killing somebody in basically a contract hit in a berlin park in the middle of the afternoon. and they wanted the them to release him. that was a nonstarter. and what administration officials are saying is that whatever the kremlin was asking for for both griner and whelan, it became clear a at a certain point that either they could get brittney griner to come home now or they could get nothing. because they were not going to get both of them to come home now so they could either have brittney griner come home or get nothing. so they chose, obviously, this less optimal outcome. julia and tom winter, thank you so much for being with us this morning. new developments in the investigation into how formerer president trump handled classified documents.
it s got to be tide. 37 past the hour. more on our breaking news. brittney griner now on her way to the united states after being released from russia in a prisoner exchange for viktor bout, a convicted russian arms dealer who has been called the merchant of death. joining now is tom winter. also with us is julia yofi. so tom, who exactly is viktor bout? good morning, jose. he s referred to as the merchant of death. that s the name he s acquired over the years. when you look at his past, he s somebody the justice department alleged and we are able to bring him to trial and convict him of someone who trafficked arms going back to the 1990s. he s somebody who over the course of the years u.s. officials have said there s ties to the kgb.