the griner deal? the griner deal, it was that one for one and as we heard from phil just there, it was recent days where this deal was actually signed off, but it was a recent weeks where administration officials had to grapple with the reality that, of course they wanted paul whelan and brittney griner home, but the russians were only willing to do this one for one griner for viktor bout swap. and so, essentially what they had to do was do this deal now or potentially do no deal at all. it s extraordinary to see this image of the swab on the tarmac in abu dhabi. it really is like something out of a cold war movie, cold war novel. it is and you saw the small smile on britney griner s face. it was footage that was released from russian state media this afternoon and someone asked her, you know, if she is ready for the flight. she said, yes, yes i m ready for the flight. you could see joy in her eyes,
death, his life fictionalized in a nicolas cage movie the lord of war . a very prominent individual and russia s influence in smaller conflicts in the 1990s, thousand dealing arms, yet a man who denies all of that publicly, despite the fact that russia has gone through extraordinary lengths diplomatically to get him home today and over the past weeks. here is more of what we know about him. reporter: he is the lord of war, according to this fictional movie starring nicolas cage. say what you want about war lords and dictators, they always pay their bills on time. reporter: or the merchant of death, about his alleged life. despite much evidence, viktor bout has always denied being one of the biggest arms dealers of the 90s, fueling civil wars and bolstering moscow s interest. he still never really wanted to be a nobody. why do the americans want you so badly? the administration, don t ask