jonathan, anything more from the white house on this? >> we expect to get updates throughout the day from the white house as how brittney griner is doing as well as the ongoing negotiations for paul whelan. he's not part of this deal. we heard from president biden saying that deal wasn't on the table. this had to be a one for one. they are going to keep working for his release. we shouldn't overlook how much diplomacy, that this could happen during a war. russia's invasion of ukraine goiz goes on. but the back channels stayed open. this deal was brokered and brittney griner is on her way home. >> russia is not only in a war, they are in a war with ukraine, which the united states is supporting. it's awkward to say the least. this is an incredible negotiation. i can't imagine what it took to make it happen. >> a very difficult deal. we'll have more details with jose diaz-balart as he picks up the coverage.

good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with that breaking news. wnba star brittney griner on her way back to the united states after being released from russia in a swap. the biden administration negotiated her release in exchange for a russian arms dealer. griner was serving a nine-year prison sentence after canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. president biden made the announcement this morning alongside griner's wife at the white house. >> we understand there's people out here who are enduring what i endured the last nine months of missing tremendously their loved one. so thank you for your support. and this is a happy day for me and my family. i'm going to smile right now. >> she said her family is

committed to working towards the release of other americans held in russian custody. businessman paul whelan, who is russia accused of spying. the u.s. denies that. here's what president biden said about that situation. >> sadly, illegitimate reasons, russia is treating paul's case differently, and why we have thot yet secured his release, we are not giving up. we will never give up. >> joining us now is chief white house correspondent peter alexander. also on the phone is peter baker. peter, how did this deal come about? >> reporter: as you saw, we heard from the president earlier today. moments ago, he wrapped up a call te tailing the tik tok about how this played out and how the decision was ultimately made. it was president biden within the last several days who made

the decision on his own that the u.s. would make that trade. the prisoner swap trading brittney griner for the convicted russian arms dealer, who had served about 12 years of his sentence. he was set to be released i believe in 2028. so this was a significant decision that the president had to make. it came with some real frustration. it was a bittersweet one. there was a desire to get paul whelan home as well, but officials are telling us that basically the russians made very clear it was going to be one or none, which is to say they were only willing to trade brittney griner. whelan has been in russian custody since 2018. he was he's a u.s. businessman, but also a former marine. and the russians accused him of espionage. the u.s. denies that he was a spy. but it was because of that accusation and how it's different than the one that brittney griner was convicted

of. the u.s. says it was a wrongful conviction that she didn't have any due process there, but ultimately, russia made the decision they would not be willing to turn over paul whelan. we should note that we are now hearing from his lawyer, in the last few minutes, detailing what he believes is the fact that whelan would be released within the next one or two hos. it's not clear on what basis he makes that assessment. we want to walk through brittney griner's timetable right new. so we are told that she is safe. she was greeted by the u.s. hostage envoy on the ground at the uae earlier this morning, who was there. we are told that griner was in good spirits. she appeared to be smiling. that the hostage own envoy communicated he was there on behalf of president biden and he would be coming home with her. a senior official tells nbc news that griner's first stop will be at a military medical facility in san antonio, where she will

be cared for and treated to make sure that she is both physically and mentally well. that has happened for had other past detainees as they return to the united states. her wife will be traveling to san antonio, we are told, to greet her there. >> and peter, there's a role there played by uae and saudi arabia as well. >> that's right. they are taking credit for this as well. they were the transition point where this trade took place, where the two were handed over to their respective sides. the u.s. says this was the culmination of months of difficult negotiations. the president just about a month ago indicated he was hopeful that the russians would be more open to serious negotiations after the midterms were in the rear view mirror. it appears that's what has ultimately happened here. we should talk about paul whelan's team aswell there's going to be a lot of questions

about what if anything more the u.s. could have done. the president and senior administration officials, white house officials making clear they did everything in their power to try to get whelan home. today is a good day. it's a big day. but certainly a a bittersweet one because paul did not return home with brittney griner. we are now hearing from david whelan, paul whelan's brother, who posted a statement describing the public disappointment for his family but also it's a disaster for paul. the biden administration made the right decision to bring brittney griner home and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn't going to happen. he adds, at some level our family has steeled ourselves for this likelihood. those are the words of the brother of paul whelan. the president speaking earlier today describing this as a significant day. it's a major diplomatic achievement for him. as he was clear to say, it's not one that's fully complete until they are able to successfully be able to get paul whelan home.

>> peter baker, talk about the negotiating deal like this took. >> we have seen the start and stop for months. then the americans took it public when secretary of state antony blinken made the point that the united states had made an offer, put a serious offer on the table trading one of the most no tort rous arms dealers of our generation for the two americans. that was the offer on the table. the russians refused to go along with paul whelan. they consider that case to be different. they consider him to be a spy. even though people said that's not true, i i think that they made that distinction about whether to go for one or go for thun. ask that's the public part of it was meant to reassure the families that they were making a

serious effort. it's frustrating for those waiting for loves oned to come home. >> having a little bit of a problem with peter baker's phone line. we're going to try to reestablish that. i'm wondering, david, it seems as though in this case, russia was holding all the cards. they said, we want to only release one american and not more than one. >> this is, i hate to say this, a good deal for russia. i think it's outrageous that vladimir putin is doing this. he's acting like an organized crime don in terms of taking innocent people active. i want to point out how broad this problem is. i'm on the board of the james faux lee foundation established by the family of jim faux lee after he was kidnapped and murdered by isis.

there are 58 americans improperly jailed in 17 different countries around the world. over the last four or five years, it's shifted from trust organizations taking americans hostage to foreign governments taking them hostage. and there has to be a broader long-term initiative by the u.s. and its allies to counter what these countries are doing. i am biassed, i was held myself by the taliban, but americans still held abroad. austin ties, who has been missing for a decade in syria, paul overby, mising in afghanistan. so 58 americans. this is a huge foreign policy challenge for the united states. canada has started an initiative with 58 other countries, including the u.s. torks stop state hostage taking. china is holding some cnadian

citizens. there's an american held in china. i'll stop going on and on, but it's a huge problem. i'm so happy brittney griner is home. i feel for paul whelan. >> how do you deal with governments taking hostages? you were held hostage by the taliban. you escaped after seven months. how do you deal with governments that take people hostage. >> it's very difficult. you ostracize them diplomatically. you're not going to be able to stop this completely, but i don't think we sort of shrug our shoulders. it's unacceptable for countries to do this. president trump to his credit, he had americans freed from turkey, iran and north korea. the biden administration has freed tloes four americans from

veezuela recently. this is a worldwide problem. we have to call them out. we have to have a joint strategy with canada ask europe and other allies to make this unacceptable and to make a real price for countries that do this. and lastly, this is why it's important to support ukraine. it's just astonishing what russia ask vladimir putin are doing from war crimes in ukraine to holding brittney griner and paul whelan as they have done. >> you were talking about that whelan's russian attorney says that there is some hope for the future? >> we're hearing that from whelan's russian attorney. they kalted that negotiations continue, as he understands it, for the release of paul whelan and he would be hopeful he would be home in a month or two it's not clear the basis for him making those statements. the conversations we have been having with u.s. officials here

over the course of the day make it very clear that they did everything in their power to try to secure the release of paul whelan. the president made it clear over the course of his public statements how important a priority that was to hum, but the russians put up a brick wall and said you were going to get brittney griner or nothing. so the u.s., the president himself made that decision. we can detall a little more of the tik tok that we're learning. it was earlier this morning that brittney griner arrived in the uae before boarding a plane to come back to the united states. we're told just a couple days ago, as it was described to me by this senior administration official, griner was taken from that penal colony to moscow, where she was flown to the uae. as we have caughted before, we're told the first stop will be in a military medical facility in san antonio. >> peter alexander, thank you so much for being with us this

morning. joining us now is texas congresswoman sheila jackson low, who advocated for brittney griner's release. always a pleasure to see you. i just want your reaction right now to this news that we're all waking up to. >> well, enormous appreciation to a fighting wife, who never gave up, no matter when we spoke to her, she was in the fight and constantly reminded the nation and the world how precious brittney griner is and will continue to be. and thanks, of course, to the enormous work of president biden, the state department and this outstanding unknown hostage negotiation team. i received a call early this morning from the state department. . i felt honored to be able to know that brittney griner was in safe hands in the hands of the chief hostage negotiator and making her way home.

this has been a journey. so there's jubilation with her mother and father and her family in houston. i'm talking about the whole great by city of houston. there's jubilation in phoenix. but there's jubilation in the nation and certainly among members of congress, we all work together. i want to acknowledge my colleagues. we were in the fight. and here we are today, but we are not going to forget paul whelan or the other hostages being held around the world. >> have you spoken with any of the griner family yet today? >> not yet, but i'm hoping to give them some privacy and then look forward toen gauging with them. the main message i wanted to receive is the fact that she was coming home and as you have indicated and heard, we hope for

privacy, but she will land in the great state of texas. >> i'm so glad you mentioned paul whelan and all of the others that are being held hostage around the world. and certainly in russia. what's your reaction to the fact that whelan was not able to be included in this swap and how do you go forward? >> first of all, i want to thank you for having me on. i hope i will be allowed to come on over and over again. i have taken the cause of hostages around the world held wrongly by ir rev rant dictators. there are hostages in iran viciously held. i work with the families of those and we're so gritful they were able to be brought home by the biden administration.

trevor reed's family, you want to thank him for coming to houston to rally for the release of brittney griner. and and i have gottenen to know his sister and his family is steadfast. putin plays games. we were willing to swap before the election. and and putin would not do anything to suggest that he was helping any of the office holders, as if they was relevant to think of the administration. so we have to worry about the attitudes of the heads of state. we have brittney griner coming home. she's safe. but we do know that we were prepared to swap really months ago. and i'm grateful to president biden for him never giving up. we have to have a policy about postages that we'll never allow

american citizens to be left alone. we will make every effort to secure americans that are held wrongly. now for me, i want to let everyone know who has been a soldier and a veteran that obviously p.o.w.s are people that the united states should always continue to have this their foresight. in times of war and also in times after as people are mising in action. we have families that are still mourning on that. on our civilians taken wrongfully, it is a crisis. they are randomly picked off streets because brittney griner was wrongfully even detained. everyone should know -- hello? >> yes, congresswoman. can you hear me? >> i can hear you well. i can hear you now.

>> i just want to finish that brittney griner was there to play basketball. she had done it for seven years. so we need to not engage with that. >> congresswoman, it's always a privilege to hear and have your voice and that we always look forward to continuing our conversation. congresswoman, thank you. >> celebrating, thank you very much for having me. >> joining us now is chief washington correspondent and foreign affairs correspondent anchor andrea mut chel. it's good seeing you. give us the very latest about this extraordinary news today. >> brittney griner is now on her way to san antonio, texas, where as you know, she's going to be evaluated by military personnel. these are the doctors who have done so much for our service members through all of these combat years. and she has for teb months been

under extreme duress. it's very clear that they need with any host act rerelease to evaluate her physical and mental well being, make sure that she's really in the best shape to go home to phoenix. she will be reunited in san antonio with her wife. so that will be very happy had a joyous reunion. it's a bittersweet moment. with all the joy and celebration finally getting released after ten months in captivity and the last month in harsh conditions in the prison camp after her appeal was denied. now the future for paul whelan is very much up in the air. we will be talking about this,

and issued a very generous statement today for the family saying that they are really glad that brittney griner is out and that the president did the right thing to swap victor bout. but they are devastated that paul whelan will stay in prison. this is terrible news for him. the fact is that u.s. officials are telling me that they tried everything to try to get rusia to are lease him. russia is insisting that he is guilty of espionage, something that's not true according to the government. he's a businessman, a former marine, who was taken and accused of spying. so now the russians say they want a spy to trade for him. the u.s. government is saying

they have no russian spies in captivity. and they have no one to trade. so the bottom line when the whole deal was almost blowing up, according to my sources, a u.s. official says they were told by the russians you get one or none. their unwillingness to release whelan, the decision was made by the president to have brittney griner come home. and paul whelan is saying that that was the right decision. to bring at least one person home. but now there's a different statement coming from paul whelan's russian lawyers, who say they don't think this is the end of the road they think the russians and the next couple months will release paul whelan for somebody from a u.s. prison. it doesn't have to be a convicted spy. that is where they very much differ with what the state department has always said all along and away we're told as well was the insistence of the

russian government. >> thank you so much. a programming note. andrea will speak live to the national security council's john kirby about the release today at noon eastern as well as paul whelan's brother. coming up, the latest on the prisoner exchange of brittney griner, including who is victor bout and what does russia gain from this exchange. lus we're keeping an eye on the house floor. any time now members will vote on a sweeping bill protecting same-sex marriage rights. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." ose diaz-balart reports. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. they'll give you the new iphone 14 pro. (scrooge) amazing phone! (vo) this holiday season verizon gives you the new iphone 14 pro. plus an apple gift, like apple watch se, ipad and beats fit pro. all on us. that's a value of up to $1900. (scrooge) wow! (vo) and there are unlimited plans for everyone starting at just $35 a line. it's our best deal of the year. get the network you deserve and the savings you want.

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25 past the hour. we're continuing to follow the latest on brittney griner's release from a russian prisoner swap. with us now on the ground in russia is sky news correspondent dianna magna. what are you hearing there?

>> well, we have had comments from the human rights that this was all down to the russian special services that this prisoner exchange happened. and we have also heard from the lawyer of paul whelan that he believes that within the coming months, paul whelan might be exchanged. now i hope that that is not which we're thinking certainly for paul's family, who have written an e-mail today talking about what a disaster this is for paul. that they don't begrudge brittney griner's release. they are really pleased she's going home, but this is so difficult for paul, kept in a russian jail approaching his fourth christmas without his family. we understand that a u.s. official did speak with paul today and explain this was either a case of no americans going home or brittney griner going home. so this is going to be a bitter day for him.

i think what russia gets out of this, though, they get viktor bout back. for russia, he was a really key prisoner. if you talked at new point over of the last few years about who russiaed back most, it was victor pout. they say he wasn't an arms dealer. he wasn't this notorious figure who we have had hollywood films made out of. so the fact that he's coming home to his wife and his daughter is a huge thing for russia. they are saying that it's a new year's present come early. but this is a difficult day for paul whelan. the fact of the matter is there's no skin off the russians nose. it they get viktor bout back and give brittney griner become to the united states, but if they can keep a card in their hands in the form of paul whelan, they have something still to play with. there are plentity of russian

citizens in russian jails. there's talk about others who might be in european custody, i don't really see that happening in the foreseeable future that you'd get a u.s. citizen exchanged for somebody in european custody, but that's something that's been rumored here. so i think the fact that paul whelan remains in jail is he's on much tougher charges, and also it gives them something to play with still. >> thank you so much. appreciate your time. we're also keeping a close eye on capitol hill at the this hour, where the house is just started to vote on a bill to codify federal protections for same sex and interracial marriages. it was passed pit the senate last week. with us now is ali vitali from capitol hill. good morning. how do we expect this vote to play out? >> reporter: we saw a version of

this vote play out already on the house floor in july. it's really been a long and winding process for this bill, which would offer protections for same sex and interracial couples in the event the supreme court revisited the decisions that gave those rights to those couples in the first place. all of this stemming from the dobbs decision over the summer that overturned the roe v. wade precedent that had 49 years on the books. it gave the right to same sex couples only has a few years in the books. so lawmakers in congress on both the house and the senate mobilizing to offer this sort of safety net should the supreme court take up those precedents. what we expect to see in the house is yet another bipartisan passage of this legislation. perhaps even more so than we did in july when 47 republican lawmakers voted with democrats to pass these codifications. what may have more republicans voting in favor this time is the fact that the senate bill

tightened some of the language around religious freedom exemptions ask protections, which could actually get more republicans on board. now we expect them to do this vote this morning. speaker pelosi will then have an enrollment ceremony and later today we'll see the house vote on the defense authorization bill. this is the yearly military spending bill that came together in the last few days. over $800 billion in military spending. democratic priorities in there like passing incentives for chip production, but also republican priorities in there too getting rid of that vccine mandate for covid-19 for military members. >> ali vitali, thank you so much. joining us now is congressman representative of illinois. he's one of the lawmakers who wrote a letter and is a member of the house intelligence committee. it's a pleasure to see you. first, how do you expect today's votes to go? >> i think they are going to overwhelmingly pass. i'm just literally standing

outside the house floor right now. as soon as i'm done talking, i'm going to go and vote a big yes on the marriage equality bill. i'm locking forward to that. >> i thank you for being with us. i know that you're about to go. so appreciate your time. i want to turn to the release of brittney griner. what's your reaction to that? >> i'm very pleased. she had no business being in a jail in russia. and i just want to point everyone to the state department travel advisory that says that americans should not go to russia for any reason because they could be held hostage. they could be kidnapped and detained for political purposes. we have to remember putin is a thug. and he will use every means to try to get his way. i'm glad that griner is being released today. >> i want to turn your attention to china. you have written a letter requesting information about whether china restricted access to news about recent protests

against the government. what have you seen that concerned you? fbz. >> this letter that adam schiff and i wrote to elon musk stems from the fact that what the choo these communist party has done is bury posts on twitter that people are looking for to learn more about the protests against the chinese government in a blizzard of irrelevant posts, pornographic posts and other posts so that people can't find the information they are locking for. so what we did was we are asking mr. musk, can you verify the source of these spam blockout posts to be the chinese communist party and what are we going to do to prevent this from happening going forward. >> it seems as though not just during the latest series of protests in china, but we saw july 11th in cuba, where the chinese government that controls communications and the wifi

system in cuba, was able to stifle communications between people to talk about these issues. it seems as though there are a lot of american companies that work with let's say the chinese regime when the chinese regime wants something done. >> that's right. not only that, just take twitter. we have seen mass resignations we have seen mass layoffs. we have seen people depart twitter who would otherwise help to police against these online suppression tactics. and then secondly, mr. musk has said that he doesn't want twitter to become a hell skap, but we're seeing chaos on twitter. we're seeing all kinds of voices that shouldn't be there. and then voices that should be there suppressed by regimes like the chinese government and the russians. >> congressman, i thank you so much for being with us.

you're going to run to vote. appreciate your time. >> thank you so much, jose. >> we'll continue to follow the breaking news of brittney griner on her way back home after an almost ten-month detention in russia. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you the gis that keep on giving. because while they have no idea what's going on here... -hi. -...a little something of their own will get them in the spirit. great prices. happy pets. chewy. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will help you create a comprehensive wealth plan for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect.

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it's got to be tide. 37 past the hour. more on our breaking news. brittney griner now on her way to the united states after being released from russia in a prisoner exchange for viktor bout, a convicted russian arms dealer who has been called the merchant of death. joining now is tom winter. also with us is julia yofi. so tom, who exactly is viktor bout? >> good morning, jose. he's referred to as the merchant of death. that's the name he's acquired over the years. when you look at his past, he's somebody the justice department alleged and we are able to bring him to trial and convict him of someone who trafficked arms going back to the 1990s. he's somebody who over the course of the years u.s. officials have said there's ties to the kgb.

he's somebody who is arrested in thailand, those are the images you're seeing there at a meeting where he met with two dea confidential sources talking about a significant arms transfer to cl colombia. at that time, a jury found him guilty and he was trying to move 20,000 ak-47s, surface to air missiles, which would have been used to shoot down american planes. we're talking about millions of rounds of ammunition he was going to sell as well as high explosive military-grade c-4. that's what he was convicted of at the time. he took notes at that meeting. these are his notes entered into evidence that were presented as part of that case. he went to that meeting with marketing materials inchuding this photograph of weapons. so just to give you a sense of what he had on him at that meeting when he was arrested in

thailand. officials say it's doubtful to the extend he has a phone is relevant. it's objects locate at this point. but it may be worth noting he has an extensive knowledge in russian weapons and at a time when vladimir putin is trying to get his hands on as many weapons as possible, the 55-year-old certainly has a good knowledge of this area. no indications he's going to go back and do that type of work. no indications he's been up to anything illegal while he's been in u.s. custody in prison. he's served 15 years of a 25-year sentence. he's on his way back to russia. important note about him as well. he's shb who the u.s. has previously said the whole family has ties to the kgb and to russian intelligence services. so you're looking at the video of him araving arriving here in the united states. that was back approximately 13 or 14 years ago. >> so julia, why has russia been

adamant about securing bout's release? >> for the very reasons you just heard. for his connections to the fsb and the fact that vladimir putin respects loyalty above all. you remember the last spy swap in 2010, when the two planes met on the tarmac and the ten russian illegals flew back home to moscow and vladimir putin greeted them back home and said we know what happens to heros and we know what happens to traitors. they end up dead in a ditch. so he's very committed to getting his people back home. and his people are people who work for the fsb and for the kgb. >> the question is how russia is going to be willing to release whelan any time soon? >> well, it seems that russia in these kinds of trades wants the

most asymmetrical kind of trade possible, which is why you didn't see a two for one trade, which is why you're seeing the trade of brittney griner, an athlete who was convicted of having vape cartridges in her suitcase being exchanged for somebody called the merchant of death, who was convicted of having surface to air missiles or transferring surface to air missiles to colombian rebels. that's an insane deal. and they want the these trades to be as asymmetrical as possible. . from what i heard earlier this summer and fall, there were things thrown in there like trying to get germany to throw in an fsb officer who was just convicted very recently of

killing somebody in basically a contract hit in a berlin park in the middle of the afternoon. and they wanted the them to release him. that was a nonstarter. and what administration officials are saying is that whatever the kremlin was asking for for both griner and whelan, it became clear a at a certain point that either they could get brittney griner to come home now or they could get nothing. because they were not going to get both of them to come home now so they could either have brittney griner come home or get nothing. so they chose, obviously, this less optimal outcome. >> julia and tom winter, thank you so much for being with us this morning. new developments in the investigation into how formerer president trump handled classified documents.

what trump's lawyers say they found in a storage unit near marla go. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." t reports. trying to control my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪

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rinvoq. make it your mission. learn how abbvie could help you save. 47 past the hour. new revelations into whether former president trump mishandled classified materials. two people familiar tell nbc news that a search requested by lawyers for trump turned up two more classified documents at a storage facility in florida used by the former president. those materials were turned over to the fbi. the littest discovery coming four months after fbi agents executed a search warrant at the mar-a-lago estate and say they found more than so 0 documents with classified markings. joining us now with more is senior correspondent garrett haake. good morning. what do we know about the latest discovery? >> not a ton.

as you pointed out, this was initiated by donald trump's attorneys, who wanted to make sure to be compliant with an order from the judge overseeing this effort here that everything that had been in the former president's possession had been turned over to the fbi. there were other serges done at other trump homes. this was a search of a storage facility operated but the federal government. this isn't storage wars or your general operation down the block. these two additional documents when found were turned over to the fbi. we don't know how it will inform the special counsel's case. it is the special counsel now, not main justice overseeing this part of this investigation. the one thing we can say is it does speak to the largely well reported sloppiness with which the former president left the white house. there was a delay in the transition as the former president fought the result.

and the process of getting out of the white house and getting his personal effects back to florida was a very complicated one. i think that's part of what we're looking at here, but now those documents along with the ohs that had been discovered are part of that special counsel investigation. >> garrett haake in washington, thank you so much. also new this morning, the fda authorized the updated covid vaccine for children at least six months old. the fda is encouraging parents to get kids vaccinated to prevent illness, especially before the holidays. this comes ahid a worsening health care crisis as flu hospitalizations surge. families locking for medicine are finding empty shelves. joining us now is sam brock inside a pharmacy in coral gables, florida. what are parents finding and facing as they get to the pharmacy looking for medicine for their kids? >> reporter: good morning. this is a gut-punch for parents.

it's true in san francisco, california, detroit, michigan, st. louis, missouri, you're seeing spot shortages across the country. it's not just antibiotics, antivirals, even over the counter children's medicine. amoxicillin is in short supply. this pharmacy cannot get any more which is important because amoxicillin is preferred for children. as far as over the counter stuff is concerned, you have tylenol, advil. you'll see there's empty shelf space here. this is where the kid products would be. there's a couple of advil. this is motrin. there's nothing there. we talked to natasha patel about what this dynamic is like right now. here's what she told us. >> you're talking tylenol,

motrin, ibuprofen -- >> reporter: all out? >> all out. whatever we got on the shelf is what we got. >> reporter: as parents are struggling with what to do about these shortages, a couple of pieces of advice, do not give kids adult-sized tablets. that is not going to work. they're not formulated properly. doctors also say you have this medicine cabinet, it doesn't need to be fully stocked. pick a couple of things, fever reducer, decongestants. parents are stockpiling supplies and others aren't getting them, jose? >> this is really critical, sam. and another question, on a side note, when i was growing up, my parents -- anything that was wrong with me, vick's vapor rub. how is that going? >> reporter: that's the thing. i'm seeing they're kind of low

right now. doctors tell you, you can do a humidifier helps. shower steam, it's the old-fashioned way of getting rid of that nasal congestion. but a lot of the products themselves are a little bit low right now. you're going to have to get creative. >> sam brock, thank you very much. at a pharmacy in coral gables, appreciate it. at any time the first plane to depart certain cubans to their home country could take off. they'll be deported. when it does, it will be the first of its kind in nearly two years. two u.s. officials confirmed to nbc news that the biden administration begins plans to deport cuban migrants who across into the u.s. through mexico. morgan radford has been talking to cubans who could be deported. good morning, what's going on there? >> jose, as you can imagine, the cuban community more widely is pretty panicked now. we spoke to migrants, immigration experts on the ground in south florida this week and as you know, this is an area where more than 60% of america's cuban population

lives. even though we don't know when, jose, that first flight is set to take off, we're hearing from people who have been detained or flagged for possible deportation. for example, we spoke to an immigration attorney in miami who said he's gotten a surge of phone calls seance the policy change became public. we spoke to a family who says they're 18-year-old son who is autistic was detained just after the deportation flights were made public. the parents were both processed quickly and granted legal entry to the u.s. but their son who had to appear before an immigration judge alone simply just didn't know how to make his own case. now, he might be deported to cuba with neither parent there to help him. finally, jose, we spoke to a woman whose's fiance has been flagged for deportation and she was released on parole. take a look. >> the way it was announced, the way it came about, i think it's been done in a -- with a poor

political calculation. i'm overwhelmed by the number of emails i received in the last to weeks. and i'm one working lawyer. >> this is very bad because if he is departed to cuba, he's returned to cuba, he don't have nowhere to stay. he don't have a home in cuba. all the relatives, the family, are here. he calls me almost every day. almost every day. i don't want to stay here. why am i here? i'm autistic. what happened? he stays in jail. still in jail. [ speaking non-english ] >> so to put this into context,

we're talking more than 248,000 cubans who are apprehended crossing the border through mexico over just the past year. in fact, that's up for over 43,000 the year before according to customs and border protection. nbc news reached out to the white house for comment which referred us to the department of homeland security and dhs has declined to provide additional details on the record. but the flights will begin soon. >> going back to a country for 62 years that has no human rights and repression has been on the increase since last year. morgan radford, thank you so much for being with us. really appreciate it. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on twitter and instagram at jdbalart. follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. yasmin vossoughian picks up with more news after a quick break. m. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need.

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