news. what we know in the fate of those four americans kidnapped in mexico across the border from brownsville, tech as. t two americans are dead, two have survived. grim news we learned just moments ago. dana: want to bring in former national security advisor robert o brien familiar with these types of situations in mexico. the news breaking today. give us your initial take. well, i used to be the hostage envoy. this is the type of news that s heartbreaking when americans are kill overseas by terrorists. i count the cartels at terrorists. our hearts go out to the families and victims. i m glad two are safe. for the two that lost their lives it is a real tragedy. dana: what about the mexican government s response on this and how do you think they will react to calls that are increasingly coming from people like former attorney general bill barr and current senator lindsey graham about designating
of. the u.s. says it was a wrongful conviction that she didn t have any due process there, but ultimately, russia made the decision they would not be willing to turn over paul whelan. we should note that we are now hearing from his lawyer, in the last few minutes, detailing what he believes is the fact that whelan would be released within the next one or two hos. it s not clear on what basis he makes that assessment. we want to walk through brittney griner s timetable right new. so we are told that she is safe. she was greeted by the u.s. hostage envoy on the ground at the uae earlier this morning, who was there. we are told that griner was in good spirits. she appeared to be smiling. that the hostage own envoy communicated he was there on behalf of president biden and he would be coming home with her. a senior official tells nbc news that griner s first stop will be at a military medical facility in san antonio, where she will
trials in russia ends up in convictions. she ll almost certainly be convicted. what kind of sentence and that will be an indicator of the political motive. indication that u.s. officials expect griner to be treated as a political pawn by putin came in early may. when the state department classified her as being quote wrongfully detained. it means her case is being handled by america s top hostage envoy. talk of a possible trade. there had been speculation in the russian media. they might want his name is victor boot. nicknamed the merchant of death. a russian arms dealer. boot is now serving a long sentence at the u.s. federal penitentiary in illinois. unfortunately, the only way to often bring americans home from these kinds of conditions is by making some sort of negotiation swap. and so, the russians have been asking for his return for a long
convicted. she will almost certainly be convicted. the question is what kind of sentence is she going to get. that will be a real indicator of the political motives behind it. u.s. indication u.s. officials expect griner to be treated as a political pawn came in early may when the state department classified her as being, quote, wrongfully detained. her case is being handled by america s top hostage envoy. talk of a possible trade. there has been speculation in the russian media they might want his name is victor boot. victor boot, nicknamed the merchant of death, notorious russian arms dealer. boot is now serving a long sentence at the u.s. federal penitentiary in marion, illinois. unfortunately the only way to often bring americans home from these kinds of conditions is by making some sort of negotiated swap. and so, the russians have been asking for victor boot s return for a very long time.
change in policy and no piles of cash to get this american home. what does that mean? that means the president s determined to cut good deals to get americans home. and they ve done this with north korea. they ve done it with americans held by terrorist in pakistan. we have to remember that robert o brien, the national security advisor, was formerly the hostage envoy. this has been a focus of the president since day one and we have to get the rest of the americans home that the iranians are still holding. one of which, mr. namazi, was left behind as a part of the iran deal. he was promised to come home to the obama administration as part of the iran deal and they didn t bring him home. we still have more work to do. this is a huge, huge step for the wang family and my heart s out to them. it goes out and we certainly hope and pray that more americans come home by christmas and in the days ahead. congressmanwalsh, you make