good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. it's a day many of us have been hoping for. evan gershkovich and paul whelan are coming home, along with two others. they are officially now in american custody, along with another american citizen and one american green card holder in a

massive multi-national prisoner exchange with russia. the largest since the cold war. a senior administration official saying the deal was in the works for two years but was finalized in the last two weeks. we are waiting to hear from president biden at any moment from the state dining room in the white house. the turkish government announcing it took place in the capital. you can see some of the planes. in total, the u.s. negotiated the release of 16 people from russia, including five germans and seven russian citizens who were political prisoners. vladimir putin is getting back eight russians including someone that he has long sought, a convicted hitman. he has been in a berlin prison. he killed -- was convicted of killing two chechens in daylight in berlin some years ago. we cannot stress enough the level of diplomacy that this

took involving four of our allies. after griner's exchange for a russian arms dealer in december of 2022, the u.s. was left with no high level russian prisoners to exchange for paul whelan who was left behind. then, of course, evan gershkovich was arrested wrongfully for espionage in march of 2023 and has been there for more than a year. it was determined -- there was a commitment from the u.s. government that paul whelan would not be left behind. he is the former marine who had been in prison at this point for more than five years. we start with gabe gutierrez, ken dilanian, keir simmons, and

yasmine abdukala. we expect the president to speak soon. in february, the meeting in the oval office where the chancellor said he would consider it. then things began to speed up in march. >> reporter: that's right. we heard from a senior administration official earlier today that said it was after those conversations between president biden and the german chancellor where the german chancellor said, for you i will do this. the president is calling this a feat of diplomacy. we are expecting to hear from the president in a short while. he had been meeting with family members of those involved in this prisoner swap. a short time ago, the white house released a written statement from the president. in it, he said that he is

grateful to our allies who stood with us through these tough, complex negotiations. those allies including germany, poland, norway and turkey and slovenia. this is the largest prisoner release since the cold war. officials say in terms of how many countries were involved, this may be the largest one ever. we describe those details between the conversation with president biden and the german chancellor came together. according to a senior official, the final steps of this negotiation actually happened about an hour -- literally an hour before president biden announced that he was stepping out of the presidential race. details are being worked out over the last few days. as we understand it, turkey was critical in finalizing those details. we are hearing from the white house that this should not be mistaken for any sort of breakthrough in relations with russia. they still view russia the same

way, tensions are still very high with russia, of course, following the russian invasion of ukraine. this was a long negotiation that extended for months if not years. the white house is saying that about 70 people around the world who have been wrongfully detained have been brought back to the u.s. since the start of the biden administration. this is seen as a major foreign policy win. we expect to hear from the president in a short time after he met with family members of some of the prisoners involved. >> keir, my understanding -- i was in munich, and there was a lot of grief because the death of navalny was announced on that friday when the security conference was opening. that created some incentive, sadly enough, for germany to want to give up this assassin

who had been working for the security services for vladimir putin's services because they were then interested in getting some of navalny's colleagues who were german citizens, getting them out of russian prisons, who had been arrested along with the famous russian dissident who you know as well. the other really notable fact is that vladimir kara-murza who is a green card holder here, a dissident and writer, writing for "the washington post," he is released in this swap as well. keir, i have been hearing from his colleagues for some time that he was not in good physical shape. keir? >> reporter: that's right. there will be families breathing a sigh of relief right now. there will be other families wondering if their loved ones are coming home and finding out they are not. the agony will go on for them.

you are right, there will be a bittersweet aspect to this. for germany, for example, the germans put out a statement in which they talk about cooperation with the united states and european partners, succeeding in securing the release of 15 people. it does go on to say the federal government did not take this decision lightly. it was offset by the freedom, physical well-being and ultimately lives of innocent people imprisoned in russia. yes, that was diplomacy -- difficult diplomacy with the germans. it does look as if a german in belarus has been released. there has been some negotiation there that has pushed things along. what's happened in russia is a question, too. when i questioned president putin back in march, and i asked him about evan gershkovich, he answered with an answer that made news. he claimed and with president

putin you have to take everything with a huge grain of salt, but he claimed he had agreed to the release of navalny before he died. if you take that at face value, that was a sign that president putin wanted to get this done, wanted to get this agreed. that may be part of this. let's just take a moment just to talk about evan gershkovich. it's not just his family. it's his colleagues and journalists who know him who will be incredibly relieved today. the scenes you can expect at "the wall street journal" today, we are told. the editor releaing a statement saying, evan is free and on his way home. there are going to be different scenes in different places as this exchange -- as you rightly say, that we haven't seen the likes of which since the cold

war -- plays out in the hours ahead. there will be questions, too. not just about those who have been left behind. but also about whether there will be questions about whether these exchanges are exchanging people -- russians, for example, who committed murder with others who the u.s. government says very clearly were unlawfully convicted. >> i want to just share with everyone, david whelan and his sister elizabeth, the siblings of paul whelan, who have advocated tirelessly for him, they, along with ella millman and evan's parents, are expected -- they might be at the white house. they might be with the president at the announcement. we are not sure. we have been in touch with them. david whelan is paul's brother, has issued a statement. i want to read part of it.

thank you for covering paul's story and helping share the messages. paul will be receiving government support. i hope you will give him privacy as you have done with other released hostages. he is thankful but also trying to preserve some time for recovery here. paul whelan has been in a russian jail for more than five years. brittney griner went to the army medical center in san antonio. we don't know where these freed hostages, prisoners are going to be treated. the government -- the u.s. government and their families want them to have all the services of readjustment that they really need. wanted to share a statement from the secretary of state antony blinken on his way back from japan. he is thanking everyone.

the countries that were involved as i think gabe just said, germany, poland, norway, slovenia, and turkey in the final transport. this transfer, as they are flying back to andrews air force base, we will hear from the president speaking from the state dining room. we have kamala harris, the vice president, saying today, we released -- celebrate the release of paul, evan, alsu, vladimir and others being held in russia. it gives me comfort to know that their horrible ordeal is over. they will soon be reunited with their families. the president and i will not stop working until every american who is wrongfully detained or held hostage is released. you have been following all of this as we have been briefed by the white house. you are at "the washington post." we agreed to hold this information, some journalists

didn't, but to hold it until these americans were officially in american u.s. custody because of the risk that russia could change its mind, that anything could happen until that took place. tell us what you think was one of the key moments in all of this. >> i think just like you said, u.s. officials, one, were still as recently as last night and this morning worried the wrong people were going to come off the planes from russia. they wanted to make sure that all of the prisoners and hostages that they agreed to swap were the ones that came off the planes from russia. they did not want information released until the swap actually took place in turkey today to ensure that the americans were in u.s. custody, they were on their way home. there was a lot of fear until this was done. they couldn't trust the deal was going to go through. there was fear that early reporting or leaked information

could potentially compromise the deal. obviously, a lot of reporters were seeing seening a prisoner happening. this is not an easy country to deal with. as everyone said, this involved many different countries of highly complex, large prisoner swap. i think there was a lot of fear that any one of the prisoners, whether from slovenia, poland, norway, germany, that a snag could happen anywhere along the way. i think as someone noted earlier, we know president biden was calling the prime minister of slovenia to make sure they would stay part of the deal. after this was agreed to two weeks ago, there was a lot of fear up until a little while ago we knew they were in u.s. custody that there could be a snag. >> we should point out there's a

fourth american who was involved in this. this is the radio free europe reporter, alsu kurmasheva. she had been visiting, i believe, her ailing mother or another relative and was arrested wrongfully as a reporter for radio free europe. she was also being put on trial. i want to senator chris murphy, a member of the foreign relations committee. to do this, senator, in the middle of hostile relations between the united states and vladimir putin and russia over this ongoing ukraine war is extraordinary. i think there's no way to describe this diplomacy other than an amazing achievement. we knew the germans were not willing to give up this assassin previously for brittney griner. that's why paul whelan got left behind. there's an american

schoolteacher who taught so many of our diplomatic children. he was arrested on drug charges. not accused of espionage. and convicted. >> this is an extraordinary deal, andrea. obviously, we continue to have a very complicated relationship with russia. obviously, we are fighting them in ukraine right now through our support to the ukrainians. but we have been able to keep open a channel with them on these prisoner releases that has now come to fruition today. i think what's exceptional to me about this deal is that it includes not only these key americans that we needed to get released, but also includes, it appears, substantial russian political opposition figures, figures that may have been allies of navalny.

it's a signal to the world that the united states is always going to prioritize our citizens who are being unjustly held captive, but we are going to stand up for the defenders of democracy who are often abandoned by the west once they are taken captive by their domestic government. the united states is going to stand up for them. that alone is really important, because it potentially puts wind under the wings of a lot of other beleaguered democracy movements around the world. >> we have been told, senator -- the president is expected any moment. i will interrupt you. evan gershkovich's mother arrived at the white house. apparently, i believe also her husband and their daughter danielle were in a call earlier.

we're not sure whether they actually were on the phone with the call -- excuse me, a call with the white house and they were not allowed to release that. but some of the families will be there today. you are right to point out how many countries were involved. what i understood was happening was that our intelligence community was scouring the world. we did not have more russian prisoners of a high enough value that vladimir putin was interested in. we didn't have people to give up. that's why we were pressing germany to make this decision, which was going to be politically difficult for them, perhaps had they not gotten the german nationals back as well. then they started asking all of our allies, do you have a russian, do you have someone in prison that could be of interest to vladimir putin? there was a shopping, you know.

this was shopping the world for russian spies to trade to try to get paul whelan and kara-murza and alsu, these americans. they expressed regret in a call with us, senior officials, that they couldn't get marc fogel, from pittsburgh. they have been advocating, as you know, to get marc fogel out. he was in a separate category, because he was not technically innocent of any crime under russian law. there was a drug issue. it was medically prescribed. they raised it. they convicted him of it. >> yeah. i've unfortunately been part of these prisoner release deals in the past where my constituent was not on that initial list. that happened in an iranian prisoner release deal that left one of my connecticut

constituents behind. we don't give up. we do not give up. this administration doesn't give up. the biden administration eventually finally freed my constituent from the clutches of the iranian regime. in this case, we have not gotten everyone out. but as you point out, this deal is made possible because we have allies. i haven't gotten briefed on the details yet. that will happen after -- >> here comes the president, senator. >> thanks. >> the president is coming in with the families. thank you so much. here is the president of the united states on a signature day. >> got everybody? good afternoon. this is a very good afternoon. a very good afternoon. today, we are bringing home paul, evan, alsu and vladimir. three american citizens and one

american green card holder. all four have been imprisoned unjustly in russia. or nearly six years. russian authorities arrested them, convicted them in show trials and sentenced them to long prison terms. with no legitimate reason whatsoever. none. paul, a former marine, was in russia for a wedding. evan, a journalist in russia assigned by "the wall street journal." alsu, a journalist, to see family. all three falsely accused of being spies. vladimir was a russian citizen by birth and holds an american green card. a journalist and was a pallbearer at john mccain's funeral. he spoke out against putin's

regime. for that he was convicted of treason. now, their ordeal is over. they are free. moments ago, the families and i were able to speak to them on the telephone from the oval office. they are out of russia. earlier today, they were flown to turkey. soon, they will be on their way home to see their families. 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. the deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship. friendship. multiple countries helped get this done. they joined a difficult, complex negotiation at my request. i personally thanked them all again. i have thanked them personally and i will thank them again. all told, russia's released 16 prisoners. eight russians were being held

in the west will be sent home as well. these 16 prisoners from russia include four americans, five germans, seven russian citizens political prisoners in their own country. one of those russians runs a human rights organization memorial, which won a nobel prize in 2022. putin threw him in prison for voicing opposition to the war in ukraine. four others worked with navalny, political opposition leader who died this year. now they can live safely abroad and continue their work of advocating for democracy if they so choose. this deal would not have been made possible without our allies. germany, poland, slovenia, norway, turkey, they all stepped up. they stood with us. they stood with us. they made bold and brave decisions. released prisoners held in their countries who were justifiably

being held and provided support to get the americans home. for anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do! they matter! today is a powerful example why it's vital to have friends in this world. friends you can trust, work with and depend upon. especially on matters of great consequence and sensitivity like this. our alliances make our people safer. we began to see that today. let me say this. it says a lot about the united states that we work relentlessly to free americans who are unjustly held around the world. it says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of russian political prisoners. they stood up for democracy and human rights. their leaders threw them in prison. the united states helped secure their release as well. that's who we are in the united states. we stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice. not only for our own people but

for others as well. that's why all americans can take pride in what we have achieved today. i want to thank everyone in my administration who helped make this happen. our work did not start just on day one. it started before day one. during the transition, i instructed our national security team to dig into all the cases of hostages being wrongfully detained, which were inherently -- well, we inherit them from the prior administration. i want to make sure we hit the ground running. we did. as of today, my administration has brought home over 70 americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. many since before i took office. additionally, i authorized penalties like sanctions and travel bans on those who hold americans against their will. my state department introduced any warnings for americans about the risk of being wrongfully

detained by a foreign government. deals like this one come with tough calls. there are never any guarantees. there's nothing that matters more to me than protecting americans at home and abroad. we will continue to work for the release of all wrongfully detained americans around the world. let me end where i began, with paul, evan and alsu and vladimir and their families. they never gave up hope. i can't imagine what they have been through, all of you. matter of fact, this lady right here has been in the oval office with us for a while. i can't imagine their joy right now. they are home. tomorrow is a big day. where are you? 13th birthday. you know we have a tradition in the biden family. we sing happy birthday.

ready? all of you. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ happy birthday dear miriam ♪ ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ god love you. she's alsu's daughter. she gets to celebrate with her mom. that's what this is all about, families. able to be together again like they should have been all along. i want to thank you to everyone who did their part. in a few hours, we will welcome home our fellow americans. we are looking forward to that. god willing, we will be out of andrews and get that done. thank you, thank you, thank you. it's a good day. >> what did they say whether they answered the phone? >> i said, welcome almost home.

>> the abductor states from taking more americans to get more of their prisoners home? how do you end this incentives? >> we are advising people not to go certain places. tell them what's at risk, what's at stake. >> can you speak to the complexity of working with six countries to secure the release? >> look, i'm not going to take the time now. i will do this later in the week. i particularly owe a great sense of gratitude to the chancellor. the demands required me to get some significant concessions from germany which they originally concluded they could not do because of the person in question. everybody stepped up. poland stepped up. slovenia stepped up. turkey stepped up. it matters to have relationships. it really does.

these things matter. >> could this improve relations with russia? is there any avenue for that after this prisoner exchange deal? >> as my sister might say, your lips to god's ears. >> would you be willing to speak to putin directly? >> i don't need to speak with putin. [ inaudible ] >> i got home innocent people. thank you. [ inaudible ] >> i have spoken to all the leaders about this. as a father -- look, you heard me say this before. i mean it.

a simple proposition. family is the beginning, the middle and the end. blood of my blood, bone of my bone. i could think of nothing more consequential. having lost family in a different way, i've known, health, it matters. >> mr. president, what did germany ask for in response for cooperation? >> nothing. >> trump said he could have gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange. what do you say to that? >> why didn't he do it when he was president? >> with a few questions there at the end where the president was just asked, what do you say to former president trump who said that he could have done this

deal without making concessions, he went back to the microphones and said, why didn't he do it when he was president? of course, because several of the prisoners that have been released were taken on donald trump's watch and had been there -- paul whelan for instance, for more than five years. want to bring in our panel, michael mcfaul, evan farkis, and now the executive director of the mccain institute, and peter baker. ambassador, to you. there's a great deal of joy. we saw ella and mikhail gershkovich in the room, danielle gershkovich, the family, also the 13-year-old daughter of alsu, the radio free europe reporter, whose birthday

is tomorrow. the president hugged her and said to her that this is your day and led the singing to her. wonderful moments. the whelans were there. i know -- i did want to ask you about marc fogel who has been left behind. the explanation is that there was a legal reason under russian law and that they couldn't come up with enough to get him out. again, he has been left behind. he is a schoolteacher, taught your children. talk to me about the big picture and about the diplomacy involved. you know how difficult it was to get the germans to agree to give up the assassin in berlin. >> first, i just want to say, this is a fantastic day. it's a fantastic day, a joyous day for the families you mentioned that were with the president.

vladimir's family was there today. i have been in touch with folks and friends -- three of my russian friends released today. i can tell you, there's deep elation. one of the lawyers who had been working these cases said, mike, i'm drunk. sending me a message from russia. great joy. fantastic achievement for american diplomacy. people keep saying that since the cold war, we have never seen something so complex or as big. i'm not an expert on the cold war. i think this is bigger than anything in the cold war. i just want to celebrate diplomacy. i have been a diplomat dealing with putin's russia. you don't get many days like this where you put points on the board and you free people. this is a fantastic day for american diplomacy. at the same time, andrea, thank you for remembering marc.

he is a friend of mine. he was a fantastic school teacher to my oldest son and many americans and many soldiers who have been serving our country bravely in putin's russia. he was part of our team. i don't know the circumstances why he didn't make the list. i do know that he is in very bad health. i hope that there will be a humanitarian reason why he can be released. with all the joy that those other families are celebrating, there's some sadness there. one other piece of sadness i have to mention, remember when you and i were in munich together, there were rumors that navalny would be part of this release for this german killer. the good news for the navalnys and for their colleagues who i have been in touch with is two of their people have been released. there's a bittersweet part because obviously navalny did not live to be part of the swap. >> let me ask you -- you

mentioned diplomacy. it's diplomacy and friendship. it was personal relationships, very clearly between the president and the chancellor. there had been resistance. they weren't going to give him up for griner. that's where paul got left behind so sadly for another few years -- another year and a half. talk to me about what it takes to negotiate with russia and to get all these other countries involved. >> i say two things. not knowing the details but knowing the players. first, there's -- my guess is there had been multiple channels of negotiations at the very highest levels. i won be surprised if bill burns was involved. roger carsons has been involved. tony blinken. the president of the united states. multiple channels working this for months. that's my guess. i don't have facts. that's my guess. >> i can confirm that from

firsthand conversations that that's all true. second, you said something really important abo this was -- without that, this doesn't happen. remember, he is a killer in germany. i know the details when they were being negotiated for navalny. i think two things. one, without that, this doesn't happen. we need allies. we need friends in the world. we are better off with them than without them. two, i think their strategy as often is in diplomacy, you make the problem bigger and by making it bigger and complex as they did, they allowed for this trade space that got the americans out, got the germans out, and also got these incredibly brave russian opposition leaders,

three of whom i know personally. that's a win, win, win. that's creative diplomacy. >> one of the things that was mentioned by the president to all of you is that the families -- at least he mentioned the gershkovich family were able to speak to evan from the airplane as they were lifting off from turkey and coming to the u.s. they are coming to andrews air force base. i want to bring in senator bob casey of pennsylvania, a member of the intelligence committee. i'm sorry, senator casey was going to be with us. i think we ran out of time. or he ran out of time more accurately. evelyn, i was about to introduce you. former nato advisor. let's talk about this. you know just how complex it was. you were in munich when navalny's death was announced.

his wife was there. how tragic that all was. this did potentially open up new space with germany, because they now wanted to get some of his fellow prisoners out before they suffered same terrible fate he did while if prison. >> that's right. in munich, i did have some sidebar conversations with bill browder. he has been working for a long time trying to get russian dissidents out of prison. our institute worked with him behind the scenes and in events we have held on capitol hill to highlight our desire to have him held by the united states government. i talked to roger carsons. both of them did talk about the prospect of some big hostage deal. it's true that this has been a

long time somehow in the making. unfortunately, the tragic death of navalny maybe was something that contributed to the german government deciding to make a deal. i will say that the fact that the german government was so dug in and really felt that this was a matter of principle for them, this murderous guy they didn't want to release, it probably made it -- i don't have details either, just like ambassador mcfaul. it probably made it more likely we could get this many people out, including those russian dissidents. i want to say one more thing. at the mccain institute, the president brought me to tears. we worked long and hard because vladimir was not just a hero to russians, but he was someone that john mccain called a hero. that's a big thing considering that john mccain is a global hero himself. it's moving to see that he is

finally being released. of course, we know this means a lot to his family. seeing alsu's daughter there also was quite moving. it's a great day today. >> i'm glad you mentioned that. the president mentioning he had been a pallbearer at john mccain's funeral. went back knowing he was going to be arrested. it was a death sentence or life sentence in terms of imprisonment. >> that's right. >> antony blinken from his airplane in tokyo, taking off for the united states after a week-long trip there, just did speak to paul, evan, alsu and vladimir and welcoming them home saying, we are happy you are on your way home.

we're not sure of all the calls being made. i want to bring in john brennan who knows so well what goes into these kinds of trades. there may have been one on your watch as well involving ten russians and some americans. it was controversial with some of the agencies. the fbi never likes to give up someone they convicted. the cia knows there's only one way to get people out who have been convicted of espionage from russia. that is to give up a very high level prisoner. it was very clear from conversations i have had that they were basically scouring the ally prisons and other locations to try to see what ally might be able to give up a russian to make this deal larger in order to get more people out. >> yes, andrea. i presume this is a continuation of the ongoing dialogue that has been authorized by the white house and the kremlin that resulted in the release of griner in exchange for bout last

year. it seems as though both sides started to identify individuals that they wanted to be released. as has been made clear, there were individuals who were outside of u.s. custody that were in europe. therefore, the white house working with the intelligence community, law enforcement and others, the dialogue probably continued through secure intelligence channels with the back and forth that was going on. the orchestration of this, i think, is truly remarkable. as you mentioned in 2010 when we exchanged the russian illegals, that was very difficult because we had to coordinate within the u.s. government in terms of the different determines and agencies involved and the branchs of government. you expand that to so many more countries. to do this and do it securely in secret and to make sure all the pieces were in place to see today in turkey this remarkable

exchange. again, this is something that's a success in one respect in terms of getting the people out. but this issue of state hostage taking by russia, using individuals as pawns in order to get out individuals who have been convicted of murder. these are other individuals, assassins and others who they are trying to get released. this is part of vladimir putin's commitment that he is never going to leave any type of russian operative or spy behind. there are clearly reasons to celebrate today. but concerns going forward in terms of what also might be ahead in terms of individuals who will be seized not just by russia but by other countries as well. >> what signal does this send to our people working overseas, to our intelligence community, our covert operatives. you were station chief among other posts. >> it sends the signal that the biden administration and other

u.s. administrations are working tirelessly to try to do what is right. sometimes it involves some very unattractive options as far as what you can do in order to secure the release of individuals who are being unfairly held and detained overseas. whether you are talking about covert assets overseas, u.s. citizens and others, it demonstrates the depth of the u.s. commitment but also as president biden said, it demonstrates just how important those alliances are. the relationships we have with countries around the globe that can help to facilitate this. clearly the german chancellor was instrumental in making sure this deal was going through. i think it demonstrates the u.s. leadership, particularly on the human rights front, on what is right in terms of the global stage. there's no replacement for u.s. leadership that takes seriously its global responsibilities.

>> john, thank you so much for your experience with all of this. joining us now is jeanne shaheen from new hampshire, a member of the foreign relations committee. talk to me about the hostage release, the joy of the families, the whelans are based in massachusetts, elizabeth is. the parents are elderly and are in michigan. constituents from pennsylvania, as the gershkovichs are. talk about all that's involved in a complicated negotiation. >> it's great news for the families and for every american citizen who is being held wrongfully around the world to know that their government is concerned about them. it shows as mr. brennan pointed out, the importance of our alliances. this was a deal that involved

six countries, as i'm sure you said, 24 prisoners total. so many from the united states who had been held. paul whelan for over six years. to have them be able to come home, to have their families be able to greet them is just so memorable beyond words. >> it was a complicated deal. it was really led by the president, by his intelligence director, the national security advisor, secretary of state, hostage negotiator. it's so unusual in the face of the war right now with ukraine by proxy the u.s. and russia, nato and russia more properly. the fact that this could be done, that nations, including the kremlin, they have particular interests and their interest was in getting this russian assassin and other russian prisoners out.

>> that's right. it speaks to just how important family voices and advocates are incontinuing to pressure them. we helped get russian citizens out of jail being held wrongfully by their own country. it speaks to the whole of government effort in getting this kind of a deal done. you mentioned jake sullivan, the president, obviously. the hostage negotiator who we have worked closely with in the past, organizations like the foley foundation that have been so important to help hostage families. it's a broad effort. it points to how we can achieve success, but it also points to the fact that we are not done. this is a great day, a great exchange. but it's a reminder that we have

other americans being held wrongfully in other parts of the world. we have to continue to stay focused on getting them home as well. >> senator shaheen, thanks so much. appreciate you being with us today. i want to bring in peter baker, the chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." we have seen a lot of negotiations, a lot of deals. some have fallen through. this is really a big deal to paraphrase the president of the united states. >> yeah. it is a bank shot involving multiple countries, each of which have their own interests and equities at stake. we are told it was one of the remarkable moments when you had a president of the united states multitasking in the most extraordinary way. the best example. the last call he made to the prime minister of slovenia came a week ago sunday. that came -- that call came an hour before he released his

statement dropping out of the presidential race. imagine what a day that was for president biden. right? on one hand performing his duties, trying to secure the release of these americans and the russians who are part of the deal. at the same time, he is going through this political trauma of deciding that he can no longer remain a candidate for a second term. it's hard to think of a more dramatic moment than that in the life of a president. obviously, this has been something he has prioritized. he talked about family. family has been a central part of his life, both in a personal way and political way. i think that if you are president of the united states, we have seen this with multiple presidents going back to cour -- carter and reagan, they feel it. it becomes personal not just political. i think there are few presidents who feel the personal side of these things as much as joe biden. >> i want to say a few words about evan.

evan is an extraordinary journalist. i read so much of his work when we were preparing for the anniversary. "the wall street journal" having a blank front page where his work would have been. he was traveling between russia and ukraine, fearlessly. traveling around russia. he is the son of russians. they came in the '70s. the fact that he was raised here. he loved his russian culture. his mother told me how much he loved russia. they grew up with russian names that their mother gave them, he and his sister. they spoke russian in the home. for him to have been a prisoner of russia's sham legal system and abused this way for more than a year is so tragic on so many levels. the last image we saw of him was at that sentening in the second week of july. the fact that they accelerated

the sentencing and his trial and did it within 48 hours, seemed to be a signal something was going on. in fact, it was. one concern everyone has had is that kara-murza might not be in good health. there was urgency to get these people. >> that's right. you could make the argument today's deal may save vladimir's life. they tried to kill him twice. they twice poisoned him. obviously, a prison sentence for a russian dissident is not necessarily just a prison sentence. it could be sentence. so getting him out clearly is not just saving him time behind bars but perhaps saving his life, and you're right about evan, my goodness. the courage it took to report inside russia at a time when we are facing off in this confrontation with ukraine,

demonstrated his commitment, to bring the truth out from a country that doesn't believe in truth, a country where it was illegal to use the word war to describe what was happening, and evan went out there, and you know, fearlessly tried to find the truth and was punished for it, and now he's going to be coming out. he'll have a long time hopefully to enjoy his freedom, to recover from his experiences, but you're right, the last picture we saw of him at that sentence, boy, he looked a lot worse than he did when he went in, gaunt and pale, and bags under his eyes. the russian prison system takes a toll on even the hardiest, youngest, strongest people. >> thank you, peter baker. i want to bring in the "wall street journal" publisher and ceo of dough jones. elmer, i can't tell you how excited we are all for evan's release, and you and emma tucker, your colleagues, you at the "wall street journal" did more to make sure that this happened than probably anyone

else, except maybe the president of the united states and his team. >> we're just happy that evan is a free man right now. there are so many people, andrea, who have worked on this. obviously the newsroom of the "wall street journal," colleagues at dough jones and the news corp., not a day has gone by that there wasn't intense effort of attention to evan, making sure the spotlight is on him, but also a hot of work behind the scenes to make sure that policy makers, decision makers around the world in many countries, including the u.s. were focused on this and would get to focus on this. so we are today very very grateful for where we are, grateful to the administration, grateful to the foreign governments that have aided in this effort, in particular, the german government that has been

instrumental in our view. and to all of our colleagues to the entire news media, around the world, really, that came together around evan, around his family, but also around the importance of press freedom, and so there's a lot to celebrate today. there's a lot of work that remains to be done, when it comes to free press, but today we celebrate. >> we just showed some video of a very celebratory "wall street journal" newsroom that, as you're all releasing that to his colleagues, they've worked so hard and have suffered so much from his being held, and, you know, all of your friends and colleagues there. this picture has also just been released from the "wall street journal." and there we see probably an ankara when they are being handed over, after they have been handed over, and that is evan, and ulsa and paul whelan, the three american citizens.

radio from europe. they all look relatively healthy. they have obviously lost weight, and of course there's also the green card holder, whose family lives here, and is such a hero of the dissent movement. almar. >> just bone chilling in a positive way to see the photo that we believe was taken in a lounge, an airport lounge in ankara before evan and the others went on to a plane that will now set course for, as the president has said, for st. andrews air force base in maryland. we couldn't be happier to see him healthy, to see him with his trademark smile, and we already know that he's retained a good sense of humor, and i'm sure at some point he'll be able to share all that and his story

himself, and we can't wait for that day where we no longer have to speak for him. he can speak for himself, and share the ordeal that he has gone through and the significance it has for journalism, and for the free world, really. >> and just to say, again, what the "wall street journal" has meant to all of us, to all of us journalists, to evan's friends and families, i'm thinking of danielle, his sister, and of course his father and the incredible courage and resilience and optimism that they have shown and largely because of the support from the journal from dow jones. and so thanks again. >> thank you, andrea. we were together with the family this morning, and it was a truly special moment, and i'm sure you'll hear much more from them in days to come. >> certainly home so. almar latour, the publisher of

the "wall street journal," on a special day, a day of great celebration for four americans, and others from around the world, other dissents in germany, i want to thank everyone for being with us for this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports," it's meant a great deal for me after covering this story for so many years. remember to follow us on social media @mitchellreports, rewatch the best parts of our show on you tube, go to msnbc.com/andrea, and you can of course follow all of us on msnbc and our other networks throughout the day. "chris jansing reports" after a short break. if after a short break. if goldmine. well s oesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

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