These statements are making us worried because the United States has been the biggest ally. Geoff and a judge hands down a more than 350 million penalty and limits how former President Donald Trump can do business in new york because of civil fraud. Major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by cunard is a proud supporter of public television. On a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. A world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. A world of leisure and british style, all with cunards white star service. The ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour including jim and nancy and the robber and virginia schiller foundation. The john s. And jam es l. Knight foundation. Fostering engaged communities. More at kf. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Geoff welcome to the newshour. A new york judge has issued a steep penalty to former President Trump for inflating his wealth to deceive banks and others. We will have more on that in a few minutes, but first to russia, where Alexei Navalny is reported dead this evening. Amna russian authorities claimed he died early today at the remote arctic prison where he was often held in isolation. The 47yearold anticorruption campaigner and politician had for years exposed the hidden fortunes of many top russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, incurring their wrath. President biden said the news of his death in russia where many opposition figures have been killed did not surprise him, but it did outrage him. He went from being Vladimir Putins staunchest critic to leading russias strongest Anticorruption Movement and eventually russias most prominent political prisoner. I believe, i am confident and declare they are not the masters of our country and never will be. And a huge number of people agree with me. Amna russian prison Authorities Say he died in the Arctic Circle where he was serving a 19 year sentence on extremism charges seen as politically motivated. Prison services said navalny fell ill after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness. He was last seen in yesterdays court hearing, alive but gaunt after three years in prison, and seemingly laughing and well. His wife took the stage at the Munich Security Conference hours after he was reported dead. Cannot believe putins government. They always live. But if this is true, i want putin and his entire entourage to know that they will bear direct response ability for what has happened, and this day will come very soon. Amna at the white house this afternoon President Biden was unequivocal. Make no mistake, putin is responsible for navalnys death. Amna Alexei Navalny was born outside of moscow. In the late 1990s, uribe law degree and he earned a law degree and grew into russias most wellknown political opposition figure crusading against corruption. He called Vladimir PutinsUnited Russia Party the party of crooks and thieves. He led mass protests in 2011 and again in 2012, when it was clear president putin would regain the presidency. Our Margaret Warner interviewed navalny then. This is not an election. This procedure is aimed at only one thing, the appointment of Prime Minister putin once again for president. Seemingly for life. Amna in 2013 he broke into politics with a mayoral run in moscow. Though he did not win, he beat the incumbent putin back to mayor. Putin backed mayor. House arrest followed in 2014 for embezzlement and convictions on fraud and money laundering, charges navalny denied. Despite being barred from running, in 2016 he announced he would run against Vladimir Putin for the presidency in 2018. More arrests and repression followed. A 2017 detention for an unsanctioned rally. One of the countrys largest opposition demonstrations in years. 187 cities, tens of thousands of russians all protesting corruption. Despite repeated threats, navalny forged on with his anticorruption foundation, investigating russias elite and bypassing state run media with youtube videos garnering millions of views. This is our country and these swindlers are stealing our money. Everyone should fight however they can. Amna his fight nearly killed him once already. In 2020, navalny was in a coma for two weeks after being poisoned by a lethal nerve agent. Russia denied poisoning him but a recorded call to a russian intelligence agent, featured in this 2022 cnn documentary, revealed the poison was planted in his underpants. [speaking russian] amna despite being evacuated to germany for treatment, he made the decision to return to russia in 2021. He was jailed as soon as he landed in moscow and has been behind bars ever since. Today, hundreds gathered across european cities, chanting antiputin slogans and blaming him for navalnys death. Even across rsia, where dissent is punished, residents mourned his death. He has a russian patriot. He wanted the country to become better. Amna navalny himself saw this day coming. My message for the situation when i am killed is very simple, dont give up. Amna for more on navalnys death and legacy, we are joined by andrew weiss. He served in the george w. Bush and clinton administrations. He is now with the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. Thank you for being here. Andrew it is good to be here. Amna knowing navalnys work and the threats he phased, were you surprised to hear this news . Andrew Alexei Navalny has cheated death multiple times. The kremlin gave its all by trying to poison him. But an assassin squad has been stalking navalny and his wife in the months prior. The fact that it told years of pressure on him, the physical toil, we still do not know exactly what happened at the prison, we may never know the exact circumstances of his death, but he was put in the most difficult situation imaginable. Amna his death is still yet unconfirmed. Do we have any reason to doubt this news . Andrew i dont suspect Alexei Navalny is still alive. Amna does the timing of his death stand out to you as significant . We are talking as World Leaders gathered in the munich largely to counter russia. Does that say anything to you . Andrew it is unclear if this was a deliberate act on the people of this important gathering in munich where Vladimir Putin delivered a thunderous speech in 2017 and basically was signaling to the world that russia would be on the march and would not put up with western prussia on it any more. Russia is feeling emboldened. The war is starting to cut their way. We have a president ial candidate in the United States who openly embraces Vladimir Putin and wants to support russias line on ukraine. We have deadlock in the u. S. Congress over continued military and economic support to ukraine. So we are seeing a moment of great defiance. Amna tell us more about navalny. He is easily the most prominent political opponent in russia. Why was he seen as such a threat to putin and the kremlin . Andrew put this in perspective. Russias leader has stayed in power for nearly a quarter of a century by a lack of alternatives. Vladimir putin and his Political Team have cleared the landscape of any significant opponent save navalny. And now for years, going back to the time when navalny was first put in prison in 2021, they have made sure this person could not challenge Vladimir Putin. There was no expectation putin would let navalny out as long as he was sitting in the kremlin. At the same time, there is a sadistic glee where the kremlin has prompted russian opposition politicians, has tried to show how tough they are but has been very sadistic in applying selective pressure and trying to show the average russian, keep your nose out of politics. The cost is going to be too great. Amna what about the movement he built . Is there a navalny in waiting in russia . Andrew unfortunately there is not. The russian opposition such as it was has fled the country in the wake of russias unprovoked fullscale invasion into ukraine. The movement was under intense pressure from russian authorities, even in the months and years leading up to the attempted assassination of Alexei Navalny in the summer of 2020. The movement is largely in exile. You see it in its continued work on youtube. There are no grassroots politics. And the russian popular reaction to navalny is one of passivity, inertia, and conformism. You dont see grassroots opposition to the putin regime. The putin regime largely sleeps comfortably in its bed. Amna you heard his wife say the kremlin must be held responsible. What does that look like . How should allies respond . Andrew President Biden was pretty clear that the u. S. And our European Partners have put unprecedented economic pressure on the russian government as a result of its aggression against ukraine. We have seen a war that has cost russia dearly. There is not a lot left in the toolkit in terms of further economic sanctions that will make Vladimir Putin cry uncle. I think we need to be braced for a longterm confrontation with russia. This is a formidable country that has an intense grievance against the United States. It has shown that it is willing to do pretty much anything to push back. Amna in the 30 seconds or so we have left, how would you summarize what is navalnys legacy . Andrew one of tragedy. I think it is incredibly bleak right now. Russia is largely aging and sitting on the sidelines politically. Ople have gotten used to things that should not be acceptable. Atrocities on the streets of major ukrainian cities and towns , unprovoked aggression against a neighboring country not looking for trouble. What we see is that Alexei Navalny was a symbol of hope for people, that there could be generational renewal, but the hard men in the kremlin have no interest in hope happening. Amna thank you for being here. Andrew thank you, amna. Amna lets turn to Nick Schifrin in munich for the annual security conference. Nick, how did this news about Alexei Navalny land in munich . Nick it was a real shock wave, the best way to describe it. I was with the congress as the news came in and it was received with horror that quickly became grief mixed with doubt about whether this was actually true. Many have worked with navalny and his staff for many years. Many of them started putting together statements that would blame putin and the kremlin though there is no official confrontation. It also instantly changed the conversation. As you know, a lot of the conversation coming into the conference was about former President Donald Trump and his comments about nato and the u. S. Failure to deliver from Congress Absolutely vital military aid to ukraine that it needs in the next few weeks, and instantly the conversation became instead about russia and putin. Amna much of that conversation focused on former President Trump and ukraine, but what about the conversation about former President Trump and nato and ukraine . Where was that today . Nick still going through the halls of this International Security conference, and perhaps it is no surprise that at an International Security conference, most of the audience believes in International Security cooperation. Perhaps Vice President harris earlier today was playing to the crowd when she suggested former President Trump, whose name she did not actually use, was the outlier for suggesting that the u. S. Should not defend countries that do not meet the 2 gdp threshold of defense. Vice pres. Harris however, there are some in the United States who disagree. They suggest it is in the best interest of the American People to isolate ourselves from the world. Let me be clear, that worldview is dangerous, destabilizing, and indeed, shortsighted. Nick one of the attendees here is the estonian Prime Minister. I asked her earlier tonight to First Respond to the news about Alexei Navalny. Putins playbook has not changed. We have seen a long list of political competitors he has eliminated. This is not a surprise considering he has been torturing navalny for years already. This is the way dictators work. In the dictators handbook, what do you do . Eliminate all the alternatives so the cronies around you, when they see you are going in the wrong direction, they have nowhere to turn to because there is no alternative. Nick was navalny murdered . I cant say that. We dont know. We dont see. But it is clear that the intention of the poisoning that took place some time ago, the imprisonment and the way he was treated there, he was not treated well. Nick this week the Estonian ForeignIntelligence Service released a new assessment saying russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the west in the next decade. What is that based on, and can it be prevented . It can be prevented if we invest in our defense. If you think about the aggressor, the aggressor takes the step of attacking somebody when he thinks he can win because the other side is weaker. We have not taken the defense seriously enough, and that means all the nato allies have to do more. Reporter i want to ask about the u. S. Is the United States a reliable partner . Of course, all of these statements from the United States are making us worried because the United States has been the biggest ally. The only time article five has been used is when u. S. Called us. This is something we need to do together. I mean, when you have aggression that pays off, some part of the world, it will invite other aggressors in the world start wars elsewhere. Nick does europe need to assume that the United States cannot defend europe and cannot provide europe a Nuclear Umbrella anymore . I dont think so. We have the agreements in place in nato. All the structures are in place. What we have to do ourselves is to do more. Like i said before. But the United States has been a reliable partner. And we hope they will be in the future as well. Nick you say we hope. Former President Trump has said twice now in the last week or so that perhaps the u. S. Should not defend nato allies that do not meet that 2 gdp threshold. Perhaps the u. S. Congress can restrain a future President Trump from leaving nato, but isnt the damage already done, isnt the damage to article five the doubt that is being sown that the u. S. Would not come to natos allies . It has been a wakeup call for many European Countries that have not done enough, and i think it is a positive thing, if they start to do more. But statements like this, we are watching them and trying to figure out, but this is not a surprise. President ial candidate trump, when he was president , he had the same ideas. But what i was going to say is over 60 of american experts go to europe, not to asia. To europe. It is to the benefit of your people, your jobs, your employment, your prosperity, that we are really tied to each other, so if something happens in europe, it has a clear effect on the american economy. Nick the u. S. House of representatives so far has not accepted anymore military aid to ukraine. In eastern ukraine, we are already seeing a region about to fall because of a shortage of ukrainian weapons. And there are worries that without this military aid, ukraine will run short of air defense and the next few months. Some are worried ukraine will lose the war if the u. S. House does not send the money. Do you share that concern . Definitely we have to help ukraine, and we have to help them more, because they are defending their country. If you think about the countries in the Ramstein Coalition supporting ukraine militarily, the combined Defense Budgets are 13 times bigger than that of russias heavily inflated one. Nick but without the u. S. , doesnt that number change dramatically . Europe has done more than the u. S. , but america has an important share. It is something we have actually calculated. If all the Ramstein Coalition countries were to commit to 0. 25 percent of the gdp military to ukraine, this breaking point for the war could be there. Nick ukraine has been sent more than 80 billion of military aid from the west. This past year, it did not achieve its lowest goals for the counteroffensive. What can it achieve with more military aid even if the house releases it that it has not alread