reporting obligations end the current independent external monitor, we'll continue to oversee the company's financial dealings and ensure this fraud cannot continue i want to be clear white, color financial fraud is not a victimless crime when the powerful break the law and take more than their fair share. there are fewer resources available for working people small businesses, and families and everyday americans cannot lie to a bank about how much money they have in order to get a mortgage to buy a home? or alone to keep their business afloat or to send their child to college. >> and if they did >> our government would throw the book at them i want to thank the entire incredible and hardware

trump's fraud is staggering belief that the rules not apply to him >> today >> we are holding donald trump accountable we are holding him accountable for lying, cheating and a lack of contrition. for flouting the rules that all of us must play by because there cannot be different rules for different people in this country and former presidents are no exception this decision is a massive victory for every american who believes. and that's simple what fundamental pillar of our democracy that the rule of law applies to all of us. equally, fairly and justly. thank you

>> into new york attorney general, letitia james reacting to the ruling against former president donald trump in his new york civil fraud case, the former president ordered to pay nearly 355 million. i'm brianna keilar in for wolf blitzer in the situation room. and at any moment, we do expect to hear from the former president donald trump himself. we have our legal and political team standing by, is we are covering this breaking story. first, let's go to cnn's kara scannell, who is in new york for us. kara, this ruling against trump and his top deputies could devastate his business empire yeah, i mean, this is a significant blow to donald trump. this judge finding that he was liable for fraud, that he had falsified business records that he issued false financial statements, and

finding that he should pay 355 million plus interests. in addition, that judge also found that his sons, who run the trump organization on a day-to-day basis, eric trump and donald trump jr. also finding them liable, ordering them each to pay 4 million. so a significant blow just in terms of the company, but also to their wallet. now, the judge did step back from an earlier ruling where he said that he was going to cancel the business certificates of the trump organization. no one really understood exactly what that would play out and look like. but they knew it was potentially devastating. judge, walking that back, saying he was going to have the monitor continue in place and then also add an independent compliance consulted he said that would make the canceling of those certificates unnecessary, but obviously, a significant ruling here and the judge really focusing in on trump's lack of admitting any wrongdoing, either during the trial or to any of the issues that the trump organization has faced

over the years? he wrote judge arthur engoron in this scathing opinion, they are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. the documents prove this over and over again. this is the venial sin, not a mortal sin. defendants did not commit murder or arson. they did not rob a bank at gunpoint. donald trump is not bernard made off yet defendants are in capable of admitting the error of their ways. instead, they adopt a see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil posture that the evidence belies and you'll remember donald trump, eric trump, and don junior all took the stand and testified in this case. the judge rejecting their testimony and rejecting the testimony of the expert witnesses they put on in this case. significant though, ruling against the trump organization and it's going to significantly shake up how they do business and how donald trump will come up the money to pay this bill. riana, and kara, we've also learned that trump will have to pay tens of millions of dollars in interest right?

>> that is in addition to the nearly $355 million, the way that we've calculated the map. this could be another $100 million in interest, but this amount will increase every day until it's paid. so we could see that number continues can you to grow until this debt is satisfied, donald trump's team though, is expected to appeal. question will be whether this accrual goes on hold while they do that, or if this money is going to continue to tick higher as this litigation continues? yes, brianna water, his lawyers saying about the ruling, qarrah and about this appeal process. >> right. so trump's lawyers have vowed to appeal. they said they were going to peel while this trial was underway. now, trump's attorney, alina habba, issuing a statement saying, but the court blatantly refuse to follow a binding appellate division decision nord and twisted the evidence and impose a draconian and unconstitutiona l fine and a corporate death penalty on president trump, his family, and the extraordinary global business empire he developed over a lifetime of

hard work and achievement pardon i'm trump also issued his own statement calling this ruling a sham. and as you heard, the attorney general taking a victory lap saying this was a tremendous victory yeah, sure. >> sure. certainly. did. kara scannell. thank you so much. if you could stand by for us. let's bring in our legal experts and are trump campaign correspondent as well? karen friedman, agnifilo to you, this ruling is a major blow to donald trump personally. and through his businesses. what's your reaction? >> this is a very, very significant verdict in addition to being almost half $1 billion. when you factor in the interests that he's going to have to pay the erin my apologies. >> former president donald trump, a judge, just ruled that he's crooked as you could get and a lot of people expected something like this, but not for the amount but this is a very dishonest man. does a man has been overturned already on

this case four times but a cricket dujarric statements just rule that i have to pay a fine of $355 million for having built a perfect company. great cash, great buildings, great everything it affects new york. it's mostly talking about new york where we have a totally corrupt attorney general. she campaigned on the fact that i will get dropped by, will get trump. everybody said good luck, deja james. they've all seen it well, we'll be appealing, but more important than that. this is a russia, this is china. this is the same game all comes out of the doj jay it all comes out of biden. it's a witch-hunt against his political opponent. the likes of which our country has never seen before. you see it in third world countries, banana republics, but you don't see it here. so i just want to say this you build a great company. there was no fraud the banks all got their money 100% they love trump. they testified that

trump is great, great customer one of our best customers. they testified beautifully. and the judge knows that he's just a corrupt person. we knew that from the beginning. >> you would >> write from the biggie because he wouldn't give it to the commercial division this judge thought mar-a-lago is where they team million dollars that it's worth anywhere from 50 to 100 times that amount. so we realized that he ruled against me before even got the case. he ruled against me, said i was guilty, didn't know what i was guilty. before even got to case that letitia james, that's another case altogether. she's a horribly corrupt attorney general and it's all having to do with election interference. there were no victims because the banks made a lot of money, they made $100 and by the way, i paid approximately $300 million in taxes as the migrants come in and they take over new york, i paid over this period of years over $300 million in taxes >> and they

>> want me out low. let's see if we can get them out. these are radical left democrats. they lunatics. and it's election interfering. so i just wanted so thank you for being here will appeal will be successful, i think because frankly, were not successful. new york state has gotten people are moving out of new york state because of this. they're going to move out at a much faster rate. they used a statue that's a consumer fraud statute. that's never been used for thing like this before. they used it in me because i'm running for president, are beating biden by a lot, were beating not only the republicans were beating biden by a lot, the poll came out today were up 20 points and biden, if i weren't running none of this stuff would have ever happened. none of these lawsuits would have ever happened nothing would i would have had a nice life, but i enjoy this life for a different reason. we're going to make america great again, these are corrupt people. these are people that shouldn't be allowed to do the thing things they do. and they using this as weaponization against a political opponent who's up a

lot in the polls and always will be because i'm competing with a man who can't put two sentences together, who doesn't know what he's doing? >> and we're >> heading into a third world war because of this guy, we have to win this election. they're doing everything possible to step in a way, but we're not going to stand for it. so thank you very much. we will get back to work it's a ridiculous or with a fine of $355 million for doing a perfect job for having paid alone with no defaults, with no problems. the banks were totally, you know, at the trial they testified we had an expert witness from stern school at nyu that made the statement he always very honored by his statement. he's one of the most respected people anywhere in the country for doing this kind of thing. expert listed he said this is one of the greatest financial statements i have ever witnessed before. and he talked about even the detail. >> so my numbers

>> actually were extremely conservative. they saw this. so what the judge is he brought down certain values like mar-a-lago, bedded, ridiculous, but the expert, after having all of this testified is one of the best financial statements he's ever seen. and i was honored by that. but i also knew we have a corrupt judge. he's not a respected man. and again, i said before he's been overturned on this case by the appellate division four times already. it's a record nobody has ever been overturned on one case four times. >> and >> i think very importantly, and i think ultimately the most important we've employed tens of thousands of people in new york. and we paid taxes like few other people have ever paid in new york. and they don't care about that. >> they state that's going bust. it's a state that's gone bus because everybody is leaving and it's all headed up by biden, who's destroying our country. so this is russia, this is china, this is what

you've been reading about all your lives. and it's happening right here. in our country. thank you very much. we will stop it. we will make america great again. you have my word. thank you very much >> and that is the lack of remorse that judge arthur engoron referred to as near pathological in his ruling that came out today. we heard trump san number of things there that we do need to fact check. he said this is biden directed. it's not he said the judge engoron was overturned four times on the case. he's miserable presenting what happened there. he said this is a corrupt ag, we should also point out this isn't a g that had scathing reports. two of them on sexual harassment and covid numbers of the previous governor of new york, andrew cuomo, that ultimately preceded his ouster. there and he said that this consumer fraud measure was never for used before. that's also not true. he said he did a perfect job and there was an expert witness testifying to that. that was a

witness that his defense paid for just to be clear, let's bring in daniel dale, our cnn fact-checker to go through these things. it's a lot to fact check there, daniel, what can you tell us there's a lot and you did some of my jobs, so thank you for that. i think it's worth delving a bit further into this repeated claim that all this comes out of biden in the doj and its biden directed election interference. new york attorney general james filed the lawsuit that led to this judgment in 2019. so that is before joe biden even became president. and then let's see, in the sorry, she began the investigation in 2019 before biden became president and she filed a lawsuit that led to this judgment in 2022, that was before donald trump even launched his can, his campaign for the 2024 election. so not only is there no evidence bianna, the timeline makes no sense whatsoever. now, he repeatedly accused judging koran of being corrupt and crooked. a serious charge against a judge, zero basis for

that whatsoever rather, he is a judge who came to conclusion that trump didn't like. trump also claimed that engoron ruled against him. he said before even getting in the case, didn't even know what he was ruling on. now it is true that engoron found trump liable for fraud before the trial began, which was a surprise to some people, but it wasn't before he got the case. rather, he'd received numerous written filings from both sides and came out with a detailed judgment about why he didn't have to wait for a trial to find trump liable for fraud. so claim after claim, brianna just completely baseless yeah. >> and as you outline the timeline there as well daniel, if you can stand by, we're going to come back to you as well. i want to bring our legal team and kristen holmes, who is covering the trump campaign back with us kristin, i think you're probably not surprised by what you saw there. certainly the former president is very upset that by this ruling. >> yeah, brianna was talking to people close to him who said who was very upset. the family is very upset. obviously, this

affects eric and don junior, his two sons, as well, and they were going back and forth on whether or not he was actually going to give these public remarks. you could tell by his tone of voice, by what he was saying that he is upset. it's not just about him claiming this is election interference. and something that he has done routinely, not just in this case, but in all of the legal cases that he faces, he has sought to link them together to say that they are related to president joe biden to paint this as a way for democrats to keep him from the white house. and i will tell you, brianna, it does work with some of his supporters. they do believe that this is somehow all linked, but just to be very clear, obviously this was a civil trial in new york, having nothing to do with joe biden at all or the department of justice. but the other part i want to point out of what he said was him talking on and on about the company he built in new york. this issue is deeply personal for donald trump. it's not only just the brand that he built up for the last several decades, it's also his sense of identity. he

campaigned on this, he campaigned on the idea that he was a successful businessman. and if he could do it for himself, he could do it for other people in america back in 2016, and he still says that today and it's part of what he his supporters like about him that brought him to the white house in the first place. this is essentially kind of smacking that down, saying that much of it was fraudulent, that now he has to pay millions of dollars because he was lying about how good of a businessman he was about how many assets he had, about how much he was worth. and that is deeply personal well, to donald trump, it is also personal that this involves his family, his sons, and the ruling mentioned ivanka trump his daughter as well and jennifer rodgers to you, the former president, alleging here that this is a novel ruling what do you say to that? >> it's not a novel ruling briana in terms of the statute used, i will say there are a number of legal issues here on materiality and other issues that i think an appellate court

will take a hard look at. it's an exhaustive opinion that judge and goren issued here more than 90 pages. he goes through all of the witnesses, all of the causes of action, all of the defenses that they raised. so it's really a comprehensive judgment here and the appellate court will have some things to take a look at, but the notion that no business in new york has ever been subject to this, no person has ever been subject to this is just not true. >> and jennifer, you expect object that as this goes through the appeals process, this judgment will take a haircut >> i think it might certainly it's just such a huge judgment and when the expert witnesses were testifying about the differences in valuation, there's just not a lot of certainty. they're the judge actually commented on on that when he was talking about materiality, he actually quoted the famous justice potter statement from supreme court on obscenity saying it's, you know, when you see it. so materiality is, you know, it when you see it, even if you can't pinpoint an amount of

difference in valuation that is material or not. so i think that with some of that wiggle room room there in the numbers, you may see the appellate court finding some places where they cut down the judgment award. >> rebecca, the numbers here are staggering nonetheless here, how much does trump have to come up with when we're talking about money? and how does he come up with that much? >> well, i mean, he's going to apply for a bond in order to be able to forestall having to pay this, i would assume. and so then it would wait for that appellate process to go forward in that can take a number of months, a year, up to a year-and-a-half, i would say so in, order to come up with the money? he might i think have to sell some of his properties. i don't know if he has enough liquid cash in order to cover it and i think as the others were saying, this is just a significant sum of money and one of the other really

important aspects of the ruling is that monitor, it's important because first of all that is one thing. the other things might be stayed. the other rulings might be stayed pending appeal, but that monitor is there right now and will remain there. and the second monitor, making sure that the compliance is in order will also be there. and that's a blow not only to his pocketbook, but also to his sense of control and ability to control his company in internal watchdog at his expense. and i do want to go back now to kara scannell, this fine not the only fine we should recall that he has to pay right now. >> yeah. i mean, he just got dealt another big judgment by a jury who heard the testimony in e jean carroll's defamation lawsuit. the jury awarded her 83 0.3 million, and that was the second judgment that he faced last year. jury awarded her $5 million. >> so all told >> between those judgments, that judgment today and the interests trump is on the hook

for more than 504 $40 million. that's a significant amount of money. now, he did testify in a deposition last year as part of the attorney general's lawsuit that he had an excess of $400 million in cash, so he has some cash on hand to cover that debt and he obviously owns a lot of realistic state so he could take out a loan on those properties and access money and other ways, but it is still a significant amount of money that he will have to come up with in order to post the ban and begin the appeals process so that is going to be a near-term decision for the trump organization to try to get together within the next 30 days in order to move this process let's forward. but another big number on top of a series of big numbers that we've been seeing, brianna. yeah, it's a lot of money. karen, we should remember the origin story. daniel dale pointed out that year 2019 the origin story of this case is michael cohen testifying before congress that donald trump would change the valuation of

his assets to serve himself higher in some cases, lower in other cases. and it trump repeatedly attacked the credibility of michael cohen, who was one of the state's star witnesses in this case. he was pled guilty to lying to congress, by the way, but the judge had a very different reaction. michael cohen, the judge wrote, told the truth, the court found his testimony credible based on the relaxed manner in which he testified, the general plausibility of his statements. and most importantly, the way his testimony was corroborated by other trial evidence. i wonder what you think of that, but also the fact that michael cohen is going to factor large in another case, which is the criminal hush money case in new york. the begins next month. and if he's seen credible here by the judge in this case, do you think that he'll be found credible by a jury in that case? >> well i think it's important

to remember that the manhattan da's office has experience with having witnesses who have checkered histories and backgrounds, et cetera, and they're going to want to corroborate every single thing michael cohen has to say. and the jury is going to evaluate his credibility themselves. they're going to see how his demeanor is, whether he is truthful and that's the whole purpose of a jury system and don't forget in that case, the jury selection is actually picked by donald trump himself. and the prosecutor. so he's going to be judged by jurors that he picks. those are going to be jurors who will evaluate all evidence and potentially find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt if they do find it to be credible. >> christine, this ruling, obviously we see it when we see trump and we hear him there, it impacts him personally. it impacts him financially. what about politically though, is there any reason to think this could damage his campaign? >> right now, i would say no. i

mean, what we've seen time and time again when it comes to these legal entanglements with donald trump in these various cases is that it only boost his popularity and his fundraising. we have seen no indication that republicans have turned away from him. and in fact, he seems to be likely to be either republican nominee. now, the one thing about these various legal cases, and it's not just this one, but it is the several different trials that he's facing coming up. is that there are a lot of questions about what that means in a general election. what does that mean for independents, people who aren't necessarily going to back donald trump, no matter what he's trying to court, different voters. and instead, he has all of these different legal issues looming over his head. the other part of this is fundraising just a reminder, donald trump has paid a majority of his legal bills out of a leadership pac that is a specific paki spade spent more than $50 on legal fees last year and i'm talking to campaign finance experts. they say that he could dip into that pac to pay some of these bills. but that would be kind of hard since they ended the year after

spending $50 million, which is $5 million in the bank coming nowhere close to what he owes in these various legal cases. >> that is a very good point. let's bring in daniel dale back to the conversation to fact-check something that trump said, which is that what happened here is like what happens in china and russia. >> yeah, it's almost too little crista fact-check, but i think we need to call this kind of nonsense out. look, former president trump got to mount a vigorous, expensive defense. he got a public trial. he's still has the right to appeal and appeal again. he is not only impugning the integrity of the judge, but he's standing there on camera on national television and baselessly maligning the president of the united states and other authorities like the attorney general, that none of this stuff happens in these countries that he is invoking. this is united states of america. it is not like russia, it is not like china. and i think especially on a day like today, we're covering the navalny news. like did alexei navalny get anything like this

civil trial that donald trump had? no. so this is just abject nonsense and we need to challenge it. >> and rebecca, the judge here, declining to do the ultimate right, which is dissolved the trump organization or permanently prevent trump from doing business in new york, which the ag had asked for here. so not going that far. why do you think he made that decision? >> i think, he was listening to push back from legal experts and from the appellate division while it's true that the appeals court did not reverse him four times, that's inaccurate. the appeals court did make some rule is indicating it's skepticism about that particular the consequences for this conduct. and so i think he was listening to that and put in place a different consequence that is serious as well. and will also protect those assets. but is not as extreme. certainly thank you all so much. obviously, a lot happening this evening, and we appreciate you making sense

of it with us. >> so just ahead, the >> final round of testimony in the high-stakes hearing that threatens to derail the trump election subversion case in georgia. why district attorney fani willis is apparent currently feeling confident about beating this effort to kick her off the case. and demands for answers about the reported death of jailed russian opposition leader alexey navalny president biden, making it clear he holds vladimir putin responsible >> erin burnett outfront tonight. it's seven on cnn pure harvest, smart farms in abu dhabi does a technology enabled agribusiness solving global challenges. we're taking proven >> methods of farming and decoupling the relationship of food production from climate. and instead mirroring it to technology, energy, and capitals given its heritage in farming, great infrastructure to build a company and the ability to attract foreign talent of dhabi me that a ton of sense for us are aspiration

is that were accompanied that this country can be proud of >> now, adt professionally installs google nest products >> you're all set, >> so your home is safe and smarter. we're going to ms you can check it on your home our ms system, you should go manager system from virtually anywhere and get intelligent alerts like what a package has arrived the most trusted name and home security as the intelligence of google, you have a home with no worries brought to you by adt >> the first time you connected your godaddy website and your store was also the first time you realize, well, we can do anything. >> she's cake cookies the chunky, manage all your sales from one place with a partner that always puts you first. we'd started today at godaddy.com

>> thank you. >> sanders winter boot sale is now on for limited time visit santos.com or call juanita hundred sandals. >> this is what it feels like to file with tax layer refund boss or your people. and there's a lot to nope, not today start to read and get your guaranteed maximum rafat when these business owners need cash fast, they >> turned to bids to credit to fund what's next from fitness studios to medical offices and every small business in-between. >> we've got you covered. whether you need new equipment, funds to expand or need money to cover unforeseen business expenses, bids to credit is the trusted partner for your small business funding needs. scan the code on your screen now or go to busy to credit.com to

apply this to credit funding. what's next? >> only unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans come with the card. one simple member car that opens doors where it matters for you >> what do we need to see a dr. wave from your garden? gets you in with medicare advantage is largest national provider network. >> how about using it at the pharmacy? >> yes. you're you card is all you need >> that's easy. >> and it helped keep my smile looking good. yep. >> use your eukarya, the dennis say jeez, get access to what matters with the eu card only from united health care. high, we've both got a big birthday coming up. so we have a lot of watches about medicare plans. >> we've got a lot of answers. how can i help? >> well, for starters, do you include good hearing benefits? >> how about a plan with dental vision and hearing benefits? >> i sure like the sound of that. >> then how does a zero-dollar monthly plan premium sound >> if you're new to medicare call 188865, edna we'll walk

you through all your coverage and benefit options to help find the right plan for you. >> closed captioning is brought to you by audio book network. authors tell your story, produce an audio book with us. >> what to earn more profits and find a new audience for your published book, produce an audio book. we handle narration production, and digital distribution, color >> scan, the qr code. now tonight, us and western leaders are expressing outrage over the reported death of jailed russian opposite opposition leader >> alexey navalny and they're placing blame directly on vladimir putin. >> make no mistake. make no mistake. putin is responsible for navalny's debt. as people across rushing around the world are mourning navalny today because he was so many things that putin was not he was brave. he was principal who's dedicated to building a russia where rule of law existed he knew it was a cause worth fighting for and obviously even

dying for >> cnn, chief international correspondent clarissa ward is joining us now along with cnn chief national security correspondent, alex marquardt, reporting from the munich security conference in germany. clarissa, what do we know and what questions remain tonight about navalny's death? >> well, a lot of questions remain. what we know from russian state media and russia's penitentiary service is that he went out for a walk reportedly that he collapsed on conscious, that the ambulance arrived. medics reportedly tried to revive him for more than half half an hour and that he was pronounced dead on the scene. what we also know of course, is that he's been held in a couple of different penal colonies over the last few years. he has been held in very difficult and even dangerous situations. his lawyers have talked about the severe health issues that he was facing sing

as a result of the circumstances that he was being held in. but just yesterday, brianna, he appeared via video link in the court and he did appear to be in good health. he was gone, but he was making jokes, which is very typical of alexei navalny had a great sense of humor. and so they're real question the marks as to what exactly happened today, what exactly killed alexei navalny although as you heard, president biden saying, many feel that no matter what killed him, specifically, the responsibility lies with the russian state and alex, how are world leaders responding to this news >> well, brianna, as the news tore through the conference of world leaders, there was quick and widespread condemnation. one of the first and most important leaders to say something was vice president harris, who essentially open the conference she noted off the top of her remarks that navalny's wife, yulia, was in the crowd and harris said that

putin is indeed responsible. and then the conference announced that there would be a surprise guest and yulia navalnaya took the stage. she's she spoke very passionately, very stoically, very powerfully calling on everyone to come together to defeat this evil, to defeat this horrible regime. here's a little bit more what you had say still on your suit. >> i want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband there'll be brought to justice. and this day will come soon. >> navalnaya mets later in the day with both the secretary of state, antony blinken, as well as harris. they offered their condolences and we did hear from president biden speaking at the white house. he noted the sanctions that had been put on russia. he said that they the the administration is looking at what more or they can do. brianna putin was already looming large over this conference. now, even more so

with the death of his most high-profile, most vocal critic, brianna and clarissa, you interviewed navalny in 2020 just after he survived being poisoned, you did an amazing investigation where you actually tracked russian specialists who had trailed him ahead of time and were suspected in the poisoning. he told you then navalny did about putin's role. let's listen to some of that i understand how system work in russia. i understand that putin hates me and i understand that these people who are sitting in the kremlin, they arranged to kill. >> is it your contention that vladimir putin must have been aware of this? >> of course, 100%. it could have not been happened without direct order of putin because it's big scale he knew clarissa, how putin operated. he talked even about

anticipating perhaps being killed when he returned. why did he ultimately decide to go back? >> well there's two, main things i would say there, brianna, number one, alexei navalny was consummately an optimist. he understood the risks. absolutely. but he chose to believe in a more positive future for russia. he chose to believe that everything was going to be okay. and number two, he understood stood implicitly that to sit in europe as a dissident in exile would render him largely irrelevant to the russian population. his belief and his understanding from the very core of his god was that his mission was to represent the russian people and to lead them in a fight. right towards a better future with greater freedom. and he was willing to become a martyr for this cause. i think those around him still feel utterly shocked by this,

even though logically it is not entirely surprising given that the state had already tried to kill him with novichok given the fact that they have killed so many who have dare to speak out against president vladimir putin. but navalny understood, and he said, i would never give putin such a gift as to stay outside of russia. brianna and alex, this does elevate navalny he does to so many become a martyr here. how does this influence the conversations that are happening in the us right now about the threat that putin poses. and what the us needs to do well, brianna, i think it will reinvigorate the conversation about the importance of nato, the importance of us in the nato alliance. following those comments about putin, that putin could do whatever the hell he wants according to trump in terms of possibly invading a nato country. and it will also serve as a reminder as to why the us supports ukraine in their war against

russia. now that we have congress fiercely debating this supplemental aid package, $60 billion of aid for ukraine. certainly it will give food for thought to republicans who so far are holding back on that aid for you ukraine, briana >> clarissa ward, and alex marquardt. thank you to both of you this evening. i want to bring in russia expert dmitri alperovitch. now, he is also there in munich. dmitry, how big of a loss is this and what will navalny's legacy be? >> well, navalny was one of the few people in russia who had the potential to challenge putin, how we shouldn't overstate his popularity because it was in low single digits. but of course in part because he was getting very negative press to the extent he was getting any press on russian television. but he was one of the few who was willing to stay in russia, come back as clearly that's the word said, at great risk to himself and challenge putin directly in russia, many of the other opposition figures have fled to escape and try to save their

lives. and there's really no one left on the russian opposition landscape that has his level of popularity, his level of name recognition that could have been a competitor to putin so why was putin? and so, so threatened >> by navalny? and what do you make it? the timing here while he was written by navalny because he saw navalny as the one-person, the one force in russia that could actually potentially destabilize his rule. and remember that navalny came to prominence in 2011 oven, when putin came back for the third term and had largely believed to have been rigged elections to get elected for the third term. and there were massive protests in moscow. the largest of the putin era that navalny was keep participant in and that was a time when putin started to notice them, started to pay attention to him, and eventually deciding that this is a person that wants to remove him from power and has become a threat. and obviously decided to kill him first through poisoning attempts and

then, you know, by eventually effectively signed his death warrant once navalny returned and locked them up in prison, that eventually killed them. >> and there's another election coming up where vladimir putin has effectively cleared the field of any meaningful opposition what does navalny's death mean for the opposition inside of russia? and what are you watching for here in the coming days? >> well, unfortunately, what this death reflects is that putin believes that he can do this with impunity. and unfortunately, he may be right that the reality is that he's eliminate all opposition within russia, not only as the result of the election, not and dad, but he is shooting for a very high percentage of the turnout and a high percentage of the vote for him probably in the high 60s have not 70% to show the world that he's still in charge, that the russians are still choosing him. even if he has to rig that election. to some extent, he probably could win an outright, but at a much lower number. so he may resort to regain to show a much higher

vote percentage for him, then actually been the case. >> dimitri, how do you see this? his death influencing us perceptions of russia and putin as trump in some in the gop and tucker carlson are cozying up to russia even more here just in recent days, even well, i'd like to think that things would change, but the reality is that the attitudes source putin, a pretty hardened and >> the people that have believed him to be a monster and have believed that he had attempted to assassinate people and actually had assassinated people including with polonium nuclear, radioactive, chemical in london. and of course with novichok, a chemical agent in salsbury in the uk. he attempted to st. same to navalny. the people that know that this just reinforces that this is a person who is effectively a monster and has no compulsion about killing people while in the most awful way and others that think that he's a strong leader and like

him, i'm not sure their minds will be changed by this either. >> dmitri alperovitch. thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> coming up, how fulton county district attorney fani willis feels about her fight to stay on the trunk case after testimony wrapped in the hearing that included her defiance defiant, appearance on the stand way >> remember remember when rivals beginning nba all-star 2024? >> a lot of people asked me if kathie lee, what are you doing these days? well, i have a new farm. i'm working too much >> i'm going strong. i'm doing the things i love to do. and now i can do it on my own schedule, which you know, what helps me the most everybody balance of nature. it's such a simple concept and it works beautifully. you want to make a

huge change in your life. tried balance of nature >> yet 35% off and $10 off any additional sets as a preferred customer by using discount code. boom. >> whether you come to key west for an in-depth history lesson were you just want to skim the surface. key west story is richer. more colorful more substantial >> and quirkier than you ever imagine key west close to perfect. >> far from normal guys, listen up, want to drive the strongest fda approved ed meds available if appropriate, get maximum strength generic viagra prescribed online at 95% off just $2 per tablet at rex md.com we're building a better postal service. all parts

working in sync to move your business poleward with a streamlined shipping network and new high-speed processing and delivery centers >> for more value >> more of a liability, and more on-time deliveries the united states postal service is built for how you business and how you business is with simple, affordable, and reliable shipping. usps ground advantage as a cardiologist, when i put my patients on a statin to reduce cholesterol, i also tell them it can deplete their coke. you ten levels i recommend taking qn all q ten cubed all has three times better absorption than regular coke. putin, kunal, the brand i trust. >> for over 25 years loves sack has been rewriting the rules of company it's okay to change your style it's okay to change your mind and to change things up >> yeah. messi

>> yet immersed with loves sack you, make the rules >> when you're a small business owner, your to-do list can be a log that's why progressive makes it easy to see what the commercial auto quote online. so you can take on all y

so, you've got the power of xfinity at home. now take it outside with xfinity mobile. like speed? it's the fastest mobile service around... and right now, you can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan. all on the most reliable 5g network nationwide. ditch the other guys and you'll save hundreds. get a free line of unlimited intro for 1 year when you buy one unlimited line. and for a limited time, get the new samsung galaxy s24 on us. >> go to deal dash.com right now and see how much you can save i'm katie bo lillis in washington and this is cnn in georgia tonight. the testimony is over and the judge now faces a decision on whether to disqualify fulton county district attorney fani willis from prosecuting donald trump. cnn's nick valencia reports on

day two so of the tumultuous hearing tell us why you relate today. >> terence bradley was supposed to be a star witness for defense attorneys trying to disqualify fulton county district attorney, fani willis from the donald trump election interference case. but on friday, weights, former law partner and divorce attorney, i couldn't provide details let's just show willis and nathan wade were lying about the extent of the romantic relationship. >> i have no personal knowledge of when it actually happened i was not there i do not have any personal knowledge. these are >> attorney-client privilege. a major hurdle for the defense, especially after a judge scott mcafee ruled bradley could not be asked about what privileged conversations he had with weighed about his relationship to talk about privilege >> happy to ask him the substance of the question. >> yet, one defense attorney managed to introduce a text it's exchange with bradley in 2023 about the wade willis romance. >> so what i have is a text

message from you saying, oh, my god, nathan took funny on a trip to napa and pay for with his firm continue reading >> and you said easy that dome also testifying friday, fani willis, his father, backing up her heated testimony from thursday when she said she always keeps cash on hand >> i've always kept case, you know, and i've told my daughter, you keep six months worth of k always on both days, money was center stage because defense attorneys are trying to prove that willis somehow benefited financially from a relationship >> with wade through gifts and vacations that weighed paid for with money he earned on the case, we went out multiple times. that probably went to the level of more than $100. but if we're doing it for tat like that, i probably paid for as many meals as he paid for and so i did not receive any gifts from him and willis and wade both maintain the relationship began only after

wade took the job of special prosecutor. will this his father testified he didn't know about the relationship until the rest of the world found out and only met him region certainly did not meet nathan wade until 2023. >> in a surprise turn, willis did not take the stand again on friday, her team believing they had enough to beat back efforts to this qualifier is safe and has no further questions for ms malice the judge in this case has signaled that he's going to continue these hearings sometime in the next week after they >> do eventually wrap, he's going to allow defense attorneys and the state to write replies and written legal briefs, which means that we can know the conclusion of this could be weeks away. i did speak to a defense attorney who was involved in the last two days. they said that they feel very very good about how the last two days when the big question though brianna, is, were they able to prove that fani willis financially benefited from this personal relationship with nathan wade? which is the threshold to get her disqualified >> nick, if willis were to be

disqualified, what would happen next and what impact could that have on the timeline for the trump election interference case in georgia? >> we'll look. it goes to the prosecuting attorneys council. it's a nine member board and that decision won't be swept on selecting a special prosecutor, fani willis was disqualified fired from investigating an unindicted coconspirator months ago and they're still not been a special prosecutor attached to that case. as far as the effect on this case, it's already laying into a delay before these allegations surface the da was on track for an august trial date, but for now, that has all been put on hold. brianna. >> all right. nick valencia live for us from atlanta. thank you. here in washington. president biden is calling on republicans to drop their efforts to impeach him. now that a key source for their inquiry has been indicted, the former fbi informant charged with lying about the involvement of mr. biden and his son, hunter, with the ukrainian energy company he is lying and should be dropped and

it's just been has been outrageous separate from the beginning. >> cnn capitol hill reporter melanie zanona has more now on the state of the biden impeachment probe. mel republicans have been touting this now discredited information as their top reason for an impeachment inquiry. and yet they really don't seem very deterred by this revelation. >> yeah, republicans are really downplaying this revelation that this fbi informant has now been charged with fabricating these allegations, these bribery allegations about the president and his son, hunter james comer. he's the house chairman of the oversight committee. he said his work is quote, not reliant on this informant and that they have a mountain of other evidence and meanwhile, a spokesman for jim jordan, he's the house judiciary chairman said that nothing has changed in terms of what their inquiry is going to do, but brianna, that is a very different tune than what republic again, so i've been saying really for almost a year now, remember, they thought four months to publicize this fbi document that contain these now discredited claims from

that fbi informant and really was at least one of the reasons why they decided to open an impeachment inquiry into the president biden last year. just take a listen to how republicans have previously described this way. >> how real of a bribery scant joe biden bribery scandal allegation is this >> well, every day this bribery scandal becomes more credible, we already know the president took bribes from burisma, even a trusted fbi informant has alleged a bribe to the biden family. >> the most corroborating evidence we have is that 1023 form from this highly credible, confidential human source, according to us attorney scott brady now this all comes as house republicans had already been struggling to convince many of their members to support impeachment. that case likely only going to be a tougher sell now, and meanwhile, you have democrats now formally calling on house republicans to officially end their impeachment inquiry into biden. but as of right now,

brianna, no signs of that happening. >> all right. melanie >> zanona, live for us on the >> hill, coming up the reported death of alexey navalny is highlighting the dangers of challenging or criticizing vladimir putin in russia. it's just the latest in a disturbing pattern going back years corruption lies prison. governor rod blagojevich went down in a blaze of information. >> i've done a lot wrong. criminal nine. okay. well, that's one factor. >> united states of scandal with jake tapper, back-to-back premiere sunday at nine on scene in one barbus was to turbotax >> i've wrote for generations of family tradition with five little words. >> i want to make perfume getting my business off the ground was a full-time job. >> so i made bbs use did kill a guaranteeing 100% accurate filing in a maximum refund make

your moves will make them count into its turbotax, 100% accuracy guaranteed. >> man bryan, gary, and today we're talking about the biggest misconception there is about replacement windows i'm here with ted cones, the project manager for renewal by anderson to talk about it. >> yeah. one of the big things we hear from homeowners is i shouldn't need to replace my window they're just not that old. >> but here's the thing >> homebuilders put in high-end kitchens bathrooms and low in windows just aren't that good. so even if your windows are only seven to ten years old they may still need to be replaced. >> said there's so many window companies out there. what's different about your company? >> well, besides being the full service replacement window division of anderson we're the company people tend to call when their particular about their home. they don't want just any old window or any all installed. >> so your standards for installers are pretty high, right >> yeah. brian, you can have the best window or door in the world than if it's not installed correctly, it's going to fail so we don't hire these jack of all trades installers that do gutters inciting on the side our window installation

teams do our windows year-in, year-out, and have done thousands of them anytime a homeowner has to deal with multiple home improvement companies, they get stuck in the blame game. >> yeah. >> with other companies, if there's an issue, the manufacturer blames the installer the installer blames the manufacturer with us. there's no finger-pointing are blaming each other. we're both the installer and the manufacturer said is it easy for a homeowner to get a price? >> very easy will come out to your house, will assess your current patio door windows, and then we'll give you an exact price. that's good for an entire year so that's great information. thank you. >> this month only saved 20% on windows, saved 20% on patio doors, and saved 20% on entry doors, plus take $150 off your entire purchase with zero money down zero monthly payments and zero-interest for one year. this offer ends february 29 for a free appointment with renewal by anderson call 1805011400.

that's 1805011400 sorry, throat that you use an x institutes or throat medicated drops uniquely formulated for rapid relief that lasts and rapid relief that lasts and lasts this ad? typical. politicians... "he's bad. i'm good." blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuses corporate pac money. and leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable.

and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. reliefs, absolutely free text hello, v0 to three-to-one, three-to-one today our manu raju on capitol hill. >> and this is cnn >> alexey navalny is the latest in a long line of vladimir putin's critics to meet an early death. some of them under mysterious or even violent circumstances brian todd is following this story. so brian, what does navalny's reported death mean for any remaining putin opposition still in russia? well, brianna, one analyst says this is horrifying news for any opposition figures in russia, whether they're in jail or not. alexei navalny now joins a list of rivals who become famous for their courage in opposing vladimir putin and for the consequences they suffered. >> but it's looser fighting. the

>> reported death of one of vladimir putin's biggest adversaries, whether it's ever actually traced to the former kgb colonel or not, analysts say certainly fits a very haunting pattern. >> there's not a lot of russian opposition left anymore all right, again, people are either in exile, dead in prison. >> alexei navalny now apparently joins an unsettling list of those who've challenged vladimir putin and paid the price in order for putin to have been the leader for 23 years. he's had to be the seemed to be the meanest guy in the prison yard, the one who would cause damage mitch, to anybody who even looked at him the wrong way. >> financier bill browder was a client of sergei magnitsky, an attorney who exposed corruption and putin's government was arrested and died in prison in 2009 >> yes. what should be read? yeah, yevgeny prigozhin, the billionaire head of the wagner paramilitary group, died last year in mysterious plane crash after leading a short-lived rebellion against the kremlin, imprisoned putin critic vladimir kara-murza says he's been poisoned at least twice and sent into a coma. boris

nemtsov once one of russia's most outspoken opposition leaders, was gunned down on a bridge at the foot of the kremlin in 2015 on a polic cuff skier, a problem? i'm going to journalist was a vocal critic of putin's regime and the wars in chechnya. she was shot and killed in her moscow apartment building in 2006. then there were the former russian spies who putin saw as threats with every putin has a particular beef with people he calls traitors and he has gone after them in various parts of the world, including in london, in the case of a former fsb agent, alexander litvinenko, as well as the attack on a former soviet double agent, sergei skripal hall and the southern english city of salisbury in 2018, former spy sergei skripal and his daughter for were poisoned and nearly killed in britain with the powerful nerve agent novichok, an attack which british investigators tied to putin in 2006, former russian intelligence agent alexander litvinenko, who'd been digging up information potentially

tying putin to organized crime, was killed in london when someone slipped the radioactive substance polonium to his tie. >> the bridge investigators found beyond reasonable doubt on evidence that two agents of the russian security services poisoned mr. litvinenko, putin's regime has denied involvement in all of these cases. but at the same time, he absolutely doesn't care about his international reputation in some way. is he's interested in a reputation that is a violence. >> now could vladimir putin now have a bigger target on his back? one analyst says it's possible that someone in putin's inner circle could turn on him, but the analysts also says he is woven people into that circle who simply benefit too much by being there and would harm them significantly to take them out, brianna yeah. >> it's also very notable and we noticed this brian from the script ball and the litvinenko cases. it's not only opposition figures who were inside of russia who are in

danger here. that is >> right, briana, you mentioned those two cases that we're in our paste the script, paul's, and lift an aco in britain. but look, opponents of putin had been attacked in the united states. they've been attacked in asia and elsewhere. he has an immense reach. it doesn't ever seem to really trace back to him personally though >> and as one of your experts noted, he absolutely doesn't care. he's operating with this impunity and it doesn't seem that there's really a way to stop him >> not right now. it does not seem that now he is wanted for war crimes and other things in certain parts of the world. and by certain international bodies. but he has always smart and savvy enough to never travel to those places. he knows exactly how to evade capture or evade accountability here, and even knows very, very well, brianna, how to kind of erase any even slight of fingerprints and any traces of this that lead back to him personally brian todd. >> thank you so much for putting that piece together for situatm brianna keilar in the