i feel a measure of disbelief in that statement because he worked really hard to exchange brittney griner attitude in the sphere of exploration and the fact that he doesn't draw that hydrant always seems he doesn't and i feel about all the good work he did and so much work that has been done unravels with the president that is infirm to stand against vladimir putin inc. say we want to bring him home now. >> tammy: the difficult thing is we don't have someone to bring home -- they don't just take people so we have them for these negotiation place. >> tomi: i am glad you brought up brittney griner because it's really hard with the fanfare that got and the press attention that got. it is truly hard i am sure for the families who look at that and wonder why not my loved one why are they not as important is it because they are not a wnba player? do they not have a that much attention? we do not want to think that way but it is hard to miss that and miss that feeling. i also think it brings home -- in a time when americans do not trust the media or journalism, when you have someone out there th

and wnba star and olympic gold medalist brittney griner is publishing a book about the ten months shepent in russia's prison system. ms. grinder's book entitled coming home, is being published in may as well. and that's a look at some of the upcoming books this spring. we should note that all of these oks will be featured on book tv in the coming weeks. and now a conversation with national book critics circle board mber j. howard rosier about the nonfiction books that he's looking forward to in the coming months. so, mr. rose, you're how did you get into the book review business? i'm the joke. and how is that? i always wanted to be a critic, but really know what that meant. i was an undergrad at columbia college in chicago, and i was in the journalism program, but my concentration was magazine writing. and so i was doing a lot of, like, feature writing. but what i like to read was, you know, the new yorkie stuff for the new republic, the old new republic, and fast forward several. years later, when i got my cargo.'s in creativit i was the critic at the arts paper, the art critic sorry

as you know, we got trevor read home only two months after russia invaded ukraine, we got brittney griner back shortly after that and even though we've had tensions with countries like venezuela, for example, we're still able to find a way to get the job done. so despite anything that's happening in the geopolitical space, our goal is pretty firm it's were resolute and we'll find a way to bring paul and evan home. >> let's certainly hope so. roger carson's we know that you are working very, very hard on that. thank you for being with us tonight. >> thanks, brian appreciate it. thank you >> out front next, nikki haley, who not even in the race, still getting 18% of the vote in one of the last primaries and now biden zeroing in on her supporters by reminding them of this how do you bring these nikki haley voters back in? >> i'm not sure we need too many and kim jong un keeping a close eye on the us election is we're learning why he actually now fears >> trump returning to power >> sanity needs a save space have a show. were right-left talk to each other cnn presents an encore presentation o

looks like and his job gosh said, it's cowardice having dealt with putin on the periphery when brittney griner was taken, i was honored to be part of her team it was this was leading up to i will say i mean, she was taken in february of 2022, but we knew as the he midterm elections, we're approaching part of his strategy was to make president biden look bad with black voters because one of the things that the russians are very good at is figuring out where the cracks are and how do you exploit that to create divisiveness and division. so one of the things we were i'm able to do was to pull together a coalition of african-american leaders, civil rights leaders, and god bless them because, you know, folks like reverend al sharpton, they know how to do anybody. >> but >> what we all want they understood that we had to show strength and support for the president because showing too much distance was actually going going to make it harder to get her back. that's the kind of three-dimensional chess you have to play when you're dealing with a mad dictator who is holding someone really for no reason o

. >> brittney griner was traded for a notorious arms dealer who had been in american prisons for quitet on the verge of getting out. did that incentivize -- we talk about not wanting to incentivize foreign governments to kidnap americans, did that incentiize vladimir putin to take another american? >> you know, i think it is a part of a story to that, but the other part is that quite frankly the pressure right now is being reduced on russia. the lack of support in the united states for additional funding, for ukraine right now, is creating what we're now seeing, a much more emboldened vladimir putin declaring victory in a faux election, really shutting down a lot of internal dissent after that election. so there are a lot of dynamics at play as well. that trade that had to be made, that was important to get brittney griner out, moving it forward is always important. but i think there is a lot of big picture items as well that are harming this negotiation. >> i think also it is worth saying and from my trips to russia, i can tell you that the revisionist history that president putin tal

what the russians will try to do if they'll try to manipulate the situation as they did with brittney griner's detention. the crazy thing is russia could be getting people home. they russians could be going home in these deals, but they insist on thumbing their nose at the us and we are not sure what will happen. i do have faith in the administration that they will try, but i can't i don't know what that path forward is >> elizabeth, you have been through so much, your brother has been through so much and we appreciate you talking with us about it tonight. >> thank you >> now, let's talk with roger carson's. he is the us special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. rodgers roger, i know you talked to these families regularly. you just heard what elizabeth said there. what what is your response to what she's saying? >> i agree with a lot of it. i mean, this is hard case. we're trying to push hard on it in the first case that i ever took about four years ago and elizabeth, i spent a lot of time on the phone and we actually feel like we're partnering with the families, but at the end of the da

history record books passing brittney griner. >> reporter: while in high school catching the attentionch felicia. >> the 11th grade is when she came to our camp. she is 5'2" on a good day. she started playing and rung and moving. let's check ball with her. back then i was playing ball a lot. so we play two-on-two. i couldn't guard her. >> reporter: dejza unstoppable in the winning moments of syracuse game against university of arizona. >> fair, oh, got it! >> reporter: going on a historic 11-point tear, helping her team advance. but tonight in the orange ending their run in a loss to the historic basketball powerhouse the uconn huskies and superspar paige bueckers. amed all the triumphs and heartbreaks, one thing is clear, women's basketball is wing. >> a lot of people are asking after caitlin clark leads, will this momentum last? and i think the answer is yes, because caitlin clark has brought so many people to the game that they're going to stay and they're going to see a whole bunch of new stars, wonderful young players who are coming up. >> byron: the tournament has been must-watch

traded victor for brittney griner.kick did off tonight. we have a very special winner here at "special report." our new viewer was born yesterday to senior national correspondent our good friend rich he hadedson and his wonderful wife liz. though welcomed baby nina to their family yesterday. their first child. she is so beautiful. she came in at 7 pounds 15 ounces. miraculously everybody in the family is doing great. liz was a complete champion. so congratulations and all of our best wishes and love it them. look how beautiful she is. all right. you are up first. who is your winner? >> my winner of the week for people confused by the united states betrayal of israel at the u.n. when they abstained and did not veto, i would recommend to them three podcast. commentary podcast. what is going on in their community. dan senor call me back for someone wants an american talking to israelis. and then there is this amazing journalist. i think he is center left. i'm not sure. red gear, he is on the times of israel podcast. if th

they can get prisoner exchanges brittney griner so there's no penalty for these countries is tremendous and come away from the families during these difficult days. >> the genie is out of the bottle and can't get back in. >> we can in the way for example, the adversaries are playing a different set of rules so we have chinese agent and military bases test security and private basis. we give them a slap on the wr wrist. we need to arrest them and the criminals to get criminals. the act civilized and don't engage. they continue to attack our country and this is an attack on americans it's on america and they can get away with it; to switch to another area where we have shown weakness recently, israel continued battle with hamas, a disturbing quote that came out from the head of the joint chiefs of staff, charles brown, the general. he said although we have been running them with capability, they've not received everything they've asked for. some is because the cost for the either don't have the capacity to provide or are not willing to provide mark not right now why would we not be willin

there are trades to be made and there are dangers in trades, and we saw that with brittney griner, and president biden's ability to demonstrate cost and to date i've seen no evidence that they'll have real cost on vladimir putin to get evan home. >> this is the type of behavior, secretary, you'd kind of expect out of a banana republic or third world country. whatever you think of russia, it's still a super power. they're punching way under their weight and i'm just wondering, do they have any concept of how that looks to the world? >> neil, they do, but they don't give a rip. this is a long tradition. this goes back, we heard director panetta talk about his time. it goes back, and it pre dates that time. we've frankly rewarded countries for taking americans and holding them. they find it lucrative and of value and get better positions pour them. and there's no domestic cost for vladimir putin for doing so and here we find ourselves. neil: i mentioned in the context, also, the ukraine war and we're two years into that, right, secretary, and vladimir putin is personally the richest he's

some of the americans who have been held, paul whalen, mark fogle, a dual citizen, there are brittney griner of course was released in a prisoner swap in 2022. and then of course, vladimir car amirza. what seems to be the goal of these detentions? is this about some sort of lev wj with the united states? what is it about? can you tell? >> i'm glad you mentioned all of them because it is important to keep the focus on all of them, of course. i think sometimes we get so focused on putin as the kind of mastermind, i'm not sure russia is quite like that. clearly, he is an autocrat. i definitely think that the ambition is to try to swap evan and possibly others for, for example, fsb officer who is held for murder in germany. so that is something that they kind of would like to achieve. but just think about this. alexei navalny, president putin claimed, you know, you have to question whether you believe him, but president putin claimed he agreed for him to be released and just days later, he was dead. what does that tell you about the state of russia and how disorganized it is in some ways. >> let

but we have seen progress made in the space and we obviously saw trevor read come home, lisa brittney griner come home so this continues to be possible in something we are continuing to work at around-the-clock. we have no higher priority than the safety and security of american citizens being wrongfully detained. in the case of russia that means evan and paul. >> it will not be 1 of the other. the goal was and i don't know if there's any truth to these reports very closer trying to get anyone held there to be released in concert together. barring that tedious work on them 1 at a time? >> it's important that i not talk about or speak to deliberations and negotiations in public. there's a reason these things are kept private but let me be clear. we want to bring evan and paul home. >> so as a goes with three-month extension did you get any word as to why the extra 3 months? >> of course not because this is russia. so since the onset of evidenced attention they have not offered credible information or evidence or insight into any clear thinking here. the truth of the matter is that these alleg

other swaps have happened in the past with trevor reid and brittney griner. the state department has said that, at the moment to, no deal happening. instead, we see them being held in prison. he's allowed to leave his self it is one hour a day. despite this, and you see it in pictures when he's in court, his friends and family says he hasn't been broken. but they say it's becoming harder and harder by the day. we also have to mention another being held for five years, some asking whether enough is done to hit back at russia when they pick up innocent americans. and maybe hostage negotiations are not the way forward, either. aishah? >> aishah: and we keep him and his family in our thoughts every single day. we wait for them to come home. benjamin hall, thank you. >> thanks. >> sandra: aishah, we are awaiting an update from maryland govegovernor wes moore about the cleanup of the bridge collapse that killed at least six construction workers earlier this week. we are watching for that and we will bring it to our viewers live. >> aishah: plus this, sandra. a loom

paul: but this is a little different, dan, than even brittney griner, the basketball celebrity who he whelan, former marine that's been there for five years. evan's the first american journalist taken in russia since the cold war ended. what does this tell us about the u.s.' ability to protect a free press operating abroad? because we have an interest in having light shined on places like russia or china or iran. but it's terribly risky to go there. >> terribly risky to go with there. and it is just putting the press' function at risk not merely in russia, but in all these authoritarian states. and i think it relates in no small part to the decline of u.s. influence around the world in the sense that countries, especially these authoritarian countries, don't really fear us anymore. and so they're leaning on reporters in moscow and, certainly, in beijing. it's now become an extremely -- and hong kong -- an extremely dangerous place to be a reporter. and until the united states, i think, shows more muscle and pushing back against countries like russia, iran and china, that reporters are

you will with brittney griner, we had to release an arms dealer.see any other pathway. he has escalated crackdowns at home, escalated what he is willing to do to people in prison. we saw navalny die in a prison. it's a tough call for the united states. we don't accept the idea that evan gershkovich is a spy and engaging in a spy swap validates the way they want to treat him. frankly, because we have done this swap with griner, there's just not that many people left for the united states to exchange. you get into a complicated three-way negotiation potentially with germany that probably doesn't want to be seen releasing somebody who committed murder on their soil on behalf of an american citizen. this is a complicated problem for the administration and a tragic circumstance for evan's family. >> admiral, get us in the thinking of vladimir putin in arresting someone like evan gershkovich. is this him flexing his muscles to illustrate his power? >> it's simply obtaining bargaining chips. by the way, to any american citizens listening out there, please

the prisoner swap's very relevant because gershkovich was picked up about four months after a brittney grinertor bout. i am a hopeful that the state department is working this very hard but behind the scenes and that moscow court's extense of his sentence tell me that putin is using him as a pawn in this vicious game and holding out for something big in terms of a prisoner swap. we don't have any insight into that, but given putin's history, most likely that's what's going on. lauren: okay. turning to russia's relations with iran, u.s. central command says that iran is giving russia more than 100 of its sophisticated attack drones per week, and, rebecca, they're building them -- building them at a factory in russia so they can continually supply putin's war in ukraine. >> yeah. shocking news from the general there in centcom. and this is something we just didn't see happening, this nexus of iran and russia. and, you know with, really iran is now moscow's arms supplier. and these iran-made drones are in use from the skies over ukraine right down to the red sea. this particular drone pollution

he goes on to say when brittney griner, a women's national basketball association star was checked intomericans avidly followed her case and celebrated her release. likewise, there's tremendous public interest in the case of wall street journal reporter, an innocent journalist who remains a prisoner of vladimir putin. the state of the union is mr. biden's opportunity to introduce the gaza six to their fellow americans. >> bill: great point. >> dana: see if he does it. >> bill: profound point, too. if he does it, it will be quite the moment. >> dana: keep them top of mind. >> bill: u.s. supreme court, as you know, giving donald trump a sweeping victory ruling that states cannot kick him off their primary ballot. that vote was unanimous sending democrats and the mainstream media into a tizzy such as thus. >> i think this court has had obviously some pretty big issues. with that said, we've lived in a country of rule of law, we have to respect the court's decisions while disagreeing with them. and honestly, i think that's something that maga republicans could take a lesson from. it's ok to

. >> maybe for brittney griner he got the number one weapons trader in the world. so, what could he we don't have a piece equal to that. >> definitely a turn through this administration peace through strength and donald trump always says if he believed even just a half percent he knew i wasn't playing any type of games. are. >> brian: the other thing is, too. to keep in mind, is that they just had a massive terror attack. we still tipped them off to the terror attack that was coming. they accused us of trumping it up. and then they get hit even worse than we told them they were going to get hit. still trying to blame ukraine. at one point all these lies have to catch up with them. lawyer. >> lawrence: so true. brandon johnson migrant crisis get worse as they scramble to shelter more than 10,000 illegal migrants. the next guest calls the situation inhumane. the south side republican chairman, estate next ♪ (psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily gives you long lasting non-drowsy relief. flonase all good. also, try o

the kremlin knows painful agreements have been reached in the past in 2022, us basketball star brittney griner, convicted of possessing cannabis in russia, was swapped for victor boot and the tourists russian arms trafficker. >> i want to tell the world that i'm a victim of political for kidnap and random, >> russia is also holding other americans among them former us marine paul whelan, convicted of espionage and jailed since 2018. us officials have designated whelan and gershkovich has unlawfully detained if the kremlin has any desire to salvage russia's integrity and international esteem >> they should >> do what is right and release evan and paul immediately >> but the kremlin may want more than just integrity and esteem in exchange for its most valuable bargaining chips. >> well. >> president biden issued a statement on friday condemning again, the russian detention of evan gershkovich, calling it wholly unjust and illegal. he also addressed paul whelan and other americans who he said were held hostage pledging, we will never stop working to bring you home. viktor amara back to you >> all

the kremlin knows painful agreements have been reached in the past in 2022, us basketball star brittney grinerssessing cannabis in russia, was swapped for victor boot and the tourists, russian arms trafficker. >> i want to tell the world that victim of political kidnap and random russia is also holding other americans among them, former us marine paul whelan, convicted of espionage and jailed since 2018. us officials have designated whelan and gershkovich as unlawfully detained if the kremlin has any desire to salvage russia's integrity. and international esteem >> they should >> do what is right and release evan and paul immediately >> but the kremlin may want more than just integrity and esteem in exchange for its most valuable bargaining chips. matthew chance, cnn, some petersburg ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is warning kyiv will have to give up more >> ground without us military aid zelenskyy told the washington post, ukraine's goal is to keep the frontlines stable so it can prepare for a new counteroffensive later this year, but without us support but he said kyiv will be short

the kremlin knows painful agreements have been reached in the past in 2022, us basketball star brittney griner, convicted of possessing cannabis in russia, was swapped for victor boot and the tourists russian arms trafficker jim, russia is also holding other americans behind bars, including former us marine paul whelan, who's been in jail convicted of espionage since 2018. but gershkovich and whelan, i'd like you to stay behind bars unless another deal with the united sites can be agreed >> the next hostages taken, matthew chance reported from russia. thank you. >> evan gershkovich's year long detention has also brought in measurable pain on his family and close friends, his friend and former roommate, jeremy berg, recalls waking up a year ago today to his partner saying, quote they got them. and jeremy berg joins us now. jeremy, thanks so much for taking time on a day. i know it's gotta be difficult for you >> yeah. thanks so much for the time and attention >> to evan storage and we really appreciate it. >> what we're doing our best to keep the headlines. i want to get your reflection from th

we've seen the detention of brittney griner, the exchange that happened after that. >> so >> we're just hopeful that things follow a similar path >> let's hope it indeed pure terror at the top us hostage affairs official told cnn these next 90 days of evidence detention are critical for trying to work out a deal before his actual trial. you have hope you tear that evan could be freed in these next few months >> yes. we saw those comments and they do give us hope just this week, the kremlin also said that talks ongoing us president joe biden today in a statement said that he will do everything to get evan out. so we believe these 90 days are crucial. and i really do hope and we really hope that a deal will be made to get our friend back to where he belongs and also back to work evan is not just incredibly incredible person. he's an incredible journalist the world is missing out on is crucial reporting. >> yeah, certainly an insight into what time russia as something that's so important >> good. go ahead and properly. go ahead. >> now, just yeah, just that it's the what he was doing was i

the kremlin knows painful agreements have been reached in the past in 2022, us basketball star brittney griner, convicted of possessing cannabis in russia, was swapped for victor boot and the tourists russian arms trafficker >> i want to tell the world that i'm a victim of political kidnap and random russia is also holding other americans among them former us marine paul whelan convicted of espionage and jailed since 2018. us officials have designated whelan and gershkovich as unlawfully detained if the kremlin has any desire to salvage russia's integrity and international esteem. they should do what is right and release evan and paul matthew chance joins us now from saints saint petersburg in russia i just wonder mathieu, if you could put into context how difficult the trade is that the russians are looking for. if the us is trying to convince germany the release someone who committed murder on german soil in order to get an american journalists back. i mean, is that a trade that germany is likely to agree to? >> well, it's a trade that so far the germans had not agreed to i mean, dayton for

and basketball star brittney griner imprisoned for nine months on drug charges was finally freed in anchampion gary kasparov, who fled russia in 2013, is one of putin's most fervent critics. you have just made some news. the russians just added you to their list of terrorists and extremists. i thought you were already there, frankly. >> it's like a badge of honor. >> reporter: putin gets stronger and stronger, it seems. rather than the other way, which you predicted once, that he would be on the down. >> putin's strengths is very much a result of our weakness. any sign of indecisiveness, hesitation, fuels putin wpower. i can do this, nothing will happen. >> reporter: is there any possibility he will be acquitted? >> no. >> reporter: none? >> no putin treats gershkovich as money or weapons. it's one of the tools of him staying in power. he will be negotiating. >> reporter: putin himself has made that clear. he said he was open to a prisoner swap involving gershkovich and paul whelan and a deal for opposition leader alexei navalny right before he died in a russian prison last month. >> w

the sfb officer who is in jail in germany, he was raised around the time that brittney griner's negotiationse taking place. obviously, she got out in exchange for viktor bout, and the germans wouldn't release the sfb officer. do you get any sense from the backchannels, the reporting you do, that there is a path for evan to get out, that there may -- the americans may be able to talk to the germans and get this sfb officer out? if the germans agreed, would that be enough for the russians to release evan. >> you make a really important point. he's being held in germany. he's not being held here in the states. there is a diplomatic challenge here. it goes to putin's absolute belief that america runs the west, that america is able to just say to germany, "release this guy," and germany will do it. of course, that isn't the case, although, absolutely, you know, the american government is enormously powerful. those negotiations continue. putin has said -- sorry, dmitry peskov, the spokesman, said they're better behind closed doors. that may be right. i do think there is an aspect of this, though,