president trump and freed american hostage mark vogel. live just hours after his release from a russian prison, something that harris and biden could not get done. when that happens we will bring it to you live. and i had all these people rooting for me on tiktok. empowering over 7 million us businesses. there's no way i'd be able to support this building or any of my employees. > that went from maybe a few hundred people seeing my product to millions. they rely on tiktok to succeed. i don't think i could have gotten this far if i didn't have that kind of community. small businesses thrive on tiktok. (♪) >> sean: donald trump's special envoy for hostage affairs just announced yet another hostage will be coming home tomorrow. we don't know yet who it is but we will keep you posted. now all eyes right this hour on the white house as we await the return of mark vogel, the american teacher held hostage in russia for years in the biden years on false drug trafficking charges thanks to president trump and his special middle east envoy mackey wa

the question of why vladimir putin chose to give up a prisoner do remember that mark vogel was arrested three years ago and he was in jail sentenced now 14 years. vladimir putin sees this as part of a larger relationship with the united states the negotiations we might embark on and they might see an opportunity for a grand bargain where in the event of a deal on ukraine we eliminate some of those sanctions hurting the russian economy which is an unbalanced wartime economy. a lot is at stake but putin wanted to deliver a message to the united states. it doesn't look like there's anything we've given up from our side in contrast to the two deals and exchanges that bypass them with brittany greiner back and in 2024 we're able to get people out and it indicates and it's interesting he's already kind have to send them to do this which could be part of the discussion that took place and is one of the most charming and personal people and will vladimir putin i have no illusions who he is he's a thug murderer and a dictator but that doesn't mean we can't have a relationship where we understand

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[reporter questioning] no but it was a nice thing that he allowed mark vogel to leave.sudden about two weeks ago, he started to be treated very nicely. they took him out for haircuts, they took him out help them out a little bit and made him feel better, made him look better. and they were nice to them, he said i saw something happening and it coincided with when i came into office. so that was nice and he is a fine person. he was so happy to be out. he was there for three and a half years plus and he shouldn't have been there at all. they should have had him out much faster than that. [reporter questioning] i think pete said today that it's unlikely, it certainly would seem to be unlikely. they took a lot of land and they fought for that land and they lost a lot -- they lost a lot of soldiers. i'm not making opinion on it but i've read a lot on it and a lot of people think that's unlikely. some of it will come back, i think some of it will come back, yeah. some of that land will come b back. who were you with? [reporter questioning] well, i think if you look at the war

now this, donald trump secured the relief of mark vogel, an american teacher imprisoned in russia since1. former russia cia chief george beebe jointly now. what do you think putin gave up for this release? >> reporter: it is not clear yet what russia got in exchange for his release but what vladimir putin had in mind was aiming for an improved overall us/russian relationship. when secretary of state marco rubio had his confirmation hearings he asked loosely said improved washed us/russian relations would not be possible unless the kremlin were willing to release mark vogel. the fact they've done so now and the fact they have not publicized who they got an exchange is a strong signal that the russians are looking for a breakthrough in us/russian relationship. david: one thing vladimir putin is suggesting, not sure if it came direct the from vladimir putin, suggesting relations between dc and moscow are on the brink of collapse. i didn't know there were relations between russia and the united states right now but what is that about? are people kind of making their first move in a long che

he was the one that picked up mark vogel in russia and had a chance to meet with vladimir putin. first of all thank you, think secretary of state marco rubio, think the president, everybody involved, i'm so glad this man is home. well done my friend, great job. >> thank you sean and things for having me. >> we appreciate you being here. let's walk through. because we are friends personally, i've known you for a long time. your life has changed rather dramatically in the last eight months. and you're involved in a lot of high-level negotiations to bring peace around the world. the next thing i know you are headed to russia and you are bringing home an american hostage held for three and a half years and meeting with russian president vladimir putin i would say your life has changed quite a bit. >> it's changed in the sense that the president has given me a gift. a gift of doing something larger than i've ever done before, helping others. it's a blessing for me and i'm so grateful to him. >> let's talk about how this was all unfolding. tell me from the beginning what your involveme

. >> starting negotiations, the part of the deal -- >> it was a nice thing that allowed mark vogel to leave. mark was not feeling well. all of a sudden two weeks ago he started being treated nicely, they took him out for haircuts, they helped him out a little bit and made him feel better, made him look better and they were nice to him. he said i saw something happening and it coincided one -- with when i came into office, so that was nice and he is a fine person. so happy to be out. he was there for three and a half years plus and should not have been at all, they should have had him out much faster. >> do you see a future in which ukraine returns to ukraine in 2014? >> pete said that is unlikely. they took a lot of land, they fought for the land and they lost a lot of soldiers, but it would just seem to me, i've read a lot on it and people think it is unlikely. some of it will come back, some of it will come back, yeah, some of that land will come back. who are you with? you are who? ok. >> i wanted to ask, you've been talking about nato membership, these are demands russia has made

mark vogel who is a schoolteacher was detained in russia since 2021 and is now on a plane. we have a great picture of him, very happy on that plane on his way home. he was helped by the special envoy to the middle east. who pretty much keeps pulling off what we did not see accomplished in the last administration. we will have more on that marc fogel later this hour. and also right now we have learned that president trump will sign new executive orders at the white house where indeed we are seeing snow across that camera. basically the goal of this executive order is to say that anything going on with doge in an effort to shrink the federal workforce is indeed the executive order of the president of the united states. democrats have been protesting, reacting forcefully to everything that has been happening with regard to trying to cut some of the spending, $36 trillion in debt remember and now they are threatening that if this continues they will consider shutting down the government. watch. >> i am from jersey so i look a little differently. i say [bleep] trump. >> i don't

trump: no, but it was a nice thing that he allowed mark vogel to leave. mark wasn't feeling well. he was all of a sudden, about two weeks ago, he started being treated nicely. they said he took him out for haircuts. they helped him out a little bit and made him feel better, made him look better, and they were nice to him. he said i saw something happening, and it coincided with when i came into office. that was nice. and he's a fine person. he was so happy to be out. he was there for 3.5 years plus, and he should not have been there at all. they should not have had about much faster. go ahead, please. reporter: do you see any future in which ukraine returns to its 2024 borders -- its 2014 borders? pres. trump: pete said today that is unlikely. they took a lot of land. they fought for that land and lost a lot of soldiers, but it would seem to me, and i'm not making an opinion on it, but i read a lot on it and a lot of people think that is unlikely. i think some of it will come back. some of that land will come back. who are you with? yeah. who? reporter: [indiscernible] pres. trump

a broader swap began yesterday when russia freed american schoolteacher mark vogel.eturn, the u.s. released russian cyber criminal alexander vanek. he was suspected of funneling billions of dollars through his cryptocurrency exchange and pleaded guilty last year to a money laundering charge. fogel arrived in the united states last night. >> i feel like the luckiest man on earth right now. >> the 63-year-old join president trump at the white house late yesterday holding a can of iron city beer and draped in an flight flag. mr. trump said the exchange can be an important part in ending the war in ukraine. a federal judge has cleared the way for president trump's plan to shrink the federal workforce through deferred resignation plan. u.s. district judge george o'toole junior in boston found a group of labor unions did not have legal standing because they are not directly impacted by the policy. more than 65,000 federal employees, roughly 3% of the federal workforce, have resigned as of tuesday morning according to the white house. and tonight, as folks -- a spokesperson

. >> jeff, tell us about the release of mark vogel.ere at the white house when he met with the president. >> yeah, i'm still at the white house. this is the reuters booth here that your viewers are getting to see the poor lighting. so sorry about that. >> but hey. >> jeff. >> i don't mind the lighting. i'm just grateful that you have a booth there. >> amen. thank you. and. yes. agreed. but back to much more important story of the release. it was, you know, it was powerful. and the you know, mark came in and he had a mr. vogel had came in with, with an american flag draped around his, his neck. it looked like he had a beer in his hand. he seemed emotional. i asked him to describe the conditions in the prison where he stayed in russia, and he said he he needed to take some time to process that. but but certainly indicated that it was very hard and very challenging. it was interesting to me. president trump also drew a contrast between how he looked and how the hostages who have been released by hamas looked. he's been making that point a

the us will release as part of the deal that freed american teacher mark vogel, who that is, it's convictedaunderer alexander vinik. vinik was facing 20 years in prison for scheming to launder billions of dollars through a cryptocurrency exchange. vogel praised the president during a trip to the white house just hours after getting back to the us. >> i feel like the luckiest man on earth right now and. i want you to know that i am not a hero in this at all. and president trump is a hero. >> joining us now, nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell, and our senior white house correspondent, gabe gutierrez. gabe, what more do we know about the president's calls with putin and zelenskyy and what comes next? >> hi there chris. >> well, as you. >> said. >> we were watching that white house press briefing with caroline leavitt. she made some brief remarks off the top about the president's calls with vladimir putin and with vladimir zelensky. she's just starting to take questions, though. so as we monitor that, i can tell you that the white house press secretary is calling the r

mark vogel is back on u.s. soil after three and half years in a russian prison.house last night. trump saying fogel's release could be a big important part of ending the russia-ukraine were. -- war. annmarie: he was left out of the mass prisoner swap last year. the kremlin is saying there would be a russian that will be released. we don't know the individual's name. i wake up early for the show and it spoke to mark fogel's lawyer. they said this could be positive in terms of new chapters when it comes to russia-u.s. relationship. maybe this is part of a broader peace agreement with russia invading ukraine. this is just the start of that agreement. lisa: to comes as scott bessent is heading to ukraine to get some sort of sense of rare earth minerals agreement on behalf of the u.s. in return for certain support. there's a lot going on. watch this space to understand how this intersects. it is like a puzzle but i have two pieces and they don't go anywhere near each other. jonathan: the president has made controversial statements over things like gaza. there's been s

gave up in order to bring home mark vogel from russia. the white house will send convicted money launderer and cybercrime cybercrime kingpin alexander vinnik to russia later this week. also today, attorney general pam bondi has announced that the department of justice is suing the state of new york governor kathy hochul and tish james, our attorney general, over immigration laws. you might notice one name is not on that list. can you guess who? new york city mayor eric adams, can you believe it? well, just this week, the department of justice ordered a u.s. attorney to drop all charges against him. and today, pam bondi sounded hopeful that mayor adams would be cooperative on immigration. >> we're hoping that in new york. >> mayor adams. >> is going. >> to. >> cooperate with us, with the sanctuary. >> cities and the. >> illegal aliens. that's what. >> we want. we don't want to sue you. >> we don't. >> want to prosecute people. we want people to comply. >> with the law. this is very simple. >> and this morning, the senate confirmed former d

mark vogel, who was a schoolteacher who's been held captive in russia for about the last three years or so, was is on his way now back to the u.s., flying back to the u.s. as steve witkoff, who's a top adviser of the president, longtime friend of the president. he was just a middle east envoy, but now his portfolio has broadly expanded. so there was some type of a swap. we don't know all the details of this, but this certainly signifies that relations are opening up between washington and moscow, which of course leads to more discussions about ukraine. this is the first time in several years that a top u.s. official has been on the ground in moscow since the invasion of ukraine. so certainly the release of this american hostage is very important, but it also signifies more to come with russia and ukraine. jake. >> all right. jeff zeleny at the white house, thank you so much. let's go to cnn's manu raju on capitol hill for us. manu, speaker johnson's comments to you this morning about trump and the courts drew quite a reaction. >> yeah. and look, this is further than. >> he went yeste

i want to tell you about the release of american mark vogel -- mark fogel.his is the front page of the wall street journal and this is his picture on the airplane on his flight home. he has arrived in the united states. it says "russians free american left out of the prisoner swap." he was a high school history teacher and he spent 1200 77 days in russian custody and flew back with president trump's special envoy steve wycoff stop here is the white house statement. "by tonight mark fogel will be on american soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to president trump's leadership. fogel's became a fraud test of washington's efforts to determine which americans overseas were worthy of rescue. it said he was 63 years old and work at the elite anglo-american school in moscow." this is gwen in portland, oregon. independent line. you are on open forum. caller: it is glen, not gwen. host: sorry. caller: that is ok. i want to talk about the tax situation everyone is so concerned with. let's start with the income tax is a regressive tax and should not

mark vogel, a teacher who was arrested on charges of bringing medical marijuana into russia in 2021,ump's special envoy to the middle east, steve witkoff. fogel has been flown out of the country on witkoff plane with the u.s. envoy for hostages posting this photo. last hour, president trump announced he will greet fogel tonight at the white house at 10 p.m. fogel is a history teacher from pennsylvania. he was serving a 14 year sentence and had been designated as wrongfully detained by the u.s. last year. wyckoff's trip to moscow was the first known trip by a senior u.s. official since november of 2021, before russia's invasion of ukraine. it is unclear what russia is getting in return, but when asked, trump told reporters, quote, not much. and he went on to say this. no, no, they were very nice. we were treated very nicely by russia, actually. i hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war and millions of people can stop millions of people can stop being killed, end quote. life with afib can mean a lifetime of blood thinners. and if you're troubled by falls a