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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> this is bbc worlds america. shock and condemnation around the world after russia's most prominent opposition leader dies in prison. president biden joined the chorus of world leaders blaming the russian president as the kremlin denies involvement. >> putin is reonsible for the death. putin is responsible. >> a judge orders donald trump to pay more than $350 million in a civil fraud case and bands of former president from doing business in new york for three

years. ♪ welcome to world news america. russia's most prominent opposition leader has died in prison. his cause of death is not yet known but world leaders are already pointing the finger at the kremlin. an accusation that russia has denied. he was serving a prison sentence in a russian penal colony. this was the last time that he was seen alive publicly, looking emaciated. his press person said, navalny always believed in russia so much that he returned home after his poisoning. he never gave up. that was always his main message , do not be afraid. there are many of us and we will win. moscow authorities banned any protests in the city but that hasn't stopped navalny's

supporters coming out to commemorate him. maurer's late candles at this memorial throughout the day. protesters were hauled away by police several times. this woman was arrested for calling up -- calling the kremlin murderers. these are scenes from russia's second city st. petersburg. protesters commemorated mr. navalny by writing his name in the snow. we have the view from moscow and a look back at his political career. >> [inaudible] reporter: smiling, cracking jokes. this was navalny yesterday as he gave testimony from prison by video link. even court officials cracked a smile. today, russia's prison service anunced that mr. navalny was dead, claiming he lost consciousness inside this penal colony. russian tv rarely mentioned him.

a red out the prison service statement about his death and moved on to other news. he was vladimir putin's most vocal critic, a protest leader, anticorruption campaigner who had long clashed with the kremlin. i remember this is six years ago. navalny is russia's most prominent opposition figure and president putin's most vocal critic. he's been barred from running in the presidential election. he's now been arrested by police. in 2020 in siberia, he had been poisoned with the nerve agent and airlifted to germany for life-saving treatment. he accused the kremlin of trying to assassinate him. but as a politician, he felt he couldn't stay away from russia. when he returned the following year, he was arrested on arrival. he had been in prison ever since.

his friends and family fearing for his safety. just hours after navalny was reported dead, his wife made a dramatic appearance at the munich security conference. she couldn't confirm his death but -- >> if it's true, i want putin and his whole entourage, his friends and government, to know that they will be held responsible for everything they've done to our country, to my family, and to my husband. this day will come very soon. >> president putin made an appearance today, meeting industrial workers. he made no mention of navalny by name. reporter: navalny was one of the most charismatic political figures in russia in modern times. and the only opposition leader here who had been capable of bringing large crowds onto the streets to protest against the authorities. for that reason, the kremlin saw

him as a threat. he knew that by taking on the authorities, he was taking a risk. >> my message for the situation when i am killed is very simple. don't give up. reporter: in memory of russia's most famous prisoner, some here lay flowers. by this simple act, their message, we will not forget. bbc news, moscow. >> mr. navalny's death has drawn tributes around the world. in european capitals including warsaw, berlin, london. here in washington, president biden made these remarks earlier at the white house. >> make no mistake, putin is responsible for navalny's death. putin is responsible. it's yet more proof of putin's

brutality. no one should be full. not in russia, not in anywhere in the world. putin doesn't only target his citizens, as we've seen in ukraine. he inflicts terrible crimes on his own people. people across russia and around the world are morning navalny today because he was so many things that putin was not. he was brave, he was principled, he was dedicated to building a russia where the rule of law applied to everybody. navalny believed in that russia. he knew it was a cause worth fighting for, and obviously even dying for. anchor: the kremlin has rejected accusations that it's involved in navalny's death. governments of u.s. and u.k. called for a full, independent investigation. we will bring in will vernon who

spent many years reporting on russia and navalny. you recognized some of the images of his early rallies where you were there as well. tell us about his rise as such a prominent opposition figure. reporter: my colleagues and i were there throughout l of the mainstream events really. he had annexed ordinary political career. back in 2011, we were on one of the main squares in moscow. 100,000 people came out to posttest. that's where alexei navalny rose to prominence. he made a series of speeches that were well received. calling vladimir putin's political party the party of crooks and thieves. we were there at many of his course case did -- cases. he was arrested on embezzlement charges, the first in the long run of brushes with the law. we were also there when his team traveled across russia, opening a network of political offices

after alexei navalny launched a presidential bid in 2016. he was later barred from the 2018 presidential election. we were there in moscow when he returned to russia after being poisoned. he returned in 2021. as we were waiting for his plane to arrive, the authorities diverted it to another airport. incredible stuff. so many people had gathered at the airport. he was arrested as soon as he landed. anchor: tell us about meeting him. reporter: he was a very engaging person. excellent public speaker. when he spoke, you wanted to listen. he was good at persuading people. he was very funny and he kept his sense of humor right to the end. yesterday, him laughing and joking in court. he just told the truth. people appreciated that in russia, a country where people are used to being lied to. he told the truth at the end of

his youtube videos he used to put up, anticorruption investigations. he would say, subscribe to our channel, this is where you will hear the truth. he was also very courageous. this is a word we've heard in many of the tributes today. . . he was a brave man. it was a courageous decision to return to russia. that's how we ended up where we are today. reporter: how would russians be seeing this? reporter: most either won't hear about this or they won't really think it matrs. on the main evening news uncontrolled tv this evening, some of the channels ignored it completely. no mention of alexei navalny. other channels just read out the russian president service saying that he had died. i think navalny's hasn't been uttered on state-controlled tv for many years. president putin himself wouldn't

mention his name. he would refuse to even say his name, the words. he would call him, that citizen or something like that. that gave mr. navalny even more political power. the man who vladimir putin was scared to speak of. anchor: thank you for sharing your reporting with us today. russia has featured heavily as a topic at the munich security conference after former prom -- former president donald trump's statements where he said he would not protect nato allies from an invasion. for more on the fallout, i spoke with john, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and former national security advisor under the trump administration. thank you for joining us. i want to get your reaction to alexei navalny's death. >> it's a sad occurrence. it demonstrates, putin thinks he can act with impunity to do this

the very day of his wife's appearance at the munich secured conference. i think it indicates he feels free of any potential domestic repercussions and free of any international repercussions as well. anchor: do you think he is free of any domestic repercussions? do you think he is strengthened? >> death does wonders in authoritarian countries. putin did it to prigozhin. there is no structure of government in russia today, unlike even cold war days when there was the bureau to tell them, time to retire after the cuban missile crisis. the only way to change the regime would be by coup d'etat by the military or security services. i think putin believes he has survived a number of threats. notwithstanding the human cost to russia of the war in ukraine, he feels still in charge.

anchor: anchor: you said no international repercussions. president biden said there will be consequences. what do you think those should be? >> honestly, international figures are very good at expressing outrage when it come -- outrage. when it comes to delivering hard consequences, not so much. russia has been under sanctions for two years now. its economy is still humming along. it's getting supplies from north korea. certainly indirect assistance from china in financial markets and oil and gas purchases. tightening sanctions and making them effective would be a good place to start to impose real consequences. anchor: that is something president biden said would be considerable. estonia's prime minister would like to see the european union use russia's frozen assets to pay for ukraine's defense and rebuilding. would that be an adequate response? >> the question of the frozen

assets, assets the russian central bank -- this is uncharted territory. traditionally hasn't been done. using the frozen assets of private citizens is one thing. frozen assets of the government itself would cross a line. the u.s. has a lot of government assets in a lot of countries. i would like to see them taken away. but the nature of russia's aggression in ukraine crosses significant lines. anchor: donald trump has doubled down on nato, saying russia should do whatever they want to nato members that don't pay their dues. you've warned that the former president is not simply issuing empty threats, that he could actually pull the u.sout of nato. what makes you think that that could be the case, if he's president again? >> i was with him in brussels in 2018 where he came within a millimeter of withdrawing.

we really didn't know what he would say in the speech he gave to other nato leaders. it is something that he's been considering ever since that. he didn't come back to it when i was still national security advisor but he docs about it, including most recently in the rally that you mentioned. he doesn't like the european union efforts to get better trade terms from the united states. he didn't like europe buying natural gas from russia to the tune of millions of dollars while we were worrying about defending them against russian aggression. he doesn't think europe has lived up to the cart of commitment. this is very deep-seated in trump. anybody who says he's not going to do it, i think it's time to wake up. anchor: president biden's campaign team attacking donald trump precisely over these comments. i want to play the clip for you now. >> every president since truman has been a supporter of nato.

except for donald trump. trump wants to walk away from nato. he has given putin the green light to attack america's allies. >> i would encourage them to do whatever they want. >> no president has ever said anything like it. it is shameful, week, dangerous. it's un-american. anchor: dangerous and un-american. do you agree? >> nato is the most six -- successful alliance in human history. any president who questions it to the extent of considering withdrawal doesn't understand it. there are plenty of improvements nato needs to make and all of our friends in europe and canada need tspend more on their national defense. it strengthens the alliance as a whole. trump has said nothing new in being critical of those who are not spending enough. the difference is, those like myself and hundreds of others who have been urging other partners to spend more, have

wanted to strengthen the alliance. trump wants to tear it down. make no mistake about it. anchor: his comments come as ukraine is nearing the two-year mark of russia's invasion of -- invasion. what do you think needs to be done at this point? >> i think we've made many mistakes over the past two years. we started by failing to deter russia. we didn't even really try to deter russia effectively. yet russia has deter the united states and nato through the entire course of the struggle. we have not provided assistance to ukraine. they have implied or said expressly that if we provided attack -- long-range missiles, f-16s, by not supplying assistance ukraine in a strategic fashion, by supplying it piecemeal, by dribbling it in , we've allowed russia to find

not an offensive capability but finally find a defensive capability that has brought the war to gridlock. with russia today in control of twice as much of ukrainian territory as they had two years ago. a terrible human cost. they don't have the same calculus on human life that we do. anchor: we will have to leave it there. thank you for joining us on bbc news. meanwhile, a multibillion dollar usaid for ukraine to help fund its counteroffensive against russia remains stalled on capitol hill. the speaker of the house of representatives mike johnson has rejected a senate bill that would approve the new funding without offering an alternative. congress is in recess for two weeks, pushing any movement to march. in his remarks, president biden called out congress for not doing more for kyiv. >> it's about time they step up, don't you think? instead of going on a two-week vacation. two weeks. walking away. two weeks.

what is a thinking -- what are they thinking? my god, this is bizarre. it's reinforcing all the concern and panic about the united states being a reliable ally. this is outrageous. anchor: some ukraine backers are exploring alternatives that could allow them to force a vote to unlock the gate when they are back, sidestepping republican leadership. it would be a tough path forward but not impossible. i want to talk all about this with my guests. very good to have you back on bbc news. i want to ask you about that. i want to talk to you about alexei navalny's death. you said, this is a consequence of lting vladimir putin get away with too much for too long. what the mean by that? >> let's think about who we are dealing with. we are dealing with a country

that is run by former kgb and bandits. unfortunately, these people only understand strength. unfortunately, most europeans -- group.k. doesn't belong to the they let him get away with a lot. georgia, crimea, eastern ukraine. we did nothing about it. he emboldened. he now understands that the west is busy with drama, not the serious security situation. anchor: what do you think the response should be? >> we should really deal with russia and take them seriously. one thing that putin said, you can worry about your defenses as much as you want, i'm on offense. i'm going to be very strong on that. we didn't take him seriously. we need to start thinking about it. get serious.

the stabilization which is happening right now around europe is serious. we have the middle east on fire. he teamed up with china. it's an extremely serious situation. we have to start thinking about how our words and actions will be aligned. we have been slow working on aid. there are a lot of things. as he said in his recent interview, he's curious about actions and not talk. they didn't act. europe and the united states have done a lot of talk. anchor: let me talk to you about that aid. president biden criticizing congress for not getting aid to ukraine through the house. why hasn't that paid -- a been passed? >> i wish president biden would have dealt -- this is the two-year anniversary of the war. he didn't want to deal before war started. he didn't want to give ukraine apons. now he's been slow working the a.

the situation is very serious. the big issue, we have domestic problems. inflation and serious issues. border security. we cannot neglect our domestic issues. we have to secure our border and we have to be better at our foreign policy and have a strategy not to lose but actually to win. when you have a strategy not to lose, you might lose. anchor: there was a bill in the senate that was torpedoed by republicans that would have had border provisions and provided aid for ukraine. why not take that up in the house? >> they were not serious border provisions. there was a lot of loopholes. we do need to have serious border provisions. serious border provisions. you didn't have to take the whole bill. there were some good ones he shouldn't have taken. now we have to start this conversation again. we have to make sure that we support our allies like israel.

deal better with ukraine. lethal aid. also having security on the border. now we have to start this conversation again, unfortunately. the situation is very tough now. anchor: are you worried about the state of the war in ukraine right now? >> i am very concerned. i'm going to be in europe. i'm going to have a strong message to our allies in europe. we need to step up and have a strategy. weenie had -- we have to deter aggressions from countries like iran, china, russia because they team up now against the west. if we fail, there's going to be significant consequences for all of us. anchor: good to get your perspective on this story today. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. anchor: now to our other big story of the day. a judge ordered donald trump to pay $354 million in penalties in a civil fraud case in new york.

the former u.s. president was found to have overstated the value of his wealth to obtain more favorable loans. also banned trump from serving as an officer or director of any new york operation for three years. he has condemned the verdict as a sham new york fraud. our correspondent says he will likely appeal the ruling. reporter: the judge has ordered a number of things with this verdict. first, donald trump a $355 million. that's a massive amount of money especially when you add it to the $80 million he's been ordered to pay in a separate civil case. his sons have each been ordered to pay $4 million each. what could be considered a better than from donald trump is the fact that he's been barred from doing business in new york for three years. but the attorney general had sought a lifetime ban on him in new york. his sons,he two who are

currently running the trump organization which is headquartered here at trump tower, they've been banned from doing business in new york for two years each. another big piece of this verdict was the judge decision that the cancellation of the business licenses are no longer necessary. that was considered the corporate death penalty. the judge has said instead, there will be a two-tiered oversight of the company. the independent monitor currently in place will stay there for up to three years. but they will also appoint another director to oversee compliance. anchor: just a reminder of our top story today. russia's most prominent opposition figure alexei navalny dying in prison. we've seen shock and condemnation from world leaders who accuse the kremlin of being responsible. that's an accusation that they have denied. you can head to our website. we have a live page there with

all the latest news on the story and reactions from around the world and analysis from our correspondence in russia and here in the u.s. as well. thank you so much for watching world news america. stay with us here on bbc news. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

amna: evening. i'm on another vase. -- amna naawaz. geoff: on the newshour tonight, russian opposition leader alexei navalny's reported in siberian prison sparks a global outreach to hold vladimir putin to account. amna: the u.s. seeks to reassure nato allies as former president trump threatens to attack nations that do not pay out. -- pay up. we speak with the estonian prime minister about the allies.