Our nbc News Reporters are following all of the latest developments, and we begin with that Court Appearance in florida for Carlos De Oliveira. Nbcs ken dilanian following all the latest developments for us. Ken, break down what happened in the courtroom and whats going to happen between now and next week. Reporter good afternoon, chris. Mr. De oliveira made his first appearance in Federal Court to answer for these charges but wasnt able to enter a plea or have an arraignment because he didnt have local counsel licensed to practice in the Southern District of florida. So he will have to come back and do that. The real significance of this case is not really mr. De oliveira whos a lowlevel employee at maralago. Its that this new Superseding Indictment makes an extraordinary allegation against the former president , alleging that he conspired to destroy evidence that was under a Grand Jury Subpoena. It says essentially he ordered these two lowlevel employees, nauta and deol oliveira, to
her two children. they disappeared in idaho. that led to a months-long search ending with police finding the remains on a property owned by vallow and her husband. she said a near death experience loud her to communicate with, quote, the spirit world. her husband chad is awaiting trial on those same murder charges. a self-care act for brittney griner. she chose not to travel alongside her weekend for two games in chicago to focus on her mental health. her team, the phoenix mercury, tweeting that they, quote, fully support brittney and we will continue to work together on a time line for her return. griner, you ll recall, spent nearly 300 days in russian custody on a drug charge before being freed in a high profile prisoner swap. well, soccer fans, set your
difficulty or intimidation tactics? yeah, there s a long history of this. you remember paul whalen who was arrested by the russians on concocted charges, nicholas danilof, arrested for trumped up charges to be used as political bait or provide some sort of push back against the united states, and so i agree that it s worthwhile if you re an american citizen to get out because, you know, whether you did something wrong or not, it s easy to fake it and create a problem for you. brittney is an nba star, plays for the phoenix mercury. the statement, we are aware of and closely monitoring the situation with brittney griner in russia. we remain in constant contact with her family, representation, wnba, and nba. we love and support brittney, and at this time our main concern is her safe, physical and mental health and her safe return home.
the two-time olympic champion was detained at a moscow airport after russian officials claimed they found cannabis oil in her luggage. coy wire joins us. what can you tell us about how this happened? you can see it on video. you can see brittney. what s going on? she plays overseas during the off-season to supplement income and russia has one of the top foreign leagues in terms of competition and compensation. she s one of the biggest players, seven-time all-star with the phoenix mercury. she s played in the russian league since 2013. the mercury say they love and support brittney. say they at this time our concern is her safety and physical and mental safety. team usa echoing those sentiments in their statements. now, just this morning on a visit to moldova, secretary of