come home to the us and _ evan and paul will come home to the us and step — evan and paul will comeep on home soil. ijust don't know— us and step on home soil. ijust don't know when. so there has been this baseline of a certain sense of optimism — this baseline of a certain sense of optimism. it has been a very tough road to— optimism. it has been a very tough road to get— optimism. it has been a very tough road to get to point. obviously focused — road to get to point. obviously focused on the various complex elements _ focused on the various complex elements. it is notjust going to be one direction, so one has to question— one direction, so one has to question with a leader like vladimir putin. _ question with a leader like vladimir putin. who — question with a leader like vladimir putin, who is such a transactional leader. _ putin, who is such a transactional leader. he — putin, who is such a transactional leader. he is— putin, who is such a transactional leader, he is not going tojust bow to washington's pressure, as we know, _ to washington's pressure, as we know. so— to washin

evan gershkovich is now free, paul whelan is out, we'll talk to evan's friend.l jack keane, advising people not to visit. and secret service will hold a press conference today with whistleblowers making claims about cheatle's replacement and kamala harris expected to make v.p. pick by monday as questions swirl over josh shapiro cancel ing fundraiser to be by her side. progressives are saying he better not be her pick. and a lifeguard injured saving a boy from drowning, that hero will join us. plus, gronk is here, no longer playing, but in good shape and will talk football. and maverick city music will rock the series, they are playi playing already. get dressed, hope you laid out your clothes the night before. you're now on your own, make me proud. k . they've 20,. ♪ >> todd: americans are celebrating the return of political prisoners from russia but some in the media are taking the opportunity to celebrate biden's so-called accomp accomplishments. >> the president is going to leave in the next six months with a huge win. the economy is growing. he is releasing

first of all, evan, i don't know evan personally.ut i have been citing his work in my academic work for years. he was one of the best journalists we have inside russia. that's why he was arrested. and it was a deterrent. putin put everybody on notice. you want to do this kind of worse, this sensitive work or reporting difficult things, these are the risks you have, and it works. lots of russian journalists as well as americans now working from abroad, they're working in lithuania and germany, and that's just, you cannot do the kind of reporting that evan was doing from those places. secondly, just to david's point, it will last, you know. lots of people will not be in this business anymore, and putin has effectively closed down, arrested and at times killed some of russia's best journalists, and that means that we on the outside just don't understand russia as well. and that's good for putin, and that's bad for the united states and the rest of the free world. >> secretary blinken said in march, evan did nothing wrong. journalism is

we had the family of evan gershkovich played a l evan gershkovich played a pivotal role, particularlyhen it came to the negotiations into this complex deal. what more openly heard from the families and are they expected to be there as well as the plane touches down? indefatigable is a word that can be used about evan gershkovich�*s mother, simply refusing to let his name drop out of the headlines, making sure every single time there was a high level meeting that evan's name was mentioned. we can see the motorcade of president riding arriving now. —— president biden. the most high—profile us prisoners in modern times, and they are almost back in modern times. hopefully we can bring pictures of the motorcade. there they. we will just of the motorcade. there they. we willjust sit on those pictures for a bit. another question, and we touched on it earlier, but this was incredibly complex a deal to get to where we are today? it really is. not only did it involved a number of agencies involved a number of agencies in the us but it involved seven different nations around the world, in total

evan is an extraordinary journalist.of his work when we were preparing for the anniversary. "the wall street journal" having a blank front page where his work would have been. he was traveling between russia and ukraine, fearlessly. traveling around russia. he is the son of russians. they came in the '70s. the fact that he was raised here. he loved his russian culture. his mother told me how much he loved russia. they grew up with russian names that their mother gave them, he and his sister. they spoke russian in the home. for him to have been a prisoner of russia's sham legal system and abused this way for more than a year is so tragic on so many levels. the last image we saw of him was at that sentening in the second week of july. the fact that they accelerated the sentencing and his trial and did it within 48 hours, seemed to be a signal something was going on. in fact, it was. one concern everyone has had is that kara-murza might not be in good health. there was urgency to get these people. >> that's right. you could

they have campaigned, we have all been wearing free evan and i stand with evan pins. is free for the people to read, i have written to evan personally and had a letter back. they have spent hours and hours doing nothing but lobbying the us government to ensure he was designated as wrongfully detained so that the us government could enter into some of these more high—level negotiations with the russians and have made sure in every high—level setting evan's name is mentioned. high-level setting evan's name is mentioned-— high-level setting evan's name is mentioned. . ., , mentioned. what are your concerns for otherjournalists _ mentioned. what are your concerns for otherjournalists who _ mentioned. what are your concerns for otherjournalists who work i mentioned. what are your concerns for otherjournalists who work in i for otherjournalists who work in russia at the moment? this for otherjournalists who work in russia at the moment?- russia at the moment? this is exactly the — russia at the moment? this is exactly the point. _ russia at the moment? this is exactly the p

we celebrate for evan and the others and families, particularly evan and our colleague at the "wall streetd emphasize the point you made these are innocent people being exchanged for guilty people. hostage is the right word. my first thought when i heard this news, harris was to the political point that benjamin touched on earlier. why now? is there a connection with our presidential election here? because that is the crucial timing point now. putin is a highly political ply re player and you have to imagine that he sees this as part of the text. his fate, his country's fate is intimately connected with what happens just in a few months' time in our election. the question is when was this decision made by putin? was it made after or before joe biden dropped out of the presidential race? in other words, were we in a situation where putin was assuming that biden would be the candidate, would lose the election and he was going to have to deal with donald trump, or is he now assuming that with kamala harris in the race it is more open and that he can play a part in influencing our election? th

tell us more about evan gershkovich? that washington. tell us more about evan gershkovich?— gershkovich? that is the official word from _ gershkovich? that is the official word from his _ gershkovich? that is the official word from his employer, - gershkovich? that is the officiali word from his employer, hugely important today. everyjournalist important today. every journalist will important today. everyjournalist will in that newsroom will have wanted to see this, every editor who has ever worked on that newspaper will have wanted to see this. anyone working on the wall streetjournal would have been hoping for this day without getting their expectations too high because it isjust so complex, but their real, putting it out there now that he is a free man. real cause for celebration, notjust for the wall streetjournal, for us journalism in general. we heard from the committee to protect journalists, those sorts of organisations have been working very hard to secure his release, keeping up hard to secure his release, keeping up the pressure on diplomats and the biden adminis

it appears that evan and paul apparently are coming home.ner exchange between the u.s. and russia in the works as we speak that would free the jailed american

mentioning evan gershkovich's mother. if anyone hasn't read the wall street journal's tiktok of how everything unfold up for them behind the scenes, she is the mvp of this. she's the definition of a mama bear given everything that she did. you can see at right there. she is overjoyed. she worked tirelessly, the links she went to. she became a reporter and had connections. the story is incredible. everything she did. you can see how belated all the families are here. also, the president. it is striking to see the president is taking this moment in. he's in a very good mood. he is taking questions and he lingered and hung around to try to absorb this. all the work he and his administration is put into this, and he tried to put it in the context of two things. one, family. how important family is and that's the driver of everybody but he also said it's the essence of who america is as a country. that you have relationships and you have moments like this and you get things done and come together. you can tell he is feeling ve

that this was happening, that evan was still there i guess i would start have you spoken with evan or his family yet today thanks very much, phil and really right back at you guys. >> cnn, along with so many of our colleagues, media and it's been phenomenal in standing up for evidence, speaking for him when he was signing we're are extremely grateful i have been in touch with his sister, danielle to just said by texts that they were just on the moon they're waiting for evan to land and return for space in a few hours over here at the journal, were just joy, relief smiles and tears. same time that just does unbelievable to think what is going through their minds and the minds of the other families being reunited today i to be candid, i don't think i can even get my head around what everyone must be feeling at this moment in time the complicated nature of this deal. >> i think there were so many kind of fits and starts. okay. maybe there's progress, maybe everything's fallen apart over the course of the last year. when did you know that this was going to get done? >> when he put his sea

he knew that america wanted evan gershkovich.and others and he had something to trade. i think this is pragmatic. i think it is a dealfor vladimir putin. remember this is a man who believes he is at war with the west and, as far as he is concerned, the russian dissidents in prison are enemies of russia. in a way this is a kind of wartime exchange for him. this is not an act of political thawing, it is not an act, a conservatory act, or an act of mercy. it is made in conditions of mercy. it is made in conditions of war between two countries, a political war if not a fighting war. for the families of these prisoners it has been an agonising time and so many of them have campaigned really hard to try and see this day and make sure it happened. if we could just talk about one of these prisoners for a moment and you have mentioned him already, vladimir kara—mirza. i know you have had correspondence and interviewed his wife before. tell us what she has been so the family has been through. i don't know where there is confirmation that h

, and in speaking upfor evan, and in the speaking up for evan, and in the last couple of weeks it startedre so delicate, so knife edge balance that we did not breathe a sigh of relief until we knew his feet were on the tarmac and he was out of russian custody. d0 were on the tarmac and he was out of russian custody.- out of russian custody. do you think this _ out of russian custody. do you think this would _ out of russian custody. do you think this would change - think this would change anything more broadly when it comes to russia's relationship with western nations? the key auoin with western nations? the key going forward _ with western nations? the key going forward for— with western nations? the key going forward for the - with western nations? the key going forward for the us - with western nations? the key going forward for the us will . going forward for the us will be first of all their families still have loved ones in russia in jail so i am still have loved ones in russia injail so i am sure the us will continue to work for them. the bigger points will be how was the us and i

front page declaring evan gershkovich is free. his family says we can't wait to give him the biggest hug. he was detained on assignment in march of 2023. then, last month, he was hurriedly sentenced to 16 years in a russian penal colony for espionage. the u.s. government is calling that a sham. >> it is an incredible relief. >> reporter: president biden celebrating at the white house today, surrounded by family members of those released. >> now the brutal ordeal is over and they are free. >> reporter: they include paul whelan, the marine veteran who was detained in 2018. tonight, his family thinking president biden while accusing the kremlin of taking years off his life. also, alsu kurmasheva, a russian dual citizen who was visiting her mother in may of last year when she was detained on a foreign agent charge . and vladimir karen moussa, hold the u.s. green card. a complex prisoner swap, nothing like since the cold war. two dozen individuals, the handover in turkey with seven separate aircraft and eight russians putin wanted back

evan, being evan, he filled the entire page with what he had to write and say to president putin.ter his release, would putin be willing to sit down for an interview? everyone is buzzing about it. it speaks to evan and who he is. >> his parents are from russia. she had her own heritage coming out of world war ii, her parents. the fact that they came here and she gave both of her children russian names. he learned chess. he was raised in that family, the cabbage soup and the rest. she had so much identification with russia as he did and is fluent in russian. the whole story is amazing. you didn't spoil any ending, because it's so gripping, i could read it over and over again. every publisher should be blessed with the teams you have and with the digital editor that you are. i want to meet you in person. >> likewise. thank you so much. thank you for the support. our hearts are bursting today for evan and his family. >> and all journalists as well. thank you so very much. >> thank you. >>> and american icons, simone biles, katie ledecky, cementing their places in olympic history as w

here is evan and his mother. is a beautiful moment. >> those cheers and applause that you can maybe here, that is coming from the more than 1000 wall street journal employees and colleagues who have been working so hard toward his release and making sure the story stayed in the headlines. there he is, hugging family members. his sister and it is something that i am sure he was thinking about. picturing it and visioning it, perhaps it is something he thought about when he was in detention. now he is living at. we can't hear exactly what those words exchanged between a loving family and their son and brother are in this moment. here is alsu kurmasheva, reunited with her daughter and family . it is 11:49 pm here. her daughter is turning 13 i believe at midnight. she didn't know if she will be able to spend the birthday with her mom. now she is in her arms. arms just heard a loud cry. one of total excitement and perhaps a bit of release and relief at the same time. that emotion building for so long. we are seeing pau

so there has been a lot of coverage of evan gris, cuz it's his case. our viewers might remember those images of hand, but watching court room proceedings unfold around him as he watched up from behind a glass cage, evan, grotesque of which is a reporter for the wall street journal. he was detained in russia while on assignment for his paper. so he was detained last year. last months, he was sentenced to a 16 year sentence on espionage charges. now, evan grace could, which is a cause, became really a rallying issue for the international press community. because essentially of endorsed coverage, of course, was arrested for merely doing his job and on. and then he found himself, of course, uh at the center of this plot as the kremlin not as a crumbling use them as upon to try and go to their own russian prisoners fried. but of course, no evan or gas cabbage has been included in this deal, to the relief of his friends and family and of course, of his employer. the wall street journal. the wall street journal coming out with a big page shot today saying, w.

however, after the exposure of ryan evans' identity, some publications in the kingdom itself stopped calling him a bbc journalist, for example, in the headline they got by with the laconic "britishman". the english guardian followed its example, adding that evans was a former soldier, although whether he was a former soldier is also a question. there it is still necessary to find out whether he was a former soldier, because many, as if nato regulars operate on the territory of ukraine under the guise of volunteers, former military mercenaries or pmcs, but in fact these can often be active officers, employees of the special services, who are simply legends, well, including under journalists, such support personnel, it is possible that he could be engaged in intelligence issues, the purpose of the instructions, this is one of the people who, well, one, let's say , participants. hybrid war against the russian federation on the territory of ukraine, it turns out that the case of ryan evans, a journalist's podcast, was essentially the same terrorist as those covered by the western press i

we know of course that evan gershkovich is involved according to the biden administration. but there are other americans alex mentioned vladimir kara-muza, he's a prominent critic of the kremlin. he was detained in 20 22 actually, after he spoke on cnn and he said that the kremlin, that president putin's regime is regime of murderers. so that is one we'll be watching to see if there there's any movement there. there's also all also kurmasheva. she is a journalist. she was working for rader radio free europe. she traveled back into russia sure last spring, last summer to visit her mother, and then she was detained both of her passports taken away from her, including, of course, her american passport. she has not gone through a trial, but her family has encouraged the state department to pay close attention to her case, specifically because they say there are so many similarities between her work and the work of evan gershkovich that wall street journal reporter who was deemed wrongfully detained by the state department. there's also marc fogel. he he is an american teacher w

first, americans, paul whelan and evan gershkovich are part of this. what is being described as a large scale prisoner exchange and release i've coming from russia germany involved. we believe germany, russia, united states, and possibly more countries involved, saw kayla tausche at the white house standing by for us on your screen there. let's get over to kayla. >> he listened a huge moment for the country and for the white house. >> and this administration. what are you hearing from there well kate you were just mentioning that december 22 exchange of brittney griner for the soviet arms dealer known as the merchant of death. >> it was an immediate aftermath of that exchange that the biden administration came under immense scrutiny from the family of paul whelan, who in at least one iteration of the proposal had been included by the united states. they had sought his release alongside grant griner's. but as we know, he was not included in that president biden took multiple meetings with the whelan the family in many cases, at their request and then th

you certainly have that with evan.d his evan was a "wall street journal" reporter detained on march 292023 while doing his job as a journalist. >> for american leadership, americans should be able to do their jobs without having to adjust their lives especially when their job is to report on these kinds of regimes. is the only way we can learn about it. it's not about adjusting to resumed continual weakness of american leadership and demanding that we have leadership that allows someone to do his job without having this happen to him and his family. >> there will be other journalists who are activated. they know better than anyone that where they are going, and american leadership and special forces will not necessarily be able to protect them. that is what makes what they do that much more important and sacred. that is why it is codified in the first amendment. >> the boyfriend, the russian ballerina currently held captive in russia. he says please, everyone, keep it alive so we can hopefully look forward to welcoming

people had pins that said free evan. this is an industry that has been anxiously waiting for his return home advocating, knowing he is an innocent man and so this news today is certainly welcomed and we'll continue to learn more details about what went on behind the scenes to arrange this prisoner swap. oftentimes these conversations are taking place behind the scenes and getting text messages on signal from u.s. intelligence sources familiar with this process and especially as it relates to the war in ukraine. they say that the americans involved in these conversations are some of the best that we have as a country. that they've been closely monitoring evan's case and looking for these opportunities. so again we continue to be very careful with the information on this developing story but for this 32-year-old reporter held in a russian prison for more than 16 months it is a relief to say the least as we continue to follow developments about this story. >> bill: trey, thank you for that. trey, if you could, maybe shed so

that was keeping evans case a priority. the responsibility of friends and colleagues, other journalists like myself, as we saw it, was to keep attention on evan, to have the public, remember evidence to have that hopefully create a kind of pressure and incentive calculus for various governments to, to work on athens k. so, so we really thought of ourselves as using the channels and means that we know best from our own work that is, you know, working the media going on shows like this one and keeping evans name out in the press. so his case was forgotten and that put some, some healthy pressure on those in government to keep working the case. okay, so you've been, i'm in contact with his uh, with his family and have you had any contact with athens since he was arrested last year? i yes, one remarkable feature of his imprisonment, despite being held in this maximum security prison in moscow, the 4th of a known as the kind of house prison of the f s. b, the russian security agency. that is a successor to the k g b. i look forw

cages, evan and his family. his family have been incredible advocates the whole way. they have been our guiding lights, really,. and then the second is the string of support we got from other media, yourselves included, extremely grateful to msnbc and all of its viewers for all of their support over the last 16 months. there was a wellspring of support for him, and that when his voice was silenced was so vital and play add big role in everything you see today. >> we were lesser for it as journalists and i know that those who knew him have much to celebrate today. paul beckett, thank you so much. we do appreciate you coming on the program again, and sharing on this happy day, finally. i've got two editors here, so i can't miss the opportunity. rick, you've written so extensively for such a long time for "time" magazine to the "new york times" to "the new yorker," what do you want to write about this? >> you know, chris, i want to pick up on your point about the fact that we're talking about journalists here, and

evans arrest certainly changed the calculus overnight. a year and a half ago when he was arrested about what the risk calculus was or what the risk perceived re, or real honest for western journalists working in russia and, and i don't think there's going back to the way things were rushed for. um, that's both because of the reality in russia, the nature of the war time censorship laws that are on the books in russia and the president of them is never going away. and i think that's for the near future as long as per our that's a new environment for reporting from inside russian. go to. okay, thanks so much for joining us at joshua yeah, for doing this in front of ethan gaskin, which was your us presidential race with donald trump slightest attempt. yolanda blow on his democratic arrival, carmella harris appears to have backfired. the republican presidential candidate was appearing at the annual conference of the association of black john list in chicago, and when told me, attack about harris's identity on qualifications. i've known her a

and he said he could really relate to what evan was going through in that day in that courtroom.e a listen to what he told me i'm sympathetic and empathetic man and his family quite understand what they're going through. and my family certainly understands what they're going through something that you just can't fathom because she if you're a tourist or like evan, he was just doing his job and you end up in a cage in a courtroom being told that you have to spend 16 years hard labor now at the same time in the conversation, erin, he was hopeful that that conviction which we know was moved up ahead of time. >> we expected that to be this week and it was earlier last that's month he hoped that would grease the wheels for what happened today. so we will wait to see him reunited with his family after that long 5.5 years, erin, his family who was into indefatigably i advocated on his behalf again and again, i know painfully for them talking to all of us to try to keep their brothers fade his his sister and his brother have spoken out so forcefully we to make sure that the u.s governmen

government to do whatever it takes to bring evan home. >> steve: right. >> evan is in a prisoner.ner designed to isolate and break you down. evan is in the very hard condition. and he's fighting very hard to stay mentally fit. to say stay physically fit. and he wrote to me in a letter every day is like swimming against the stream steve yeah. >> it takes a lot of effort. we embrace american trait of optists. we are still very hopeful. and we are cheering on the u.s. government. please bring concentrate. he deserves this. >> brian: getting frustrations not hearing anything from the biden administration. going to go nuclear and public and go on fox and talk about frustration into 200 days into captivity. they didn't feel urgency there. >> the way they quoted in the "wall street journal" is the mother wanted to throw a hand grenade and so she memorized exactly what she wanted to say to the biden administration. get serious about this. and that's why she came on our show. all right. let's bring in somebody from the "wall street journal." mccarthy the chief digital editor and colleague

derrick evans: derrick evans is in the capitol. no vandalizing property. i did more to control the crowd than the police did that day, and i'm the one that goes to prison. donnie o'sullivan: so why were you sent to prison? derrick evans: because this is a political charges right now. i'm a political prisoner. all these people in prison now are political prisoners. donnie o'sullivan: you did decide to plead guilty. derrick evans: yeah. donnie o'sullivan: was that just out of practicality? derrick evans: well, i mean, when you're facing 24 years in prison, what options do you really have? i was ready to move on with my life. and the constitution was written for one reason and one reason only. it was written to prevent the government from infringing on our natural god-given rights. what i was doing that day was not only protected by the constitution was protected by those natural god-given rights of free speech. donnie o'sullivan: but also, of course, there's a separation between church and state. derrick evans: no there's not. there's no separation of church

other friends, supporters of evans could write in letters. i haven't could right hand written replies, you'd get a scan of a hand written letter sent back to you. but, but this worked and in this way we were able, i was able to keep up with that and tell him a bit about my life. what was happening with me here a bit about his life, his routine, how he passed his days, what was on his mind. and of course, he wasn't able to say everything and we couldn't discuss the case. there was lots that wasn't in those letters. but at the same time, there actually was a remarkable amount in those letters and, and i feel like i and other friends and supporters. i haven't got a sense for what he was gonna do is we couldn't really imagine it. but nonetheless, we had evans words to help us picture it. okay, so he and others. i fortunately i find for the coming, how do you think once he's over there? so i don't know. obviously, i don't know what the, the terms of the deal, but i wonder what your thoughts are on working in russia from this point as well. evans a

evan!d relieved, given what they've been through and of course, i'm sure both desperate to give their families a sure both desperate to give theirfamilies a hug as sure both desperate to give their families a hug as well as speaking to... that you have it, what a moment. can only guess his mother. who of course has been tireless, that his father there in their campaign, keeping it in the headlines as we've been discussing to ensure that this story was not out of the headlines there and then you have the third american alsu kurmasheva journalist as well, also receiving a hug from president biden. a poignant moment. alsu kurmasheva another generalist shaking the hand of the vice president kamala harris. so, that the americans now... there she is, embracing herfamily, it's this moment is that a really difficult to provide commentary for because you can willie not explain what the families must be feeling right now. —— because you cannot really explain. the weeks, they have been waiting for thi

on evans willingly gave ukraine a pause.ditorial offices act as accomplices, because they issue journalistic credentials to people who are not journalists, in this sense, the entire media machine in the west actually works, well, not to the point of jura, but de facto it works as a cover for combatants, in armed conflicts there has long been a distinction between combatants and non-combatants, that is, who is a legitimate target, who is not, but our enemy himself has destroyed these rules, if he is a specialist in... security, then he is more likely military or intelligence officer than a journalist. we found ryan evans' profile on a foreign job search site, and there 's not a word about journalism there, he's a security specialist since 2011, worked in libya for 10 years, as an operations manager, which were carried out under the auspices of the british foreign office, some operations can only be guessed at, here's another discrepancy, until this january, please note, he was a private security employee. the company turns ou

specifically, paulwhelan, evan a feat of diplomacy.evan gershkovich, a feat of diplomacy. specifically, paulwhelan, evan gershkovich, of course, alsu kurmasheva. she was imprisoned overfailure course, alsu kurmasheva. she was imprisoned over failure to course, alsu kurmasheva. she was imprisoned overfailure to register as a foreign agent will stop and vladimir kara—murza, who is in prison on treason charges. so taking all those together, we know there will be a real sense of relief obviously for the families that will be echoed by president biden, but he will be adding that sort of sense of rejoicing when he speaks to them in the white house, when he addressed the white house, when he addressed the nation. i think this is hugely significant in terms of politics. there were 16 people secured by the united states in exchange for eight in the other direction, so purely on the numbers it looks good for the biden administration to have carried that off. but also the significance of those four names i have just mentioned. long—standing celeb

that is evan in a nutshell, honestly.hout this ordeal, and he always maintained a great sense of humor. >> did he respond to your letters? >> he'd respond. he would talk to me about, you know, the recipes he was making with the limited food he had access to, how he'd play chess with his cell mate. he was always really light humored in his letters. that's just who he is. >> it is beyond your ability to predict, but what do you think he does next? >> i think he is going to be a reporter. that's my hot take. i was with the family yesterday because they were here in washington with the president, obviously, so i got to chat with them a little bit. it is hard to imagine him doing anything other than journalism. however, i will say, when he first got off the plane around midnight, he beelined it to the journalists who were there. there were tons of journalists at the joint base andrews. the first words out of his mouth were that he wants to advocate for some of the russian political prisoners who he was in prison with. >> yeah.

that colleague the general list, evan guesstimates has been freed from prison in russia. and while guesstimates is the best known, believe he's run a 24 people entitled to live, at least on the negotiations of a complex and involved some difficult choices. german chances are laugh shots played a key role in the swap. that's because the key figure returning back to russia was this man that didn't classic off. he was sentenced to life in prison to the 2019 murder in berlin of a judge and age for too long side chechen minutes. and it was a particularly complicated decision for gemini, not least because of the praise. and this of the matter. it took place in broad daylight invalid and central tech got to talk just minutes away from the parliament and the johnson. let me try to talk to him. i'm nothing makes this decision to the cloth in the sentence to life imprisonment. so i've thrown you a few years in jail, an easy on the states interest in enforcing the prison sentence had to be weighed up against the freedom and change it to life and then of innocent people imprisoned in

or even evan himself? >> sandra: on the last week it has been very emotional for them, this moment seems to draw closer but you never know what will happen. this morning on their way to the white house, we dropped them o off. there was a lot of humor and a lot of tender moments when we all realized the family in particular what this meant that this ordeal had come to an end. so it is one of the most touching moments that i personally have ever experienced but also i know that for a family who has been heroic throughout all of this, this was a day there will never forget of course. >> john: you and sandra mentioned emma tucker commander in chief and we saw her in the newsroom spreading the good news and here's what she said in an email to the staff "it is a joyous day for evan's family, friends, and colleagues were worried about him and supported him the past 16 months. he was our inspiration, the galvanizing force. we watched him deal with his absurd predicament with strength, composure, humor, and a heart

we found a profile of ryan evans on a foreign job search site.here is not a word about journalism here. he is a security specialist since 2011, worked for 10 years in libya, as an operations manager, which were carried out under the auspices of the british foreign office, some operations can only be guessed at and... here's another inconsistency: until this january, pay attention, he was an employee of a private security company, it turns out that the reuters that claims that evans has been working in their agency for 2 years, the same reuters that professes high standards of journalism, is brazenly lying, well , what are those same foreign private security companies that evans worked for doing, this is a video from their official websites, training sessions where they practice grabbing with a bag over the head or shooting at targets, very far from the usual work of reporters, even in a combat zone, here it is easy... we can recall examples that this is one of the functions of private military companies, for example, specialists of the black wate

and you read that evan -- you said that evan liked to grace the world with his cooking.t do you look forward to doing and tell us a little bit about the evan you knew prior to captivity. >> oh. yeah. i mean, evan is the smartest, hardest working best guy i know. he is the last person that should have been locked up in prison he likes to watch the jets win. it's funny for me when they lose. but, yeah, no, seven just the best guy, you know, he is the world's kind of learning about him now in these past 491 days but he has always been him. and, you know, he put himself through college working the grill at bowdoin and just he has always been such a hard worker and the best friend that i could ask for and that's why as you guys saw. journalists. americans people were all over the world writing him letters. sending his family letters supporting him in any way they could seven a good hang. he is the best guy. >> brian: the jets is the best jets team in a while so things could be breaking his way. >> this is true. i mean, i hope. i will start rooting for the jets that now that h

we are really relieved _ about evan gershkovich? relieved to _ about evan gershkovich? we are really relieved to hear— about evan gershkovich? we are really relieved to hear this - about evan gershkovich? we are really relieved to hear this news| really relieved to hear this news and looking forward to welcoming evan back to american soil after the 16 long months that he spent in a russian prison accused of spying, when in fact he was arrested for doing hisjob as when in fact he was arrested for doing his job as a journalist. and i doing his 'ob as a “ournalist. and i wonder, doing his job as a “ournalist. and i wonder, before _ doing his job as a journalist. and i wonder, before we _ doing his job as a journalist. and i wonder, before we talk _ doing his job as a journalist. and i wonder, before we talk a - doing his job as a journalist. and i wonder, before we talk a bit - doing hisjob as a journalist. and i wonder, before we talk a bit more about evan and the other people you are looking to hear news about, i wonder what your tho

evan gershkovich was then arrested in 2023 at the end of march. and this added even more urgency to these us efforts to get them home. and we are told by national security adviser jake sullivan that these were painstaking negotiations over months and months months they involved quiet diplomacy among a number of allies scouring the globe to look for people to include in this swap. and perhaps the most important element, trying to convince germany to include this convicted russian assassin named vadim krasikov who was the key demand from moscow. moscow has made very clear for years that they wanted krasikov back and that they would not release americans until the germans did so, so jake said that this was a lot of efforts to have these conversations with german officials to get them on board with this deal. he actually met with evan's parents in the white house back in february, right around the time that russian distance, alexey navalny passed away and this help to them get to this point where they were really determined to get this deal in place t

among those released the wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich. speaking from the white house alongside the family members of the released americans, president biden thanked us allies involved in mediating the exchange. moments ago, the families and i were able to speak to them on the telephone from the oval office. they are out of russia, earlier today they were flown to turkey. and soon they'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families. in the uk, the prime minister has announced new measures the bbc�*s director general reveals he knew in november that huw edwards had been arrested for possession of the most serious category of indecent images of children. also coming up on the world today: venice limits the size of tourist parties to 25 people, in the latest attempt to reduce the impact of crowds on the lagoon. welcome to the world today, an hour of international news from the bbc. it is one of the biggest prisoner exchanges between east and west in recent history. 26 people have been swapped between russia and the united states and

american reporter evans, 1st of which is among those freed by the criminal russians, released by the west, include a convicted murderer, free from jail in germany, as if people have attended the funeral in around of how much political liter smile . i mean, it was killed in a suspect, which is really striking to run on when the problem in the ass welcome to the program, the largest prisoner swap between russia and the west. since the cold war has been completed in turkey, the exchange took place at 9 correct airport and involved 24 adults and 2 children, many high profile prisoners held in russian jails have been released. include american journalist evans, 1st of which, former us marine poll whelan and several russian disciplines. vladimir approved him personally, greeted the prisoners who returned to russia among them fighting cross because he was serving a life sentence in germany for want judges called a russian state, ordered killing in a berlin park as well. germany played a key role in the prisoner exchange transfer or life sholtes met some of the former detainees when they lan

and to be able to hug evan. it was his own family earlier today that said the thing they were looking forward to the most was to see his sweet and brave smile in person and i can tell you after having just seen it, it was indeed a remarkable sight sight. it is something we will have to take that stretch in order to really go through it and understand what this has all meant and i think it is a night they won't soon forget but it is really just the beginning of a very long road and process. and again as i look over here, i can tell you that the families have moved out of the area that they were in along with the president and the vice president and their respective motorcades. and that is likely because now the family members and evan paul are going to be getting on a separate aircraft to make that journey to san antonio which is where the next part of this story takes place. steph? >> it just seems like it is a feeling of elation and relief when you saw evan, after he had that funny moment with his hands on his

same thing with regards to evan. i really also have to think about the injustice for the victims of the russians, those folks were experiencing some degree of peace with regard to the fact that hardened criminals involved in various different kinds of crimes were behind bars. so i'm sure that they are, you know, saddened by the fact that these criminals are released on the russian side. but all and all, we did what we needed to do for our people to get them out and we shouldn't think about this kind of hostage swap in a broader context, with regard to other criminal regimes. russia is an outlier. russia is a unique set of circumstances, we always treated russia differently based on the fact that as a large conventional military, a nuclea stockpile and we treat them differently. i wouldn't say this is going to result in an explosion of hostage exchanges around the world. we wouldn't treat other regimes that took hostages, american hostages the same way. but i'm really frankly quite glad that these two americans and po

starting, of course, with evan gris. conventional. evan gross coverage, of course, is the wall street journal reporter who was detained in russia last year uh, on assignment. uh um, for his newspaper. we also have another during the list on the list uh, um, from radio free europe, of course, on a. um, and we have a poll real and um, the ex marine who has been there the long as he has been detained out for more than 5 years. he was detained in russia after attending a wedding, and then he found himself arrested and detained on espionage charges. there is a 4th name on the list. he is not a us citizen, but he is our british, russian national with a green card, the logged into your car. and where is a 42 years old. he was arrested for a, apparently speaking out against russia's invasion of you print. okay, tell us more about evan gasket image of the, like i said there fil a. evan brokovich shot was a, is a reporter for the wall street journal. he's 32 years old. he was arrested last year while on assignment for his newspaper. and last month he was and he was sentenced to 16 years on espi

evan gershkovich father and mother? sister and brother-in-law, and the husband of alsu kurmasheva, as well. president biden, vice president harris, walking side-by-side in a critical moment can we go back to excuse oh, they're walking right now with evan gershkovich, his mother were hearing i think the voice of paul whelan, if i'm not mistaken biden is approaching towards the press right now, while we hear more from the president in it tastes on this extraordinary moment even briefly trotting to access the press relief for the family. >> did you think that this moment would come, sir? >> yes. >> what made you feel so confident relation move ahead? that was what american, sir. >> what did you have to say to the three americans and their family members? welcome home and beyond that you said, sir, that family is everything earlier today. what has it meant to be with the family all day today as they are now finally reunited with their loved what you appreciate it. >> look anyone who's lost family worried about whether famil

"wall street journal," it shows evan, alsu and paul holding the american flag. i'm talking about "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich, former u.s. marine paul whelan, russian journalist, alsu kurmasheva, and russian dissident, vladimir, a permanent u.s. resident. u.s., russian relations, this is the culmination of extraordinarily complex and fraught negotiations going back nearly two years, and ultimately involving seven different countries and two dozen prisoners. justice a short time ago, president biden was joined by the families of those now former prisoners to celebrate this moment. >> today we're bringing home paul, evan, alsu, vladimir, three american citizens and one american green card holder. all four have been imprisoned unjustly in russia, and now their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free. moments ago their families and i were able to speak on the telephone from the oval office. they are out of russia, they were flown to turkey, and soon they will be wheels up on their way home to see their families. >> the personal role in the long an

as for evan gershkovich, he personally extended putin one final gesture before his release, according to the wall street journal, at the end of the application you shouldn't for clemency. he had to submit. he added a handwritten request for putin for an interview. always a working journalist joining us now with more on what went into this remarkable deal will joined by cnn's alex marquardt and alex, what a complicated web of diplomacy that brought this over the finish line. all the countries involved how exactly the this deal come together. >> so many parties involved, so many countries involved, you mentioned jake sullivan, of course he the white house, the president intimately involved with this process roger carstens, the hostages goes here at the state department, would have laid out the basic framework, the landscape of the deal. but i'm told that the middlemen, essentially the people doing the shuttle negotiating that was the the cia director and bill burns. and if we look back on this timeline, about 18 months after brittney griner was exchanged for the merchant of death, death