the russians as far as paul whelan is concerned seeming to pour cold water on that this morning.e was a statement by the deputy foreign minister where he said that paul whelan was not part of the discussions when it comes to prisoner swaps, prisoner exchanges. they do say that there is a mechanism of for that. that is not to say that an agreement could not be achieved here today or tomorrow i should say between these two presidents that would include paul whelan, but that certainly would be outside of the sphere of any sort of mechanisms internationally that are already in place for such cases, rosemary. >> fred pleitgen joining us live from geneva, many thanks. >>> nato leaders are vowing to stick together to confront threats from russia and what they call challenges from china. they wrapped up their summit in brussels on monday. cnn's melissa bell is live in the belgian capital, she joins us now. so how successful was this nato alliance meeting and what is expected out of president biden's upcoming talks with the eu leaders? >> reporter: well, in the end the points of contentio

. >> paul whelan is serving a sentence on charges he says is fabricated. russian labor camp he calls on president biden to release hostages imprisoned. matthew chance joins us now. can this be resolved when president biden meets with putin? >> reporter: well, alisyn, it's one of the many issues on the list of fraught matters that have to be discussed between president biden and his russian counterpart, vladimir putin, when the meeting about 14 days from now, 16th of june in geneva, switzerland. they'll be talking about hacking, crackdown on ukraine, and also the americans held in russian jails. one of the them is paul whelan and another guy, trevor reed, serving a long sentence on assault charges. they want them swapped. paul whelan spoke to cnn, spoke to us from his labor camp in the region called mordovia, very remote, and he says he's looking to president biden and that summit in geneva for hopes of a negotiated release. take a listen. >> and if you could get a message to president biden ahead of this meeting, what would it be? >> decisive action is nee

. >> paul whelan and trevor reed are two former marines. trevor reed is suffering from covid in prison. why don't you release them ahead of the summit? wouldn't that show good will? >> translator: i know that we have certain u.s. citizens who are in prison, have been convicted. but if one considers the number of russian federation citizens who are in u.s. prisons then these numbers don't even compare. >> and on the prisoner swap question, is that something that you would consider? >> translator: yes. yes. yes, of course. >> reporter: russia has proposed a prisoner swap before. secretary of state blinken saying the americans are being held as political pawns. president putin insists he can work with biden on complicated issues and build a stable and predictable relationship. >> translator: let us sit down together, talk, look for compromise solutions that are acceptable for all the parties. that is how stability is achieved. >> president biden says one time when you met, you were inches away from each other and he said to you, i'm looking in

. >> tell us about the reporting of those americans held in russian prison, trevor reed and paul whelan>> reporter: one of the things that's been not in the works but possibly discussed as part of that meeting is a possible prisoner exchange between the u.s. and russia. vladimir putin saying he's up for something like that if it can be agreed on. there are russians in u.s. custody that the russians would like to get back, one of the ones is victor booth. there is cnn reporting that we got from the judge saying that he's been in jail for much longer than he probably should have and as part of a prisoner exchange she believes that that would be a good idea, however, the russians pouring cold water on that earlier today. they are saying that paul whelan, for instance, is not something that -- his case is not something that's currently being discussed between the u.s. and russia. the russians are saying there have been discussions between the two sides, that there is an international mechanism to try to sort something like that out, but paul whelan's case specifically they say has been excl

marines being held in russian prisons, paul whelan and trevor reed.to obtain new audio of reed pleading for his freedom. >> i would say that i've spent my whole life in the service of my country, and i would appreciate it if my country would help bring me home in this difficult situation back to my family. >> reporter: reed's family said they hope the summit will bring him one step closer to home. what would be success coming out of this summit? >> for me it would just be that they are making a plan to free him soon. it's not going to happen overnight. he's not going to fly home with the president. but as at least if there are good talks that they agree that he will be coming home soon. >> reporter: reed was arrested in 2019 and charged with assaulting police officers. he has seven years left in his sentence. president putin has suggested a u.s.-russia prisoner swap, but u.s. officials say that's off the table. in marks this morning to the russian press, putin's spokesman said they want to talk about nuclear arms control and regaining access to embass

we have paul whelan and trevor reed. trevor reed, vladimir putin said he was a trouble maker and a drunk. perhaps they can do a prisoner exchange. paul whelan, he's been charged with espionage. >> martha raddatz with us every step of the way. martha mentioning the two former u.s. marines being held in russian jails. russia has repeatedly floated the notion of a potential prisoner swap. the white house saying no comment on that. we have no expectation of whether the u.s. expects any movement on that front. right after the summit, unlike the last one, there won't be a joint press conference. it will be president biden addressing reporters after president putin. they'll answer questions on their own. president biden saying he didn't want to be compared on the world stage to putin. he didn't want their body language to be read, who shook who hands. there were headlines immediately made when president trump took the side of vladimir putin on the world stage over his own u.s. intelligence community. i want to bring in rachel s

for more than two years paul whelan has languished in russian jails insifgt he's an innocent pawn ind i'm the victim of a political kidnapping and ransom. the former u.s. marine has spoken to cnn from his penal colony ahead of a much anticipated summit with the president and russian president. >> if you can get a message to president biden ahead of this meeting, what would it be? >> action is needed immediately. an american citizen cannot stand anywhere in the world. this is russia against the united states. they need to answer this hostage situation and resolve it as quickly as possible. i would ask president biden to aggressively discuss this with his russian downter parts. >> reporter: it was at this upscale hotel in moscow in 2018 where whelan was detained by the russian security services, the old kgb, accused of receiving a flash drive containing classified situation. in a closed trial, he was sentenced to 16 years after being convicted of espionage, a trumped up charge, he said, intending to make him a valuable bargaining chip for the kremlin, something russian officials deny.

service of my country and i would appreciate it if my country would bring me home >> reporter: paul whelan, arrested in 2016, is spending 16 years in jail on treason charges. reed, arrested a year later, was charged with assaulting police officers. both say they were set up and are political pawns. we spoke with reed's family this afternoon. what would be success coming out of this summit in your view when it comes to trevor? >> for me, it would just be that they are making a plan to free him soon. it's not going to happen overnight. he's not going to fly home with the president. but at least that there is some good talks, that they agree that he will be coming home soon. >> reporter: how hopeful are you that president biden's actually going to be able to bring trevor home? >> well, let's just put it this way-- it's the most hopeful we have been in almost two years.te >> reporter: trevor reed has seven years left on his sentence. president putin has proposed a prisoner swap, but u.s. officials tell cbs news that's t off the table. off the table. norah. >> o'donnell: ed o'keefe, thank you.

now, cnn managed to speak to paul whelan's brother and he had this to say about the upcoming summit. difficult because on the one hand you want him home more than anything, you want him to come back to our family and to michigan, but i don't know that anybody is willing to have him traded for the merchant of death or some other terrible person who is sitting in a u.s. prison. it's a very difficult situation. the president is responsible for all of the american diseases wherever they are and so it's a very difficult situation for him to have to decide about. >> and of course there is another really important prisoner whose fate will most probably come up and that is the russian opposition top tigs alexei navalny. last year he was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent novichok, the united states holds russia accountable for that poisoning even though the russians have denied that. the u.s. had a has heavily criticized the imprisonment of alexei navalny however the russians continue to say that that is legit and on emb embezzlement charges. vladimir putin has no intention about talk abou

there's also the matter of several americans imprisoned in russia, including businessman paul whelan, serving a 16-year sentence for espionage. whelan insists he's innocent. in a new audio message released by his family, he begs president biden to bring him home. >> i implore you to bring this appalling case of hostage diplomacy to an end. please bring me home to my family and my dog flora, where i belong. >> reporter: today, the president telling me he's ready. you've met vladimir putin before. what have you learned about him that informs how you approach this sitdown with him? and what's your mindset walking into a meeting with a former kgb agent, who you've said has no soul? >> i'm going to make clear to president putin that there are areas where we can cooperate, if he chooses. and if he chooses not to cooperate and acts in a way that he has in the past, relative to cyber security and some other activities, then we will respond we will respond in kind. i have met with him. he's bright. he's tough. and i have found that he is a -- as they say when we used to play ball, a worthy adv

there's another american as well, paul whelan. he was accused and convicted of espionage, something he says he had nothing to do with whatsoever. he says he's innocent of any crimes. and he's serving 16 years in a russian prison as well. and so it's something president joe biden is under a lot of pressure to try to get resolved. more pressure coming from the family of trevor reed earlier today. they're issuing an emotional appeal on cnn. for the two presidents, biden and putin to come to some deal, to get their son and paul would he -- whelan back home. >> if that were true, why didn't he prove it? why didn't his kangaroo court prove it? anyone who was there, news media, whoever attended, said, this is a joke, police keep changing their story. it's not true. it's offensive. >> our hope, obviously s they can come to some agreement that will let our son come home. i guess putin is open to a prisoner exchange. some people say we shouldn't do a prisoner exchange because paul and trevor are innocent of the charges against them and the

the russians did say this is in the form of the deputy foreign minister that the issue of paul whelan was specifically excluded from the talks going on for a long time. however, earlier today, the spokesman for vladimir putin peskov said no one should speskulate about a possible exchange of victor bout for paul whelan. that's something for the presidents to talk about and then to possibly decide. so it looks like it's one of those issues where there could be tangible progress. if the two presidents do really talk about it which is seems -- >> for the president -- the russian president's spokesman even to articulate that idea because it puts it out there in a way that i suppose makes it more real. there are lots of differences between the u.s. and russia. but there are issues where there's agreement. in geneva, a deal negotiated in geneva, russia and the u.s. were in the iran nuclear deal. the biden administration attempting to resurrect this. do they expect to talk about this? make progress on that and other issues where they agree? >> it does seem to be one of those areas where they'

well, we have been told that president biden is definitely going to bring up trevor's case and paul whelan's case with president putin, and our hope obviously is they can come to some agreement that will let our son come home. i guess putin is open to a prisoner exchange. and i know some people say we shouldn't do a prisoner exchange because paul and trevor are innocent of the charges against them, and the people we would be trading are guilty criminals. but i really don't care how my son gets home. i just want hem to get home. >> you know, we think of prisoners who were guilty and pled guilty who were in american prisons for year. okay, just let them go. then we don't have to pay them and house them. they have served plenty of time already. and you know, not major crimes. just, you know, make the trade. and again, we're very happy to hear putin say he's open to a trade. and we hope that will happen immediately. >> you know, there's been a lot of posturing between president putin and president biden leading up to this summit. i wonder how concerned you become when you hear this tough talk. >

paul whelan isn't the only u.s. american citizens in a russian prison.criminal conviction for assault. they want him returned. the diplomats i've spoken to say that conviction isn't safe either and was a punishment imposed upon him. what the russians want in exchange is a couple russian citizens in u.s. jails. one convicted of smoking cocaine, another an arms trafficker. >> it raises the questions whether they're picking up these americans as bargaining chips. matthew chance, thank you. >>> ahead, we'll speak with the parents of an american journalist jailed by the country of myanmar. they have a message for the state department simply as they fight to get their son home. lactaid ice cream is the creamy, real ice cream you love that doesn't have lactose. it'll mess with every sense you have. but it'll never mess with your stomach. lactaid ice cream. available in eight epic flavors. lactaid. real ice cream that treats you right. from prom dresses to workouts lactaid. real ice cream and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but e

two american citizens at least that are contentious at least in russian jail, paul whelan and trevor reid. they're trying to find a way to get them released. if that's going to happen, there has to be a coin of phrase quid pro quo. what the russians want are some pretty high-level criminals. they want yar shane koe. and victor boot, who is, was, one of the world's most notorious arms, trafficker. there's been an intervention on his part as well. the judge that originally gave him the sentence back in 2012, she's retired now, but she made this intervention to cnn, he's been in prison for 13 years. if we can exchange him for a prisoner who has just served three years of his sentence, referring to paul whelan, that should be considered. one of the holdups has been when it comes to a prisoner swap, the russians want back a much higher level criminals than the people americans want returned to the united states. but it's ultimately something for the two presidents to discuss and decide on. brianna. >> we will see what they come up with. matthew, thank you so much for us live from geneva s

. >> reporter: two americans, marine veterans paul whelan and trevor reid, who claim they've been takenitical hostages in russia, pleaded with president biden for their release ahead of today's summit. >> i've spent my life in the service of my country and i would appreciate it if my country would help to bring me home. >> i implore you to bring this appalling case of hostage diplomacy to an end. >> reporter: wheelan arrested in 2018, allegedly for spying, found guilty of espionage, and sentenced to 16 years behind bars. >> i am from abc news, do you want to say something? >> i don't think they want me to say anything. >> reporter: a year later, reid was arrested after a drunken night out, charged with assaulting two police officers and sentenced to nine years in prison. >> i have no idea what their motives would be, but this is clearly political. >> reporter: but today the 29-year-old's parents are pleased biden brought up their son with putin. >> it's huge. and i just hope that it continues on, the momentum continues, then we have the last big, final step for him to come home. >> repo

returning me home and bringing this deplorable hostage situation to an expedient conclusion. >> paul whelan'sg some time with us. it's gut wrenching it have your brother there locked up in russia. we just heard from your brother, he was sounding in a clear voice a couple weeks ago when that recording was made but today marks 900 days since he was detained. what do you know about your brother's condition and how he's doing? >> the last time my parents spoke to paul was last week. he was going for medical attention for a -- an injury he had suffered from the work that they're doing at the labor camp. they create clothes for the russian market as well as a long suffering respiratory ailment he had. he didn't know what it was but he was getting medical treatment. >> we heard him plea for his safe return, russia has indicated it's ready to transfer u.s. citizens convicted this that country, but that doesn't include your brother. what is your reaction to that? >> that's a long standing statement from the russian government as of even back in july 2019, they were talking about wanting to do exchange

the case of paul whelan and the other american is the hacking situation, the ukraine, crackdown of dissidentshis summit is his best hope at the moment for a negotiated release. >> matthew, paul, onf course is not the only high profile american in prison there. trevor reid, as well. >> reporter: yeah. he is in prison for nine years and put in prison for essentially assaulting a couple police officers and a question mark over the extent to which that actually happened but look. the general view is that both reed and whelan are being kept as negotiating chips by the russians to exchange them to prisoners in american jails they want released but the sort of level of those prisoners talked about and spoken of publicly so high up that they don't fall sfwoo the same category as paul and trevor do. >> matthew chance, thank you so much. >>> new developments in a scandal at the kentucky derby. a second drug test that could put a legendary trainer out to pasture for a while. with visible, you get unlimited data for as little as $25 a month. but when you bring a friend, you get a month for $5. so i'm bri

two former marines for trivial issues on trevor reed's part, and the fabrication on the part of paul whelan. on the issue that jim is mentioning about cyber. that's pretty critical. i think we have a long way to go before we can find some way of talking talking about this in a holistic sense. we have seen the state perpetrating, including all the hacking into the elections, of course, and putin denied the state was involved but state proxies with the ransomware groups, and there's concerns about command and control. this is a really big issue. there's no way that was going to be resolved in this meeting. you know, there are suggestions we would be able to take this forward. the bigger thing would be to see after this if there's an announcement of different sets of professional meetings at different levels of the russian government, and meetings themselves can be an anchor to stabilize an otherwise confrontational relationship. the big thing is putin will not let up on the dirty tricks and t on the what aboutism, and this is at least a start to try and get some kind of anchor in the relation

that would make sense that he's swapped for someone like paul wh whelan who has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. another family was on cnn making a heartfelt appear to the russian and american presidents to try and come to some arrangement and try to get him back home. i think we have got sound from his mother now. >> we have been told that president biden will bring up trevor's case with president putin and our hope is that they can come to some agreement that will let our son come home. i guess putin is open to a prisoner exchange and i know some people say we shouldn't do a prisoner exchange because paul and trevor o inare innocent of charges against them and the people we're trading are guilty criminals. i really don't care how my son gets home. i just want him to get home. >> reporter: hitting the nail on the head because the problem, according to u.s. diplomat s the level of criminalalty of the russians wants returned, it doesn't match with what paul whela whelan and trevor reed are accused of. they say it's not fair swap. >> stand by. i want to get back to y

paul whelan and travel brief -- trevor reeve.lso raised the importance of a free press and freedom of speech. i made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections and we would respond. the bottom line is i told president putin we need to have some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by. i also said they are areas where there is a mutual interest for us to cooperate. for our people, but also for the benefit and the security of the world. one of those areas is strategic stability. you asked me many times what was i going to discuss with putin before i came. i told you, i only negotiate with the individual. now i can tell you what i was intending to do all along, and that is to discuss and raise the issue of strategic stability and try to set up a mechanism. we discussed in detail the next steps are countries could take on arms control measures, steps we need to take to reduce the risk of unintended conflict. i am pleased he agreed to launch a bila

and i raised the case of two wrongfully imprisoned american citizens, paul whelan and trevor reed. i raised the ability of radio free europe to operate and the importance of free press and free speech. i made it clear we will not tolerate some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by. i also said there are areas where there is a mutual interest for us to cooperate. for our people, russian and american people, but also for the benefit of the world and the security of the world. one of those areas is strategic stability. you asked me many times, what was i going to discuss with putin before i came? i told you i only negotiate with the individual. now i can tell you what i was intending to do all along, and that is to discuss and raise the issue of strategic stability and try to set up a mechanism whereby we're done with it. we discussed in detail the next steps our country should take on arms control measures. the steps we need to take to reduce the risk of unintended conflict. and i'm pleased he agreed today to launch a bilateral strategic stability dialogue, diplomatic-spea

media for the entire time trevor has been in prison, and they have been talking about that since paul whelanoner. >> do you support that swap to get your son home? >> well, first of all, we just want our son home, so we support a swap that is agreeable to both nations. >> were there any conversations with you by anybody in the administration after the meeting with putin yesterday? >> yes, we just had our weekly call with the special presidential envoy on hostage affairs and they had not gotten a full briefing from the team that was in geneva yet, so we did not have any updated information yet. >> joey and paula reed, thank you again for speaking with us. of course we all hope that your son comes home very soon. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you for continuing to show this story. >> certainly. certainly will. >> yes, we absolutely will. we will stay on top of it. it will good to get a health update from them. >> yes miles per hour. >>> >>> juneteenth, a day to mark the end of slave rein the united states will officially become a federal holiday. martin luther king jr.'s daughter,

hopeful that president putin saying he was open to it and president biden's outspoken position on paul whelans very positive. >> does it give you more hope or why does it give you more hope that your brother could be returned soon? >> paul's been in a russian prison for about 30 months, so that 900 days of being held hostage in russia has largely gone silently in the united states. the united states government, they've been doing work behind the scenes, but it was very quiet. in the last few months, we have seen a much more outspoken administration speaking out for american citizen who have been arbitrarily detained in russia. so in general we're seeing opportunities happening that may lead to paul's release that just weren't happening in the past. >> talk to me a little bit more about that because it sounded -- we played the totality, really, of what president biden said out loud yesterday about your brother, but that in and of itself, just saying his name out loud, you think, is a big difference. how much of a difference? >> well, i think it's part of a big difference. part of it is the u.s

our democratic values, and i raised the case of two wrongful imprisonments in american citizens, paul whelan. i also raised the ability to operate and the importance of free press and freedom of speech. i made it clear we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic stability and we would respond. bottom line, i told president putin that we needed some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by. >> joining us now is msnbc news correspondent keir simmons who is in moscow. we expect that to be the beast as we expect president biden to walk up the tarmac and get on the airplane to get back to the states. we also have ben rhodes and secretary of defense for ukraine and asia, evelyn farcic. we were told not to expect any deliverables, yet we were told that the russians and the americans are expected to return back to their posts, then we were told they arrived on an agreement for strategic stability. what, in plain english, is that? >> geoff, you put it right in the last segment, that we don't see results until later. to answer your question about strategic stability, we know coming

. >> how with trevor reed and paul whelan, americans in russian jails right now on very fishy charges. >> reporter: agreed, jake, and we've raise that had at many levels, raised their jailing at many levels and certainly again human rights abuses, the jailing of individuals, the jailing of americans will all be part of the discussion but the president is not going to hold back in raising issues where he has concern and he'll be straightforward and direct with president putin. that's the benefit of meeting in person. that's different than a phone call. >> here at home want to get your response because the "new york times" was the first to report and cnn has confirmed that trump's department of justice issued secret subpoenas for apple to get data from at least two house intelligence committee democratic congressmen along with their staff, family men. democratic congressman ted lwu said the department of justice was aware of this for years so why are they asking for an investigation now? your job is not to maximize presidential power. do better, unquote. what's your response? >> reporte

prisoners held here in russia, trevor reed and paul whelan and said we might be able to find some kind of compromise. of course, that will raise the hopes of their families. not a dissimilar message to what president biden had to say, which is we'll just have to see how things go in the months ahead. i think the cynical side, though, ayman, is that we've seen this story before, where president putin presents himself as prepared to negotiate whilst denying everything, and then we don't make much progress because effectively it may be that inside the kremlin, they think that this strategy of attacking and threatening and then negotiating is an effective one. it has managed to improve russia's standing and president putin, in particular, standing on the world stage. so why would they abandon that? the jury is out, frankly. president biden was honest about that before he headed back to washington. >> ambassador mcfaul, as we've mentioned, you were one of the people who helped president biden prepare for the summit. we are now on the back end of this day. we have a better sense of what happ

two of those folks, paul whelan and trevor reed. i can tell you that their families are watching this summit extremely closely. they're two former u.s. marines. could there be a prisoner swap? could the presidents lay down some conversations for the future to release these two americans detained in russia? and then the expulsion of diplomats. this is one topic that both countries do want to discuss. it has been a dramatic downturn in diplomats, russian diplomats in the u.s., u.s. diplomats in russia in recent years, and that has negatively impacted diplomacy between the two countries. know both of the ambassadors, the ambassador here in washington was called to moscow months ago. the u.s. ambassador came back to washington as well. and so this is an area where we could potentially see some forward movement. will the ambassadors go back to those countries and begin some normal working-level diplomacy? the last area i want to discuss with you is nuclear stability and arms control. this is an area where actually both of the sides have

the question of marines being held, like paul whelan and trevor reid. with trevor's parents yesterday. i don't know how they feel about the fact there was no resolution and no news that their son would be coming home. i just want to play quickly putin's response on this and a question that president biden took as well real quick. >> i think we discussed this. there could be grounds for compromise. we will work in this direction. >> the families of the detained americans, we're going to follow-through with that discussion. i'm not going to walk away. >> martha: he said he would follow-through with the discussion and not walk away. president biden. what do you think? >> i think -- i'm sure this was top on his list of items to discuss. what we need is constant advocacy. we're hostages. this is a regime under putin who engages in hostage taking. he also uses criminal networks routinely. so it's not just for hacking of our systems and the attack on our infrastructure. it's use of organized crime that works broadly to advance russia's interests. >> martha: we

rights which of course is a big thing for president biden, the situation of alexei navalny and paul whelan. fred, another big event coming up, elections in iran. it seems like the only option right side hardliners but still talks are ongoing to salvage some version of the nuclear deal if that can happen -- if that can happen it will hold under a new iranian leadership it seems like that's the big question now, right? >> reporter: yeah, i think that it if it does happen that it most probably would hold under a new iranian leadership. you are absolutely right, it certainly is shaping up that after the eight years of hassan rouhani in iran that we are looking probably towards a more hard line and more conservative leadership, most probably even h -- the big thing that the nations involved in the jcpoa are trying to salvage that agreement before the elections and that's because they will have a whole different set of negotiators if there is a new administration in tehran that could certainly make things more difficult. one of the things that we have to seen in mind in those negotiations is tha

and so i'd say, you know, just look at the situation with trevor reid and paul whelan, the two americans in prison. the united states has not been able to do very much to secure their release. i'd say it's even more complicated when dealing with a russian citizen such as alexei navalny. >> nbc news' matthew bodrin, thank you very much. >>> still ahead, a gop congressman refuses to shake hands with a police officer who protected the capitol during the january 6th riot. what some of his fellow lawmakers are saying about that. >>> a signal that progress is possibly being made when it comes to a bipartisan infrastructure deal. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. from prom dresses to workouts boost® high protein also has key nutrients and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccinat

ali, i really want to congratulate you and your team for mentioning alexei navalny, trevor reed, paul whelan sometimes get forgotten here in geneva, and we need to remember them. we need to remember their stories, and i hope that president biden does as well. with respect to that story, i'm obviously not going to comment on private conversations with president biden. but isn't it great that the president is preparing for this meeting? because if you'll remember, the last time putin met with a former president, president trump, it was clear to me, i was at that one as well, working for you, not for the u.s. government, just to be clear, that president trump was not prepared for that meeting. so i think it's a great thing that he is thinking hard about this. he said it many times along his trip so far. the one time i will talk about it, i was actually at the last one when they met. it was ten years ago. they each had different jobs. he was the vice president. putin was the prime minister. and the night before me and a guy named tony blinken, now secretary blinken, we spent several hours prepar

paul whelan and trevor reid. i made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections, and we would respond. i communicated the united states' unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. i pointed out to him, we have significant cybercapability. and he knows it. he doesn't know exactly what it is but it's significant. and if, in fact, they violate these basic norms, we will respond. cyber. he knows. >> and kevin mccarthy, also, knows. and by the way, kevin mccarthy, critiquing president biden for, in his words, giving putin a pass at the summit, is so brazenly hypocritical that it almost makes you impressed by his complete lack of shame. i mean, we have seen a president give vladimir putin a pass at a summit, in front of cameras, on live television. it was the guy who is now wasting away in mar-a-lagoville, to quote jim acosta. let's, just for reference, look at the tape. the former president with putin in h

. >> the brother, andrea, of one of those citizens of paul whelan telling us this morning that it would be a wonderful thing in his view if this summit could result in some kind of a breakthrough that get his brother back home. it's significant that secretary blinken told you this is going to be on the agenda. we will talk more about this later on in the show. it's great to see you live from overseas and i know you'll be back with us in just a moment. >>> coming up elsewhere here on the show, no guarantees. what vladimir putin has to say about the fate of opposition leader alexei navalny. we will also have reaction from mr. navalny's chief of staff. this is -- there he is "andrea mitchell reports" right here on msnbc. gives damaged hair the strength it needs. even with repeated combing hair treated with dove shows 97% less breakage. strong hair with new dove breakage remedy. hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. shows 97% less breakage. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel lik

there are two americans who are being held by the russians, paul whelan and trevor reed, both of them and, you know, this is the kind of confidence building measure where you have a prisoner swap potentially for russians held in the united states that can kind of, you know -- out of the summit kind of, you know, auto these are minor wins potentially but there are some wins for both sides, wolf. >> where do you think, peter, the president, president biden, will try to hold putin to account? >> well, i mean, i think, you know, what fred and jim were talking with you about, i mean, certainly the ransomware issue because if a way that's an easier win, i think, for both biden and putin which is to say, look, with he note the ransomware attacks are originating in russia, we know they are not directly tied to the government. you have to get a handle on these attacks. you have to crack down on these cyber criminals who we believe are based in russia. so i think that's an area where, you know, obviously once you get to the gru which is the military intelligence wing of the russian government w

included more and more people and i raised the case of two wrongfully imprisoned american citizens, paul whelan and trevor reed i also raised the ability of radio free europe and radio liberty to operate, and the importance of a free press and freedom of speech. i made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or to destabilize our democratic elections and we would respond the bottom line is i told president biden we need to have basin rules of theroid also for the benefit of the world and the security of the world. one of those areas is strategic stability. you asked me many times what was i going to discuss with putin before i came? i told him i only negotiate with the individual, and now i can tell you what i was intending to do all along that is to discuss and raise the issues of strategic stability and try to set up a mechanis where we deal with it. we discussed in detail the next steps our country should take on arms control measures. steps we need to take to reduce the risk of unintended conflict. and i'm pleased he agreed today to launch a bilater

i think where they could agree maybe trevor reid is a marine in texas -- from texas and paul whelan,and i hope the president can gain their release and finally bring them home to their families. >> bill: let's hope so. that would be progress. you mentioned cybersecurity. covid, the arctic, relations with beijing, ukraine, syria, libya, afghanistan, iran nuclear program. that's a lot in five hours. >> the list goes on and on. look, i'm not -- some oppose the meeting at all. the meeting was a victory for putin. biden gave so many concessions going into this meeting. >> bill: such as what? >> so many concessions. the biggest one was the nord stream 2. congress, we gave mandatory sanctions on this putin pipeline going into europe. and the president on his own waived it and the united states national interest quote, unquote. i don't see how it is in the united states national interest to allow putin to complete this pipeline into europe where europe is now going to be energy dependent on russia. that was a big, a big favor for putin. at the same time the president shut down the keystone p

. >> reporter: t.j., two prisoners in russia, american prisoners, both former marines, paul whelan has been held 900 days on charges of espionage while he was visiting russia, he was landed a flash drive, he said it was pictures of churches, it turned out to be some sort of classified material, and we also have trevor reed, a young man from texas who was here visiting a russian girlfriend, he drank too much apparently one night the russians said he assaulted a police officer, he says he remembers nothing about that evening, his family of course trying to get him free as well. both have released audio tapes. t.j. >> all right, thank you. stay with abc news for live coverage of the summit all morning. >>> now to the coronavirus emergency. new york the latest state to lift restrictions celebrating in fact with fireworks across the state, nearly 175 million american have received at least one dose of the vaccine, nearly 65% of adults getting closer to president biden's goal of 70% by july 4th as cdc says the new delta variant a vasht of concern. whit johnson with more. >> reporter: amy, go

marines in russian captivity, including paul whelan, who is serving a 15-year sentence for espionage. whelan insists he's innocent and in a new video just released by his family, whelan begs president biden to bring him home. >> i implore you to bring this appalling case of hostage diplomacy to an end and please bring me home to my family and my dog flora where i belong. >> the other former u.s. marine, his family is now imploring the biden administration to negotiate his release during that meeting tomorrow. the kremlin said they're open to a prisoner swap so far the white house doesn't seem interested. they believe it could have the kremlin unfairly target more americans. >> martha raddatz is in geneva right now. thank you for joining us. it's reminiscent of prize fighters at the weigh-in, both sides sending all kinds of messages. >> exactly, george, and they've sent a lot of messages so far. tough talk and flattery, and joe biden seems to be going right out of a diplomatic map. he talks about him as a worthy adversary, a little flattery there, a little respect there, but very tough