hello, everyone. welcome to "cnn newsroom." we begin the hour with a brand-new video just into cnn. you're seeing the very first images of brittney griner after she was released from russian custody. there you see her smiling, such a relief to see her coming back to the united states. the wnba star spent nearly ten months behind bars in russia, and now there you see it. that smile, and i'm sure relief to come home. there you see her boarding that flight, and there's viktor bout upon his -- his return back to

russia as well. it's all part of a result of a prisoner swap. the u.s. released arms dealer viktor bout as you see him boarding the plane. president biden stood alongside griner's wife to announce the good news. >> she's safe. she's on a plane. she's on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in russia, held under untolerable circumstances. brittany will soon be back in the arms to of her loved ones and she should have been there all along. >> let's bring in cnn national security correspondent kylie atwood and cnn chief white house correspondent phil mattingly. so kylie, what is the state department saying about this prisoner swap, and the fact that it really came together in just the last couple of days? >> reporter: yeah, well, the secretary of state tony blinken saying it was unforgettable to be in the oval office today with president biden when cherelle griner was able to speak with brittney griner for the first

time since she was freed from russia and he also went on to say that this has been an effort that's been under way by u.s. state department officials, by officials for months. we have reported on that. we know the biden administration put an offer on the table months ago for both brittney griner and paul whelan who is another american detained in the country. that did not come to fruition today. it's not because the u.s. officials didn't want it. it's because of russia's position here. they treated paul whelan differently than they did brittney griner, and here's what the secretary of state said about the united states moving ahead with this deal even though for now, it meant leaving paul whelan in russia. >> this was not a choice of which american to bring home. the choice was one or none. we will never relent until paul and for that matter, every other u.s. national held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad is

free and coming home and joining their families. >> reporter: now we also said that the united states put every possible option on the table to try and secure paul whelan's release as well. we should note that he's been wrongfully detained in russia for about four years now, but he said that just wasn't going to happen at this time. u.s. officials saying they will keep working on that effort, and we should note that brittney griner is on her way back to the united states today. folks really welcoming that news across the united states because there was such a public push for her to get released, from the basketball community, from the lgbtq community. also from african american community here in the united states, and according to a uae official, it was a meeting with the president of the uae and president putin that was part of securing this deal because brittney griner was actually exchanged today in abu dhabi for

viktor bout. >> incredible to see her on that plane, and we know her health was of concern as of late and her mental health definitely top of mind for people. we saw that big sigh of relief from her wife cherelle who spoke this morning alongside president biden when he announced she was on her way home, but brittney gr griner's wife also, phil, acknowledging that she was coming home without someone else, another american there, paul whelan, and noting as happy as she is and relieved that she is that her wife is coming home, that they have not forgotten and will continue to fight for the release of paul whelan. what is the white house saying about this continued effort on their part to make sure that he comes home as soon as possible too? >> reporter: yeah, bianna. the griners are capturing a split screen of emotions so some degree. there's elation inside the white house and brittney griner is on her way home. you noted the smile, and talk about the family and the well-being of brittney griner given that she had been moved to

a penal colony. that was what drove the decision to sign off on this by the president and his team perhaps more than anything else. the ability to get someone home if they did not believe that the option to get both home was actually on the table, and i think that's where u.s. officials as kylie and others have reported so extensively, a moment they reached, recognizing that when they put options on the table, they put alternatives on the table to secure the release of both, they just got no takeup from the russians and, in part, it was because they sensed that the russians viewed paul whelan differently. the president alluded to this. take a listen. >> for totally illegitimate reasons, russia is treating paul's case differently than brittney's, and while we have not yet succeeded in securing paul's release, they are not giving up. we are never giving up. >> reporter: that's a message you've heard from administration officials throughout the day. what you haven't heard is a clear pathway or idea of what it will take to secure paul whelan's release.

again, it's kind of -- the difficulty in complexity of this moment, there is no question u.s. officials are elated by the fact they were able to secure the release of brittney griner. there's no question that the advocates and constituency over the last nine plus months are roitzed as well, but there's recognition there are many americans left behind, and that's something that drives the teams that kylie covers so closely, and the difficulty of these moments as to how this is going to play out going forward. still no clear sense yet. the whelan family has weighed in saying that they are very happy brittney griner has come home, but they are obviously distraught by the reality that paul whelan was not with her. how this plays out going forward is going to be a question the administration is going to have to address both publicly, but also in their negotiations with the russian counterpart. >> we're coming up on the four-year mark since paul whelan was unlawfully detained and arrested there in russia. ka kylie atwood and phil mattingly, thank you. terry jackson -- actually,

he's not with us right now. we're going to go to evelyn farkus as a former deputy assistant secretary of defense. evelyn, good to see you. we'll go to terry jackson in a minute if we can. let me get your perspective here on what it means for, one, vladimir putin after all of these months to finally agree to this exchange for viktor bout, but also to make sure that it was only brittney griner coming home, and not paul whelan. >> yeah, bianna, i think i have a different take on this which is to say that vladimir putin was never going to give us paul whelan. all along he probably knew he was only going to give us brittney griner in exchange for viktor bout. he definitely wanted viktor bout so there was going to be an exchange, and it's happening now because vladimir putin wants this to happen now. he needs a win. he needs a victory in russia

because he is having trouble convincing the russian people it's a good idea to be at war with ukraine. i think all of this back and forth negotiation was just typical of the kremlin under vladimir putin. just a lot of playing games, frankly. >> that takes a lot of messed up propaganda to somehow view this as a victory to russians back at home, that a convicted arms dealer is somehow welcome news to have returned to the country, but nonetheless he's been -- he's been doing this for years. what do you think it will take then or are you not optimistic about paul whelan's return? >> well, i'm slightly optimistic. so first of all, on viktor bout, for plvladimir putin, he's important. he's a kgb operator at his core, and bout was doing work as an arms deal for the russian government. he sees this as bringing one of his own home, and it's a signal obviously to all the other people in the russian government who are doing things, you know,

bad things for the russian government, that he, putin, will take care of them. so that's the first additional point i want to make. to answer your question about what it means for paul whelan, look. i think the russians will make a deal if it's in their interest, and we know the germans are holding at least two russian citizens who may well be operatives for the russian government. one of them -- >> convicted of murder. yeah. >> yes. one of them is convicted of murder, murdered a republic of georgia citizen in germany. the second one was just seized in the last couple of supporting -- and it may be that the biden administration was emboldened. it sounded like it was brittney or nothing, but on the other hand knowing that the germans have these other russians may have also helped somewhat. >> what does tell you in

being a social pariah really to the west, that these channels of communication are still open and exist, and we can have hope that some of these wrongfully detained americans can come home? >> i mean, it tells you that vladimir putin and his government and other governments like his, they will make a deal if they think it's in their self-interest. they have no values. they don't care about human rights, but if it works out well for them, they'll make a swap, and so i suppose that's good news, and of course, maintaining lines of communication is important. that's what we do, whether we agree or disagree, with governments all around the world. >> all right, evelyn farkas, thank you. great to see you. >> thanks, bianna. an historic vote on capitol hill today as lawmakers pass the protection of same-sex marriage. president biden promises to sign the bill promptly and ukraine is asking the white house to allow cluster munitions in its fight

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house speaker nancy pelosi called the landmark bill she signed today a glorious triumph of love and freedom. with the vote of 258 to 169, the house passed the respect for marriage act protecting same-sex marriages. 39 republicans voted with democrats to pass the measure, which the senate approved last week. president biden said he will sign the bill promptly once he receives it. now this federal law does not legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, but it does mandate that every state recognize another state's legal union. cnn's congressional correspondent jessica dean joins us from capitol hill.

a significant day there, jessica, to say the lease. so explain how this bill specifically works, and the impact that it will have. >> reporter: it certainly is a big day here. this was something that began in the senate. they were working on it before the midterms actually and just could not quite get there in terms of getting those ten necessary votes from republicans to get this over the finish line so they came back together. they did get that done, and what this bill does as you mentioned, it doesn't necessarily put in a nationwide law requiring the recognition of same-sex marriage. what it does is require each individual state to respect and see legally in the eyes of the law any other state's laws on same-sex marriage. so it recognizes same-sex marriages from any other state. so no matter where you go, you are married in the eyes of the law no matter what that state has on the the books. it's a bit nuanced, but it gives those protections to same-sex

marriages, and this really became a concern after roe v. wade was overturned over the summer. there began to be concern that what if the supreme court overturned the ruling on same-sex marriage, and that is what moved both the house and the senate to do this and get it done in this session. >> yeah, and we also heard from the supreme court justice, clarence thomas, opened the door to that opportunity as well, suggesting that one day it's something the court should revisit, and that really triggered a lot of concern there in washington. we know 39 house gop members today voted in favor, and during the vote last week in the senate, 12 republicans supported the act. how did conservatives get on board given that just ten years ago, it was president obama's, you know, own administration that sort of took issue when now president biden spoke out in favor of same-sex marriage? >> reporter: right. it is amazing where we are today, ten years later, isn't it? and to see, you know, 39 house

republicans, 12 senate republicans, that's a bigby partisan vote for this legislation, and so there were some religious freedom language that was worked into this bill that essentially made sure that religious institutions didn't have to do anything that they weren't comfortable with. that was important for some conservatives to get into this -- into this bill, for them to be able to support it and to push it through. that was kind of the lynch pin for some of these members that made them feel comfortable in supporting this, and again, just to underscore, that is a pretty bigby partisan vote in both chambers. >> yeah. it is indeed, and we saw nancy pelosi there in her final weeks of leadership. she has let it be known that she is overjoyed that this bill is something that she's there, and seeing as a swan song as house speaker. also it looks like we have movement on other legislation. must-pass legislation, the defense authorization act looks like it just passed in the house. so things seem to be happening

there, finally as we're coming up upon deadlines, jessica. >> reporter: i know. it was like it was a log jam. we all got back from thanksgiving. we have this lame duck session in between. what we have left in the last of this year, and then when the new congress takes over in january, and they have a very long laundry list of things they have to get done, and for house speaker nancy pelosi, she will be transitioning out of leadership. she will be staying in the house, but not in the leadership for the house departments, the first in many, many, many years. that will be very different, and so we did get to see her kind of preside over this last big piece of legislation. i'll let you watch that clip. >> on this vote, the yeas are 258. the nays are 169. present, one. the motion is adopted. >> reporter: and again, just a

lot of enthusiasm coming off that house floor, and you mentioned the national defense authorization act getting passed out of the house. that was on their laundry list. it's authorizing military spending. the big one though, they've got to fund the government. that deadline is coming up next friday, and we are still waiting for movement on that. a couple of options. they can do a short-term thing, and also try to did a year-long big bill. that's what we're hearing they want to try to do. the question is, can they get that done in the time they have? we'll see. >> we heard speaker pelosi say she's optimistic that can be done by tend of the year, but we're waiting on the top line figure nonetheless. nice to see a big smile on the speaker's face there. jessica dean, thank you. >> you're welcome. well, a new lead in the case for four college students killed in idaho. details on the car seen near the site of the killings straight ahead on "cnn newsroom." customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! (limu squawks) he's a naturural. only pay for w what you need. ♪libertrty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

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back now to our top story. you are seeing the very first images of brittney griner after she was leasereleased from russ custody. the wnba star spent nearly ten

months behind bars from russia. in exchange the u.s. released russian arms dealer viktor bout. terry jackson is the wnba's players association executive and director. i was looking forward to this conversation with you because it has been so long since we have last seen brittney smiling, not inside of that inhumane cage as she was being treated there in russia in the courtroom, and to see her on that plane headed home, how does that hfeel for you? >> bianna, it has been an amazing day, an amazing day, full of pure joy on behalf of my members. this is the biggest win that we have ever seen in all of our lives, collectively. for the past 290 plus days, and i'm tired of counting, and i don't have to count anymore, but

for the past several, several days, several months, i would start each day saying, b.g. is coming home today, can then when it didn't happen that day, i would, you know, include in my prayer that i guess it was going to be tomorrow, and so yesterday i went to bed with anxious anticipation because i understood things were moving, and i just want to thank my family who's just been my rock on this. my mother woke me up listening to the news. i had been trying to monitor it, and she woke me up full of her joy, and it's just -- it was just amazing. just amazing, and so i'm sorry i wasn't able to join the last segment, but keep telling this story for us, and i'm so happy that i can be with you right now. >> i mean, listen. it all puts things into perspective because as much as we have cheered for her and rooted for her when she played her game on the basketball court, no one is cheering and

rooting for her as much as we are right now and cheering to see that smile on her face and 'her be able to walk out of prison and walk herself up that plane with her bags. we've got a statement from her wnba team, the phoenix mercury, and here's what they said. miraculously, mercifully, the count of days detained has ended at 294, and our friend, our sister is headed back home where she belongs. the emotions for our organization just like the fans and so many across the world are those of joyous celebration, deep gratitude, grief for the time lost, and sincere hope for all families still awaiting the return of a loved one. once again, they're noting that somebody else didn't come home with her, and that is paul whelan, and there are others that are being wrongfully detained. >> absolutely. >> what does this moment and this day mean for the wnba community as a whole? >> you know, we had started -- the players association had started a hashtag that we are not the 144 without b.g., and

today our prayers have been answered. our 144 is complete. she is on her way home, and as much celebration, elation, gratitude, joy that we are expressing, you know, please, everybody hear us in this moment. we are mindful, very mindful of paul whelan and his family. we are mindful of the families that we are now forever connected to through the bring our families home campaign, and as cherelle griner so graciously, so beautifully said in her statement earlier dwroouktoday, you know, we will keep fighting for them because we are connected. when i heard b.g. was coming home, and i heard she was on the plane, and i saw those pictures and every time there's an image of b.g., everybody knows i am leaning in to just read her face and to see if i can figure out what's going on.

in seeing all of that, i was reminded too, in that same moment, that same wave of emotion took me back to a conversation that i had with paul whelan's brother, david, and i understand. i know their sadness, and i want them to know from us on behalf of the 144, and the griner family, we know their sadness. we understand their sadness and their grief right now, and we are -- we are connected, and we will continue this fight alongside them. we will. >> we heard president biden today there once again remind americans of the danger of traveling to countries like russia and to check in with the state department. it had been reported that nearly a dozen wnba players competed in russia last winter, and that none of them are heading back this year. can you confirm that? >> that's true. there are -- none of our members are there at this time.

they made decisions to play in other countries. those who had made the decision to compete during the wnba off season, during these last several months, and continuing into the 2023 season, they made the decision to go elsewhere. >> and we should note for our viewers at home that may be questioning why they travel overseas, it is because their salary is not on par with that of their male professional colleagues who play in the nba, and so they travel in off season to play in other leagues and other countries. before i let you go, we see brittney griner there. she looks healthy. she looks as if she is in good shape right now, but i can only imagine what she's going through emotionally, and what toll this has taken on her. she is going to need some time of healing, of privacy. what will the wnba be offering her as she comes back and starts to heal? >> you know, for the league for the commissioner of the wnba,

for us at the players association, you know, i'll be talking with our player leadership. we have talked already. we had started talking several months ago about the kinds of resources that we would look to wrap around brittney and her family. we have had those conversations too with the state department, and we heard the biden administration commit to that, kind of double down to that today, and so we're going to be looking towards everything and everyone who's appropriate at this time, and like i said, we will work together with our colleagues at -- at the league office to ensure that we wrap every necessary resource around b.g. to make sure she is whole top to bottom, head to toe, inside and out. she is ours, and we can't wait to get her home. >> quickly, would you like to see her play again? >> i would like to see b.g. do whatever brings her joy. >> well, she is entitled to joy.

>> whatever. >> she has been lacking a lot of joy for nearly a year now, so that is what she deserves at this moment as she comes home. ter terri jackson, thank you so much. we'll be right back. this is lily. when you see things differently, you can be the difference. ♪ capella iversity sees education differently. our flexpath learning form helps you control tht of your master's dree. age comes with wisdom. and wisdom comes with benefits. dryer's broken okay... you want a socket.... that's especially true when it comes to medicare. so make the wise call and learn more about cigna medicare plans in your area. their tools and resources make it simple and easy.

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public presentation. sources tell cnn that former president trump is among the key people they are considering to suggest for criminal investigation, but they would not reveal any other names. cnn legal analyst norm eisen joins me now. he's a former house judiciary specialist, and norm, good to see you. reading through the tea leaves right there, what are the odds you give that among the names on this referral list include the former president? >> bianna, extremely high on former president trump, even before these nine impactful hearings full of evidence. a federal judge already found that he had likely committed criminal acts by conspireing to defraud the united states out of the rightful election of joe biden, and by obstructing an official proceeding in congress by his incitement on january 6th. then you had nine hearings

piling up the evidence. trump is sure to be a subject of criminal referral. >> would these referrals then come under the guidance of the new special counsel? >> they would, and it's important. we know the special counsel jack smith is off to a fast start. she's subpoenaing information about donald trump's activities in arizona, in michigan, in wisconsin, but the committee can explain how its investigation supports his decision, a decision to prosecute, and can express the judgment that such a prosecution should proceed. very important to speak to the special counsel with referrals. >> so the doj doesn't have to follow through on these referrals. they are just that, referrals, but they're also overseeing their own separate investigation into the january 6th attack. so how could these referrals factor into that investigation? >> well, the evidence is probably the most important

thing. we all remember the famous watergate road map. that was just a breakdown of the evidence. in that case, it went from a criminal investigation to congress. here it's going in the opposite direction, but powerful to lay out the evidence, the bread crumbs. in this case, it's a mountain of those bread crumbs of evidence, but the law -- the legal analysis is also important, and it gives political coverage. this will be controversial if the special counsel recommends charges. it creates a political environment to act as well. so on all fronts, vitally important that the committee act if they determine that the evidence merits it. >> so let me turn to the other investigation that the special counsel is overseeing, and that is the taking of the classified documents to mar-a-lago, and now we know reportedly that not just mar-a-lago, but they are classified documents found by an

outside group hired by the former president at a storage facility of his where they subsequently found two additional classified documents which they returned. what do you make of all of that? i know it can be a bit confusing for folks at home, but there seem to be a lot of missing documents in all the wrong places here, norm. >> it's stunning that after all the distance that we've come on the hundred-plus classified documents that the government obtained when it executed its search warrant, bianna, that now there are still more, and when i look at these classified documents as somebody who worked on the law governing them when i was in the white house, and then had the highest security clearances as a united states ambassador, i don't see pieces of paper. i see the human beings in our intelligence community, in the united states and around the world who are working together to keep us and our allies safe. even a single piece of paper, and many people have been

prosecuted, bianna. >> yeah. >> for removing just one classified document. even a single document can jeopardize lives, so to have these out and two more out there in the world totally unsecured, very dangerous, very perilous for the united states, and you can be sure that prosecutors jack smith, also taking a very hard look at charges against the former president. i would be surprised if he weren't charged. >> norm eisen, we'll have to leave it there. we shall see as people say. thank you for joining us. >> thanks, bianna. well, a new cnn exclusive. the ukrainian officials are asking the biden administration for controversial cluster munitions. they have been making the request for months now, and the weapons are banned by more than 100 countries, but russia continues to use them in their assault on ukraine. this video shows cluster munitions exploding in ckharkiv back in april. that's just one of the dozens

that have documented the warheads. natasha joins us now. this is really a difficult predicament that the biden administration finds itself in. how close are they to giving a yes or no answer to this request? >> reporter: that's interesting. it's interesting that they have not ruled this out completely. they have been asking about this for several months, and for now the biden administration is saying, we'll see. they have said it's not off the table. our source tell us that the officials have not taken this off the table, but it's very complicated because congress does pose some restrictions on the ability of the u.s. government to transfer those munitions to a foreign country. the president could overrule that, but that would require extraordinary determination by the biden administration that ukraine is really in desperate need of these munitions, and right now the administration just does not feel like ukraine is necessarily at that point. now ukraine would argue that the

russians are using these munitions to very devastating effect inside ukraine, which they are, and their argument to us has been well, we need to fight fire with fire essentially. we need to be able to use these munitions against them because it would allow us to target a large concentration of russian troops. they are saying they need them imminently. the white house is saying, kind of not so fast. interesting they have not taken this controversial option off the table just yet. >> well, listen. all they have to do is look at the evidence and look it what russia is doing inside ukraine. though it is a very controversial decision on their part. i know we'll continue to follow this story for us, natasha. thank you. well, a major break in the 65-year-old case of a young boy found dead inside a box. police now know his name. now what that means for this decades' old cold case, straight ahead. subaru retailers have supported over seventeen hundred hometown charitieses. (phil) have i witnessssed and seen the impact of what we do?

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police in moscow, idaho asking for help to find a white hyundai elan ttra. they're looking for one that was scene on the morning four college students were found brutally murdered. police believe that person could have more on what happened. veronica, how important could this person be to the investigation now? >> reporter: bianna, police say this person could have critical information about this case. they say that tips and leads led them to this 2011 to 2013

hyundai elantra and believe the driver, possibly if occupants inside, those people may have information about this case. this road where this house is located is where that car is believed to have been around november 13th in the early morning hours around the time of those murders, and just to give you a little context. this house is located off of a main road on a narrow street that leads to a dead end and it's actually hard to navigate because often cars are parked on both sides. residents there parking along the street. if there was a car out of place it is possible that it could have been noticeable, possible that these tips and leads may be referring to that, and so now police are looking into that. they want to speak to anybody who may be driving a car just like this one. of course, we are approaching here almost a month since these murders happened and no suspect arrested, no suspect information released, and no weapon has been

found. certainly anxiety amongst the community. however, i have spoken to police about the progress that they're making on this case, and they tell me they have strong leads. they just cannot be releasing this information at this time. they're trying to protect integrity of the investigation and hope to have more developments soon. >> a bit reassuring to hear one month into this investigation now, vorcheronica miracle, than you. for more than six decades the 1957 killing of a young boy remained unsolved. ever since his body was found in a cardboard box. today thanks to new dna evidence police were able to reveal the boy's identity. >> the beth certificate for the unknown child ome number 57-0863 would be amended to reflect the child's birth name. joseph augustus morelli.

>> wow. c cnn's reporter joins us with more. how were investigators able to crack the case using dna that wasn't available when he was worn? >> reporter: tried multiple times to get this dna. exhumed the body twice. literally the dna in such rough shape, just to get to the point to actually compare the dna to the genealogical data base and how they were able to take that information and create somewhat of a family tree. not only got the name of the little boy and able to identify both parents now deceased. his siblings, able to find his birth certificate. a huge investigative lead for these investigators, again, the oldest cold case in the philadelphia area. 65 years. never even knew his name. you heard, 4 years old, and law

enforcement hopes now by getting that name out there they are going to get an avalanche of tips. take a listen. >> we're going to filter through each and every one of those tips, but -- in that avalanche there might be a diamond in the rough. i'm hopeful there's somebody who is in their mid to late 70s, possibly 80s, who remembers that child. >> reporter: of course, it's possible. people can just remember, hey, i remember that child. maybe the neighbor or someone. what they're hoping they get out of this. of course, the bigger picture, hoping that this use of technology, still fairly new, can be used toward other cases. these unsolved cases start getting actually solved. >> it's chilling just to finally see them put two and two together. we mentioned both of his parents have since passed, but if the siblings are still alive -- >> talking to investigators and they actually say that, you know, they have their suspicions

what happened here but still it's an unsolved case. trying to work with the family members to try to identify a killer, but wouldn't really give much details on this family what their contributing to it or what that suspicion is, who they think did this. we'll have to stay tuned for that. again, such a big breakthrough in dna, which we always hear cases about this but the fairly new and the potential is becoming limitless. >> able to solve crimes decades old, how it's evolving. great to see you. international prisoner swap months in the making. wnba star brittney griner is free and on her way home. thank goodness. more on the negotiations that made this all happen. "the lead with jake tapper" starts right after a quick break. i may be close to retirement but i'm as busy as ever. and thanks to voya, i'm confident about my future. voya provides guidance for the riright investments. they make me feel like i've g got it all under contro.

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the good news. brittney griner is headed home. the bad news, so is one of the world's most notorious arms dealer. "the lead" starts right now. after a 294 days in russian custody basketball star brittney griner is on her way back to the united states. this hour, new details about the prisoner swap, the dense negotiations and bond villain known answer the merchant of death whom russia is