♪ this is "nightline." >> juju: tonight, breaking news. americans back on u.s. soil, freed after years of being wrongfully detained in russia. greeted by the president and vice president. their families overjoyed.

>> i didn't really allow myself to believe that it was going to happen until i saw that announcement by the white house. >> juju: part of the largest prisoner swap since the cold war, a historic deal years in the making. >> multiple countries helped get this done. >> juju: what was the cost of their freedom? the controversial russian assassin let go. gold rush. gymnast simone biles and swimmer katie ledecky setting new records today in paris. and olympic flavor. flavor flav. from "fight the power" to becoming the sweet surprise star of the paris games. >> i'm known to be the greatest hype man in america, and i said, let me take my expertise to the water polo team. >> juju: why the "flavor of love" star is getting himself in the pool. >> what's up, y'all? >> juju: splashing up publicity for women's sports. >> women's sports i feel should be more, you know, paid attention to more.

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resulting in the largest multinational prisoner swap since the cold war. an emotional homecoming years in the making. wrongfully detained americans, including former marine, paul whelan, and swurnl reporter evan gershkovich, freed from russian custody. part of a 24-person prisoner swap spanning the globe, the largest since the cold war. >> alliances make a difference. they stepped up, took a chance for us in a matter of lives. >> reporter: president biden and vice president harris greeting them on the tarmac at andrews air force base along with their relieved families. also landing on u.s. soil, russian american journalist ilsu kumarshava. >> we haven't seen anything like this. this is a huge exchange. >> juju: they and others unjustly detained in russia returned today. u.s. green cardholder vladimir

karamurva zoops now in germany. in explain the u.s. and allies released eight rigs, includes hitman hadeen krashnikov, serving a life sentence in germany for murder. >> it's an extremely moral question about when to make these deals. there's also the lesson, unfortunately, it's become very dangerous for americans to be in russia right now. absolutely, you will become a target. >> juju: the last major swaps were in 2022. former marine trevor reed, and months later, wnba star, brittney griner, currently playing in the olympics. griner tonight saying she is head over heels for the families. she sat down with robin roberts last year to talk about her arrest and imprisonment, which all began when russian customs found cannabis cartridges in her carry-on bag. >> you know there are those who say, come on, how did you not know that you had cartridges in your luggage? what do you say to the skeptics?

>> i would say, have you ever forgot your keys in your car, left your car running? it's so easy to have a mental lapse. >> juju: the prison where griner was sent known to be one of the worst in russia. >> what were conditions like in that particular jail? >> really cold. you go there to work. there's no rest. >> juju: today, the white house sharing photos of the newly freed americans en route with the stars and stripes. from russia, they were led across the tarmac by soldiers and onto a waiting plane. gershkovich appearing to crack a smile in his seat. russian defense ministry video showing they were released in turkey. >> until it happens, you never know if this is actually going to work the way it might have been planned. there's a lot of tension in the air to make sure nobody's going to pull a trick at the last minute. >> juju: involved in the secret negotiations, the united states, russia, germany, belarus, poland, norway, and slovenia.

>> multiple countries helped get this done. they joined a difficult, complex negotiation at my request, and i personally thank them all again. >> juju: president biden directly involved in the negotiations. >> this is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here. it's a relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country who have been praying for this day for a long time. >> juju: david wheelan, twin brother of paul while lan, held in russia for more than five years, speaking out. >> we had been through two prisoner releases where he had not come home. i didn't allow myself to believe it was going to happen until i saw that announcement by the white house. >> juju: david describing how excruciating the past years have been. >> the difficulty is the family has so little control over what's happening. paul was a pawn of the russian government and became part of a geopolitical fight that really has nothing to do with paul or our family or anything that he did. >> juju: "the wall street journal" newsroom erupting this

cheers at the news of gershkovich's release. his family saying," we've waited 491 days for evan's release, and it's hard to describe what today feels like. we can't wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close." gershkovich had been living in russia since 2017, accredited by the russian foreign ministry to work is a journalist. >> nothing that might be even taken as a sign of dissent is allowed in russia right now. >> juju: the 32-year-old's wrongful detention became a rallying cry, people around the world using the hashtag, #freeevan. >> journalism is not a criticism. >> we want our son back. >> juju: george stephanopoulos spoke with evan's parents 100 days after his arrest. >> were you worried for him? did you try to talk him out of it? >> i was worried. but he was always, you know -- especially the succession of

articles. >> putin and the economy came out, i got really, really worried. he was always telling me, "mom, i'm accredited, i'm allowed to be here." but there was always in the back of my mind that, he could run into trouble. >> juju: two weeks ago, gershkovich was convicted and sentenced to 16 years for espionage following a three-day trial. charges the u.s. and gershkovich vehemently deny. the same day, journalist and u.s. russian dual citizen ilsu karmoshiva was quietly convicted for spreading false information about the russian military in a secret two-day trial, charges she also denies. >> in an espionage trial, that's ludicrous, three days. so which that happened, i think that was our first indication that hopefully there was a prisoner exchange in the offing. >> juju: the mom of two had been held nearly a year. she worked for radio free europe, radio liberty.

she was arrested in russia while visiting her sick mother. speaking with abc news, her family describing the phone call they thought might never come. >> we were very happy to get the call, so thankful for everything that's happening today. >> we can't wait to hug her and to begin the process of helping her integrate into the free world after many months of this unjust imprisonment. >> juju: for two years, kara morza was imprisoned for political outspokenness, one of the loudest kremlin critics left alive. >> what's remarkable is he was poisoned twice. >> sometimes there are near misses. one happens to be sitting before you. >> he chose to go back to russia to continue campaigning against vladimir putin, against the war in ukraine. >> juju: of the group returning to the u.s. today, former marine paul whelan had been detained in russia the longest. arrested in december 2018 after

attending a friend's wedding in moscow. >> even though i've got a medical condition that prohibits this -- >> juju: wheelan talked with abc news after he was convicted in espionage in 2020. i denied all allegations made against him saying it was a show trial, something he says even the judge in his case knew. >> he knows it. he knows the case is crap. he told me and my attorneys that there was a provocation. but telephone justice. he cannot say anything against what the fsb says. >> juju: in recent years the u.s. designated russia with the highest travel advisory, warning there is a continued risk of wrongful detention of u.s. nationals by russian authorities. >> russia has demonstrated significant escalations in their hostility towards u.s. citizens and will come up with some false crime and sham trials and will imprison anybody who walks onto their territory for the purpose of building leverage so they can

get more of their people back. >> juju: president putin personally greeting the russians returning home today, along with the hitman, alleged hackers, and a couple living with two young children in slovenia that the u.s. called deep cover spies. today the biden administration defending the decision to negotiate with russia. >> can you confirm that no money was exchanged, no sanctions were loosened to facilitate this deal? >> yes, i can confirm that. >> juju: national security adviser jake sullivan deeply involved, overcome by the emotion of the moment and the relief. >> i spent a lot of time with the families of evan and paul and olsu. most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations. but not today. today -- excuse me. whew. today was a very good day. >> juju: while it was a good day for the freed prisoners' families, the work remains. at least eight americans are still being held in russia. >> we still have people

wrongfully detained in russia. the good men and women of the state department and the national security community, they're going to be hard at work tomorrow to continue to bring people home. >> juju: we'll have more on this developing story in the morning on "gma." when we come back, flavor flav using his hype skills to pump up women's sports at the paris olympics. ♪ paris oltype 2 diabetes? ♪ ♪ discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes.

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>> juju: welcome back. if you've been inspired by olympians this week, you've probably noticed flavor flav. the rapper is all-in at the paris games, seeming to be everywhere at once and lending his skills to helping a certain u.s. women's team get the attention he says they so richly deserve. here's abc's maggie rulli. >> reporter: do you just pinch yourself? can you believe that you're here for the olympics? >> i can't believe it. seriously. this is -- this is a dream come true to me. >> reporter: driving through the city of lights with flavor flav. >> we in paris, man! >> reporter: wasn't on my olympics 2024 bingo card. neither was wandering the streets of paris with flav and his team usa water polo cap. >> yeah, boy! >> reporter: getting mobbed by fans. flavor flav is here making history as the first rapper to

sponsor an american olympic team. both the men and women's water polo teams. >> i'm known to be the greatest hype man in america. the first, the original. and i said, let me take my expertise to the water polo team. >> reporter: when you say you're the official hype man for water polo, what does that mean? >> i am going to be out there cheering them on, hyping them up. >> reporter: most people when they hear flavor flav and water polo would never think that those two words would ever go together. >> i never even thought that flavor flav or water polo would go together till i put it together. >> reporter: yes, flav tested out the waters with the women's team in this video. >> flavor flav! >> i jumped in the water with the girls. and i ain't gonna lie, i treaded water for seven straight minutes, and believe me, maggie, that was the hardest seven minutes of my life.

>> reporter: 65-year-old flav promoting water polo everywhere he goes, playing the piano at the u.s. ambassador's personal residence. ♪ walking the halls of the press center. >> in other words, we outside. we outside. >> reporter: holding his own press conferences. >> my work ain't done yet. >> reporter: flav cheering on the women's team at their first match, a 15-6 victory over greece, alongside first lady jill biden. >> jill's on the top of the hill! ♪ flavor flav ♪ >> reporter: he's the founding member of the rap group public enemy, some of whose hits include "fight the power" and "don't believe the hype." ♪ don't don't don't believe the hype ♪ >> reporter: how did you even stumble across water polo? >> it all started out when my girl, maggie stephens, put out a story. >> reporter: meet team captain maggie stephens, considered one of the greatest female water polo players of all-time.

she holds the record for most olympic golds ever scored in a sport. her teams have won three gold medals, now going for a fourth. >> i'm really grateful to get to have this one last ride with all of my girls. and we have seven girls who have never been to an olympics before. so i kind of feel like it's my first again, in a way. >> reporter: reaching olympian status for these athletes hasn't been easy. back in may, stephens posted on social media, "some may not know this, but most olympians need a second or third job to support chasing the dream, and most teams rely on sponsors, especially female sports and female athletes." the rapper responding, "as a girl dad and supporter of all women's sports, i will personally sponsor you, my girl, whatever you need. that's a flavor flav promise." >> i said, why not, you know, try to help these girls out? why not try to boost them up a little bit? they're out here right now busting their butts to make the

united states look good, know what i'm saying? give these girls a little bit of sponsorship, man. let them feel like somebody care. >> reporter: is it important for you to champion women's sports in particular? >> yeah, definitely. women's sports i feel should be more, you know, paid attention to more, you know what i'm saying? letting you guys know that we really recognize y'all. >> i know flavor flav more from reality tv and some of his music. so i was a little in shock. is this the real flavor flav? he's been exactly who he is. he's super genuine, super authentic, has followed through with being our hype man and supporter. >> reporter: the rapper became a reality star on vh1's "strange love" with then boyfriend bridget nielsen, the end of that romance making way for his biggest show," flavor of love," 20 women competing for his affections.

the rapper has come a long way from the darker moments of his career and run-ins with the law. 1991, he pled guilty to assaulting his girlfriend at the time. he also spent time at rikers for driving with a suspended license. last year, flav wrote on instagram, "i've changed. soon, i'll be three years sober from alcohol, and i've been 15-plus years seasoner from drugs. allow for people to grow. don't let anyone hold you to your past. look forward, not backwards." the star recently using his celebrity to help others, including going viral on instagram for ordering every item on the red lobster menu to help the seafood chain that had filed for bankruptcy. >> thank you so much for helping us, always. >> reporter: flav, known for his iconic clocks, now sporting custom-made team usa water polo clocks, including one made by maggie stephens' sister-in-law,

an artist who died suddenly at the age of 26 in paris last week. her family presenting flav with the clock days after she died. >> time is the most important element that we have in our life, and we can't afford to waste none of it. and every second that goes by, we will never, ever see that second again in life. so we've got to make the best out of each second that we live. >> reporter: as team usa looks ahead to their next match tomorrow against france, you can rest assured one of their biggest fans will be there hyping them up. >> juju: our thanks to maggie. when we come back, olympians simone biles and katie ledecky when we come back, olympians simone biles and katie ledecky making history. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me ♪ (♪) ♪ control is everything to me ♪

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♪ >> juju: and finally tonight, two american women becoming even more legendary. swimming star katie ledecky becoming the most decorated american female athlete ever with 13 medals. simone biles now the first american gymnast to win the all-around title twice. biles admitting all this talk about her "goat-ness" is surreal. >> it is crazy that i am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes, because i just still think i'm simone biles from spring, texas, that loves to flip. >> juju: brava to them both. that's "nightline." watch full episodes on hulu. see you back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.