drug trial. during that testimony she said she had no intention of smuggling drugs to russia and did not understand how it ended up in her luggage. mueller later told generalists that the was improper. whelan has been held in russia since 2018 on espionage allegations. bout is serving a 25 year sentence in the u.s.. joining me now is kaitlan collins and cnn senior political correspondent abby philip, who also interviewed griner s wife last month before the trial began. caitlin, why did the administration decide to make this proposal public? they said that this was this a decision they did not take lightly. obviously it s where two announce any details of a prisoner swap before it takes place. typically, that is done almost entirely behind the scenes, but very people knowing about it. even at such a sensitive situation but they said that a lot of factors went into this, anderson. i think what it has to do with is the timing here. this was a proposal that the
the policies and don t attack the president on a personal level. thank you very much, bill. great to see you tonight. thank you. up next the bizarre story of a former u.s. marine who traveled to russia for a wedding and now is being held in the country over espionage allegations. what the trump administration is doing to intervene. next turn up your swagger game with one a day gummies. one serving. .once a day. .with nutrients that support 6 vital functions. .and one healthy you. that s the power of one a day.
the state department issued a statement saying they are aware of this detention. they expected the russian authorities will grant that. they inside a statement they are not prepared to divulge any more information. we are not clear about the circumstances in which this actually took place. clearly at the end of the year like this, it s almost like fitting that a year that has been dominated by espionage allegations. that should end a couple of weeks ago and maria butina, a russian pro gun activist pleaded guilty in a u.s. court. she faces up to six months in prison. this character faces up to 20 years in a russian jail. it s a category of crime which is far, far greater. we have a chance in moscow and no shortage of intrigue.
the relations against the north and the south. reporter: what kind of great event did you think would happen. i m not sure yet. this is if favors time he s been able to send any message to his family and friends since he was detained. korean government is stating for the immediate release of the student. as long as two others that are being healed on espionage allegations. joo remains under investigation but he s hopeful his arrest will bring about some good. i hope that, you know i will be able to tell the world how an ordinary college student entered the country illegally. but however with the generous treatment of the dprk that i will be able to return safely. reporter: joo says he s being treated well.
collection have had the effect of making americans more safe, of disrupting potential terror plots against united states and american people as well as our allies. this new nsa report concluded that the section of the patriot act 215, which was brought in after 9/11, it was never designed to justify this bulk collection of america s phone records, which is what we have with the nsa right now, gretchen. it s amazing how one person can make such a difference. i m talking about edward snowden. so now what are we to make of snowden, his upcoming web chat today? an hour from now the nsa leaker is holding a question-and-answer session on the web. it s not clear at this hour whether it s going to be a skype situation or text or whether the site may crash because of high interest level. what we expect is it will be the first time snowden weighs in on the president s reforms and he publicly responds to espionage