but paul whelan will call me every now and again i spoke to paul he called ms. in europe at the time he gave me a phone call and ie happen to pick the phone up we talked for probably 30 minutes. what i can tell you about paul whelan he's strong, he has resilience he has been deployed many times but once or twice he said you know roger, this reminds me of a long military deployment, but i am ready to come home. he's a tough guy the one thing i'll tell the story about paul is when we brought brittney griner home, paul called mate. we just drop brittney off at 4:30 a.m. in the morning in san antonio. had some follow-up i finally got to hotel them at 9:30 a.m. in the morning i had not slept in three or fourr days. i only had like two hours i was just going to lay my head down and close my eyes. soon as i lay down, paul called me. the first thing he said what happened? how come i didn't come home? is it paul, we have one deal with wrestled with the russians on month and we had one deal that was brittney griner and we did everything we could. we could not get you home

paul whelan had a visit in february were there to its government. evan is in a different part of the process rightness of communication is not as -- it doesn't happen as often. but paul whelan will call me every now and then i think i spoke to paul 10 days or call me i was in europe at the time you give me a phone call i happen to pick the phone up we talked for probably 30 minutes. but i can tell you about paul whelan strong, he is resilient, is been deployed many times once or twice he said he dealt roger, this reminds me of a long military deployment but i'm ready to come home. he is a tough guy out the story i will tell you about paul is we brought brittney griner home, paul called me. just drop brittney out at 4:30 a.m. in the morning in san antonio. had some follow-up on we got to hotel room at 9:30 a.m. in the morning hasn't slept in through four days. i only had two hours is just to lay my head down close my eyes. as soon as i lay down paul, the first thing he said was what happened? how come i didn't come home questionings of paul we had on

would you leave paul whelan behind? ntinue to work this every single day until we bring evan home, until we bring paul home. for that matter, until we bring every arbitrarilily detained american anywhere around the world home. >> reporter: wnba star brittney griner rescued in a hostage trade a year and a half ago today with nbc's liz kreutz. >> you never know when that day is going to come, but just don't lose -- don't lose hope. >> reporter: sources tell nbc, germany's chancellor agreed in february to give up a russian assassin in a berlin prison for gershkovich, and the u.s. is now scouring the world for other captured russian spies who could be offered for whelan. >> now we have a hostage, a "wall street journal" reporter. >> reporter: meanwhile, former president trump has said, citing no evidence, he could get evan out quickly if he's elected. andrea mitchell, nbc news, aspen, colorado. >>> and we'll take a break right here. >>> up next, the new deli meat warning over listeria. >>> plus, new concerns over elvis memor

now former marine paul whelan has been in russian custody since 2018.resident biden is also working to get his release. gershkovich was seen today waving while leaving the courtroom, take a look at this video. a source close to his family say they have been awaiting the end of this trial. gershkovich made a final statement before his sentencing, he and u.s. government reject charges against him. russia has not provided any evidence to support their claim. see how negotiations progress, more pressure on president biden as lawmakers including rick sot apply that pressure posting on x calling on him to get a deal done immediately. back to you. >> john: hope evan and paul will be coming home soon. thank you. >> sandra: bring in publisher for "wall street journal" and ceo of the dow jones, all this is very close to you. you are part of this effort everyday to bring evan home. your reaction to seeing him in that box? we have spoken about the way he presents himself and he waves and we have seen him in that box actually smile. what are your thoughts when you s

. >> does the united states know about paul whelan? and can you confirm the report of delivery of f-16 jets to ukraine? mr. kirby: look, on your first one, all i'll say is that we have been consistently, since the beginning of this administration, working hard to bring home americans that are wrongfully detained overseas and the attention that the president has paid personally to the cases of paul whelan and to evan gershowitz, from the wall street journal is very, very high, as is the whole team and we continue to work at that very, very diligently. on the second question, you'd have to talk to the ukrainians. i'm certainly not going to talk about weapons capabilities. i will only add that to remind, as we have said and said at the nato summit, that the process of providing f-16's to ukraine continues to move forward. we've said that they will be operational by the end of the summer. we have no reason to doubt that. >> thank you so much. on venezuela, two questions. one about the call with president lula yesterday. did president biden

serving five years. >> is there any hope for getting both evan and paul whelan out? >> we will continue to work this every single day until we bring evan home, >> bring paul home, for that matter, till we bring every arbitrarily detained american anywhere around the world home. >> wnba star brittney griner rescued in a hostage taking a year and a half ago. >> you never know when that day is going to come, but just don't lose hope. >> sources tell and be seen as germany's chancellor agreed in february to give up her russian assassin in a berlin prison for gershkovich and the prison is now scouring the world for other captured russian spies that could be exchanged for whalen. meanwhile, former president trump is said citing no evidence he could get evan out quickly if he is elected. strike back with us now as peter baker, white house correspondent for the new york times and also served as moscow bureau chief for the washington post. you worked in moscow. you know the country very well. you certainly covered latimer putin closely. give me your reactions to this case and

and the u.s government there are other us citizens held in russia of any kind like paul whelan, a former marine, sentenced in 2020 to 16 years for spying. >> and also designated by washington, as wrongly detained dual citizens send your karelina and amateur ballerina from la and journalist alsu kurmasheva are also in custody. >> ivsc gordon black has all gordon black, a staff sergeant in the u.s. >> army, and us school teacher marc fogel critics suspect the kremlin has been collecting us citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal with any country. but even now, that deal could still be months or perhaps years away. matthew chance, cnn london. >> thanks for joining us. this situation room starts now happening. >> now, breaking news, team biden digs in amid rapidly escalating calls for the president to drop oh of the 2024 race. we've learned one new democratic defection in particular has left president biden's seizing also tonight, vice president harris in the spotlight as she makes public appearances and privately talks with panic democratic donors, avoiding questions about the presid

administration i have had no higher priority than seeking the release and safe return of evan, paul whelanody there since 2018 and all americans held hostage abroad. russian prosecutors claim gershkovitch acted on behalf of the c.i.a. gathering information on a russian tank factory. the foreign minister said this week negligent achess for a potential prisoner exchange will happen in private and at the conclusion of the trial. so you mentioned, john, that this could lead to the next phase which ultimately we hope will lead to evan coming home. russian officials when asked why the trial was pushed forward. the second hearing was set for mid august and moved ahead to yesterday and then the verdict today. we'll see how negotiations progress as president biden promises he is on it. >> john: we're praying we'll get him and paul whelan hope soon. trump accepting his party's nomination five days after he survived and assassination attempt. he showed a more emotional side as he recounted for the very first time how the shooter nearly took his life. >> i'm not supposed to be here tonight. not suppos

we are working it as we speak and we're not going to stop until we get evan home, get paul whelan homed others w home. >> understanding and appreciating that you wouldou nt want to get into any details in a public form of negotiations that may be underway, is putin and many other bad actors in the war but let's stick with putin's he just waiting out biden? why would he cut a deal on evan gershkovich now when it is such a huge a bargaining chip for him at the next administration? >> you are right i'm not going to get into the details. look, any effort to bring any american home is going to be part of a process of back and forth with discussion, tense negotiation. and depending what the other side is looking for, they will reach their own conclusions whether it meets whatever their needs are and we can bring someoneen home. i don't think that the pen on election night states and anyone else.ke >> okay. you talked about how russia, and your view has already lost its baking building a bigger stronger data than three years ago are western sanctions on russia working? can youhe name for us a

. >> is there any hope for getting both evan and paul whelan out. ? deleted behind? y arbitrarily detained american anywhere in the road tom . >> reporter: brittney griner rescued in a hostage trade year and half ago. >> you never know when that day will come but don't lose hope. >> reporter: germany's chancellor agreed in february to give them a russian assassin in a berlin bridge for gershkovich for the u.s. is now scouring the world for other captured russian spies who could be offered for whelan. >> reporter: donald trump has said citing no evidence that he could get in and out quickly if he is elected. andrea mitchell, nbc news, aspen, colorado. >> backup is now is peter baker, he served as moscow bureau chief for the lasting -- the washington post. you have certainly covered vladimir putin closely. first of all give me your reaction to this case and any insight into why russia wanted to do this and the leverage it has to try to secure the release of prisoners that the west may have. >> reporter: this is the way it operates. speaking the truth is considered to be

considers wrongfully detained like former marine paul whelan also in russia home safely. >> we're workingak, and we're not going to stop until we get evan home, we get paul whelan home. >> reporter: gershkovich has already spent 15 months behind bars. this trial could pave the way for another prisoner swap between the u.s. and russia. whit? >> whit: all right. em nguyen for us, thank you so much. >>> an investigation is now under way into what caused a massive fire at the historic first baptist dallas church on friday. plumes of smoke filled the dallas sky. at least 100 firefighters battled the flames engulfing the structure that dates back to the 1890s. took about three hours to get the fire under control. officials say the fire was in the secondary chapel, basically destroyed it. fortunately no one was injured. >> gio: yeah, just so many fires breaking out right now, and that's exactly why we're going to our dear friend, leslie lopez, who is here from our los angeles station kabc because you're watching other fires too. >> leslie: it's great to be with you guys. but, yes, my goodness. i

. >> we've seen other americans come home, trevor reed, brittney, griner, paul whelan has been languishing in a, in a russian penal colony for years now. so the hope, but obviously view that evan and paul would get released together what do we know about what that tree? he could look like? >> well, we know that there was talk beginning earlier this year about doing a kind of package deal. could i speak of the fsb agent who assassinated a target in a berlin park a berlin park in broad daylight when people were there, is now serving life sentence in germany, there was talk that the germans might be open to trading him for alexei navalny, who was alive at the time paul whelan and evan gershkovich, that deal never got off from the drawing board as far as i understand. will it be revived now and we'll lead him to cut a mortazavi, who got the nobel prize recently be swapped in for navalny we don't know, but i think that the germans still have to say yes and they've been reluctant in the past as you and i know so when you look at the efforts by the russians to arrest journalists and opposition fi

. >> i love it i'm bill weir on the california coast and this is cnn happening now, paul whelan is reacting to the verdict and the sentencing inflicted on his fellow american detainees, evan gershkovich, hours ago, the wall street journal reporter was found guilty of espionage by a russian court he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. >> whelan, who has been held in russia since 2018, says he has sympathy and empathy for the 32-year-old journalist. >> you seeger gershkovich there in the background appearing in a glass cage as the conviction and punishment were read the kremlin never provided evidence that he's a spy and the state department considers both the whelan and gershkovich case they consider both of them as being wrongfully detained cnn's jennifer hansler joins us now, and jennifer, you actually just spoke with paul whelan. what else did he say? >> well, boris and brianna, he said he was able to watch some of the coverage of evan's conviction there today and he said it brought him back to his own conviction about four years ago, he describes that as a surreal experience. you have g

is determined to bring home when it comes to ivan, when it comes to paul whelan and russia, other americans were working at rick quite literally every day looking to see what we can do to get them home. >> the kremlin accused by many us and western officials for allegedly using americans as bargaining chips for potential prisoner swaps. but russia insists that gershkovich charges are not political with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov saying, there is quote, irrefutable evidence in the case. you no evidence has been offered publicly, however, gershkovich has the right to appeal the ruling, but moving forward, his best hope just might be a prisoner swap between russia and the u.s. fred pleitgen, cnn, london thanks to fred for that report coming up. a look at what we know and don't know about what would happen if president biden were to leave the 2024 race? >> anderson cooper 360 tonight at 8:00 on cnn high. >> it's christina again. i'm here to tell you about an all-new special offer from my friends at jacuzzi bathroom model that you don't want to miss. you already know jacuzzi has been

the charges and his trial were widely dismissed as shan, another american sentence in russia, paul whelan told cnn from prison that gershkovich was simply doing his job but he ended up in a cage in a courtroom where he was told he'll spend 16 years doing hard labor. our own matthew chance has more on the case first, off a gift ahead of the verdict in the russian cortex, cameras jostled for a glimpse of the u.s. journalist in his glass cage but it goes as today to finding him guilty of espionage. the judge asked evan gershkovich if he had any questions about the 16 yeah prison sentence. >> we've been handled looking thin and tired. the wall street journal reporter answered, no critic say is guilty verdict was inevitable, and other underlines how politicized russia's judicial system has become the strongly worded statement from gorshkov if it's his employers called it a disgraceful and sham conviction that comes after his 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, and away from his family, where you can see evan gershkovich is in there. >> hi, matthew from cnn is that you holding up? >> all r

: and whit, president biden said today there is no greater priority than the return of evan, of paul whelan, and other americans who have been wrongfully detained. evan has two weeks to appeal. after that, he will be sent to a maximum security penal colony. whit? >> whit: we know that work continues behind the scenes. james longman, thank you. >>> when we come back, a beloved postal worker shot and killed while making her rounds in chicago. the manhunt and the huge reward being offered. >>> the cdc warning about a deadly listeria outbreak. >>> and america's newest giant pandas ready to meet the public. [♪] did you know there's away to cut your dishwashing time by 50%? try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. dawn powerwash has 3 cleaning boosters not found in traditional dish soaps that remove food and grease 5x times faster. and, because it cleans so well... you can replace multiple cleaning products for counters, stoves, and even laundry stains. try dawn powerwash dish spray. brand power, helping you buy better. here's to getting better with age.

many of us only learned by a paul whelan, who isisoner in russia because of brittney griner. so i was makinfor the grievance entrepreneurs say, brittney griner, here is another example of and racism and homophobia at work that is ridiculous.she was getting attention from the biden administration unknown she deserved that attention because we had to get her out of there, but when you that prism circumstances, you degrade the overall cause and that is peter: joe biden. frank:s whenid in san was for latino americans. she ma regard to th basketball championship and she was savaged in some corners for the sloppy and supposedly insulting these vathere was no real insult and in most of these situations shegain we live in a society where there is grievance entrepreneurs who take any opportunity to say see society is being just as bad as i tell you it is society hasd real work to do but when we vilify it and declare five-alarm fire's to, we causes and that is the context in which i mentioned jill biden. peter: i am going to read a tweet and i want you to tell me if you know who it is

the president's highest priorities, not just just inseven was taken but evene evan was taken when paul whelan was in prison and has been for five and a half years has been to get all of our american citizens home butun not just frm russia but from countries around the world. i have to say is quite remarkable yet roger is out here couple of days ago at the form, close to 50 americans we are brought home either hostages are unjustly detained people. we have done that through difficult decisions, their heart diplomacy under the president making this a relentless priority and that goes through evan gershkovich e uniquely in his case because as you said he has been taken into prison convicted the crime of committing journalism for something we care passionately about in this country. this is something the president will not rest until weet get thm home. to your specific question, we are going to make every effort we can to get to the point where russia agrees to release evan and paul, that we get them home and we get them home safe. we would like to see that happen today or tomorrow or the next da

the state department says they are working tirelessly on bringing him home, as well as paul whelan.has been in custody since 2018. gershkovich, 16 months in russian custody, you see him there. a source close to the family says his father shaved his head. they are not sure of the conditions evan is enduring, they are happy according to a source, this sham trial is upon wraing up. they have been anxious for it to move quickly. which it did. second hearing yesterday was moved from august 13th, leading some to hope that possible a prisoner swap could be in the works. that is not confirmed, lavrov confirmed that american and russian intelligence agencies have discussed az pra prison sw. putin said that is on the table. breaking news, 16 years in russian prison for wall street reporter evan gershkovich. we will follow this. we were told we could possible see gershkovich when a verdict was rendered. we'll monitor and report back on anything we get. back to you. >> steve: bring in michael schwartz, a friend of evan since they worked together eight years ago. he is a reporter for "new york t

. >> when it comes to evan and paul whelan, we are working quite literally every day looking to see whatcan do to get them home. amna: have you gotten any updates from this administration on any of those efforts to re-evan and is a potential prisoner swap on the table? >> throughout this ordeal we have worked with the u.s. government to try and secure evan's release. we generally don't comment on the nature of those conversations and the efforts that are happening. secretary blinken in those comments is absolutely right that there 24/7 efforts taking place to secure his release and to look after the other americans who are held in wrongful detainment. that's about as far as i can go on this topic. amna: i know you have been in touch with his family as well. what can you tell us? >> his family has been an inspiration throughout all of this. they are so strong in the face of something obviously so emotional and hurtful to them. to see their son in captivity and being held in the way that he is and accused of things that he didn't do and smeared again and again by the russian propaganda mac

prisoner putin wants in the west maybe, part of a bigger package because we should not forget, paul whelanmo russian british prison nor dying in prison probably a swap we hope all western prisoners get out i think probably in the future, americans and opener west eners should not go to russia a high probability would be detained used as hostages for future prison nor swaps. cheryl: i think that is true i want to ask from your perspective. you are vladimir putin watching what is happening in the united states, in election year. with our -- with our -- the switch out of a candidate a president that at this point is presenting as weak lame-duck president for the united states should we be concerned about next six months under joe biden? >> well, i think that -- that putin has seen that the u.s. administration functions pretty well whether biden is making speeches coherently or not, i think that, anybody messing with america, should understand that there is a lot of people sitting in the pentagon sitting in the state department that have their eye on the ball so i don't think there is a huge r

paul whelan and all americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. whelan is a former u.s. spying and notably all in the 2022 prisoner exchange involving wnba star bryan and russian arms dealer viktor bout. >> i know evan and paul will come home to the united states and step on to u.s. soil. i just don't know when. >> a source close to the gershkovich family tells fox news they have been anxiously awaiting the end of this trial as gershkovich has already spent 16 months in russian prison. now that the trial is over, the pressure increases on president joe biden to bring him home. bret? >> bret: nate foy in london, nate, thanks. up next, the panel on president biden's political fate and reaction to former president trump's convention speech, we'll be back with that in a second. ♪ ♪ discover performance in rare form. you got it... but she's delayed. get offers on select f sport models at the golden opportunity sales event. it's time to feed the dogs real food, not highly processed pellets. the farmer's dog is fresh food made with whole meat and veggies. it's not dry food. it's

netanyahu visited the white house for separate meetings with president biden and vice president paul whelane is harris after that meeting. >> it is time for this war to end. an end in a way where israel is secure, all of the hostages are released, the suffering of palestinians and gaza and the palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination. >> went netanyahu address congress this week thousands of protesters including some hamas sympathizers marched near the capitol some thinking to close the protesters turned violent at union station and american flag outside the train station was burned by an angry mob. one protester as you can see spray painting hamas is coming the park police said they were outnumbered despite the hundreds of reinforcements by nypd sent to protect the capitol. after meeting with donald trump and palm beach amar lago prime minister benjamin netanyahu is returning to israel he said this rocket attacks will not go unanswered. jon: aren't lucas tomlinson at the white house for us right now, thank you. the opening ceremonies of the oly

state department said it is working tirelessly to bring back paul whelan who has been arrested since 2018. reactions pouring in. rick scott posting on x saying this sham trial and unjust conviction can't stand and called on president biden to bring gershkovitch home immediately. we'll send it back to you. >> dana: nate foye, terrible result there but hopefully something can happen to get this remedied. >> bill: best to his parents and sister, too. thank you, nate. long lines at every airport in america. man, oh man, a global i.t. outage from overnight grounding flights, disrupting banks. apparently this was after one update on a software program. it has all gone sideways. what you need to know if you are traveling today. stay tuned. plus this. >> right now the one who would come closest to unity at this late date is kamala harris. >> kamala is probably the sense-making choice at this point. he could hand it over to her. i think he should hand the presidency over to her. >> dana: a political reckoning for president biden. some say he could drop out as soon as this weekend. we might be

marine paul whelan who russian authorities arrested in 2018. now, as for gershkovich.ian custody for 16 months. russian authorities said we would not see him again until after a verdict is rendered. so we will see if we get a look at gershkovich at the top of the hour when the verdict is expected to come in. >> steve: all right. nate foy live in our european newsroom. nate, thank you very much. so it's going to happen in 17 minutes. with reaction we have got the anchor and executive editor of "special report," bret baier. good morning to you. >> bret: good morning. >> steve: it's a done deal. he is going to be found guilty. >> bret: it is. they are looking to put him in jail for 18 years. but the thing that this does open is this negotiation for a prisoner exchange. and that has been -- those talks have been ongoing. we are told they progressed really far. so hopefully this is the beginning of the end for getting gershkovich out of there. >> steve: right. speaking of the beginning of the end. let's talk a little bit about joe biden. axios -- we were just talking to mik

other than the fact they are making very clear they are pushing not only for gershkovich but also paul whelanght home. the state department making clear, though, they don't feel like americans like either of these two men should be used a pawns or political bargaining chips. but u.s. diplomats acknowledge, just as the russians do, that if evan is going to see freedom, they're going to have to reach some type of a hard-fought negotiation with the russians just like they did with brittney griner. if you recall, that took a long time to work out. so, it could potentially still be many months until there could be a deal to bring evan gershkovich home. >> josh lederman, thanks so much for all that reporting. >>> and just moments ago, we learned former president trump will speak with ukrainian president zelenskyy on the phone today. this according to a source familiar with the plan. that conversation coming as there are growing questions over whether trump would support additional aid to ukraine if he's re-elected. his running mate, j.d. vance, opposes aid to ukraine once saying, quote, i don't rea

it's also worth noting, by the way, not only paul whelan is also still in custody in russia on what arep charges but also a teacher named mark foley, he doesn't get nearly as much attention. he taught at the anglo-american school there in moscow and has also been arrested and in custody for years. >> of course there's also austin tice who is believed to be held in syria, a country that is very closely allied with russian president vladimir putin. certainly hope he is not lost, as well, in terms of the efforts the u.s. is undertaking to secure their release. peter baker, i thank you so much. it's always great to talk to you, my friend. we'll be back with a quick break. break. if you have generalized myasthenia gravis, picture what life could look like with vyvgart hytrulo, a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90 seconds. for one thing, could it mean more time for you? vyvgart hytrulo can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you. do not use vyvgart hytrulo if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients. it can

someone like him before, could there be a deal on the table to trade now for evan gershkovich and paul whelan? ch. scholz: as i said, there are aspects of international politics which have to be done in a very pragmatic way and without debating them. and this is what you should have in mind. so we tried to get prisoners out, but it's very difficult. and it's nothing for speculating about this. amna: but a trade is potentially one way these men could be freed. is that fair to say? ch. scholz: it's not fair to say, because you're trying to get an answer from me where i said i won't give you an answer. amna: fair enough. chancellor, i want to ask you about issues back home in germany and across europe. the rest of the world has been watching recent elections there with great interest as well. you expressed some relief that the far right in france did not prevail in their recent elections. germany is, of course, reckoning with its own rise and a far right party and the alternative for germany party. how worried are you about the rise of those far right forces in germany? ch. scholz: i'm worried a

marine paul whelan, also detained on espionage charges in russia. >> important reporting from londonmer president donald trump will hold his first campaign rally since the attempt on his life just last week. he'll be in grand rapids michigan which sits in a county and state that could be critical in deciding this year's race. kent county had been reliably republican over the last few decades but in 2020 president biden won it by six points. last night voters across the political spectrum who watched the former president's acceptance speech at the rnc very carefully. nbc news correspondent watched the speech with some of those very voters. she joins us from grand rapids, michigan. so, you were at a watch party last night. i wonder what it was like. how were voters reacting as they heard from the former president as they watched the audience react? >> reporter: good afternoon from this swing county in a swing state, a place to really look when you're trying to decide how this election that has been wild and evolving is turning out. we did sit down with voters and watched closely that r

and of course when it comes to evan, when it comes to paul whelan, in russia, other americans, we'reevery day, looking to see what we can do to get them home. we've had a rather extraordinary track record over the last three and a half years of doing just that. >> now, trying to get an actual hostage and prisoner exchange deal between the u.s. and russia is something that could take months. it could take years even. that is really raising the question of whether this could even still happen during the remainder of president biden's current term. in fact, blinken, in that conversation just there in aspen, was asked, what about the possibility that president putin might see the possibility of donald trump being elected and decide to hold off so that he could strike a deal with president trump if he's elected? secretary blinken saying he does not believe the timing of a possible deal would be necessarily dependent on the outcome of the u.s. election. but you can clearly see this is just one more complicating factor to add to the mix in the long and very difficult effort to try to bring

government there are other us citizens held in russia of any like paul whelan, a former marine, sentenced in 2020 to 16 years for spying. >> and also designated by washington as wrongly detained dual citizens, senior karelina and amateur ballerina from la, and journalist alsu kurmasheva are also in custody. >> yossi gordon black has all gordon black has staff side but didn't in the us army and us school teacher marc fogel, critics suspect the kremlin has been collecting us citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal with any other country. >> but even now, that deal could still be months well perhaps years away what the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken says, the u.s. government is working every day to bring home evan gershkovich and other wrongfully detained americans held in russia. it depends on what the other side watson return. blinken says, playing down concerns that moscow so could wait for a trump presidency to make a deal. matthew chance cnn, london our thanks to matthew chance will remembering the life and legacy of democratic congresswoman from texas, sheila jackson lee

things can still happen i just hope that evan and paul whelan, who's been held for more than five yearskurmasheva, radio free europe, journalist. and my colleague of vladimir kara-murza a political prisoner in russia, also being arbitrarily detained by the state. i hope that they are all released very soon. their health depends on it their families need their loved ones home jason and you understand and you've talked about this and you've written about this in your book. so much is outside of evan's control right now, is he is in prison there and i know that there were some ways the you were able to sort of manage your mental health and try to take back some control. can you speak to what you were able to do in ways that he may be able to find a way to weather this well, when i see the pictures of with evan of evin in the courtroom in that glass cage sometimes with a smirk on his face. >> i say to myself, this, this young man still has his wit, his sense of humor, he understands how ridiculous this is. the first thing that i tell people is that in tough situations like this, you really

government there are other us citizens held in russia like paul whelan, a former marine, sentenced in 2020 to 16 years for spying. >> and also designated by washington has wrongly detained dual citizens send your karelina and amateur ballerina from la and journalist alsu kurmasheva are also in custody. >> yossi gordon black has all gordon black, a staff sergeant in the u.s. >> army and us school teacher marc fogel critics suspect the kremlin has been collecting us citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal with any country. but even now, that deal could still be months or perhaps years away matthew chance, cnn, london thanks to matthew and thanks to you, anderson starts now tonight on three city new reporting from legendary journalist carl bernstein on president biden's anger, those trying to force him to withdraw. >> also, new details on the mindset of the gunmen and lapses susan security after the attempted assassination of the former president last week and later, how a simple software update turned into one of the biggest global tech meltdowns in history. good evening. we star

government there are other us citizens held in russia like paul whelan, a former marine, sentenced in0 to 16 years for spying. >> and also designated by washington has wrongly detained dual citizens send your karelina and amateur ballerina from la and journalist alsu kurmasheva are also in custody. >> yossi gordon black has all gordon black, a staff sergeant in the u.s. >> army and us school teacher marc fogel critics suspect the kremlin has been collecting us citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal with any country. but even now, that deal could still be months or perhaps years away matthew chance, cnn, london thanks to matthew and thanks to you, anderson starts now

more than a year ago while visiting family also convicted on espionage charges, former us marine paul whelan, serving eight 816 year prison sentence all americans, the u.s. is determined to bring home when it comes to ivan, when it comes to police whelan in russia, other americans were working at quite literally every day looking to see what we can do to get them home. >> the kremlin accused by many us and western officials for alleged usually using americans as bargaining chips for potential prisoner swaps. but russia insists that gershkovich charges are not political with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov saying, there is quote, irrefutable evidence in the case no evidence has been offered publicly, however, gershkovich has the right to appeal the ruling, but moving forward, his best hope just might be a prisoner swap between russia and the u.s. fred pleitgen, cnn, london donald trump has agreed to meet ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy to talk face-to-face about ways to get peace in ukraine. that's according to zelenskyy himself who spoke with trump on the phone friday. and tha

gershkovich and the u.s government there are other us citizens held in russia of any kind like paul whelanformer marine, sentenced in 2020 to 16 years for spying and also designated by washington as wrongly detained dual citizens, senior karelina and amateur ballerina from la, and journalist alsu kurmasheva are also in custody yossi gordon black has all gordon black, a staff sergeant in the u.s. >> army and us school teacher marc fogel critics suspect the kremlin has been collecting us citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal with any country. but even now, that deal could still be months or perhaps years away. wolf, the u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken says, tonight the u.s. government is working every day to bring home evan gershkovich and others wrongfully detained in russia. it all depends on what the other side wants. blinken says, playing down concerns that moscow could wait for trump presidency to make a deal. wolf back to you matthew chance reporting, let's hope he comes home soon. >> coming up. i'll speak to a key democrat who just called on president biden to step as

has made very clear in addition to evan gershkovich they would want to see paul whelan also come homeany potential negotiations, but the clearest sense we have of what president putin might actually want in a prisoner swap for gershkovich comes from a comment he made several months ago where he strongly hinted that russia is seeking the release as part of some type of a prisoner deal. an fsb hitman accused, he is not in u.s. custody. so any kind of a prisoner swap is going to be a very complicated type of proposition, but clearly the best chance evan gershkovich has now that he has been convicted of seeing freedom anytime soon. >> convicted, sentenced to 16 years in a russian prison. nbc news international correspondent josh lederman. thanks so much. jonathan lemire, let's talk about where this now goes from here. we remember in the case of brittney griner in december of 2022, she was released in exchange for an arms dealer and a terrorist who was released from an american prison and sent back home to get brittney griner home. perhaps now that they have this sham conviction, they snat

many of us only learned by a paul whelan, who isssia because of brittney griner. so i was making the point thatfor the grievance entrepreneurs of say, brittney griner, here is another example of and racism and homophobia at work that is ridiculous. she was getting attention from the biden administration unknown he deserved that attention because we had to get her out of there, but when you foul along that prism does not fit circumstances, you degrade the overall cause and that is too imr: joe biden. frank:me no americans. she made som regard to the women's college and she was savaged in some corners for the sloppy and supposedly insulting these various people andthere was no realnsult and in most of these situations she live in a society where there is grievance entrepreneurs who take any opportunity to say see society is being just as bad as i tell you it is on the problem z/ society has real work to do but when we vilify people in situations it andare five-alarm fire's where to, we cheapen the im causes and that is the context in which i mentioned jill biden. pe