The Russian opposition leader tells Lesley Stahl about what he went through after falling ill on an airplane this past August and why he won't let it stop him from the work he's doing against Russian President Vladimir Putin. This photo was taken the first day he saw his children after being taken off a ventilator. Alexey Navalny: That is a toughest part, yes. You seem to be. Lesley Stahl: You have-- your son is 12 and your daughter is in college. "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl joins "CBS This Morning" to preview the first U.S. TV interview with Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny since he was poisoned with a … Personal money, about his family being rich. That's why fighting corruption means for him that he's fighting me. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the charge is "completely baseless and unacceptable.". See the interview, Sunday. And then you woke up and what happened? Alexey Navalny: I still need some time to recover. They thought that after 48 hours, this poison would be untraceable. Interesting how it's work. Navalny is under constant surveillance. Navalny’s doctors said his blood potassium levels were at 7.1 mmol (millimole) per liter — significantly higher than the 6.0 level which usually requires immediate treatment. Alexey Navalny: After this coma, I just jump to the long period of kind of crazy hallucinations. Alexey Navalny: Actually, every cell of your body just are telling you that, "Body, we are done.". One of America's most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 1991. Air Date: Oct 14, 2020 In his first American television interview since nearly losing his life after being poisoned, Alexey Navalny says he's sure Vladimir Putin is responsible and that President Trump needs to come out against those types of attacks. Absolutely not. I have no idea. Lesley Stahl: But you do go to rehab. Well-- (SIGH) but anyway, we should fight these people because they will never stop. When we first met Navalny three years ago, he was running against Putin for president. Produced by E. Alexandra Poolos. You have survived the most potent nerve agent there is, and you are as fiery and worked up about your-- about Putin and what's going on in this country as you were when I met you a couple years ago. 3 in the city of Vladimir about 60 miles east of Moscow and not far from Navalny’s current prison. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl first interviewed Navalny in the lead-up to the 2018 Russian presidential election. But they stand it. I don't feel any fear, but children. Alexey Navalny spoke to “60 Minutes” about the August incident that left him hospitalized and critically ill, saying, “I’m sure [Vladimir Putin] is responsible.” So that's why his-- they decided to, you know-- extreme measures. Alexey Navalny spoke to “60 Minutes” about the August incident that left him hospitalized and critically ill, saying, “I’m sure [Vladimir Putin] is responsible.” Season 53. Maybe more important, you cannot use it. Because I, well, it's again, it's just pure speculation, because no one knows what-- what-- what happened exactly. Now Navalny is recuperating in Berlin, where we went this past week after Germany granted us special permission to travel there despite COVID restrictions. What is kind of really a horrible thought, if they will try to use this Novichok somewhere around my apartment where my children is come. ", Yulia Navalnaya: I wrote, like, "I insist that he should do it. You must connect to your TV Provider to watch this video. He's been beaten, had green dye with acid splashed in his face and now he can add poisoning to his resume and blame President Putin. So-- that's why we now-- we know that I was poisoned in the hotel. Navalny was attempting to challenge Putin for the country's top office. Lesley Stahl: You know, you used to be known as the man who had no fear. This is what he looked like just a month ago, soon after his doctors brought him out of an induced coma. It's something terrifying. Russia's government says Alexey Navalny can't run for office, but he remains determined to run against Vladimir Putin in March 2018 ... Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes … (LAUGH). The vocal critic of Vladimir Putin talked about falling ill on a flight to Moscow in August. 60 Minutes interviewed Navalny in October. Navalny was attempting to challenge Putin for the country’s top office. They are continue to improve it. Meanwhile, his team in Siberia searched his hotel room, collecting things Navalny may have touched, like this water bottle, which the doctors in Berlin sent along with a blood sample to a German military lab to see exactly what the poison was. Are you back? And several, you know, steps of realizing where I am, who I am. Full Episodes. Use the form below to send us your comments. My-- I am very lucky man because I have all support from my family. Why wouldn't it be one of the oligarchs whom you've embarrassed by, as you say, exposing their corruption? Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments, and profiles of people in the news, the CBS News magazine has been the number-one program a record five times. Navalny speaks to Lesley Stahl in his first U.S. television interview since being poisoned eight weeks ago with the nerve agent Novichok on the next edition of 60 Minutes… When 60 Minutes came to interview Navalny, he had just gotten out of jail and immediately took to the streets to hold a rally, again. Full Episodes. Do you ever think-- that you are you're putting them in danger? (LAUGH) I'm glad that I survived. Alexey Navalny is the leader of the opposition in Russia who has survived an assassination attempt by poisoning. So it means they're not just violating with keeping it. And they just keep me there until this 48 hours will be gone. The hospital is located at Correctional Facility No. Alexey Navalny: Yes, to learn from the scratch how to move, how to do some things. Lesley Stahl: Mr. Putin told the President of France that you poisoned yourself--. Alexey Navalny: Absolutely not. He later told "60 Minutes" he knew he was dying. There are no shots and in a couple of hours, you-- you'll be dead and without any traces on your body. Alexey Navalny: I said to the flight attendant, and I kind of shocked him with my statement, "Well, I was poisoned and I'm gonna die." They-- interesting that-- I feel kind of a bit of wooden or tin man, like from "The Wizard of Oz" because the body lost all flexibility at all. ET / PT on CBS.Stahl spoke with Navalny and his wife Yulia this week in Berlin, where he was recovering from the deadly substance that German military and independent laboratories in Sweden and France have confirmed to … "Actually, every cell of your body just are telling you that, 'Body, we are done,'" he told "60 Minutes." ", Lesley Stahl: "I demand you free my husband.". Navalny was also asked whether he … I think for Putin-- why-- he's using this chemical weapon to do-- do both, kill me and, you know, terrify others. Alexey Navalny: It's maybe-- it's the most toxic agent invented by the humans. Lesley Stahl: Did you write a letter to Putin? 60 Minutes interviewed Navalny in October. When we sat down with Navalny, he told us he was on an airplane on August 20 when he began to feel strange and then very, very sick. He says he found that the Kremlin's inner circle was accumulating vast amounts of wealth and published pictures of multiple homes and yachts. Navalny… His friends, like, all his people who-- was-- served hi-- with him-- with him in the KGB, all of them, they are billionaires. It was just to, you know, annoy him. So this nerve agent was not inside of a bottle but on the bottle. There is no criminal investigation so far. In 2017, when Stahl first interviewed Navalny for 60 Minutes, she asked him if the movement he led was worth risking his life. In 2017, Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny told 60 Minutes he was willing to risk his life for the cause, "I think I'm ready to sacrifice everything for my job." The world’s top chemical weapons watchdog group concluded that the substance ingested in August by Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critic, was a … It's something really scary, where the people just drop dead without-- there are no gun. Lesley Stahl: What about the psychological effect of having-- knowing that somebody tried to kill you, came that close? And I immediately lay down on-- onto his feet. So maybe ironically, I became kind of more human after this, facing death. Lesley Stahl: You'd almost have to at this point. This month Alexey Navalny returned to Russia and was thrown into jail, sparking protests in over 100 Russian cities. You will kill yourself and everyone around. Lesley Stahl in 2017 interview: Did these documents that you got prove corruption? Navalny, whom the Russian secret police unsuccessfully sought to kill last summer with a banned chemical weapon, is now being held in a prison camp known for its harsh conditions about 60 … Lesley Stahl: And I gather they suspected poison right away? And I'm working on it. It's-- now it's-- difficult move is for me, for example, pick something from the ground. And, like, you know, this door or something, but everyone can touch it. Lesley Stahl: You have said you think that Mr. Putin's responsible. Alexey Navalny: Yes. Because it means that they still have this Novichok. So after 48 hours, the Russian government allowed him to be flown by air ambulance to a hospital in Berlin known for its experience with victims of poison attacks. Alexey Navalny: That's why, actually, they deny everything. Alexey Navalny: And it's-- it's something very special about Mr. Putin, that he's crazy about money. Alexey Navalny: It's a banned substance. Alexey Navalny was on a flight to Moscow from Siberia where he had been campaigning against Putin's party in a local election when he collapsed with no pain but knowing he was dying. A Russian dissident journalist, Navalny was poisoned on Putin's orders as he traveled in Siberia in August. Copyright © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc.All rights reserved. Lesley Stahl: So you were in a coma. And Putin thought it would be safe for him, just let me out after the 48 hours. No. He was arrested before he even left his apartment building. Air Date: Oct 14, 2020, 60 Minutes: The Oath Keepers; Race and Health; Viola Davis — 4/18/2021, 4/11/2021: Chairman Powell, The Last Pandemic, Prince and the Revelation, 4/4/2021: A Fair Shot, Darren Walker, Survival, 3/28/2021: What Happened in Wuhan?, Dynamic Robots, Kindred in the Bleachers, 3/21/2021: Prosecuting the Riot, Race in the Ranks, Back to School, 3/14/2021: Variants, The Prosecutor, Best Band in the Land, 3/7/2021: The Unequal Recession, The Long Shot, Back to the Moon, 2/28/2021: Progress and Patience, Incoming, Colson Whitehead, 2/21/2021: Attack on the Judiciary, Handcuffed to the Truth, QAnon, 2/14/2021: SolarWinds, Bill Gates 3.0, Simone Biles, 1/31/2021: Left Behind, The Biodata Race, DNA For Sale, 1/17/2021: Against All Enemies, The Threat, The Comeback. Alexey Navalny: You know, I think it's a good thing. The Kremlin barred him from running due to his criminal record. Lesley Stahl: You know, I'm smiling because here you are. And Putin is enjoying it. And--, Alexey Navalny: Yes, I-- I have noticed it. Putin is contending with rounds of protests in the far eastern part of the country with people taking to the streets for the past three months. Broadcast associate, Wren Woodson. Do you go every day? Edited by Peter M. Berman. "I'm trying to not think about it," Navalny said to 60 Minutes … Air Date: Jan 31, 2021 Sundays 7/6c . And the answer was Novichok. And yet, he said he's determined to return to Moscow in a couple of months as soon as he is 100% and resume his work where he left off campaigning against Vladimir Putin. Navalny said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “The Challenger” was produced by E. Alexandra Poolos. On Sunday, October 18, CBS aired a “60 Minutes” interview with Navalny. I note this in light of Alexey Navalny's new comments to CBS's 60 Minutes. Lesley Stahl: Those are tough ages to realize that your father came close to being assassinated. Alexey Navalny describes being poisoned; Then, Dr. Anthony Fauci on his media restrictions, Trump contracting COVID, masks, voting and more; And, the … Alexey Navalny: I don't think. One of the other passengers turned on his phone and captured Navalny moaning in anguish. He moved on to airing documentaries on YouTube, with video of the officials' lavish lifestyle. Alexey Navalny: Well, it was a big fight. Navalny, his wife, his bodyguard and I went out for a walk in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and a phalanx of police showed up. This month Alexey Navalny returned to Russia and was thrown into jail, sparking protests in over 100 Russian cities. Lesley Stahl: The Russians have said that they destroyed all these chemical weapons. If you are experiencing problems, please describe them. And…. Navalny speaks to Lesley Stahl in his first U.S. television interview since being poisoned eight weeks ago with the nerve agent Novichok on the next 60 Minutes, Sunday, October 18 at 7 p.m. Rail thin, with a sickly pallor. Labs in France and Sweden corroborated the finding: there's no doubt it was military-grade Novichok. If-- if Putin is not responsible, why there is no investigation? In August, Navalny collapsed while on a flight to Moscow from Siberia, where he had been campaigning against Putin's party in a local election. This month Alexey Navalny returned to Russia and was thrown into jail, sparking protests in over 100 Russian cities. Navalny thinks the attempt on his life is connected. Alexey Navalny: This is absolutely correct. I'm sure that he is responsible. In 2017, Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny told 60 Minutes he was willing to risk his life for the cause, "I think I'm ready to sacrifice everything for my job." 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl first interviewed Navalny in the lead-up to the 2018 Russian presidential election. But why would Putin want to poison Alexey Navalny? Lesley Stahl: Now how can you say that? Navalny collapsed with no pain but knowing he was dying. The pilot made an emergency landing in Omsk. Lesley Stahl: Well, how do you feel now? Alexey Navalny: Despite his controlling police, judges, courts, media, and everything, still he's-- like-- he understands that he is surrounded by protest. Alexey Navalny: Well, it was a difficult situation. We first met Alexey Navalny three years ago when he was running for president against Putin. Where medics, thinking Navalny must be a drug addict, administered the usual treatment for an overdose and rushed him to a local hospital where they said he wasn't poisoned but wouldn't let him leave for days. Air Date: Oct 14, 2020 Sundays 7/6c . His blog enflamed so much outrage in 2017 that tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets against Putin. Alexey Navalny in 2017 interview: Absolutely. Like-- Putin with a conversation with the French President Macron, he said, "Well, Navalny poisoned himself." He is under the protection of the German government because there's concern he could be the target of another poisoning. Alexei Navalny, left, told 60 Minutes that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, right, ‘enjoyed’ using poison as a means to silence dissenting … Alexey Navalny: So, I think it's extremely important that everyone, of course, including and maybe in the first of all, president of United States, to be very against using chemical weapons in the 21st Century. He's been jailed so many times, he's lost count. They will poison someone else. And it's increasing. Alexey Navalny: It was an online campaign, "Let him out!" His wife, Yulia, says government agents were at the hospital controlling access to her husband and she believes calling the shots. Because it's very difficult to, you know... Alexey Navalny: Yes. 60 Minutes airs Sundays on CBS at 7 p.m. ET/PT. He told the flight attendant he was poisoned and “going to die.” He spent more than a month in the hospital, much of it in the ICU. Alexey Navalny is the leader of the opposition in Russia who has survived an assassination attempt by poisoning. So it's new type of Novichok, which proves that, unfortunately, Putin have-- developing new program of these chemical weapon, which is forbidden. Did they say to you, "Pop, Dad, you have to stop.". It's very useful for politician, maybe facing death once, because it's-- change you a bit. But Angela Merkle of Germany and Emmanuel Macron of France have persuaded the European Union to impose sanctions over this. The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment about Navalny’s 60 Minutes interview. And then this huge cover-up operation. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This Sunday on 60 Minutes, Stahl interviews Navalny for his first appearance on American television since he was poisoned. I could not speak and I could not write. Alexey Navalny: Well, I'm glad. Kate Morris was the Associate Producer. Lesley Stahl: You certainly travel with a lot of protection. He had made a name for himself by getting his hands on incriminating internal financial documents related to high-level officials and posting them on a blog. — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 14, 2020 In an interview with 60 Minutes due to air Sunday at 7pm ET/PT on CBS , Navalny laughed as Lesley … Alexey Navalny: Yes, I have a lot of security. Lesley Stahl: Well, how has this affected your family? The Kremlin barred him from running due to his criminal record. Lesley Stahl: "Dear Mr. Putin… free my husband. The water bottle that may have poisoned Navalny, Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin handout/REUTERS, Navalny soon after his doctors brought him out of an induced coma, California Privacy/Information We Collect. It's not something you can buy in the store even if you have millions of the-- billions of dollars. “Everyone in the country knows that all this madness is done for one person only.” On the 60 Minutes program, part of Navalny’s YouTube video was aired as the two hosts and guest panelists stared … They will poison more people. Lesley Stahl: Well, all these leaders have signed on, except Donald Trump. Novichok is a highly toxic nerve agent said to be ten times more potent than sarin gas. And I'm not afraid to announce the names. When Navalny called for a second round of protests three months later. Lesley Stahl: Is it important to you that he condemn this action? Season 53. Alexey Navalny: They discover Novichok, this nerve agent in my blood, inside of body, on my body and on this bottle from the hotel. Associate producers, Kate Morris, Collette Richards and Anna Noryskiewicz. But I think that when I was-- maybe put some clothes with these-- with this poison on me, I touch it with the hand, and then I sip from the bottle. 60 Minutes, the most successful broadcast in television history. But what about your family? He's one in a long list of Vladimir Putin's critics who have been victims of unsolved shootings, suspicious suicides and poisonings. Totally back? At the time, Navalny was in a coma, unaware that Yulia was waging a public campaign to encourage western diplomatic pressure. Alexey Navalny: Even for an oligarch, it's impossible to get this Novichok. Lesley Stahl: And there's no doubt that Russia is the only place where that could have come from? And look, what they're doing right now. I work as a whistleblower. Seriously?