fact, wolf, that the relationship between russia and the united states just keeps getting worse, and that affects negotiations. but i think the president made a decision. i think the russians said it will be one for one. and then the next move is whelan. but, you know, his family, his sister, his brother, four years, you re right. the guy needs to come out. i think he will. i m optimistic. i m not negative. but, you know, the relationship, the ukraine issue, the u.s.-russia tensions on arms control, on human rights, it s not conducive to a negotiation. yet it did happen. brittney griner is out on a negotiation. so is travis reed. so we got one more, and there are others also that we re trying to get out. other americans. there is one p.o.w. in the russian section of ukraine,
sentence in the united states for charges conspiring to kill americans. even amid joy for freeing griner, sadness today for the family of another american who is left behind, paul whelan, who has been in russian prison for almost four years. officials from the department of justice expressing frustration that an earlier deal allowing bout s release, which u.s. officials had proposed included griner and whelan. lawmakers also expressed apprehension about normalizing prisoner swaps. i think this is good news for brittney, for her family. that s the risk is that the more we engage in such exchanges, the more americans are at risk of being scooped up and held as leverage. reporter: whelan is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage, charges he vehemently denies. he spoke exclusively to cnn s jennifer hansler from a penal colony, saying he was pleased for griner, but greatly disappointed he wasn t included. i don t understand why i m