>>> WE TURN TO OUR SPECIAL REPORT TONIGHT, MY EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW WITH AN EXILED PUTIN RIVAL FOLLOWED BY A DISCUSSION
WITH MSNBC'S RACHEL MADDOW. MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY WAS THE
RICHEST MAN IN RUSSIA UNTIL HE CROSSED VLADIMIR PUTIN AND LOST
NEARLY EVERYTHING. HE BECAME THE MOST TRUSTED
FIGURE IN RUSSIA, AND QUOTE, PUTIN'S BIGGEST LIABILITY.
THIS IS HIS FIRST AMERICAN TV INTERVIEW SINCE TRUMP TOOK
OFFICE. >> Translator: COULD I HAVE BEEN
MURDERED? CERTAINLY.
I WAS KNIFED IN THE FACE WHILE SLEEPING.
WAS I AFRAID OF IT? NYET.
>> Reporter: MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY SPENT TEN YEARS IN
PRISON AFTER CROSSING VLADIMIR PUTIN.
ONCE THE RICHEST MAN IN RUSSIA, HE MADE A FATEFUL DECISION TO
CRITICIZE PUTIN'S CORRUPTION AT A 2003 MEETING TO PUTIN'S FACE.
>> Translator: THIS IS A MAN WITH A VERY PARTICULAR VIEW OF
LIFE, A VIEW TYPICAL OF SPECIAL SERVICES OPERATIVES OR
GANGSTERS. IF YOU SHOW WILLINGNESS TO
NEGOTIATE, IT MEANS YOU'RE WEAK AND MUST BE SQUASHED.
>> Reporter: KHODORKOVSKY DID NOT SEEM WEAK.
THE WELL CONNECTED OLIGARCH RAN RUSSIA'S LARGEST OIL COMPANY
BEFORE PUTIN SEIZED IT AND HAD AN AUCTIONEER GAVEL A SHAM SALE
TO THE KREMLIN, AND PROSECUTING HIM, DISPLAYING KHODORKOVSKY IN
A STEEL CAGE DURING ONE TRIAL AND IN A PLEXIGLASS CUBE IN
ANOTHER TRIAL. THE VERDICT WAS INTERNATIONAL
NEWS. >> KHODORKOVSKY STUNNED TO HEAR
THE HARSH SENTENCE. >> Reporter: AFTER TEN YEARS IN
PRISON, HE WAS FREED AND EXILED. >> TONIGHT THE HOST NATION OF
RUSSIA IS CONTINUING A WELL TIMED RELEASE OF HIGH PROFILE
PRISONERS. >> MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY DECIDED
THAT HE WOULD PUT HIS MONEY TO WORK FOR WHAT HE WANTED FOR HIS
COUNTRY. >> Reporter: NOW HE'S SPEAKING
OUT AND JUST SAT DOWN IN HIS FIRST AMERICAN TV INTERVIEW
SINCE TRUMP TOOK OFFICE. >> Translator: THERE WAS A VERY
SMALL GROUP IN THE KREMLIN THAT HAS USURPED POWER BY TAKING THE
POST OF THE PRESIDENT. NOBODY ELECTED THIS GROUP.
IT EXISTS ABOVE THE RUSSIAN LAW. >> Reporter: HE SAYS THAT SMALL
GROUP MEDDLED IN 2016. >> Translator: I AM ALMOST
CONVINCED THAT PUTIN'S PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO INFLUENCE THE U.S.
ELECTION IN SOME WAY. >> ON THE SCALE OF ZERO TO 10,
WHAT NUMBER, IN YOUR VIEW, DO YOU GIVE THE THEORY THAT PUTIN
DID SEEK TO COLLABORATE AND COLLUDE WITH THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN?
>> Translator: I WOULD SAY NINE OUT OF TEN THAT HE PERSONALLY
AND HIS INNER CIRCLE ATTEMPTED TO COOPERATE.
WHETHER OR NOT THAT PROPOSAL WAS ACCEPTED, I WOULD LET THE PEOPLE
RESPONSIBLE FOR INVESTIGATING THE MATTER ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
>> Reporter: BOB MUELLER MAY ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
HE'S INVESTIGATING RUSSIANS OFFERING TRUMP AIDES INFORMATION
TO INCRIMINATE HILLARY CLINTON FROM THE PROSECUTOR OF RUSSIA,
AN APPARENT REFERENCE TO URY CHIEK KA.
>> Translator: I WOULDN'T FIND IT AT ALL UNUSUAL IF MR. CHIEK
KA USED AN ATTORNEY HE KNEW TO PROPOSE SOME KIND OF DEAL TO
FUTURE INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN AMERICA BECAUSE HE WOULD WANT TO
MAKE HIMSELF USEFUL FUL TO VLAD PUTIN.
WERE HE TO DECIDE TO TAKE SUCH A STEP, HE WOULD GET PERMISSION
FROM VLADIMIR PUTIN BEFOREHAND. >> Reporter: KHODORKOVSKY WORKED
WITH OTHER PUTIN ALLIES ALSO IMPLICATED IN THE RUSSIA
INVESTIGATION, HIS FORMER EMPLOYEE SERGEI GORKOV RUNS A
KREMLIN BANK AND MET WITH JARED KUSHNER IN DECEMBER.
>> Translator: WHEN HE WORKED FOR ME HE WAS A FINE EMPLOYEE.
I HAVE NO DOUBT HE WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING ON HIS OWN BEHALF.
HE IS A MAN WHO CARRIES OUT ORDERS.
>> Reporter: FOR THE FIRST TIME KHODORKOVSKY SAYS HE THINKS
THOSE ORDERS CAME FROM PUTIN'S TOP BANKERS.
>> Translator: IF THERE WERE INSTRUCTORS, THEY CAME FROM THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE BANK OR THE LEVEL OF MR. GRAPH
WHICH ISN'T AS LIKELY. >> Reporter: ONE OF THOSE PUTIN
BANKERS ORGANIZED A 2013 DINNER FOR DONALD TRUMP, ALONG WITH THE
SAME TRUMP ASSOCIATE NAMED IN THE TRUMP POWER E-MAILS.
>> HOW DO YOU INTERPRET THAT THE RUSSIAN BANK SAYS THIS WAS FOR
BUSINESS AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT SAY IT WAS FOR GOVERNMENT?
>> Translator: IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME TO I INTERPRET SUCH A
CONTRADICTION. HOWEVER, IT'S VERY POSSIBLE THAT
WHAT YOUR ADMINISTRATION REGARDS AS A GOVERNMENTAL ISSUE, RUSSIAN
REPRESENTATIVES VIEW AS PURELY BUSINESS.
ALTHOUGH IN MY EXPERIENCE, IT'S TYPICALLY THE OPPOSITE.
>> Reporter: THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING IF THAT KUSHNER
MEETING WAS PURELY BUSINESS AND IF KREMLIN MONEY WAS OFFERED TO
INFLUENCE RELATIONS WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
>> I HOPE THAT WE DO HAVE GOOD RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA.
>> Reporter: KHODORKOVSKY SAYS PUTIN IS AN EFFECTIVE OPPONENT.
>> Translator: PUTIN IS A STRONG TACTICIAN, NO DOUBT, AND HE'S
MORE EXPERIENCED THAN TRUMP. IF THEY WERE TO FACE OFF, I
WOULDN'T BET ON TRUMP. >> Reporter: BUT THE U.S. HAS
OTHER ADVANTAGES. >> Translator: AMERICA HAS
SOMETHING PUTIN DOESN'T. PUTIN HAS A SMALL CRIMINAL
NETWORK BEHIND HIM. A U.S. PRESIDENT HAS A HUGE
DEMOCRATIC APPARATUS BEHIND HIM. >> Reporter: WHILE HE KNOWS THE
DANGER OF CROSSING PUTIN, KHODORKOVSKY SAYS HE WILL
CONTINUE HIS OPPOSITION. >> Translator: I COULD MAKE MY
LIFE SAFER BY NOT GETTING SOLVED IN THE SOCIOPOLITICAL LIFE OF MY
COUNTRY, BUT THEN IT WOULDN'T BE MY LIFE.LIFE.
I AM INVOLVED AND I ACCEPT THE RISKS THAT COME WITH IT.
>> WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU WENT BACK TO RUSSIA RIGHT NOW?
>> Translator: IF I CROSSED THE RUSSIAN BORDER, I WOULD BE
ARRESTED AND SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON.
>> Reporter: PRISON SHAPED KHODORKOVSKY'S OUTLOOK AND HIS
RATIONALE FOR RISKING EVERYTHING.
>> DID YOU EVER THINK YOU MIGHT DIE IN PRISON?
>> Translator: WE HAVE A JOKE IN OUR COUNTRY.
FIRST A PERSON IS STRIPPED OF ALL PLEASURES AND THEN ASKED,
ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE UP YOUR LIFE.
SO THE PERSON RESPONDS, OF COURSE, WHAT DO I WANT WITH THIS
LIFE? THE POINT IS, LIFE SEEMS WORTH
LIVING FAR LESS INSIDE A RUSSIAN PRISON THAN OUTSIDE OF IT.
>> WITH RUSSIAN JOKES ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH OR CRY?
>> Translator: WITH NEARLY ALL RUSSIAN JOKES, YOU LAUGH THROUGH
THE TEARS.