what could be a sweeping prisoner transfer between the united states and russia and perhaps others as well. >> dana: evan only 32 years old slated to stay in prison until his mid 40s. that's great news. then paul whelan and he is a u.s. marine and they are coming home. >> brian: "new york post" and we have it here and covering it. >> ainsley: i'm heading to go interview usha vance. first interview since her husband became the vice presidential candidate. everyone have a great weekend. >> steve: "america's newsroom" starts now. >> bill: good morning. we'll pick up the coverage from here. there appears to be good news this morning. it appears that evan and paul apparently are coming home. a major prisoner exchange between the u.s. and russia in the works as we speak that would free the jailed american

journalist evan gershkovitch and former marine paul whelan. we'll work through it as we get it step-by-step. we don't know where these gentlemen are and wait for more information on that. >> dana: so much to come. it could be a very good day. i'm dana perino and this is "america's newsroom." evan gershkovitch spent 16 months behind bars. paul whelan was arrested in 2018. >> bill: what we don't know is what putin gets. we are waiting for more information on that. britteny griner the high-profile case when she was taken prisoner and resulted in the swap of victor boots. a russian arms dealer and they busted him in southeast asia and considered a major prize. he went back to russia when griner came back home here. >> dana: there was criticism at the time because nobody could

really understand why britteny griner would be the only one released at the time. gershkovitch wasn't in custody at that point but paul whelan was. his family has been stalwart and recognize them if you saw them. they've been on our air and evan's family, brave sister and wonderful friends who has kept his name in the news and also say this. from the moment he was taken, the "wall street journal" has been absolutely on the case. they had people dedicated 24/seven to making sure that he could come home and nobody forgot and we did that piece recognizing his days there, his one year in prison, and i think that we'll learn a lot in the coming days but i do think thanking the "wall street journal" for their leadership on this is important. >> bill: our building in mid town manhattan is 40 stories tall. if you go to the subway below our building on day one the journal had a poster of evan

gershkovitch and it said bring him home. today it still stands there. until we see physical evidence and pictures and talk to the family we'll go with caution here. to the white house we roll to try to understand what is happening there. mark meredith reports this morning. hello. >> good morning to you both. major impact on american foreign policy as the u.s. and russia have agreed to a prisoner exchange. two americans that were highly sought after by the biden administration. the president said getting gershkovitch and whelan home was his top priority and whelan's arrest predated biden in the white house. we haven't got details from the white house what the actual details were of the exchange including who the u.s. had to give up. you mentioned what happened just in 2022 as the wnba player b

britteny griner released and who was exchanged for her. the white house pushed back saying they are complex negotiations and something they were working on for quite some time and gets us to today. they appear to have secured their release. you also mentioned the "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovitch. in washington his name is everywhere, media-heavy town and focus what can be done to bring attention to his case. "wall street journal" kept a countdown clock on its website listing how long he has been in prison. 490 days. just sentenced to 16-year prison term last month and when that happened the white house came out with a forceful statement condemning russia's actions saying he was being held as a political prisoner and not tied to any sort of espionage whatsoever, a sham trial and a way to essentially punish the u.s. you can imagine u.s./russian relations have been awful these past several years. given the war in ukraine it is likely to remain in a pretty awful state. what kind of reaction the

russian government offers as well whether they try to claim they got the better hand here or whether or not it was simply a deal for both countries. you also mentioned there could be other countries involved. a congressman on last hour he believes there were multiple nations that have interests tied to this prisoner exchange. exactly who and from where we're waiting for those details. president biden had an open schedule today. maybe on purpose by the white house to offer him up before the cameras to give us details. they haven't announced anything about the president making an on-camera statement. given the seriousness of it and sweeping implications for u.s. foreign policy and the upcoming election, we'll likely hear from the president a little later on today. we're on stand by for that. >> bill: go get more and bring you back momentarily from the white house. keep in mind there is a war between ukraine and russia that still rages and just this week f-16s were expected to be

delivered to the ukrainian military. and in the meantime you have american weapons that have dribbled into this war month after month to be used against russia. there is a dynamic, dana, here that runs very deep at the moment. with the back story is something elusive for now but it is intriguing. >> dana: we want to bring in bret baier the anchor of "special report." this news is welcome. what have you been able to pick up? >> bret: good morning, dana and bill. this is a big, big deal. we'll find out the details of the back end of what the exchange is but the fact that we are enabled and allowed to use the names of paul whelan and evan gershkovitch means they are in the final handovers to u.s. custody. that's a big deal. i talked to nicki bergman of the richardson center a few weeks ago on "special report" dealing

with hostage exchange and these kinds of efforts around the world. he said this is the crucial time in the final hours to make sure everything lines up and is are dotted and ts crossed to make sure everything works. there are a number of names going the other way. hardened criminals some of them. some of them side to cyber efforts and attacks. others in jail, russians, for espionage. and we'll have more on that obviously as the day unfolds. paul whelan has been in jail for six years. he went to russia for a friend's wedding in 2018 and taken into custody on charges of espionage and evan gershkovitch. we all read pieces of his articles on the one-year anniversary of him being in custody as a notion of

solidarity with him. this is massive for these families and no matter what the back end looks like, as we talked about with britteny griner before, it is a huge, huge story and we'll find out the details throughout the day. >> dana: one of the things that we learned was that if you go back to the timeline right evan was taken into custody he talked about the weakening russia economy due to the ukraine war and didn't set well with putin. soon after the article posted that he was arrested. >> bill: it seems there is a back drop in a global sense of big pieces moving very quickly. when you consider what the israelis have done in the middle east over the past 36 hours and we wait to see whether or not iran does announce take action against the israelis. you've got the news last night about the plea deal reached with the 9/11 hijackers at gitmo and

what becomes of gitmo between now and the end of joe biden's presidency. barack obama wanted to close gitmo. he was unable to do it. see whether or not that's a moving part. the back drop of this war. you were with zelenskyy i believe it was three months ago when you went to the eastern part near the town of kharkiv to do that interview. i remember talking to you about the landscape was just december late. there was nothing left but dirt, to paraphrase your words. so that war continues and you don't know what's going on behind the scenes. why would putin now do a deal with america when putin has told the u.s. if you use your weapons against my military you will pay a price? >> bret: exactly right. this is three dimensional chess on the international stage. i was on the front lines a mile from russian forces where we did that interview with president

zelenskyy. the message in that interview or at least part of it was i need help from the u.s. i need this effort by congress when it was up in the air whether congress was going to move forward. but he seemed to suggest that i could get to a negotiating table. at least numerous times in that interview. is that in the process of happening? is that a back story why this is happening today in the big picture? we don't know. it is a tumultuous place around the world and in the middle of what we see is a tumultuous time in politics here. it is a dangerous time. we're in flux. we're in a change from a president who is going to run for re-election to step aside and now or in the heat of a tough re-election battle and tough election battle that affects world events and how that all changes we'll have to see. >> dana: bret, thank you and for getting up early for us as the news breaks.

we might get back to you as we get more information. sitting with us now is a foreign policy expert and the host of call me back and author. get your big picture take and comment on what bill was saying. feels like a lot of moving pieces around the world at the same time. >> we are still getting a lot of details. i was struck parenthetically two nights ago i met with families of israeli hostages visiting the u.s. even they who have extraordinary access to those involved in the negotiations didn't know exactly what was happening. there is a tendency trying to decipher what's happening and for obvious reasons these negotiations have to be held total -- the moment stuff starts leaking out. this sounds very complex because it sounds like it was the u.s. and russia and sounds like based on what we're hearing four nato member countries were also involved. there is a multi-party exchange going on here.

i just think the complexity of it and the fact it has been so quiet is extraordinary and a real -- speaks volumes to those involved in the negotiations. the big question and it's fantastic and whelan and evan are coming back to the united states. to your point, bill, what bret said 5 1/2 years. >> bill: from 2018. these are apparently americans working in russia that haven't gotten the publicity that whelan and gershkovitch got. they have long russian names so they have dual citizenship may be involved in in as well. robert o'brien did a lot of hostage negotiations under president trump. >> he had the role. he was national security advisor. >> bill: he expressed exactly what you are expressing how difficult and delicate this can be. >> i've been involved with a number of national security matters both in government and outside of government over the years and like i said i have never seen any area that is

subjected to more secrecy than the hostage negotiations. it is just again understandably and now obviously we'll wait to see what we'll learn over the next 24 hours. all the details of the deal. the britteny griner exchange, very good news that she returned, on the other hand it became controversial on capitol hill because you had this vikter bout, the merchant of death released from a u.s. prison. >> dana: and paul whelan wasn't. >> the first round of news is excellent and the fact these gentlemen are returning and russian americans. one is a well-known critic of putin. quite amazing he is being released. >> dana: do you have any sense what putin might have been thinking. he is mad at nato and the united states or maybe something else going on here.

>> he is going for maximum concessions. if there were multiple countries, meaning if he had the u.s. involved and a bunch of nato countries involved, it was -- it was probably a good deal for putin. >> bill: it always appears to be. >> so do i think this is a turning point in the war? no. do i think that we'll see this paired with a bunch of other developments and we'll be like this now makes sense? i'm skeptical. i think what is most likely the case it was crystal clear to putin how badly we wanted some of these americans back and he probably took that to his negotiating advantage and we'll see. we'll see what the other side. we only get one side of the deal right now. >> bill: we do know these families were very reluctant to be in the spotlight whether it was evan's mother and father and sister who we spoke to many times. but in the end they realized they needed to keep his name out there and i would say the same

thing for the whelan family, too. they have been on our program many times. bring paul home. he has done nothing. he is an innocent man. >> i will say my reference point these days israeli hostage family, there are a lot of parallels. this is their biggest fear. the ones who i met with told me we're already starting to plan for the one year anniversary of october 7th with the assumption our family members will be in dungeons in gaza and we're worried the world move on and people will forget about it. you can imagine evan and paul's family members the last thing we want is media attention but -- the famous soviet dissident now lives in israel was in a soviet prison for years. he said what kept him -- it's not just making sure people don't forget about it. it's that the prisoners know. he says prisoners in these prisons know when the world is paying attention. when ronald reagan spoke out and mentioned his name publicly and

got a lot of press attention, it got back to him in his cell. the sense the world is not forgetting and it kept him going. not making sure the hostage negotiators are committed but the morale of the prisoners. i have followed the press coverage of evan closely. i have to believe he knew the world was paying attention. >> dana: there was an evan gershkovitch.com and he was able to read them. >> bill: in is from reuters now. the turkish intelligence agency is the agency picked to coordinate this extensive prisoner swap. it is happening in realtime. stand by and get back to you in a moment. >> turkey nato member. >> dana: trey yengst is standsing by for some context about this story and also what is happening there as it certainly not quiet right, trey? >> yeah, dana and bill good morning.

a significant development for the entire region and also speaks to the ongoing efforts to bring evan home. for the past 16 months the entire world has been watching this case closely. you had top biden administration officials ferry messages back and forth since the war in ukraine erupted back in 2022 evan was one of those reporters talking about what was happening on the ground. a journalist that was known around the world and continues to be known for his important coverage. so this news today is welcome news among the industry but also, of course, close to home in the united states i think back to the white house correspondents association dinner earlier this year. his parents were there. people had pins that said free evan. this is an industry that has been anxiously waiting for his return home advocating, knowing he is an innocent man and so this news today is certainly welcomed and we'll continue to learn more details about what

went on behind the scenes to arrange this prisoner swap. oftentimes these conversations are taking place behind the scenes and getting text messages on signal from u.s. intelligence sources familiar with this process and especially as it relates to the war in ukraine. they say that the americans involved in these conversations are some of the best that we have as a country. that they've been closely monitoring evan's case and looking for these opportunities. so again we continue to be very careful with the information on this developing story but for this 32-year-old reporter held in a russian prison for more than 16 months it is a relief to say the least as we continue to follow developments about this story. >> bill: trey, thank you for that. trey, if you could, maybe shed some light. a lot of these stories are folding on top of one another and the prisoner swap is

something that will develop possibly out of turkey depending whether or not that report is accurate. you have the ayatollah 24 hours ago who threatened to bomb israel. and you are there now in tel aviv and what can you report on that? how is the idf getting ready for what could be a broader war if it happens? >> i can tell you right now that tension is very high across the middle east. there are clear indications that this country is headed for a broader conflict. some of the more quiet motions that you notice international airlines canceling flights to and from tel aviv. hotels in israel's second largest sitting urging guests to move to lower floors over concern about missile fire that could come from iran or some proxies in the region like hezbollah in southern lebanon. think about what happened this week. early wednesday morning there was a strike in tehran, tehranian capital killing the

political leader of hamas, iran's second largest proxy in the region that previously had full control over the gaza strip before the organizations decided to carry out the october 7th massacre and then taking out a top hezbollah commander the israelis say was responsible for the rocket attack on saturday that killed 12 young people in the drews community. a funeral is taking place today in tehran for haniyeh. to give you a sense about the israelis and how they are grouping together this information, there were three masterminds behind the october 7th massacre. a man still to be alived in the tunnels of gaza. the israelis confirmed one was killed three weeks ago in an air strike in southern gaza and haniyeh, who is currently being carried through the streets of tehran today. so it is a turning point in the

conflict that we have been covering the past 300 days. again this region is bracing for the possibility of iranian retaliation that could come not just from iranian soil but major proxies in southern lebanon and from places like yemen but also places like iraq and syria. these iran-backed shia militias. they're bracing for a multi-front confront and i spoke with a top israeli official close to some of the decision making that's been taking place in these cabinet meetings in tel aviv israel's version of the pentagon and the source said the country is prepared for the possibility of war. the coming hours and days will be very delicate in the middle east as the region braces for a real possibility of a broader conflict. >> dana: can i ask you one last question. we have dan here who recently met with some of the families of hostages being held in gaza or

had been released. he is familiar with all of them. right before these strikes there was talk and maybe some hope that there might have been some hostage release or some sort of agreement with the hamas terrorists. do you know if after all of this activity over the past 36 hours, is that still on or is it being held off? what's the temperature? >> it's a great question. i spoke with one qatari source close to the negotiating team to try to get a cease-fire deal together between israel and hamas. the qatari effort started 300 days ago in hours after the october 7th massacre took place and this source who i was talking to throughout the war was simply shocked this targeted assassination unfolded in tehran earlier this week. remember on sunday cia director was in rome meeting with negotiators and israeli officials who were pessimistic

about the possibility of a new cease-fire was were hopeful one could happen as soon as this week. all these conversations have collapsed. right now it appears that both sides have stepped back from the negotiating table. understandably given the fact that the leader of hamas's political bureau was assassinated in a strike in tehran. the israelis clearly sending a message that they are not afraid of a broader war. understanding that this is no longer about a conflict between israel and hamas but rather a conflict between israel and iran. that's what the region is bracing for in the hours and days ahead. so the possibility of a cease-fire between iran's second largest proxy hamas and israel is really off the table right now as the middle east is looking for the possibility of a broader war understanding that the hostage deal and negotiations are currently being put to the side right now as military operations and

preparations are underway. >> bill: extraordinary events. thank you, trey. check back in momentarily trey yengst live in tel aviv. one report out there suggests we might be looking at the biggest prisoner swap since the end of the cold war going back to the late 1980s. this report suggests that moscow is ready to release between 20 and 30 political prisoners. if true that would be an extraordinary moment. we will wait until that is confirmed and dan hoffman joins us. you lived in russia, studied vladimir putin. what is he up to now? >> yeah, well look, i think you are asking the right questions, bill. the question is the extent of this prisoner swap. right now we're hearing that former marine paul whelan is involved as evan gershkovitch and reportedly will be freed. question is some other americans being held behind enemy lines if russia illegally detained.

a radio free europe journalist, an innocent ball arena camera who was arrested. a school teacher. a number of other names out there. what are the russians going to get in return? a lot of focus on a russian operative who killed and ethnic chechyan in germany and has been convicted of murder there. the russians would like to get him back. they have deep cover officers who were arrested in slovenia, maybe they want them back as well. the third one, is this a harbinger of something greater to come? a thaw between the united states and russia? in the worst of times we found a way to collaborate on caunter terrorism for example. is this a harbinger of things to come? lots of important to be asked and answered in the coming days. >> dana: we have dan still here

as well. thoughts on what this means for president biden who will likely hear from today? >> i was thinking about that. we haven't heard much from president biden. >> bill: almost nothing. >> since he announced he wasn't running for re-election other than proposals for supreme court reform but not said much else. obviously he i'm sure will declare this a victory of sorts, it is. on the other hand, again, until we have all the details of the deal and the implications of the deal for u.s. national security like the vikter bout situation we don't know how it will come across. again, i think everyone of us sitting here is just -- as a human being thank god he is coming home. and so that's i think president biden and his team will get credit for that. details will come out. i spoke to one senator this morning, republican senator who

is on the sen all intelligence committee and they know nothing. they weren't briefed on it and didn't know it was in the works. that is probably fine. they'll get briefed in the next day or two. as the senators start learning more about what is actually in the deal i think it will subjected to more scrutiny and then does president biden and vice president harris handle that? >> bill: she has not done an interview or press conference in 11 days since she became the nominee. the virtual nominee. so at this point she will have to say something, too. two days ago she came out very strong actually against hezbollah when she was traveling in texas, i do believe, before she boarded that plane and made a strong statement on behalf of israel. did it surprise you? >> my impression so far of kamala on the middle east issue she is basically a blank slate. i don't know what she believes or if she knows what she believes. she gave a good statement with regard to hezbollah.

on the other hand in her meeting with prime minister netanyahu her statement was absurd. israel has a right to defend itself. i hate that formulation. you wouldn't say that about any other country. the united states has the right to defend itself after 9/11. statement of the obvious, right? but. it's always the but. she did the but and started talking about the quote, unquote catastrophe in gaza she is blaming israel for. i thought that was statement was bad. the statement on hezbollah was pretty good. we don't know. she is a blank state. never a strong voice on foreign policy. we don't know if it will be an extension of the biden foreign policy or something new, whether or not it is more reflective of the progressive views on foreign policy within the democratic coalition. we don't know. one of the problems with this rifle shot nomination process is we just -- it will take -- this

election is in 100 days. we have 100 days to get to know kamala harris. she dropped out of the 2020 presidential election six months before the voting began in iowa. >> bill: she was home for christmas that year. >> dana: do you have thoughts about putin's relationship with iran now and how that might be playing into -- not necessarily this prisoner swap but thinking what bill was saying earlier lots of things happening around the world at the same time and that relationship had grown stronger. >> i would say the relations between moscow, tehran, and beijing are -- i would characterize them this way. they are -- they have common interests, which is weakening u.s. presence in the world, scaling back u.s. in the middle east and their interests aren't always aligned. on this particular issue, which is weakening the u.s. leadership role in the world they have a

common interest. they share arms, iranian drones in russia being used to slaughter ukrainians. so they are doing a lot of work together, sharing a lot of resources. they coordinate a lot. does this mean they always walk in lock step? no. but i do think they share -- they have interests in common and they do coordinate. i would be surprised if iran does not have some understanding of what is going on in this whole deal. >> bill: great to get your perspective. we get a quick time-out here. back more with dan hoffman who knows this stuff too well and check with our reporters around the parts of the world involved in the story at the moment. doug burgum is waiting, too. we will talk to the north dakota and much more as we work our way through the story what is another busy news day on this thursday morning. san, shi... (1,2,3,4 . . ) ruri: ichi, ni, san, shi... (1,2,3,4 . . ) hina: ichi, ni, san, shi... (1,2,3,4 . . ) akari: ichi, ni, san, shi... (1,2,3,4 . . )

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>> dana: welcome back to the news which is hopefully good news. we're waiting on confirmation of a sighting that there is a major prisoner swap between the united states and russia where the two people on your screen are one of many. evan gershkovitch of the "wall street journal" and paul whalen, a former u.s. marine, whalen has been held since 2018. gershkovitch has been held for 16 months. they are hopefully we'll see released today. we're waiting on those details. want to bring in doug burgum. the governor of north dakota. former presidential candidate and your thoughts this morning about this kind of a great break through hopefully that we'll see today? >> well, dana, obviously a day of gratitude for the families for evan and paul after them being held wrongly by the russians for this period of time. i thank you and bill keeping their names alive and in front of the public. that's fantastic. so on a personal level it is a

day of gratitude and celebration. on a larger scale, again the biden administration is clear the reason why russia wanted to do this deal now is that they think that president trump will win and they don't want to deal with him. biden's track record on these hostage negotiations, you go back just to september of last year paying $6 billion to the iranians for five hostages. he put a price tag on every american's head when he did that and made it less safe for anyone traveling abroad when he does that. and then, of course, this is a positive blip but the trendline is we're at a proxy war with russia escalating and with what's going on in iran and israel is also escalating. this is not making the world less safe. i think it is a great, fabulous for the families but a political move. why russia would go down and get maximum concessions from a weak

president biden. >> bill: that we can't answer and we're trying to read between the lines. a report there is a russian held in a german jail now convicted three years ago in 2021 of killing a former chechyan rebel. you goes back to the early 90s and you think with putin and the russian military and what happened in that war within its own country. it was brutal. they leveled the place. and then when they went into ukraine in february of 2022 and bombing these towns one after another taking out building after building and you look at that video, remember, dana, you see it and think is this really happening? eastern europe ian country being leveled by a modern day military. that is how putin fights and conducted this war. the israelis are trying to send a signal to everyone in the middle east, don't mess with them because what's happening in gaza could happen to beirut

again sometime very soon as well. motivation behind this is something we do not know on behalf of vladimir putin. but he is one tactical man when it comes to this, governor. >> well, absolutely. we do know one thing, that when president trump was in office, these wars weren't happening and we also know that it's just the ridiculous policies of the biden administration, which is basically funding russia's side of the war, funding iranian, funding over 20 terror groups are the energy policies enriching our energy. trump will have a big stick to carry into the negotiation. right now biden administration is fighting from total weakness. >> dana: this was my question. you brought it up for me about energy. i know you are in a state in north dakota. you understand the fracking

issue very well and we did want to also ask you about this suggestion by kamala harris's team. not her directly but by her team that she will change her position on fracking. what do you think of that? >> well, she is being a political opportunist trying to get a few votes in pennsylvania. if she wants to be pro u.s. energy and support the u.s. shale revolution, which collectively the innovation around getting oil out of hard rock thousands, 10,000 feet below ground. that was a trillion dollars worth of economic savings to consumers across america and biden and harris stood against that the entire time the shale revolution has been happening. now if she says in one state she is for this thing, she has 50 executive orders of joe biden she will have to reverse because of everything from the first day in office with the keystone pipeline, which is essentially

like a u.s. energy security pipeline. they would have to reverse every single thing the biden administration did. i don't buy it. i think it is political vote buying in pennsylvania. >> bill: they'll try to define kamala harris. we'll see when she does an interview and see when she holds a press conference. it has been 11 days, governor, it has been 11 days. not that we're keeping track. >> we have 96 days until the election and america doesn't really know who she is. this is an unprecedentsed for a lot of ways not just the short time frame that voters get a chance to know her but also because she got this nomination without going through a primary process. if she had gone through a typical democrat primary process, she would have had to take in all kinds of extreme positions just to get through the primary. she can start and say look at me, i'm a moderate running from the middle when her track record

both in california and biden administration makes her the most extreme left candidate we've ever had and getting a free pass to the starting line. >> dana: a brand-new hand dealt to her and so far she is playing it very well. happy birthday to you. >> thank you. celebrating here. thank you. >> dana: thank you so much. >> bill: best to you and your wife. thank you, sir. we'll go back to dan hoffman now. we were discussing putin's motivations. hard to read between the lines. we'll see whether or not you have 20 or 30 political prisoners involved in this swap. what is your read right now as you see it? >> right, i think that is an unknown, what brought vladimir putin to the negotiating table to make a deal right now. the negotiations have been on going. these negotiations have on going

for quite some time. those negligent achess encompassed others including paul whelan, he wasn't included at that time. the senate and house intelligence committees will receive briefings from the cia and intelligence community at large to learn what vladimir putin's motivation was. just as the u.s. president and white house are involved in these negotiations tracking them closely, so, too, is vladimir putin. he runs what he likes to call a vertical of power, every major decision runs up through his control in the kremlin. >> dana: what do you know about timing of these types of things when they all come together? in some ways you can imagine it has been going on for a very long time very secretive and it happens right away but things could go sideways and why we are being fairly cautious until we see some proof that this has been done successfully and

safely. >> yeah. the negotiations are painstaking and held in secret for a reason. i think both russia and the united states benefit from the fact that they are not exposed to the vagaries of public scrutiny. and diplomatic scrutiny. they are held behind closed doors, very much in secret. as far as what brings a final deal, ultimately it's when both sides believe this is the best deal they will get. the russians may have been motivated. i think, bill, you have noted by the fact they desperately want the man back from berlin. we may have convinced them there is their last best chance to get him back. we have to wait for more details on that. >> bill: look at putin's perspective fighting the war now, 2 1/2 years into it. maybe they have fought their way to the point where it is a stalemate on both sides, maybe

not. we'll see. we have thought his economy weakened. it is not now. he has forged alliances with beijing and pyongyang and tehran and really as those four countries that will give the united states, our nato allies, our allies in the pacific, the biggest hassle on just about any issue there is in the world. how do you think putin sees his position among those four countries? is he an equal or is he the leader? >> no, he is the weakest he has ever been in the kremlin. russia's economy has suffered and suffering from high inflation. an unbalanced wartime economy and suffering thousands of casualties every day. hundreds of thousands of casualties. if you look for one of the motivations for why he might have struck a deal now, he needs to demonstrate to his own security services, his inner circle he can get his own guys

back when they are imprisoned for breaking the law. that's the way he will play it. he needs to do everything he can to shore up his regime security. he went hat in hand to north korea because he needs their artillery and hydro carbons to north korea. he is giving cover to -- vladimir putin is weaker today than he has ever been and makes him more dangerous. in this case in terms of this prisoner swap it makes him far more open to a resolution. >> bill: wow. dan, if -- we'll get a break and bring on bret and working on some information on the other side of the commercial break. dan, if you find your way to a truce in ukraine somehow some

way over the next six months for the purpose of this conversation here, that becomes the new front line in cold war 3.0, does it not russia to the east, nato to the west? >> yeah, look, ukraine is on the front lines right now defending europe from aggressive russia hell bent on targeting its neighbors. we've seen a lot of hybrid operations in eastern europe. so yes, bill, there is that. there certainly is the potential for an armistice and negotiation or cease-fire. wars end when one side wins or both sides are too exhausted to fight. the question is whether we're nearing the point where both sides would be at the point where they could consider negotiations. ukraine, the biden administration has been clear they'll let ukraine make that decision for themselves. >> dana: thank you so much. we'll squeeze in a quick break

here. we are waiting to hear when we'll hear from president biden on this today. this getting done under his watch and we might hear from him after things are finalized. we'll be right back. ♪& doug.♪ and if we win, we get to tell you how liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. isn't that what you just did? service! ♪stand back i'm going to show ya,♪ ♪how doug and limu roll, yeah!♪ ♪ ♪you know you got to live it,♪ ♪ ♪if you want to win...♪ [bump] time out! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty,♪ ♪liberty, liberty.♪

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york. we have significant breaking news that we've been tracking now for the past two hours. it appears that evan gershkovitch and paul whelan held in jail. paul going back to 2018. gershkovitch has been front and center for the "wall street journal," our colleagues there on the front page of that online paper every day now since he has been taken captive and put on trial and recently convicted under charges that were spurious at best, one would say trying to report on the russian economy 900 miles east of moscow. we are working now to figure out where these men are, when the transfer happens, and whether or not others, either american or other nationals are involved.

bret baier is hunting it down. >> bret: it is sensitive. it is in the process and we want to be careful about what and how we're reporting until it's a done deal. a number of reports out there publicly in the bbc and other outlets about the structure of this deal and we can from u.s. officials broadly say this looks like a big, big prisoner swap that includes gershkovitch and whelan. there is online reporting from turkey that that may be the place this is happening. there are u.s. and russians jets on the tarmac there. the time in which this happens is obviously crucial as you guys have been mentioning around the world with all the hot spots and everything happening, it seems all at once. but think about these individuals, gershkovitch and whelan and how long they have

been in russian custody with the question mark of whether they were ever going to get out. critics of these kinds of deals say russia tries to do this again and again and this deal won't stop russia from getting more u.s. hostages to do more of these deals. but for these families, obviously, this is a crucial time that they need to get into custody and get them home. we've seen these deals before and it is sensitive in the final moments, which is why we're being sensitive about all that we know. but we can start to get the picture of a very large prisoner swap that goes well beyond just those two, maybe even the radio reporter, the russian american radio for europe reporter and others in other countries, not just the u.s., russia, you are

talking germany and other western countries as well. so again we want to be careful about how far we go down this road until it is all locked up and the is dotted and ts crossed and we're in this process in matters of hours. >> dana: talk a little bit about the fact, if it goes well and is successful will have happened under president biden's watch just a few days after he decided to withdraw from the presidential race and now we have kamala harris the likely nominee for the democrats. >> bret: it is fascinating, dana, and one of the things that you wondered what the focus of the biden presidency was going to be in the final months here. and clearly he is going to try to make a foreign policy focus and dismount, if he can, on successes. a lot of the experts i've talked to including nicki bergman with the richardson center believed

it would take until november for some of these deals to come to fruition. what it means in the big picture for other actions, russia and ukraine or the relationship about russia, china, and iran, that they all seem to be a little bit closer together as far as their thinking making the u.s. a little weaker. what it does mean is that this is likely coming to fruition under the biden administration and it is not going to be an election-year issue as you head towards november. >> bill: you think about putin again. i keep coming back to him because he is an enigma or you think about two weeks ago is when gershkovitch was sentenced to 16 years in jail. and maybe he could have been moved to a penal colony north of the arctic circle. that's where putin likes to put people, especially the people he has strong umbrage with.

consider this now. what putin wanted was a conviction and you could argue that the trial was hurried along and it was rushed and it went quickly and once that deal was done putin said see, to the russian people. i told you he was guilty. and perhaps that may have cleared the way for this deal that we're watching unfold in front of us, bret. >> bret: i agree with you. i think that factors into all of this, the speed in which this happens. you know, these are really complex negotiations and we are just starting to get the sense of how big this deal could be. if it is as being reported in the bbc and elsewhere, as many as 24, that's the biggest prisoner swap in u.s./russian history. and it's even before, you know, world war ii, at one time.

we have to get the details of it. but the speed in which this happens suggests that there was an urgency to get this done at this moment, if the light was at the end of the tunnel to get it done. >> dana: bret, you had the most recent contact with zelenskyy of our colleagues, i believe. what do you think he is thinking today? >> bret: that's fascinating. he was in d.c. did an interview with him here at the reagan foundation and he -- i think he is woreed about the current political situation. doesn't know how the u.s. political situation is going to affect the war, vis-a-vis support. i think he is expressing gratitude for all that has come his way and the f-16s just arriving this week after long being promised. but he does see a stronger

russia as far as with their friends china getting help and also moving further into ukraine. so i think we're at a stalemate position and whether he is in a better negotiating spot or not, we'll have to wait and see. >> bill: it is a serious world in a big way. bret, thanks, stand by and we'll get back to you in moments. coming to the end of our first hour as we begin anew. >> dana: awaiting details of a major prisoner swap between the united states and russia. the exchange is in motion as i speak. americans gershkovitch and whelan are said to be part of it. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm dana perino. we've had some big days in the last month. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning everybody. we're trying to track this story as best we can from washington, d.c. to moscow and possibly to turkey as well