00:00 Good afternoon. I'm heading off to East Palestine in a moment, but I wanted to say a few things
00:08 this morning about Alexei Navalny. You know, like millions of people around the world,
00:15 I'm literally both not surprised and outraged by the news, reported death of Alexei Navalny.
00:23 He bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence, and all the bad things that the
00:32 Putin government was doing. In response, Putin had him poisoned, he had him arrested, he
00:39 had him prosecuted for fabricated crimes, he was sentenced to prison, he was held in
00:45 isolation. Even all that didn't stop him from calling out Putin's lies. Even in prison,
00:51 he was a powerful voice for the truth, which is kind of amazing when you think about it.
00:56 And he could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020,
01:02 which nearly killed him, I might add. But he was traveling outside the country at the
01:08 time. Instead, he returned to Russia, returned to Russia, knowing he'd likely be imprisoned
01:14 or even killed if he continued his work. But he did it anyway, because he believed so deeply
01:21 in his country, in Russia. Reports of his death, if they're true, and I have no reason
01:26 to believe it or not, Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make
01:30 no mistake, make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Putin is responsible.
01:38 What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin's brutality. No one should be fooled,
01:45 not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world. Putin does not only target his
01:50 citizens of other countries, as we've seen what's going on in Ukraine right now, he also
01:55 inflicts terrible crimes on his own people. And as people across Russia and around the
02:00 world are mourning Navalny today, because he was so many things that Putin was not.
02:06 He was brave. He was principled. He was dedicated to building a Russia where the rule of law
02:12 existed and where it applied to everybody. Navalny believed in that Russia, that Russia.
02:20 He knew it was a cause worth fighting for, and obviously even dying for. This tragedy
02:26 reminds us of the stakes of this moment. We have to provide the funding so Ukraine can
02:31 keep defending itself against Putin's vicious onslaughts and war crimes.
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