the world was discussing alexei navalny�*s poisoning. countries, led by great britain, in the 0pcw, the chemical weapons organisation, targeting russia, threatening sanctions, asking questions about navalny�*s poisoning. there was a lot of buzz around alexei navalny�*s new trial and his persecution, and also persecution of independent ngos and independent media in russia. that's all gone. so, putin may... putin was able to divert the agenda completely, so something that was, like, very important and very painfulfor him... right, but... ..four months ago is not any more existent on the agenda. yeah, but it didn't take the invasion of ukraine to make it pretty obvious to me and many others that, as long as vladimir putin's in power, it seems highly unlikely that vladimir... that alexei navalny will ever be freed. would you accept that? and do you think that there is a real danger, given his health problems — he looks gaunt, he's suffered the novichok poisoning — is there a danger that alexei navalny may die in prison? there is a danger. def

the world was discussing alexei navalny�*s poisoning. tries, led by great britain, in the 0pcw, the chemical weapons organisation, targeting russia, threatening sanctions, asking questions about navalny�*s poisoning. there was a lot of buzz around alexei navalny�*s new trial and his persecution, and also persecution of independent ngos and independent media in russia. that's all gone. so putin may... putin was able to divert the agenda completely, so something that was, like, very important and very painfulfor him... right, but... ..four months ago is not any more existent on the agenda. and... yeah, but it didn't take the invasion of ukraine to make it pretty obvious to me and many others that, as long as vladimir putin's in power, it seems highly unlikely that vladimir — that alexei navalny will ever be freed. would you accept that? and do you think that there is a real danger, given his health problems — he looks gaunt, he's suffered the novichok poisoning — is there a danger that alexei navalny may die in prison? there is a danger. de

the world was discussing alexei navalny�*s poisoning.here was a request of 55 countries, led by great britain, in the opcw, the chemical weapons organisation, targeting russia, threatening sanctions, asking questions about navalny�*s poisoning. there was a lot of buzz around alexei navalny�*s new trial and his persecution, and also persecution of independent ngos and independent media in russia. that's all gone. putin was able to divert the agenda completely, so something that was, like, very important and very painfulfor him... right, but... ..four months ago is not any more existent on the agenda. yeah, but it didn't take the invasion of ukraine to make it pretty obvious to me and many others that, as long as vladimir putin's in power, it seems highly unlikely that vladimir... that alexei navalny will ever be freed. would you accept that? and do you think that there is a real danger, given his health problems — he looks gaunt, he's suffered the novichok poisoning — is there a danger that alexei navalny may die in prison? there is a dan

the world was discussing alexei navalny�*s poisoning. ies, led by great britain, in the 0pcw, the chemical weapons organisation, targeting russia, threatening sanctions, asking questions about navalny�*s poisoning. there was a lot of buzz around alexei navalny�*s new trial and his persecution, and also persecution of independent ngos and independent media in russia. that's all gone. putin was able to divert the agenda completely,

alexei navalny envisions a russia without vladimir putin. law, freedom of expression, and democracy are the norms. this is what he has been campaigning for, for the last ten years of his life and this is why vladimir putin tried to murder him with a nerve agent called novichok. >> so let me ask you about this because your documentary reveals that one of the men who allegedly tried to poison navalny is missing. after this man was duped into revealing the whole plan in a phone call, right? so, navalny is on the call taping it. sort of, you know, saying he is a member of russian intelligence. say, what's going on? what went wrong? he released the video on his youtube page. i am just sort of showing it here. you hear the chemist say it was applied to a pair of navalny's underpants. he said if his plane had not made that emergency landing, everything could have gone differently, right, but navalny would be dead. and then, after the call ends, your documentary shows him say, quote, poor guy, they will kill him. they will kill him. he is a dead man

joining me now to discuss a the chief of staff to jailed russian opposition leader alexei navalny.you so much for being with us today. i'm just wondering what you think of these protests where you have thousands of arrests. >> well, i can very clearly say this proves that putin does not equal russia. it is highly unpopular and very much unsupported. last year when alexei navalny was arrested, 20,000 people were arrested and detained over the province after his arrest. psz o there is enormous risk. there is risk of imprisonment after six years or enormous fines. when this war started, when putin started this war on people were massively thrown out. if 6,000 have been arrested, 150,000 at least participated. so despite all the risks it's a very important message they are sending that putin does not legitimately represent russia. >> do you think it will deter putin, or do you think he may look at these protests and be hardened in his approach? . >> look, look, he's crazy. i mean, he has started this enormous war in europe without any reason, without any justification for it. it is sen

. >> alexei navalny, in an interview with time magazine, said the u.s. is falling into putin's traps. i want to quote him. the u.s. is acting [indiscernible] what is president biden's reaction? ms. psaki: i would say we have great respect for alexei navalny and the role he has and speaking out. the administration's actions have been broadly supported in a bipartisan matter. whether our engagement on a global skates, leading an effort to have a unified front and making clear the severity of economic consequences should russia invade, or whether it's making clear we will stand up for a global value, which is the fact no country should be able to invade another country. i will let others define that. >> when the president talks about economic action and consequences, why not an act some of those now? ms. psaki: we have enacted some sanctions. i would say we think it is an important point of leverage. >> the president said we have been in touch with every member of the democratic caucus. ms. psaki: senior members of the white house. we are not going to detai

a voice for you. >> just in case you looked at the screen, you were talking about alexey navalny, the russian dissident in court and saying about russia, we are showing you president zelenskyy of ukraine, in kyiv right now, addressing the ukrainian people, he is speaking in ukrainian, and once we get a translation on what he is seeing, we will bring that to you, so just give us a moment to get that translation. matt, what about imagery? we're hearing these headlines. what sort of imagery is being shown in russia right now? >> very little. very little imagery being shown from any of this. we've seen -- >> what do you think of that? and i ask you that -- >> sorry to interrupt, bought we've seen a ton of russian imagery about the troop buildup and all of the video that we have comes from russian defense, why are we not seeing so much now? >> it's an interesting question. i suppose i don't really know the answer, i think one reason, one easy reason is that the state media doesn't want to show what is actually happening in this operation, because i just find it hard to believe that this is

his name is alexei navalny. that didn't succeed. he flew back to russia and they arrested him he sits in jail as a russian. think about how 3wr5i6 that was and how much they must fear him that they arrested him and put him in jail. i don't know what's going to happen in the long perm but navalny's first job right now is to stay alive. i know him. he wants to be around for the long fight. he thinks there is going to be a long fight after putin. i think he's right. if you look deeper, there's still a lot of support for russia integrating to the west. the simple idea we should pick our leaders, there's a lot that support that. in the long run, i'm very optimistic that some day russia will be a boring normal european democracy. i don't know when that run begins. >> with that, ambassador, thank you for joining me on firing line. >> thanks for having me. >> firing line made possible in part by robert grenary, charles a. schwab. and craig knew mark, fill ant row peas. corporate funding provided by steve ste stevens inc and pfizer inc. ♪ -

putin accused of silencing his critics through violence, including alexei navalny, once called the manladimir putin fears most. he's led anti-putin rallies across the country where he's been publicly beaten and nearly blinded when a green substance was sprayed in his face. "nightline" was there in a russian courtroom in 2017 as navalny was once again facing jail for opposing putin. navalny continued to be an outspoken critic of putin until two years ago, when he was poisoned. passengers on his flight recording the sounds of his moans. he was exposed to the deadly nerve agent nova chock, developed as part of a secret soviet chemical weapons program. >> putin's feeling is you should crush dissent at the earliest possible moment. so he is very sensitive to people who might be rivals. the use of poison certainly seems to have been a consistent theme. there have been poisonings in the uk. navalny, when he started to develop his own domestic political persona, gets poisoned. it's a consistent pattern. >> reporter: navalny was evacuated to germany, eventuall. but was arrested on arrival after

when the rim acid protests against the arrest of the opposition leader, alexei navalny. idea i think of how nervous the authorities are about the russian public. and their reaction to this military operation at this point. you were mentioning earlier how this doesn't seem to be a very popular, action i think. i think most russians i have talked to today were really quite surprised to see whether president had done when they woke up. when they woke up this morning and saw the speech. which aired before most people in moscow had woken up. this is a interesting new faction in this situation here in moscow. we're going to have to see how it plays out now. russian people don't seem to be going for it. one thing i really do want to highlight, just to kind of reinforce how i think nervous the kremlin is about the public's reaction is. we are getting the alternate reality depiction of the war from the russian defense ministry. from the kremlin. we have seen these bullet points by the defense ministry, insisting that population centers are not being targeted. russia is using pers

speaking of alexei navalny, he was on trial again today from his prison where he's being held, and he used it as an opportunity to speak out against the war. saying this is essentially a way for the government to cover up what he says is the ongoing robbery of russia's future from russian citizens, saying that only russians and ukrainians will pay the price for the regime's war in ukraine. now, president putin did again surface later today, summoning russia's business elites you could call these the oligarchs if you will to warn them that western sanctions were indeed coming, but reassure them he had no other choice this is the only way he told his business community, to insure russia's security interests after the west had rejected their demands. shep >> matt bodner live for us in moscow >> the pentagon held a briefing and explained to reporters exactly how the russian assault went down. this is all from a senior pentagon official. here's what i can tell you, it began on three axises at 3:30 in the morning, 9:30 eastern last night in this way, from crimea, which of course the russian

the jailed russian opposition leader alexei navalny is on trial again, this time inside the maximum securitywhere he is held. he already spent a year behind bars after surviving a poison attack he blames on the kremlin. he is accused of fresh charges, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. a study of nearly 260 rivers around the world detected potentially toxic levels of pharmaceutical drugs in 1/4 of them. drugs used to treat epilepsy and diabetes were most widely found. they believe it affects wildlife and could affect human health. online game roblox is played by millions of children around the world. it claims half of children under 16 in the u.s. play the game. however, a bbc investigation found users creating games on the platform where avatars can undress, have sex, and use of obscene language. some say the company needs to do more tprotect children. reporter: this is roblox, one of the most popular online games in the world. users don't just play games, they can create them, too. there are millions to play and chat in real-time with other people. roblox is based here in si

and even where we are in regards to ukraine, where we've been in regards to the poisoning of alexei navalnywill be tolerated, while world leaders and even the ioc might, you know, youwant to give a slap on the wrist. at the end of the day, there are no meaningful punishments for this sort of behavior so, you know, the ministry and putin has learned that essentially he can get away with this. >> and he did get away with it in the sense of the man you spoke to at great risk to his own life, after doing so, two of his colleagues died unexpectedly. you had to help him flea to the united states, here's that moment. >> i need to escape. >> so you want to get out. >> yes. >> i'm going to get the flight for you right now. >> yes, right now. please. go. >> okay. >> some security measures will be set. >> how will i know that you made it through okay? >> i don't know. okay. >> okay. >> so gregory went into the witness protection program in the united states, and, you know, but as i said, two of his colleagues died unexpectedly, so those seem to be the fates. those seem to be the fates that may meet pe

alexei navalny has flown back to a prison cell and branded president putin the world's biggest thief.an navalny defeat putin? can he even survive?

independent analysis, use poison against a former agent in the uk, against his main opponent in russia, alexei navalnye about that. a big noise about russia's activities in syria and, indeed, we didn't... hang on, let mejust finish this point. we didn't even see donald trump make a big noise about what china is doing to the muslim uyghur minority in xinjiang province. i mean, these are the realities of what donald trump's leadership was all about. i'm not here to discuss mr trump. but i'll tell you, we didn't see this provocation from russia, china, iran, north korea that we're seeing today in this modern world under president biden. you know, i'll let your viewers decide, you know, who the better person is there. but trump was the first president to send legal aid to ukraine. let's not forget that — the first president to do that. i'm a reagan republican. i believe in churchill's doctrine — the peace through strength, that appeasement invites aggression. and those are the principles that guide me. i don't really care about having a debate about the former president. i care about what is happening rig

loud advocate of regime change now in belarus, and you also have offered safe haven to one of alexei navalnylies in his political movement, which of course, is profoundly anti—putin. how far are you going to take your determination to do what you can against putin? when there's the choice between the oligarchs and dissidents, we choose dissidents, so that's that. right, but you're a country of 2.8 million people and right now, you've taken on one heck of a diplomatic commitment, fight, cos not only are you involved in these sort of wars of words and hostilities with russia in diplomatic terms, but you've taken on a feud with china at the very same time and you personally have been at the forefront of that with your decision to allow the taiwan government to open up a representative office, which they're calling the office of taiwan rather than taipei, which is the usual diplomatic formulation. why did you choose to confront beijing like that? well, we didn't choose to confront beijing allowing taiwanese to open the office under exactly that name. i think... you did choose. cos everybody else

listening to our programme, hardtalk, which also goes out, and there was the chief of staff, alexei navalnyked about vladimir putin this time biting off more than he could chew. very briefly, do you think that is true? he certainly _ you think that is true? he certainly bit _ you think that is true? he certainly bit off— you think that is true? he: certainly bit off more than he could chew with regards to his vision of saving the economy by bringing in billions of dollars of currency back into the country in december, and thinking that would be a rainy day fund. that will be depleted in 6— seven weeks. so how he will keep an economy running, what will happen if the oil market changes through either deals made by the us or the general response of the saudi arabians and some others, we will see. he is benefiting right now from the ability to sell oil, we have refrained from a direct attack on that, but the banking sanctions restrict the easy sale of it in a number of markets. professor, i will have _ a number of markets. professor, i will have to _ a number of markets. professor, i will have

the russian defense ministry i also want to point something else out russian opposition leader alexei navalnyrently in prison ohut we all understand to be trumped-up charges he's now facing new charges for 15 additional years of prison. he just so happens to be on trial today and had a chance to speak, and he had something i want to read to you guys he says, quote, i am against this war i believe that this war between russia and ukraine has been unleashed to cover up the robbery of russian citizens and distract their attention from the problems that exist inside the country, from the degradation of the economy this war will lead to a huge number of victims, ruined destinies and a continuation of the impoverishment of russian citizens the group that's now seized power -- he's talking about the putin government -- the fact they're literally starting wars for the sake of their palaces once again shows how right i was. i point that out because we're looking now who's going to speak out against this the main voice is in jail, but he's still speaking out. >> there's words from navalny, of course pe

i was listening to our programme, hardtalk, which goes out, that evil staff alexei navalny, and he talkedf more than he could chew. very briefly, do you think that is true? he very briefly, do you think that is true? . . , very briefly, do you think that is true? . ., , , very briefly, do you think that istrue? . ., , , is true? he certainly bit off more than _ is true? he certainly bit off more than he _ is true? he certainly bit off more than he could - is true? he certainly bit off more than he could chew l is true? he certainly bit off i more than he could chew with regard to his vision of saving the economy by bringing in billions of dollars of currency back into the country in december and thinking that that would be a rainy day fund. that will be depleted in six to seven weeks, and so how he will keep an economy running, what will happen if the oil market changes through either some deals made by the us or the general response of the saudis and others, we will see. it is benefiting right now from the ability to sell oil, we have refrained from a direct attack on that, but the banki

and because these are organic, they're not being led by alexei navalny or well-known dissidents, it's proving very difficult for the kremlin to crack down on them. to stop them from happening. more than 3000 people have been arrested across russia so far, as part of these protests. but there's no sign that they are going to come to a stop. we've also being seen quieter moments, where russians have been going to the ukrainian embassy here in moscow. they've been leaving flowers, they've been leaving notes. effectively saying, not in our name. richard, the next thing we've also seen the russian government really cracking down on the media here. the state media regulator has censored a number of outlets. and the offense that the outlets committed is the described what is going on in ukraine as a war, or as an attack, or as an invasion. and that is not allowed under the russian government's line. their preferred term is a special military operation. and they are censoring anybody who describes it differently. social media also is being throttled. twitter is basically non functional right

of a and thought to be in the sights of the kremlin and, of course, the attempted killing of alexei navalny. and after that the burdening of german companies and industry in russia and banks as well, and just got a significantly different public mood. not just policymakers mood in germany towards russia. i would also met add, i see something personal happening with china. the mood on china really has shifted in berlin including an merkel sans party and of expect the traffic light government to take a much stronger line. >> on both russia and china? >> yes, absolutely. the problem is of course because we are sorely middle-class power in europe we can't just opt out of the relationship. the location forces us to pay attention to what russia does even when we don't like it. that is the conundrum that the next chancellor will have to deal with. >> now, wolfgang, i mean, some of the most contentious moments at the munich security conference in the last ten years have involved big russian leader showing up. both putin, medvedev and certainly lavrov in the last two years. you have something you'd

vladimir putin does not want us to follow but we'll continue to out of russia is opposition leader alexei navalny a trial or new charges that could extend sentence by at least a decade. the kremlin claims navalny stole millions in organizations given to his political organizations. human rights groups slam the trial as a sham. opened and a vocal putin critic after the kremlin claimed he violated his parole while he was hospitalized in germany. he was there recovering from poisoning of a nerve agent in an attack he claims on russian security services and vladimir putin, and of course, we'll continue to follow this important story. >>> still ahead, he's the number one men's tennis player in the world, but he's willing to risk missing the sport's biggest competition just to stay unvaccinated. because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an indepenendent organization ththat sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 phaharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. kim is now demonstrating her congestion. save it slimeball. i've upgraded to mucinex

people on the streets were killed or in excel like myself or poisoned like alexei navalny. now thousands of people, fourth day in the row, they keep arresting people and they're coming back. no one is organizing it. it may be social media, but it's a spontaneous rejection of putin's war and putin's regime. that's why he's getting nervous and why police show such a brutality for peaceful demonstrations. we have to applaud these people. demonstrating in russia is not like dem stonstrating in new yo or paris or toronto. you're facing a brutal regime that can arrest you, beat you and lock you up for not just days, but maybe years. some of these people will be charged with numerous crimes and will be spending years behind bars. >> the former u.s. ambassador to nato kurt volker said he believed what vladimir putin wanted to do was re-establish the soviet union. as somebody who remembers the cold war, it sounds nutty to me. what do you make of that theory? >> putin likes symbols. that's why his first act of president of russia was to restore soviet union and he was mourning the co

there haven't been this number of people on the street since the arrest of alexei navalny. support is also strong, especially among the oligarchs who prospered under his watch. the richest men in russia met yesterday with their leader in a show of unity, but the reality is their wealth has been hit. the stock index here has had one of the worst days in history as a result of sanctions but initially they lost between them $39 billion in less than 24 hours. russia has now said it's preparing a retaliatory package of sanctions against the west and they do hurt ordinary people, but the u.s. tactic is to target those people closest to vladimir putin. the problem so far is that nothing seems to be dissuading him. michael? >> james longman, thank you so much for that. >>> we turn to the economic fallout here at home. we've already seen stock market volatility and growing fears that gas prices could spike. deirdre bolton joins us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, michael. it was a roller coaster session yesterday. you may have seen that but stocks did end the session higher

alexei navalny is about to get 15 more years for innocently protesting, yet you did have thousands of people arrested, and that means if thousands are being arrested, that means that tens of thousands of people have the same views. they just don't want to get arrested. this is a war that's extremely unpopular. i think putin has grossly underestimated how willing his people would stand behind him. andrea, including the soldiers in ukraine. i just watched a dozen videos of various soldiers that have been captive. they're there, they have no idea why they're there. they have no idea what this war is about. they didn't listen to the president's hour-long rambling speech that was supposed to rally the troops. that is another reason why this war is going bad for him. the people of russia are not supporting this war. >> and there are close familiar relationships often between the russian population and the ukrainian population that outsiders might not well understand. >> absolutely. and there are many of ethnic russians, the city of kharkiv, i have been to the city of kharkiv. the language -

. >>> coming up next, jail opposition russian leader alexei navalny is reacting to russia's invasion. speaking out this morning. >>> plus, another live report from eastern ukraine. nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley says now he is hearing a series of explosions. he will join us with the very latest next. s with the very latest next. ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 wi♪ i've been everywhere,er. man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage

back in 2010, alexei navalny, who had been exposing putin for years, was poisoned and imprisoned for putin and his friends is to finally set limits, confiscate their assets and no longer allow them to travel. has that time come? joining me now is congresswoman sheila jackson-lee of texas, who is in eastern europe, meeting with u.s. allies. congresswoman, thank you very much. i know you have been meeting with members -- with allies about this. i wonder what you're hearing about what it is europe would like to see next after these crippling sanctions? >> joy, thank you for having me. can i first offer my deepest concern to the ukrainian americans, as well as the people in ukraine, and the people who obviously in ukraine who are losing their life. they want help literally they're asking for as forceful an effort by the nato allies and other freedom loving nations as can possibly be. you know, frankly, joy, i'm very concerned about president zelenskyy and his cabinet who are in kyiv and i believe targets of potential violence. they want their democracy to be heard. and they want to be ab

over the last year you've seen a significant crackdown by putin, the arrest of alexei navalny, the mosty is on trial this week. you saw shutting down the leading human rights group. the fact that so many people did come out despite this risk to themselves in the police state i think is notable, but that will be cause for further crackdown and paranoia on the part of the government. there's always been a connection between the internal cracking down of dissent in russia and putin's use of external aggression. i think we're going to see that again this time. >> phil, multiple russian government websites appeared to go offline outside russia. cybersecurity experts tell cnn the outages could be part of the kremlin's own moves to preempt any cyberattacks by i suppose the united states or others. president biden said the u.s. is prepared to respond to any russian cyberattacks against us. what do you think is going on here? >> i don't think you can be prepared for that. let's look at two dimensions of that. first is what we saw in the election campaign in the united states last time around. if

more of an organic way happening, very early days on it, there is no major organized opposition, alexey navalny is in jail, his movement is dismantled, but a few voices calling for protests last night, and before that, there were a lot of kind of single person pickets. that's something you have a right, to under the russian constitution. so you're seeing kind of the organic process right now, and i think there's a possibility where it hits a critical mass, where it continues to kind of snow ball. i just keep hearing from people, just casual conversation, more methodical, this is horrible, we can't do anything, but maybe we can, and i just want to stress how early we are in this process and how much, how influx this is and we just don't know. but you definitely notice there is something a little different about this one. >> matt, let me ask you quickly and we have about 30 seconds left, thed announcement from t u.s. that there will be strong sanctions imposed on russia, likelyti to cripple the economy there. you live in russia. talk to us a little bit about how that message has been received by

his sentence means -- may be expanded, talk about alexei navalny. he is exemplary of the crackdown throughout the country, and that will only get worse, by the way, if there is an invasion in ukraine. so, i think it's hard to describe what it's like, when you have state television, wall-to-wall, the information is controlled by the state, by vladimir putin's democracy. so, if there is a false flag operation, as described by blinken, at the un today, that's what you will see as news, as reality. we live in a democratic country, with a reasonably free press, and a huge proportion of our country believes nonsense from the former presidents and his lieutenants. that's an unreasonably free press. disinformation and misinformation is very effective, and blinken is trying to battle at the best you can. >> it's funny that you invoked crime area, i've been thinking a lot about that. i remember at the time, we covered it, there was something extremely creepy, gaslight-y, about the entire thing. at some level, we always knew it was happening, but there was nev

ukraine, but the bottom line is he has undertaken a very dramatic internal crackdown, arresting alexei navalnyhink it's very hard to understand the kind of threat putin could face from within, but this was an invasion ordered from above. this is not a groundswell of the russian people going against ukrainians and for years, in fact, putin himself has spoken of ukraine as brothers. well, now he sent the russian army in to kill their brothers. >> a grim chapter in world history, a war erupting on european soil in 2022. still hard to believe. general wesley clark, susan glasser, thank you very much. thank you for join us today. i'm bianna golodryga in new york. >> and i'm jim sciutto in lviv, ukraine. cnn special coverage of russia's ongoing invasion of ukraine continues. "at this hour" right after a quick break. real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ never be afraid of your stren

said that he was, quote, troubled by new charges that are being brought against russian activist alexei navalny. would the white house consider, in consultation with its allies, potentially, sanctions on individual leaders maybe in putin's circle to stop this or other efforts that you all could do to help navalny and the russian opposition? ms. psaki: there are a range of sanctions under consideration on his inner circle. reporter: and then, finally, congressional democrats, again, are talking about student loan cancellation. representative alexandria ocasio-cortez discussed this earlier this week, and senate majority leader chuck schumer has also talked about the importance of canceling student loan debt. why is this not an issue that with broad public support and support within his own party in congress has the president not worked or pushed harder on to cancel the debt? ms. psaki: well, the president has conveyed he'd be happy to sign a bill into law that all of those members could work to get passed. reporter: and then, finally, yesterday marks the 30th house democrat to announce their reti

as the focus is on ukraine, putin's most vocal critic, alexei navalny, who was already in prison, is keep him locked up for at least ten more years. the russian government accusing him of stealing thousands from his anti-corruption foundation, the foundation calling the charges absurd. the u.s. is formally requesting the arrest and extradition of juan orlando fernandez, less than three weeks after he left office. he faces drug trafficking charges. he took to twitter this morning in this blackout audio-only tweet, saying that he is, quote, ready to cooperate with the investigation and to go to court when ordered. >>> and now to this bizarre video out of mexico. take a look at this, security footage showing hundreds of birds falling from the sky mid-flight. some of them actually dying. the yellow-headed blackbirds migrate from canada to mexico for the winter. authorities still don't know what was behind this sudden drop. look at this video. so amazing. hope they're all right. >>> still ahead, the horrific murder of an asian woman in new york city. the suspect stalking the victim before

. -- the largest opposition figure, alexei navalny someone tried to poison him with a military graden't succeed, he returned to russia, he's now in prison. he's actually on trial for an additional 15, years on charges that are understand, again, to be politically motivated. it's not clear how any kind of organize opposition get emerge from this right now of course, opposition is always possible they've done a lot to kind of shield themselves from public opinion, i would say, in recent years but it's a big question now, katie >> matt, what about vladimir putin himself a little bit earlier, ali velshi was talking to michael mcfaul, the former ambassador to russia. he was saying that vladimir putin sounds different, he sounds a little bit more unhinged than he normally sounds. he has been very isolated the past couple of years because of covid, self isolating, keeping other foreign leaders at bay. what has he been like, from your observations, in the past few months? >> well, the isolation is the first observation. it's something, of course, we noticed months ago. we noticed back last y

use of a military-grade nerve agent to try to assassinate russia's leading opposition figure, alexei navalny summer of 2020. it is really hard to embarrass the kremlin. they have a tendency to out-brazen and to basically deny everything. i don't expect that to change in this very serious crisis. nick: andrew weiss, thank you very much. andrew weiss: thank you. vanessa: we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. updating our top story, the u.s. state department late tonight recommends american citizens leave belarus immediately, due to russian military buildup along the belarus border with ukraine. meanwhile, the government of canada declared an emergency today, targeting demonstrators who have tied up the capital city of ottawa at critical border crossings. john yang reports. >> or the first time today in a bid to halt anti-vaccine protest, including the authority to -- the federal government has invoked emergency -- the emergencies act to supplement provincial and territorial capacity to address the blockades and occupation. the police will be given more tools to restore

he silences them like opposition leader alexei navalny who was arrested and thrown in jail last year. you may remember a former russian intelligence officer accused of being a double agent for britain was poisoned. human rights abuses are widespread in russia. lgbtq people are often targeted with legislation and violence. last, year putin signed a constitutional amendment outlawing same such marriage and banning transgender people from adopting children. but even if you put all of that aside, there should be no doubt that vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine is abominable. and yet, many republicans are siding with him and not just because they hate joe biden and want to impose everything he says or does. it they actually seemed to share certain anti-democratic values with not american. they want our elections to be less free. they target the trans community. they prefer we had less freedom of the press. the shocking thing is when these republicans look at russia, it's with flooding of democratic norms and restriction of essential freedoms -- they may not see a cautionary tale, but an

considerable amount of time watching the exposÉs by anti-corruption activists, and people like alexei navalnyin russia who have exposed evidence of putin's secret wealth in the secret wealth of those in his in his coterie at the top of the russian government, so his assets appear to be considerable. and also they appear to be considerably while hidden. what is this gonna mean for him in practical terms. what is it gonna mean for his life? >> well also, by the way, on his assets, they may be hit into us, but they might not necessarily be hit into the government sanctioned him. that's important, and i'll get to why. the practical effect -- the practical effect of any sanction, is that target, if they have any assets within the u.s. jurisdiction. so that can be, not just in the u.s., but in our banks abroad, those assets are frozen. and all u.s. persons, meaning businesses, organizations, individuals, cannot do business with a person. and it always, as i said yesterday, unleashes these market forces. because people around the world, even if their country didn't sanction this individual, they the

today, in court, the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny stood up at a court hearing where they are trying to lock him up for another 15 years. he stood up at this court hearing and apologized to the prosecutor and the judge and said, i am against this war. the war has been unleashed to cover up the robbery of russian citizens, to move attention away from internal problems in their country, from the degradation of our economy. this war will bring a massive amount of casualties on all sides and will destroy lives and continue the impoverishment of the russian people. he said it. he said it as a prisoner, he said it in this kangaroo courtroom, where he said it. so, we are going to talk tonight about the sanctions response, about the insistence by president biden that will be no u.s. troops defending ukraine inside ukraine but that the united states will defend every inch of nato territory if russia takes ukraine there will be very much up against the border of nato territory and nato troops and russian troops will be looking at each other from an inch long border across -- across

and just to top it off, alexei navalny, the leader of the russian opposition, making his opposition toar. he was speaking in court, in court before being sent back to prison where he is facing a potential sentence of another 15 years. >> nbc's keir simmons, reporting from moscow. thank you, sir. thank you for your reporting. appreciate it. we turn now to the u.s. ambassador, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, john herbst, who served in the bush administration. evelyn farkas also with us. welcome to both of you. ambassador, let's pick up on the same point. president biden in his remarks today showed he was dialing up pressure. he also was very explicit about where these sanctions regime was going to be complicated. the putin issues we just had walked through by keir. the s.w.i.f.t. issue is also complex because it apparently takes a lot of european coordination. it's not an on/off switch for any one country. what do you see as both that process and the import of that if there's going to be long-term pain for the russian economy? >> i think the president's performance today on sanctions

protests in russia a couple years ago with the opposition cohering, coalescing, if you will, around alexei navalny. all of the opposition groups. there was talk at the time this kwd be the undoing of vladimir putin, and then he crushed them. and it just, you know, by jailing navalny, attacking him again, then jailing him, imprisoning him under false charges. as well as taking out the other leaders, making it illegal to protest, to be part of any of these groups. so are these protests as ephemeral or is something else really happening in russia? >> well, the word unprecedented sometimes is overused, but i think it truly applies to the situation right now. this is an unprecedented situation in terms of russia's invasion in ukraine and the international response and the pariah status putin and russia are now assuming. we see the dp has moved away from its russian investments. there is going to be repercussions across the board, so therefore, i think the russian people are already feeling it in terms of how the ruble has toppled. and the impact it's going to have on the availability of goods and servi