Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240703

Years in the making. Five americans wrongfully detained in iran are now on a plane and its just taken off from tehran on their way to freedom. Were there headed just next, details on all this and the deal that was made that led to their release. Also this hour, one of Donald Trumps codefendants heads to court. Jeffrey clark, the former Justice Department official, now arguing why his case should move out of georgia and into federal court. A sheriffs deputy ambushed and killed. A reward now offered to help find the suspect as a clue emerges they hope will lead to an arrest. Im john berman with sara sidner and kate bolduan. This is cnn news central. Just moments ago, a qatari jet carrying Five Americans imprisoned in iran took off from tehran and is tet to arrive in doha, qatar. Three have all been imprisoned for more than five years. The identities of two other americans in the deal have not yet been released. Its all part of a complex u. S. iran deal involving the release of 6 billion in previously frozen iranian funds. The money was held in restricted accounts in south korea and transferred to restricted accounts in qatar. Sources tell us the funds come from oil sales that were allowed and placed into accounts set up under the trump administration. Biden Administration Officials say that iran will only be able to use that money on humanitarian purchases and that every transaction made will be monitored by the u. S. Treasury department. The deal also includes the release of five iranian nationals who have been in u. S. Custody. Cnns Natasha Bertrand is in washington for us. But we want to start with our becky anderson, who is in doha, qatar. Becky, first of all, do we have a sense of the timing of when these Five Americans are going to land there in doha . Being they have just, we now learned, left tehran. Thats right. We have just had the First Official confirmation, both from the qatari side and the u. S. Side that those five u. S. Detainees plus two Family Members are wheels up in the air, and out of Tehran Airport, inbound for doha. This airport in doha, the tarmac is just behind me here. And they will be expected within the next couple of hours. The flight time generally within about two hours. They will be met by an american delegation, the delegation which has been working with the qataris indirectly of course with the iranians, the u. S. And iran obviously not in direct negotiations but the qataris have mediated these negotiations and The Americans who will be here on the ground to welcome those five wrongly detained American Citizens will be here on the ground in about a couple hours from now. And this is, i think we can genuinely say with our hands on our hearts, assuming nothing else goes wrong, this is the beginning of the end of what has been a yearslong nightmare, not least for the first name that you described, just at the top of this show. Hes been detained since 2015, when he was first picked up by the iranian authorities. Charged in 2016 of colluding with a hostile government and has been inside a prison, a notorious iranian prison in tehran since then. He would be today the longest serving or the longest held american prisoner in iran. Along with his mother, hes now wheels up in the air on his way to doha here. Not clear how long the detainees, the former detainees now, will be on the ground here. One assumes The Americans will get them processed here and out the door as quickly as possible because there will be of course family who cannot wait to see them stateside. The end of it seems, the end of a physical and mental anguish for years for these people. Two remain unidentified as of yet. Their names withheld by their families. Theres a great deal of excitement and hope on the part of the families. I know youll be there throughout. We expect theyll land during our show so well be checking in with you. Thank you for your reporting on this. I want to go now to Natasha Bertrand. Can you give us some sense of how the deal all came together . You know, that man had been in prison for more than eight years, some others for five years. How did this all happen . This is a deal that the administration has been pursuing for over two years now. A deal to get those americans out of prison in iran. The contours of this deal really started taking shape about six to seven months ago, when negotiations really began in earnest in qatar between the u. S. And iran, but importantly, not directly. Not facetoface. The qataris were really key intermediaries between the u. S. And iranians because obviously, the u. S. And iran dont have direct diplomatic relations. A lot of back channeling, a lot of use of intermediaries here culminated in this deal, the First Movement of which we saw last month when iran moved to move four of those americans out of prison and into house arrest. One had already been on house arrest, and then of course, we saw the Secretary Of State Issue a waiver to allow those 6 billion funds in iranian frozen funds to be transferred to a qatari bank that iran could use for humanitarian purposes. All in service of this larger deal, but look, the administration has received a lot of backlash already for the deal they made with the iranians, particularly when it comes to that 6 billion. Republicans have really seized on that, equating it to a ransom payment. I want to read you a quote from Lindsey Graham who said im always glad when americans are released from captivity, however, this agreement will entice Rogue Regimes to take even more americans hostage. The ayatollah and his henchmen are terrorists and represent a terrorist state. The republicans seizing on this, saying this is only going to encourage aron to take more americans prisoner and hostage. The administration telling reporters just last night, previewing this, this is not going to change fundamentally the u. S. Relationship with iran. They said, quote, iran is an adversary and a State Sponsor of terrorism and we will hold them accountable wherever possible. S sara. Thank you so much. Also thank you to our becky anderson. Kate, i know you spoke to a couple of the daughters of one of the detainees and they were begging that the United States do something today. Its finally happened. Yeah, the daughters of these americans wrongfully held, the sisters. Families have been fighting for years and years to have their voices heard. Today is a very, very important day, as sara was just discussing, the identities of two of The Americans are not clear. We do know quite a bit and have learned about three of them. Semak narasi is the longest held prisoner, Wrongfully Detabed for more than eight years. He was arrested in 2015 while on a Business Trip to iran. At the time, the u. N. Called his arrest an arbitrary detention. In june of last year, he wrote an Opinion Piece for the New York Times describing his life behind bars, inside the notorious prison. Saying he was kept in Solitary Continement for the first 27 months of his sentence and also describing it this way, often kept in a bare closet sized room, i slept in the floor, received food from under the dog like a dog. I endured unutterable indignities during that time. Just a new months ago, he took the unprecedented step of speaking to cnn from inside prison. Honestly, the other hostages and i desperately need President Biden to finally hear us out, to finally hear our cry for help and bring us home. And i suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. So this is a desperate measure. I am clearly nervous. And for a time, it wasnt just him. His father was also arrested in iran in 2015 after flying there to advocate for his sons release. He was eventually set free about a year ago due to medical concerns. Also held there for years alongside him are u. S. Citizens businessman ahmad shargy and environmentalist. Both of them arrested in 2018. Shargis story i have been following for years. He was traveling with his wife. Two years later without trial, hes convicted of espionage and the u. S. Declared him wrongfully detained at the time. His wife was able to make it home and since then along with their two daughters and his sister, they have been fighting for his release ever since. Morad tabaz was also convicted of espionage without evidence. His daughter said hes been through cancer, had covid three sometimes while suffering inside the iranian prison and she spoke with me last month. Theres a human on the other side. This is a father, a brother. Theyre sons, husbands, and its been years, six years, almost six years for us that we havent seen them, and its so important, aside of all the speculations, to remember theyre human beings and their families are waiting for them. Wrongfully Detained Americans, john, wrapped up in horrible politics. Geopolitics and these families now on the precipice of the biggest day of their lives. It means so much to these families. There is no debate there. Thank you so much. With me now, cnn political and National Security analyst david sanger and Nic Robertson is with us. What should we read into the timing of this . Why now . Great question. Its not entirely clear, because its not as if there are other diplomatic breakthroughs about to happen with iran. In fact, we have been told that this is not one of those cases where releasing prisoners is a confidence Building Measure to something else. But the iranians are in desperate economic shape these days. And so the prospect that they would get this 6 billion which was being held in south korea from funds from south korean purchases of iranian oil years ago. I think it was very attractive to them. It also is the necessary thing to get out of the way if there is to be a bigger relationship. But you know what worries about me as wonderful as the human story is, and boy, what a relief to have them coming out and we all pray that this all works today and all of the choreographed elements have them back in the United States, maybe by tonight. The reality is that the Iranian Nuclear Program Since President Trump pulled out of it, is now bigger and closer to a weapon than it has ever been. Its turning out that President Trumps view that pulling out of this would make the iranians negotiate Something Better never came to pass. So now the question is, can you have any kind of an open . Nic, lets continue on that point for a second. We just did learn from the Biden Administration that they are imposing new sanctions on iran. So as soon as they got word, basically, that these five prisoners were on the plane on the way out, they issued an announcement that new sanctions, in this case, on the ministry of intelligence and former iranian leader, there are new sanctions there. Given that announcement and the clear desire to see publicly tough on iran, what do you read in to the greater u. S. iranian relationship . I think its exactly as david describes it. There are still huge issues, and these new sanctions announced today, theyre not out of the blue. This is not this is not to have on the one hand the release and then these sanctions. Just last week, more sanctions, u. S. Put sanctions on 25 iranian individuals from the irgc, from the law enforcement. The head of prisons as well. Theres been a very public, you know, sound from the west, from the United States and others, that iran is still far from working its way into the good books. And indeed, to davids point about the nuclear arms inspectors, we had the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency just at the end of the last week go very publicly, with very tough diplomatic language saying onethird of all his inspectors have effectively been banned from iran. His most experienced inspectors in iran banned from going to iran to do their job. Iran is clearly way outside of compliance on the original nuclear deal, as david lays out, and indeed is making the situation only worse. So this is a good day for those prisoners being released, but it is not a new day in the relationship with iran. Whatsoever. Where does iran want to be, david, on the world stage . And how is that different perhaps than what their desires were two, three, four years ago . Back in the previous administration, that came in and negotiated the 2015 deal, i think that there were members of that Iranian Regime that saw an opportunity to restore iran to what they view as their rightful place as the biggest regional player in the gulf. And to a Historic Place there. I dont see that aspiration in the current government. Now, the president is here in new york today. Hes beginning to see people whenever he comes to this u. N. Thing, he has this procession of reporters, columnists, think tankers who come in, but he has yet to sort of lay out a real vision of where he wants to go take iran. And frankly, the kind of buildup theyre doing on the nuclear program, throwing out or barring these inspectors from coming in, doesnt seem to me like somebody who has a plan to go get these issues solved. Obviously providing arms, drones to russia in their effort overukraine doesnt play well on the world stage either. Absolutely. Our thanks to both of you. There are a lot of moving parts. Were going to be hearing from the white house later this hour, expected to hear from john kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security council. National Security Council coordinator. Well hear from him. Hes been front and center on this issue of the negotiations over the wrongfully Detained Americans, and also as just mentioned, the Biden Administration is issuing new sanctions against iran following this big day with the release of Five Americans who have been detained for years now in iran. Cnns Arlette Saenz has more details on this. What are you learning about these new sanctions . Reporter well, kate, i want to note, President Biden is currently in new york city where he will be attending the u. N. General Assembly Meetings a bit later this week. But we are waiting to see what kind of reaction we might get from President Biden himself. Of course, this release of these americans from iran comes after months of painstaking negotiations to try to secure their release. The Senior Administration official has confirmed that those Five Americans that have been freed as well as two American Family members are on a plane back here to back to doha at this moment. They eventually will be traveling on from there, here to the United States. But this comes at a time, as the Biden Administration has really placed a high priority in trying to get Detained Americans across the world back here home. Think about the releases they have coordinated with venezuela and some with russia. There are still some americans in russia at this moment, but this deal is already earning kritdicism from gop lawmakers and a 2024 president ial candidate. They have likened this payment to iran as a ransom payment. Of course, the administration has pushed back on those critics saying these are funds that will only be used for humanitarian purposes, they will be monitored by the treasury department. Additionally, the u. S. Is issuing those new sanctions on iran today. A few of those details include that they will be on former iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as the Intelligence Service of iran. The white house add this time, were still waiting to get that confirmation from President Biden but this is a hopeful step for those families who have seen their loved ones detained in iran now, some for eight years. Arlette saenz at the white house, thank you. Sara. All right, minutes from now, one of Donald Trumps codefendants in the Georgia Election case, former doj attorney Jeffrey Clark will argue that he should have his case moved to federal court, an argument that has been made by mark meadows and lost. Well take you there live. Plus, former President Trump speaks out on the National Abortion debate as he gets new criticism from some of his 2024 rivals. All of that is ahead. This thing, its makining me get an ice bath again. What do you mean . These straps are mindblowing ththey collect hundreds of data points like hrv and rem sleep,p, so you know all you need for recovery. And you are . Im an investor. In invesco qqq, a fund that gives me aess to. Nasdaq 100 innovations like. Wearableraining optimization tech. Uh, how long are you. Im done. Im okay. The Morgan Stanley Client Experience . Listening more than talking, and a personalized plan to guide you through a changing world. [coughing] when caroline has a cough she takes robitussin. So, she can have those one on ones again. Hey jim hey can we talk about your yoga breaks . Sure. Get fast, powerful cough relief with robitussin, and find your voice. 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So much whiter crest. This is remington. Hes a member of the family, for sure. We always fed him kibble it just seemed like the thing to do. But he was getting picky, and we started noticing some allergy symptoms. We heard about the farmers dog and it was a complete transformation. His allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. Its a nobrainer that remi should have the best nutritious and Delicious Food possible. Im investing in my dogs health and happiness. Get started at longlivedogs. Com were standing by for a Big Moment In Georgia where another one of Donald Trumps codefendants will be trying to move their case out of georgia and into federal court. Jeffrey clark is who were talking about. He was a Justice Department official who is accused of trying to help donald trump to overturn the 2020 president ial election despite the direct objections of his bosses at doj. Now, while clark makes his case to a federal judge today, did donald trump just make everyones legal argument that much more difficult . Heres what donald trump told nbc in a new interview. The most senior lawyers in your own administration and on your campaign told you that after you lost more than 60 legal challenges that it was over. Why did you ignore them and decide to listen to a new outside group . Because i didnt respect them. Were you calling the shots then, mr. President , ultimately . As to whether or not where believed it was rigged, sure . It was my decision, but i listened to some people. Some people said that. Lets get over to Katelyn Polantz in atlanta for us. Lets talk about Jeffrey Clark and the case hes going to be trying to make today. What are you expecting . Reporter well, this is a case to watch. This is the second time were having a hearing like this before judge jones at the federal courthouse in atlanta. And all of the questions around this particular case for Jeffrey Clark as well as for mark meadows and for others are about how much protection federal officials can have whenever a state chooses to bring charges against them. In this case, Jeffrey Clark is charged along with 18 others including donald trump. Its very, very cllikely donald trump would be filing something similar to this, trying to get his case moved from State Court To Federal court. When we were here before, the question was were the actions after twenty about politics or official duties. The question today is a little different, how far State Prosecutors is look under the hood of what a federal agency is doing and what its employees are doing and can they bring charges around what Jeffrey Clark was doing at the time after the election he was trying to get his superiors to write a letter to the State Of Georgia to send the letter to georgia to essentially kick up this idea of Election Fraud that just wasnt founded at that time. And the prosecutors here in georgia, they say he didnt have the facts to support that. He was being told within the department of justice hetient be doing that and he was having unauthorized contact, even though he was an official in the trump administration, he was talking to trump and others directly whom he shouldnt have. So all of that is going to be on the table today. But there is a really big question here, not just for clark but for trump, on how much there is a divide between a state case like this and the federal government. One person who has stuck up for Jeffrey Clark so far, a reagan era Attorney General. He wrote to the court already and he wrote the prosecution of the president and an aag assistant Attorney General, clark, is a major affront to federal supremacy. Never before seen in the history of our country, invoking part of the constitution called the Supremacy Clause that gives the federal government a lot of authority and protection from states, and you know, the other thing on the docket today is theres a question of whether Jeffrey Clark will testify. The last time we were here, mark meadows, he testified under oath about what his role was as the Chief Of Staff at the white house after the 2020 election. Clark, were not sure if hes going to testify. I did see his attorney. I asked if clark would take the stand. He said thats for me to know and you to find out. The hearing will be start igin just a few minutes. Glad youre there. Thank you so much. Well be following up as this plays out. Joining us now, gene rossi, former assistant u. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of virginia. Thank you for being here. I want to start with what we heard from donald trump. He says he doesnt respect the attorneys who were telling him he lost, and that it was his decision to go forward with this idea that the 2020 election was stolen. If you were prosecuting this case, how do you use those comments . And will they hurt him in his defense . Well, number one, i would use it if i were a prosecutor. Number two, they do hurt him. Heres why, sara. When you are putting forth a reliance on counsel defense, whether its a criminal tax case or statute that involves willfulness and youre talking to your lawyers about whether a statute applies to you or whether your conduct is appropriate, you can rely on counsel. And that is an excellent defense in front of a jury. At least could get one juror to say not guilty. But what mr. Trump did yesterday in that interview is he didnt just shoot one foot, he shot both feet. He just destroyed any argument that he could say i relied on attorneys. What he was doing, this is what i would argue as a prosecutor, he was forum shopping. He was trying to find the attorney that would agree with his perverted view of the big lie, and you had Attorney General barr said no fraud. You had rosen, the acting a. G. , no fraud. Donohue, the Deputy Attorney general, all these brilliant guys saying theres nothing there, mr. President. And he was looking for, i hate to say it, he was looking for the sycophant, Jeffrey Clark, who desperately wanted to be acting Attorney General in the last ten days of the administration. Yeah, really interesting the way you put it, that he shot himself in your view in both feet. I want to move on to another case were seeing play out in court today. In georgia, former Trump White House Chief Of Staff mark meadows lost his case in the same vein to try to get his trial in georgia moved to federal court. Now, Jeffrey Clark is trying to do the same thing. Can we just make the assumption that theres going to be a similar result, where the judge will say no, this has to stay in state court . Or is this different . Will the judge look at all of the facts of that case and decide differently . Sara, to me, Jeffrey Clarks argument is worse. Mark meadows had some argument, a little bit, not a lot. But what Jeffrey Clark did was way beyond his role as acting Attorney General of the civil division. I worked at main justice. They have assistant Attorney Generals that are like big fishes. He was an acting Attorney General for the civil division, stay in your lane, dude. You cant go writing letters to State Officials about something that isnt occurring. And heres what really offends me, sara. The first paragraph of this letter that they wanted to send to governor kemp, the speaker of the house, and the senate protempof the senate, it starts off with a big lie. And the big lie is this. The doj is investigating voter fraud. That was a total complete fabricated lie. And the other thing in the letter is the letter says that the states have plenary, full, complete role over elections. Why is the doj putting their fingers in the pot thats outside your lane, mr. Clark . You were not protected by the Supremacy Clause. Those are all really interesting points that now theyre trying to use the Supremacy Clause in a different way in the case. Let me ask you now a question about hunter biden. He has been charged with other things after his case was thrown out. And now hes suing the Internal Revenue service, alleging that the agency legally released his Tax Information and that it failed to really protect his private records. Does he have a case . Well, under title 26, 6103, i did this for 11 years, youre protected from the disclosure of your returns. However, if there is a investigation or proceeding involving your returns, the doj and the irs can use it to investigate or to put forth a position. I dont know if that case has a lot of merit. Gene rossi, i love that youre giving us all literally the itsy bitsy details of the case because you know what the codes are in the law. And obviously, you have been a good attorney throughout. Thank you so much for coming on and giving us your analysis of all the things. John. The Breaking News this morning, Five Americans are on their way home after being imprisoned in iran. John kirby from the National Security council, will be with us live. psst psst ahhh with flonase, allergies dont have to be scary. Spraying Flonase Daily gives you long lasting nondrowsy relief. Flonase all good. Also, try our Allergy Headache and nighttime pills. And mines unlisted. 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Chainsaw Revs tree crashes chainsaw continues daughter screams lets pretend for a second that you didnt let down your entire family. What would that reality look like . Well i guess i wouldve gotten us xfinity. And wed have a better view. Do you need mulch . What, we have a ton of mulch. Five americans who have been wrongfully imprisoned in iran for years is in the air and on its way to qatar, set to land in qatar soon. A huge moment that comes after months and months of intensive negotiations by the Biden Administration and years of pleading by the families of these u. S. Citizens, not without controversy. Joining us to discuss is john kirby. Thank you very much for coming in on what is potentially a momentous day. Do you theyre not out of the air space yet, is what we would assume. We know theyre expected to land in qatar soon. Do you see this as a done deal, what were looking at today . None of us are going to breathe completely easy until we have them back on u. S. Soil and with their families. The job is not done until theyre reunited. That said, this is a significant development. Theyre in the air, on their way to qatar. We expect them to land in about an hour or so and then theyll be making their way back to the United States. Were all very, very happy. Theyre still in the custody of iran, so i dont assume you have had eyes and ears on them. Of course, one wonders whats the first thing, their mood, their feeling, anything they have said so far. We dont have a window. Dont have a window yet in terms of their attitudes. Theyre on the plane and left tehran. Theyre not in iranian custody on the plane, but we havent gotten a sense of how theyre doing. I can only imagine they all must be relieved. Big questions come with this. Why now . What was the thing that pushed this over the finish line . There wasnt a why now. As you mentioned in the opening, the result of months and months of hard, hard work by our diplomats, particularly at the State Department, into bringing this about. It just took this long to kind of get the wheels in motion. But the release itself wasnt timed to any one particular date or week or anything like that. The sanctions, we just learned of new sanctions against irans minister of intelligence and the former iranian president. Are these sanctions connected to the release . Theyre connected to the wrongful detention of iAmerican Citizens in iran. This would apply to these five folks and others that have been wrongfully detained in iran. Why announce them now . Is there any concern that this could upset what is not yet complete . Theyre not in the clear quite yet. Hearing this announcement, should someone be concerned this could throw things up in the air . We dont believe that will be the case, that these sanctions are going to somehow mess up this particular deal. All this was carefully choreographed and i think it sends a strong signal to tehran that we take this very seriously, and we will continue to take it seriously and hold iran accountable. Of the iranian nationals that are expected to be released, john, as part of the agreement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Said two are expected to remain in the United States. How does that work in. Thats correct. We dont have all the details nailed down in terms of how they will stay in the United States. Thats really inJustice Departments taking a look at that. One will go to a third country because of family issues, and only two of the five that were part of the Prisoner Exchange will be making their way back to iran. Should that concern anyone that they will be staying here . I think again, were going to work this out with the Justice Department. Based on the kinds of crimes they were charged with, i dont think theres any cause for the American People to be concerned about that. Does this mark, this agreement, do you see this or should anyone see this as Marking Onfreezing of relations with iran in any way . Does this mark any change in the relationship . Sadly, no. Look, were still going to deal with irans destabilizing behaviors. We added to the Military Presence in the gulf region. We have continued to sanction iran for other destabilizing activities. Theyll still providing drones to russia, posing a threat to maritime shipping in the gulf. Were going to hold them accountable for all of that. I dont think we should look at this as some sort of confidence Building Measure to a better relationship with iran. Now look, if iran takes steps to destabilize to stop their destabilizing behavior and behave as a better actor in the region, all that is to the good, but we secured this deal simply to secure this deal, to get these Five Americans home. It was not orchestrated as some way of reproachment. We have talked about this in the past with iran, siloing. Any Nuclear Negotiations versus this. It does, just for an average american, it seems hard to see these things as siloed. How do you keep them separate because whats were looking at now as you well know is iran is further along and closer to a Nuclear Weapon than ever before. Sometimes in diplomacy, kate, you get what you can get. And you work on what you can achieve. In this case, our focus was squarely on these americans and those families that are waiting for them. And its not unlike the way we deal with other countries that detain americans wrongfully. You work on that, solving that problem. And if it could lead or does lead to a better relation or increased Diplomacy Efforts in another area, thats all to the good, but you dont hinge it to that. You dont want to tie americans coming home where they belong in the first place, to some sort of larger diplomatic effort. That would be a difficult place to be in terms of setting a precedent for future. You know, we have talked about this before, the precedent that critics of this agreement or any kind of negotiation in this way have of what theyre looking at. What iran wants is its money. They have 6 billion that they gain access to for humanitarian purposes. What can the United States do if theyre not using this for food, for medicine, for bad reasons . Lock it back down. Its important to remember, kate, that the regime doesnt get the money. They can request or withdraw for humanitarian goods, agriculture products, medical supplies, food. Well run a process through which those goods are contracted for. The iranians dont even get to make the contracts. Well make sure the contracts are let with vendors we know we can trust and that material will be delivered to the iranian people. The regime does not get hands on this money. Lingering question remains, is iran more or less likely to wrongfully detain another American Citizen . Take them hostage, because of this deal . Sadly, this has been a behavior that iran has been participating in for decades now. And so i cant perfectly predict whether theyll do it again or not, which is why quite frankly the State Department has been so adamant about Warning Americans and dual nationals in particular because the iranians dont regard dual nationals as anything other than americans. So theres a real risk here. We have been very clear about warning people not to go to iran. And if youre in iran and have an american passport, you ought to look at leaving. Thats why they added a designation for countries to warn americans if youre going to travel, know what the risks are. The control room got in my ear to say we have new video of the u. S. Citizens at the Tehran Airport getting on the plane. You can see it, looks like a group of people getting on the plane from Iranian State media. Were told the control room is telling me, that looks it looks like this is morad tahbaz. It almost looks like to me that looks like emad sharghi getting on the plane. This would be the moment of their departure. Sure looks authentic. It does. Thats just wonderful. My goodness, a great image, to see them getting on that airplane and getting on their way to freedom. You know, we were able to get two of their Family Members as well. Tell me about that. Two Family Members of was it siamaks mother . I dont know exactly who theyre attached to. They werent allowed to leave, even though they werent being detained or imprisoned, they werent allowed to leave. We actually got seven americans out of iran. Finally, you represent you speak for National Security issues for the white house, for this administration. How is u. S. National security better today because of this deal and not worse off as i have heard many republicans say . First of all, whats really better off are five families. I think thats really important to remember. Number two, as i said earlier, well, we just executed more sanctions on entities in iran today, spiecifically for the offense of wrongfully Detained Americans and we upped our Military Presence in the gulf region, we added some additional sanctions on iran a few days go. Were holding iran to account and were mindful of our National Security interests in the region and were doing everything to protect our troops, interests, allies and partners in that part of the world. No one should take away from todays events any idea that were somehow turning a blind eye to what iran is doing. Quite the contrary. What were seeing as we just saw in that video from iran, are americans on their way home and families who are going to probably breathe a sigh of relief for had first time in more than eight years for one of those families. John kirby, thank you so much for coming in. Sara. A great interview, kate. This morning, the United Autoworkers Union and automakers are back at the negotiating table. 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People are worried about the futures and we are out here fighting for our families will and our homes. Reporter describe why it is that the wages that you get today do not match up with the profits of the company and do not match with what you are doing inside of here every day . Well, when the big three were going through the bankruptcy, a lot of the employees gave up concessions to help Ford Motor Company through, and with the cost of inflation, it is 15, 20 years since some of the people have had a raise, and they are trying get back to where they should have been the whole time. They are not asking for so much, but some things they gave up in the past. Thank you, david masters, for your time this morning. John n the next few days or so, we will have some officials from the white house, acting white house secretary julie su and Gene Spurling to try to get these negotiations to come forward to get to a deal, but we know that uaw president shawn fain does not want the white house involved in the Ne Gosch Yashgsgosch negotiation, and we are also looking at a ford plant there in canada that may add 400 workers there and shutdown three plants there, which is going to have a greater impact on the company than this one plant here in michigan. John . Vanessa yurkevich, right next to the picket line, and very good to hear from someone who is there. Thank you. And now, House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy has an agreement in hand to stop a Government Shutdown, but it is not clear if he has enough votes to stop this, and whether his own speakership is hanging in the balance. This morning, a Government Shutdown is hanging in the balance here, and so, too, does the speakership of Kevin Mccarthy and he thought he had a funding deal last night, but he may not think the same thing this morning. Lauren fox is joining us from washington. Tell us what happened overnight as these negotiations were ongoing. Well, sara, about as quickly as this deal came together between a couple of the members of the House Freedom caucus and main street caucus, it fell apart. Republican lawmakers met on a Conference Call last night around 8 00 p. M. Where the details of the deal were unveiled, and it is including major funding cuts across the government with exceptions of the department of defense, homeland security, and veterans affairs, but the negotiated deal was not enough for some hardliners who now have more than a dozen conservatives who say they are leaning against voting for this proposal or are already a hard know on this spending proposal, and we should just remind everyone that this is a onemonth Spending Bill. This is not even a larger oneyear Spending Bill which negotiators in the house and sent are going to be coming to terms with, but it is a one month deal with the republican coalition, and even that, they cannot get their arms around right now. Now, the leadership is vowing to bring this to the floor as soon as thursday. They are hoping to put on the floor wednesday a separate stand alone defense Spending Bill that came into the problems last week. A lot of the moving pieces here, and one thing to keep in mind is that House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy told my colleague Morgan Remmer is that he is not giving up to try to pass this republicanonly Spending Bill, and he is going to continue to work with his colleague, and he said that some member may not have read it that closely. He is hoping as they get more time to digest the proposal, they will come to rally around it, and they will have to wait and see, and a lot of problems for the gop leadership this morning as they are trying to find the coalition. We are less than two weeks away when that bill needs to be funded for the entire government. Thank you, lauren fox, for your reporting. Kate . All right. First glimpse this hour of the Five Americans wrongfully detained in iran. You see them here, and this is a shot of them there, siamak namazi, emad sharghi, morad tahbaz, and they are expected to touch down any moment. Learn more at boost. Com tv to help prevent bleedingng gum. 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