tonight on the reidout. talk to me about that moment, when you realized those cartridges had accidentally remained in your bag in the airport, in russia. >> it was definitely a freefall. i saw my life flash before my

eyes. i was deathly afraid. >> wnba star brittney griner in her first cable interview since her imprisonment in a russian gulag. we talk about the fear, the sham trial, the letter she wrote to vladimir putin, how trump turned on her and her joyful homecoming. welcome to a special edition of the reidout. interest in women's basketball is surging thanks to some talents and top rookies like angel reese and caitlin clark, all of whom helped boost the wnba star power as well as draw attention to pay disparities in the league. not so long ago, the world was fixated on one particular basketball star for an incident that occurred far from any american court. back in february the 2022, brittney griner, a wnba all- star and two-time olympic gold

medalist was stopped at a security checkpoint at a moscow airport. officials said they found canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. brittney griner played basketball in russia during her off-season, something many wnba players to supplement their league salaries. after being found guilty of drug smuggling and possession charges, brittney griner was sentenced to nine years in a russian penal colony. many feared how brittney griner would be treated in russia as a black, queer woman and american, especially during a time when russia was invading ukraine. brittney griner's wife cherelle lived a different nightmare, in a state of waiting well become the public face to bring brittney griner home. seven months in a penal colony in russia, known for its harsh

conditions, brittney griner such contemplated suicide and has recently shared more details on the harrowing days . being left outside the frigid russian winter for hours, having to get permission to cut her frozen locks in prison. she was finally released on the tarmac in the united arab emirates in exchange for a russian arms dealer. it has been 17 months since her detention in russia. and her first cable television interview, we get to hear about the story from tran 27 herself. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i appreciate you being here to talk to me. your book is so good. it is so potent. it is important you told the story because it strikes me that only you could have been in the situation that you were in for a lot of reasons.

we will get into those. i polled some quotes from your book i want to read to you. this is the first one that struck me, struck all of us on the team and it says "fear takes many forms there's the kind you feel when life sneaks up and fight and after death. some people freeze. others run. usually the one who fights like hell. when i saw those cartridges, not one but two, different types of your secretary. there was no instinct to fight, flight, or freeze. instead, my body went into a major freefall as if i'd stumbled off the cliff and plunged into the ocean. talk to me about that moment, when you realized that those cartridges had accidentally remained in your bag. in the airport, in russia. >> it was definitely a freefall. have you ever been so scared like something just really like to the core, not a little ghost scare but am talking like really loved one in danger type fear? that feeling is what went through my whole body. i saw my life flash before my

eyes. i was like it's over. bg is no more. in that moment. i was deaf deathly afraid. >> part of this story is the fact that you were a star in russia. you were the start of your team, russian kids went up to you and want your autograph. did part of you think, no, they are going to let me go? >> there was a little hope but at the same time, i also understand the relationship between other countries and i'm like that's not going to slider. >> you talk about not just that but being forced to sign something. you don't speak russian and no one there spoke english. they finally get somebody from duty-free. >> the duty-free store. >> when you finally relented after being prodded and needled

to sign this paper, what did you think you were signing question >> i had no idea what i was signing. i knew i was signing something that needed to be read to me. minutes history in law enforcement and all of that, i knew this was something that needed to be explained to me. by me signing this paper, what am i saying, what rights am i giving up ? it was none of that. it was a duty-free worker that came over and said you sign here in very broken english. it wasn't even you have to sign this paper because this is giving up your rights you are admitting to none of that. >> you played for seven years in russia. you know a little something about the country. he felt you had an affinity for the country. in that moment as you are thinking okay, i'm going to be arrested, you write about your arrest and you are told you are going to be taken to the police station, temporary detention center. is like a county jail. now you know, not only are they arresting me but i'm really going to be taken to jail. >> yes. >> did you think that moment i

brittney griner him being taken to jail or did you think we do minute, i am a black, queer woman in a country in which i am a super minority and not necessarily and embraced minority and what in the world is that jail going to be like for me questioning >> i was terrified when i was going to that jail. what game are they going to play? i soon found out they were trying to get me to go into one of the men's souls. i'm not going into that cell. one of the guards says something in russian and they take me to the women's side. i was just like you see, it is a game. and you all that were stacked against me. >> did you know you are targeted, people knew who you were, knew you were landing on that flight and targeted you ? >> i believe so. wholeheartedly. going through, during the transfer, how i was singled out two over one there was a flood

of things not being scanned, not getting searched and saw the people that were asked to come to the site, it was like something, there was a tip. they knew i was coming through. >> when you got to the jail, you write about the isolation of being alone, you write about the pain of the right. you are a tall person, 6'9", trying to fit into a car where they are not concerned about your physical health and physical safety. i wonder if you think the people in the jail knew who you were and decided they were going to protect her did you, the bullying. it was striking to see, to see you write about the way that you were made a spectacle, turned into a spectacle. in your mind, which is simply our identity or we know who this is, we are going to mock her. >> they knew who i was. i hear things like the basketball american. it was just i would see the

little hole where they could see you, they would look that up all the time, all hours of the night, out here in up and down and snickering and laughing. i'm like okay, i am the zoo animal today. they get to come see. >> i think one of the most tragic things about the narrative that you wrote is that you write about that not being the first time you felt that way. you write about being always the tallest, about always being different, even growing up. so, it strikes me as doubly tragic to feel like the zoo animal, one for you, other than playing basketball and sports getting you out of that feeling just growing up, talk a little bit about that. >> definitely always felt like i was the outsider. i vividly remember sixth, seventh grade, someone, another girl came up to me, touched my whole chest and was like see, she's not a girl.

the boys, the voice being deeper, the fact, i was always a spectacle. i was always look how different you are. i have always felt that. i am different. when i walk in a room, people notice how different i am. it took me a little bit but i embraced it. that moment being in that is in and how they were treating me, it took me back to that spectacle of my childhood. >> even to the point of essentially threatening to put you in the madhouse, trying to force her to admit that you are a drug addict, using all the stereotypes of a black person, you must be a drug addict, asking when did you decide that you were gay and trying to needle you in that way. >> i was like i didn't decide that i was gay, i knew this. when i said it and it was translated to them, you could

see their faces like what? no, that's not right. when did you choose. when did you start having second thoughts? i said i never started having second thoughts. being told that they are going to throw me in basically the madhouse if i didn't admit to my guilt. >> take me back before that because you had to have developed some skills growing up in dealing with bullying and a someone who dealt with a little bullying and understands that on some level as well, sports and athletic does help a lot. it gives you something for people to focus on. being a class clown a little bit, to write about making people laugh with you rather than at you. a lot of people who have been bullied can relate to that. talk about the skills you had to develop. >> getting a thick skin, develop a thick skin, just growing through all that. when i found sports, it gave me a purpose. instead of acting out and getting people to like me, i was able to channel that into my performance on the court. it was crazy. i always talk about i became

popular when i started playing basketball. now i can be accepted because i'm doing this cool thing on the court. when i really felt the acceptance is when they got to know me and they were like you are really cool. i can relate to you more and that is when i really felt the genuine acceptance. i felt a little bit, of course, i'm young and i felt start a little bit. it wasn't finally until they got to know me. >> then you found love. >> i.d.'d. >> cherelle. the other thing that got you through, really what was torment and being tormented and, in this case, by your self, this was before you had anyone with you, it was cherelle, it was her faith and knowing she was there that got you through it. initially, you desperately were trying to get in touch with her, you desperately were sending text messages. pick up

the phone. it was 2:00 in the morning. talk about being without her in that moment. >> i was searching for her so hard. i was sending message, calling him a message but it was really. i did this fight so many times, she was probably still asleep and waiting for me to be on my next flight. when i finally got to her, it was a little bit of relief because i know someone that loves me knows what is going on, where i'm at. she can start rallying the troops to figure out the next course of action plan. i was lost, i really didn't understand, i didn't know what to do next. i knew just to be quiet and wait for legal representation. other than that, i really needed her. >> let me read a little more of your book. he writes this. "it was cherelle's strength i borrowed when my ran out. i wanted to take my life in the first few weeks, felt like leaving here so badly. i didn't care anymore if there was an afterlife. i just wanted that one to be over. suicide would have been easy.

i couldn't put my family through that nightmare and i especially couldn't do that to my mama. that and relle's face kept me here." i know you write a lot about faith. not just cherelle's face but the faith you developed over time. tell me about that. for a lot of people, people might be surprised that you could develop a strong faith not only because of the situation but because, in this country, people who claim to be christians, i will say claim to be christians, are not normally a ferment of someone like you. how did you find faith in that moment ? >> was a journey, it was a journey and it was hard. my dad would always tell me and relle, her face was always so strong when we first met, to rely on god, trust in god and turn it over to him. in that moment i had to do that. i had to rely on all those things. i had to turn it over to him. it was out of everybody's hands at that moment. that is what got me through, my

faith and my family. if i would have done that, it would have, i just knew it was going to be bad, i knew it was going to be bad. who knows if they were going to release my body, they were going to hold onto it. i couldn't put my wife or my family through that. up next, how russia's war on ukraine changed everything about brittney griner's legal situation. the reidout continues after this. this. (♪♪) (♪♪)

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back in i was more of my exclusive interview with brittney griner. so, you spent on wednesday with your wife and then you get on a plane with those cartridges that you didn't realize were in their. to get arrested, 10 days later, russia invades ukraine. how did the invasion change what you understood to be a reality? any help that you were going to be able to get out of this, the ukrainian war changed it. >> that changed everything. any sliver of hope i had that we could do some kind of agreement or a trade or something quietly, that all without the window. when they invaded, i knew. that was another moment of that feeling that something just it's all over. i was like this is it. there's no way now. how long do wars take?

they take forever sometimes. they are still going on. i was like well, i need to get prepared for the long haul. this is going to be a very long time. >> you wrote a chapter called putin's pawn. you had russian lawyers, one whom you became close to, did it become clear to you and to them that vladimir putin was going to use you? >> the few times i would get the guards to say something to me when i'm like where am i going, am i the only one, i knew that the american basketball player had to be by themselves. this is weird. normally you go, you go into the holding tank with everyone else, you are in the cell, you don't have a room to yourself in the beginning. you are with a lot of people. i already knew there were little things going on and that check ins, the top guard was always there, the warden was

always there. i knew there was some special treatment. let's keep her good for right now for later on. >> eventually, you wrote to your dad and your law . you wrote the letter you received back from your law broke you but it was your dad's letter that was hardest to write to him. to read a little bit of what he wrote back to you. he wrote "you still have a daddy and always will. i've always been there for you and i will be there for you when no one else is. you are still my baby no matter how old you are or how tall you get. i pray for you every day, for your health and to return home. everything will work out. take care of yourself and do what they ask of you. i'm glad you got another bed. i hope you are getting some sleep now. i know you probably

get tired of answering so many letters but just let me know if you get this one, even if all you write is i got it. remember i love you and always will. nothing and nobody can change that, your dad and law are with you for life. please don't ever forget that. love you dad." talk about your relationship with your dad. >> and my dad relationship is complex. some people don't really understand it but that is my hero. it was hard for him, probably, raising a child like me. a little different than the average. he is legit my hero. he has done everything for me, my career. when i first started off, like when i was younger, taking the everywhere. it was never i'm going to send you with the team mama. my dad was with me always. drove me to every basketball tournament. for me, my biggest thing was i didn't want to bring shame to our last name. he wrote me and told me i would never do that and that was a hard moment for me. i still to this day feel like i

did and that was hard. that was really hard for me. >> why did you feel that? i sense that throughout the book, that you blame yourself for this throughout the book. i didn't get the sense you stopped doing that. why do you feel that? >> you take ownership of what happens, regardless if you meant to do that, didn't mean to do it, you take ownership and that is something my dad instilled in me and that is something i will always have, regardless of the situation. i still see it is my fault and i feel like i got a tarnish to our last name a little bit. everyone told me give yourself grace. it is so hard to give yourself grace for someone like me. >> i'm going to tell you the same thing. you have to understand that this was not your fault. it wasn't. you didn't mean to do it. he packed quickly as somebody who packs quickly, it wasn't your fault. i'm going to address up to

that. your law, who calls you ladybug, which i love. one of my favorite things . was the first person that you came out to when you were a kid, junior high school, young. she took it very well. she was very cool about it, your dad did not. what was interesting to me is you start by writing about how close you and your dad are and you guys are fixing cars together and doing everything together. one would think he knows you better than anybody else. were you surprised he was surprised and were you surprised by how negative his reaction was? >> i was a little surprised. it was one of those things where the family knew. they were waiting on me to say it. it was one of those things. it didn't take until i got a little bit older and looked at it from his side, from his lens, the era that he grew up in.

i'm not saying it was right but i'm just saying that i understand why it was probably hard for him a little bit and he was so worried about me and how the world was going to be on me because he always, it was tough love but he prepared me for life. my dad prepared me for life and everything. i think it was more he just knew the uphill battle that it would be for me and i think that is why it was so hard but that is also why i understand and i forgive him. that is my dad. you only get one. >> that letter he sent you back was probably the greatest thing in the world. >> i cherish that letter. i cherish that letter so much. hearing my dad say that our relationship is great. i think he calls mine wife more than me now. like dad, hello, you can call me now. >> it is what happens. up next on the reidout, more of my interview with brittney griner, her trial, why she pled guilty and likes inside a russian gulags. the reidout continues after

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more now of my recent interview with wnba star brittney griner, who spent 10 months in captivity in russia. let's talk about the trial. he eventually get moved to a place you are now with other women. you are not by yourself. you make friends, you have some people who can translate for you. they put you in with a couple of people who spoke english,

one of whom is a spine. one of them is a spy and i spotted her from the beginning. i didn't trust her from the start. you do make some genuine friends there and they are going through it with you. then the trial happens. your wife sends plead guilty. get it done so that you can be traded. the state department, the united states, they say plead innocent. how did you make that choice? if you are going to be designated wrongly detained, as mr. reid was, as other people were who have been detained, the normal course would be to say i didn't do it, i'm innocent. he decided to plead guilty. why question is >> in the end, to be traded, even if you plead not guilty, you have to reverse that and you have to say you are guilty. you have to sign a paper saying you are guilty. then taking ownership. goes back to how i was raised and everything. i made sure to say that i pled

guilty. taking ownership for my actions. as much as i didn't mean to do this and it was an accident. >> did you believe that once he pleaded guilty, your sentence would be something on the lower end of the spectrum? it was 5 to 9 years potential but then they said the word, you have to tell me the word in russian. in russian, it is nine. >> oh, divyat. >> after taking ownership, you are in this court where they put you on display, that is the way russian courts are, you are there, you give a statement that is heartfelt. i did not mean to bring drugs into your country. you are giving near the top of the sentence. when you heard that, how did you feel? >> i wasn't shocked, honestly. i was prepared. i prepared for the worst.

i thought they were going to give me 10. when they gave me nine, i was like one year off. okay. as much as i thought they would be lenient, especially with everything that went into my trial, i didn't cause any problems, i didn't make a spectacle. i followed the rules of their law and all my character references and my team and the city of yeketarinburg, that maybe there is a chance it will go on the lower end. when they didn't, i kind of just sat there and just stood there and let it sink in. >> how due process the idea of spending nine years in what then would be a good log? it was no longer going to be county, it was no longer going to be with the women who had become your support system, this was going on your own, by yourself, how did you processed the idea of spending that much time in a foreign prison?

>> i had to tell myself you are an inmate now. you can't think this is wrong, i'm innocent or any of this. you have to just say i am an inmate and do what i have to do, whatever that is going to be in the work camp. it was tough. when i got back, your mind starts going, you start adding up the yard. my dad is this old, he will be this old. my wife, that is nine years. all the things we had planned to do. that is all on hold. nephews graduated, nieces in high school. i was like oh my god, my parents might not be here when i get out and that is when i started to kind of break internally. that was a really hard pill to swallow. >> it was also really cold. russia is notoriously cold and this one strikes close to home because my husband used to have long dreads like yours, dreadlocks. you eventually cut your locks. i'm going to read what you wrote in your book.

every black woman is going to feel it in your soul. you know a black woman on the when you know her hair journey. the two are tightly interwoven. having to cut your locks, your hair looks great but putting your locks, how did that feel? >> it was hard but it was more for my health, honestly. it was survival. standing outside with wet hair and my dreads are freezing and there's snow stacking up on my head because you are outside for hours during morning checks and night checks as well, i couldn't do it. i was going to get sick. one thing you don't want to do is get sick. number one thing, you do not want to get sick in prison. >> one of the things in the book, it is harrowing. every time there was to and would have to go to the infirmary, please don't go. it's not safe. >> i did not want to go in there. >> were you aware, how much

awareness did you have, i know you didn't have your phone, you weren't able to call your wife, you had your lawyers as your support system, how aware were you that there was a campaign building back home to free you? celebrities were involved, it was a big deal? >> he would bring printouts for me to beat and recall them takebacks, he would take them back that i would see different things to see artists and actors and people in the public supporting me and my cause, fighting for me to come back and i was like oh my god, this is crazy. >> did you feel hopeful, did you think it could work ? >> i did. it was also kind of weird seeing it as well because it's like normally you don't see that. you don't get to see that. normally people, when people see all the abundance of love, it is, unfortunately the person is no longer there, especially when you see your name on the court in basketball, you don't

see someone's name on the court unless they are no longer with you. >> there were a lot of people in this country who made the point that if it was lebron james or an nba player, the outcry would have been bigger and would have been sooner because, i started by saying this it literally would only be a black woman wnba player who could possibly be in this entire situation. everything you went through, from the bully and trying to say do you have six thoughts to continue as a spectacle to the fact that you had to fly commercial rather than private and the fact that you had to play overseas at all because it is only wnba players who have to do that. >> unfortunately, yes. we are the only ones that have to go overseas to close the pay gap and it is a shame. i started off two years in china and went from china over to russia because they offered me the most and that is where i was able to make a living for my family. it would have been a little different. i don't want to say different players names but it could have been different. they probably would have asked

for autographs. it would have been a different outcome. >> coming up, the politicos of brittney griner's return. why she felt like a pawn and what she wrote to vladimir putin. my conversation with brittney griner continues after this. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. ( ♪♪ ) my name is jaxon, and i have spastic cerebral palsy.

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you are watching special edition of the reidout. more of my exclusive interview with brittney griner. you wrote to vladimir putin, you wrote him a letter. it was a very careful letter.

you were very careful in what you said in trying to make sure his ego remained intact in everything you said. >> i worked really hard to do. >> what would you have to be wanted to write to them? >> i don't think i can say what i want to say. >> this is cable tv. >> i didn't want to have to write him at all. i didn't want to have to write him. it was very carefully done. it ended up being two letters i had to write. they made me write one in russian as well which took me two hours to write because i don't write russian. it was more tracing the letter than anything. trying to pump up someone's ego that already thinks they are on top of the world and the horrible things he does not only to his own people but he tries to put on other people in the world, it was hard to do. >> there was, at one point, almost a competition to see who could to get you out between the current administration, the

biting harris administration and one donald j trump because he has some connections to i guess some athletic federations and he thought i can help you, i will be the one to fly over and get you out and in the book, you say anybody to get you out, you were done with that. what do you make of the fact that after attempting to at least verbally say he was going to compete to get you out of russia what donald trump turns on you and whips up the crowd against you, saying that you should not have been the one traded, you should not have been the one the deal was made for, it should have been paul whelan or someone else and essentially he set them up on you ? >> i was already being used as a pawn and to then turn around and publicly be used , almost be used again as a pawn here in the states with his administration, it was the sort of thing.

it was like at my lowest moment you want to try to use this as a game and when it doesn't work or someone tells you not to do it, whatever happened, not want to flip it? really, really guy? >> eventually you did get liberation. you got freedom. talk about that moment when you realized the deal has been made. >> i was very happy, very happy. i will never forget them coming to get me from my workshop and tell me you are going home, you are leaving. i was thrilled but then scared also because like it could fall apart at any moment and then also happy because i'm like okay, maybe it is me and paul's turn. when we get on this plane, hopefully we are both on this plane.

when trevor went home, paul wasn't able to go and i wasn't able to go, my trial was still going on. i was hopeful that everyone in russia was going to be coming home. >> trevor reed's family and paul whelan's family and her family were all in connection. we were all in contact. that forms a bond, i can imagine. this is a group effort. it is not just about getting 1%. >> there's no way you get through this, there's no way you go through this, get through this without unit, without a family, without the other families getting together, bring our families home. it really takes a village because it is a lot of emotions. it's hard to work through them as well. >> you spent 293 days in russia, in captivity in russia in various places. what did you learn about your self in that 293 days? >> i that i'm a little more resilient than i thought. i was listening to all those stories tops told me back in the day. used to work in the prison system as well and he would

tell me stories about how certain inmates would treat him and how he would treat them with respect as well. i used that too. i treated everybody with respect, even though they don't know what i'm saying, yes, no ma'am, yes sir, no sir. you can see how they treat, some would treat you with the respect you deserve as a human and sometimes it just didn't work. >> you are in russia, you played there for seven years. did you have any inkling or hints of the kind of negativity toward you as a black person, as a woman, did that ever show itself before this horror happened to you, did you have any hints of it questioning >> i would say no. i'm not oblivious, though.

i saw other people experience it. you see other groups experience, you see the loss that they create and they were creating while i was there against the lgbtq community. i was lucky to be with a team where we were vip, planes here, planes there. there was this one time we were in siberia and there was a kid that called me the n word trying to be cool. some kid saw on tv probably or a song or something . we let him know that wasn't right. >> there's also, this does play up the disparities for the wnba and at your press conference, you said to all of the media people that were there, i hope you are going to come back and cover the wnba. we recently had a spectacular ncaa final with two players who are definitely going to be top draft picks in the wnba. what do you think that should mean in terms of what kind of money wnba players like

yourself, you are playing again, you are back with your team, do you think between what just happened there, dawn staley becoming the queen of the ncaa, three-time championship coach, also an incredible player, her story and she was one of your big supporters as well, do you think in this moment we will have a new conversation about the treatment of women athletes and women professional athletes question >> 100%. how can we not? they always want to throw it in our phase, the viewership, the people in seats. viewership was higher than the men's tournament. everything that is going on right now, it is an amazing time and we have to capitalize on that. we have to use that. next, more on the wnba stars memoir "coming home," which debuted at number one on the amazon best seller list and her message to those still held abroad. abroad.

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now with some of my final questions to wnba star brittney griner. i want to talk about a couple of causes you include in this book. question was at the end, you listed the still detained americans around the world and the organization trying to get them home. talk about your involvement with that cause. >> during our families home. the wnba, i will give credit to them and my team for everything we have done last year and we

will continue to do this year, playing videos. one of the biggest thing is to get these families in front of the camera as well so we can get this coverage, so people will know. up until my detainment, i knew that we had americans detained overseas but i didn't understand how bad it was. regardless of what is going on, regardless of the crime, regardless of the alleged crime, these conditions and what these families are going through should never happen. it should not happen. with our coverage, we are using our platforms for something good, something pretty good, given these families a force to be in front of america. >> do you have a message you want to send to those who are still being held hostage around the world, if there is somewhere they can get to the message? >> don't give up. i would say do not give up. we are frightened we are not going to give up, i'm not going to give up. i keep saying i am on borrowed time and may release date in october 2030, october 2030.

i'm not stopping. i'm not stopping. we will make as much noise as we can, we will keep finding a way to bring them home. >> what do you make of the necessity for people in your situation to get direct access to the white house? that was the key, it was the key for you, the key for paul whelan's family, what does that mean, how do you do that? >> everyone pick up the phone, pick up a pen, right to your senator, right to the governor, right the white house, flood their phones, be heard, be seen. >> president biden and vice president, harris got personally involved. at some point, they met personally with your wife. what do you think, do you think their efforts were so enough, effective enough? talk about their efforts to get you home. >> i just want to thank them, everything they did. we got to see a different side

of politics and how it all works and everything. they have been thrown at them, a lot. it's so much. hardest job i think in the country, honestly. and, i just want to thank them so much for never letting me feel all my life feel like we were forgotten or not heard and i appreciate them for everything else and the people that they are continuing to bring home right now. >> what was the conversation like? i believe president biden called you first and vice president harris. >> i remember him saying kiddo and i felt immediately felt young, younger. i immediately felt like a kid again. he was so warm and so personal. same with vice president harris, so warm, so personal. i never forget seeing ms. harris behind my wife when she was talking. she was looking so proud back there and i was so happy. >> i got to the pdf version of

your book so i could prepare for this. now i have a hard copy. i was able to turn to the last page, this was not in the pdf. going to read it. no, it was not. "to my son, i pray that you for my hard times so that you can have a life with a little less pain in it. i love you." is this baby born? >> not yet. >> the baby is in the oven. what would it mean to you to be a law? >> it is going to mean everything to me. you are doing it for somebody else, every movement, everything you do, everything you say , watching this person develop into whoever they are going to become. i am so ready for that chapter. we both are and we are so excited. >> what advice would you give this baby boy about how to deal with difficult times? >> hold your head high and keep moving forward. you can't please everyone. as long as you are true to yourself, that is all that matters at night.

>> tran 27, a lot of people will be buying your jersey. i believe the wnba is going to have its greatest season ever and i think you are a big part of that. is aerobic he stood up for yourself and other people in the time of your greatest trauma. i want to thank you for writing this book, i want to thank you for coming in and sitting down with me. when the baby boy comes, tell him he's got an extra godmother. >> i will definitely do that. t the readout. good evening, and welcome to a special two hour edition of alex wagner tonight. happy memorial day weekend. nothing says three-day weekend, like barbecuing, summer jams, and rigorous analysis of the first-ever criminal trial of a u.s. president. so, we are all in lock. we know that clos