and now now he's been sent to a penal colony for. i mean, they said. 13 years. what is your message to president trump? if he would be listening right now? >> i would like to get him home before he is actually sent to that penal colony. he still is in the pretrial detention facility, which is still a horrible prison. but, uh, i can communicate with him there. i, you know, i'm not sure how things will be if, if and when they do get him to the to the labor camp or the penal colony. uh, i'm hoping that president trump can get him out of russia before that happens. >> how is he doing? what can you tell us? what that communication is, is like with him? >> kind of a roller coaster, kind of a roller coaster. he has. there's times where he's high in spirits because he thought the trial was going good, because facts came out that, you know, the person that said he did these things retracted most of her statements and everything sounded like, you know, everything was going his way because he was forgetting he was. it was still a russian judge ruling. and and it was still

, a dedicated teacher, loving husband, and american citizen was unjustly detained in a russian penal colony. his punishment of 14 years of hard labor was an excessive and politically motivated sentence. despite years of bipartisan pleading with the biden administration to bring mark home, or at the very least designate him as wrongfully detained, there was no progress. enter donald j. trump. in just 22 days president trump, secretary rubio, special envoy steve hitcoff and a team of advisors successfully negotiated mark's release. mr. speaker, mark fogel is now back on american soil. and reunited with his family. promises made, promises kept. thank you to all those involved in bringing mark home. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute mr. desaulnier: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, imme

thank goodness he did not have to spend 14 years in a penal colony as he believed he was going to haveo. >> sandra: imprisoned in russia 2021. rep kelly out of pennsylvania has advocated for his safe return to the united states. only as of january 2nd getting that designation of wrongfully detained for fogel. dan hoffman is jumping on with us right now. dan, want to get your reaction, as the statement from the national secured advisor has just been released, president trump and his envoy steve witkoff are able to announce that witkoff is leaving russian airspace with marc fogel, an american who was detained by russia. the president and his advisors negotiated an exchange that served as a show of good faith on the russians in a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in ukraine. your reaction, dan? >> this is a major foreign policy success. anytime we are able to extract one of our citizens from behind enemy lines in russia, good on the administration for doing it. stephen woodcock has a lot on his plate right now dealing with the middle east, incred

carrying a small amount of medically prescribed marijuana, but he was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony was freed as part of an exchange with russia. but tonight, president trump, not saying what the u.s. gave in return. >> what were the terms of this deal, mr. president? >> very fair, very, very fair. >> adding that there's a need to end the war in ukraine and that there will be more announcements tomorrow. we'll have much more on mark fogel's return to american soil on gma in the morning. for now, we switch gears and turn to an examination of the weight loss wars, the high cost of some medications, opening the door for other companies to step in with less expensive options. but are they safe. here's abc's deborah roberts. >> obesity is america's deadliest epidemic. >> this is america. >> 74% of us are overweight. >> in the weight loss wars. this hims and hers commercial making a superbowl sized splash. >> the system wasn't built to help us. it was built to keep us sick and stuck. >> the ad taking aim at the weight loss industry and touting the company's own versions of drugs used for

people who are undesirable in the united states can just be sent to basically a transnational penal colonyights or due process. >> maurice: and lilia luciano joins us now. extraordinary access, lilia, i know you had to be afraid, but how likely is it that migrants from here are going to be sent there? >> reporter: okay, that's a good question. look, the agreement is that the people who would go to prisons would be convicted of crimes. but el salvador can receive deportees of all kinds. we have seen in guantanamo, we thought it was going to be people who were violent, and half of them don't have a criminal record. and what i did learn about the system in el salvador is that there are, according to the studies and the advocates, thousands of people who are held without evidence indefinitely without communication to the outside world, in basically what they're calling a black hole of human rights, and that those prisons are worse in terms of conditions than cecot. >> maurice: black hole is right. lilia, thank you so much. >> john: now to some potentially dangerous weather. >> maurice: lonnie

washington investigators have said that the volley died of medical reason is in a remote penal colony, colony is family and support as a say. they don't believe that will suffice human. so all parts, we are doing everything to ensure that there is an investigation. we are finding low seats in a court. we want those who committed this murder and those who did not help him to be punished. i'm sure that one day the truth will prevail. thank god, lot in mines and unexpected munitions of killed or wounded at least 560 people in serious as the fall of the outside regime. the mining team was believe that's an under estimate because many cases aren't reported. or some of these have it has more from damascus control destination, northern syria. and just as the remove one does a call to secure another city as board average terrain is littered with explosive devices like this. last, in addition to empty tank lines, high velocity in century rounds, an empty personnel mines which walk almost all territory between the former teams, forces and opposition fighters is providing a constant danger to ci

carrying a small amount of medically prescribed marijuana, but he was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony. fogel's 95-year-old mother says she received a surprise call from her son this morning, with the news he was finally coming home. >> we just need to get him home and hug him and hold him and -- i think there will be a lot of tears. >> reporter: the white house says fogel was freed as part of an exchange with russia. tonight, when our rachel scott asked president trump what the u.s. gave the russians in return, he didn't directly answer, but talked about the need to end the war in ukraine. >> not much. 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. >> reporter: the exchange that led to fogel's release was negotiated by donald trump's special envoy to the middle east, steve whit kof, who flew to moscow on his private plane for the final exchange. that is the first known visit, david, by a senior u.s. official to russia since russia invaded ukraine. donald trump on sunday said that he has

and russian investigators upset that involved the died because of medical reasons in a remote penal colony is finally unsupported. say they don't believe that yvonne is mother says she wants those responsible for his death punished will suffice human. so our parts, we are doing everything to ensure that there is an investigation. we are finding low seats in a court. we want those who committed this murder and those who did not help him to be punished. i'm sure that one day the truth will prevail. i think that's all it is in his australia as an assyrian asylum seekers suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack had sworn allegiance to iso a 14 year old boy was killed and saturdays, attacking the town to village 5 other people were injured. austria's interior minister says the 23 year old suspect was radicalized online, or in germany. people from across the political spectrum have taken to the streets in wible demonstrations ahead of next week's general election. the protests are in response to an attack last thursday. the 24 year old man from the scanner sun drove into a labor protest, kill

idea that people who are undesirable in the united states can just be sent to a transnational penal colony without any guarantees of rights or due process. >>> here in the u.s., congress is taking a closer look at america's more than 300 port facilities. they're paying close attention to the giant cranes that move shipping containers on and off the ships. carter evans reports. >> reporter: los angeles and long beach are home to the largest port complex in the western hemisphere. about 40% of the nation's imports worth almost half a trillion dollars pass through here every year. in more than million containers, each one off-loaded by towering cranes up to 400 feet tall. some are automated, and that has gary herrera worried. should everyday americans be concerned about this? >> absolutely. you wouldn't even have to go to war to destroy our economy. you can shut down these ports right here. >> reporter: herrera is president of the local longshoreman's union. he says the automation was designed to help cut costs, but it also makes the cranes highly vulnerable to hacking. >> when you have a rob

he was in a russian penal colony since 2021.voice where he said "my soul is dead," just rips at your heartstrings. we are just so happy he's home and out of russia. >> trace: and his family as well. great to have elon as always. thank you. no coming up, a massachusetts town votes to become a transgender sanctuary city. the wild city council meeting is next. ♪ ♪ for evertting off ? like my laundry? or my 768 unread texts? i'm just your dermatologist. seven hundred and sixty nine. try hydro boost. neutrogena. weightless hydration that goes deep. businesses and communities come together on tiktok. they don't show up like they do on tiktok. 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. (♪)

it was the galapagos first penal colony. so there are all kinds of nefarious characters. its very first inhabitant was a pirate by the name of patrick watkins and. anybody who encountered him would be like this, guy has vermin, literally dripping from his body. like the vermin were hanging off the hairs on him. he was not a pleasant sight. he eventually murdered some captives that they had come the island and he fled. and and so there was all this lore about him. and when and dorie first arrived there, they in the pirate caves where frederick excuse me, where patrick had lived. and he was the rest of her time in floriana, i think that she was going to be murdered by the spirit of this pirate. so sort this haunting opening and a pervasive, pervasive of fear that just follows people around wherever. they go on this island. yeah. so this is set in an interesting period of world history and the great depression and lead up to the to the second world war. how do those how did those historical markers affect the events in this new society that these folks are building? yeah. so

they decided to put him in jail and penal colony. and despite all the efforts, supposedly made by the biden administration. he was left behind over and over again. and number 10. the 10th hostage comes home since donald trump took over three weeks ago. here is how it sounded as he called donald trump his -- basically his xavier. savior:>> i feel like the luckin on earth right now and i want you to know i'm not a hero in this at all. and president trump is a hero. these men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes. the senators and representatives pappas legislation to get me home are the heroes. i am in awe of what they all did. my family has been a force. i think my 95-year-old mother is probably the most dynamic 95-year-old on earth right now. and i am so indebted to so many people. >> he has a great mother. and when i saw the mother at a rally, she said if you win, will you get my son out? i promised -- she is 95 years old. i said we will get him out. we got him out pretty quickly. >> she told me that exact words. >> she m

he died while serving a prison sentence in an arctic penal colony. say he died from natural causes, but his family and supporters believe he was killed on orders from the kremlin. thousands of people risked being arrested last year to attend the funeral of navalny. >> all right. there was snow and some wet weather over the weekend in the sierra. this is a look at the conditions in soda springs along interstate 80. chain controls were in place between truckee and nyack, but those have been lifted. so it seems like steve, for those people who are on ski week, school's out. seems like they got some nice new snow and maybe some clear conditions. >> it was the best system of the season for them. no doubt about it here. yes. looks much quieter now, so if you're up there, it'll be great. rainfall. if you're north, it's good. if you're south and east, it's not so good here. santa rosa is over 37. i use the rain year, by the way, which is july 1st and not the water year, which is october 1st. and the city is almost 17.40. that's 113% of normal. yet livermore

able to talk to him except occasionally, knowing he was being sent to these infamous russian penal colonieseeling he was being mistreated, though. i would ask him what he had to eat and how he felt. he never ever ever complained. except when they put him in the hospital, he didn't like that because he didn't know what they were doing, and he had no translator. but he has never really complained about anything except being there, you know, sparse cas far asconditions, he never d anything about them. i have no idea if they were good, bad, or otherwise. he was just beside himself when he called, waiting in the russian airport, because they had taken him out of the prison, so he knew something was going on, and, you know, it's just an incredible relief to know he is on his way home. as i understand it, he was flying to washington, d.c., and then from there i think to pittsburgh, but i'm not certain of all the plans. i think he is supposed to be in washington sometime tonight. >> sandra: reading the statement, by tonight marc fogel will be on american soil and reunited with his family and loved

navalny died last february after collapsing and losing consciousness in a russian penal colony.other also visited the grave and praised the bravery of his followers, who could risk possible reprisals by honoring her son. >> i know how hard it is. i understand the fears of those who come here no matter what. i sincerely believe that those who come here are for me the best people in russia, because that's patriotism. when you love your country and want to make it a little better, russia should be happy. >> navalny's widow, yulia navalnaya, encouraged people to continue fighting for a free and peaceful russia to make her husband's dream come true. she said she spent the past year trying to continue his work, and says he's still an inspiration to russians. navalny has accused russian president vladimir putin of being responsible for navalny's death, but the kremlin has denied this. i want to thank you so much for joining us. i'm rosemary church for our international viewers. world sport is coming up next. and for those of you in the united states and canada, i'll be back with more c

he died in an arctic penal colony while serving a prison sentence. say he died from natural causes, but his allies and family say they believe he was killed on orders from the kremlin. thousands risked being arrested last year to attend navalny's funeral. >> in the middle east. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu appears to be moving forward with president trump's plan to order the palestinian population out of gaza. netanyahu met with u.s. secretary of state marco rubio in jerusalem. he called the removal of palestinians from gaza, quote, the only viable plan to enable a different future for the region. the plan also calls for the u.s. to take control of gaza. >> we have a common strategy, and we can't always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of #### will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them. >> the controversial proposal threatens to derail an already shaky ceasefire deal, just as talks on the second phase of the agreement are about to begin t

to some, that sounds like creating penal colonies for american citizens abroad and paying other countries so. is that an acceptable thing for an american leader to do? >> no, but there there are going to be many things that that president trump says that are outside the lines of the norms. and i think the thing that bothers me the most is that when you are willing to break the fundamentals of the constitution, the fundamentals of law, like the impoundment act of 1974, and say that congress doesn't matter and go into whether it's usaid or treasury and start turning off the switches to individual programs. you can do that to american citizens if you can get away with that, if you can say, i'm going to turn off this usaid program, you can say, this person is not going to get their social security, but this one is and i'm going to i'm going to make sure all my supporters get their social security. but you other folks, sorry you voted for the wrong candidate. >> are you surprised that some of your republican colleagues seem so willing to give up? it seems congress's congressional powers, wheth

and i know that he did not want to go back to the penal colony. hospital. so, um. i, they heard that perhaps they heard that and knew that he needed to get home. he really needs medical care. um, he looks great in the photographs. i think that he is out of his body as of right now. just, um. not even. believing. uh, so, uh, i'm sure that, you know, he's going to go to san antonio and have a full medical evaluation and a psychological evaluation, and, uh, but he's a very resilient person. and, um, we're looking forward to him going back to pittsburgh. and settling down and resuming, um, picking the pieces up. >> it is it is the pieces. and and is there anything, as he is about to land that you're able to share with us about just the text conversations that you've had with him? uh, you know, throughout the day and these first conversations since he was free. >> just. uh, he's he when you saw the photograph of him on the plane, uh, having a i'm sure it was a scotch, which i'm joining him in as well. um, i think that, um, we he's just sent pictures and just a few thing

the opposition figure died suddenly at a remote russian penal colony while serving a 19 year sentences. he denied the allegations. russian authorities say he felt unwell after a walk. the kremlin denies involvement in his death, but many western countries and navalny's allies said russian president vladimir putin was to blame. we're going to a very short break. we'll be back after this. stick with cnn. more news to come. >> cooked books. >> corporate fat cats, swindling socialites, doped up cyclists, then, yes, more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper. march 9th on cnn. >> ken, support your. >> brain health. >> mary. janet. hey. >> eddie. no! >> fraser. frank. frank. >> fred. how are you? >> fred. >> support up to. >> seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember. remember. nariva. >> our heart. >> attack was scary. >> never want to go through that again. but we could with heart disease. you never know. >> so we made changes. >> green juice. >> die

um, so you can imagine that when they came in to the penal colony and pulled him out and drove him to moscow, uh, he didn't know what was happening, but he knew it was a good sign and that we were getting very, very close. and then you could see yesterday, when he was with the president, how amazing his spirit, his personality, his character is, um, and how strong he was mentally to get through all of that. >> um, the big question is, what are the terms of the deal that was able to bring mark home? the kremlin says that a russian citizen is being released as part of the terms of the deal to secure mark's release, to bring him home. do you know who it is? >> i'm not really at liberty to to discuss that. that's, i think, something for the white house to talk about. um, what i can tell you is that we advocated really, um, really, really hard during the transition. um, what we understood from the dialog that was going on behind the scenes, and we worked with the russian lawyers on this at ibm and dmitri afanasyev was. incredible at helping to maintain a channel of communication, uh, durin

he spent much of the past two years confined to a small cell in a siberian penal penal colony.so survived two poisoning attempts before that, believed to have been retaliation for his advocacy against corrupt russian elites. kara-murza was released from russian prison last august in an historic prisoner exchange between us and the us and russia. now, today, he suffers from polyneuropathy, a nerve condition that affects his ability to feel his extremities suspected to have been caused by his poisoning at the hands of the russians. like great opposition leaders before him, kara-murza's defining trait is his unwavering sense of duty to his country, at risk to himself and his family as he explains it, quote, what moral right do i have to call on my fellow russian citizens to stand up and resist dictatorship? if i wasn't prepared to do it myself? end quote. since his release, kara-murza has been lobbying western leaders to take stronger action against putin, while also working to maintain the morale of russia's resistance, both at home and abroad. in his latest article for the washi

i asked him about his stay in the penal clone, colony. who is the next hostage?go through that adam boehler is going to handle that. this is a very tenuous time. he doesn't want to say anything that would make anybody look bad and stop what is next. i think what is happening next russia, ukraine. i'm seeing now the war pace picking up. russia is trying to force ukraine out of kursk, and they bombed kyiv last night. trying to get as much as possible. i think it fits into these talks. >> lawrence: brian, do you get the impression that part of this negotiation. this administration. we just want our people up. we want the war to end. and people be safe as a result of this. i know there was always this pressure of don't compliment putin. don't, because he is a bad guy, you don't want to do that. but i get the impression with this administration it's much different. let putin think he got him. let's praise him -- you don't want to blow him up. especially in the beginning, you want a goodwill gesture and it looks like that's one of the reasons why putin released him. th

who had been such a brave fighter, standing up against the corrupt putin regime and died in a penal colony at the age of 47. for a long time, i have described the united states as being in a clash of civili civilizations, with rule-of-law countries like ours on the one side and kleptocrats, autocrats, and governments run by criminal organizations, like the narco traffickers on the other side. fairly simple clash, rule of law v. rule of thuggery. there ought to be bipartisan support for making sure that the united states does not become a safe haven for kleptocrats and criminals. we should not be giving aid and comfort to our enemies, by allowing them to park their funds here in our country. we've made progress to combat the kleptocrats and the international criminals who are on the other side of this clash of civil zicivilizations. ms. gabbard is not on the right side of that clash. not when she's so chummy with putin. not when she's so chummy with the murderer bashar al-assad. not when she is our tulsi to -- our darling tulsi to russian me media channels. ed a not when she's -- and not wh

but russia charging him as a large scale drug smuggler, sentencing him to 14 years in a penal colony. the state department declaring fogel wrongfully detained last october. tuesday, officials sharing this photo of fogel's flight to freedom, the first image of him finally free. and this morning the russians revealing what the white house did not. they say a russian now in a u.s. prison will be returned to moscow in the coming days as part of the exchange for the release of marc fogel. george? >> george: okay. now to elon musk. he took questions for the first time from reporters about downsizing the federal government and conflict of interests. senior political correspondent rachel scott has the latest. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: good morning. this morning the president is handing his most powerful adviser, elon musk, even more power, directing all federal agencies to work with musk and his team to cut staffing and limit hiring. in a striking moment, president trump inviting cameras into the oval office, turning over the floor to elon musk for 30 minutes. >> you couldn't ask for