she s on her way home. after months being unjustly detained in russia, held under intolerable circumstances. reporter: the president and griner s wife cherelle speaking to brittney who s on her way back to the united states after being released to u.s. officials i abu dhabi. today is a happy day for me and my family. i m going to smile right now. reporter: tweeting, no more days. she s coming home. according to senior administration officials the deal came together in just the last two days when griner was moved from the penal colony serving a nine-year sentence. the officials describing griner as extremely upbeat and all smiles. but griner s release did not come cheaply. the united states exchanging arms trafficker viktor bout. the so-called merchant of death serving a 25-year prison sentence in the united states for charges including conspiring to kill americans. even amid joy for freeing griner, sadness today for the
viktor bout who is a convicted arms trafficker serving a 25-year prison sentence here in the united states for brittney griner and i want you to listen to what david whelan who is paul whelan, the other american who is still detained in russia said earlier on cnn this morning, really expressing his concern about how the united states will now be able to get his brother home. someone from the white house let us know which was very kind. it s hard to process this in realtime which is what we had to do last april when paul was left behind before and trevor reed came home and it s a great day for the families of the wrongfully detained and we feel wonderful for them. but we do worry about what s in paul s future. i think it s become clear that the u.s. doesn t have any concessions that the russian government wants for paul and so i m not really sure i m not really sure of what the future holds. so, of course, questions as to what the united states can
morning and briefing reporters said this is the only deal that russia was willing to make at this point. and it is clear that russia is treating paul whelan who is charged with espionage, which are charges that he vehemently denies, differently than brittney griner and that is of major concern for paul whelan s family. of course, they so graciously welcomed the fact that brittney griner was released today, saying that was the right move for the biden administration. but also raising questions as to how paul whelan is going to get home because they don t know what the u.s. could put on the table that russia actually wants right now. this prisoner swap included victor bout, that convicted arms trafficker and he s the person that russias really wanted. there is reason to believe that the channel of communication between u.s. and russia will remain open. but we ll have to wait and see how that turns out. kate. absolutely. kylie, more details coming in about how this is all playing
all right. so russia is now ready to talk prisoner swaps, according to its foreign minister. this comes just a day after brittney griner was convicted in a russian court of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine and a half years in a penal colony. the u.s. is hoping to get griner and another american, paul whelan, out of russia by swapping them for convicted russian arms trafficker, viktor bout, also known as the merchant of death. so why does russia want bout back so badly? and what exactly will happen to griner while negotiations are playing out? former cia chief of russian operations steve hall joins me now. steve, you know, my first question when i think about this entire scenario, a day after hearing the sentence is, what is a penal colony, exactly, compared to what we re expecting or thinking of in an american prison. there s a lot being talked about what it might be like for brittney griner in particular to be in a russian jail, russian prison, let alone a penal colony.
prisoner swaps, according to its foreign minister. this comes just a day after brittney griner was convicted in a russian court of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine and a half years in a penal colony. the u.s. is hoping to get griner and another american, paul whelan, out of russia by swapping them for convicted russian arms trafficker, viktor bout, also known as the merchant of death. so why does russia want bout back so badly? and what exactly will happen to griner while negotiations are playing out? former cia chief of russian operations, steve hall, joins me now. steve, you know, my first question when i think about this entire scenario, a day after hearing the sentence is, what is a penal colony, exactly, compared to what we rein iexpecg or thinking of in an american prison. there s a lot of discussion about what it might be like for brittney griner in particular to be in a russian jail, prison, let alone a penal colony. what will this look like?