thursday. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we'll get a look at the forecast shortly with the rain coming up, but mike has breaking news this morning affecting commuters in the east bay. >> exactly, closed right now. chp has closed the dublin interchange for this crash. on the cal trans camera that is on northbound 680 coming off 580, this live look doesn't tell a lot, so i step in and show you there's a tow truck that has been here as we have been monitoring, been there since about 4:00 in the morning. over here, a couple vehicles but this van has appeared. i believe that is the alameda county coroner that has arrived on scene and they're doing an investigation. the car i believe is the one involved in the deadly incident. it's blocking the connector from west 580 where we see from time to time a little slowing. that connector is closed to northbound 680. folks are moving by, getting back on at foothill and getting back on 680. if that is indeed the coroner's van, we're looking at another

possible half hour until i hope they can reopen part of the connector. we're tracking that because the build is happening out of the altamont pass. >> a cold and foggy start in parts of the bay area. 35 in palo alto and 36 in sonoma. mostly low 40s elsewhere, but visibility has been the issue with a dense fog advisory for solano county, but we also have seen low visibility moving over toward parts of marin as well as sonoma and napa county. that's going to continue for the next couple hours. this as the next storm system approaches that will bring us rain this afternoon and evening. it's one of several rounds of rain in our forecast and we'll talk about the impact in a few minutes. >> thanks. >> covid, flu, and rsv surge not only maxing out some hospitals but now leaving bay area store shelves empty when it comes to those over-the-counter chemieds. >> health leaders sight vaccine fatigue as one of the reasons

for decline in flu shots. live outside of one walnut creek cvs with some of the best advise for staying healthy these holidays. tom. >> it has been a triple threat of sicknesses so far with those rsv virus cases, flu, and covid cases high. the rsv cases are starting to drop off right now, but flu cases are way up across the nation. 4500 flu deaths have been reported since october in the u.s. and health officials in every time zone are reporting ongoing issues with the seasonal illnesses. on average across the country right now, 79% of hospital beds are occupied. doctors everywhere including here in the bay area are pleading with people to get their flu shots. >> i understand, this has been a tumultuous almost three years regarding these respiratory illnesses, but we cannot stop

now. we must put ourselves, our families, and our community in front of our overall vaccine fatigue. the key is to prevent the flu, to prevent deaths from the flu, to prevent hospitalizations from the flu. >> making issues more difficult for households is a shortage of key most popular medicines like. pharmacies are also reporting shortages of prescriptions. johnson & johnson is ramping up production of its medications, running around the clock production lines now. if you're here at pharmacies getting your medicine, also a good place to get your flu shot and covid booster. this cvs pharmacy offering both, like most pharmaies across the bay area. tom jenson, today in the bay. >> i heard doctors say it's not

too late to get the flu shots. >> 5:03 right now. police in san francisco so far not saying what led to a deadly accident in the excelsior neighborhood. this as someone was struck by a car near a playground. that driver did stay at the scene. >> a live look at capitol hill this morning where there is a rush of business to finalize as the end of the year approaches. some of the items congress still has on its plate, national defense spending and a final report from the january 6th committee. today in the bay's brie jackson live in washington, and perhaps the most pressing deadline here is funding the government. >> that's right. good morning, laura. nothing like a deadline to help set priorities, and congress has to act fast. they must come up with a budget deal by the end of next week in order to avoid a government shutdown. it's crunch time on capitol hill.

lawmakers must pass a spending bill before december 16th or risk a government shutdown. democrats want to set the spending agenda before republicans take control of the house next month. >> we hope to get an omnibus done for the spending bill for the whole next year to avoid the problem of mccarthy having any control. >> republicans want a short-term deal instead. >> we don't even have an overall agreement on how much we're going to spend and we're running out of time. >> the clock is also ticking on authorization of the military budget. there are hold-ups over issues including ending the defense department's covid-19 vaccine mandate and funding for ukraine. administration officials say stalled talks could have negative impacts across the board. >> goes well beyond ukraine. >> another issue rounding out end of year calendar deadlines, the release of the january 6th committee's final report. members say we could see criminal referrals soon. >> obviously, the former president was at the center of

the effort to overthrow the government. so it would be a foolish effort for me to say that's something we're not looking at. >> the january 6th committee will offer recommendations and possible legislation to prevent something like this from happening again. and referrals from the january 6th committee carry no legal weight. it will ultimately be up to federal prosecutors to decide whether to pursuit charges. >> so much to follow. thanks so much. 5:06 right now. i want you to check out this recent big cat scare. this is for one north bay family. it happened monday in bennett valley near santa rosa. you can see right there, that cat just sitting watching the family right outside of the patio glass door. now, that same mountain lion killed two goats in their barn before dragging their dog outside. that's when one family member fired a gun to scare it off, saving that dog in the process. the family says that state fish

and wildlife responded and a trapper has since euthanized the animal. >> don't expect a fresh dungeness crab feast for the holidays. california fish and wildlife is further delaying the bay area's crab season. this is all in an effort to protect humpback whales migrating south along the coast. this is the fourth straight year of delays for bay area dungeness crab season. fish and wildlife agents will reassess that situation again on december 22nd. >> 5:07 on your thursday morning. taking a live look outside. this is in fremont. folks up and out the door, maybe you can get a jump before the rain starts to settle in again on the bay area. let's check the forecast with kari hall. >> we have several hours to prepare for the rain. let's talk about where it begins first. in the north bay, that will be this afternoon. now is the time or early in the day to make sure that you're checking out the holiday decor, you're covering your furniture, as well as clearing the storm

drains in preparation for this incoming rain. you also want to make sure that you have good tire pressure, the windshield wipers are good, and hopefully you have already done these things seeing this is several storms we have had from the past couple weeks. and you do want to allow some extra travel time for your evening commute and make sure that you're dressed in layers because it will be a chilly day. the rain moves into the north bay around 3:00 to 4:00 this afternoon and the rest of us will see it later on tonight. mike, you have a look at where we can stop at the gas station and check those windshield wipers and tire pressure. >> those conditions are going to change. right now, the price is also changing. sunnyvale, the cheapest reported there in that city, national at old san francisco road. $4.09. san rumome has a safeway that is the best for that city at $3.99, and in the north bay, the best in santa rosa is $4.19 a gallon at costco on santa rosa.

we're checking on the specifics for today. looking at the roadways, we still have this issue at the dublin interchange. deadly crash leads to an investigation and closure. west 580, they're seeing that connector to 680 still closed. you can move back to eastbound 580 or get on dublin boulevard until the connector is reopened. we see flashing lights, but that van is no longer there. chp hasn't given us an update, but i believe that was the county coroner that arrived and left the scene. if that is the case and it looks like they're loading the vehicle on the flat bed, we may have lanes reopening, but that's my look at the report, not what chp is reporting. we'll give you their official word when they give it to me. >> one of the hardest things to do during the holidays, finding a special someone that perfect gift. coming up on today in the bay, google is going to break down how to add a personal touch when

it comes to gift giving with one of the season's hottest trends. >> apple meanwhile working harder to keep your secrets secret, but not everybody is okay with that. >> plus, you could be loving it and living it, free and easy. mcdonald's for life, for you, some of your closest friends. one way you could become the next owner of a coveted mcgold card. from nbc news, this is a

special report. good morning, everybody. we're following breaking news at this hour out of russia. nearly den months after her arrest and incarceration there, wnba star britney briner is headed home. >> breaking and welcome news. russia has agreed to a prisoner swap with the u.s. we're going to go straight to andrea mitchell. she has these breaking details. what can you tell us? >> good morning. well, according to a senior administration official, brittney griner is free after 294 days in russian captivity. the last month spent in one of russia's notoriously harsh penal colonies. she was traded for russian arms dealer viktor boot and would serve 11 years of a 25 year sentence in the u.s. president biden signed off on the trade even though it left another american, paul whelan, behind bars in russia. over the weekend, secretary of state antony blinken saying the u.s. has been actively engaged

in discussions with russia about a possible prisoner swat to free brittney griner and paul whelan. >> we have to see if the engagements we have had, the discussions we have had, produce an actual result. >> griner, the wnba superstar, has spent nearly ten months in russian custody. arrested at a moscow airport in february, she admitted to bringing less than a gram of medicinal cannabis into the country. her plight sparked an outpouring from her teammates, family, and friends. >> i'm frustrated my wife is not going to get justice. i know you all are frustrated too, that's why you're here. >> sentenced to nine years in prison, griner appealed, pleading for leniency from behind bars. >> this has been very traumatic experience waiting for this day. >> but she was denied. president biden last month --

>> i'm telling you, i am determined to get her home and get her home safely. along with others, i might add. >> the other american held by russia will not be coming home. paul whelan, a former marine, a businessman detained four years ago, is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being accused of spying which the u.s. strongly denies. whelan's family later raised concerns about his safety, which i asked the secretary of state about last week. >> we're working to bring him home. to bring brittney griner home, but this is, again, what we see russia doing in terms of abusing the very basic understandings that countries have had when it comes to having access to our citizens who are being detained. >> those familiar with these very hard negotiations say that the russians absolutely refuse to release paul whelan without getting a russian spy in return. but the u.s. insists it does not have any russian spies in u.s.

custody. so the administration says it has no one to trade to meet that russian demand. and again, the u.s. maintains that paul whelan is wrongfully detained. he's a businessman, not a spy. and just now, we also got a statement from the group that had been campaigning for all of these hostages to be released from all over the world, actually, saying paul whelan has been let down and left behind by at least three times by two american presidents. he deserves better from his government and our campaign implores president biden to urgently secure paul's immediate return using all tools available. we understand the president will be speaking shortly this morning. >> thank you very much. brittney griner has been freed. paul whelan left behind. let's go to peter alexander at the white house. what's the word there? >> we do expect to hear from president biden at 8:30, so 15 minutes from now, and we have just learned that brittney griner's wife is right now in

the oval office here at the white house. she's behind closed doors with the president. the two were able to speak by phone earlier this morning with brittney griner after she was returned to u.s. custody. and then as we understand it, she was able to have a private conversation with her wife from the president's study. but this concludes for the griner family what has been a very distressing situation over the course of the last ten months. the president has said this was a top priority. he had exchanged a letter with griner in the past who wrote him over the summer saying she was terrified she would be there forever in russian custody. the good news this morning, that the white house will certainly be celebrating today, is the release of brittney griner. again, to repeat, sharelle griner is in the oval office. >> thank you so much. we're going to continue to keep a close eye on the story, bring

you updates and we'll have coverage on nbc nightly news. >> many of our stations will return to the "today" show. in new york, this is savannah guthrie and hoda kotb. >> we're returning to local news on today in the bay. we expect the president to possibly speak at 5:30 this morning. we'll continue to follow that. >> all right, now time to get a look. scott mcgrew has a look at the staut market this morning. >> good morning to you. stocks continue to sink, as wall street worries more and more about recession. to be clear, we haven't seen the data supporting a recession. growth is up, jobs are up, wages are up, but investors worry about the fed tamping things down too hard too fast. we'll know more next week. let's talk soup. campbell's soup up 6% yesterday, to a 52-week high. soup stock on a boil. wall street journal the first to report apple is going to use more encryption in the cloud. right now, your texts are encrypted end to end, if your i

message with another apple user, nobody can read it, but the backup in your icloud, that's not encrypted. this new plan would mean not only would apple not be able to look at your pictures or read your backup texts, law enforcement wouldn't either. no matter what warrant they present, apple would be able to say honestly, there's nothing we can do, we don't have the password. apple and law enforcement have been battling back and forth on this since at least 2015. the san bernadino mass shooting, a husband and wife attacked a city facility killing 14. the department of justice was unable to read the encrypted texts and tried to force apple to rewrite the phone's software to let them in. >> other news, the state of indiana suing tiktok saying that app spilled too many secrets to the chinese and exposes young users to sexuality and other topics. tiktok is rated age 12 and up.

>> journalists in the newsroom at "the new york times" on strike in new york for one day. protesting they haven't had a contract since march of 2021. about 1100 workers will not beworking today. and twitter will charge $11 a month to buy a blue check on the app. you recall twitter tried selling blue checks last month. it was a disaster. twitter will charge $7 if you buy it on the app. earlier this month, musk said he was willing to go to war with the world's most valuable company for its policy of keeping 30%. musk reversed himself after a brief meeting at apple headquarters with tim cook. so they did what netflix did, they charged a different price or don't allow you to do it on the app. you have to do it on the web. esisy solution, don't need to go to war with apple. >> there you go. interesting. interesting how they're passing it on as well. like credit cards.

you get a fee. >> thanks, scott. time to get a look at the forecast with meteorologist kari hall. >> we're starting out with a look at storm ranger that is powered up and ready to track the next storm coming in. you can see the red scan there as we parked our mobile doppler radar in san bruno mountain. it's moving into the bay area later on today. for a spot like walnut creek, it starts out cold and some peeks of sunshine, but mostly cloudy as we go into the late morning/afternoon hours. the rain should get going at about 4:00 today. as our temperatures only reach into the mid-50s. as we see when the rain starts to move into the north bay, it's earlier, around 1:00 to 3:00, as it moves through santa rosa approaching napa. also moving into san francisco at 3:00 this afternoon. sweeping through the rest of the bay area very quickly during the overnight hours and then a bit of a break before the next storm comes in, which does arrive very early on saturday morning and

then the rain gets more widespread and heavy throughout the day on saturday. even off and on going into saturday evening and continuing through sunday as well. while we get rain the sierra gets snow. if you're going there this weekend, a heads-up that it's going to be really difficult to travel. friday is probably the best day to get there. you may want to wait until monday before you come back to the bay area because we're looking at 32 to 57 inches of snow. and we're going to see the first round of rain today bring us about a tenth to a quarter-inch of rain. the heavier rain comes this weekend starting early on saturday. we could see anywhere from an 1.75" to 2 1/2" farther to the north and about 2.5" expected for the santa crus mountains. we're looking for more active weather in the forecast, a bit of a break early next week, but by next thursday, there could be another storm system coming in. we're going to continue with rain every few days in the

forecast. it does move in today. mostly dry tomorrow, and then just round after round of rain on saturday and sunday it will taper off on monday. you're still watching that deadly crash in the tri-valley? >> the investigation looks like it has concluded so this is the last update on this alert because they have reopened northbound 680 coming off of westbound 580. that's the dublin interchange. the commute direction starting to build for west 580. all lanes open on this transition as we look at the map, there was a little slowing on the approach and as the flashing light cleared, that should clear up as well. cleared of the deadly crash just in the last couple minutes. we saw that happening live on the cal trans camera. here, 84 will see more traffic as some folks choose to avoid the dublin interchange. there's a buildout of the altamont. that's the only issue this that's the only issue this morn

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again, it goes back to the special product offerings, things you can't find other places, personalization is really a huge one. >> stockings, recipe books, and monograms robes as well as towels are among the top items people are searching to customize. the "today" show's race to deliver series is breaking down how you can add that personal touch to your next gift. that's coming up at 7:00 this morning right after us on today in the bay. >> and turning for you this morning, free food for life, which we're guessing would probably be trending any morning. >> in this case, it's a lifetime supply of mcdonald's. and here's how you get it. by owning what some would say is a coveted mcgold card. these apparently really do exist for a select few. they allow for two free meals a week over 50 years. if you last that long eating that. mcdonald's is now giving one card away as part of its holiday

promotion plus three more cards the winner can pass on to friends. to enter, you have to buy something from their app, but we did the math and it adds up to more than 5,000 meals per card, which maybe puts the term happy meal into perspective for you. >> i like those fries. >> 5:26 right now. coming up next, top stories we're following including breaking news we're following, the release of wnba basketball star brittney griner announces just moments ago. we're expecting a response from the white house. >> also ahead, a winter weather advisory for the sierra. the precautions you should take to avide whiteout conditions. . >> and the reason you want to watch your speed and your distractions on the streets of san jose. another traffic crash, another fatality. we'll tell you the details and how that fits into a

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get starteted with fasast sps and adadvanced sececurity for $69.9999 a month for 1212 months. plusus ask how t to get up to a $ $750 prepaiaid card withth qualifyining interne. pedestrian struck and killed in san jose, extending what is a notorious record for the city. what neighbors say needs to be done for an area they call a hot spot for crashes. former twitter workers taking their case to court. we're liven san francisco with the fight pitting elon musk against laid off employees who claim they were wrongfully terminated. >> and brittney griner is free. she's been released from

confinement in russia after a prisoner swap. this is today in the bay live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. a very busy thursday morning. it's 5:30. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. that news coming out moments ago. wnba has confirmed griner was released as part of a prisoner exchange with russia. and president biden is scheduled to issue comments any time now, which we'll take live for you. >> we expect to hear from the president shortly. this is the podium where he'll be speaking. it looks like there's a little movement in the background. we'll go to weather right now with kari. just in anticipation of waiting for the president. kari. >> yeah, we're starting out with cold temperatures once again. in some spots, visibility has been the problem as we're now seeing temperatures in the mid-30s in sonoma and 34 in

dublin, 35 in palo alto. the visibility quite low in some of those spots like novato down to a quarter mile, morgan hill, zero. allow extra time to get to work this morning as we have seen fog moving around as well. we have a dense fog advisory in effect for solano county. then looking at san jose, it is clear here, but temperatures in the low 40s, and it will be a cold start. kind of a chilly day before that rain comes in. expect it to make it to the north bay by 3:00. you're seeing traffic building in the tri-valley. >> we're here at 580 and 84. there may be more traffic for 84 because of the earlier crash at the dublin interchange. it was a deadly incident that happened before 4:00 in the morning and cleared about 15 minutes ago. we watched it happening live on the cal trans cameras. the build subtle for the east bay and the tri-valley seeing a buildup. we'll watch that over the next half hour. things should sort out back to

their normal flow. south bay, peninsula all clear as you would expect. the east bay, we have fog in the north bay and slowing for 37. back over to you. >> thanks, mike. >> 5:31 right now. and developing this morning, police in san jose investigating another deadly accident involving a pedestrian. it happened near little orchard street near the plant shopping center. kris sanchez live outside san jose police headquarters, and pedestrian safety already front and center there for san jose leaders these days. >> yeah, it has been a deadly year for pedestrians. record breaking in fact in the city of san jose, also deadly for people riding in cars and crashing on city streets, bicyclists, and motorcyclists as well. this person who died last night was in an area that is pretty heavily trafficked by pedestrians. neighbors gathered in that person's memory. there's a mobile home park in the area, a shopping center, a cemetery, and a lot of people coming and going from the

shelter down the street. the driver did remain at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. people in the area say they need action now. >> several people have been killed. i have been to the city, i talked to the city several times. many times about putting a cross walk in here. it's very dark. there's homeless people. the last time somebody was killed i actually put giant cardboard signs that said how many more people will die? >> san jose hit a record number of traffic deaths on city streets and last night's victim was 31st pedestrian but eight bicyclists and eight motorcyclists have also died on city streets along with 14 drivers and passengers. in 2021, 60% of crashes happened in the dark. in a third of crashes, people were hit while walking on the roadway outside a cross walk, and in nearly a quarter, speed was a factor. according to the task force

working to reduce fatalities. according to the city's transportation department, traffic crashes related to speed increased dramatically during the pandemic when people felt like they could drive safely faster because there were fewer people on the roadway and that behavior didn't change as more people return to work and school and cars flooded the roadways. so the tip today, slow down and make sure if you're crossing a street, you cross in a cross walk or in a well lit area. in san jose, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> everyone needs to be aware. it's really a problem. thank you, kris. >> 5:34 right now. want to take a live look at that commute across the bay area this morning. california drivers are considered the second worst in the nation, and this is according to a new ranking which analyzes millions of car insurance quotes. the state with the absolute worst, that's utah. and rounding out the top three would be iowa.

california was the worst of all 50 states when it comes to the number of duis and it had the third most accidents. and the seventh most speeding tickets. >> police are investigating a stabbing at skyline high school that left a 14-year-old student in the hospital. nbc bay area's sky ranger flew over the scene yesterday. city leaders confirm another student stabbed him five times. that teenager is now in custody. police are still working to determine the connection between the pair. oakland schools so far are not commenting. >> happening today, recently terminated twitter employees take the first step in their legal battle against the social media giant. >> san francisco judge will hear grievances from employees who say their rights were violated when they were laid off without proper notice. ginger is live for us in san francisco this morning, and this is just one of the headlines surrounding twitter this morning. >> that's right. good morning, marcus and laura. three former twitter employees have filed a federal class

action suit against twitter for the way they say they were terminated from the social media company. the suit says that the employees were told they would be advised of their employment status via email but they say they were locked out of their emails even before that happened. they are expected to speak outside the federal courthouse before the hearing at 1:30 this afternoon. just blocks down from the federal courthouse at twitter headquarters, take a look at these photos that are coming to light about the new, well, i guess we can say renovated headquarters. take a look. the new sleeping rooms at twitter hq have kind of surprised some people who are working inside the building recently. there's bright orange carpet that matches the accent wall dominated by these massive monitors. now, we're told each room has its own name and reservation status. this one called dollar bird. another one is called golden eye. now, the cleaning crew that was assigned to the floor where these rooms reportedly popped up

recently tell nbc bay area that they were surprised to see them. they were also surprised last friday when twitter abruptly terminated a contract with their employer. >> everybody has kids, needs to feed, and also i have my mortgage i need to pay. so i feel sad. >> now, that man and others like him have been picketing outside twitter hq since monday. reports of the new accommodations at twitter headquarters have caught the attention of san francisco's department of building inspection. a statement from the department says in part, we're reaching out to building representatives so we can conduct a site inspection as part of our investigation. if we find that suite 900 no longer meets the building code, we'll issue a notice of violation. on the flip side of that, elon musk has already responded to news of an on-site inspection.

city of san francisco inspects beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl, where are your priorities? he also mentioned san francisco mayor london breed in the tweet. as of now, the department has not clarified when exactly those inspections will take place. we'll wait to hear further word as the day unfolds. twitter making headlines on numerous fronts today. marcus and laura. >> seems like every day they are. thanks so much, ginger. >> well, a warning on the peninsula for people with young children and pets. this is to be mindful of coyotes now on the move. people along the popular bay trail are reporting numerous recent sightings in that area around redwood shores. we spoke with several people who live nearby who recently had some of those encounters. >> we started to move away, he came back towards us. i tried to scare him away, wave my hands, yell at him. he would go away for a few minutes. as i would start to move on, he would follow us. >> we were driving in to our

complex, the light shone on the coyote, and it just -- >> breaking news out of russia. wnba star brittney griner heading home. president biden at the white house. let's listen. >> standing together with cherelle in the oval office, i spoke with brittney griner. she's safe. she's on a plane. she's on her way home. after months of being unjustly detained in russia, held under intolerable circumstances, she will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along. this is a day we have worked toward a long time. we never stopped pushing for her relpain-staking and intense negotiations and i want to work all the hard working public servants across the administration who worked tirelessly. i also want to thank the uae who helped us facilitate her return.

these past few months have been hell for brittney and cherelle and her entire family and all her teammates back home. people all across the country have learned about brittney's story, advocated for her release throughout this terrible ordeal, and that support meant a lot to her family. i'm glad to be able to say she's in good spirits, she's relieved to finally be heading home, and the fact remains she's lost months of her life, experiencing needless trauma. she deserves space, privacy, and time with loved ones to recover and heal from her time being wrongfully detained. she is an incomparable athlete, two-time olympic gold medalist for team usa. she endured mistreatment and a show trial in russia with characteristic grit and incredible dignity. she represents the best about

america across the board, everything about her. she wrote to me back in july. she didn't ask for special treatment. even though we had been working on her release from day one. she requested a simple, quote, please don't forget about me and the other american detainees. please do all you can to bring us home. we never forgot about brittney. we have not forgotten about paul whelan who has been unjustly detained in russia for years. this was not a choice of which american to bring home. we brought home trevor reed when we had a chance earlier this year. sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, russia is treating paul's case differently from brittney's and we're not giving up. we will never give up. we remain in close touch with paul's family, the whelan family, and my thoughts and prayers are with them today. they have to have such mixed emotions today and we'll keep negotiating in good faith for paul's release, i guarantee that. i say that to the family.

i guarantee you. i urge russia to do the same to insure that paul's health and humane treatment are maintained until we can bring him home. i don't want any american to sit wrongfully detained one extra day if we can bring that person home. our administration has now brought home dozens of americans who were wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad. many of whom had been held since before i took office. and today, we also remember the other americans that are being held hostage and wrongfully detained in russia or anywhere else in the world. reuniting these americans with their loved ones remains a priority for my administration, every person in my administration involved in this. we're going to continue to work to bring home any american who continues to endure such an injustice. we also want to prevent any more american families from suffering this pain and separation and i strongly urge all americans to take precautions including

reviewing the state department's travel advisories before they travel overseas. which now includes warnings about the risk of being wrongfully detained by a foreign government. make no mistake about it, this work is not easy. negotiations are always difficult. there are never any guarantees. but my job as president of the united states to make the hard call to protect american citizens everywhere in the world, anywhere in the world. and i'm proud that today we had made one more family whole again. so welcome home, brittney, and now i would like to invite cherelle to say a few words. of course, she's not excited at all about this. cherelle, it's all yours, kiddo. congratulations. >> thank you. >> over the last nine months, y'all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life, so today i'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion

that i have right now is sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. he just mentioned this work is not easy, and it has not been. there's been so many hands involved, so i would like to take a moment to specifically mention a few. vice president harris, secretary blinken, jake sullivan, the national security council, roger cartson, fletcher, shown from the hostin invoice office, a special thank you to governor richardson and mickey, the mercury players, the wnbpa for your advocacy, and also you guys may not know this, but my family has been tremendously supported by the washington agency, agent lindsay colis has been tremendous for me throughout this process. today, my family is whole, but

there are so many families who are not whole, so bg is not here to say this, but i will gladly speak on her behalf and say bg and i will remain committed to the work of getting every american home, including paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate bg being home. we do understand that there are still people out here who are enduring what i endured the last nine months of missing tremendously their loved ones. thank you everybody for your support. and today is a happy day for me and my family, so i'm going to smile right now. thank you. >> thank you all very much. >> from the white house, president biden, vice president harris, and cherelle griner, the wife of brittney griner, bg, who had just been freed from a russian prison in a dramatic prisoner swap. but paul whelan, who often had

been mentioned in the same breath as brittney griner was not freed, and cherelle griner saying she knows it's a moment of disappointment for his family. >> let's go to chief white house correspondent peter alexander with reaction there. >> good morning to you. we want to pull back the curtain a little bit on what we know happened already earlier this morning, as you heard from the president. earlier this morning, president biden joined in the oval office by cherelle griner as well as the secretary of state, tony blinken, and the vice president, kamala harris, who you see there. were able to speak with brittney griner by phone. and then later, cherelle griner, brittney griner's wife, was able to have a private conversation by phone with her wife from the president's study. so the question now is, where does she go? senior administration officials are telling nbc news that brittney griner is being flown to a military medical facility in san antonio for care and treatment to make sure that she is physically well and to check

on her. you can imagine the mental and physical ordeal that griner would have over the course of nearly ten months behind bars. she was there first detained february 17th of this year. we are told that cherelle griner will be flying to san antonio where she will have the first opportunity to greet her wife. for the white house, this is a major diplomatic achievement, but as you note, it does come with some significant frustration. the inability to be able to get paul whelan home as well. whelan, a u.s. businessman, a former u.s. marine, remains detained in russia. the u.s. says that his detention is unacceptable and that it is wrongful. now, for the first time, we are hearing from the family of paul whelan. his brother david releasing a statement just moments ago celebrating the release of brittney griner, but saying despite the possibility that there might be an exchange without paul, our family is still devastated. i can't even fathom how paul

will feel when he learns. the exchange of brittney griner, we're told, came according to u.s. officials, for a man by the name of viktor boot, a convicted russian arms dealer who had already served 14 years. he had seven years left on his sentence. and it's a significant swap. this was a stinging swap for the u.s. to have to make. we were told by senior officials here that the u.s. did everything in its power to try to bring whalen home as well, but the russians modit clear it was brittney griner or no one. the u.s. continues to deny whelan was a spy, but his is an espionage case, savannah and hoda, and the russians are not willing to turn whelan over. >> and viktor boot, as you mentioned, obviously a convicted arms dealer referred to by some in the u.s. as a merchant of death. >> we're going to turn to nbc's

chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. andrea, good morning. >> good morning. it is, as we say, bittersweet, because paul whelan is not out, but you saw the joy on cherelle griner's face and her words with brittney griner being out. it's notable in this statement by david whalen that he's so glad she's on her way home. as the family member of an american hostage, he fully understands the joy of this and that the biden administration made the right decision in bringing her home. validating the very tough decision that they had to make. and what a senior official just said to me is, we had no choice. the russians at the end of these negotiations where they were trying to figure out a second person because the russians wanted what they called parity, two for two, but they wanted a spy, and the u.s. said we don't have a spy in our custody. and so what they said was, according to the senior official, the choice was one, meaning griner, or none.

and they were prepared to cancel griner's release if the u.s. had insists on trying to get paul whelan out. with the prior notifications this time, unlike last spring where there was another false start, with the prior notification to the whelan family this was going to happen. they were again going to be disappointed. david whelan said that made a big difference. he was able to prepare his parents who are 85 and 83 years old, that whelan would not be coming home for christmas, but happily, brittney griner was. >> it's an incredibly thoughtful statement and he expresses his joy and relief. we don't want to miss the moment here. she has been freed after nearly ten months. can you talk about the type of condition she may have been kept in? i know at the very end there, she was sent to a notorious penal colony in russia. >> exactly. at the beginning of november after her appeal was lost, she

was taken from the detention jail where she had been at least more accessible to occasional visits from the u.s.m bessie officials and taken to this penal colony and the conditions we understand were terrible. that the gruel they were fed, not nutritious, no hot water, one bathroom for as many as 80 women prisoners. very little exercise. and this woman is 6'9". had already been kept in a cell that was way too small for her. she's missed an entire season, ten months of physical fitness and of conditioning, and of her career at the peak of an athlete's life and career. so she has suffered immeasurable loss. we're hoping when she gets to that medical facility in san antonio that the wonderful doctors who have taken care of all of our service members for so many years of conflict, that they will know exactly what to do about ptsd, about whatever

else she may be suffering from and getting her back in shape and that that's the best option, nearer to phoenix than the u.s. than being in washington at walter reed. san antonio is supposed to be a great facility. >> worth kind of underscoring why she was arrested in the first place. they originally said that she was charged with smuggling drugs. and she was contending that she just had some cannabis oil that she had medical permission to use for some of her ailments. so that was the genesis of why. >> and the context, at the very moment that russia was launching its war in ukraine. so many people, andrea, feel she was swept up in geopolitics. >> absolutely. february 17th when they were about to launch the war on february 24th. the fact is it was less than a gram. there was no testimony, and i watched all of the trial, no testimony in any of these events that it was less than a gram of cannabis oil. medically prescribed by the

physicians, the sports doctors in phoenix. so there's no question that she was not doing anything that would warrant this. in any case, even if she weren't being held hostage geopolitically, there's no excuse at all. >> it's also, andrea, worth noting this is exactly what she said. i never meant to hurt anybody, i never meant to put in jeopardy the russian population. i never meant to break laws here. i made an honest mistake. that's what she contended. we have peter alexander at the white house. >> i want to talk about the whelan family because the statement which i said is very lengthy and very nuanced, very generous to brittney griner but also tough on the administration, past present, saying the family wished it had been more assertive to get paul's release. does that work continue or is this a dead end? russia saying we want you to give us a spy, and the u.s.

saying we don't have spies? >> the u.s. work continues as the president indicated. they are facing a brick wall in terms of the russian federation. their unwillingness to turn over paul whelan who was picked up in 2018. he's a u.s. businessman but notably a former u.s. marine. it's on that basis russia has been making its case, the u.s. says wrongfully, that he was there serving as a u.s. spy. the u.s. has repeatedly denied that. we're now hearing from some of the officials here as this news is breaking. they are saying this is a big day. it is a great day, they say, but it would sure be a lot better in the words of one of these officials if paul was coming home as well. so that's what makes this particularly bittersweet right now. and we should note, this is -- this is the president who ultimately signed off on this, but viktor boot is a significant prisoner that the u.s. had in custody, as we have said, a

convicted arms dealer. the merchant of death, as you noted earlier. there were conversations in the back and forth that took place over the course of the last several months where the russians appeared to express interest into one of their citizens who was an assassin who was being held in germany by the german government, but that was a nonstarter in the course of the back and forth. but as andrea indicated at the end of the day when the russians said they would give up brittney griner and the president of the united states made a decision to go with it. >> all right. peter, thank you very much. this has been an nbc news special report covering the release of brittney griner. we learned she has been traded for a notorious russian arms dealer who had been convicted and served about three-quarters of his sentence. that trade has secured her release. she's en route to san antonio where we understand she'll be receiving medical treatment. >> nice to see her wife at the podium saying at this moment

although there's a lot going on, she's going to take a moment to stop and smile. >> a lot of work behind the scenes and false starts that we had seen earlier. reports there would be a prisoner swap, it did not pan out. these images coming to us from the white house. we'll continue to keep a close eye on it. more coverage on nb nightly news and on nbc news now. for now, most will go back to "today." >> you're coming back to local news right here on today in the bay. we'll also continue to follow any developments with brittney griner free and on her way home right now, headed to a u.s. military base in san antonio, texas, for medical evaluation. texas, for medical evaluation. >> we'll have look what the cat dragged in.

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news to tell you about wwnba star britney grienser out of russian custody on her way to texas. that news coming down within the last hour. president biden just moments ago wrapping up a news conference. the story developing right now on several fronts. we're going to bring you the latest this morning. >> a live look outside. more rain headed to the bay area. nbc bay area storm ranger tracking its arrival. ahead. kari hall will give us an updated timeline. this is nbc bay area. >> and a good thursday morning to you. thanks for allowing us to be a part of your morning. i'm marking washington. >> i'm laura garcia. let's start with the forecast. we got a break in the rain but it's coming back. >> coming back for the evening commute. for the morning we have time to prepare for the rain coming in but it's cold and w