-- boarding the plane in the snow. a passport, return griner's miles knowing she is heading home. >> are you ready for the flight? >> yes. >> congratulations. >> back in the u.s., her wife was invited to the white house. >> today i'm standing here, overwhelmed with emotions but the most important that i have right now is just the gratitude, for president, biden and his entire administration. >> the release was the culmination of many months of negotiation with russia. >> this work is not, easy negotiations are always difficult. there are never any guarantees, it is my job as president of the united states to make the hard calls to protect american citizens all over the world. >> the wnba star who is caught with cannabis oil entering russia spent ten months and russian detention, but now she

is spread from a brutal nine year sentence in a russian penal colony. u.s. officials said that the trade for a notorious weapons smuggler viktor bout was finalized in the past 48 hours. criner was moved from her cousin to moscow before being flown to abu dhabi where the exchange took place on the tarmac of a small private airfield. >> i'm glad to be able to say she is an great spirit, she is relieved to finally be home. >> the u.s. wanted to trade boot for both griner at american paul whelan, but russia refused. in an exclusive interview from its penal colony, only told cnn he was surprised he was not included. >> i am greatly disappointed that moore has not been done to secure my release, i'm happy that britney is going home today, and that trevor went home when he did. i don't understand why i'm still sitting here. my bags are packed, i'm ready to go home. >> wieland told cnn that the

russians to him at a higher level than griner. yes been charged with espionage, and sentenced to 16 years. >> this was not a choice of which american to bring home, the choice was one or none. i wholeheartedly wish we could have brought paul home today, on the same plane as britney. >> alex marquardt joins us, now what more do you know about what is going to happen when she lines in san antonio? >> well, anderson, we are still waiting to get word that that plane has touched down in san antonio and that it is back on u.s. soil. it has been about 13 hours since we had heard that exchange had taken place on the tarmac in abu dhabi. so the play in heading to san antonio, griner's from texas but the reason it's going to san antonio is because there is a medical treatment facility there, and they're griner will be able to get any medical attention that she needs. u.s. officials to believe that she is in pretty good health, but they don't want to take any chances. how long griner stays at the

medical facility will be up to her, up to her and her wife, according to the state department, that is the same airport, the same facility that trevor reed went to when he was exchanged back in april by the russians. anderson, victor bout, he's already home. he landed at moscow's airport a few hours ago. he was greeted off the plane by his mother and his wife. that was broadcast on russian state tv, as so many of today's events where. the russians clearly see this as a win. >> thank you. if you want to talk to somebody of what britney griner's family has ahead, read -- only secured his release and hurried fat father, johnny,

joins us now. i appreciate you being with us. what is your reaction, particularly to the news that britney griner was released? >> thanks for having me on, anderson. we had a lot of mixed emotions today. the entire family. we are very happy for britney and her family and her friends. we know how it feels to have this day. but at the same time, we are heartbroken. we are disenchanted, and to a certain extent, angry, that paul has been left behind, for the third time. we just can't get over that. my wife was nauseated. she was sick to her stomach this morning when she heard that paul was left behind. >> what do you think it is going to take to get him back? >> well, to be blunt, it's going to take the united states actually negotiating to get his release. and let me make a point. initially the russians told everyone in the world, basically, that they wanted to trade paul for victor bout, and united states government wouldn't consider that. and then there was third-party channels that talked about trading vector bout for both my

son in, policy a government was still opposed to that. and now they realize that they've gotten something else, and they traded victor bout for britney, but not for paul. and so they are wanting more. and quite frankly, if the united states government doesn't have some russian spies in their prisons along with the thousands of other foreigners that we arrest around the world, then somebody is not doing their job. there has got to be somebody we can trade, or a group of people we can trade to be bring paul whelan home. the >> administration, i talked to former general john kirby, in the white house, the last hour, who said that essentially russians came back to the administration and said look, this isn't a question of paul whelan for victor bout or victor brittney griner. it's either griner four bout or, whelan is in a different

category. we consider him different. do you buy that? >> not really. no. again, because of what i just said. originally there was a lot of talk by the russians of trading paul for victor bout, and now not. what has changed? what has changed is, the political climate, the united states, the war, a lot of things have changed. but they were willing to make that trade at one point, and now they're not. now they want to get more. and of course they have asked for salons death, but he's a spy but he's also convicted of murder. and obviously that is difficult for the united states to make a trade like that.

but there has got to be some deal that can be made. and there are other americans and russia that have not been declared wrongfully detained, which is, that term is misused all the time. there are hundreds of americans around the world that are wrongfully detained but never declared sober fought by our government. >> how is your son trevor doing? >> thank you for asking. he's doing well. he's healthy. he came back all of his weight and muscle within a month or two. he's enjoying his family and friend. okay he's in great shape, doing a little traveling and enjoying being a free person. we hope he's going to be back in college next year. >> to the government provide trevor with any supporter services when he returned home?

what happens to somebody when they return home? >> well, they did, and like you mentioned earlier, he landed at the same or report, i think, the britney is arriving at, and then he was taken to a medical facility. i don't want to give the name. then he was in hospital for three days doing testing because they thought he had tuberculosis. and then he was released two officers quarters and then given counseling by a special team provided by the d. o. d., and i think the venezuelan hostages that were returned, many of them went through the same program, and i hope if britney and her family want, that i encourage them to take them up on it. it's a great deal and it will help or get back on the road to being a free person and enjoying her life. >> what other advice do you have for family. >> take it all.

and i know it's overwhelming. my son speak it in the other day's of course he and paul with through some really brutal things. that i don't think britney experienced. our family and friends and employers and her fans, they all need to understand that, and she needs space, she needs love, and let her do what she wants at her own pace. she needs people to encourage her not to take it too fast. because it will come back to bite her later if she tries to jump back into everything right off the bat. so she needs to take it easy, and she needs a lot of love. >> joey reid, really a pleasure to talk to you tonight. really sorry for what your family's been through and what so many families are going through tonight and hope that they are still waiting to hear. so thank you. >> thank you, anderson. and remember all the other families out there. americans that need to come

home. >> i appreciate your time. thank you. we touched on paul whelan, and the efforts to get him back. here's more. >> paul whelan's odyssey in russia's criminal justice system began on 20 2018. the former marine, he was arrested in moscow during a trip to the wedding of a fellow marine. >> they ended up taking a group of them through the kremlin, and that evening he disappeared. >> russia's federal security service accused him of being a spy. whelan i visited russia before, including in 2006 during a two-week leave. born in canada to british parents, he moved to the u.s. as a child. as u.s., canadian, british, and irish citizenship. he joined the marine reserves in 1994. he did multiple tours in iraq, and during the 2006 deployment, he was accused by the military of attempting to steal more than $10,000. it was court marshaled and discharged for bad conduct two years later. after the military, whelan worked in corporate security, first as a senior manager in the global security firm kelly services, in 2017 began working for automotive component supplier bergwijn or. eventually become a director of global security. according to his brother, whelan was a world traveler with friends in russia. he was also active on russian social media. after his arrest, russia claimed whelan was caught, quote, red-handed, with a flash drive, with state secrets. whelan claims he was set up. one >> of the faye cloth frenzy made in russia visited in the night of the wedding, just before the wedding happened, and gave paul a usb. just a usb stick. and said that they were photos from a previous trip they had

been on to another part of russia, and as soon as he was given the usb stick and put it in his pocket, his door was open by the fsb and he was arrested and that was it. >> on june 15th, 2020, whelan was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years of hard labor in prison. the years since his arrest, the u.s. government has also maintained his innocence and made repeated attempts to secure his release. today cnn's jennifer handler spoke to we learn by phone from the penal colony where he is being held. >> i have to say i am greatly disappointed that moore has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. i was arrested for a crime that never occurred. i am happy that brittney is going home today, and i'm glad the trevor, did they don't understand why i'm sitting here. >> cnn, washington post. >> >> incredibly difficult day for the whelan family. we are joined by his brother david. david, thank you so much for being here. i'm sorry it's under these circumstances. how are you? how was your family doing tonight? >> i think we're moving on. we were given the grace by the white house of learning the news a day early, so we knew yesterday were able to process it privately and go through the emotions, as you can imagine. the many stages of grief, of not having paul come home. at the same time, like joey said, joyful that any american who is detained gets to go

home. >> i understand president biden spoke with two sister elizabeth this afternoon. what was that phone call? like >> i have been able to update. >> when was the last time you are able to speak with paul? cnn heard from him. are you able to communicate with him? >> no. i believe that wasn't an official phone call. i haven't spoken to paul since october, 2018. he is only right now allowed to speak to our pa ar he h rituals, things that he does every day to try to survive, things like singing the u.s. national anthem every morning when he gets up. partly i think because he wants to sing in partly because it irritates the guards. he's been doing these things now for four years. it's hard to imagine that he's gonna have to continue to do it and the substantial offer that the u.s. government made that last summer to bring paul and to bring brittany home has built some hope, i think it is crashed down today for pollen is gonna be hard to see him pull that back together. >> do you see a lane for a new negotiation? >> certainly. i think, as joey said, there are americans being wrongfully detained around the world and whether it's pollen russia or brittney in russia, whether it's russia come all imagine syria or kiley and mark seaward in china. each one of those is a separate case, and each one has to be dealt with with its own particular constraints.

i think what we may be realizing now is the paul's case always had its own particular peculiarities. so now the u.s. government will have to come to grips with what those are. >> the families retainer -- remain supportive of each other. britney's wife mentioned your brother. let me play some of. that >> beachy is not here to say this, but i will gladly speak on her behalf and say that brittney and i will remain committed to the work of

getting every american home, including paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate brittney being home. >> i wonder what your reaction was when you heard that. >> very gracious. i think any family who has been through this understands the pain and having your loved one in this position and some of us still dream of the day when will be able to experience what joey and paul and cherelle have experienced when their loved one comes home. >> i cannot imagine, i mean i have read accounts of penal colonies in russia, former soviet union. do you know much of what your brothers day-to-day life is like there? >> yeah. it's brutal and simple in that they do labor every day.

he is in unheated sewing factory all day long, six days a week. very little food. almost no fresh fruits and vegetables. so it's about the worst existence you can think of. as i said before, it's surviving, but it's not living. that's going to take a toll on a person. he has lost about 20% of the weight that he had on december 28th, 2018. his hair is going white, which may not be that much of a surprise for people of our age. but he is aging. at some point you can imagine that his mental health

>> they do labor every day, he is in unheated sewing factory all day long, six days a week. there's very little food almost no fresh fruits and vegetables so it's about the worst existence you can think about. it is surviving but it is not living. that's gonna take a toll on a person, he's lost about 20% of the weight that he had on the summer 28 2018, his hair has gone white which may not be that much of a surprise for people aged like us, he's aging and at some point you can imagine that his mental health will deteriorate and maybe his health will deterrent as well. >> enough you can say but is he in a cell by herself? are there others, is everybody russian there? are there people -- other people he can talk to? >> overtime has been able to

build friendships, may not be the right word but people he can rely on who are friendly to him, he doesn't speak the language show he does the best we can. his prison is unusual it's barracks, about 1000 prisoners there, they weren't until the wagner mercenaries persuaded about 100 of them to go to the war in ukraine, there tajiks, 200 americans there, other english speakers, a lot of non ethnic russians and i think that may have helped pull. >> david whelan, so appreciate talking to you, i get i'm so sorry it is under the circumstances i hope to speak to you in better circumstances soon. >> you too, thank you for having me, anderson. >> someone who is joining us now -- realtime from the inside the format -- we're always glad to have his take on things. coming to see that prisoner swap on the tarmac in abu dhabi

it's like something out of the cold war, how complex are these kinds of negotiation? >> incredibly complex, anderson, that's one of the things that i was thinking about as a heard the family members talk about their loved ones who are still imprisoned to get something like this done the amount of things that have to be done behind the scenes, out of the public view stuff that you and i, working for a news organization for enviable to find out about. it's amazing. the other problem is that the russians will constantly, constantly change the goalposts. so this is not really a matter of does this administration or any administration want to get these americans out, that's job one as a u.s. government. that is a key role that the government has. it is that the russians will say one thing one day and choose to say something the other day. >> so to his points that the russians may have said earlier on, look, we would be willing to exchange viktor bout for paul whelan, they may have said that it may have changed our mind?

>> absolutely. if something bigger and better in vladimir putin's view came along they said let's hold on for just a second. there could be politics, there often are behind the scenes stuff that is happening where the russians will say why don't you do this in that for us, one of the things that the russians are extremely serious about and i've seen a number of persona non grata situation where diplomats are thrown out and that happens, the russians are back on reciprocity, so they are one for one kind of thing, you can either one of their diplomats at very low ranking and have another very senior guy, the ranks don't matter. it's person for person. so i'm sure that we probably made a bid to get both brittney griner as well as we learned out and i'm virtually sure the russians said it's 1 to 1. >> there have been criticism from democrats and republicans at this makes things more dangerous for americans overseas, other countries will decide to grab americans as potential bargaining chips down the road. do you think that's true? >> it's one of these issues that we have an open societies,

where americans, want to be able to travel wherever we want, to do whatever we want to do and sometimes we will go to places where there is no rule of law like russia, and when you are arrested as an american in a country that doesn't have a rule of law it is extremely -- you can't build a legal argument in a legal system doesn't exist that it's up to the american government to do that. i don't see how we can ban americans to go anywhere, we will let americans have freedom but we have to do the best we can when they run into trouble to get them out of that trouble. that's what we do. >> you see the limits, you know, the power of a country when their citizens are being held overseas, there's only so much you can do. what does a negotiation actually look like? who is doing it and it's just on the phone daily? how do you do it. >> a lot of it depends on the circumstances. for example when we had back in

2010, the big spice what between the russians and had been in prison and russia and the illegals are found here, because that was an intelligence mattered the intelligence services were talking a lot with each other, in this particular circumstance of state department probably has a lot to do, but it isn't a whole lot of government approach the american side, and in russia everything -- >> on the russian side that's what it comes down, to what vladimir putin wants? >> there's no one who can make a deal without his approval, he's not sitting at the table during the negotiations but at the end of the day he gives a thumbs up thumbs down. >> next we will talk a -- about today's news in the homecoming ahead, later a true landmark day in washington as -- into federal law we will speak with one of the sponsors ahead on three 60. dupixent helps you du more with less asthma.

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release from russia. -- able to make it happen, we're looking for to having brittani back home. here's terry jackson the executive director of women's -- top earlier with cnn jake tapper. >> i go to bed every night saying brittani's coming home tomorrow so i was anxiously anticipating this morning, i thought i was just going to be happy, happy, happy and i was but hearing the news just released the gates of the motion i sobbed like i have and sobbed in quite a long time. it was all tears of joy. pure joy. >> more now from someone who has known britney griner since childhood, friend and a player, should not. i know this has been a day of celebration for you and everybody who has been working with britney griner and working to get her home, how did you first hear the news?

>> oh my goodness, you are absolutely correct. this is a huge moment for everyone who has followed bg's story, over the last 294 days since she was wrongfully detained and we all woke up today with the best news imaginable, it was actually a text from my big sister who is the president of the wnba players association, and she gave me a heads up because i'm on the west coast and what an amazing start and also the powerful visuals that we've got from the white house to commemorate this occasion. >> when you get to speak to her for the first time, what will you say? >> say or do? give her a big hug, and then just say we love you and we are here for you we know that the journey that she has just experienced was a very difficult one, but we are here to walk with her, step by step. foot by foot. with whatever, you know, her next chapter is and so we have

mr. and we have said her name and we are so happy she is back, and we most importantly love her and everything that he represents to us. >> union sister who also plays in the wnba, i know you first met britney when you are grown up in houston, can you just tell us what she is like? >> oh my goodness, if you know britney griner you know she brings joy wherever she goes, she is always good to put a smile on someone's face, and talking about her journey and getting to know bg if you know women's hoops you know it's a sisterhood, that's like literal for me, i will never forget around the time that my big sister and i picked up a basketball back home in houston texas for the first time, we watched the local news one night and there was a report of the 66 high school basketball player that could dunk, and i'm not talking about acute dunks, but hang on the rim dunks, that was britney. and since that time our journey has been tied, we played against her in high school in a, yuan college, in the pros, we've literally lived out our

wildest dreams and now the world know her as a dominant basketball player, but we know beachy as a friend, as an amazing teammate, as a real compassionate human, so to be able to say that right now she's coming home, her family, her extended hoops family like my sisters included were thrilled. >> chiney, pleasure to talk to you and i am glad that it is under these happy circumstances for you and all who know and love britney. thank you so much. >> always. >> just ahead i'm gonna speak with one of the members of congress who brought a memorable moment for civil rights in this country. next.

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>>--has passed landmark civil rights bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage. >> the motion is adopted. [applause] >> president biden is expected to sign into law soon. it requires individuals to recognize in other states legal marriage to put it bluntly it's a big deal. >> respect for marriage act takes key steps to uphold marriage equality under federal law. this is what we are celebrating. tearing down the defense of marriage law, taking off the books for good. >> not only does the law return

the defense of marriage act passed more than 16 years ago, it does so in the words of our next guest, with the strong bipartisan vote in both chambers. i'm joined by democratic congressman, chair of the lgbtq caucus who cosponsored the bill. congressman, appreciate you joining us. the bill was a bipartisan effort, but the house and senate. how important was that to get this bill done now, given republicans will control the house starting next month? >> it was very important to get it done now because we had a speaker of the house and senate majority leader who are committed to bringing this bill to the floor for vote. it was important be bipartisan to reflect the overwhelming support of the marriage equality by the american people. the only place is controversial

is in some areas for the republican caucus. in every state of the country people support marriage equality. when supreme court of the lighted states reversed roe v. wade in the dobbs decision and in a concurring opinion of justice thomas, made reference to urging the court that they ought to look at some other cases that found freedoms like the preet him to marry and specifically sight of -- and it was urgent that we get it done before the court reverses the decision before the republicans took over, and then it would not have been brought to the floor. >> i heard one member, a republican member of congress speaking out against this bill today on the floor of the house, crying, denigrating the marriages that same-sex couples have somehow less than the marriages that heterosexual couples have. and i just don't, it just was surprising to be to hear that viewpoint. i understand the idea that biblically based maybe people don't agree with the idea, but somehow that marriages are less than or less legitimate than heterosexual marriages just

seems very antiquated. >> it was very hard to listen to. i was on the floor when that was said. if fundamentally doesn't recognize the lgbtq people as people who have a right through access marriage like everyone else. the reason people the lgbtq+ community mary is the same people state straight people mary. they want to spend their lives with someone they love and build a future. to hear someone say my marriage, my heterosexual marriage has value and you others should have access to the same institution was pretty horrific to listen to. the speaker reminded as we all have a spark of divinity. we're all gods children. we're all entitled to be treated equally under the law, and let's face it today we passed the -- will ensure that for federal purposes if you are married lawfully in any state in the country, every other state must

recognize that for federal purposes. marriage between members of the same-sex will be tormented be valid. it was valid in the state it was performed and it repeals dole, this homophobic law they're defined marriage as between a man and a woman. this was a great victory for our community and in our long fight for fully full equality in this country. it's still the case that in a majority of states in america, members the lgbtq+ community face legal discriminations, so we have more work to do, like passing the equality act. but today was a great day. made a difference for millions. >> thank you for your time tonight. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> just ahead, vladimir putin admits russia is a tacking ukraine's energy infrastructure but says he didn't start it. sam kiley is in ukraine with a report on the attacks, next. ♪ kevin! kevin! kevin? oh nice. kevin, where are you... kevin?!?!?.... hey, what's going on? i'm right here!

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>> in a rare public con meant on the warm ukraine, putin admitted to a tracking ukraine 's power structure. while clutching a champagne glass, he said yes we're doing about who started it? and he blamed the ukrainians. russian rocket attack in the donetsk region came under heavy

fire, ukraine president zelenskyy said the tags were aimed, quote, precisely at civilians. i'm joined now by our senior international correspondent sam kiley who is in eastern ukraine. so you're in the next region, sam. where the crane and they said it's coming under heavy fire from the russians. what's the latest on the ground? >> well first of all, the killing of ten civilians there on wednesday not tragically an unusual event here in donetsk. that was president zelenskyy sent as a result of the deliver targeting of civilians in several locations. in other words, the use of multiple rockets or artillery systems to take out an attack civilian targets. more widely here in donetsk, the fighting around back mood remains intense. it has been ferocious battle. it is we have been freezing, ukrainian troops have bogged down in trenches. armour is difficult to move around. neither side can prevail under these conditions. it's likely to get worse when

the ground freezes and armor and mobile artillery can start moving around. there are also reports that the russians are heavily reinforcing with yet more troops on that front. so there is no sign of a let up over winter, rather this area is becoming a real focus of russian violence as putin in the view of ukraine desperately seeks to get some kind of a victory after months of defeat, particularly in the north and south of the country. >> this week putin said the conflict will take a while. he warned the increasing threat of nuclear war. what is the view from ukraine? >> the ukrainians and many in the international community are extremely concerned about previous threats made by the kremlin and particularly vladimir putin that there might be some news for a nuclear weapon, albeit a tactical nuclear weapon, a relatively

small device that could be used on a battlefield. not only would be catastrophic but it could unleash something much more terrible in the opposite direction. according to all of schultz, the chances of such a conflict, he's the german chancellor, has gone down, he says, as a result of communications with vladimir putin about the international community's red light. it has been a message coming from the white house and others around europe that any use of even a-limited nuclear device would be met with a ferocious response from the international community. but vladimir putin is saying it wouldn't come from them first, saying we are not mad, in his words, and that russia isn't going around the world holding the nuclear knife to people's throats. of course that is exactly what the kremlin has done in previous threats made over this conflict. >> sam kiley, thank you. stay safe. we're just getting word about the first known execution in iran of a protester. the first person we know that was killed by the iranian regime because they spoke out.

news outlets in iran said the protester was executed by hand hanging. his name was mohsen sha'carri. according to the new york times he was 23 years old. they also report that said he met mr. sha'carri in prison. he said he loved life and was waiting for his freedom and had been working at a café and tehran when he decided to join the protest. according to iranian authorities he was convicted of wage war against god for attacking a member of the paramilitary force. he was sentenced that same month, september, in the protests were sparked after 22 year old woman was apprehended by the states morality police, a ridge allegedly for not wearing her a job. she died in custody. according to amnesty international, iranian

officials are seeking the death penalty for at least 21 people in connection with the protest. an uprising across china now leading to a task drastic reversal of covid restrictions. but one man in another country can take credit. he helped bring those protests to light to the entire world. we're gonna meet him. a cnn exclusive. next. from liberty mutual!!! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ my active psoriatic arthritis can slow me down. now, skyrizi helps me get going by treating my skin and joints. along with significantly clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after two starter doses. skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. with skyrizi, 90% clearer skin and less joint pain is possible. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to.

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in china where the people have risen up in ways you hardly ever see there. the country is finally easing some of its strict covid policies after mass protests swept the nation, lifting >> would cripple side for years. one man can take credit for bringing those protests and information to light, risking his own life by doing so. he spoke exclusively to our selina wang. >> video after video of historic anti zero-covid protests in china broadcast on the world television screens everywhere but inside china, where authorities censored all evidence of the protests. so how did these images managed to get beyond chinese controlled internet? newsrooms around the world, including cnn, have been relying on information from this twitter account. this only one man behind it, lee, a chinese painter in italy whose identity we are hiding for security reasons. [speaking non-english]

>> translator: this account maybe assemble the chinese people are still pursuing freedom of speech. this account can document all these historical events that cannot be saved inside the country. >> his account quickly turned into one of the world key sources for protesting formation. li since he received thousands of submissions today is the demonstrations unfolding. apps like twitter, youtube, and instagram are banned in china, but people used virtual private networks, or vpn, which are prohibited in china, to access twitter and send their videos to you li. >> what's the motivation behind all the work you do? >> [speaking non-english] >> translator: it's to let people inside chana china climb out of the fire wall and see what's happening. >> that's exactly what authorities want to prevent. here is what happens if you search for information about any of the protests on chinese social media. you get a notice that says,

sorry, no relevant results are found. meanwhile on he is twitter account he was rapidly uploading videos of demonstrations across china. from various cities, to shanghai, where protesters chanted for xi jinping to step down, calling for freedom and an end to zero covid. and researchers say the chinese government is even trying to bury information about the protests from social media users abroad. search on twitter and chinese characters for cities that had protests and you get this. a flood of spam and porn advertisements. the spam campaign researchers say it appears to be the work of chinese authorities. twitter did not respond to a request for comment. are you worried about your own safety? >> [speaking non-english] >> translator: i get a lot of anonymous harassment saying i know where you are, where you live, and i will kill you.

>> his parents frequently call him in fear, he says, and the chinese authorities have been harassing them, as well, may he midnight visits to their home in china. what price do you think you have to pay for the work that you do? >> this account is more important in my life. i will not shut it down. i have arranged for someone else to take over if something bad happens to me. i am mentally prepared. even if authorities will let me see my parents. >> authorities in china trying to keep the country in a parallel universe, but li is playing a pivotal role in breaking that bubble. he spends hours a day on the account, only taking breaks to feed his cat, and barely slept during the peak of protests. as he sorted and verified the endless stream of video submissions, each one urgent and historic. he is doing the work that he hopes one day chinese journalists and chinese citizens from within china will be able to do without fear. >> selina wang joins us now from beijing.

selina, the authorities crackdown on the protests. we're not see major demonstrations. is still busy with a twitter account? >> yes, anderson, he told me that every day he is still going through hundreds of submissions and spending 6 to 7 hours on the account every day. he's getting messages from people about all sorts of challenges across the country, including the continued covid chaos and restrictions despite the recent easing of rules. he started using twitter as a personal out lap because all of his accounts on chinese social media kept getting banned. he said he never expected to become this influential, and you told me that he hopes that one day he isn't needed anymore, because what he said is that it is sad and ridiculous that we have a painter in italy anomalously collecting footage from brave people in china. but as people in china try to get around censorship, the authorities are cracking down harder. the government recently announced internet users in china could be punished for even liking posts that authorities consider illegal or harmful. so the space for people inside

china's great firewall to express themselves is just getting smaller and smaller. >> selina wang, thank you. news continues tonight with laura coats and allison came around us, right after a short break. you think that we should do something like that for dad?” and she was like “you know what i think that would be actually really cool.” ♪ i figured this is a great holiday present since i won't be with him for christmas. ♪ it was the best gift that i ever received, in my entire life. because it opened up my life. unwrap your family story, with ancestrydna. ♪

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>> good evening everyone. i'm laura coates. >> and i'm alisyn camerota. >> this is cnn tonight. brittney griner is on her way home tonight. flying halfway around the world from moscow to san antonio. you're looking live at the airport where she is expected to arrive very soon. olympic gold medalist and wnba star's was released early this morning from russian detention in exchange for russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death but the prisoner