit a manuscript, back off to theback off to the publishers know now that if they publish an article, a book, a manuscript, whatever, if internet publish the text, which the government doesn'tsh like, this text supposed to go down because the government very quickly force publishers, editors to censorship. so publishing house, that's how it is. and people areus so afraid. people are so afraid right now that -- afraid to differences and afraid to, you know, freedom.

they follow instruction. f it is -- you mentioned that this is like aon fascist state. it is a fascist state now. prior to this, it was fascist 1938. now this is 1939. >> that -- thank you for that. that was the point of having you on the show today, to remind people it doesn't have to be about the courts and doesn't have to be about the law. once you get to the point that people start poself-censoring a authors stop writing and publishing houses stop ou publishing, that's where the danger comes in. yuri felshtinsky, thank you for being with us, thank you for joining us for the velshi banned bookhe club, a russian american historian and co-author of ho "blowing up russia: the secret blot to bring back kgb terror" which has been banned. today is my final show in ukraine before heading back to there united states. you've seen my face on msnbc every single day for the last

five weeks reporting from the region. the faces f you don't get to se are those of theu people behin the camera who really make this show happen. this is the team i end my tour with. some of the i members have chand along the mbway, gone on to different assignments in the region, some willgn stay after leave. the two women a in the photo ar our local t colleagues, they he us understand the news and meet the people who tell us their stories. and a small tnote, those who watch me on the road know there is always a hat. so today my team, without my knowing, procured a bunch of black baseball caps, the type of which is, have worn every day, r the show, it wasn't a style thing, it is a bald thing, because it is cold out here. but it has been my thing every night. this was the reminder that none of what i have done for the last five weeks has been my work alone. it has been my team's work.s and i'm grateful to them for bearing witness toul this trage with agme. we'll be right back. with me. we'll be right back. covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you.

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with the new tech upgrade program. plus, protection from cyber threats at home and now on the go. so staying up to date is easier than ever. you look great by the way. right? unbeatable internet. made to do anything so you can do anything. only xfinity will upgrade your tech after 3 years for a more reliable connection. get that and more with xfi complete. upgrade today. quote, ukraine hath not yet perished, nor her glory, nor her freedom, upon us, fellow ukrainians, fate shall smile once more. our enemies shall vanish like the dew in the sun and we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own, end quote. that's a version of the ukrainian national anthem, translated to english. the state anthem, younger than ukrainian democracy itself, adopted about 30 years ago, as

this nation aspired to but had not achieved democracy. the lyrics portray a patriotic and resilient nation, but one that has fought for its right to exist, not just since its independence from the soviet union in 1991, but for hundreds of years prior. this is my last show from the region. i've spent more than five weeks covering this unforgiving war, and will forever hold a special place in my heart for the ukrainian people. they simply yearn to be free, to live where and how they want, and to choose their government and the pursuit of justice and equity. it is pretty basic stuff. but hard to do when a massive powerful colonizing power next door has never recognized you as a sovereign nation. which is ironic, because kyiv and the ukrainian culture has been around a lot longer than moscow and the russian culture. the basic rights for which ukrainians have been fighting since 2014, life, liberty, personal security, are fundamental rights that many americans take for granted every single day. most of us could never imagine

our basic freedoms to live being stripped away from us, good fortune perhaps. and perhaps some naivete about the fact that basic rights don't just happen, they're earned and they're defended. the ultimate right to live freely evolves from seemingly smaller rights that are easier to erode, like the right to read what you want in the library or to learn what you need to learn in school, even if it doesn't fit the narrative you previously believed. like the right to vote, to vote easily, or even to register to vote, like the right to jurisdiction over your own body and access to a safe abortion, like the right to love who you want, and to proclaim your sexuality and your gender identity to the world without fear for your job or your safety. the right not to be killed unjustly because of the color of your skin, the right to be paid fairly, the right to a free and fair election without interference from anti-democratic forces at home or abroad. the ukrainian people have been minding their own business for

more than seven years, just trying to choose their own government and live peacefully. that's what most of us in the democratic world want, but freedom it seems is not free. each of us as global citizens has an obligation to stand up and defend these rights, even if they don't apply to you, because none of us are free if one of us is changed. when we allow basic rights to erode, fundamental freedoms follow, when fundamental freedoms collapse, so does democracy. when democracy is extinguished as we see happening here, so is life itself. we must not stand by as the people of ukraine and their freedom perish. as their anthem suggests, i suspect fate shall once again smile once more on them, and they shall rule in a free land of their own. as they say in these streets of this country, slava ukraine, glory to ukraine. good-bye from lviv. and i'll see you back home.

a show of support, british prime minister boris johnson makes a surprise visit to ukraine and promises president zelenskyy more military aid as russia appears to be gearing up for a major offensive. the british ambassador to the united states joins me live with the details. also, a reality check on the economy, from the great resignation to rising inflation. labor secretary marty walsh tells me what's really going on. and as we celebrate the confirmation of judge ketanji brown jackson to the supreme court, we'll reflect on her journey, and the moment we knew she was done with republican foolishness. we call it the look. i'm jonathan capehart. this is "the sunday show." this sunday, we begin with british prime