reporter: yeah, this is coming not just from republcans who are supportive of trump, this is coming from people that have been quite critical of trump, including maryland governor larry hogan, one of his most prominent republican critics, is calling on the biden administration to release all the documents justifying this raid. and he offered a warning, david, listen to what larry hogan said. if the federal government cannot ultimately provide overwhelming evidence that actions were absolutely necessary, then it will only undermine faith in democracy and the rule of law and further divide americans. so, that, a warning coming from somebody who has been quite critical of donald trump. all right, jon karl leading us off tonight. jon, thank you for that. let s get to dan abrams, also with us tonight. you heard this pressure mounting on the department of justice. we have not heard from merrick garland yet. we have not heard from the fbi director, christopher wray, appointed by former pr
russia. she has pleaded guilty to having hash oil in her luggage. her lawyers presented evidence she had a prescription for cannabis in her home state of arizona. griner testified she traveled for 13 hours and was still recovered from covid when she was interrogated and arrested at the airport about a week before the russian invasion in ukraine. and former marine paul whelan was arrested more tan three years ago and convicted on espionage charges. tonight, secretary blinken saying in the coming days, he expects to speak with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. how soon could this all happen? our senior white house correspondent mary bruce leading us off tonight. reporter: tonight, the white house announcing they have made a substantial offer to russia for the release of american detainees brittney griner and paul whelan. abc news learning the u.s. is offering a prisoner swap, proposing to trade infamous russian arms dealer victor bout, nicknamed the merchant of death.
signing. reporter: late today, her laushs responding to the news of a potential deal, saying they are not participating in the swap discussions. and that they would be really happy if brittne will be able to come home and hope it will be soon. let s get to mary bruce, live at the white house tonight. and mary, what about loved ones, the families of brittney griner and paul whelan, were they informed of that deal? reporter: the white house says they reached out to the families before making this offer public today, but it s not clear if they were actually able to reach them. the white house, though, says they ve been in constant communication with the families throughout this entire process. and as for the russians tonight, they have not publicly responded to this offer, and they say they have not been contacted yet about that call with the secretary of state. david? all right, mary bruce leading us off tonight. mary, thank you. we turn now to the economy and the major move
abc s chief washington correspondent jonathan karl leading us off tonight. reporter: her name is cassidy hutchinson. she just turned 26, and today, she told the american people what she witnessed from her vantage point just steps away from the oval office, as the top aide to chief of staff mark meadows. she testified that on january 2nd, as she escorted rudy giuliani from a white house meeting, he told her donald trump was planning to go to the capitol himself on january 6th. he looked at me and said something to the effect of cass, are you excited for the 6th? it s going to be a great day. i remember looking at him and saying, rudy, would you explain what s happening on the 6th? he responded something to the effect of we re going to the capitol, it s going to be great. the president s going to be there. he s going to look powerful. he s going to meet the members, he s going to be with the senators. talk to the chief about it. talk to the chief about it, he knows about it.
david? jon karl leading us off tonight. jon, thank you. we re going to turn now to those imsajs coming in tonight just as we came on the air of a passenger plane catching on fire just after landing at miami international airport. the flight from the dominican republic. 126 passengers and crew onboard. they did get them off the plane, but there are reports of some injuries tonight. abc s victor oquendo live from florida with late reporting for us. victor? reporter: david, the details are still coming in at this hour. we ve learned it was red air flight number 203. it landed from santo domingo at 5:30 p.m. at my yam mere international air port with 126 people onboard. we have learned that at least three people have been transported to area hospitals. the fire has been extinguished and the passengers who were still onboard are being bussed from the plane to the terminal. we re going to continue to follow this story as it develops. david, we ll bring you any updates as we get them.