secretary of state tony blinken held a private call with the families of the five americans currently broke last week that four wrongfully detained americans had been moved out of the notorious prison joining a fifth in house arrest there. it's seen as the first step in a deal between the united states and iran that would include making $6 billion in iranian funds more accessible to tehran in exchange for their return home, a return that their families have been waiting for and fighting for for years. joining us now, two of those family members. neda shargi and tara tahbaz. emad and morad have been wrongfully detained since 2016. truly, truly, it's wonderful to see your faces. i'll talk about the call with blinken in a sec, but you were actually able to speak to your father since he was moved to house arrest. this is the first time that you're speaking out since then. what did he look like? how did he seem? what did he say? >> as soon as i saw that incoming video call coming in my heart sank because i knew that this was a sign to see if he was okay, he was there and as soon as i answe

tony blinken spoke by phone with an american citizen wrongly detained. cnn was forced to report the story. this is the second time the two have spoken. an appeals court ruled access should have -- access one change. the u.s. supreme or ordered an oral -- order to keep it available while litigation continues. the justice department said it strongly disagrees. a prosecutor in kansas says police should return items during a raid on a local newspaper. law enforcement stormed the marion record after claims that a staff member obtained information illegally. the attorney says there is not enough evidence to link the crime. today marks the one-year anniversary of resident right in signing the ration reduction act, the legislation includes measures to lower the cost of prescription drugs and create jobs among other things. in a white house ceremony, the president touted what he sees as the impact. >> it's one of the biggest drivers this country has ever seen. we're in all of america in the heartland and coast-to-coast. i minute commitment. >> the president said

then it was tony blinken. and then not to be left out treasury secretary janet yellen. of them did nothing but embarrass us there and just to give you an idea. if they are all in to reducing their carbon footprints, then why not just hold the next cabinet meeting for the biden administration in beijing. after all, they all seem more comfortable answering to the chinese than to the american people at this point joining me now is bob light houser. former trait representative under president trump. just days ago president biden said we are not looking for a fight with china. we are looking for a rational relationship your reaction? first of all it's important what you do an adversary china is they want to be number one in the world. they have the biggest army, the biggest navy. they are militarizing the south china sea we have had to u.s. sailors arrested for espionage for china. they have had warships off alaska. you have got to remind yourself, first, what we are dealing with and you do that so well secondly, we have to remind ourselves they have been waging an economic

can you imagine of tony blinken just disappeared? and was scrubbed from the state department. that the type of regime we are dealing with. back to your question, what this administration should do, number one we are facing a crisis with agriculture and farm land purchases. some more mysterious but most were openly and notoriously chinese. the chinese are interested in buying agriculture in america. they have to be interested in agricultural lands, whether it's in grand forks or locklin or sacramento. all the land and acreage around these air force bases is being bought up i the chinese. the fact we are allowing that is beyond absurd. and then were allowing them to build buildings with line of sight and buying property next to nuclear sites. we need to end that now. some state governments are trying to do that. we would never let the soviets do that to us and the chinese would never allow, americans coming in buying all the farmland around the bases in china. we will bring in american workers and staff that property. that's absurd. this outbound investment in china. one of the

i saw an interview that tony blinken did on 60 minutes australia a few days ago where he was asked directly by the 60 minutes reporter saying what is the biggest threat facing humanity? is it nuclear war with russia or is it climate change? he basically said well, you know, they are equal but there is no doubt that climate change is the most existential threat we face. in his entire four paragraph response, he did not once use the words nuclear war. they are spending all this time focusing on being afraid for your lives because of climate change. and yet they are doing so to hide the fact that they are leading us to the brink of nuclear war that would destroy all of humanity. >> the strangest war ever, i have to say. it is not happening while it is happening. it's the strangest thing. they never talk about it. and win something happens in the war, they then go they are going to retaliate. that is not a war. war is constant. they don't just say they did this and do that. i am off-topic, cat. pulled me back in with some spun on analysis on joe biden's performance. >> i am so glad you asked. i

>>> a cnn exclusive, the significant phone wall between aaron tony blinken and an american wrongfullyetained in russia. ststay with us. with the freestyle libre 2 system, know your glucose level and where it's headed. no fingersticks needed. manage your diabetes with more nfidence. freestyle libre 2. try it for free at freestylibre.us when migraine strikes, you're faced with a choice. ride it out with the tradeoffs of treating? or push through the pain and symptoms? with ubrelvy, there's another option. one dose works fast to eliminate migraine pain. treat it anytime, anywhere without worrying where you are or if it's too late. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. allergic reactions to ubrelvy can happen. most common side effects were nausea and sleepiness. migraine pain relief starts with u. ask about ubrelvy. learn how abbvie could help you save. >>> some breaking news for you, cnn has learned exclusively that america's top diplomat antony blinken spoke on the phone to paul whelan today. whelan is the former marine, the american who has been wrongfully detained in russia since

secretary of state tony blinken spoke by phone today with paul whelan.can citizen has been wrongfully detained in russia for more than four years. cnn was first to report the story and said blinken assured whelan the u.s. was working hard to bring him home as soon as possible. this is the second time the two have spoken. a u.s. appeals court in new orleans ruled today that access to the abortion pill mifepristone should have some restrictions. the decision would outlaw telemedicine prescriptions and sending the drug by mail. access to the pill won't change for now. the u.s. supreme court issued an order in april to keep it available while litigation continues. the justice department said it "strongly disagrees" with today's decision and will seek the supreme court's review. north carolina's republican-controlled legislature has approved a series of bills that restrict transgender athletes and gender affirming care. it also limits the teaching of lgbtq issues in schools. democratic governor roy cooper had vetoed the legislation but the gop-super majority

you know, the tony blinken, antony blinken, secretary of state goes to china.eady to go, they hacked into the state department, hacked into the commerce department so they could understand what the plan was before he got there. while john kerry was on the ground there, xi jinping comes out and says nobody's going to tell us what to do with our climate. all of this just a month after they flew a spy balloon into america and was able to send information back to the communist party about our military installations. for god's sake, the treasury secretary went to beijing and they fed her psychedelic mushrooms, hallucinogenics and we keep going back for more talks. and she's bowing like crazy when she meets her counter part and we don't know if the information that the ccp is giving us is true. let's talk about the trade data. you can see through june of this year the u.s. exported over $72 billion of goods to china and imported nearly 203 billion in goods from china. i spoke with former president trump about your trade policy and his trade policy and he underlined y

. >> there's tony blinken, jake sullivan walking out. you can imagine the leaders are not far behind. what does this mean for taiwan, victor? >> so, there will be -- there is a statement i believe on taiwan. both the japanese and south korean leaders in their bilateral summits previously have made statements about defense of taiwan. i imagine that will only be reinforced in this joint statement. i wasn't able to get to that part of the statement before talking to you, but i imagine they'll reinforce that. and it's important that the security of korea, japan, when it comes to taiwan straits are interlinked. and this summit is talking about how these three countries need to work together better militarily, intelligence sharing, all sorts of other issues with regard to china, including economic security. it's not -- it's significant that blinken and raimondo were the two people that were there, because japan and korea have both been the target of china economic coercion. >> we reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the taiwan

ambassador to the united states issued a statement basically playing down this conversation with tony blinkento politicians, appealing with politicians and the media to basically allow the two countries to work calmly and to leave the search for solutions to professionals so a noncommittal statement but one that perhaps does tend to imply that conversations are continuing. the big hold-up as far as my sources are concerned, the deal that would allow him to be swapped out and returned home to the united states who to get the russians in return. first and foremost, they want this sfb operative. he's serving a prison sentence in germany at the moment for murdering a chechen dissident, i think it was in 2019. the germans have been very reluctant or outright refused, you might say, to swap him for american citizens. that's one of the reasons i'm told has not gone through yet. and what is also a possibility and this may explain the blinken conversation today with paul whelan, it may be a possibility that some other kind of route is now being discussed with the russians that doesn't involve krasikov

you have tony blinken on one side of the president, to his wide.his left is gina romando, who is the commerce secretary. that, i think, is an important signal. she's the next person to visit china, as you know, janis mackey frayer, coming after yellen and blinken and john kerry on the china climate change issues. they are trying to build her up and signal to china this is what they are talking about also. it's not just weapons. it's economic weapons, right? >> reporter: she is the one official that beijing officials would like to see visit china. commerce is the gatekeeper to export restrictions, the gatekeeper to trying to strengthen u.s./china trade when diplomatic relations are reaching new lows. so that is some important signaling on the part there. >> we appreciate you staying up late and being with us. and victor, your expertise is invaluable. thanks to both. >>> trial balloon. donald trump's lawyers making their first formal appeal to push his election interference trial to 2026, beyond the '24 election. can he dodge court until so long afte

on friday, secretary of state tony blinken announcing that the united states is pausing certain foreignprograms benefiting the government of niger. describing it as a, quote, interim measure. he also said that humanitarian assistance in the region will continue. coming up, could indictment number four beyond the horizon for donald trump? after this week's charges fulton county district attorney says they are ready to go for their own criminal case against the former president. >> the work is accomplished. we have been waiting for two enough years. we are ready to go. o go downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. (fan #1) there ya go! that's what i'm talkin' about! (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) uh, yea. i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. switch now and they'll give you nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv, on them. (hero fan) this plan is amazing! (josh alle

tony blinken, the secretary of state, over the weekend said threatened to hold assistance it has given something doesn't change. you have a relatively new but democratic government that was installed there. bill and melinda gates spent time on stage with the now ousted president. there was a lot of hope that this time would be different. does your reporting reflect that at all? this won't repeat what we have seen in other neighboring nations. >> i think it's a mark of how significant this coup is seen. there's been a series of coups the last three years in mally and burkina faso. most of those cases, regional and western countries, initial protest shrugged and accepte the situation. here they seem to be drawing a red line. from the american perspective, that's because niger is seen as a lynch pin of the region. with so many countries falling to coups, russia's wagner group moving into neighboring mali, helping to fight the militants there. niger is this country that has been really a democratic outpost. the president was elected in a relatively free election a couple years ago. of cour

. >>> secretary of state tony blinken held a private call this week with the families of five americansrst step in a deal which includes the u.s. treasury freeing up $6 billion in iran's non-sanctioned oil revenue, money that will be deposited with the central bank of qatar and distributed only for humanitarian purposes. three of the released prisoners are siamak, and joining me now are two family members, nina shargi, and tabas's daughter. to see you under much better circumstances, not home yet on u.s. soil, but first of all, when you heard that they were out of prison, tell me about that. >> i mean, i think that you can never prepare for these moments. this was a time that often felt very far out of reach so you're flooded with every emotion and being able to see that first video call, i just was ecstatic and a sense of relief and also fear of what happens next. we don't know what happens next and it's nice to see my dad on the other side of the phone. >> how did he look to you? >> i think, you know, at the end of the day he was a dad just smiling and saying hello to his daughter and

his national security adviser jake sullivan, tony blinken, secretary of state have worked on this inwhen it comes together and really symbolically important place that reminds us of the camp david peace agreements, other fundamental moments in u.s. foreign policy. >> for folks wondering what they were seeing in the pictures, that's a camera guy letting the other camera guys balance their colors. having said that, dan, let's go back to the substance here. these reports that russia has supplied north korea with a new missile that could evade defense and hit multiple american targets, which would be a violation of security. tell us more about that. >> it's saying a new icbm that north korea tested last month appears to be using russia technology, so they seem to have gotten russian assistance to make this missile more advanced. it's a solid fuel missile and also ha technology on it that makes it able to evade u.s. defenses, so another reminder of north korea's growing missile arsenal, and nuclear weapons program, and it underlines the concern that it's driving these three countries toge

and i actually saw an interview dhat tony blinken di on "60 minutes" australia a few days ago where he was askeaustrn directly by the 60 minutes reporter saying what is the biggest threat facing ig it nuclear war with russia or is climate change? he he basically said, oh, well, you know, they're kind of equal, but there's no doubt weat climate change is the mosot existential threat we face in his entire four paragraph response, he did not once use the word s nuclear war.l th amazing. so they're spending all this time focusing, telling we to be afraid for your lives because of climate change. and yeecause o t they're doing so to hide the fact that they arert leading us to the brink of nuclear war that would destroy all of humanity. the strangest war ever, i havev, to say, because it's like it's not happening while it's happening, it is strangest. >> they neveppening.r about ther talk about it. >> and when something happens in the warann , they then go, w, they're going to retaliate this like. but that's not a war, right? >> war. it's constant. they don't just say, oh, they did this, and

as long as -- secretary blinken: as young as you are, steve. >> great young leaders. tony, thank you so much. i'm interested in the high-level u.s. business to china and whether china has done anything to justify -- how kissinger told you how his trip was and that you know how his trip was. ms. mitchell: has henry debriefed you? secretary blinken: henry is truly extraordinary, one of the benefits of this job is that i get to speak to him every few months, overwriting things and every single cup -- conversation i learned something and get new insight. i'm looking forward to speaking with him probably next week to get a debrief and we've been in regular communication. from our perspective, it's very simple. it was important to us to put some stood -- put some stability back into the relationship. to make sure -- it would not be in our interest or anyone's interest and that starts with engagement. it starts with talking, it starts with having the conversation. to make sure, at the very least, you are understanding each other, you are clear about intent, and that misunderstand