>> our community's center used to be the community drug house. >> i want my grandchildren to have it better than what i have it today. >> i have always wanted to serve other people. >> human suffering has no borders. people are people, and love is love. >> join anderson cooper and kelly ripa live as they present the 2022 hero of the year. >> join me in honoring -- >> cnn hero of the year -- >> cnn heroes, an all star tribute, sunday at 8:00. >> and thank you so much for joining us. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. looking at live pictures of kelly field air base in san antonio, texas. some time in the coming hours a plane carrying wnba star brittney griner will land there and she'll step out on to american soil after a flight

from abu dhabi. a prisoner swap out of the cold war took there after ten months of being in the custody of the russia criminal justice system. her wife cherelle as word came said that brittney was free and safe and clearly by her own admission overwhelmed. >> over the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life. and so today i'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that i have is just sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. >> the administration bringing griner home in a prisoner swap, which played out on the tarmac in abu dhabi forearms dealer viktor bout who had been serving a 25-year sentence in the u.s. for charges, including for conspiring to kill americans. to the trade griner for bout leaving out another american paul whelan who has been in prison in russia for almost four years. he spoke almost exclusively

today to cnn's jennifer hansler. >> i don't understand why i'm stihl sitting here. my bags were packed. i'm ready to go home. i just need an airplane to come and get me. i was led to believe that things were moving in the right direction and that the governments were negotiating and that something would happen fairly soon. >> back in washington, mixed reaction with lawmakers and both parties welcoming griner's release. republicans mostly, although not exclusively underscoring the downside. >> i'm glad an american's coming home. she was arrested for a trumped up charge. but to exchange the merchant of death for this? it's made us weaker. it's made putin stronger, and it's made americans more vulnerable. >> it's a view or at least a concern shared by some democrats as well. the administration, though, defending the deal as that is the best they could get. >> this was not a choice of which american to bring home.

the choice was one or none. >> we'll have much more on the entire story tonight, bringing to you only as cnn can. cnn's phil mattingly is at the white house with exclusive details from inside the oval office on how this all came together. kylie atwood is at the state department with new reporting as well and what happens next for griner. jennifer hansler has more on the exclusive interview she got today with paul whelan in prison. and from nick mate on the walsh. i want to start with phil mattingly. what have you learned? >> there were months of fits and starts, arduous negotiations where this really crystallized over the course of the last 72 hours. just a few days ago, brittney griner was moved from a penal colony to moscow, a clear and concrete signal to administration officials that what had long been thought as a possible deal was very much coming together. they summoned cherelle griner to the white house that she was going to get an update from jake

sullivan about how things were going. when cherelle griner arrived, she was led back into the oval office, not knowing what was going on. there she was met by president biden. it was president biden who told his team he wanted to deliver the message, the message that the deal had been complete and brittney griner was on her way home. the two were speaking when president biden was actually informed by his aides that brittney griner was securely in the hands of u.s. officials. shortly thereafter, she was on the phone on speakerphone with president biden, with cherelle griner. the president's top advisers nearby. they spoke for a short while and then cherelle went into the nearby dining room to have a private conversation with her wife. there are very real complexities, very real political and policy issues that the president grappled with in a major way over the course of the last several months. but as he signed off on this last week, he made clear this was about bringing an american home. this was about bringing someone back to her family. anderson? >> what do we know about the negotiations, why griner was

released, not paul whelan? >> the one thing you hear from white house officials, they spent months trying to push, and our colleagues kylie and jenny also broke this story trying to push a two-for-one deal of viktor bout definitely being part of the swap, but the u.s. getting brittney griner and paul whelan. what they discovered over the course of the last several weeks when the russians came back to them with a firm response was it would only be one for one. and paul whelan was not that one. it was not an option. they were not given one to select. they were told it was brittney griner or nobody. they were told that whelan's case was simply being viewed through a very difficult manner. the president made the decision to bring brittney griner home, making very clear it was as one official said a very painful decision, but a decision he decided he needed to make. he has spoken. u.s. officials have spoken to the whelan family. the president has spoken to the whelan family as well making clear they be be doing everything in their power to bring whelan home. what they don't have a clear pathway to do that.

>> kylie atwood has new reporting on how the state department tries to redouble their efforts to get him back. kylie, what have you learned? >> that's right. a senior administration official tells me tonight that the administration has some ideas about new forms of proposals that they could put on the table with russia to try and secure the release of paul whelan. of course, we heard earlier today from the secretary of state saying that essentially they had put everything on the table that they could. but this senior administration official making it clear that they're going to be as creative as they can. they are aware that something more and different needs to be proposed to the russians. and this comes after paul whelan, speaking with jennifer hansler exclusively earlier today said that he is concerned about what it would take to get him out and saying that the biden administration is going to have to identify something that the russians really want and give it to them. and his brother concerned that

the biden administration doesn't really have much in terms of concessions to give to russia at this point because viktor bout, who was traded in this one for one deal with brittney griner was really the person we had been hearing was of top interest to the kremlin. so they're asking what else is there. administration officials saying they're going to go back to the drawing board. state department spokesperson saying very clearly tonight keep the faith to paul whelan. they're coming back for him. >> what are you learning about the griner deal? >> well, the griner deal, it was that one for one. and as we heard from phil just there, it was recent days where this deal was actually signed off. but it was recent weeks where administration officials had to grapple with the reality that of course they wanted paul whelan and brittney griner home, but the russians were only willing to do this one for one, griner for viktor bout swap. so essentially, what they had to do was do this deal now or

potentially do no deal at all. >> it's extraordinary to see this image of the swap on the tarmac in abu dhabi. it really is like something out of a cold war movie, a cold war novel. >> it is. and you saw the small smile on brittney griner's face. it was footage that was released from russian state media this afternoon. and someone asked her if she is ready for the flight. and she said yes, yes, i'm ready for the flight. you could see joy in her eyes. she didn't want to get too excited because, of course, u.s. officials didn't know this was going to happen until it happened. and that is, of course, one of the reasons that this was a very tight held operation. only a small number of u.s. officials knew about it. i'm also told that they were concerned as they looked at the war in russia that if something happened there that really angered the russians that they may pull back. of course, luckily and happily enough for the griner family, that didn't happen. >> kylie atwood, i appreciate

your reporting. thank you. now to cnn state department producer jennifer hansler who spoke with paul whelan from prison. i mean, it's fascinating you were able to get a phone call to him. what was his reaction to what happened? >> well, anderson, he actually called me because he wanted to express how he was feeling today. he said he was very happy that brittney griner was heading home, but he was disappointed and surprised that he was left behind. he said he had gotten indications that there was positive movement on his case, and he said he was particularly disappointed because he sees that there has not been enough movement and enough effort to get him home, especially four years into his detention. it was four years ago this month that he was arrested in moscow on those espionage charges. he vehemently denies that he is a spy, and he said he has sat quietly for a long time, and he is hoping now to get his message out about how frustrated he is that he is still there. >> and he had a message for

president biden, did he? >> he did. he did, anderson. he said he would like to speak to biden directly to convey the dire circumstances that he is in. but he also said he wanted to get this message out right now, and it was worth the risk so that people could hear what he is going through and what he wants from the president. and i want you to take a listen right now. >> i would say that if a message could go to president biden, that this is a precarious situation that needs to be resolved quickly. and i would hope that he and his administration would do everything they could to get me home, regardless of a price they might have to pay at this point. >> so he is hoping that the administration pulls out all of the stops now to try to bring him home. >> is he -- i mean i can't imagine what his life is like on a day-to-day basis. is he hopeful, do you think? >> he hasn't lost hope. he seemed calm when he spoke to

me, but he is definitely concerned about the long-term prospects here. he has been in this prison nearly four years now. he still has 12 years left on this sentence. he is concerned he won't see his elderly parents again, he won't see his beloved family dog, and he is also concerned about his own health. he said the circumstances in this prison colony are horrible. the sanitation is terrible. it's not clean. it's not healthy. so he is concerned about getting home in a healthy one piece. now i should say that the biden administration says they are doing everything they can to bring him home, and his family still has hope as well that they will be reunited soon. anderson? >> i appreciate it. thank you. perspective tonight from retired rear admiral john kirby. he is currently the white house national security council coordinator for strategic communication. admiral kirby, what more can you tell us about how this exchange came about, what the final negotiations leading up to the release were like? >> just remember, this has really been months in the

making. we've been working on this for a very long time, almost for the entire time that brittney was wrongfully detained and certainly mr. whelan before her. but in actuality, the deal itself kind of came to solidity in the last week or so, anderson. it was some time last week we knew we had this opportunity and the president decided that we were going to take it. so it really kind of came to conclusion over the last week. and then over the last 48 to 96 hours, largely that was spent on working out the logistics with the russians. >> and what about her condition? how is she doing? >> she was in good spirits when she spoke to the president and to her wife cherelle this morning in the oval office. the reports we gone on the ground at the site of the exchange in abu dhabi is she appeared to be in good health, but we don't want to take anything for granted. so her first stop when she gets back to the united states in the coming hours will be at a treatment facility where she can get the medical care that she might need after ten months in detention in a penal colony.

>> as you know, there has been criticism from both republicans and democrats about the prisoner exchange. house minority leader mccarthy called it a sign of weakness, his words, adding that it could endanger other americans abroad. senator chris coons, a biden ally cautioned that these kind of exchanges can set a bad precedent. i just want to play what coons said. >> it was clear over many months that putin was only going to release brittney griner in exchange for this person. and that's the risk is that the more we engage in such exchanges, the more americans are at risk of being scooped up and held as leverage to try and secure the release of folks who we rather not have to release. >> what do you say to that criticism? >> we're mindful of that risk, of course. that's why we've taken steps in this administration to put sanctions and visa restrictions in place for those state and nonstate actors who might engage in hostage taking.

that's why the state department put a new designation on countries, a d designation for detention risk. we want americans to go on the state website when they're going to travel overseas and make sure they are fully informed when they go overseas. and look, i think any nation that comes away from this thinking this is a blank check to take americans, they ought to think twice about that. we're going to held them accountable. it's also a strong signal about how the president feels the weight of the responsibility he feels about protecting americans abroad, particularly those that have been wrongfully detained. >> was this a decision the president had to make between whether it was going to be brittney griner who got out for viktor bout or paul whelan? >> there was only one choice. and the only -- the only person they were willing to treat for with respect to mr. bout was brittney griner. they put paul whelan in a different category. they treat him simply. they treat him differently because of the sham espionage

charges that they've levied against him. we tried many different permutations to try to get both of them out at the same time, as you might expect. but the russians really put mr. whelan in a different category. so we just were not able to make that work right now. the only deal we could get right now was the deal bout for brittney griner. and the president felt he had a moral obligation to take that. it was either get one american out, in this case brittney, or get none. >> you said earlier today the u.s. is not back to square one with whelan's negotiations. >> that's right. >> where did those stand, if anywhere? >> look, over the last several weeks and months, we've become much more informed about the russian position, because we worked so aggressively to get both of them out. we now have a better sense of where the russians are coming at this from a negotiations standpoint, with respect to paul. so going forward, we're smarter. we're more informed. and we're going use that context as we try to aggressively negotiate for his release as well.

>> admiral john kirby, i appreciate it. thank you. >> yes, sir. >> we're going to have much more on this tonight as we wait for brittney griner's return. next, the man who got sent to russia, the so-called merchant of death. who the was viktor bout in his heyday, and who is he now? does he still pose a threat to americans. later, breaking news on two fronts and the growing world of legal jeopardy for the former president. new action by the justice department and new cnn reporting on who the january 6th committee is considering criminal referrals for in addition to the former president. it's what sanctuary could look like.e... feel like... sound like... even smell like. more on that soon. ♪ ♪ the best part? the prequel is pretty sweet too. ♪ ♪

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as we look at kelly field in san antonio where brittney griner is expected to arrive tonight, more now on the price the biden administration paid for her freedom, mainly the release of arms dealer viktor bout who is back in moscow as we speak. the last western journalist to speak with him joins us from london. you interviewed bout in 2009. what should we know about him? >> this is a man known by the book about his exploits as an arms dealer, as the merchant of

death, his life fictionalized in a nicolas cage movie "the lord of war". a very prominent individual and russia's influence in smaller conflicts in the 1990s, thousand dealing arms, yet a man who denies all of that publicly, despite the fact that russia has gone through extraordinary lengths diplomatically to get him home today and over the past weeks. here is more of what we know about him. >> reporter: he is the lord of war, according to this fictional movie starring nicolas cage. >> say what you want about war lords and dictators, they always pay their bills on time. >> reporter: or the merchant of death, about his alleged life. despite much evidence, viktor bout has always denied being one of the biggest arms dealers of the '90s, fueling civil wars and bolstering moscow's interest. he still never really wanted to be a nobody. why do the americans want you so badly? >> the administration, don't ask

me. explain why, i have no clue. >> mr. bout -- >> reporter: he gave me his last interview in a thai jail 13 years ago when he denied the worst charges against him. >> this is a lie. and i never supplied such at all. and especially never had any deal with al qaeda. >> reporter: in a noisy, packed visiting area, as he sat behind the glass, the bit i remember the most was his mother interrupting. and that he admitted he had worked for the russian government. >> i dent want to send out -- >> have you ever worked for the russian government? >> sometimes, yeah. >> reporter: in the end, he was not super human and arrested in thailand after a u.s. sting operation. and while his decades of life in the shadows had left him fuller faced, he was always just a

pilot courier, he insisted, even as he was led into this bangkok courtroom. >> today in manhattan federal court, viktor bout begins to face american justice. >> reporter: the u.s. sting was complex over many months and countries, catching him offering weapons to u.s. agents pretending to be colombian terrorists. he was eventually extradited to face a new york trial for conspiring to kill americans. it saw him sentenced to 25 years in prison in a medium security facility in illinois. there he told me in emails he was in good spirits, brushing up on his many languages, and in 2019, very glad when his wife and daughter visited. but he was slowly edging towards the end of his sentence. perhaps a reason his role in a swap was more appealing. but the biggest mystery about bout was why the u.s. wanted him so fiercely. yes, he had allegedly dealt arms to a lot of bad people across

africa and the 90s. but that was known and exposed. observers searched for another weightier reason and one that if he had served alongside any kremlin siders in his long past overseas. that remains a huge question mark. is he a pilot? the wrong place at the very worst times? or as so many have said, a profiteer and policy tour for moscow and the world's nastiest wars. >> it is such an interesting question. his release was clearly important to vladimir putin. >> yeah, absolutely. and we may never know really the answer to that question. is it historical knowledge of the things they did in the '90s and the early thousands which the kremlin is so keen to keep quiet, or did he have a close relationship as has been suggested with people who maybe have served in the intelligence community in africa in the '90s or so who then went on to be close to vladimir putin. that's one possibility. but now be honest, his sort of

slick denials have always made it exceptionally hard to elucidate quite the reason what behind his enormous value to the kremlin is, anderson. >> is he still a threat potentially? his time in the front lines in africa and else was in the 90s as you say and early 2000s. >> as we both know, the world has changed a lot in the last 13, 14 years. he is not a man who stayed on the phone keeping his contacts fluid. when i tried to email with him a few years ago, that was cut off very quickly by prison monitors. so he has certainly been away from the constant changing conflicts and front lines of the past decades or so. yes, he still has the language skills. i'm sure he is still as charismatic as he was when i spoke to him in '08-'09. but the world has changed enormously. russia's place in it has changed enormously. while he might possibly want the get back in to where he was before, i think he'll be coming from very much a standing start

rather than picking wrap-up he left off. >> any chance he would get involved with the war in ukraine? >> to be honest, russia's problems there, i think are quite significantly advanced at the return of one individual with better arms contacts could possibly turn that around. hard to say. he certainly carries a lot i think of mythological almost weight amongst the russian elite. that may be one reason why vladimir putin wanted to bring him back, to kind of show that moscow was able to do things for those intelligence and military professionals who put themselves on the line for russia. that may have some possible influence, maybe. and remember too, this is the u.s. and russia, anderson, talking in a reasonably balanced fashion, negotiating while u.s. is busy supplying ukraine with weapons that are killing russian soldiers and russia is busy killing ukrainian civilians. there is a lot of tension in the air, but this was dealt with quite practically, and that's potentially a good sign for maybe peace negotiations or certainly the capacity to calm down misunderstandings in the months and years ahead between

the u.s. and moscow. >> fascinating, thank you. breaking news in the criminal investigation. the classified documents found in donald trump's home. what it could mean for the former president. plus, cnn has now learned who the january 6th committee may be considering criminal referrals for in trump world, next. ♪ what will you do? will you make something better? create something new? our dell technologies advirs can pride you with the tools and expertise you need to bring outhe innovator in you. active psoriatic arthritis can slow me down.

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breaking developments on two major investigations tied to donald trump. the justice department is now asking a federal judge to hold the ex-president in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to turn over classified documents this summer. meanwhile, we've just learned who the january 6th committee may be considering criminal referrals for as its probe rapidly winds down. in addition to the former president, multiple sources tell cnn the panel is weighing prosecution referrals for former trump white house chief of staff mark meadows, conservative attorney john eastman, former

justice department official jeffrey clark along with trump's former personal lawyer rudy giuliani. more with sara murray. talk more about these possible criminal referrals. >> well, look, these are names that are still under discussion. so of course the committee has not made their final decision. it doesn't mean this is going to be an exhaustive list. the committee is also weighing a referral for donald trump. so we may eventually see other names. what we know is there is still an active discussion going on within the committee that these men are all names that are under discussion for criminal referrals to the department of justice. again, this is a recommendation, but in talking to these committee members, they do feel like they don't want to let anyone slip through the cracks. and in talking to bennie thompson today, he said look, we didn't get into this with the intention of making criminal referral, but there were some things we uncovered during the course of our investigation that we didn't feel like we go without noting to the department of justice. so the committee is going to meet privately virtually on sunday. they're expected to go over these criminal referrals, and hopefully make a decision about

who they actually want to put on that list. but they're not planning on announcing that publicly until december 21st when they also release their final report. anderson? >> what more do you know about this effort to get the former president held in contempt in connection with the mar-a-lago case? >> well, we know the justice department has asked a federal judge to hold donald trump in contempt. and the reasoning here is the justice department believes that trump did not comply with the subpoena they sent over the summer asking him to return any documents with classified markings. of course, after they got that subpoena, there was a search at mar-a-lago. the fbi found more than 100 documents with classified markings. we also told our juries that si they found an additional two documents in a storage unit with classified markings on them. so what the government is arguing is look, they didn't comply with the subpoena you. should hold them in contempt. these are secret court proceedings. we did learn there is going to be a hearing on this matter on friday where the judge could decide if she wants to hold

either donald trump or his post presidency office in contempt, in which case they could face fines. but this sort of tells you how contentious things have been behind the scenes between the trump team and the justice department. >> fascinating. john dean and cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jennifer rodgers. what's your reaction to this news that perhaps as many as four others beyond the former president are being looked and possibly referred to the select committee of the doj? >> i don't think it will influence the department. it will certainly influence the public, which in turn might influence the department. this really focuses on these people there will be more information normally from a criminal investigation will be revealed about why the committee feels these people have earned a referral. so i think it's an important move, and i would not be surprised if there is some more that get named. >> jennifer, how do you think the attorney general of the department of justice weighed these referrals? >> not really at all, anderson.

i mean, if the referrals were for matters like obstruction of congress or perjury before congress, then doj looks at it a little differently, because congress is effectively a victim there, and you would treat that the way you would the views of any other victim. but if it's just we've done an investigation. here's what we think. doj will say thank you very much. they'll be very interested in the evidence that has been collected by the committee. but as far as their recommendation, doj is going to have to make their own 100% their own determination on the fax. >> when you look at the potential targets of these criminal referrals, former president trump, mark meadows, john eastman, jeffrey clark, rudy giuliani, is there any that has a higher legal exposure when it comes to a criminal investigation? >> well, i think -- we don't know all the evidence that the committee knows at this point, but i've always thought that mark meadows was so close to the president, so involved, so right there, and we've seen very little out of him. he has not testified.

i have often suspected he might be cooperating. we just don't know. i know he's got a very good lawyer, a very savvy lawyer who if anybody of that group might crack a deal, i think meadows is the one who might. >> jennifer, i guess the same question to you. >> yeah, i agree with john. i mean, there are different ways in which these men might be in trouble in terms of criminal exposure. i think, for example, that on the slates of fake elector, rudy giuliani has a lot of exposure there. jeff clark for the shenanigans at the justice department. so it's just almost like this is a who's who of the different strains of the conspiracy. they're almost picking one or two from each of the separate plots. so i think they're all in jeopardy. it just depends on what they've been able to uncover. that's one of the things i'm really anxious to see when the report comes out is how they assimilate all of this information, including the evidence that we haven't seen. >> i mean, jennifer, it is incredible to think this guy jeffrey clark who was angling to

take over the justice department would actually be charged by the justice department. >> it is. it's extraordinary. i mean, it's almost equally extraordinary to think about how he got there in the first place, someone with these kind of extreme views who was willing to go to these lengths, creating this document that had all sorts of falsehoods in it and wanting to send it out as a department of justice communication. it's just extraordinary that he was there. it's unbelievable what he did. we'll see if there is evidence to charge him. but doj won't hesitate. you have to have a reputation for integrity. and if one of their own, one of doj's own committed a crime, they'll be just as eager to go after that person as anyone else. >> and john, should the former president really be concerned about the department of justice chances of convincing a judge to get him held in contempt on the documents case? does being held in contempt really matter from a legal standpoint? >> we don't know at this point in the reporting what kind of

contempt they're contemplating asking, whether it's civil or criminal. if it's civil, they'll just be trying to get the judge to impose fines on him. if it's criminal, that could be an imprisonment. but i don't know how you imprison a former president with a secret service detail who is with him all the time. there are a lot of complex problems. but this is a very savvy judge. it's interesting, anderson, that she is the chief judge. it was the chief judge during watergate, john sirica who didn't take any baloney and cut through the dust and the smoke and wasn't intimidated by the fact that he was dealing with a president at the other end. so these chief judges, they've seen it all. >> jennifer, what would -- what's the determining factor whether something is a civil or a criminal contempt? >> well, i don't think they would even consider seriously criminal contempt here. one of the things this motion actually tells me is they're again taking a very cautious approach to this. they could likely get search

warrants and have already gone into all these locations themselves. instead, they're trying to get trump and his team to certify that they're doing it appropriately. i think, again, they're being very cautious. they're treating him with frankly a lot more deference than anyone else would receive. i think that's smart to do. but this kind of underscores that. i don't think they're looking to put the former president in jail. i think they're looking to try to get him and his lawyers to do the right thing to search in the right way and to certify it in front of the court. >> and jennifer, a person familiar with the matter said the president doesn't plan to appeal the supreme court, that ended the special master review of documents. i assume that helps the justice department just in terms of the timeline, allows things to move forward. >> a little bit. i think one of the reasons he decided not to appeal is it's not an appeal of right. it's not like there would be a scheduling order, briefing, argument, and a period of time for the court to decide. probably they would dismiss it immediately since he doesn't have the right to the appeal and

it's such a slam-dunk. probably the assessment is he is going to lose any way. there is no point in doing it. doj maybe a few days earlier, but it's not a lot of time. >> jennifer rodgers, john dean, thank you so much. coming up, a look at this german extremist group partially inspired by qanon was trying to overthrow the government there. 25 people arrested wednesday. more arrests expected. we'll have a live report from berlin, next.

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the day after germany arrested 25 suspects in an alleged qanon inspired plot to overthrow the government, authorities say that number could rise to 54 with more possible arrests. that number could further rise. the arrests are unprecedented in the country's history, modern history. cnn senior international cent fred pleitgen has more on just who this group is. >> reporter: it could have been a january 6th style insurrection in germany. violent protesters trying to storm german parliament in august 2020, one of the leading groups the reichsburger, or citizens of the reich, now accused of plotting a coup in

germany. >> translator: this is obviously one of the largest terrorist organizations that has existed in the right wing sector in recent years, bavaria's interior minute store said. it certainly seems to be the worst we have seen so far in the spectrum of reichsburger and qanon scenes. german authorities say they believe there will be more arrests after massive raids on wednesday. the number of suspects has already risen to more than 50 possible co-conspirators of the group, allegedly led by this man, 71-year-old prince heinrich xiii of the house of reusthe. cnn's efforts to reach him for comment have so far been unsuccessful. residents of his hometown say suspicious activity was already well under way. his followers had even demanded citizens ditch their german passports. we were told that we were not german because our passports were not german.

we were then given the opportunity to apply for documents with the reusthe administration, the deputy mayor said. authorities say the reichsburger want to set up a monarchy in germany and have scores of right wing extremists in the ranks. among those arrested several former soldiers and a former member of german parliament from a far right political party. german extremism experts warn like in the u.s., the number of extremists looking to undermine democracy is growing. "it's a development which shows that right-wing extremism is moving from the margins to the center, and that protagonists from the scene can imagine overthrowing the state order. it's a very dangerous development." german criminal authorities say they are continuing to identify people possibly possibly involved in the planned coup. and while that plan they have been thwarted this time, groups like reichsburger pose an

increasing threat to germany's democratic order. >> fred pleitgen joins us now from berlin. do the german authorities believe the plot could have actually succeeded? >> well, they believe that these conspirators were trying to essentially occupy government buildings, the parliament being first and foremost and that way take power, using a military arm that they founded. now the authorities believe what the likelihood of that succeeding may not have been very high. however, they also say of the more than 100 places that they searched when they did their big raids, in 50 of those places, they actually found weapons. so clearly, these people were arming themselves, and clearly these people were serious about it. and there is two things about that, anderson. on the one hand, obviously this group itself is quite large, quite dynamic. but also, the ties they have to groups like qanon, to conspiracy theorists and also to right-wing extremists makes all this very dangerous, the germans believe. >> and there is a pretty big extremist conspiracy theorist movement in germany, isn't there? >> yep.

it's a lot bigger than many people think. we've been looking into this. basically, since 2020, since we had that really large demo here in berlin where very nearly the parliament was stormed. it was almost like january 6th, except german cops actually stopped them from getting in. and there are social scientists who believe there are over 200,000 followers of qanon here in this country, and once again, those groups are all linked conspiracy theorists, and a lot of them have that right wing background, right wingers in their ranks as well. the german government, you know, over the past couple of days since this has taken place, they have said, they believe that of course democracy in this country, like in the u.s., can be frail, and that's why right now they're saying they are going to take this hard line against groups like this to make sure that democracy is kept safe here in germany. >> fred pleitgen, thank you. there has been a lot of anticipation online about the new docuseries of prince harry and meghan.

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. britain's prince harry and his wife, meghan, spoke to oprah last year. they stunned the world with some of their candid comments about the royal family. now, they are talking about, this time in a new netflix docuseries out today. cnn's max foster tonight has details. >> reporter: the first three episodes have dropped, and the verdict is in. harry and meghan's docuseries hasn't had any major bombshells yet. but there was a targeted attack on the media. >> no one knows the full truth. we know the full truth. the institution knows the full truth, and the media know the full truth because they've been in it. >> reporter: suggesting the royal press pact is simply an extension of the palace's pr team, and the family is afraid

of challenging the media. the series shines a light on their childhoods. harry talks about his mother, her battle with the press, and the difficulty he had growing up as a royal child in the spotlight. >> for them, this is very much all tied together. harry feels he's been chased by the press ever since he was a child. it has continued into his marriage, and it was unsustainable. >> then there was meghan's perspective, learning to live in the royal fold. the first senior royal she met was the queen. >> i remember we were in the car and driving up and he said, you know how to courtesy, right? and i just thought it was a joke. >> reporter: then there was this anecdote, when she first met kate and william. >> i remember i was in ripped jeans and barefoot. it was like i was a hugger. i didn't realize that was a little jarring for a lot of brits. i guess i began to understand

very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. >> reporter: the episodes are peppered with intimate moments in what was billed as an inside look at their relationship from the start. and it includes moments like this. >> it's happening, it's happening, it's happening. >> reporter: videos and pictures never made public before of the moment harry proposed. >> leaking, but there's also planting of stories. >> reporter: but with the trailer teasing dramatic moments that weren't included in the first three episodes, any bombshells the palace fears may be still yet to come. >> has the palace responded to this documentary? >> reporter: i think there's quite a lot in this series unsettled the palace. there's not quite enough to prompt a formal response. i think the bigger test of that, anderson, will be next week, when we get to the more sensitive part of the story, which is when they were forced or they felt forced out of the family and had to leave to go to north america. so, not enough in there yet, although some of it feels quite

personal, according to people i've spoken to in the palace. >> max foster, i appreciate it. thanks. we return to our top story ahead, release of brittney griner from russia, her plane expected to land soon in san antonio, texas. we'll talk to trevor reed, how reed is doing and what the griner family might expect upon their upcoming reunion next. (whispspering) hello hello anybody there? ♪ sam! hey little brother! the time machine worked. make this december one to remember.

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i want to show you a live picture of kelly field in san antonio, texas, where brittney griner is expected to arrive tonight. as we wait for word on that, cnn's mark bark ward as more on how this prisoner swap came about. >> reporter: the dramatic, brittney griner in the red coat, walking toward the american plane. coming toward them, state department official roger, accompanying viktor bout, who was hugged by a russian official. this new video shows griner leaving russian detention and boarding the plane in the snow. her passport returned, griner smiles, knowing she's heading home. >> are you ready for flight. >> yes. >> congratulations again. >> thank you. >> reporter: back in the u.s., griner's wife, cherelle, was invited to the white house. >> today i'm standing here overwhelmed with emotion. the most important emotion i have right now is insear gratitude for president biden and his entire administration.