, the sister of paul whelan.e before it began. >> russia's less sophisticate td take on diplomacy is to detain citizens in order to distract concessions from the united states. it is the action of a terrorist state. i am here to tell russia, free paul whelan. >> elizabeth whelan joins us now. hi, elizabeth. i also want to play a part of the united states ambassador to the u.n.'s speech today. >> today, we are joined by paul's sister, elizabeth. and i want minister lavrov to look into her eyes and see her suffering. i want you to see what it's like to miss your brother for four years. >> what was it like for you to be at this meeting in the very same presence of the same regime that imprisoned your brother? >> oh, it was quite a moment. and i was there for paul and for evan and for brittany and for trevor reed, even those people who have been freed already because this regime has gone too far. this hostage diplomacy has to end. >> you have said that you haven't seen a current picture of paul. the last one was at h

she brought with her elizabeth whelan, paul whelan's sister, an advocate who has been criticizing the home after four years plus in a remote labor camp on a spying conviction which is fiercely denied by everyone involved, the u.s. government as well, paul, his family, everyone else. so here you've got paul whelan's sister, elizabeth, facing down sergey lavrov. she said that he looked her right in the eye, she was surprised, and that she was there and in the opening sentences really of linda thomas greenfield's comments, she said paul whelan is still there and his sister is here representing the family and you won't release this man and we want him home, to say nothing, of course, of evan gershkovich, the wall street journal reporter and the others but it was the whelan case that was front and center at the u.n. yesterday. the other thing that the ambassador said is that all of the other 13 members who were there, none of them rallied to his defense. they were all critical of russia >> andrea mitchell, thank you so much always great to have you on the program, my friend appreciate it.

the job is to get paul whelan home.the us secretary of state has said the white house has put forward a serious proposal to secure paul whelan's release and that they are committed to bringing him home. elizabeth whelan tells cnn why she wanted to renew her cause for paul's freedom. i think the shock of seeing evan arrested for the same with the same charges of espionage. you know, we're only a couple of weeks out from the one year mark from trevor reid. coming home, leaving paul behind over four months since brittney griner came home, leaving paul behind. we don't want to see it happen again. it i don't even know what we would do if that happened again, so i have to do everything in my power to get the u. s government to use every tool. to try to get paul home. supporters of jailed russian opposition figure alexei navalny fear he is being poisoned again . navalny was in court for two hearings on friday. esteem says prison officials were forced to call an ambulance last week to treat him for severe stomach pain and that

. >> paul whelan is also a priority for us. -- speak to that for the past several months. and as we have said before, the charges against evan are baseless. we call on russia -- the russian federation to immediately release him. we call for the immediate release of paul who has been wrongfully detained on sham espionage charges for more than four years. we remain in touch with their families and admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances. you had a follow up to that? >> for paul whelan, is it going to be as difficult to bring him home? >> look, these are always challenging circumstances as we have known. we've seen this play out on this administration this past two years. i'm not going to get into hypotheticals. i'm not going to get into negotiations in public or from the podium. these are sensitive matters. i want to be incredibly careful from here but don't want to get ahead of that. know that we're committed to bringing them both home. >> whelan's family has been vocal about their concerns the admin

this is different than paul whelan. this is different and i'm interested in someone in your role as you look at these cases, is there a template? are there things that we're not seeing that help you ah, move from one to case or is every once every one of them so extraordinarily different that, that you have to actually build a process that unique unto that case. i think there are some principles that apply across cases, but then the recovery strategy, the tactics very case specific. let me tell you what i think some of those principles are. first and foremost, we committed as a government when the obama by the administration reviewed how we handle these types of matters to doing a better job in a number of respects. and one of those was making sure that families and loved ones feel informed and supported during these really horrific or deals that has to be a guiding principle across cases. how that applies is case specific. different families want more information at different times. they want to present it in different

the job is to get paul whelan home.utfront now elizabeth wheelan, the sister of paul well, and so, elizabeth. you and i have spoken a number of times about getting paul home about your efforts. i have to say that video that you posted today that felt different to me. i felt a different level of frustration from you. what changed? well i think the shock of seeing evan arrested for the same with the same charges of espionage. you know, we're only a couple of weeks out from the one year mark from trevor reid coming home, leaving paul behind over four months since brittney griner came home, leaving paul behind. we don't want to see it happen again. it i don't even know what we would do if that happened again, so i have to do everything in my power to get the u. s government to use every tool to try to get paul home. evans been there for just a little over two weeks, i believe does that impacted all your efforts to get paul home? i don't know. uh we will. i really don't know. i'm not sure the u. s government knows that, and

you mentioned paul whelan and gershkovitch. but we also saw today a final statement to the court from a person familiar to you and others as being a russian dissident. someone who lived in america for many years and attempted to be poisoned by the putin regime not once, but twice. he gave a final statement to the court that was very dramatic. i think one of the things we need to understand about this moment is the biden administration is not doing any of the things necessary to put russia in a bad position when it comes to all of these people that they are capturing. we need to put the brakes to them. instead we treat this like the same way we treated the drone incident most recently where we are saying we'll just guide our drones around the airspace that you are in. that's not acceptable. it is not an expression of american strength. we need to be putting the screws to russia in a way that forces them to actually free these people, send them back home where they belong and not engage in this type of behavior going forward. it

i refr to paul whelan.tting a crime, receiving material that was state secret. >> that is the russian foreign minister ser minister sergey lavrov. these are the last photos that whelan's family saw of him at his trial three years ago. whelan was sentenceded to 16 years in prison in 2020 after being arrested on espionage charges athe a moscow hote in 2018. his sister elizabeth attended the national security council meeting yesterday that sergey lavrov chaired on monday. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations referenced whelan's presence in the room. >> where today we're joined by paul's sister, elizabeth. and i want minister lavrov to look into her eyes and see her suffering. i want you to see what it's like to miss your brother for four years. >> and elizabeth joins us now. thank you so much for being here and coming in person. what was it like to actually not only be in the same room as him but you actually made eye contact with sergey lavrov. >> yes. i sat there for two hours staring at him. and as you

, a former marine held _ paul whelan, a former marine held in— paul whelan, a former marine held in russiages. it is important to note — charges. it is important to note that all of these people are believed to be held on trump _ are believed to be held on trump up charges. they all deny they are — trump up charges. they all deny they are there as spies and they— they are there as spies and they are _ they are there as spies and they are doing theirjob and that— they are doing theirjob and that is_ they are doing theirjob and that is something the president highlighted as well, that this is hot — highlighted as well, that this is not a — highlighted as well, that this is not a crime. he called journalism the pillar of a free society, _ journalism the pillar of a free society, saying journalists are not society, saying journalists are hot the — society, saying journalists are not the enemy, availed reference from president donald trump — reference from president donald trump it— reference from president donald trump. it is an night of fun and— trump. it is an night of fun and can— trump. it

what david whelan, said . paul's brother, he says that this shouldn't matter what the brother his brother or evan gorski that ended up that they detain what their professions are that this should be treated equally. both cases are both cases being treated equally. we don't prioritize cases in my office we have between 30 and 40 cases right now, and we're trying to bring all them home. we don't prioritize and as you can see from the 26 people that we brought home in the last year , they've come from different levels of fame. different levels of financial health. it doesn't matter to us. all that matters is that they're holding a blue passport and the wrongfully detained and then if that's the case, we're going to find a way to bring him home. roger carson is at the white house work for us this morning. thank you, sir. thank you, sir. such an important voice to hear from on this topic. also this morning, we're tracking this. it's fair to wonder what covid testing have always been free. if not for this moment tha

some people think paul whelan's family and evan gershkovich's family would consider that be a parityetty fair swap. >> it's dangerous territory, right? does that we get into the practice of prisoner swaps on a regular basis. you can probably speak to this the best, they can put american citizens at risk. a broad, journalist, this was quite the step to detain a u.s. journalist in russia. >> i was warned in moscow by diplomats that the british government, for instance, does not negotiate for hostages. i mean, obviously, they probably do. but we were told it would be the enthusiasm, perhaps, for a exchange for prisoners with russia ever brison -- a british citizen. >> was they directing that it? you >> know, but it would've applied to me. >> let's talk about alexei navalny, the opposition leader who's of course in prison and subjected to awful treatment. what's the latest? >> he's in a terrible state. he's in prison for 11.5 years. of course, he was poisoned with a nerve agent, terrible. he recovered from that. he came back from russia, and he was arrested and put in prison for, i think

i refer to paul whelan and evan gershkovich. they were detained when they were committing a crime, receiving material that was a state secret, and the vociferous pathose lay statements about journalists by defamation, not being able to commit crimes is something which we reject. >> matthew chance was the one who asked that question of the foreign minister. he's with me here. matthew, i want to ask you about that exchange that you had with lavrov because it isn't true anymore that anyone even gets to ask him questions. but, first, tucker carlson, he brings up foreign minister lavrov brings up tucker carlson. you know that state media in moscow hasable to them. what did you make of lavrov bringing that up today? >> i think it undermines how valuable he is to them and how much of a sort of voice he is on russian state media. we saw there from the reporting that we just featured. he is a regular feature of russian state television newscasts, and russian anchors use his views, which are often quite extreme, in some cases, as the view

you dealt in the early months with the griner problem, paul whelan, you know all of this and how this -- once charged with espionage as whelan was and has been in jail for four years, evan gershkovich is not a spy, he is a well-known correspondent from a russian family, speaks russian, intrepid, brilliant correspondent. once charged, now they say he will have a hearing date april 18th to hear his appeal. he has not been visited by the embassy diplomats, even though under the geneva convention he is supposed to have access to them he has seen his lawyers hired by "the wall street journal." what do you project -- is it urgent to try to get him out soon before this gets swept into the judicial endless process >> the problem that we will confront, andrea, is that the russians won't talk to us. this has been their practice until that judicial process has run its course when i tried to engage with the russians before paul whelan was convicted, they wouldn't speak to me. they would tell me that their judicial process has to run its course it took almost a year and a half for paul to ultimate

is there anyone that the russians want or would be willing to exchange for evan or paul whelan, who islso being held on espionage charges? more broadly, are you concerned that there is a precedent being set now by our adversaries who are detaining americans in the hope that maybe they would get some sort of prisoner swap in return? sec. blinken: you have heard me say this before. from my perspective, from the department's perspective, there is no higher priority than the safety and security of american citizens around the world and that includes those who may be wrongfully detained and held hostage. otherwise kept from coming home. being with their families. in evan's case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention. and there is a process to do that and it is something we are working through very deliberately. but expeditiously as well. and i will let that process play out. in my own mind, there is no doubt that he is being wrongfully detained by russia, which is except what i said to the foreign minister when i spoke to him over the weekend. and insisted that evan

>> from brittney griner, paul whelan, we have information, and the american embassy will be in touchh evan and his attorney. i don't think insofar as the conditions in which she is being he there is a high level of concern. what is a concern is that detention could extend as it has in the case ofaul whelan, the american who was detained, and the biden administration try to secure his release earlier. tin has a longer time limit. biden is under a lot of political pressure here in washington. i think he is going to try to get this release sooner rather than later. >> thank you for your insight. thank you for joining us. police in northern ireland have warned some dissident republicans could try to provoke street violence over the easter weekend. the country is marking the 25th anniversary since the signing of the good friday agreement, which ended 30 years of sectarian violence. hundreds of extra police have been brought in for events, which culminate in a visit to belfast by u.s. president biden wednesday. a quarter-century after that agreement was struck, political tensions remain in

job is to get paul whelan home. but what is being conveyed right now to the wheel and family with these red lines and talks of impossible trades is that not only is paul weiland worth less than some russian criminal, he is ultimately worth less than other americans. paul whelan deserves better than he is getting for results. he has the white house attention to his case, and now he needs the white house to get the job done. obviously referring to trevor reid and brittney griner, who were imprisoned too long but less time than their than her brother. indeed this is a tough one. i understand her frustration. i've been talking to elizabeth for almost three years now. i've been talking to paul whelan. paul and i talked as early as last monday. we spent 15 minutes on the phone. and frankly, i brought up evan's case. i told paul what was going on gave him a sense of what was happening and told him that he was now wrongfully determined to be wrongfully detained. we're not taking our foot off the gas, we're going to find a w

ella whelan is an company until 7:00. ella whelan to an autnor— company until 7:00.favour of storm reconvening, and the storm and reconvening, and the politicians is locally elected getting with the job. why has getting on with the job. why has no mentioned in the no one mentioned in that the people northern ireland, people of northern ireland, unionist, , protestant, unionist, catholic, protestant, republican , nationalist, all of republican, nationalist, all of them want their local politicians to govern them , politicians to govern them, their, you know, their politics. and the dup are a part of that spectrum.— and the dup are a part of that spectrum, though. and they they ctatet— spectrum, though. and they they ctatet att— spectrum, though. and they they stated all along— spectrum, though. and they they stated all along that they felt tnat— stated all along that they felt tnat tne — stated all along that they felt that the windsor— stated all along that they felt that the windsor framework did not meet— that the windsor framework did not meet tne— that the windso

wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich and paul whelan are both being held on charges of spyingprison. -- right wing protesters marched in front of israel's parliament on thursday in the first big public rally to support prime minister benjamin netanyahu's controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system. since january, there have been mass protests against the plan, which opponents say would weaken the independence of the supreme court. here's cnn's hadas gold reporting in from jerusalem. >> for months, hundreds of thousands of israelis have taken to the streets of israel to protest against the -- overhaul plan the israeli government has -- that would put unprecedented power in the -- disappointing court. but this protest is something different. these protesters, they are in favor of the judicial reform. they say their voices have not been heard as much in the israeli state, and so that's why they are coming out here in front of the israeli supreme court and -- voices heard by the parliamentarians and they want these reforms to -- want these reforms to go through. they say th

he's possibly facing a very long imprisonment, you know, given what's happened already with paul whelan and, you know, brittney griner. and so, you know, he, he, i think he feels worse for his family and his friends and editors who are sitting here today. um, i hope he doesn't blame himself. he'll get out of this. um, he'll survive, he'll thrive as a journalist and, and do other great things and you're just, you're just patient because you know that so many people are doing so much to help you. uand there's an anger, there's a real anger at the people who, who do this to you because there's just, he was a journalist. i was a journalist. i went to interview a top commander. he was doing his job and he's not, he's not a criminal. this is outrageous, what they've done. >> elena. could you, could you talk a bit about what the journal is doing? i know that's not all public information but what, what can you tell us about it? >> yeah, i can talk a little bit about that but i just want to respond a bit to what david is saying. and i, i think, you know, it really hits home when i listen to, wel

we also call for the immediate release of paul whelan, paul has been held more than four years in russia. both men deserve to go home to their families now >> reporter: and as you hear, the ambassador referring to american paul whelan who was convicted of espionage in russia according to the state department, remains unlawfully detained his family releasing a new statement saying he feels abandoned by the white house and is worried the u.s. may make a decision again that leaves paul in russia, referring to those two other high-profile prisoner exchanges between the u.s. and russia that have occurred since he's been detained there now a top russian diplomat does say that russia might discuss a prisoner swap, but as we know from previous attempts like this, it requires a trial and a conviction before these are even discussed. so it could be some time that there is a possible swap for gershkovich and a russian prisoner in the united states. so, again, frances, this may take some time for evan gershkovich to remain mbehind bars in russia >> it's got to be excruciating for him and his family

for marine paul whelan behind bars since 2018.ged with espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison. linsey? >> linsey: llama, thank you. pope francis presided over palm sunday mass. millions of catholics breathing a collective sigh of relief s today marks the start of holy week and what is expected to be a busy week for the 86-year-old pontiff. here is ines de la cuetara. >> ines: pope francis appears to be all the men. 24 hours after leaving the hospital, the vatican was a bout of infectious proctitis. he sounded a bit horse and he seemed slightly out of breath. the pulp still -- pope still marking the beginning of holy week. was the passionate sherman. thinking that people who pray for his health and urging the road to take better care of the poor, sick, and lonely. the pontiff waiting to do more than 60,000 catholics who came out to see him. >> we are so happy he is healthy. >> ines: he was admitted to the hospital on wednesday and according to a spokesman, released three days later. it appears the pope has no restrictions af

have there been any substantive remio geinns, or al a wt i cans, paul whelan home. >> reporter: in aevan reassured his parents that he is not losing hope. "i read, i exercise, and i am trying to write." his parents, who fled russia for the u.s. in the late '70s, told "the wall street journal" they are trying to be optimistic. >> that's where we stand right now. but i am not stupid. i understand what's involved. >> reporter: russian officials have said they might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap, but only after evan's trial is complete, and that trial is not scheduled to begin until late may at the earliest. so he will remain in a former kgb prison, norah, at least until then. >> norah: all right, nancy cordes at the white house, thank you very much. there are growing concerns over the safety of americans inside the war-torn african nation of sudan. after a u.s. diplomatic convoy came under attack on monday. secretary of state anthony anthony lincoln said reports indicate the attackers were linked to a paramilitary group fighting against sudan's army for control of the

|and linda thomas—greenfield also brought the sister of paul whelan, who is an ex—marine who has beenyears. and elizabeth, paul whelan's sister, i said she wanted to go there to telll the global community that one - of the principles of multilateralism was for countries to confront anyone who uses taking hostages as part. of its international relations. so, really, what we heard _ from western countries was just this complete shock that russia i would call this type of debate, but on the other hand, maryam, you had the likes of russia - and china saying that it's - the united states that's trying to run a unipolar world and flex its hegemony| and its special interests - on the rest of the members of the united nations. and so, they blame the united states for trying to do things like, _ they said, deter china and isolate russia, and use nato _ to expand its borders. so we have this very competing view that we've always had at the un - right and front and centre, as sergei lavrov _ was here in new york. and some people there might be questioning why russia holds this position for this

paul whelan has been there for four years mark c fogel is there whelan was convicted of espionage andy griner he is not officially wrongfully detained yet what does it take for the state department to declare him wrongfully detained? it was unusual the secretary of state talked to lavrov they have not been talking at all. on this very quickly they got -- he got lavrov on the phone it's unclear what influence lavrov would have on this. >> it's good he's talking to him. that's the right move. this will be decided politically, diplomatically. it won't be decided in a court of law everybody needs to remember, there is no rule of law in russia today there was before, decades ago, when you could expect a trial of some sort. nobody can expect that today nobody russians, americans, europeans in russia today. number two, there is a process that the state department has to make these determinations. we have this curious case, as you know well, that paul whelan has been determined to be wrongfully detained and marc fogel, another american held hostage in my view, hasn't been. i don't know what t

just like paul whelan's as well, another u.s.>> in fact, his sister was at the u.n. today. >> he was -- she was. >> because of what progress was made. do you want to tell us about what she said? there >> she was to basically speak in front of sergei lavrov to make it an appeal for paul whelan, her brother, to be released from jail. he's in prison on spying charges. he was arrested back in 2018 but i think we've got -- to take a quick listen to what she had to say. >> russia's last and sophisticated take on the promises to arbitrarily detained american citizens in order to extract concessions from the united states. this is not the work of a mature and responsible nature. it is the action up a terrorist state. i am here to tell russia, free paul whelan! >> was lavrov listening? i mean, was he present for that? >> well, yes. i'm sure he's heard this. but it would be the first time he's heard an appeal like that. it falls on deaf ears, that the russians are looking for obviously something major that they can get. that they can extra

, who is the sister of paul whelan, who is the u. s citizen who's been in jail in russia now for over 4 years. and she spoke to reporters before the meeting. no idea whether she's going to try and get a meeting with mr. lever off. i think that looks unlikely at james. we also heard from we also heard about rather a we also heard about a sedan in the un secretary general. this was just as we dipped in to what you were seeing. and tanya gutierrez was talking about sedan, obviously calling for an end to the fighting as he's been doing for the last few days. what else did he say? yeah. day 10, now in sit on and he says the situation continues to worse. and as you know, there been evacuations carried out by a number of countries. the un have got we believe hundreds of people out that's the only the figure we've been given, not an exact figure. i can tell you that the, that the u. n. in terms of international staff, i had 800 people in sudan. he says they have been a, his authorized the temporary relocation both inside and outside sudan. b

we also call for the immediate release of paul whelan. >> reporter: now the detention of paul whelan is certainly or excuse me of evan gershkovich is certainly shining a line on the detention of paul whelan in custody for the last five years. >> megan fitzgerald, thanks for your reporting. appreciate it. >>> florida governor ron desantis is in washington, d.c. today for a rare trip. he's meeting with republican lawmakers. his visit comes as he ramps up attacks against disney, even floating the idea of building a state prison on land next to the amusement park. national correspondent gabe gutierrez is following all of this for us. gabe, what sport of support does he have? >> reporter: well, the florida state legislature is now working on a bill that would wrestle back some power, some oversight powers over disney, of course, this has been an ongoing war of words between the entertainment giant and governor ron desantis ever since last year disney opposed the -- what critics dub the so-called don't say gay bill that banned classroom discuss

they also urge the kremlin to release immediately paul whelan. the state department has continually attempted to secure counsel access. the state has a process that is currently ongoing. i would refer you to the state on any specifics of that piece. there is couple things i wanted to add about what that process is. the department of state reviews cases of u.s. nationals detained abroad to determine if there unlawful. they assess the effects of the case. they will work with colleagues inside and outside the government to develop a strategy to secure individuals' release. reporter: is that a matter of days, a week? >> i understand the urgency. there is an urgency for this president. this is a party for the president. it is in the state department. they would have more specific on the timeline. reporter: a follow-up on that. what the administration said that anything and all is on the table? >> we try to be very careful, especially as we are having these conversations. i am not going to get into specifics on what is on the table and not on the peopl

violation of international norms to barbaric practice of using people as political pawns. >> todd: whelanrving a 16-year sentence after being convicted of espionage and gershkovich is in moscow prison also facing espionage charges. top u.s. officials call russia's allegations baseless in both cases. >> ashley: 40 s.u.v.s in boston, the group called tire extinguishers put letters like this one on the window of each car they hit. you will have no difficulty by getsing around by walking, traveling with transport. a radio host in boston joins me now. tell us what your listeners are saying about this incident? >> well, it is par for the course in boston, there is virtue signalling going on among the protected classes and this is another indication telling people to use public transportation, it is a ruined state. i guarantee you the people who did this did not walk or take a bicycle to beacon hill to do this. they are trying to impress everybody with their virtues. it is the -- this has been done so many times and it is just ridiculous. they are asking people to make sacrifices they are not wi

whelan is a former u. s marine.s left behind in the last two prisoner swaps, one for former marine trevor read the other four w nba star. brittney griner with us now, paul whelan's brother, david wheelan, david, your parents were able to speak to paul yesterday for the first time in nearly two weeks, he has now spent four years wrongfully detained since december. 2018 living a bleak life inside a russian penal colony right now, how is he doing? he seems to be surviving as well as you can and that sort of situation. he said that his weight is mostly stable. he'd lost a little bit food portions in the prison have been reduced as the sanctions start to bite and the russian economy uh he's he's doing the best he can to get by. your folks say that paul is aware of evan girsky case. um and his fear of being left behind a third time was apparently palpable. today you wrote in a blog post quote. i can't conceive a scenario where the u. s government conceded anything to the kremlin for an americans released that did not incl

the job is to get paul whelan home. the u. s sector of state has said the white house has put forward a serious proposal to secure paul wieland's release and that they're committed to bringing him home. but elizabeth whelan tells cnn the family's worried that the u. s may leave paul behind again if prisoners are swapped in the future. supporters of jailed russian opposition figure alexei navalny fear he's been poisoned again. navalny was in court for two hearings on friday. his team says prison officials were forced to call an ambulance last week to treat him for severe stomach pain and that he's been losing weight of only was poisoned with the possible nerve agent back in 2020, his allies fear he's being poisoned again gradually in small doses. we'll be right back. compared with other choose one verb ectoo chew protects from fleas and ticks for 12 weeks, nearly three times longer used with caution and dogs with the history of seizures or neurological disorders. protection that lasts longer. bravo bravo, ecto bravo! you t me,

but paul whelan was not released as a part of these prisoner swaps. what do you believe it's going to take to bring the likes of your brother and girls. covic home. you know, that's a really good question. um i've had some very pointed conversations with officials within the government in the last couple of days. just trying to find out where where things stand for paul and i have faith after these conversations that you know, good and smart people are working, and they have been across two administrations to try to solve this problem. it is particularly difficult these espionage charges they allow russia to do a lot of things. um behind the scenes, you know, hold hearings and trials in six cred and that sort of thing. it becomes very difficult to know what they're up to. um i do believe that everyone is supremely irritated by the fact that evan has now been arrested as well, and i'm sure there's going to be some doubling down on efforts to get him out. but i have to say you know what's helped us through all of this has been the support of the america

say is that we are -- we are committed to getting evan home, and we are committed to getting paul whelan home. >> reporter: in a letter written in russian, evan reassured his parents that he is not losing hope. "i read. i exercise, and i'm trying to write." his parents, who fled russia for the u.s. in the late '70s, told "the wall street journal" they are trying to be optimistic. >> that's where we stand right now. but i am not stupid. i understand what's involved. >> reporter: russian officials have said they might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap but only after evan's trial is complete, and that trial is not scheduled to begin until late may at the earliest. so he'll remain forme kgb prison, norah, at least until then. >> all right. nancy cordes at the white house, thank you very much. >>> there are growing concerns over the safety of americans inside the war-torn african nation of sudan after a u.s. diplomatic convoy came under attack on monday. secretary of state antony blinken said preliminary reports indicate the attackers were linked to a paramilitary group fighting

and— author and journalist ella whelan and the former editor of totourttot— whelan and the former editorthink it's unavoidable and people go on strike because they feel like they've been left with no choice . i'm interested in the fact there-o— . i'm interested in the fact there's majority— i'm interested in the fact there's majority support there's majority public support for there's majority public support tor-otrtteo— there's majority public support tor-otrtteo .— there's majority public support for-strikes . 52.- there's majority public support for strikes . 52. jacob for these strikes. 52. jacob you-t— for these strikes. 52. jacob you'll recognise- for these strikes. 52. jacob you'll recognise that number tron— you'll recognise that number from otter— you'll recognise that number from other votes,— you'll recognise that number from other votes, 52% public support— from other votes, 52% public support .— from other votes, 52% public support . ant— from other votes, 52% public support . and the reason i say support. and the reason i say i do support. and the reason i say i to tetteve—

when it comes when it comes to paul whelan, there is a proposal that has been on the table for some months. with foreign minister lavrov i reiterated russia should move on the proposal so we can bring paul home. in any of these instances, there is a balance to be struck between trying to bring home people unjustly detained in one way or another, and what it takes to do that. so, i believe that because we have demonstrated this in the past, and as a result, as well, of legislation and other tools we have, that even as we engage in efforts to bring people home we can also increase the pressure and penalties on those that would engage in the practice of unlawful and arbitrary detention of our citizens. that is what we have been doing including, for example, in permitting the robert doesn't enact -- robert levinson act and other tools. >> next we go to freedom kv. >> yesterday after meetings with you the minister of foreign affairs of ukraine said he wanted to see a proposal from nato during the summit. today estonia -- the foreign minister of estonia says ukraine should be provided with a roa

the white house to bringing him safely home as well as paul whelan another american illegally detaineddeeply concerned by the news that russia will continue to wrongfully detain evan following a sham judicial proceeding today. that's what we saw earlier today. the biden-harris administration is engaging with russia through every available channel to bring evan and fellow american paul whelan home who is also a priority for us. >> gillian: the justice department is charging four americans in florida and three russians with conducting a criminal foreign influence campaign here inside the u.s. the government says the efforts span several years and involve covertly funding and directing candidates for local office. tonight we hear from members of the top secret u.s. trained counter-terrorism unit that operated inside afghanistan. they are among thousands of afghans still unable to get special visas to enter the u.s. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin has their story. >> our future is not clear. we don't know what will happen. >> one of about 200 afghans who worked for a

. >> reporter: and she spoke of what she would tell paul whelan and evan, two americans now held in russia abroad. >> stay strong, keep fighting, don't give up. keep waking up. find a routine and stick to that routine. >> reporter: asked if she felt guilt for her release after a shorter time in detention than whelan and some others, she said if she could have gotten them out herself, she would have. she made no comments about the conditions except for one moment. >> no one should be in those conditions. hands down, no one should be in any of the conditions that i went through or they're going through. >> reporter: the "washington post" writer who was held in iran for nearly a year and a half told us about what griner may be going through he other motionly right now. >> once you've been isolated and confined and having had choice taken from you for that long, you know, it's not really natural to just kind of come back to freedom. and then couple that with sort of not being able to understand, hey, why am i not happier about this? >> reporter: grinl's news conference came the same day the "w

elizabeth whelan is the sister of paul whelan who is wrongfully imprisoned. she was at the u.n. you said you wanted him to look into her eyes to see the suffering that she's going through with the loss of her brother. she told cnn that lavrov did look at her. you asked him to do so and that he actually did. she said that that happened. what do you make of that, that he would actually do that? >> i think he felt the pressure. i didn't see him -- i was concentrating -- >> but you were delivering your comments. -- >> my statement. but i do know that when i turned to him and said, you should look into her eyes, he was pretending to read, and he did look up. and, so, i am pleased that she saw him look at her so that he could feel her pain and he can feel her suffering not having seen her brother for nearly four years. >> and she also mentioned the jailed "wall street journal" reporter. we have heard a lot about him. they're charging him with high crimes of espionage. from what we understand from talking to lawyers involved and sources, there is no imminent resolution to this, and the

paul whelan has been held in russia for more than four years and theyaldislease yesterday with paul'syou think anything will move the russians on this matter? >> you know the russians heard a powerful message from me but they also heard strong messages from other 13 members of the security council. they didn't have a single voice in the room supporting their unprovoked and aggressive actions against the ukrainians so i hope he takes this message for what it was, and i hoped that he would look for elizabeth's face and see what their actions are doing to a family member and i think he did. >> what did you see when you looked in his face, yesterday? >> i was surprised he looked in my direction at all. i expected him to shuffle papers but i'm glad he looked up and saw me standing there as the face of my brother who is in a forced labor camp in a recent province. not someone he has to deal with at all. but to be there in wrongful detention i think it made the point. >> your family has not been shy saying the united states should do more to get your brother home and they even said they felt

whelan, you mentioned "the wall street journal" journalist the reality is that americans are being heldoughout the world by regimes like russia and other adversary nations. the state department has and must continue to aggressively work for their release notably in the case of journalists, more than 500 worldwide are currently being detained for doing their journalistic work. certainly, in the case of american journalists, as a former cia officer, now as a member of the house intelligence committee, i can tell you that we were always very, very clear that the cia, when we were overseas, when we were at home, we went nowhere near american journalists. they were doing their work we had a prohibition, very clear, on ever engaging so that if someone was on to us, it never linked back to true journalists like evan. so it's just an absolute horror what is happening to him i expect the state department to work aggressively and tirelessly to get him and every other detained american home >> of course, vladimir putin is acheering the purpose of getting others to be reluctant to go or if they go

paul whelan is still there, now we have another one, are these cases capable, what is the white houseng to build upon these cases because it is that what you do inquire? >> emily: their defenses they are not building upon each other, they are separate. so the state department spokesman said we been working on paul whelan through the appropriate channels, so somehow it's making it sound like this is going through proper procedure but somehow brittney griner's case -- >> harris: former military. >> emily: perhaps because of the attention after phone call and agreement to let loose the minister of death. i don't know why these cases should be treated differently but not someone's prior service. all we know is what the administration says is that they are totally different and i can't explain why. >> kayleigh: 30 americans detained abroad without distinction of unlawful detention. we await that for "the wall street journal" reporter. coming up, single mother in oregon is suing the state after her application for adoption was rejected. she says it's because of her christian beliefs. detail