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808 to 14000 this is cnn breaking news we are continuing to follow breaking news. president biden addressing the nation moments ago formally announcing the largest exchange of prisoners between the united states and its partners at russia since the cold war, the president confirming that wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich and retired us marine paul whelan are coming home. this photo just posted online the two men after they're release between them, of course, is russian american journalist alsu kurmasheva, who's being released along with prominent putin critic vladimir kara-murza, who is a us resident brutal ordeal is over they're free moments ago families and i are able to speak to them on you telephone from the oval office. there out of russia earlier today, there flown to turkey and soon there'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families

this is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here. it's relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country have been praying for this day for a long time. >> the president in his appearance there at the white house flanked by members of the now freed americans and all his family as well. i'll just moments ago we learned the four former prisoners are now wheels up turkey they're heading to the u.s. whelan coming home after almost six years in russian prisons, gershkovich more than one year. cnn's mj lee is at the white house. mj this was quite a moving moment there at the white house. tell us more about what we saw a very moving and emotional moment here at the white house for sure and president biden in those remarks that whenever these four americans are wheels down on american soil, he plans on being there to greet them at joint base andrews and we heard the president there flanked by

the family members of those four americans that are now on their way home, really celebrating their release and describing this multilayer national agreement as a feat of diplomacy. >> and this is a historic agreement that has been years in the making. just keep in mind that paul whelan is an american who was ready in detention in russia when president biden took office in early 2021. so you could really argue that he has been working on securing whalen's release for the entirety of his first term. and we also know that the president, of course, has been pushing to finalize this deal in the recent days, including as he was considering during the future of his political campaign. we know that for example, about an hour before the president, just 11 days ago, release that letter to the american marcon people saying that he was ending his 2024 campaign had been on the phone with the slovenian prime minister, pushing him to get this deal across the finish line. now how few things that i

just want to make sure us officials are very much emphatic about in light of this prisoner swap deal. one is that as with these deals are typically go they're emphatic that they have to make some excruciating decisions. that is to say that these deals are not made overnight. they certainly they are not easy decisions in terms of what swaps they have to make and what negotiations go into play. and second, they of course, did not get everything that they wanted that includes marc fogel, an american that was sentenced to 14 years of labor camp in russia. this is a history teacher who had been teaching in moscow though us officials are making clear that they are going to redouble their efforts to try to get him out. they were unsuccessful in doing that this time around. and this deal also us officials are stressing does not mean that there is now some breakthrough or even a detente of sorts. and us, russian relations there, us officials making very clear that even despite this deal, there are going to be no major

policy changes when it comes to how this administration views vladimir putin or the ongoing war in europe train and we also to get a briefing at the white house in just moments, we'll of course, bring that to live. >> mj, the white house is also touting how vice president kamala harris was in vault in this prisoner swap. break that down for us yeah, there are two meetings that we are now learning about that vice president harris had privately lee when she was attending the munich security conference. >> this is back in february. she of course, did have a meeting with the german chancellor olaf scholtz. we knew about that meeting at the time. but what the white house official tells cnn is that as that meeting was wrapping up, she actually asked all of the south in the room to vacate the room so that it was really just her the chancellor, and two aides left remaining and it was in that private conversation that the vice president really pressed the chancellor on the importance of vadim krasikov. this of course, is the russian assassin who was being held in germany that us officials have

now said was the biggest fish that the russians had wanted as a part of this deal. so that was the pressure that she was putting on her german, the german chancellor at the time, going back again a number of months, it was also at the munich security conference. we've learned that the vice president asked for a meeting with the prime minister of slovenia she wanted to press him in that setting about two russian nationals that were in fubini's in custody and the of those two russian nationals as a part of this broader deal as well. so these are obviously just details that are coming out now and wouldn't have come out at the time. i'm given just the sensitive nature of these talks. and of course, whenever we do next, see the vice president, we certainly expect her to weigh in. she of course, has been busy campus painting an out on the road as she is now seeking the democratic nomination. and moving forward and hoping to defeat donald trump in november. but these are all important foreign policy we'll see areas and issues that she

is hoping that she will inherit from president biden when it comes to next year. >> yeah. certainly some of the reporting indicates she's set up for that politically. mj lee. thanks. thank you. let's bring in kylie atwood, who is at the state department kylie, what more can you tell us about what is really an historic his exchange? >> well listen. brianna, the vast and complicated nature of this exchange really can't be overstated as we've been discussing seven countries were involved the secretary of state, thanking all of those countries for the extraordinary efforts that they put into this. of course, the us and russia. and then it was german many poland, norway, and slovenia that were involved. and then there's turkey, obviously, where this exchange occurred. and i spoke with a senior administration official just moments so go who describe turkey is being extremely helpful in this exchange and said that turkey was picked as the location for this for a number of reasons. but one of

them being that they have been involved hold in negotiations when it comes to back-and-forth with russia in multiple instances, when you talk about the black sea grain initiative, when it comes to the ukraine war or the prisoner swap that we saw that release brittney griner, which also took place in turkey. so turkiye played a pivotal role here. now, as you're hearing from mj there are americans who don't get included in these prisoner swaps that is the sad part of days like this. marc fogel, who is an american teacher, who was detained and sentenced to 14 ten years in prison, facing charges of drug smuggling. his family just found out today that he wasn't included. that's according to his lawyer who i spoke with, xi he said to me that the white house didn't call their family. she said that they were shocked. they're really upset. we'll hear more from them. i am sure, but that is one of the challenging he says of days like today, we heard from the secretary of state who spoke to the fact that the biden administration

has been working on this so tirelessly inside sometime the families, even those who are involved in the swap today, we're being released from russia today. didn't know if those efforts would actually pay off. now they're seeing that they will. but he spoke to the americans who are still wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad. and he said, we will not forget you. we will not rest until you see your loved ones again kylie atwood live at the state department for us. >> thank you so much. we've also just learned that the russian plane used during the prisoner for exchange in turkey has returned to russian airspace. that's according to flight tracking data. let's get some perspective from our experts now, we're joined by cnn, chief national security correspondent alex marquardt, alongside cnn global affairs analyst kim i'm really dozier and we're also joined by nato as former supreme allied commander general wesley clark. thank you all for being with us. alex, take us through how the next few hours are going to play out when these prisoners finally get to the united states. so thankfully, we're past the hardest part.

>> the exchange has taken place the prisoners are heading home to their respective countries when it comes to the united states they are going to be coming home and then offered medical and psychological services. now, mj mentioned there that president biden is expected to go out to andrews joint base. andrews so we could see these for the three americans plus vladimir kara-murza, who's a green card holder coming to the east coast, but they will be offered the opportunity to go out to san antonio, texas, the brooke army medical center is part of the biggest defense department complex in their system, and they have a special program called pisa. pisa, that is designed to help people essentially get back on their feet after traumatic events this is something that brittney griner, for example, went through and trevor reed was offered. and so oftentimes we will see people landing in san antonio, texas. i think that the obviously, the family

reunions are going to be their biggest priority. we saw some of the family members there with president biden and so after that, they will be given all of the necessary very things that they will that they may need to adjust and get back on their feet. so this is a tremendously happy moment, obviously paul whelan's family waiting for almost six years since he was arrested in 2018, evan gershkovich, his family having to deal with his conviction last month to 16 years there's no russian penal colony. thankfully, just over a month later, he and the other three are coming back to the u.s us. >> and the details of just the scope of this in the secrecy of it. kim fascinating is the wall street journal has reported this in the wake of alexey navalny's death, there was this shuttle diplomacy of paper only proposals that were being handled. severed between nsa, jake sullivan's office in his counterpart in germany. i mean, this was sort of the secrecy of it. how different is something like this just because of the

sheer size of it? >> it reminds me actually the planning of the osama bin laden mission that they kept it in a very small group of people. and yet i'm also thinking about the relief and the elation of that small group of people who've been working on this that has to include not just the national security advisers office, but roger carstens, the hostage envoy, and his team from the state department. >> now rodgers started this job under mike pompeo's state department and a lot of the same people have stayed with him and they've worked this 24 not for days or months for years to get to this point to get dave whelan out in addition to paul and alsu, who was taken more recently? and it it reminds me so roger is green beret and their motto is dale press olivera to free the oppressed. and it's, it's really nice to be talking about the great news of these people

being released. and i would also add robert o'brien, the former national security adviser to former president trump, highly critical of the biden administration when it comes to their approach, he says that this encourages more hostage taking, and yet he praises roger first ends when given the chance, it's just sort of a very handed hit that job off to run. that's right. yeah so i was just going to say that look, we're going to once the welcoming the pictures on the tarmac are out, we're going to move on to grasp politics and then were going to start asking the questions why did moscow not wait for a potential trump presidency? moscow has given a real win to the biden-harris administration by having this happen now and i think it could go back to the delicate negotiations among a small group of people that you were asking about? germany was willing to do this for the biden-harris administration now, they had the kgb colonel,

who assassinated someone available to give and trade. now and moscow decided, let's do it that appears to have been the linchpin of this entire agreement. >> we do have some news to share with you. we've learned that russian president vladimir putin has signed decrease to pardon those released in thursday's prisoner swap. general clark, i'm curious to get your perspective. of not only the timing of this, but the sheer scale of it. this is a huge deal yeah, really complicated took years to do lots of intricate negotiation. >> started before president biden came to office. obviously. and now it's been coleman i think all the questions are still out there to be answered, but i think if i just put myself and putins views got, got the colonel back he's looking at what's happened in american politics. just a couple of lessons here

number one is maybe he's not maybe didn't feel confident the trumps are actually going to get elected number two is, you might be sending a message to donald trump. you've got to be even nicer to me if you want my support. show, there's a lot of dimensions of this, but i think the bottom line is, we should be very happy. it's been done. we've got our people back and i just i don't agree with the idea that this is going to promote more hostage taking. look. that's always out it's always a possibility this effort reflects america's values, were proud of our values. we stand up for him and we take care of our people. >> it does seem unfortunately that ship has sailed on this practice and this is the way it is going to be for some time general, i'm curious as the former nato supreme allied commander, how you are looking at the biden administration's relationship with nato biden feeling very strongly that he is invested a lot of time in two building up nato and how any emphasize relationships when he was just speaking at

the white house, paying off how you see that well i think the president has done a great job in strengthening nato you had along a lot of, a lot of talk for messages to give because clark to sorry to interrupt, sir. >> we have to go to the white house where karine jean-pierre's delivering a briefing. let's listen in unjustly imprisoned in russia. i know for a lot of reporters in this room, especially wall street journal team, this is personal i know for the families of paul evan also and vladmir, it's one of the best days of their lives as president biden said in his statement, as we celebrate the return of these brave americans, we remember all of those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world and reaffirm our pledge to their families we see you. we are with you, and we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they

belong and with that, i will turn it over for to our national security adviser, jake sullivan thank you. >> karina. and good afternoon, everyone. today is huge cnn heard from the president and from corinne. we've completed one of the largest and certainly the most complex exchange in history. >> and paul whelan, evan gershkovich also, kurmasheva and vladimir kara murza, three american citizens and one american green card holder our finally coming home i have the honor and pleasure of joining the president this morning in the oval office as he shared the wonderful news with the families and then together, they spoke with paul oh, evan, also in vladimir, who were on the tarmac in ankara with us officials where the exchange happened to say that everyone in the room was overjoyed even at a loss for words, is an understatement. >> since taking office, president biden and vice president harris have made clear that they will not stop working until every american wrongfully detained we are held

hostage around the world. is reunited with their family as an administration, we're proud to celebrate the return home of over 70 such americans from places around the world well, like afghanistan, burma, gaza, haiti, iran, russia, venezuela, rwanda, and elsewhere today's exchange is a feat of diplomacy that honestly could only be achieved by a leader like joe biden at his direction, the professionals and our national security foreign policy and intelligence community work tirelessly in valencia let's to secure the release of 16 individuals who were detained in russia. the three american citizens, one american green card holder, five german citizens and seven russian political prisoners. in exchange for eight individuals held in a combination of the united states, germany, norway, slovenia, and poland the president was himself personally engaged in the diplomacy that brought this about including multiple conversations with chancellor scholz with the other leaders

of the countries who provided some of the russians as part of the exchange. and most recently, as has now been reported, calling the prime minister slovenia early in the afternoon of sunday, july 21, to coordinate the final arrangements to make the final piece of this deal fall into place there is no more singular or concrete demonstration that the alliance's, that the president has reinvigorated around the world matter to americans, to the individual safety of americans enter the collective security of americans. and we're deeply grateful to our allies, who supported us in these complex negotiations to achieve this outcome. and while i'm standing at this podium, the president is reaching out to give personal thanks to the leaders of germany, poland, slovenia, norway, and turkey and honestly guys, i can just say this was vintage joe biden rallying rallying american allies to save american citizens and russian freedom fighters years and doing it with intricate statecraft,

pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line his goal has always been to put the families first families who are enduring an unimaginable or deal from the president on down, we've stayed in regular and routine touch with them. i spent a lot of time with the families of evan and paul all in all, sue and most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations but not today. today excuse me today was very, good day and we're going to build on it drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all those who are held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world. >> that includes marc fogel, who we are actively working to get his release from russia as well. >> there for others being held in syria, afghanistan, other countries around the world who we are working to get released just on a personal note, i want to say that this is the culmination of a monumental

level of effort and level of skill by my teammates across the national security enterprise. my colleagues here at the nsc, my colleagues at the central intelligence agency, my colleagues at this state department. these are dedicated, talented professionals who are not in the headlines, who don't get to stand at a podium like this one. and it was at the president's direction that they build hold and pulled off the most intricate, expansive deal of its kind in memory. so they know who they are. i salute them and every american should be proud they have those kinds of people standing up on their behalf and unpack of american security. while this is unfolded, we've been closely monitoring the events in the middle east as well since october 7 we have worked to deter and prevent escalation into a wider regional war. that risk has always been there. that risk is there now and we are determined to engage in deterrence, defense and de-escalation to try to ensure that we do not have a wider

regional conflict more escalation that goes unchecked. so i'm happy to get more into that in response to your questions. and with that, i'll turn it over to you. yeah. >> thanks, jake. >> who's idea was it? to try to go big and bring everyone home at once instead of going for a simpler one for one type deal and walk that's a great question which i don't feel entirely comfortable answering because this was an organic process involving a lot of people across our government but what i will say is this, the president satis down on a regular basis over the course of the detentions of paul, evan and all sue and really pushed us to think about what configuration would actually work to make this happen and it was through an iterative, iterative process of back-and-forth with various of the allies i mentioned with engagements with our russian counterparts, where we were making proposals getting

responses that this all came together and so i would say that if you had not had joe biden sitting in the oval office? >> i don't think this would have happened but as i said in my remarks, there were a lot of other people who played a central role in building out the pieces of this and then executing on them the execution phase of this to get this level of coordination together to have those plans all land on the tarmac at the same time from multiple different countries with so many different individuals was coming from russia and going back to russia really extraordinary. and i think team effort can be a cliche, but i think in this case it's a warranted description what happened was alexei navalny supposed to be a part of this deal before died and present. >> so we had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included alexei navalny and unfortunately, he died in fact, on the very day

that he died, i saw evan's parents and i told them that the president was determined to get this it's done even in light of that tragic news and that we were going to work day and night to get to this day so that we're continued over the course of the past few months culminated in today you've mentioned a little bit, but can you describe and it's a little bit of color on that oval office conversation just before the president came out, did all four americans to speak? >> the each of the family members could to speak to a lot. was that the president to europe, did you tell her i saved my tearing up for this podium i would like to strike that from the record. >> i don't know if that's permitted. probably not so the president invited the family members in at the moment that we received the word from the tarmac and ankara that the exchange was complete and he was able to give them the news directly that the exchange was in fact complete then paul all

evan, and all sue. you were in one place vladimir was actually in another place, so he conducted to calls from the oval office, one with the three american citizens on the phone. and he welcomed their freedom. said that on behalf of the american people, he was so proud and to have them out. and then very quickly turned the phone over to their family members in each family got the opportunity to engage by phone with their loved one who would this out. he then conducted a second call with volodymyr. and vladimir's wife one of their daughters, and their son for there to be able to speak with him. and the president. and he also got to reminisce on the fact that they were both paul bearers together. a john mccain's wedding. i've wet john i'm mccain's funeral and so it was a kind of extraordinary personal exchange

in the oval office and the family members were both overwhelmed, of course, by the events of the day and also standing there in the president presence of the u.s. president at the resolute desk so it was quite a moment how the administration tries to make sure this doesn't incentivize more arrested in america is beyond what the president said. >> and advised people not to go too broad, not to go abroad in certain places, especially because you're looking at inherent imbalance between release, say, or between securing the rule police have it has an american exchange for rightfully convicted criminals. >> look, it's a fair question. it's the question that we grapple with every time that we've looked at the hard decisions involved in i'm one of these exchanges it is difficult to send back a convicted criminal to secure the release of an innocent it's an american and yet sometimes the choice is between doing that and consigning that person basically to live out their days in prison in a

hostile foreign country free or in the hands of a hostile power. so from our perspective, we have assessed and analyze that risk and we have judged that the benefit of reuniting americans are bringing people home. and also a vindicating the idea that the american president in the american government, we're going to do what it takes to protect and secure the release of innocent americans. that, that benefit outweighs the risk. and that's how we proceeded. i would point out in addition to that that in periods of time when the u.s. government didn't tend to do prisoner exchanges americans were unjustly detained and held hostage overseas in periods where we did, americans were unjustly detained and held hostage overseas. so i think there are real questions and roger carstens, the hostage negotiator at the state department, has actually pointed out that in this analysis, it is not quite as

clear cut. the evidence actually demonstrate streets. i've the kind of result that your question speaks to that a lot more people get taken because we do these exchanges. but it's something that we have to pay attention to and it's something that makes these decisions by the president, not simple decisions, hard decisions. >> and yet, as he did today, he was prepared to make them explain a bit more when did it become clear that krasikov was? >> linchpin to a deal like this. and was it during the negotiations over brittney griner when you're engaged in a negotiation in one side lays down a position there's not like a light bulb moment when you say okay, that position is immovable, that has to be tested and alternatives have to be suggested. >> and proposals get put on the table. and rejected a new proposals and rejected. so it is less of a moment. okay now we know and it's more

something that you accumulate through the experience of the negotiation and so over the course of this negotiation, we did reach the conclusion that krasikov was a key. >> you've discussed obviously the president's involvement, direct involvement in all of this can you talk us through any involvement that the vice president had? was she also speaking directly to other leaders and allies? >> so as i said in my opening comments, both president biden and vice president harris have made the return of unjustly detained americans hostage american hostages in absolute priority. and in this particular case vice president harris actually had an opportunity to engage with chancellor scholz earlier this year at an opportune then timely moment at the munich security conference where she talked about this issue with him that followed on a conversation that the president had just a short time before that and it was in the run of high level engagements and a back-and-forth that the president and the chancellor

were having that vice president harris was actually able to sit face-to-face with chancellor scholz and talk through the elements of this. and then i've sat in the oval office more times than i can count over the course of the past years providing briefings and updates it's on this and getting peppered with questions by both the president and the vice president thinking through the strategy iterating the approach which she was a participant in very much core member of the team that helped make this happen if it were questions one as it relates to the president's interactions with chancellor scholz, it's been detailed but maybe from the podium, you could help us understand chancellor scholz had to make a big sacrifice giving up krasikov. >> here are russian criminal what specifically did the german chancellor? for say the president biden about his willingness to do this. >> well, i will leave that to chancellor scholz because i think for important and sensitive conversations, leaders should i speak for themselves, but why he said he said for you. >> and, and he said i will do this. is that fair? and if so, can you at least detail that i

can confirm that he did say that, but i thought you were we're asking to elaborate in greater detail, which i just i'm afraid i don't feel comfortable doing because he can he can speak to his conversations with the president. >> what i will say president biden made this point when he spoke to the press just a short time ago that relationship between the president, the chancellor relationship of respect, relationship with genuine friends ship had the character of being able to work through this sensitive issue in a way that wasn't antiseptic or professional. it was two guys actually tried to figure out rutte solution that was the nature is of all of the conversations and ultimately the chancellor is able to say to the president, let's do this just to be clear, my second question today is clearly a day of celebration already there is some criticism, including from the republican vice presidential nominee, j.d. vance, who moments ago said, i think what this demonstrates, i think that really what this show those is that a lot of bad guys across the world of worry that donald trump is coming back into

office. your response to those comments? >> i don't follow yeah. thank you, jake can you talk about what if any, engagements us officials had with vladimir putin as part hardness. >> no engagement directly with vladimir putin there was extensive engagement with russian officials over the course of this. i'm not going to get into the details because those channels are sensitive and need to be protected for exactly this reason. because having those sensitive channels enables us to produce results like to ask week in the oval office, president biden said that he remains committed to bringing americans home during his it's final six months in office how important was it for him to get this deal before leaving office honestly, i don't think he was thinking think about it. like i got to get it for i'm i leave office. >> he was thinking about it from the family's perspective, which is every day is a lost day. so i want to do this as rapidly as humanly possible. it's so i want to push the pace on it because the longer

that these americans are held abroad, the greater the risk and the greater the pain. so for him, it was really important to do the deal he'll but less tied to his time in office and more tied to the power and responsibility he had wanted to exercise to get this done as fast as he possibly could i just want to follow up on this interaction with possession think, does this in any way delay any groundwork for discussions about the war in ukraine with the gradients, i mean, just too sort of say, look, we've cooperated on this. >> is there any path that this creates any surgery? goodwill in terms of creating more aggression we do not see a link between the hostage negotiation are detained persons, negotiations, and any potential diplomacy over the war in ukraine. >> we see those is operating on separate tracks. one is really about the practice to call

issue of producing this exchange. the other is a much more complex question. where the ukrainians will be in the lead and the united states will come so closely with all of our allies to support them when they are prepared to step forward and engage in those in that kind of diplomacy. >> can have a weapon if we can't have you here in that ascii happening unfolding the middle east with iran and with the killing of him, can you please just give us your assessment of how hi, the temperature really is and how great the risks are now an all out war, a bigger war is taking a step back we have been laser-focused on trying to prevent that wider war since october 7, there have been moments that have required intensive effort to keep a lid on things the risk has always been there and the risk remains

today and we believe we do have to be engaging in intensive efforts now through deterrence, through de-escalate relation, through diplomacy to prevent a wider war. and we will continue to do that. yeah, thanks, jake, back in may, former president trump made the comment that russia would release evan gershkovich for him after the upcoming election, quote, but not for anyone else. >> did that comment complicate negotiations at all? and do you have a response? to trump's comment now look i'm just happy these guys are out and home and i won't weighed in to the comments of the former president jimmy wilgus, are you working on him? >> yeah. jake, he noted that the president spoke to the leader slovenia, but around the time he was making his decision on his political future, how much was the thinking that he had to go through on his nose future part of this process, leading up in these negotiations wasn't something

have weighed on him for four days ahead. >> i look, to be honest with you, the way in which this unfolded played out over the course of weeks, even months to put all of the pieces in place. so the timing and the cadence of the different elements coming together was a feature of the diplomacy in the decision-making of each of the countries involved. it wasn't about american politics, the american political calendar. president's thinking on other issues. and it did happen to line up on that sunday in that way, but not through a conscious decision to make it. so but rather because that's when the pieces were falling into place. and. that's. the moment when the president had to drop that final piece in. and it just so happened to come a couple of hours before he made his announcement. >> when do you think we will actually see them on american soil? president dubbing person i think you can expect to see evan, paul and all sue later

tonight on american soil and as the president mentioned in his remarks earlier, there'll be landing at andrews air force base the president and the vice president will be out there there to greet them. >> vladimir kara-murza is going to be traveling to germany and his family who was here with the president this morning will be traveling there to join him but as vladimir and the president discussed today, we expect him back here in the united states soon for him to be able to see the president and other people in the us government yeah. >> thank you, jake, switching gears for a moment. >> i want to ask you about the new deal reached 11 suspects military and military courts down one time ago republicans are condemning this as showing weakness and calling it a sweetheart deal. you'll, because it avoids a trial in the death penalty. >> just wondering if laceration

has any response to that as we said last night, the white house received word that we have been listening to national security adviser jake sullivan, answering questions about this history storch, prisoner swap between russia and the u.s. and several other countries. answering a lot of the questions actually that were posed, but also not all of them and i think that we can get to that with some of our panelists here. our kayla tausche, i thought actually asked one of the really good questions which was about the engagement. what were the channels that we're here? he totally dodged. >> he would not answer specifically whether folks close to vladimir putin were consulted about this deal, which was fascinating. >> it was very interesting, but i know alex, i want to get to you quickly because because this, you have some reporting on this and that's because those channels are so sensitive. kim mentioned roger carstens, he played a very big role in this over the years, but the intelligence community and particularly the cia, also played a critical role that the

main channel i'm told wasn't intelligence channel between the cia and their intelligence counterparts. they held countless calls and meetings in third countries over the, the months and years. as this deal evolved and it really did evolve over time. and i was given a bit of a timeline from a us official who said that back in january of 2023. so a year-and-a-half ago? the cia actually put forward a proposal to get paul whelan out. this was before evan gershkovich was arrested to get paul whelan out in exchange for two russian spies who were picked up in slovenia. the russian said no. and then ten months later in november, after evan gershkovich had been picked up and arrested the u.s. the cia again put forward a proposal saying, how about we get back the two americans for for russian spies in this time it was additional spies in poland and in norway. and at that point in november, the russians made it clear, no, we're not talking about anything unless

we're getting back this assassin in germany, vadim krasikov, which you mentioned boris was a lynchpin. he absolutely was the conversation evolved a little bit over time. the name alexei navalny was then thrown into the mix. the germans really wanted navalny navalny had gone to germany when he left russia. then, of course, he eventually went back. there was never a formal proposal. i'm told with navalny's name in it, and the germans were very reluctant to give up this assassin who had carried out a killing of a chechen, former chechen fighter on german soil in berlin. but that pressure that jake sullivan was talking about with that pressure with these conversations with the germans, the germans eventually came around and then finally agreed, i'm told in june to give up krasikov a large reason. i believe is also because instead of navalny of vladimir kara murza was released along with other opposition figures by the russians. this is a very important thing for germany.

this is why we're seeing this extraordinary trade play out. but no doubt that that intelligence channel was key to what we're seeing unfold today. >> kim something that jake sullivan sort of repeated throughout his remarks was the importance of alliances. he actually said that this was a feat of diplomacy only achieved by someone like joe biden. he said that the alliance's that biden tapped in order to make this deal happen. >> he reinvigorated an illusion to former president donald trump and his more sort of let's say gnostic. >> gnostic stance when it comes to multilateral relations, right? >> because you've got multiple nato and eu partners that were key to making this happen. and we were talking about the small circle of people that brought this about none of them talked. so everyone was willing to give up someone who had been

arrested in their legal system had broken laws in their territory. and do this for the united states. so the u.s. could get four people back including with caribou isa someone who is a symbol for what russia could be if democratically minded people were allowed to speak. for the european allies that's what they're really getting out of this deal. and also it just shows the biden administration's commitment to continuing alliances and that trust that he's built up, that a lot of european officials tell me they're worried might go away if there's a second trump administration and as we look at a photo just released by the white house, this is of the families of these wrongfully detained people. the four of them who will be really least back to the u.s 11 to germany. but these are the families of the four. and you

see there to the kids very excitedly bending in to the speech speakerphone there in the oval office. in general, i just want to ask you if you think vladimir putin's calculus here, was that joe biden could deliver the release of vadim krasikov for germany but that donald trump was not going to be able to do it if he ends up winning the election, do you think that factored into this timing? >> i think it could have factored into the timing, yes. because apparently this man is really important to vladimir putin you know, the intelligence assets that's his prize. that's what he came out off. that's what he's groomed that's what he's using really in this hybrid warfare against the west. so this man probably has secrets. he probably has things that could have been revealed. he obviously didn't reveal them if he did, we're not going to talk about it. and he's back and in russian

hands, we'll see what happens to him back there and maybe he role or maybe it'll disappear somehow. but putin really wanted him back and make he thought this was, this was the opportune moment. get it over with. no telling what's going to happen in the u.s presidential election. i want him back general clark, kim, alex, thank you all for the perspective. >> appreciate it. still ahead this hour on cnn news central much more on this historic prisoner exchange for americans now on their way home after a combined eight years in russian detention including wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich marine veteran paul whelan, we'll be right back side to you all no forgotten to feed house of the dragon streaming exclusively on max we. all need fiber for our digestive health, but less than 10% of us get enough each day.

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following a historic moment unfolding right now. >> the largest prisoner exchange between the united states, its allies, and russia since the end of the cold war wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich and former us marine paul whelan are now heading home to the united states. and moments ago, the white house confirming german chancellor olaf scholtz told president biden, quote, for you, i will do this when he agreed to free a russian assassin, that was the linchpin of this prisoner swap. congressman jared moscowitz joins us now, live is a member of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. i want to get your reaction to this prisoner swap and what you think it means for us relations well, thanks boris. thanks for having me. well, first look out would be remiss to mention that i'm literally ten miles from where the family of bob levinson one of the longest held hostages in us history,

was taken by a ran. what i saw today on tv what i hope the levinson family would would see and they didn't. and that's why what happened today is so important. it is definitely a victory for the united states. it obviously it's a huge win for these families, for their loved ones to, come home it's a big win for the president president biden shows that yes, allies matter. having friends matters that you can call and count on them when you need them and so i'm happy to see the families are reunited. it's good to know that diplomacy still works you mentioned the levinson family and what they endured with their loved one being taken any iran i'm wondering if you see cases like this becoming more of a pattern that sort of state-sponsored hostage taking where rivals like iran, russia, or venezuela target americans

specifically for leverage, then negotiate the release of actual criminals look, i think there is evidence of that boris and that's why we tell americans not to go to certain places. >> but obviously this country is going to do whatever they can to get back. their citizens and so yes, it's a double-edged sword. our enemies know that we'll do everything we can to get back our citizens, but what is the other choice to leave americans in these places? and so look that's why the travel warnings are important. but obviously, we're going to do everything we can that have americans are taken hostage. we're going to do what we can to get them safely home. >> i like to dig in on a portion of that congressman because there's criticism from some on the right that this kind of deal actually encourages the arrest of more americans. how do you respond to that well, that's just nonsense. >> they're just mad that it happened under joe biden. they should just be honest, right. of donald trump got them back

and we exchanged the prisoners that we had. they wouldn't care. so they're just making it partisan, which is a shame because for these families this is a. big deal for the levinson family that i had the honor to spend many years with as we were hoping to get bob back i know what it was like for them when he didn't come home. and so the idea that those folks are making this partisan and that we should leave these americans there i think the majority of american people find that preposterous congressman while we have you, i do want to pivot to some other international news because it's really officials are saying that they're prepared for a response from iran following the assassination into ron of hamas's top political figure. >> do you believe that iran is going to attempt a direct strike in israel in response well nobody knows, right? >> i mean, around, doesn't have many options. they tried

that several months ago president biden, the united states put together huge coalition with israel, saudi arabia, jordan and responded to those ballistic missiles that were fired towards israel. that was a failed attempt. by iran. and this was obviously tremendously embarrassing that israel was able to strike in the heart of tehran, in the middle of the president coming to power, there i don't know what they're going to do. obviously, the hope is that we don't see escalation but israel is doing exactly what the united states not only would have done, but did do. we moved heaven and earth to get some of them lot and we did the same thing with collude shake muhammad, who just took a deal the other day and perpetrators of 911 for israel, 10-7 was there 911? so the idea that they're taking out the head of hamas is how this goes. and it's how we saw it in america

after 911, no one in the world is going to miss him. he's a murderer. the same thing for the second in command of hezbollah. he also was carter are killed hundreds of americans and so the world is a better place at these folks are gone, but obviously we don't want the region to turn into a powder keg, but we should realize that everything that's going on right now what's, going on in gaza, what's going on in lebanon is all being the strings are being pulled by iran and so we need to continue to build a coalition with our allies in the region israel and beyond to, keep iran at bay to make sure they don't get a nuclear weapon. anyone who is curious about what would that would be like, only take a look at the last several the last year basically, of what that would be like. and so we hope we don't see this expand to a regional war. but obviously i support israel's response to

what's been going on with hezbollah in iran congressman jared moscowitz, we have to leave the conversation there. >> appreciate you, sir thanks. >> boris let's get back to a discussing that historic prisoner swap. we're joined now by cnn senior justice correspondent evan perez. evan, there was tremendous secrecy when this sort of diplomacy was being carried out. there were signs though that something was afoot, right? >> yeah. in the last few days, just in the last few days, you could see he that there were some of these russians who were being held here in the united states we're moving essentially they were being moved from the bureau of prisons custody city to the marshal service in preparation for something. and in having done many of these, we noticed that they were their names disappeared from the website from the bureau of prisons website, and that indicates a couple of things that could mean that they are being released. and we also of course, we're watching for a possible sable swap of this kind. and it turns out that's

exactly what was going on behind the scenes. and one of them interesting things as one of these prisoners, vadim kind of shunak is a russian who was true charge. he ended united states. he was extradited from estonia last year for essentially trying to help the russian government obtain military products from the united states and so he's been charged in brooklyn, his lawyer we have a graphic of this. his lawyer actually wrote to the judge overseeing his case just this morning, complaining that she has not been able to find her client. she herself didn't appears to be surprised by this. she describes how she had called the metropolitan detention center where he was being held, and they told her that he was not in custody essentially. and so she was trying to track him down. that's how secret this was being held behind the scenes. and of course now we know that he is one of the ones, one of the russians, one of three, that the justice apartment gave up as part of this historic trade really interesting stuff.

>> evan perez, thank you for that. next much more on our breaking news three americans and a us resident now on their way back to the u.s. and one of them on the way to germany after being released by russia in a multi-nation historic prisoner exchange the moments that shaped our culture coming this fall on cnn, meet the jennifer's gen x, gen y, and z each planning their future for the chase mobile app gen x is planning a summer in portugal with some help from jpmorgan wealth plan. that's got whiskers dan, why is working with the banker to budget for her birthday? >> you only turned 30 he wants and gen z, her credit goal. then, hello, new apartment three, jens getting ahead with chase solutions that grow with

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