offered to swap arms dealer, viktor bout, for both griner and paul whelen. he was detained in 2015, convicted on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison, a charge he denies. he rejected that proposal. it was either make this exchange, get one back, the only one they were willing to trade was britney. president biden didn t sign the pages for viktor bout until britney griner was on the ground in abu dhabi, inside of a u.s. delegation. russian president, vladimir putin, saying the security service took charge of the swamp , adding there is a possibility for further negotiations. raising hopes that paul whelen could be the next american freed. for now, britney griner s family, friends, and teammates say they are just happy to have her home. we are incredibly grateful she is back.
paul whelen and other detained americans being in other deals. rush s president seems to be leaving that possibility open. greiner stepped off of a plane unassisted early friday in texas and was taken to an army medical center to get checked out. she had been imprisoned in russia for the past 10 months on a drug charge, but was said to be in good spirits upon her release. she had been laboring at a russian penal colony near the women inmates, where the women inmates make uniforms. her attorney said britney greiner cut off her long dreadlocks two weeks ago to handle the extreme cold. we get the latest now from san antonio texas. we are absolutely gratified that any greiner is back on american soil. welcome news today on britney greiner s return, we can
president putin at home. viktor bout is being painted in the russian media as a victim, a patriot, it is really a victory to bring him home and to avoid a swap to the u.s. to put on the table, back in the summer. going forward the question is what about paul nealon, conspicuously left out of this swap. it is a difficult case, he, himself feels he has been treated differently, bill richardson, the former new mexico governor, he has been so instrumental in brokering these swaps so that he has been trying for four years, it is very difficult, in the case of paul nealon, perhaps because he has been tried and convicted of espionage in russia. but, certainly, russia says that it continues to consider the prospect of further talks, further conferences, and we know that the u.s. is working very hard on a potential solution for paul whelen. thank you very much. well, after iran carried out its first known public execution of a protester,
griner on u.s. soil. that s right, brittney griner is home. here she is earlier today, arriving in san antonio, texas. after she was freed from a russian prison in exchange for victor boot. she was transferred in mid november to a penal colony. few things are more harrowing seeing a fellow american wrongly detained and held abroad, especially when that country is russia. this should be a reason to unify, to celebrate. instead, we re seeing not just mixed reactions, but more of the disturbing hateful rhetoric that defines the american right. the biden administration negotiated for the release of two americans. brittney griner and paul whelen, a marine who has been jailed in russia since december of 2018 on
the military like paul whelen, that doesn t elevate you to the status of needing to be released. nbc put out a story saying it could have been either/or and they chose her. they corrected it but didn t give a lot of information. will: this deal was on the table for viktor bout during the trump administration and they didn t do it because it was such a bad deal. much less for brittney griner. pete: it s a valid point to say what drives the biden administration is wins through pr, wins through the lens of twitter. and brittney griner was win through the lens of twitter. to bolster the point you have been making, when it comes to viktor bout, i m in disbelief, this is part of a team that