with him, but because they felt that social pressure that i think women still feel today to say yes, to be accommodating, and, you know, to take care of people. and that's essentially what he was asking them to do. >> and the new book "bright young women" goes on sale tomorrow, jessica knoll, thank you for being with us, that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports," breaking news out of iran, five detained americans now freed, on a flight, out of iran where they speak. where they're headed now and the detail this prisoner swap. the high-stakes meeting just getting under way in georgia. jeffrey clark trying to move his interference case to federal court. we're live at the courthouse. later, day four of the historic auto workers strike.

president biden personally dispatching a team to detroit this week to help with those negotiations. so is a deal in sight? ♪♪ good morning. thanks so much for being here, it's 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin overseas, a nightmare coming to an end right now for five americans held in a notorious iranian prison for years. nbc news has learned that a plane has now taken off from iran, in route to qatar, carrying all five prisoners accompanied by some of their relatives. the swap got under way after an iranian official announced this morning, $6 billion in frozen iranian assets had been released. let's get to nbc news ali ruzzi on the ground in tehran. and white house correspondent mike memoli, and the former

spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the united nations. ali, let's start with you. they're in iran. walk us through how this is going to go down. and where these prisoners on both sides, will be going next? >> reporter: hi, ana, as you know, a couple weeks ago, the police earns were transported from a notorious prison to a hotel in iran as part of that deal. this morning, they left that hotel, they left on a private jet accompanied by the ambassador. that flight has taken off and en route to qatar. these guys have now cleared iranian airspace which must be a huge relief for them. especially for one of them who is eight years in an iranian prison. siamak namazi, the 50-year-old who spent more time in the

iranian prison. and accompanying emad shargi and morad tahbaz who also holds british citizenship. two of their family members on the plane with them it which will be landing in qatar probably in the next hour. they'll probably go through quick medical checks in qatar. and from there, they'll be flying to washington with the two family members. in explain, the iranians are getting back five prisoners held in the u.s. now, only two of them are coming to iran, ana, the others have legal status in the united states and decided to stay there. and the other two are in qatar, we can presume that plane taking iranian americans to qatar will then bring the iranian policers back to iran. and the deal will be completed. as you mentioned the iranians received that $6 billion in a qatari bank account that they will have access to. that was the main thing for them, as long as they got that

money because the country's in such a financial chaos. so that's really what was needed to cement the deal. that transfer has been made. but as you know, there's also been a lot of contention about that money. the treasury department says there are strict rules about how that money can be spent, only on humanitarian purposes, but when lester holt was here in iran, speaking to the iranian president, the iranian president told a different story. he said the government will spend that money as they choose. and nobody has any right to tell them how to spend it. so, again, a gap between washington and tehran, but the most important thing right now is that those prisoners are on their way home which must be a huge relief for them, some of them having spent almost over eight years in that notorious evin prison here in tehran. the longest serving in evolution since held in iranian custody. >> such great news for those men

and their family. we've been showing those pictures not part of that graphic who did not want to be identified publicly. ali arouzi, keep us posted. and, mike, the biden administration has taken a bit of heat saying this deal will only encourage iran and other nations to take more than american hostages because they know they will get something in return for it. how is the biden administration responding to that, what was their calculation? >> this is something that the administration was prepared for, the kind of back and forth what will they say is years of pain painstaking and the u.s. administration has been telegraphing some of the themes of that speech. one of them has been the quiet efforts throughout the middle east to try to turn this rege friend one of persistent conflict to one that could be a source of solutions for the broader problems facing the world today.

so this development today is an outgrowth of that painstaking diplomacy that we've been describing. one of the win thes that ali just made, one this is money that is not u.s. taxpayer money that is accessed by the iranians. remember, there are internal policies, as we heard from president raisi last week, this is oversight through the money being transferred that's designated for specific purposes including medicine, agriculture, this is money that they say is going to continue to be pund complete oversight. we should expect to hear from the president as well as secretary of state antony blinken trying to get out of knowing the political back and forth in their term. >> i have to say there was a little bit of a waffling from iran in terms of their messaging

about this money and how restrictive it is. i want everybody to listen to this clip with nbc's lester holt when he asked the president of iran about the money and the deal just last week. watch. >> translator: this money belongs to the islamic republic of iran, and naturally, we will decide, the islamic republic of iran will decide to spend it wherever we need it. >> so, if i hear you clearly, that it will be used for more than humanitarian purposes in your view? >> translator: humanitarian means whatever the iranian people needs. so this money will be budgeted for those needs. >> i just want to know, we had to rely on an iranian translator for that interview, but how does the u.s. make sure that money is only going to humanitarian needs and holding iran accountable for

that? >> i'm so glad you dived into this, when ali was talking and mentioned this, i started smiling i thought it was laughable that the iranian government said this. as mike mentioned they have their own audience, they want to project power and that they got a big win getting this money. the fact is these are frozen humanitarian assets frozen in south korea being moved to a car qatar bank. and the u.s., i cannot go into sources or methods, has ways of knowing how that money is used, making sure it happened according to the law. time and time again, that happened when i was inside the government and the iran deal, the u.s. was aware of what was going on. how funds were being used and sanctions on iranian oil and waivers for countries that were important for iranian oil. and those funds were supposed to be staying in the country only used for humanitarian purposes.

we would know when they weren't. and would send folks to the country and say, hey, we're aware of this and you better shape up. the u.s. government is likely going to be involved as well and monitor them very heavily. i think that's very important here. they got indirect access to previously frozen funds. >> right. it's not going directly to iran to let them do as they please. but when you look at the deal, if it is a five five prisoner swap, plus iran gets access to this money, is it a fair deal for the u.s.? >> so, this is -- this gets to the point about ransom. i don't know -- i doubt that they're using the term "ransom" to me, it looks like a ransom. and i don't -- this is a good thing. this is a good news for the americans released. you want a u.s. government that fights and does everything they can to release prisoners from abroad. at the end of the day, you have prisoners, five of them, one of

them in prison for eight years. to me, i view it as this is the only shot of getting them release they have been negotiating for two years. these negotiations for to the iranian regime is not new to the u.s. government. they're very precarious and trying. they're used as taking u.s. civilians and using them as bargaining chips and they were going to do whatever they could before releasing them. we've seen it happen time and time again. we saw it when being detained, he didn't know he was leaving the country believing he was at the airport. it's nerve-racking and horrific. and i would say it's a difficult situation and complicated all around. it does encourage this behavior, but at the end of the day, like i said, it's good they were released. >> ana, this is one reason why in the last 24 hours we're hearing from administration officials how this went down. they're make two important points. one is this administration will always expend every effort to

try to bring back americans wrongly detain add broad. but secondly, they're reiterating iran is a dangerous place for americans to go. >> thank you both. and stay close as we await those americans landing in qatar. which, obviously, will be a moment of relief for all of them to be out of iran officially, as they make their way back to the u.s. and when we are back here in 60 seconds, going to take you live to georgia for a hearing happening right now, involving one of donald trump's 18 codefendants. jeffrey clark, looking to move his case to federal court. plus, the deadline mark meadows is facing today in that same case. also, what donald trump tells "meet the press" in a new interview about all sorts of things including abortion rights, after taking credit for the reversal of roe v. wade. plus, we're in wisconsin where planned parenthood is

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jeffrey clark is not here himself, he's waived his lisa rubin just pointed out the burden is to make the case and the case has to be made in three different ways. one of them, jeffrey clark was a federal officer. he worked for the office in the environmental division and then for the administration in the civil division. second, is what he's being prosecuted for related to any act under the color of his job? meaning what he was doing part of his job? the defense says, yes, it was, because he felt he was entitled to discuss the election especially as it relates to what happens here in georgia. the d.a.'s office saying no, you're part of the civil division of doj, that is not specifically having to do with the election. third, that have to make a legal case to this effect. they can't just say yes or no, it has to be a legally binding case.

this is the second time that judge steve jones is hearing a case like this, because mark meadows, trump's former chief of staff, went through the same process and the outcome, meadows did not get his case moved to federal court because of a very specific job of what meadows was doing in his job. he was chief of staff at the white house, not chief of staff to the trump campaign. and that is specifically related to what's happening with the election here in georgia. there is going to be some help from both sides here. former attorney general ed neese wrote a memo that he just put in the docket over the weekend in support of jeffrey clark moving to federal court. the d.a.'s office for their part has julie hunt, head of the civil division, during the trump administration that, no, in fact, they did not have do deal with the election in that specific gob. >> gary, thank you very much for your reporting. and as gary pointed out, the judge rejected a similar motion

by mark meadows. what would need to be different in clark's case for this to go his way? >> well, i think he's going to have to convince the judge that distinction between the political activities and the actual governmental activities was different for him. i don't think he's going to be successful here. i think what judge jones said for mark meadows which said many thought had the strongest case, he said when you're acting in favor of candidate trump, that's separate than the white house or the people. i think here, jeffrey clark, clearly was not acting in his capacity as a doj official. if you look at the report, he went outside of the doj chain of command. all right? he was not acting with other white house lawyers, doj lawyers. >> he was acting outside of the purview. >> he went rogue. >> he went rogue. he was reprimanded by the attorney general that you should

not be contacting the white house directly. that's not how we do it. on these calls it's not the white house lawyers, for example, the georgia call. these are noncampaign -- these are, excuse me, non-doj lawyers, nonwhite house lawyers directing the charge. when you scope in on him, i think the judge is going to say you were actively supporting a political candidate. and i was a doj prosecutor, we're all taught, you're not allowed to act in favor of a political candidate or take political actions. that's what he was doing here, supporting the political of trump, not the candidate. >> so mark meadows' case is working its way through the system. he's appealing in order to try to get his case moved to federal court because the initial judge rejected it. the same judge here hearing the clark case. what do you think of the brief expected to be filed in the mark

meadows case? >> mark meadows and the clark case are still on the ropes. they still have a chance. this is a close call. yes, clark and meadows have the burden here. but that burden is a pretty light burden in the world of burdens. it's not beyond a reasonable doubt. and all they have to show is that they have a colorable defense. it may be a suing defense, it may ultimately be an unsuccessful defense that their federal officership allows them, or permanen permanen permits thl court. it just needs to be plausible. and the northern district of georgia and the supreme court had even observed that the federal officer authority, yes, ewe right, is someone in that division acts outside of their authority getting involved in elections? absolutely. but courts have said that the federal officer removal statute

applies even where that officer acts outside of his or her authority. soer it's a thorny question that has yet to be resolved. yes, is meadows if you're laying odds, would you say that meadows will stay in state court? yes, probably. but it's on appeal. clark today will probably ultimately meet the same fate in district court. because it's almost the same decision. slightly different. >> right. >> meadows is arguably not certainly a federal officer. jeffrey clark is 100% a federal officer but it's a distinction without a difference. probably in district court. but on appeal, they may have a shot. >> i want to get to a couple other developments that we've over the last few days. people probably not paying as much attention to the guy who we know as special counsel jack smith's team is asking for judge chutkan in the federal election interference case to issue a narrow gag order for donald trump. and they write, quote, an order

that respects the 2024 presidential candidate from making certain extra judicial statements in the case brought against him. so what kind of statements would that now affect? or do you think a gag order is necessary? >> i think what's important here, the special counsel really laid the factual underpinning for this request. they point to specific statements that the former president has made, that are effectively threatening witnesses. trying to impact the jury pool. basically trying to have a trial by media, as opposed to trial by peers. that's the basis here. he has a right to comment on his case, he has a right to profess his innocence. what he doesn't have a right to do is basically try to impact a fair trial. both the prosecutors and the defense have a right to have a fair trial before a jury. so what the special counsel is saying to the judge, you don't get to threaten folks, you don't get to threaten witnesses, you don't get to threaten jurors,

and we've seen in the january 6th cases that jurors are afraid that their names will get out. while respecting the former president's first amendment rights ask for a limited curtailing what he can say. he can't be threatening. he can't be intimidating. he can't otherwise try to impact this trial in the public sphere. what he can do is defend himself in the courtroom. >> let's turn to part of kristen welker's interview with donald trump where he talks about his legal counsel advice. >> you consulted with outside lawyers, you said they had crazy theories. why were you listening to them because they were telling you what you wanted to hear? >> i listened to that. i thought that election was over at 10:00 in the evening. >> were you calling the shots, mr. president, ultimately? >> as to whether or not i believed it was rigged. >> okay. >> sure. it was my decision. >> danny, if you're trump's

defense lawyer, are you okay with that answer? >> of course not. but part of the deal of being one of trump's defense lawyers as opposed to now in 2023 as opposed to 2016, you know going into it that your client is going to say or do whatever he wants. i would be willing to bet in the retainer agreement there's a relatively new paragraph, saying something we know you're going to go out there and say whatever, our advice is not to talk to anyone. you proceed at your peril. part of the advice for donald trump knowing he'll make extra judicial statements that will harm the indication, look, that's just the way it is. in reality, this happens all the time. i have no doubt in your career you have listened to jailhouse phone calls that were recorded and added more evidence to somebody who thought they were a defendant who thought they could do something to help their case and end up damaging their case.

defendants do this all the time. most of them are unsophisticated don't know anything about the system. donald trump should know better. maybe he does know better, but it doesn't seem to matter. he's going to go out say and do whatever he thinks will help his case, but so often on defendants they're misguided. >> your final thought? >> 100% right. i guarantee you there's a prosecutor out there following every single word he's saying and finding a way to use that against him. >> thank you so much both. i appreciate you both. up next on "ana cabrera reports," pedal to the metal. how the white house is looking to cement a deal this week between striking autoworkers and the big three automakers. struck out with the cheap seats? important things aren't worth compromising. at farmers, we offer both quality insurance and great savings. (crowd cheers) here, take mine. (farmers mnemonic) have fun, sis! ♪♪

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welcome back. this morning, uaw workers remained on the picket line as their strike against all big

automakers enters day four. and we learned today that a white house team will head to michigan to help broker a resolution. this is the first time uaw has gone on strike against all three big automakers simultaneously. up to 146,000 workers could walk out if the strike continues with around 13,000 currently off the job on a smaller, targeted strike. nbc's jesse kirsch joins us from michigan and the automaker from the detroit free press. what do we know about the state of negotiations and how soon the team at the white house will be on the ground in michigan? >> reporter: yeah, ana, i want to get to something else really quickly. this is unfolding realtime. you can see behind me here, police cars have pulled up in the last couple of minutes. that is a trucker trying to get inside the ford plant in detroit in the suburbs. this is the third in a series of three semis just lined up here,

trying to get in. they have been here waiting for several minutes this is a scene that's played out throughout the morning here. it's the latest development, it's a reminder that, yes, the workers aren't in there on the factory floor. but in addition to that, obviously, they are having an impact on any other involvement at this plant from a production standpoint. that's just something to note. from the white house perspective, the administration is saying that the intention is for the white house adviser, the president's aides to be in detroit early in the week. we don't know exactly when that's going to happen next. and point blank, shawn fain, the president of the united auto workers union said that the white house is not part of the negotiations. that just speaks to what continues to be a politically, tricky, equivalent situation for president biden, ana. >> jesse kirsch thank you for that latest happen right now. again, involving these uaw

workers. jamie, the big three, we know can afford a much bigger walkout than the union has called. but markets are already spooked. ford and gm losing $10 billion in market value since the negotiation started back in july. right now, only 13,000 workers are actually striking. so explain that, and could that make the strike less effective? >> well, i mean, right now, as you note, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding everything. gm and ford on friday indicating there could be more layoffs that are connected to the workers that have walked out at various plants. so, i think all of that uncertainty has investors nervous. they don't know how long this is going to last. how much it could escalate and what the fallout could be in terms of profits and lost sales. now, remember, particularly for gm and ford, they have a lot of evs that they plan to roll out this year that could be pushed

back, in terms of the launches. and those are really important products as they transition to all electric. so i think that might be part of what's behind the up certainty from wall street. >> uaw supporters have been mentioning that when the government bailed these automakers out in 2008, there was this big pay freeze for workers. so, now that companies are making profits, they argue it's only right for the workers to get their fair share. can you just back-check that for us? >> you know, what happened basically was, during the great recession, gm and chrysler and ford were all struggling, but particularly gm at that time chrysler. and they went to the workers and they asked for a special contract. and in that contract, they cave up c.o.l.a. which is the cost of living adjustment. and they took some other pay cuts as well as giving up their pension. their pension went under. and anyone hired after 2007 gets

a 401(k), not a pension. and the workforce kind of always thought once the company is recovered they would get at least some of that back, and they never have. so, this is why, right now, they're fighting for reinstatement of the c.o.l.a. they want reinstatement of the pension. and they also look at record profits that the automakers are recording saying they should get a wage increase that matches those profits. particularly when they look at the ceo pay and how much they say the ceo's pay has gone up. they feel like they deserve that same percentage which is 40% for their hourly wage as well. >> okay. thank you so much for helping us understand all of the details here, jamie lareau, i appreciate it. turning to california where authorities have a press conference at 1:30 eastern for a person of interest detained in in relation to the shooting death of a los angeles county

deputy. sheriff said he believes this shooting was a targeted act. to make this extra heartbreaking, that deputy just got engaged days before he was killed. you can see members of the community turning out to the scene of the crime, placing flowers at what's now become a memorial. joining us from nbc, dana griffin. police say they have detained a person of interest. what do we know? >> reporter: they have, ana. we're hoping to get new details in that press conference. we're told by our nbc station here in los angeles that an arrest was made this morning. and a person who recognized that dark gray toyota corolla, that vehicle of interest, noticed that vehicle and phoned in on that tip line. so we're hoping to hear that is in fact the case, according to this reporting by the local station here. but this is just hopefully going to be one bit of relief for that

department, for the family, who are just dumbfounded over why this happened. the department believes that this was some sort of ambush because ryan clinkunbroomer had been on duty. he was in his marked patrol car in uniform. was just outside of the palmdale sheriff's station. so, it was a very brazen, very bold act to shoot a deputy, right outside of his place of work. we saw this video, as you're pulling up here, this dark-colored toyota corolla pulls up next to the officer, pauses, inches forward and then takes off. that's when we're told by the sheriff that other deputies jumped into action after a good samaritan found the deputy slumped over and realized he was in some sort of distress. deputies jumped into action, got him into another patrol vehicle and started driving towards the hospital. they met up with an ambulance that took him all the way to the hospital. it's a heartbreaking story. and we will bring you the

details from that press conference as soon as we get it. ana. >> of course, that's just a few hours from now, dana griffin, thank you. up next on "ana cabrera reports," house republicans moving full steam ahead with an impeachment inquiry into president biden. are donald trump's fingerprints all over that? what he's telling nbc news in a new interview. ♪ i'm feeling good vibes ♪ ♪♪ we're not writers, but we help you shape your financial story. ♪♪ we're not an airline, but our network connects global businesses across nearly 160 markets. ♪♪ we're not a startup, but our innovation labs use new technologies to help keep your information secure. ♪♪ we're not architects, but we help build stronger communities. ♪♪ we're not just any bank. we are citi. ♪♪ oh... stuffed up again?

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♪♪ any moment now, we expect to see the five americans released from iran arrive in qatar. i want to go back to nbc's ali arouzi from tehran, as we look at the live images of a plane on a runway. we don't know if in fact this is the plane carrying those five americans. i'm just being told by my producer this is the plane. we have confirmed this is the plane. so, now, safely on the ground in doha, qatar, five americans just released. one of them held prisoner in

iran for eight-plus years, ali ruzzi is that in iran. and the former spokesperson to the u.n. as we look at these images, ali, how significant is this moment, and what do we know about all of the work that led to this today? >> reporter: ana, this is a hugely significant moment for these prisoners, as you mentioned, siamak namazi eight-plus years in evin, one of the most notorious prisons in iran. for the namazi family, after siamak was arrested his father flew to secure his release and he was subsequently arrested and

kept in prison here on 2022 and was only released on medical grounds. he was a man in his mid-80s with failing health, they let him go, so siamak's namazi's father really knows what his son has been going through first hand. so this is go to be a really joyous moment, full of relief for him. and the other two prisoners that have also been released, emad shargi and morad tahbaz, they've also spent a very long time. as you mentioned this is the culmination of back channel talks, back room talks, indirect talks between tehran and washington that has culminated in this release. yesterday, there's been a lot of criticism of the biden administration for what people has said is page essentially a ransom to get these guys out. that this will only encourage the regime to take more people because it's been so profitable for them. but the bottom line is that these americans are now home. and if this deal hadn't been

made, they would probably be languishing in an iranian prison for a very long time to come. put ago side all of the politics of pain, this money for the family, this is an incredible joyous moment, because being in prison is probably one of the toughest places in the world for anybody to spend time in, let alone eight years. so, these guys that have arrived in qatar probably are going to get pretty quick medical checks just to make sure everything is okay. and then from there, they're going to fly home to their families in washington. of course, two of them haven't been named. they've decided to stay anonymous. they'll stay away from the gaze of the tv cameras when they get out of the plane. only the three people we've mentioned are willing to talk. for whatever reason, the other two don't want to be made public. and all of the media is respecting that decision. but all of them are going to be reunited with their families, back home, in the united states. they've been waiting for this

day for a very long time. and, quite frankly, these five that have been in the evin prison wouldn't even have known if this day would ever come, even to that last moment when they were taken to the airport here. none is a done deal in that plane had taken off from iran and cleared iranian airspace. you will remember, jason resnia arrested. he admitted in the last minute when he boarded the plane he wasn't sure he was going to get out of here. there's a lot of anxiety in they get out of here now that anxiety is gone now that they're in qatar and will surely be en route back to the united states. a monumental moment for these guys. a good piece of diplomacy to get u.s. citizens out. but, again, a lot of questions are going to be asked about, basically paying a ransom for these guys.

the cost of paying for them, almost $1.2 billion per prisoner to get them out. >> ali, let me jump in here, ali -- because, we're seeing now people getting off this plane. and i dore want to note, because there are three who have been identified and feel comfortable with us sharing their identities, that you've just outlined in their back stories as we watch people celebrate their homecoming. this is really wonderful we're going to be careful, of course, to not show, do our best to keep those other identities for the two who don't want to be made public. but what we're seeing here is, again, the arrival of three americans. five total who are on this plane. anthony a couple of family members who are also traveling with this group. arriving in doha. just left iran this morning. they are now free. they will work their way back to the u.s. five americans released from

iran. hagar, as you watch what's transpiring here in doha, what's going through your mind? >> well, first and foremost, i'm so happy they've been released. one of the things i've been thinking of, i've been getting angrier and angrier at the criticism of deal because it's such good news they've weren't released. and the criticism, frankly, comes from those who don't understand. how difficult it is for the family, how much the victims suffer. the families suffer. how complicated is it for the u.s. government, to be put between a rock and a hard place. how come they weren't released during the trump administration. the trump administration pursued a different type of policy, it was a maximum pressure type of campaign. it's a view of i'm going to extract what i want through punishment. i'm not necessarily against that, by the way, i think that's often what you need to do with adversaries but it didn't work

when it came to releasing prisoners. and the fact is, as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to get these prisoners released. and the iranian regime will continue, if they're seeing someone who can serve as a political bargaining chip, they're going to nab them. and it could be years before they get freed because it's tied up in political negotiation always. >> and we're looking here at these images, so heartening to see those men walking with their arms around each other, as they now head into, i assume, to meet with some u.s. officials here in doha. what can you tell us, hagar, in terms of your understanding in the next steps of how they will be, you know, integrated back into the u.s. and the support and what takes place between now and, you know, what becomes a more normal life here in the u.s.? >> oh, it depends on each person. but most of the time, the first stop always, going to the stop

of where the negotiation happened, or at least whomever was the mediator. that's pretty common. in this case, the qataris. usually they move on somewhere else, sometimes, it's in europe, sometimes, the united states, for all sorts of medical evacuations. medical recovery. psycho analytical recovery. all sorts of therapy, services, things of that kind. then leave and stay with their family it's. depending on the person it varies. some people jump right into the press and want to share their story or they start working on something to share their story. others really -- they stay behind closed doors. they may not want to share -- there are two that chose not to share their identities. i don't want to speculate, some of these individuals have family in iran. >> yeah. >> and it's possible they just don't want to put themselves out there and put their families at risk because, again, just because they were released the iranian regime doesn't hold

that -- it's when you're dealing with it, why the negotiations are so difficult, it's why you can't trust anything the regime says. and it may be for that reason that they want to stay silent and private. >> all right, mike memoli is back with us now. mike, you have new reaction from the biden administration? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, ana, as our team has been engaging with u.s. officials throughout the morning to try to bring you the most up-to-date information there's been a significant sensitivity about disclosing too much because they wanted to make sure that this process was unfolding without any hitches. so it's notable within seconds of this plane touching down on the ground, we received a written statement from president bide wherein he first and foremost celebrates the fact that the americans are coming home. the statement goes on to do a number of things, first, an indication of the diplomacy involved thanks a number of foreign governments that helped to facilitate this but specific

thank tosca tar and the sultan of oman, two countries helpful in brings this about. the president also talked about the need for consequences for the iranian regime for this practice of wrongly detaining american citizens. in that particular it calls on the iranian government to provide a full accounting what happened to bob levinson. you may remember his case, he was a former u.s. law enforcement agent who disappeared in iran in 2007. the levinson act which passed just a few years ago, gave some of the tools the administration will now use in terms of new sanctions that the statement here indicates that president biden is announcing just today, as these prisoners are returning home. but we also see in this statement that the president reiterates the travel warning that his state department has issued for americans warning about the danger of traveling in iran. and then this statement concludes with the president saying reuniting wrongfully detained americans has been a priority for my administration

since day one. he talks about how dozens of americans have been brought home since he's taken office from countries including afghanistan, burma, haiti and rowand day, and will continue to bring these americans home. and warn again about consequences of traveling in areas that are unsafe for americans to do so. >> hagar, you talked about, iran doesn't play by the same rules like countries like the u.s. in fact, they have a european government official in custody. explain why that is so significant. >> yes, i'm so glad you mentioned this because it's not getting that much attention fwap it was private for a year and a half. this eu official has been imprisoned in iran, the evin prison for a year and a half. i certainly don't mean to justify taking innocent civilians but when you take a government official wrongfully like that, it traches it to a

whole other level because it shows how brazen the iranian government is, and this behavior, that they don't expect any negative backlash. and it also highlights that hostage diplomacy is truly the hallmark of the iranian regime because this type of hostage-taking is justify taking innocent civilians but when you detain a government official wrongfully like that it takes it to a whole

other level because it shows how brazen the iranian government is, how bold and comfortable they are doing this type of behavior that they don't expect any kind of negative backlash, and it also highlights that hostage diplomacy is truly the hallmark of the iranian regime. this type of hostage taking is only getting actively worse. i've already said that it is not -- it is true that when you negotiate in these releases and you give attractive items in exchange, whether it's prisoners or in this case 6 billion in frozen assets, it encourages the behavior. we already know that. i worked at the u.s. treasury department, and we knew that department, and we knew that terr government has in negotiations in any kind of foreign policy r situation, that leverage is very different when you have an american hostage on the other end. >> the u.s. and iran really don't have relations right now so this prisoner swap and over arching deal was negotiated with a mediator, is that correct? how does that work? >> that's right, the iranians refuse to speak directly to the u.s. after president trump, former president trump pulled out of the nuclear deal, so this was mostly negotiated through the qataris that were playing as an intermediary. they were basically shuffling messages back and forth between iranian officials and u.s. officials to get this done. there may have been some few instances of direct talks in qatar, but they would have been very few. most of the leg work would have been done between intermediaries, and that's because the relationship between d.c. and tehran remains extremely acrimonious, even after this prisoner swap.

there are still huge tensions over iran's nuclear deal about the protests that happened last year. it's not as if the two sides are going to make great friends after this. there's still a lot of leg work to be done. u.s. officials have pointed out that even though there's no direct talks that the relationship remains very acrimonious. this might give an opening for some sort of talks between iran and america to resolve some of these long-standing issues, some of them four decades long and obviously the most potent one right now, iran's nuclear program, which is really accelerating and the u.s. is trying to figure out how to put the brakes on that, and this may give that opening. >> our josh lederman is joining us now live on the tarmac in qatar. josh, tell us more about what's happening there right now after this plane touched down and these five americans stepped safely onto the soil outside

iran. >> reporter: really a momentous few minutes here at doha international airport. you could really feel the anticipation as this plane was taxiing down the runway with a group of u.s. officials who have traveled here for this swap including the deputy iran envoy abraham pay lee. they were gathering in one group. the qatari officials gathering separately on the tarmac. as this plane was taxiing to a halt, those americans approaching where this plane has come to a stop just behind me waiting as those americans gingerly walked down the stairs and then the american officials embracing them. i don't know if they've ever met these detainees before, ostensibly they have not. clearly this was a moment both sides have been waiting for for so long. those americans have been escorted into the terminal that is just to my right here where they are undergoing some brief medical checks. they are all believed to be in good health. that likely won't take too long

before they are then able to board another aircraft that will bring them to washington for the final leg of their journey. back in the u.s. they'll of course have an opportunity for much more extensive medical evaluations. this swap took place later in the day than we had been expecting. it seems that everything has largely gone according to plan and the american officials who are hoping that they would safely see these americans out of iran onto qatari soil and onto the u.s. are feeling like they have really succeeded in what they tried to accomplish today, ana. >> josh lederman, ali arouzi, mike memoli, thank you. hagar, i have a question for you as we continue to follow these developments. i have to imagine, you know, russia is watching. right? we still have evan gershkovich, paul whelan, potentially others in their custody, and we're talk about these rogue nations that don't have a real relationship with the u.s. right now in terms

of these dynamics and diplomacy. what do you think the message is if you are russia and you're watching this? >> yes, russia is absolutely watching what's going on, and they -- it's very clear that they've increased their efforts to take innocent americans for potential bargaining chips as the ukraine war unfolds, and when they have now, for example, they have delayed the pretrial detention of evan gershkovich, right now his trial is due for november 30th. the reason is because it's arbitrary. it has nothing to do with him or with -- or the actual charges he's facing. it has to do with negotiating with the united states making things more emotional, making things more difficult, dragging it out, showing that, again, they don't play by the same rules. they have no problem hanging on to him. when they see what could be possible, they could get more prisoners, high stakes prisoners. they could get perhaps some kind

of access to frozen funds, which there are foreign funds. it's going to help them think of ways they could bargain for him. >> we have the u.n. general assembly taking place here in new york. we expect to hear from the iranian president at this week's events. does this moment change anything in terms of how he's viewed on the world stage, how iran is viewed, will they try to capitalize on this moment? >> they'll try to use that bully pulpit to show that they have legitimacy or that they have -- they can exert their power. if you ask my opinion, it only shows how feckless the united nations is. i was spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the u.n., and unfortunately the u.n. has repeatedly faced this existential crisis of how it is able to fight for peace and r security around the world, which is its main mission and never has that been more true than during the ukraine war.

it only makes the u.n. and them look silly. >> thank you so much for being here ask helping us go through this amazing moment for these five americans and their family members: fiver american prisoners released from iran safely in doha, qatar, on their way back to the u.s. i'll see you back here tomorrow same time, same place, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. josé diaz-balart picking up our coverage right now. right now but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those

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good morning, 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. we begin this hour with breaking news. moments ago a plane carrying five americans who were wrongly detained in iran land instead doha, qatar, as part of a had prisoner swap between the u.s. and iran. as part of the agreement -- and you see some of them stepping off that plane just moments ago -- this agreement, the u.s. allowed the unfreezing of