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Harris to Reassure NATO Allies; Russian Hacking Operation Disrupted; Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison; Remembering Alexei Navalny. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 16, 2024 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Is a reflection of how significant Trump's comments have indeed been. Not a real new position for him, but the fact he felt he needed to reiterate it, sending shockwaves here to a gathering really that has enough on its plate, put aside the continuing Israeli assault on Rafah and European calls for protection of civilians. You'll hear a lot of that here as well.

Ukraine is now heading into its third year of a war against Russia. A war in which, its fair to say, Ukraine is on the losing side now. We are seeing significant potentially advances by Russia around the key town called Avdiivka.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, well, he'll be here tomorrow onstage. He is on his way currently in Berlin, I believe, then on to Paris, then back to here, signing agreements with the Germans and the French, separate security agreements essentially that -- possibly a substitute from Ukraine's broader desire to become part of NATO. A bid, though, I think for Europe to make it clear how important Ukraine's security is here. Because ultimately if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, then there are fears its militarized economy won't necessarily feel it can or wants to stop there.

And so the real background larger issue is U.S. money for Ukraine, $60 billion held up by, it's fair to say, Republican dysfunction in Congress. So far it hasn't arrived. Its impacting Ukraine's front lines already. But ultimately hear, Vice President Harris is going to have to stand up in front of a crowd and try and offer assurances despite the fact that there is a very loud clock ticking behind her for those November elections. And, frankly, this maybe the last time this White House gets to speak outside of a thorough and aggressive election campaign to its allies at a forum like this.

Back to you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's an important point. Nic, appreciate it. Thank you.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, an elaborate Russian hacking operation has been cut off according to the FBI. Russian military intelligence agency was using a network of more than 1,000 hacked internet routers for cyber operations against the U.S. and its European allies. Now, the FBI chief says the hackers are now locked out.

Let's go to CNN cybersecurity reporter Sean Lyngaas, who joins us from Washington.

So, Sean, just explain what this means and how serious of a threat this is, or was.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Well, Omar, this is classic cyberespionage. It's kind of a years-long cat and mouse game. In this case between the FBI and the Russian GRU, military intelligence agency.

What the FBI says that the GRU did is they set up this vast network of infected computers that they used to spy on people, and particularly the U.S. and European governments, collect intelligence off computers, trying to presumably track information related to the Ukraine war and that sort of thing. So, it's not entirely uncommon, but it was -- it takes a lot of resources to set that up. And what the FBI announced yesterday was this disruption where they - they cleaned out some of those computers, kicked out the hackers and now forcing them to sort of rebuild and reset.

They'll come back, but this -- in the - in the U.S. law enforcement eyes makes it a bit harder for them, the Russian spies, to do their job. So, it's very much a cat and mouse game that they claimed victory yesterday, but it's - it's a long, ongoing espionage game.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Now, look, this also comes as the White House confirms a serious national security threat is related to Russian anti-satellite capability and that the U.S. has known about it for months. What more are we learning on that front?

LYNGAAS: Well, that - you know, Chairman Mike Turner, the - the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, a Republican, dropped a bombshell, a very cryptic bombshell this week when he alluded to this major national security threat without giving many details. It caught the White House off guard. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was set to brief some of the House Intelligence leaders yesterday. And so, the administration is trying to deal with the fallout of that revelation.

But what we know so far from CNN's reporting is that it's sort of a medium to long-term threat. It's not eminent, but it's something that officials are very concerned about in terms of how the Russians might use space as a means of setting back U.S. interests. We're going to get more information, I suspect, as the days and weeks come - come forward, but right now it's still a bit -- a bit up in the air, Omar.

Cyberspace and outer space.

Sean Lyngaas, thanks for covering at all.

Now, a former FBI informant charged with lying about President Biden and his son's business dealings. What this means for the Republican's impeachment inquiry. Thats next.

HILL: And Prince Harry speaking for the first time since his father's cancer diagnosis. His thoughts on how that diagnosis could potentially help unify his family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HILL: And we are just coming back, joining you with breaking news.

CNN has learned that Alexei Navalny has died. That's according to the Russian prison service.

I want to go straight to Nick Paton Walsh.

Nick, as we get this news, there had been some movement, of course, in the last several weeks. He had been moved to this very difficult work camp up by the Arctic Circle. What more are we learning this morning about when this may have happened, and are there any potential details at this point?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I should couch this in that what we have at the moment are reports from Russian state media. But, frankly, given how the information system in Russia works, it's as close to the state version of events as you might expect to see. And they essentially have, and have had for a while now, the full custody of Alexei Navalny. Two separate state media sources saying he has, in fact, died. Now, one of those state media sources talks about how he went for a walk on the morning of February the 16th, lost consciousness, and they weren't able to revive him.

Where is he? Well, recently he was moved to the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous (ph) region, that's up near the Arctic Circle, to serve out some of his term in the correctional facility number three there. A very harsh regime. The temperatures, that conditions, frankly, for many inmates, a threat to their health by itself. And this, of course, a man who survived at poisoning attempt inside of Russia, (INAUDIBLE) flight, fled to Germany to convalesce and then returned to Russia to find his immediate arrest.

[06:40:02]

An interesting point to raise here, though, that essentially he was still part of the information system. Able to communicate with the outside world through social media. But once in prison, perhaps represented less of an acute threat to the Kremlin. And the fact, indeed, that he has lost his life in prison now, fingers will point towards Moscow certainly behind all that if indeed there is confirmation of his death. And there appears now to be some of that from the Russian prison service itself.

But a stark reminder, perhaps, of how Vladimir Putin views threats around him. I should say there's no reason to point the finger directly at the Kremlin at this stage, although this is a key opposition figure, and as we've seen repeatedly, over past years, those who oppose the Kremlin meet a dark end. Most recently Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man formerly known as Putin's chef, dying in a suspicious plane crash after leading a short-lived rebellion towards the capital itself.

So, a key moment here certainly inside of Russia. One I think that suggests if indeed it is proven, in the fullness of time, that his death could somehow be attributed to state action, the conditions he was serving his time in their exceptionally harsh. Certainly that shows the fragility of being an opposition member in Russia, even deed if you are behind bars because of that opposition. And some might potentially say the enduring nervousness of the Putin regime at this time, if indeed people begin to point the fingers in that direction.

But a seismic moment, frankly, for those who've observed Navalny's presence in Russia over the past years, and the opposition he persistently held to the Kremlin. A rare individual, frankly, to have that level of tenacity and courage. And I think a stark moment to as to where Russia's future may be heading. Even though he was behind bars, he appears to have lost his life there. And that, I think, shows, as this the war in Ukraine heads into its third year, the fight-like grip potentially the Kremlin wishes to sustain over any form of political discourse within its country. And also to exactly how deadly and awful it is for those who choose to oppose the Putin administration.

Back to you.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, Nick, I just want to talk a little bit about -- about, again, if these reports end up being true. I know you've couched them with Russian state services at this point. Just to talk about who he was at this point. Obviously this is someone who rose to prominence initially blogging about anti-corruption in Russian state companies. He, of course, is known opposition leader, assassination attempt survivor. Just sort of break down the significance of who Alexei Navalny has been, especially in regards to the Kremlin.

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, he initially, I think, gained - it's fair to say gained prominence through, as you say, these very lengthy, and at times lured exposes of corruption within Putin's inner circle, the yachts (ph), indeed pointing the finger at an extraordinary palace his outfit said Putin had built for himself along the Black Sea coast. Remarkable indeed.

And then other parts of really suggesting quiet how many critics refer to the kleptocracy of the Putin administration had continued to engorged itself over the past decades in which it's been in power. And that, I think, would have been embarrassing certainly to the Kremlin, but also an eye-opener for some Russians who may, perhaps, have bought into the Russian state narrative of egalitarianism and the state coming to its benevolent aid.

A bid to enter the political system by him certainly, but he never managed to get a foothold within the electoral system that's tightly controlled by the Kremlin.

Poisoned on a flight inside of Russia. Came to Germany to convalesce. Most people pointed the finger towards the Kremlin. Remember, they'd been previous Kremlin critics, Alexander Litvinenko in the United Kingdom, poison by a rare radioactive agents nearly two decades ago now. And so many, I think, thought perhaps this was likely the work of Putin's intelligence or security services

Returned to Russia in a bid to try and maintain the voice he had as an opposition figure. And immediately arrested. But still able to communicate with the outside world through social media once inside prison. And a coterie of close advisers, loved ones outside and being sure that that message could consistently be heard.

And then, as his prison term continued, that clearly felt to have perhaps been by the Russian authorities, not an adequately strict terms for him. So, he was moved to this Arctic Circle colony number three in the Yamalo-Nenets region and that tough conditions all by themselves, but I presume tougher if you are essentially the leading opponents publicly to Vladimir Putin.

And now these horrifying reports today that are, I would say, consistent with how we know Russia treats its political opponents, but still nonetheless shocking.

[06:45:04]

HILL: Yes, absolutely. And tough to forget to, when he -- before he was ultimately moved to that colony, that prison near the Arctic Circle, he was essentially missing for a number of days.

Nick, stay with us.

I also want to bring in CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger.

David, as we're just hearing there from Nick, as he's reminding us, right, of the work, the life's work, in many ways, of Alexei Navalny, the fact that he could still communicate with the outside world and continued to influence conversations and perhaps even some politics, resistance politics, within Russia. Can you put that into context for us, what it will mean if, in fact, these reports are confirmed?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it seems very likely that they -- that it is true. And, of course, this come out as an official statement by the Russian prison sentence.

You know, Erica, there has never really been a dissident in modern times like Navalny. One who had such a charismatic affect about him, such followers and such an ability to communicate, as you suggested, even from prison. And, you know, his decision to go back to Russia, from Germany, where he had been recovering from the last effort to kill him with a poisoning, was remarkable. It seemed suicidal to people who had known him or covered him, but it also reflected his own belief that in prison he could still lead a movement. It also tells you something about Vladimir Putin today. Putin is --

has systematically been getting rid of those remnants of opposition to him ahead of some elections that are coming. There was Prigozhin, who, of course, mounted an attempt that look like military overthrow, although he said he was not trying to overthrow Putin himself but just his military commanders. He was stopped or stopped himself 150 miles from Moscow. And, a few months later, died in a plane crash. Now Navalny, the most prominent dissident.

So, Putin enters these elections basically having crushed all of those who have - and they're very few in number -- who have made a public case for the incompetence and for the evil nature of the rule that they've been under.

JIMENEZ: Yes. David Sanger, don't go far.

I want to bring in CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, who is on the phone with us.

Clarissa, I know you've spoken to Navalny several times over the past few years, including right before he made the decision to come back to Russia where he was essentially initially taken -- immediately taken into custody. Why did he want to come back to Russia? And sort of describe what his relationship has been like, or his posturing has been like, as opposed to the Kremlin.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, you know, it's so interesting because, obviously, once he had made this decision and I had the opportunity to talk to him while he was making this decision. I asked him, why would you go back to Russia when you know the risks, you know that you've been poisoned with Novichok, you know that it's only by the grace of God and one pilot who made a decision to land a plane early that you are still alive. Why would you still go back with all the risks that that entails? And I remember it so vividly, he said to me, I would never give Putin such a gift as to not return to my country, to not continue to serve the Russian people. Because Alexei Navalny understood implicitly that to live in exile as a dissident was to lose relevance to the very people who he wanted to serve, who he wanted to represent.

And I do think he understood the risks that he was incurring by going back. I do think also there was an element to which he hoped that his return might precipitate some kind of an uprising or a revolution or a massive, sweeping street protest movement that could potentially affect Putin's cemented grip on power. Obviously, and it became clear very quickly, that that wasn't going to happen. Those protests that did take place upon him being taken into custody on his return were very quickly and very brutally crushed.

And yet as your other guests have been noting, he continued to be a voice, even from within the confinement of a penitentiary. Even when he was moved to a stricter and more remote penal colony.

[06:50:03]

Even when his health was in dire, dire condition, he was talking about the fact that he was being loaded with 50 different kinds of antibiotics for a stomach ailment that was only making him much, much more sick. And so you have this extraordinary combination of idealism, pragmatism, and, frankly, a stunning level of courage that I think few of us can fathom, and few of us as journalists have really seen playing out in such a way on the ground.

HILL: And, Clarissa, it's fascinating to watch that to, and you really hit it there with the courage that he continued to show and as he continued to speak out and put those messages out there, juxtapose with, you know, what we understand, and I know that you, as part of an investigation, I believe it was 2020, when you went along with Bellingcat and you were able to I.D. the Russian specialists who were trailing him before he was poisoned, knowing what the reaction could be, knowing how Vladimir Putin deals with those who oppose him. That only played into it. And I think surprised perhaps a lot of people that he would still have such access to information and communicating with the outside world.

WARD: Well, I think what you have to realize, like the great strengths of Navalny and the great threat that he posed to Putin was not that he was so outspoken even, per se, but that he hit the Kremlin where it really hurt, which was to humiliate them, to make a mockery of, frankly, their incompetence.

And so in revealing the nature of his poisoning, he wasn't just showing how deeply cynical and depraved the Kremlin had become and the security services have become and the levels that they would stoop to, he was also showing that they were unable, even with 30 men working for many years following him all over the country, using a very lethal, toxic nerve agent, they were unable to kill him successfully. They were unable -- and if you recall this extraordinary moment where he makes a phone call to one of the security operators, or security servicemen who was part of this so-called toxins team, he pretends that he's an aide to Nikolai Patrushev, the national security apparatus, and he fooled this FSB officer into talking on an open line very openly about how he was poisoned, and why it didn't work and where they sprinkled the Novichok in his underwear, famously. This was so deeply humiliating and embarrassing for President Putin and for the Kremlin because they often enjoy the myth of the darkness, of the evil. That's why they use a nerve agent like Novichok. That is something that they lean into in their messaging.

What they don't like is being called incompetent, stupid, unprofessional, and corrupt. And this was the other thing that was the big, big part of Navalny's platform, exposing corruption. Russian people may be willing to tolerate a strong man or a dictator, but still many people felt sickened and appalled by the levels of corruption, by the state of the kleptocracy, particularly as their lives continued to become more difficult, more expensive. And so that was really his talent, if you will, was honing in on areas that were particularly sensitive to the Kremlin, and also particularly appealing to the broader Russian population, even among those who had traditionally been supporters, (INAUDIBLE) even of Putin's presidency.

JIMENEZ: And, of course, just the name Navalny became synonymous with the rallying cry for so many, not just -- not just in Russia, who may implicitly - or quietly support him, but those around the globe who are, of course, monitoring the opposition efforts that he had had, but also as some of what Clarissa mentioned, some of what he was trying to expose in that country as well.

Clarissa, don't go far.

I want to bring in -- I want to bring back in David Sanger to this conversation.

David, obviously, this is - this is incredibly big news that we are following right now. I'm curious, what is -- what are the global implications of this? As other countries monitor and, of course, his health was always a concern, even his location when for weeks nobody could seem to locate him -- what are the global implications here of this news?

[06:55:01]

SANGER: Well, a few things.

First of all, while people have been concerned, and the U.S. government has been concerned about Navalny and spoken out about it and so forth over many years, I don't think that there was a sense this was coming. I spent the morning with U.S. officials here in Munich, who are at the Munich security conference. And in my conversations with them, this did not come up.

What did come up repeatedly, though, and has throughout the opening of this, which is the major national security conference, is a new and much broader concern about Russia. You know, for the past two years it's all been focused on Ukraine. There was a brief moment when people thought that Putin had been weakened last summer during the Prigozhin uprising and now there is a sense that Putin is reasserting his control, will be there for a long time, and that Europe and the United States have to get ready for a prolonged confrontation with Putin.

And I think Putin senses that as well. And he wanted to go into this with zero opposition, no way for him to have any cracks domestically. I think even in death, Navalny will have that reputation for courage that you heard Clarissa describing. I think he could continue from the grave, assuming that these reports are true, to be sort of the organizing fall behind the Russian opposition. And there's no way that Putin can do away with that.

HILL: No, that is for sure.

David, stay with us.

We want to take a closer look now at the life of Alexi Navalny. Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A blogger and lawyer turned opposition politician and anti-corruption campaigner. Alexei Navalny was a menace for the Kremlin, who's not afraid to call President Putin out directly.

ALEXEI NAVALNY (through translator): Corruption is not just Putin, yet his is the base. He's a man who governs opening with the help of corruption.

CHANCE (voice over): Navalny rose to prominence in 2008, exposing corruption in state-owned corporations. Three years later, he emerged as the leader of mass protests in the country after allegations of fraud in parliamentary elections.

Navalny was arrested several times during his life, including in 2013 after being convicted of embezzlement charges, just as he was preparing to run for mayor of Moscow. It was a campaign he would lose. Navalny denied all the charges and called them politically motivated.

A re-trial in 2017 prevented him from running for office, this time for president, against Vladimir Putin.

That same year he was attacked with a green antiseptic fluid. It caused him damage in the vision of his right eye and temporarily died his skin green.

One year later, Navalny told me what kept him going.

NAVALNY (through translator): The choice is very simple. You are either scared or you go on. I chose to go on a long time ago. I won't give up on my country. I won't give up on my civil rights.

CHANCE (voice over): He exercised those rights by calling on his millions of followers across social media to protest, putting him firmly in the Kremlin's crosshairs.

In August 2020, on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, Navalny fell seriously ill. An emergency diversion by the plane's pilot appears to have saved his life.

Amid an international outcry, he was allowed to fly for treatment to Germany, where it was discovered he'd been poisoned with Novichok, a chemical nerve agent. Later, the CNN Bellingcat investigation revealed that for years Navalny had been trailed by FSB agents. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement.

But an assassination attempt, and a medically induced coma didn't deter Navalny from taking his fight to a higher level. Whilst recovering in Germany, he conducted a sting operation against an FSB agent, convincing the operative to detail in a phone call how the Novichok was used against him. That was then broadcast on his YouTube channel. Shortly after he released a video offering Russians a look at what his team called Putin's palace, a mansion by the Black Sea, estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.

President Putin denied the palace belongs to him or his family members.

[07:00:03]

January 2021, Navalny returned to Moscow after receiving lifesaving treatment.