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WNBA Start Brittney Griner Released In Prisoner Swap With Russia; House Passes Senate-Approved Bill Protecting Same-Sex Marriage. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired December 08, 2022 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[15:01:07]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hello, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin the hour with a brand new video just in to CNN. You are seeing the very first images of Brittney Griner and after she was released from Russian custody. There you see her smiling such a relief to see her coming back to the United States.

The WNBA star spent nearly 10 months behind bars in Russia and now there you see it, that smile and sheer relief to come home. There you see her boarding that flight and there's Viktor Bout, upon his return back to Russia as well. It's all part of a result of a prisoner swap. The U.S. released arms dealer Viktor Bout as you see him boarding the plane.

President Biden this morning sit alongside Griner's wife to announce the good news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She's safe. She's on a plane. She's on her way home. After months of being unjustly detained in Russia held under intolerable circumstances, Britney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood and CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Phil Mattingly.

So Kylie, what is the State Department's saying about this prisoner swap and the fact that it really came together in just the last couple of days?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes. Well, the Secretary of State saying that it was unforgettable to be in the Oval Office today with President Biden when Cherelle Griner was able to speak with Brittney Griner for the first time since she was freed from Russia. And he also went on to say that this has been an effort that's been underway by U.S. State Department officials, by officials in the U.S. government for months.

And Bianna, we have reported on that. We know that the Biden administration put an offer on the table months ago back in the summer for both Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan who was another American wrongfully detained in the country. That is not the deal that came to fruition today and that's not because U.S. officials didn't want it, it's because of Russia's position here.

Russia was a challenging interlocutor. They treated Paul Whelan differently than they did Brittney Griner and here's what the Secretary of State said about the United States moving ahead with this deal, even though for now it meant leaving Paul Whelan in Russia.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: This was not a choice of which American to bring home. The choice was one or none. We will never relent until Paul, and for that matter, every other U.S. national held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad is free and coming home and joining their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, we also said that the United States put every possible option on the table to try and secure Paul Whelan's release as well. We should note that he's been wrongfully detained in Russia for about four years now. But he said that just wasn't going to happen at this time. U.S. officials saying they will keep working on that effort.

And we should note that Brittney Griner is on her way back to the United States today. Folks really welcoming that news across the United States, because there was such a public push for her to get released from the basketball community, from the LGBTQ community, also from African-American community here in the United States.

And according to a UAE official, it was a meeting with the President of the UAE and President Putin that was part of securing this deal because Brittney Griner was actually exchanged today in Abu Dhabi for Viktor Bout. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Just incredible to see her on that plane and we know that her health was of concern as of late and her mental health, obviously, top of mind for so many people. We saw that big sigh of relief from her wife, Cherelle, who spoke today this morning alongside President Biden when he announced that she was on her way home.

[15:05:00]

But Brittney Griner's wife also, Phil, acknowledging that she was coming home without someone else, another American there, Paul Whelan, and noting as happy as she is and relieved as she is that her wife is coming home, that they have not forgotten and will continue to fight for the release of Paul Whelan. What is the White House saying about this continued effort on their part to make sure that he comes home as soon as possible, too. PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna, (inaudible) Griners really kind of capturing a split screen of emotions to some degree. There's no question there's elation inside the White House and Brittney Griner is on her way home.

You take a look at the visuals, you noted the smile, you talk about the family, you talk about the well being of Brittney Griner given that she had been moved to a penal colony. That was what drove the decision to sign off on this by the President and his team, perhaps more than anything else.

The ability to get someone home if they did not believe that the option to get both home was actually on the table and I think that's where U.S. officials as Kylie and her colleague, Jenny Hanser (ph) have reported so extensively, a moment they reached over the course of the last several weeks, recognizing that when they put options on the table, they put alternatives on the table to secure the release of both. They just got no take up from the Russians.

And in part, it was because they sense that the Russians viewed Paul Whelan differently. The President alluded to this, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: For totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittney's. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That's what the message you've heard from administration officials throughout the course of the day. What you haven't heard is a clear pathway or idea of what it will take to secure Paul Whelan is released. Again, it's kind of - the difficulty and complexity of this moment. There is no question U.S. officials are elated by the fact they were able to secure the release of Brittney Griner.

There's no question that the advocates and constituency that have been pushing for this over the course of the last nine plus months are as well. But the recognition that there's still an American Left Behind - the recognition there are many Americans left behind is something that really drives the teams that Kylie covers so closely.

And the difficulty of these moments as to how this is going to play out going forward still no clear sense yet.

The Whelan family has weighed in saying that they're very happy Brittney Griner has come home, but they are obviously distraught by the reality that Paul Whelan was not with her. How this plays out going forward is going to be a question that the administration is going to continue to have to address both publicly but also in their negotiations with the Russian counterparts.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we're coming up on the four-year mark since Paul Whelan was unlawfully detained and arrested there in Russia. Kylie Atwood and Phil Mattingly, thank you.

Terri Jackson is the - actually, Terry is not with us right now, we're going to go to Evelyn Farkas who's a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia and Ukraine and Eurasia. Evelyn, good to see you. We're going to go to Terri Jackson in a minute if we can.

But let me get your perspective here on what it means for, one, Vladimir Putin after all of these months to finally agree to this exchange for Viktor Bout, but also to make sure that it was only Brittney Griner coming home and not Paul Whelan.

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE & EURASIA:Yes, Bianna, I think I have a little bit of a different take on this, which is to say that I think Vladimir Putin was never going to give us Paul Whelan. All along, he probably knew that he was only going to give us Brittney Griner in exchange for Viktor Bout.

He definitely wanted Viktor Bout, so there was going to be an exchange and it's happening now, because Vladimir Putin wants this to happen now, he needs a win. He needs a victory in Russia because he is having trouble convincing the Russian people that it's a good idea to be at war with Ukraine.

So I think that all of this back and forth negotiation was just typical of the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin, just a lot of game - playing games, frankly.

GOLODRYGA: That takes a lot of messed up propaganda to somehow view this as a victory to Russians back at home that a convicted arms dealer is somehow welcome news to have returned to the country. But nonetheless, he's been doing this for years. What do you think it will take then or are you not optimistic about Paul Whelan's return?

FARKAS: Well, I'm slightly optimistic. So first of all, I'm Viktor Bout, for Vladimir Putin he's important because Vladimir Putin is still a KGB, intelligence operator at his core. And this guy, Bout, was doing his work as an arms dealer, basically with the support of and for the Russian government.

So he's - he sees this as bringing one of his own home and it's a signal obviously to all the other people in the Russian government who are doing things - bad things for the Russian government that he, Putin, will take care of them. So that's the first additional point I want to make.

To answer your question about what it means for Paul Whelan: Look, I think that the Russians will make a deal if they think it's in their interest and we know that Germans are holding at least two Russian citizens who may well be operatives for the Russian government.

[15:10:06]

One of them murder ...

GOLODRYGA: Convicted of murder, yes. FARKAS: ... yes, one of them is convicted of murder, murder to Republic of Georgia citizen in Germany. The second one was just seized in the last couple of days for supporting and being part of the plot to overthrow the German government.

So I think that it may also be that the Biden administration was a little bit emboldened. I mean, it does really sound like it was a Brittney or nothing. But on the other hand, knowing that the Germans have these other Russians may have also helped somewhat.

GOLODRYGA: What does it tell you that despite relations being at near all time lows now given the war and Putin being a social pariah, really to the West, that these channels of communication are still open and exist and we can have hope that some of these wrongfully detained Americans can come home?

FARKAS: I mean, it tells you that Vladimir Putin and his government and other governments like his, they will make a deal if they think it's in their self interest. They have no values. They don't care about human rights. But if it works out well for them, they'll make a swap, and so I suppose that's good news.

And, of course, maintaining lines of communication is important. That's what we do whether we agree or disagree with governments all around the world.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Evelyn Farkas, thank you so much. Great to see you.

FARKAS: Thanks, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, in a historic vote on Capitol Hill today as lawmakers pass a bill to ensure the protection of same-sex marriage. President Biden promises to sign the bill promptly.

And Ukraine is asking the White House to provide controversial cluster munitions in its fight against Russia. Our exclusive reporting straight ahead.

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[15:16:04]

GOLODRYGA: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the landmark bill she signed today a glorious triumph of love and freedom. With a vote of 258 to 169, the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act, protecting same-sex marriages. Thirty-nine Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the measure which the Senate approved last week. President Biden said he will sign the bill promptly once he receives it.

Now, this federal law does not legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, but it does mandate that every state recognize another state's legal union.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Dean joins us now from Capitol Hill. A significant day there, Jessica, to say the least. So explain how this bill specifically works and the impact that it will have?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It certainly is a big day here, Bianna. This was something that began in the Senate. They were working on it before the midterms actually and just could not quite get there in terms of getting those 10 necessary votes from Republicans to get this over the finish line, so they came back together. They did get that done.

And what this bill does, as you mentioned, it doesn't necessarily put in a nationwide law requiring the recognition of same-sex marriage. What it does is require each individual state to respect and see legally in the eyes of the law, any other states laws on same-sex marriage, so it recognizes same-sex marriages from any other state.

So no matter where you go, you are married in the eyes of the law no matter what that state has on the books. So it's a bit nuanced, but it certainly does give those protections to same-sex marriages. And this really became a concern after Roe v. Wade was overturned over the summer. There began to be concerned that what if the Supreme Court overturned the ruling on same-sex marriage and that is what moved both the House and the Senate, Bianna, to do this and get it done in this session.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we also heard from the Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas opened the door to that opportunity as well suggesting that one day it's something that the court should revisit and that really triggered a lot of concern there in Washington.

So we know 39 House GOP members today, voted in favor and during the vote last week in the Senate 12 Republicans supported the act. How did conservatives get on board given that just 10 years ago, it was President Obama's own administration that sort of took issue when now President Biden spoke out in favor of same-sex marriage.

DEAN: Right. It is amazing where we are today 10 years later, isn't it? And to see 39 House Republicans, 12 Senate Republicans, this - that's a big bipartisan vote for this legislation. And so there were some religious freedom language that was worked into this bill that essentially made sure that religious institutions didn't have to do anything that they weren't comfortable with.

That was important for some conservatives to get into this into this bill, for them to be able to support it and to push it through. So that was kind of the linchpin for some of these members that made them feel comfortable in supporting this. And again, just to underscore that that is a pretty big bipartisan vote in both chambers.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it is, indeed. And we saw Nancy Pelosi there in her final weeks of leadership, she has let it be known that she is overjoyed that this bill is something that she's there, and seeing as a swan song as House speaker. Also it looks like we have movement on other legislation, must pass legislation, the Defense Authorization Act looks like there - it just passed in the House. So things seem to be happening there, finally, as we're coming up upon deadlines there Jessica. DEAN: I know. It was like it was a logjam. We all got back from Thanksgiving, we have this lame duck session in between, what we've got left in the last of this year and then ended when a new Congress takes over in January. And they have a very long laundry list of things that they have to get done.

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So for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of course she will be transitioning out of leadership. She will be staying in the House but not in leadership for the House Democrats the first in many, many, many years, so that will be very different. And so we did get to see her kind of preside over this last big piece of - bipartisan piece of legislation. I'll let you watch that clip.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): On this vote the yeas are 258, the nays are 169, present one. The motion is adopted.

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DEAN: And again, just a lot of enthusiasm coming off that House floor. And Bianna, you mentioned the National Defense Authorization Act getting passed out of the House, that was on their laundry list. It's authorizing military spending.

The big one, though, they got to fund the government. That deadline is coming up next Friday. And we're still waiting for movement on that. A couple options, they could do a short-term thing, they could also try to do a yearlong big bill. That's what we're hearing they want to try to do. The question is, can they get that done in the time that they have, so we'll see.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, we heard Speaker Pelosi today say she's optimistic that that can be done by the end of the year, but I think we're still waiting on that top line figure. Nonetheless, nice to see a big smile on the speaker's face there.

DEAN: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Jessica Dean, thank you.

DEAN: You're welcome.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the new lead in the case of four college students killed in Idaho. Details on the car scene near the side of the killings straight ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

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GOLODRYGA: Back now to our top story. You are seeing the very first images of Brittney Griner after she was released from Russian custody. The WNBA star spent nearly 10 months behind bars in Russia. Now, it's all the result of a prisoner swap. In exchange the U.S. released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Terri Jackson is the WNBA Players Association Executive Director and joins me now.

Terri, I was really looking forward to this conversation with you because it has been so long since we have last seen Brittney smiling not inside of that inhumane cage as she was being treated there in Russia in the courtroom and to see her on that plane headed home, how does that feel for you?

TERRI JACKSON, WNBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Bianna, it has been an amazing day, an amazing day full of pure joy on behalf of my members. This is the biggest win that we have ever seen in all of our lives, collectively.

For the past 290 plus days and I'm tired of counting and I don't have to count anymore, but for the past several, several days, several months, I would start each day saying BG is coming home today. And then when it didn't happen that day, I would include in my prayer that I guess it was going to be tomorrow.

And so yesterday, I went to bed with anxious anticipation, because I understood things were moving and I just want to thank my family who's just been my rock on this. My mother woke me up listening to the news. I had been trying to monitor it and she woke me up full of her joy and it's just - it was just amazing. Just amazing.

And so I'm sorry, I wasn't able to join the last segment, but keep telling the story for us and I'm so happy that I can be with you right now.

GOLODRYGA: I mean, listen, it all puts things into perspective because as much as we have cheered for her and voted for her when she played her game on the basketball court, no one is cheering and rooting for her as much as we are right now and cheering to see that smile on her face and see her be able to walk out of prison and get and walk herself up that plane with her bags.

We got a statement from her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, and here's what they said: "Miraculously, mercifully, the count of days detained has ended at 294, and our friend, our sister, is headed back home where she belongs. The emotions for our organization just like for our fans, and so many across the world are those of joyous celebration, deep gratitude grief for the time lost, and sincere hope for all families still awaiting the return of a loved one."

Once again, they're noting, that somebody else didn't come home with her and that is Paul Whelan and there are others that are being wrongfully detained. But what is this moment and this day mean for the WNBA community as a whole?

JACKSON: We have started, the Players Association had started a hashtag that we are not the 144 without BG. And today, our prayers have been answered. Our 144 is complete. She is on her way home. And as much celebration, elation, gratitude, joy that we are expressing, please everybody hear us in this moment, we are mindful, very mindful of Paul Whelan and his family.

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