Transcripts for MSNBC The Beat With Ari Melber 20240604 23:32:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
state video capturing the high stakes prisoner swap that secured her freedom. griner in a red jacket, her hair noticeably shorter, escorted toward an american aircraft as the man she say exchanged for, russian arms dealer viktor bout was embraced by his russian handlers. president biden this morning moments after speaking to griner by telephone tweeting she is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home. a moment of celebration for her family, friends, and fans but shadowed by the fact the administration was not able to negotiate the release of american paul whelan who the white house says has been unjustly imprisoned in russia for four years. in a moment my conversation with mr. whelan s brother. but first andrea mitchell with details on the deal and the moment brittney griner has longed for. reporter: tonight after ten months behind bars in russia, wnba star brittney griner is coming home, seen here on russian state video.
the oval office. the most important emotion i have is sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. reporter: overnight, nba star steph curry, who was previously urged with griner s return, celebrating her release. b.g., we love you, we thank you for your sacrifice. reporter: she admitted to bringing less than a gram of medicinal cannabis into russia and said she never intended to break any law. she spent nearly a month at a penal colony infamous for its harsh conditions. newly released footage showing griner working while in detention. she was exchanged on the tarmac in the united arab emirates for viktor bout, also seen on state video flying back to russia. he says, they took me right out of my cell, widely known as the merchant of death, he had served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the u.s. the white house coming up fire for the decision from some in congress. it s made us weaker. it s made putin stronger and
morning of brittney griner touching down in san antonio, officially back on u.s. soil. we know she ll be headed to brook army medical center to get looked over. she did look good just from sort of a superficial view on the plane from that russian state video that we got. what more can you tell us about her condition this morning? we ve talked to our team on the ground who met her there as well as the team that traveled overseas with her on that airplane. they say she s in very good spirits, appears to be in good health. certainly she s a very happy woman today as is her family. you re right, she s now going to go to the treatment for a minute. she s going to get looked after by docs and nurses there just to make sure everything is okay, and that she s all set and ready to go back home. they ll take as much time as they need to do that. we re glad to have her back, and everything that we have seen tells us that she s in pretty good health and very good spirits. this was great news w