ice things are just not going well for him he spent the last month at a hospital where there are no doctors that he's given multitude of injections and not having any clear understanding of what they're giving him or and you can imagine how terrifying that would be and it's hard to imagine it. >> but when we can all see the pain that your in your families and i know you're 95-year-old mother. and our thoughts are all with you. i know on a day that is full of joy for other families it's important to see the pain that you are. you are going through your family thank you for sharing it thank you.

>> thank you for having me thanks so much to end. of course to all of you. ac360 starts now good evening from washington, about three hours from now, a us government jet, will touch down at joint base andrews capping the largest prisoner exchange with russia since the cold war and one of the most intricate of its kind ever 16 russian detainees released, including three americans. >> wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich, former marine paul whelan, russian american journalist alsu kurmasheva, also dissident and us permanent resident, vladimir kara-murza, they were flown from russia to ankara, turkey, where the exchange took place, like the deal itself. that exchange involved several different planes from the u.s. germany, poland, slovenia, norway, and russia here is gershkovich should have photo the white house put out with kurmasheva and whelan speaking with

president biden. and here they are on the plane. that's now just a short way out from andrew's speaking about what went into freeing them, the normally buttoned down national security adviser, jake sullivan well, he got choked up i spent a lot of time with the families of evan and paul and all sue. >> and most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations but not today. today excuse me today was very good day and we're going to build on it i'm drawing inspiration and can continued courage from it for all of those who were held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world sullivan was deeply involved in those negotiations. the dark flip side of the deal, the price of the deal. however, it was the release of a collection of russian criminals and alleged criminals, including the man in the cap there. vadim krasikov, former fsb colonel and hitman, convicted of an execution style

murder. here greeted by vladimir putin back in moscow with a warm embrace, former president trump's a little good in the deal quoting now from his post on social media, quote i got back many hostages and gave the opposing country nothing. and never any cash first, jake sullivan today said the u.s. included no money in the deal and did not loosen any economic sanctions. additionally, cnn fact checker, daniel dale has uncovered for exchanges in which the former president himself prove the release of prisoners from us detention in exchange for foreign adversaries releasing americans. those adversaries, they include iran, the taliban, and the houthi rebels in yemen. as for evan gershkovich, he personally extended putin one final gesture before his release, according to the wall street journal, at the end of the application you shouldn't for clemency. he had to submit. he added a handwritten request for putin for an interview. always a working journalist

joining us now with more on what went into this remarkable deal will joined by cnn's alex marquardt and alex, what a complicated web of diplomacy that brought this over the finish line. all the countries involved how exactly the this deal come together. >> so many parties involved, so many countries involved, you mentioned jake sullivan, of course he the white house, the president intimately involved with this process roger carstens, the hostages goes here at the state department, would have laid out the basic framework, the landscape of the deal. but i'm told that the middlemen, essentially the people doing the shuttle negotiating that was the the cia director and bill burns. and if we look back on this timeline, about 18 months after brittney griner was exchanged for the merchant of death, death victor boot, the u.s. got back to work trying to get paul whelan out and i'm told that right after that the cia offered russia a two for one deal to russian spy as in slovenia, for paul whelan, they rejected that a couple of months later, evan gershkovich was detained the cia then went

back to the russians in moscow and offered a four for to deal for russian spies in different european countries, for paul whelan and evan gershkovich, they rejected that as well, making clear that they were not going to accept a deal without that assassin vadym cross it's a cough in germany and that was a really complicating factor because germany did not want to release him. so there were months and months of discussions about who might be involved in this deal. alexei navalny, the most prominent russian opposition figure, he was in discussions. and then of course he very sadly died in a russian prison in february, eventually, the u.s got around to pressuring germany enough to release krasikov so that by the time june came along, so just a month-and-a-half ago, the cia went to russia with this final proposal i'm told that a couple of weeks later in a phone call with bill burns and early july, they accepted it in principle, there were a couple of details that still needs to be worked out and then finally, jim and in a meeting in mid-july, again between the cia and russian intelligence on turkish soil they accepted the

deal, and now we're seeing it play out in real time. i'm told burns will be on the tarmac tonight with the president was one of the many facets to this deal is this was a big give for germany. kraskov is someone who committed murder in broad daylight on a german streets in another assassination on european soil here. so that was a big ask for germany and germany that well, they abided by the president's requests. their so tell us about president biden's role in this was central he was absolutely pivotal, certainly in the final moments. >> he had to essentially twist the arm of of the german chancellor scholz to in order to release krasikov the russians had made clear throughout the process that without krasikov, there was absolutely nothing the germans were ready to take back navalny in order to release krasikov. but then when he was killed that kind of put all kinds of questions in the air. so we are told that up until the last

minute, biden was working the phones. he was trying to get the germans across the finish line and including on that final day, that when he two weeks ago when he announced he was dropping out of the race, he actually made a separate call so the slovenian prime minister to make sure that they were onboard because they had to russian spies in their custody. so he really was working to get this deal across the very same day we should note the russians say navalny wasn't killed in prison. they say he died in prison, but certainly they had a minimum hold responsibility for that. alex marquardt. thanks so much. and please do stand by. before bringing the panel just a quick roadmap on how the rest of the night will unfold for these release prisoners. president biden, vice president harris, and family members, they're going to head to andrew's to greet evan gershkovich, paul whelan, and alsu kurmasheva, three and their families will then board a flight to san antonio that for the brooke army medical center and undergo a standard medical evaluation, get whatever care they might need. so joining alex as well

with me, evelyn farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and eurasia. the washington post, jason rezaian, who himself was held in captivity for 544 days by iran. we are also joined by former cia chief of russian operations, steve hall knows a thing or two about how russia operates here, jason, i do want to begin with you because you're the ones sitting at this table here who went through detention at attention of uncertain length. we should note that when you and others go in, you don't know when you're gonna come out or if you're going to come out, can you just describe? what they're feeling right now in terms of relief, i imagine a mix of emotions, joy, but also a lot of pain that they carry with them. jim of course, there's a lot of joy, a lot of relief for everybody involved that prolonged period of time. >> it my case a year-and-a-half in evan's case, almost a year-and-a-half. paul whelan, almost six years the not knowing is the hardest part. will this ever and how will

this end? i think that initial period on the airplane with fellow americans, with government officials on your way to freedom is really the first moment where you can let your shoulders loosen up a little bit and really plus okay. this part of my ordeal is finally over. and for the families i've been in touch with a couple of them today. and throughout the last few years, in the case of paul whelan this has to be a moment of immense joy and relief but also an understanding. there's a really long road ahead. as you know, it's been about eight years since i got out the road continues, you carry the pain. >> there's no there's no question. i heard the joy and the families voices this morning. steve hall, i do want to ask you a question here because jason mentioned the uncertainty of not knowing when they would be free. that's part of the part of the torture of this. but there was also fear that they might die in prison. i know that for instance, speaking to kara-murza's wife, evgenia, by

the way, he was twice poisoned by russia, nearly to the point of death. they weren't certain and couldn't be certain that they would necessarily survive prison. could they be no, as a matter of fact, if if you're going to be in a russian prison, there is a great, a high chance that it's not going to end well for you either, either deteriorating health are actual just murdered, just being killed, or we have to remember the current rise in prison system is not that different from stalin's gulag which played a role in incarceration. >> but really it's punishment. and it's taking it out on these prisoners. and of course, the russians were there's no rule of law. there's no abiding by international standards with regard to how prisoners are treated. so yeah, it's this it's a very, very difficult thing and i think torture it really is the right word more than more so than imprisonment in my view, you know, quite a new heard that for instance, and paul whelan speaking to our jennifer hansler through the many months and years that he was in detention. the conditions in these prisons are deliberately

nasty the food quality is deliberately nasty. this is all part of the way to pressure and to drain folks held in detention. i want to ask you, alex, just for more details about the russians who were released here, because this speaks to what is the the sad side. one might call it a sad necessity to exchanges like this. that is, that is that bad, and people are on the other side of the exchange. so tell us about the russians go, going free tonight. so krasikov was the big fish. he was the guy who putin really wanted the former fsb colonel. there are eight russians who are going home from a variety of different countries. three of them are coming from the united states. there then for more of what we call illegals, these are essentially spies living undercover. they were in norway, slovenia, and poland. one of them was the couple in slovenia and then you have these three in the united states for a variety of crimes, laundering hacking a cybercrimes. i want to highlight one of those man

40-year-old a romans alleged nephi, they convicted hacker and credit card fraudster who was serving a 27 year sentence in the united states. the russians had previously asked for zaluzhnyi fn, the u.s. had agreed to that, but the deal fell apart when the russians when the germans rather declined to give up krasikov. so he was sentenced in november to 14 years in prison he played a role in $50,000,000 cyber fraud ring. and then of course krasikov, the big name we saw him getting hugged by putin as he got off the plane. he was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 and germany, he carried out what's being called an execution-style killing in a berlin park he killed a chechen of former chechen fighter. and it was such a galling crime that that's really why there is so much resistance by the germans to give them up understandably. so this is about the rule of law for these, for these countries here, evelyn, when you look at

this, russia has practiced what i suppose you could call hostage diplomacy for a number of years now you might call it brings from me up ship hostage diplomacy might be too generous in that they deliberately take americans for trumped up or non-existent crimes to become trade capital, to get really bad guys out of detention abroad. the risk here, of course, and the criticism is when you do an exchange like this, are you laying the groundwork for the next hostage to be taken? >> i don't really think so, jim. i mean, when you never know for sure, but at the end of the day, you have to make a calculation. these 16 innocent lives were worth giving up these bloody, bloody murderers and spies, or bloody murderer and spies and hackers real criminals. and of course, the ticks are terrible morally. it does feel yucky for lack of a better word but, but at the end of the day, if you think about what you get in exchange i

think the president had no choice really, in a way, it was brilliant that they came up with this really big deal. i do remember when i was in munich in february there was talk about a big deal. bill browder, who someone that i've worked with, my organization, the mccain institute, has worked with to try to get vladimir kara-murza freed because you may know he was a paul there in centre mccain's funeral, was someone that john mccain, a war hero himself called a hero so we were listening closely to people like roger carstens, the ambassador who's in charge of these deals, these hostage deals, and there was some talk about this at the end of the day though vladimir putin's not going to change who he is because there's a deal or there's not a deal, he still wants to put pressure on us. he's still we'll take unwitting americans who go to his country. so i do agree with the administration, people who are saying don't go the people who are still being held i think i'm assuming are a hairdresser, a school teacher

who probably should've known better because you don't bring cannabis to russia but regular americans need to know for you journalists. i don't know what the calculation is because you do want to cover those country and not just for russia, but for china and iran, who jason, you know better than anyone that they practice the same thing before we go to quick questions, one, to use steve hall, it was notable to me that vladimir putin was on the tarmac in russia too welcome his detainees home here does he see this as a victory well, i think what he really wanted is he wanted he wanted the german assassin back because it's one of his own. >> he's an intelligence officer and he wanted to send a message to future assassination teams. that hey, you know, if you get caught when you're doing something that we send you to do, essentially kill somebody overseas. you get caught, don't worry about it. we will we will eventually get you out. so in that sense, he got in that sense what he wanted but it's a difficult balancing act. i can tell you this though. i was asking

myself, why now? i think that putin assessed that there was no way that he could do this if a trump administration came in because there is no connection, like the biden connection to the germans and that i think has played came into a, came into play when you just made its decision this way, should note that the children involved in this, as we saw just coming down the steps right there, they were the children of that spot by couple that was released from slovenia. that's why the two children, they were not detainees themselves before we go, jason, i'm just curious. what's the first thing you do on your first night of freedom? everybody has different. did you have a cheeseburger? you wanted to watch something on television? >> i made a couple of phone calls to somebody's and i had some sushi fair enough. >> i bet you imagine there were things they were prison picturing in the prison cell that they are ordering up right now. alex marquardt, evelyn farkas, jason rezaian, steve hall, of course. thanks so much coming up next the wall street journal publisher who worked so hard for this day and was with evan gershkovich, his family

for some of it also tonight the daughter of the late alexey navalny, she speaks about her dad, who as we mentioned just now, could have been a part of today's prisoner exchange. he not died suddenly and mysteriously in one of putin's harshest penal colonies, that's coming up shop etsy for classroom staples under $40 that are anything but basic, find everything from personalized apparel and accessories to give for teachers when you need back-to-school supplies under $40 everyone can agree on etsy has it start your day with nature me. the number one

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leaf filter.com today to come on summary in tokyo. and this is cnn with wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich on his way to joint base andrews and a warm welcome home from the president and vice president and loved ones. this ends a harrowing 491 days for his family, friends and colleagues joining us now, one of those colleagues, wall street journal publisher and dow jones ceo almar latour, good to have you on tonight on what i'm sure is a much happier evening for you and your team. >> great to be here. it is indeed a joyous day. >> yes and the first one in a fairly time i am certain i understand you were with the gershkovich family earlier today. i wonder what was their mood like and how are they reacting to this welcome news? >> well, there of course delighted to what you're showing. there is our breakfast

this morning we were filled with anticipation to family knew what was about to happen but it was still not real there was a lot of humour at that moment to just get through that moment there was also just a lot of emotion underlying the whole breakfast discussion. they were then dropped off at the white house. we hugged and and they went off to a new, much happier chapter. it was so chilling to conclude this ride with them i'm sure there was some nervousness too, right. >> until they sought with their own eyes. do you plan to be with them when evans plane lands at joint base andrews later tonight? >> yeah. we're headed over there with a handful of us, of course our reporters will be there doing their job, but also some of the team that worked nonstop on evan's case will be

there i'll go there as well. we'll then in the morning fly off to san antonio what do you hope to spend some more time with the family and evan when they are ready for it because they have a lot to process and of course, they are now in charge and evidence now in charge of his own time i have to say when i when i see evan's face a smile and the pictures and the video on that bus and russia means he shows such strength, right? nonplussed. it seems by all that he went through, we do have video of the wall street journal's new york newsroom reacting to the announcement a standing o for the news you were in the dc newsroom. tell us what it was, what it was like among the colleagues there had been rooting for him nervous about him through all these months well, listen, not too long ago we're at about six months ago. we were standing in

that very spot that you're showing right now and we were talking about the one-year anniversary of his detention. at that moment. there was a silence. there were different kinds of tears there's so much pent up emotion and that was clearly on display in the newsroom. but you're showing right now, but also in washington folks gathered and it was just an emotional and very meaningful moment for, for everyone who has contributed so much that newsroom as just given everything just carrying evans message every day reporting on it. but also promoting and putting a spotlight on his cause. >> yeah, i can't imagine a better feeling than seeing a colleague go giuffre. i wonder in the midst of what was a very difficult long-term negotiation. do you credit the biden administration for getting the deal across the finish line while the u.s administration has brought this

to a conclusion, and they deserve a major credit for getting this over the line, obviously without them this would not have happened it also happened in conjunction with a lot of other nations contributing their part, to allies we at the pleasure of also putting forth evan's case to someone to participants internationally know the importance that important roll that they played in this whole saga. >> and so we are deeply grateful to both the administration and numerous foreign governments, in particular, the german government i have to imagine as a newsman to you, we're grateful for evan gershkovich sneaking a request for a putin interview into that final request for clemency. >> he had decided and as he left, always a working journalist once a reporter always reporters, i would say it's it's very hard to put that instinct away and it was

lovely to see for evan to double down on that. >> even when confronted with an absurd request for a pardon almar latour, our congratulations to you. and the whole family. there at dow jones. thanks so much for joining us thank you for your support. we're gonna more on this prisoner swap from the daughter of the late alexey navalny, of course, a key opposition leader inside russia until his death in an arctic prison earlier this year i have tied to die hey, a bd spot. >> i manage it. well, it's a little bill with the big story to take once daily jati at each

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coventry direct redefining insurance monday, i'm so excited to be here in indonesia. >> he says, gonna be your future room. >> it looks like i'm stepping into a prison 90, day fiance. >> the other way. all new monday at 8:00 on tlc this is a picture of vice president harris. >> she posted a short time ago on social media. she is on the phone with yulia navalnaya, the wife of the late russian opposition leader alexey navalny who you'll remember died in a russian prison earlier this year. the white house, as we mentioned, said that until his death, it had been working on a version of the prisoner's swap that would have included navalny harris

also spoke about that conversation before leaving houston earlier today, i spoke with alexei's widow, yulia to discuss the significance of their release and then i told her this additional time for previous conversations with her united states stands with all of those who are fighting for freedom in russia alexey navalny's widow, yulia, in a statement, praise the exchange which included political prisoners who had worked alongside her husband. >> i'm joined now by dasha navalnaya she is the daughter of alexey navalny and yulia navalnaya. thanks so much dasha for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> of course, your family suffered through the pain, the fear of detention of a loved one, and i wonder what your reaction is to hearing this news tonight. >> of course personally, it's a bit bittersweet knowing that my

dad could have been in this exchange, however, i'm incredibly incredibly happy for all those who've been released today and the families of those who were detained well this, time because i personally can imagine how excited they are to see their loved ones. >> yeah. well, your family has been so gracious and welcoming this and i know supporting those other families as they've gone through these painful detentions there. and yes, i can only imagine there must be part of you that's just feeling if only, if only my father was still alive yes. but i think that most importantly, this really this exchange have released shows the priority of the russian government at this time and it shows that putin does the need smart selfless, honest people who truly loved our country.

>> but instead he needs spice and murderers and real criminals by his side and just shows that we need to continue who working. >> and it's a long road ahead and although today is a very happy day indefinitely, a cause of celebration, we have to remember that there are still hundreds of political prisoners in russia and we need to fight hard for them, like vice president harris said, just now it's such an important point you were speaking there we showed the russian president embracing this f sb assassin, right? >> who was released, a murderer, convicted murderer who was released as part of the deal as he expels from russia of vladimir kara murza, someone who has stood up so courageously to the russian regime and corruption do you believe that's why he's celebrating this deal tonight, that that he gets back. he gets back. well, the kind of thug he likes by his side, but then is able to push out someone who

challenges here i i don't really know what's going through his mind at this point. >> it's really sad and kind of disheartening the fact that the president of the country where i'm from the corrupt crook who are sitting at the top of the country country where i'm from, which i love he just wants to have buys and corrupt criminals by his side while his bombing another country in waging wars and interfering in elections. and i again would like to thank everybody who's celebrating this exchange today with us as my family and i are because there's so much work left to be done and will continue fighting until russia is a free and democratic country without any assassins virus said well, it's an important point you make because your mother has to some degree taken up the torch,

has she not from from your father following his death and with you very much at her side, i always feel that i see you together, right? >> still trying to keep this cause alive. is it correct to say that that you're you and your mother, your family, are attempting to keep alexey navalny's fight alive? >> of course. well, our family loves russia and we, we miss moscow will talk about it every day and it's i personally just want to make my dad proud and i know that he would be incredibly happy about the prisoner swap the day he was working hard for the release of innocent people who are not even supposed to be in prison in the first place. and i'm very happy about all the united states is that citizens we've been in exchange and i would like to congratulate their families as well and we'll

we'll continue fighting. jim dasha navalnaya our best to you to your mother, your brother, in this moment, and we really do appreciate you joining us and your kind words to these families. thank you for having me well, the former president says he could have gotten a better deal. >> president biden's response, well, that he should have done it. the politics surrounding this deal in an election year. that's coming up everybody wants super straight super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile, new censored in clinical way provides two shades, whether teeth and 24/7 sensitive your production. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with parsi because they are places you'd like to be for secret a serious side effects including ketoacidosis that may be fatal dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast

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his legendary moves might be passed down to you dancing is just one of the many inherited traits you could discover with ancestry dna see which unique traits who inherited the places where they started? >> and the people you share them with get move in and try ancestry dna. you might learn what makes you legendary to 1968, sunday at nine on cnn close to three months until the election. there are also, of course, political implications to today's historic prisoner swap. president trump's first comment, as we mentioned, came on social media. he called the deal and the people who negotiated a quote, embarrassment, just over an hour later, president biden was asked about trump's repeated comments that he could have

gotten a better deal. here's the president's response to that question. >> repeatedly that he could have gotten hostages out without giving anything change. what do you say to that? what do you say to president trump? >> former president? >> why did you need to do is present short time later, former president trump appear on a conservative talk radio station. he was asked about that comment by president biden, which again was why didn't he do it when he was president? and here's how the former president responded i heard that i heard he said why didn't trump get them out and he was taken during the attacks i got out 59 different people, 59. >> and i didn't pay money i didn't pay money once you do that these deals are going to happen more and more because the amount of things including cash that we give up is so astronomical. this is a big deal and they allowed some really rough people out. you

know that, right? and they did in the case of brittney griner also as we fact-checked earlier in the broadcast, donald trump was involved in several exchanges himself with adversaries, including iran, the taliban, and the houthi rebels in yemen, that involved them, that the u.s. >> relieving, releasing people from us custody as well. we should also note the white house said the u.s. included no money in this deal and did not lose any can i make sanction and cnn's jeff zeleny joins us now. jeff, this is an historic deal. the biggest hostage exchange with russia since the cold war clearly important to president biden a complete before he leaves office, how important? what does it mean for his legacy? >> jim, it's a remarkable piece of president biden's legacy, perhaps a capstone to nearly a half-century of his firm belief in the need for strong us alliances, particularly trans atlantic alliances. have you think about how he's really spent his life work here in washington, longtime chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, of

course, as vice president of the united states, circling the globe repeatedly and now as president, so there is no doubt this will be a central piece of his legacy and just listening to his comments today, he said this would not have been possible without friendship and diplomacy, particularly germany, as you've been reporting all day long, this simply would not have happened without that strong bond between he and the german chancellor and what's so striking about this. also, if you go back and look at his oval office address, just one week ago, he said we are working hard on freeing imprisoned americans at that point. he already knew that he had the final leader to leader phone call with the leader of a slovenia, one hour before he decided not to run. so this was courts all in his mind. we didn't know it at the time. this is a central piece of his legacy, no doubt about it. >> and that statement about alliances is not without basis because there were several countries involved here who gave something up that they didn't necessarily want to give up and sometimes have any first nothing well, for sure. and sometimes with nothing in return how involved was the

vice president in these negotiations? >> but there's no doubt that she has been playing a role in all of his foreign policy decisions that really watching him work. she's had a few meetings as well when she was at the munich security conference earlier this year in february, but she outlined a bit what she's been doing behind the scenes as she spoke to reporters today in houston over many years, president biden and i are team have engaged in complex diplomatic rotations to bring its wrongfully detained americans he'd never stopped fighting for their release and today, in spite of all of their suffering, it gives me great comfort to note that there a horrible before deal. >> is finally over so look, she also met with the german chancellor. >> they're slovenia prime minister, or so she was definitely carrying the proxy and president biden, she's just building these global relationships now, but i do think this will become part of her campaign message. this is not a presidential campaign at

least as of now that's going to be one on foreign policy most likely, but this is a central piece of her experience. and of course, she will be at joint base andrews tonight with president biden when that plane lands at those three officers and at least it's it's a campaign where at least those foreign challenges are very much in the news and the conversation, whether it'd be the mideast in russia so whether people decide on that as another, another question, jeff zeleny, thanks so much. i'm joined now by ashley etienne, former communications director for vice president harris, republican strategist, shermichael singleton and alyssa farah griffin, former trump white house communications director. good to have you all on this this evening. actually, if i could begin with you listen, we should acknowledge this is an achievement for president biden and his administration. also a moment for vice president harris in the midst of this election campaign. how do you expect her campaign to jeff zeleny's point to attempt to seize this moment yeah. >> i mean, to reiterate what jeff said, foreign policy

typically doesn't sway a national election, but this is proof point sort of 151 of biden in hears continuing to get it done you know, it demonstrates the importance of continuing to cultivate and maintain alliance it's a testament to smart diplomacy. it's also a rejection of isolationism that trump and vance represents. so i think harris will continue to leverage this temp drive the point that she's ready for this big job, for this big task that she's been a partner to biden in all of these efforts? but again, this is not going to sway a national election. it's just further proof that she's ready and that the two of them together have continued to build these alliances around the world that are really yielding dividends and bringing a americans home safe and sound. and now really uniting these families alyssa, we play for and president trump's own comments criticizing president biden over the prisoner swap. fact judge them as well. his running mate j.d. vance, also

had this to say during a visit to the border about the deal, have a listen we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home? and i think it's because bad guys all over the world recognize donald trump's about to be back in office, so they're cleaning house. that's a good thing. and i think it's a testament to donald trump strength i mean, the truth is trump had said months ago that the release would happen only after he was reelected. but let's set that aside for a moment. i mean, there was there was a time when folks are both parties would celebrate the return of americans to american soil. but i suppose that's a timely long said goodbye to. >> well, exactly that, jim. i mean, this is a celebratory day that all americans should be happy about. and i would remind j.d vance, paul whelan has been detained since 2018. he was throughout the trump administration. this is an important step and as the vice president said in her remarks, this is apparently been years in the works and i want to note that some of the hostage negotiators that spent months and years working behind the scenes on these are civil servants that span both

administrations and they deserve tremendous credit. donald trump, this could be a moment to rise above to say it's a good thing and he's going to bring other detained american conn's home. he knows as well as anyone. this is incredibly hard. we work to try to get austin tice out a syria and did not prevail a joe biden still wants to do that. and by the way, we've got american hostages and israel, this is important work into politicize it in the way trump and vance has this is silly, but i do think president biden was wise to point to the importance of friendship. this massive deal came together because of our alliances in europe yeah, and listen, it's a shame to, because both trump and biden is president prioritized getting detained americans home. they both did. they actually they actually share that as an interested and a priority. shermichael trump and fans are still facing fallout over something that, well, to hold 24 hours ago, but still has enormous consequences. and that is trump's conversation yesterday at the nabj, where he accused vice president inherit

harris of well, not being really black. his words that she turned black in recent years, i do want to play more of what vance said today because well, listen, we don't have the sound, but what we've seen today and yesterday, in fact, is not a walk-back of those comments, but a doubling and tripling down on those comments, not just by trump, but by vance and other surrogates why i mean, like, i'm not surprised that the former president is doubling down. >> i mean, that's sort of the thing he typically likes to do in these scenarios. obviously, i've spoken were quite a few republicans on capitol hill folks who are focused on trying to maintain their leadership in the house folks on the senate side who are trying to expand and regained control of the senate. and from a couple of the messages i've had, everyone and said like, we don't want to talk about this, like we're trying to talk about the economy are trying to talk, they're trying to make their case on some issues that they believe voters in their districts or in their states are principally concerned with and this isn't really it

particularly some members who are running in what we call purple states, meaning they're going to need some crossover voters. this definitely doesn't help with those voters, but i want to touch quickly though, jim, on vice president harris and president biden, what a remarkable display of soft power i mean, you wrote a book on the rise and return rather, russia and china just finished that book a month ago and it is quite fascinating seen that soft power is still in play. the importance of alliances ronald reagan spoke eloquently about that as you're well aware and so i'm happy to see this moment. i'm happy to see that the united states continues to recognize the importance of having partnerships with other entities and countries that believe in freedom, that believes in some form of democracies. we've seen over the past couple of decades now that this democratic recession has increased a number of democracies succeeding, i'm happy to know that the united states is still at the forefront of preserved during that very crucial, we have governance. >> listen, it's on the ballot that very question was on the

ballot because you have you have a candidate in an administration that supports those alliances, which used to be a bipartisan position, by the way. and you have one who is the america first candidate? they're just quickly before we go, ashleigh, is that a winning election issue for democrats oh, absolutely. >> i mean, the strategy is to let donald trump be donald trump. he's division over solutions. >> he's disdain and contempt for women and people of color over unity and love. >> and so what the vice president is going to do while he continues to shrink and place mall, which she's going to continue to do as to rise above it you know, she's going to continue to lay out the future this vision for the future of america speaking to the aspirations of the nation. and that's where she's going to have the advantage. and that's why the harris campaign is continuing to say that trump's hitting his ceiling. it's these types of hatred and this message that speech getting the base, but it's not growing his base. she's now at her floor while he's hit his ceiling well, we're going to know and what does it 97 days. >> we're going to know ashley

etienne. sure. shermichael singleton, alyssa farah griffin. so good to have all of you on this thursday night. this big news day. one quick final note on that prisoner swap earlier tonight in speaking about one of the russians was released today, roman seleznev, we mistakenly showed a photo of his father. this right here is the correct photo of roman, who was sent back to russia today comes from russian state media. we do regret that error still ahead, vice president harris, the sisterhood she shares with historically black sororities and how they could help shape this election copd pretty out of breath. and often out of the picture but this is my story. and with once-daily trilogy, it can still be beautiful because with three medicines and one inhaler trilogy keeps my area always open for a full 24 hours.

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lyles will need a good leg here. can he deliver? here comes the pass! look at this kid! coming in tight on the line. team usa, what a run! it's gold for team usa. noah lyles with another gold medal. in case there was any doubt, who was the breakout star of these world championships. reputation defender.com, or call 187786 68555 the source with kaitlan collins. next tonight as. vice president, harris prepares to join president biden in welcoming home the american prisoners freed from russia. >> she is returning from houston. that's where she delivered a eulogy at the funeral for the late congresswoman, sheila jackson lee now hur was to know true

champion a fierce champion for justice sheila jackson lee was a woman of deep faith and deep compassion. she was a proud member of our beloved alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated and she was a dear, dear friend. my husband doug and me that's already belongs to a group of prominent and politically influential black sororities and fraternities more now from cnn's rene marsh three 321, a picture of political power. >> these are members of the so-called divine nine nine historically black fraternities and sororities formed more than a century ago when black people couldn't join while organizations, the divine nine has been a force and movements from civil rights to voting

rights. and they say their political strength will make history once again, this election day one, kamala harris kicks off with an army look it just this force in this room kamala harris joined alpha kappa alpha sorority in 1986 at howard university making her one of the 2.5 million members of the divine nine cnn sat down with a room full of divine nine members speaking in their own capacity and not on bank half of their organizations. they're aware of their potential political influence. this election, and they're excited to wield it 2.5 million strong. >> now, look at how we can reach out to our families, our friends, our churches. we are the girls stout leaders. we are the boy scout leaders. we represent every facet of black america. >> we are credible messengers. we have been in the communities, we have been working with the sub-populations and they trust does harris and her campaign

understands the value of this built-in political infrastructure and they're leaning into it in july alone, vice president harris has spoken at the national convention's for three divine nine sorority's. harris is poised to leverage this voting bloc at a level we haven't seen from a presidential nominee before. >> we are not waiting for someone else to tell us what to do and how to do it. what creating our own playbook, what is this going to look like in practice? so-called term after church on sunday, we go now stares to the fellowship hall and register people that aren't going for those seniors. they can't stroll to the polls. were going downstairs and we've got to get them absentee ballot, knocking on doors, phone calls, texts, painting this coalition is pulled politically sophisticated, digging into strategy for battleground states like pennsylvania, we really need turnout in philadelphia and we need it in certain pockets and sharpening the message to motivate voters. >> and we say things like democracy is on the line. i think no propensity voters,

they don't know what we have larry simple it's talking points. >> we also have white male counterparts that we also need to educate on how overly qualified this candidate is. >> what i hear you saying is that the a reach of the divine nine will not be limited to the black community they believed this political moment will make history for america, and the divine nine. >> what people are going to walk away with is that our organizations are forced to be reckoned with but well, i spoke with several of those individuals in the piece. >> they are following donald trump's comments here at the nabj in chicago, where i am and the consensus was that they just found those comments to be disrespectful. they say particularly to black women, they say those comments simply supercharged their efforts to get kamala harris into the white house. jim a force to be reckoned with, as she said, renee marsh. >> thanks so much. the source

with kaitlan c