meeting is that when it came to another prisoner who had been detained in russia, trevor reed, who was released earlier this year, his family had met with biden shortly before that release happened. so, she told me that she hopes perhaps this meeting might precede b.g. s release. but she really has no idea and did not get a sense at this meeting that any deal was imminent. she did say, though, that president biden alluded to some of the reporting that cnn and other outlets have had that the biden administration has discussed with russia trading at least one prisoner here in the united states in exchange for whelan and for griner. he alluded to that but did not share a lot of concrete details about what the state of those negotiations are. is it clear to what extent or if any extent the fates of brittney griern and paul whelan are linked? does the griner family feel like any deal would likely be for both of them? i think the sense is both from what i ve heard from
sharell after her meeting with biden and others that there is a sense that their fates are very much linked. the biden administration is talking to russia about bringing both of these americans home and offering to russia what they think ought to be enough to bring them both home. paul whelan has been detained longer than brittney griner, but it s this pressure that biden has faced publicly from sharell griner and the wnba, the nba and many, many others that has really brought this situation to this point. anderson, i want to add, you know, one thing i did ask her. she s been talking to her wife via letters over the last several months. and she said that just in the last few weeks, those letters have really taken a very dark turn. she said, her wife is really at a breaking point. she said, she is losing it, partly because what comes next is an appeal process. that appeal process is not really likely to go brittney griner s way. and if it does not, she could be
executive director of the women s basketball players association and wnba pa. very pleased that both of you ladies here and harriet will get two and a second and i want to start with you. now that she has been sentenced, what do you anticipate is next for her given your familiarity with these types of international relations as a relates to russia. i had to say seeing her keeper composure while she is spoken court, it broke my heart. about marcus i cannot imagine what she must be going through. i m happy you started there, it is a human element you know the way that shell-shocked and has been talking about. there s a security element right? so to your question, what is next? now that the verdict is, and she has been sentenced, now there can be a level of negotiation that could happen. up until now, russia had not committed to that potential swap with britney griner. and for mr. whelan but now that
biden said he was hopeful about the prospect of her return. i want to in matt bradley, who s been following this for us. matt, good to talk to. we have heard names before, wet new information to have on the current discussions and where they stand? well, of course, a lot of the speculation around this is focused on viktor bout, live notorious arms dealer because he sold weapons he thought he was going to columbian fighters that would be used against u.s. older soldiers. that s why he has such a long conviction. he s being put up as an exchange for griner and whelan. that is seen as a very lopsided exchange. because victor bout, a notorious arms dealer, and now there are also, according to cnn, and according to some other news agency, they re interested in another name. a man who s a murder conviction
that is what we did and i rethink that question? absolutely not because when it was go time, when cherelle told our team to reach out to us, and to mobilize in spring into action, that s exactly what we did. and you know what s happening, the momentum is continuing to build. it s intensifying, and what we need to do as a country as got behind this president. that is what will happen, my prediction is that each day, we are going to intensify our support behind this president, secretary blinken. to get the deal done, and to bring pg home, to bring paul whelan home and other wrongfully detained americans. that is what we are doing right now. that is what go time is right now. i appreciate that, it is go time, for all of us and i appreciate perspective. no, we are out of time and i didn t ask you, your prediction how soon do you think we might see bg come home? i think the world are moving