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Biden, Harris To Greet Freed Americans When They Land In U.S. Tonight; Putin Personally Greets Russians Freed In Historic Prisoner Swap; Trump Campaign Says It Raised $138.7 Million In July; Source: Hamas Political Leader Killed In Iran By Bomb Planted Months Before The Explosion; Americans Freed In Historic Prisoner Swap With Russia On Flight To US. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 01, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:01:03]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news, three U.S. citizens freed by Russia. They are on their way home as part of a historic prisoner swap between the Russia and the West. CNN is on the scene at Joint Base Andrews, where Vice President Harris, as well as President Biden, they are planning to greet them tonight.

Also this hour, the latest information on what went on behind the scenes to secure this deal with secret talks and planning going on for years.

Plus, what Vladimir Putin got out of the sweeping prisoner exchange as he personally greeted freed Russian captives, including some hardcore convicted criminals.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today, I'm Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

We are tracking the long sought return of the three U.S. citizens released by Russia today. We have new video just released showing Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Evan Gershkovich on the tarmac in Turkey. They are among the 24 prisoners exchanged by Moscow and the west in a deal bigger than anything seen since the Soviet era.

Our correspondents are standing by covering this breaking story from every angle. First, CNN's Kylie Atwood has details on this historic agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are Americans Evan Grishkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva after being handed over to the United States by Russia in a historic prisoner swap in Turkey.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, and this is a very good afternoon. ATWOOD: All three now on their way back to the United States after being wrongfully detained in Russia. It's the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War involving 24 people being held in seven different countries, the U.S. Germany, Slovenia, Norway, Poland and Russia.

Paul Whelan had been held for 2043 days, the longest of all of the released Americans. The former Marine was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, something Whelan and the U.S. government has vehemently denied.

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Today -- excuse me. Today was a very good day.

ATWOOD: Whelan spoke to CNN's Jennifer Hansler a number of times from inside a Russian prison over the years.

PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN FREED FROM RUSSIA: It's extremely odd, maybe, is the best word, to turn 54 in a Russian prison.

ATWOOD: David Whelan reacting to his brother's release today in a statement, quote, it's vital that he be given agency over his life again, something the Kremlin took away for so many years.

Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich was the first journalist to be arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War. In just three weeks ago, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison after his arrest in 2023.

ALMAR LATOUR, PUBLISHER, WALL STREET JOURNAL, CEO, DOW JONES: We've I worked toward this day for so long, each in our own way. And it's wonderful to see it come together like this.

ATWOOD: Kurmasheva is also on her way home. The Russian-American reporter working for a U.S. government-funded news outlet was sentenced to more than six years in prison for failing to register as a foreign agent. All three appearing in a photo together on the plane in Turkey.

BIDEN: The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship.

ATWOOD: The released Americans speaking with their relieved families and President Biden on the phone in the Oval Office.

Russia also releasing several prominent political prisoners, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition leader and a U.S. permanent resident.

BIDEN: Russian authorities arrested them, convicted them in show trials and sends them to long prison terms.

ATWOOD: In order to make the deal happen, President Biden personally lobbied German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to release Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov in the exchange with Russia.

[18:05:01] Krasikov is a former colonel in the Russian Security Service, serving a life sentence in Germany for murdering a former Chechen fighter in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019. The Kremlin has pushed to get Krasikov back to Russia, even pushing to have him released in 2022. But the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in February set back negotiations since the German government wanted Navalny in exchange for Krasikov.

SULLIVAN: On the very day that he died, I saw Evan's parents and I told them that the president was determined to get this done even in light of that tragic news.

ATWOOD: Two weeks ago, Russia finally agreed to the deal, years of intense efforts finally paying off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ATWOOD (on camera): Now, obviously, Pam, a joyful day for the families that you saw in our piece there. But for the families of Americans who are still detained in Russia, this is an emotional and challenging day. Marc Fogel, an American teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, who's serving a 14-year prison sentence, facing charges of smuggling drugs, his family said he was bringing marijuana in for medical purposes.

His family is saying today, essentially, that they believe that there's a double standard that has been applied. Saying in a quote, Marc is not rich, a celebrity, or connected to powerful patrons. All he has is his family. This glaring injustice and indifference are unacceptable. It's wrong, unfair, and not the America we know and love. We should note, however, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, did cite Marc Fogel's name when talking about ongoing efforts to try and bring Americans back home or detained around the globe. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much.

Now, let's go to CNN's M.J. Lee standing by at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where the freed Americans will arrive tonight. M.J., President Biden and Vice President Harris meeting with the president's plan to be there, right?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Pam. In just a few hours here at Joint Base Andrews, we are about to see a remarkable homecoming for these three Americans. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and, of course, the family members of those three Americans will all be here to greet them when they land back on U.S. soil.

For Paul Whelan, of course, this will be the first time that he is stepping on U.S. soil after almost six years in detention, for Evan Gershkovich, more than a year in detention.

This was an incredibly complicated and multinational deal. And we heard President Biden earlier in the day speaking at the White House, flanked by those family members, talking about the importance of U.S.'s alliances and relationships with countries like Germany or Slovenia and getting this complicated deal across the finish line.

And Vice President Kamala Harris, in the meantime, who also played a role behind the scenes in making that diplomatic push to get this deal across the finish line, she just spoke with reporters in Houston, and she said, while the nation should certainly be celebrating the return of these Americans, the country also should not forget that there are still Americans who are still remaining detained abroad and need to be brought home. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As vice president, it has been my honor to work alongside our President Joe Biden to bring home more than 70 Americans in the last three and a half years. And we will never waver in our commitment to bring home every American who has been wrongfully detained or held hostage. That is my solemn commitment to my fellow Americans, which I will always honor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: So, despite this being a joyful occasion for these families, there's simply no erasing, Pam, the tough conditions that all three of these Americans had faced while in detention and the mental and physical toll that the detention would have taken on them. And to that end on their flight home, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva were all joined on that airplane by multiple medics, a psychologist and, of course, U.S. government officials from the NSC, to the State Department, we are told.

And once they do land at Joint Base Andrews, they will spend some time with their families, but then all three of them will get on a flight to San Antonio. That is where they will head to Brook Army Medical Center to get the medical evaluation and the care that they need. That, of course, will just be the first step in their readjustment to life back in the United States.

BROWN: All right. M.J. Lee, thank you so much, and we just wish them the best and we're very happy for their families.

But I want to get more on this historic prisoner swap and how it was reached. We're joined now by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt. This is truly extraordinary, the way this deal came together, involving 24 prisoners, 7countries, and much of this was driven by U.S. intelligence, Alex. How did it all come together?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And, Pam, one more person that you're going to see on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews with the president and the vice president is the CIA director, Bill Burns. That really does highlight the role of U.S. intelligence to get this deal done today.

[18:10:03]

Now, of course, this was a multipronged effort, the State Department playing a vital role. Roger Carstens is the hostage negotiator, the White House and the National Security Council, but really quite in the middle doing the shuttle negotiating and discussions was the CIA.

If we go back a year-and-a half in this timeline after Brittney Griner was released, the U.S. was continuing efforts to try to get Paul Whelan out. And a month later, in January of last year, I'm told that the CIA met with the Russians in an unspecified third country and offered a new deal, two Russian spies from Slovenia for Paul Whelan. That offer was rejected by the Russians repeatedly, including after Burns continued to push it.

And then in March, Evan Gershkovich was also detained. And a couple months later, the U.S. went forward with a new deal. The CIA took it to the Russians in Moscow saying, we can now offer four of your spies from Slovenia, from Norway, from Poland, in exchange for both Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. That too was rejected, Pam. And the Russians made clear that they would not do any deal without that FSB assassin, Vadim Krasikov.

That set off months of discussions, trying to figure out how they could come up with different formulations. The name Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, he was added into the mix. But that was going to take a lot of pressure on the Germans to get them to release Krasikov. You can see right there on your screen.

Now, Navalny died, as Kylie said, that dealt a severe blow to these negotiations, but they powered forward. And then in June, I'm told, for the first time, the CIA put forward the first proposal with Krasikov in it. It was then accepted last month in another meeting in Turkey between the CIA and Russian intelligence. And then we saw what unfolded today on that tarmac in Ankara. Pamela?

BROWN: We did indeed. Alex Marquardt, thank you so much.

BROWN: Now to someone with firsthand experience with prisoner swaps, we're joined by the former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.

So, you've been involved in prisoner swaps, including when you flew to North Korea to bring home two U.S. captives. Give us your perspective on the magnitude of today's prisoner swap involving 24 people and 7 countries.

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Pamela, I can't recall, even through the duration of the Cold War, a prisoner swap of this magnitude and complexity involving this many prisoners and this many nationalities that were involved.

I did think back about ten years ago when I went to Pyongyang and flew out with two of our citizens in the tension, the last minute glitches, and we certainly had them then, and the relief when your wheel is up, and you've got to two American citizens free at last and out of the clutches of autocratic dictatorship.

BROWN: Yes. You talk about the last minute glitches, I mean, and as our reporting indicates, when Alexei Navalny died, that was a huge setback. And now here we are many months later, and actually this prisoner swap was able to happen, and we're seeing some video now. When there are so many stakeholders, including a hostile state like Russia, how delicate and tenuous are these swaps until they actually happen? I know you sort of touched on it, but I want to dig a little bit deeper into just how tenuous it is.

CLAPPER: Well, it is very tenuous particularly when you're dealing with autocratic states, and in the case of Russia, obviously, the ultimate decisions here are made by one guy, Putin, and so it was in North Korea, and there are all kinds of things that could. And in my case, it was bilateral, it was just two countries, Korea and -- North Korea and the United States. This involved multiple nationalities where Germany had played a huge role here in agreeing to free up a Russian assassin who had killed two people on German soil.

So, I think it says a lot about the teamwork that went on within the U.S. government, the involvement in the intelligence community, because we're obviously very proud of that. But I think we also have to remember that we still have citizens detained in Russia and elsewhere, so we have to keep at it.

But it's hard to imagine the -- recreate the drama that's involved here and how things could go wrong right at the last minute.

[18:15:00]

And I'm sure when the full story comes out, we'll learn about all kinds of last minute glitches that weren't planned on but were overcome to achieve this success.

BROWN: In the last hour, I interviewed the deputy national security advisor, John Finer, and he told me there was, quote, no trust with Russia during this process, that they had to verify everything. How does intelligence play a role in that?

CLAPPER: Well, in the first instance, intelligence tries to do all it can to track along with the State Department through our embassies, to track the location and the condition of these detainees. And because of the worldwide deployment of the intelligence community and their facility with operating in secrecy will often use intelligence channels.

And I think this is particularly true now with Director Bill Burns, as director of CIA, who's also a seasoned career diplomat, who himself has served as ambassador in Russia. So, I think all the stars came together at the right time here.

BROWN: You mentioned there are other Americans that are detained in Russia, and that brings up the question about this pattern from Russia. I mean, Russia has been jailing more American citizens in recent years and has brought home arms dealers, spies, and convicted assassins in its three major prisoner swaps with the Biden administration. How does the U.S. disincentivize even more taking of its citizens from Russia and other hostile countries? I mean, people are still going to be traveling there. How do you -- what do you do?

CLAPPER: Well, Pam, I really appreciate the question because it allows me to make an important point about Americans, no matter what their personal or professional attraction, need to think twice about going to a country like Russia, which does not abide by any set of rule of law and will just snatch people off the street if they need them for trade bait.

So, in the first instance, Americans need to be aware about going to any such autocratic country, particularly Russia, who makes a standard operating practice of snatching Americans off the street and then using them as trade bait as leverage. And now it does put us in a position of trading for nefarious characters. We had innocent citizens who were detained and we end up freeing up criminals. But that's, I think, for me at least, is an acceptable price to pay. But I do think it reminds us about being cautious about travel to a country like Russia.

BROWN: James Clapper, thank you so much for offering your in-depth perspective analysis, drawing on personal experience.

And just ahead, one-on-one with the top member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cory Booker is standing by live.

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[18:22:36]

BROWN: A huge moment for the Biden administration tonight as the president and vice president are getting ready to greet the Americans freed by Russia in that landmark prisoner swap.

Joining us now, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey. Senator, thank you for coming on. This was the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War. What more can you tell us about the complex behind the scenes diplomacy here? Why did this deal make it through now?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I think this has been worked on now for many months, if not years. We've had a situation that's just unacceptable with a lot of people being taken hostage, in my view, in Russia. But the great thing about this and a real testimony to the Biden administration is the complex diplomacy that was involved. I mean, this is indeed perhaps one of the most complicated prisoner swaps ever, if not since the Cold War. And this is a president who has extraordinary relationships with so many foreign leaders, especially within Europe. And I was blown away hearing a lot of the details about how they pieced this deal together over time.

And so now we have something that's really important to the United States of America, as our Americans coming home from a wrongful imprisonment, especially seeing a journalist like Evan Gershkovich, it's just an impressive, important thing that we've done and the Biden administration has accomplished.

BROWN: Of course, this is great relief to the families of these freed prisoners, but there are still Americans that are detained in Russia. And there is concern that, among national security experts, that this is a vicious cycle, that Russia is going just to continue to take innocent Americans into custody and use them as bargaining chips. What do you say to that?

BOOKER: Well, this isn't new we've seen this from North Korea to Iran to Russia. We know this drill, unfortunately. It's one of the reasons why the State Department has travel warnings to a lot of these countries because this is what they do. I don't think that this is going to be additive to the crisis we already have with people being unjustly incarcerated or imprisoned in authoritarian nations. This is a time where we have to take every precaution necessary when it comes to the way these nations operate.

[18:25:00]

I will add this, though, when it comes to getting people released, we now have a Biden administration that's amassing a pretty good track record at finding the pressure points in the fault lines, but we really do have a problem with some of these authoritarian regimes and, clearly, as we look at Ukraine, a problem with Russia's authoritarian, aggressive tendencies.

BROWN: Donald Trump, for his part, bashed this deal today, and yet his running mate, J.D. Vance, somehow gave him credit for it. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Look, I think it's great news, at least what little we know. We certainly want these Americans to come back home. It was ridiculous that they were in prison to begin with. But we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home? And I think it's because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump is about to be back in office, so they're cleaning house. That's a good thing. And I think it's a testament to Donald Trump's strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: How do you respond to that Senator?

BOOKER: I'm not sure it's really worthy of a response. This is not a time for partisanship. It's not a time for tribalism. It's a time for us to speak to the fact that this is an American moment. All of us should be thrilled that folks are coming home and we shouldn't be opportunistically looking at a chance to score political points off the backs of the suffering of our returning hostages.

BROWN: All right. I want to ask you about something else that played out today, the bill to expand the child tax credit that Senate Republicans blocked today, which was expected. Are Republicans telling you one thing about this bill in private and voting another way in public? What is your sense?

BOOKER: I think this was a tough one for me because this is a bill that passed through a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. And we know that a lot of the characters on the far right in the House, yet this was able to make it through, and it made it through because it was a really difficult compromise. There were some pretty significant corporate tax breaks in this that were hard for people like me to stomach, especially after the Trump tax cut that incredibly rewarded corporations and the wealthiest.

But the reason why we did this was because it contained things that really were going to help working class and middle class families, like the expansion of the child tax credit or housing tax credits that would help to build more housing and get more people in affordable homes.

And so this is one of those frustrating days in Washington where you just don't understand why we couldn't get it done and over the line. It reminds me a lot of the bipartisan border bill that we had, that was policies that were supported by people on the right and the left, negotiated, hard won, and then somehow unravel, I believe, due to politics.

BROWN: All right. Senator Cory Booker, thank you for your time tonight.

BOOKER: Thank you very much.

BROWN: Coming up, the Trump campaign just released its new fundraising total for July, but how will his numbers stack up against the Harris campaign? That's next.

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[18:32:14]

BROWN: Well, new fundraising numbers just released by the Trump campaign. In the month of July, the former president's operation says it raised more than $138 million. That gives them $327 million in cash on hand. And we should note this is coming from the campaign and has not officially been filed with the FEC. But compare that to the Harris campaign, which says it raised about $200 million in roughly the first week of her candidacy alone.

Our panel is here to discuss and make sense of these numbers. Van Jones, first to you, the candidate who wins the fundraising race is not necessarily when the actual race. We know that, right? But what are you taking away from these numbers?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Kamala Mania. Kamala Mania, just energy, energy, energy. A big percentage of those donors are first time donors in this cycle, hadn't given to Biden, hadn't given to anybody. People are excited about Kamala Harris. And it shows up in the numbers. It's showing up in the polls. What a turnaround in the past two weeks in terms of energy, momentum and enthusiasm for Kamala Harris.

BROWN: I just want to follow up on you, because right after she was endorsed and becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee right after Biden stepped aside, you said she went from cringy to cool in 24 hours. Do you think she can hang on to that, this momentum she has?

JONES: I think -- look, I think -- so, listen, she has not done any major interviews. There's opportunity for her to do well there or not. She certainly hasn't got a chance to debate Trump yet. So, there are things on the horizon.

But where she is right now, sometimes the person makes the moment and sometimes the moment makes a person. This was a moment that was crying out for some kind of breakthrough, some kind of hope. Most Americans didn't want either Trump or Biden. And suddenly -- and there was this kind of death watch for democracy after the debate. Democrats are looking at this thing like, holy crap, we're going to have democracy after this election. And you got one, heartbeat of hope, Kamala Harris raising her hand saying, I'll handle this. And it has just unleashed a flood of energy, and I think it's going to continue for a while.

BROWN: Right. And as you note, she has not sat down for an interview or debate. She hasn't had the debate. There're still a lot of questions about where she stands on different policies. Of course, we as journalists will continue to try to learn what her positions are.

But, Charlie, she's also in the midst of trying to figure out who her V.P. pick is, right? You're a former Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania. When Josh Shapiro ran for governor of Pennsylvania, you endorsed him over his Republican opponent. What do you think about a Harris-Shapiro ticket?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That would be a very formidable ticket, should she choose Josh Shapiro, because Josh Shapiro does have -- he does have cross-party appeal.

[18:35:00]

And we saw that in the gubernatorial election. And, frankly, Kamala Harris needs to be ruthlessly pragmatic right now, and she cannot win this election without winning Pennsylvania. She can lose Arizona and win the election. She cannot lose Pennsylvania and win the election. So, that really accrues to Josh Shapiro's benefit. It would strike me that he could actually help her in the state now, and that's a reason to pick him.

Now, obviously, the Democratic Party is pretty twisted up over the Israel-Gaza matter, and Shapiro is certainly pro-Israel and that might create some heartburn for some Democrats, but I think he can actually appeal more to the center of the country than she can. So, if you're asking my advice, I'd say you go with Shapiro in a heartbeat. That's not to say she doesn't have other good folks to select from but he brings something that none of the other candidates bring, and that's the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 19 electoral votes.

BROWN: You were nodding, Van?

JONES: Listen, the math is the math is the math. Pennsylvania is must- win. She's actually doing reasonably well in Michigan right now. She's doing reasonably well in Wisconsin. She's still struggling in Pennsylvania. And so that is a very important consideration.

There are other people who Democrats are swooning over other governors. Obviously, Mark Kelly's name comes up over and over again. There's a hope and a prayer on the part of Kamala's folks that maybe if you put in a Mark Kelly from Arizona, you help to open up that Sun Belt lane, and so maybe you pick up a Georgia, maybe you pick up a Nevada, maybe you pick up an Arizona. But the reality is the most logical pathway for her is still those blue wall states, and the brick in that wall that's the flimsiest, that's the least secure, is Pennsylvania, and she's got a great governor sitting there looking at her right on top of that state.

BROWN: All right, I want to get to this appearance yesterday by Trump at the National Association of Black Journalists. Many members have voiced disagreement with the decision to hold a Trump Q& A. I'm wondering, Van, first to you, then to you, Charlie, what do you think of that decision and the fact that Trump continues to double down on what he said yesterday about how she, in his words, turned black, which is not true, obviously?

JONES: Well, I'm actually glad that NABJ had him there. I think that maybe they could have had some maybe a few different journalists. Certainly, Roland Martin wanted to be on that stage. That would have been very interesting. But I think the women who were there did a good job. And I think he got a chance to show himself for what he is.

He is a desperate, failing, faded brand of noxious politics. He had one mission, which was just to try to dampen enthusiasm for Kamala Harris, and he failed.

BROWN: Charlie, very quickly?

DENT: Yes, that was a disastrous performance for Donald Trump. Look, his own campaign invoked the mercy rule and pulled him off after 30 minutes. I mean, I just can't imagine why the campaign thought it was a good idea to send him in.

Trump's campaign has been pretty disciplined. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is undisciplined, and you can see what happens when a disciplined campaign and an undisciplined candidate collide. And you have that type of performance. It was an utter disaster.

BROWN: All right. Van Jones, Charlie Dent, thank you.

Well, just ahead, have Vladimir Putin benefited from the prisoner swap as he welcomed an assassin and other convicted criminals home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:37]

BROWN: We are following all the breaking news on the historic prisoner swap between Russia and the west. CNN's Brian Todd is taking a closer look at what Vladimir Putin got out of this deal. And, Brian, some hardcore convicted Russian criminals are free tonight.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are, Pamela. And it's leading to serious concerns among many observers tonight over whether this deal was disproportionate. But this isn't the first time that Vladimir Putin's biggest prize in a prisoner swap is someone with blood on his hands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice over): On a Moscow tarmac, exuberant greetings from Vladimir Putin for prisoners returning from abroad. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked bluntly today, is the Biden administration concerned that Russia gets a convicted murderer back in exchange for Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and other Americans?

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: These are always incredibly hard decisions.

TODD: As part of the swap, Germany releases Vadim Krasikov, a 58-year- old former high ranking Russian intelligence operative who committed a brazen act of violence in a prominent park in Berlin in 2019.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: He executed someone in broad daylight, caught doing it and that's why Germany didn't want to let him go.

TODD: Krasikov was serving a life sentence for killing a former Chechen fighter in that Berlin park. Putin made no secret of wanting Krasikov back. In an interview with Tucker Carlson in February, Putin didn't mention Krasikov's name or the Chechens, but was glowing about what Krasikov did and insulted his victim.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: That person, due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals.

DOZIER: For Putin, getting these men back is part of his pledge to his whole security apparatus, the people who are keeping him in power, that if you get taken doing a job for me, I will get you out.

TODD: Indeed, several Russian spies and hackers are among those released in this prisoner swap. But in the most prominent swaps over the past couple of years, Putin's biggest prizes are men with serious blood on their hands. Krasikov and Viktor Bout, nicknamed the Merchant of Death, a Russian arms dealer traded for American basketball star Brittney Griner in 2022, following Griner's imprisonment on cannabis charges.

DANIELLE GILBERT, EXPERT ON HOSTAGE POLICY, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: There was a lot of concern that releasing someone like that was completely disproportionate, to release someone like that in exchange for an American basketball player on a trumped up drug charge.

[18:45:04]

TODD (voice-over): Victor Bout is believed to have cut a figure so legendary in the arms trafficking underworld that he's widely acknowledged as the inspiration for Nicolas Cage's character in the movie "Lord of War".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arms bazaar was open, guided missiles, unguided missiles, mortars, mines, armored personnel carriers, whole tank divisions.

TODD: Analysts say there was no weapon Viktor Bout wouldn't sell for the right price and to devastating effect.

DOUGLAS FARAH, CO-AUTHOR, "MERCHANT OF DEATH": If you look at the wars that were directly impacted by his weapons delivery. As you can see, they escalate directly in proportion to the amounts of weapons arriving. So, I would say certainly, you know, tens of thousands of people suffered if not hundreds of thousands of people because of the weapons he was able to deliver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): What is in store for Vadim Krasikov back in Russia, analysts say Vladimir Putin will likely make him into a hero and offer him opportunities that many others would not get.

The possibilities are almost endless. Last year, Viktor Bout entered Russian politics and he won a seat in a regional legislature -- Pamela.

BROWN: What does that tell you?

All right, thanks so much, Brian Todd.

Just ahead, new details on how the assassination of one of Hamas's top leaders came together.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:21]

BROWN: Well, there are new revelations tonight about how the political leader of Hamas was killed in Iran.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Tel Aviv with details.

Clarissa, what are we learning?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, some pretty extraordinary revelations coming out today, Pamela, as to how the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran. Essentially, we are learning that it was an explosive device that was planted in the room that he was staying in a guest house that is controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or the IRGC, that had been planted in that room for months.

Now, this is a stunning development. It is highly embarrassing to Iran and to the IRGC, raises real questions about their security protocol. And certainly underscores the expectation that there will be a harsh retaliation, not just for the killing of Haniyeh, but for the embarrassment that this has caused Iran.

We also heard today from Hassan Nasrallah, he is the leader of Hezbollah speaking at the funeral or after the funeral, I should say, Fu'ad Shukr, the -- his right-hand who Israel killed in a strike on an apartment building in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He had some pretty fiery rhetoric saying that red lines have been crossed. A new phase of the conflict has been entered, and essentially raising

the specter that this could be not just a straight forward tit for tat attack, but rather a coordinated attack between potentially Iran and its various proxies known collectively as the so-called axis of resistance.

For the most part here in Israel, things are relatively calm. We did hear though from Israel's national security council issuing an advisory to Israeli's traveling overseas to be extremely vigilant. We know also that the ministry of health has been engaging in various drills to make sure they're prepared for anything that could potentially impact the power or electricity.

And we also heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu today he's saying that forces are on high alert and ready for whatever maybe coming -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Clarissa Ward in Tel Aviv, thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:02]

BROWN: Well, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is just hours away from being back here in the U.S. after spending more than five years wrongfully detained in a Russian prison.

And while he was there, he was able to make some phone calls and about a dozen of those calls were to CNN's Jennifer Hansler.

And she is here with us now.

I can't wait to hear your perspective on all of this because there were so many times when Paul Whelan was left behind, but not this time. How much of a surprise do you think this came to him?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Pam, I actually think he may have had a sense that things were moving in the right direction, right? We talked a dozen times over the course so his detention and at times he felt incredibly depressed. He didn't think that there were efforts actually underway to secure his release. He called on the administration to do more for with more urgency.

But in recent months, he seemed to be a lot more optimistic about the efforts that were underway to secure his release. He felt assured that he wasn't going to be left behind again.

I actually learned from a source that Roger Carstens, who's the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, was able to call him late last week. Obviously, he couldn't tell him that details of this imminent swap, but he said that he also was able to convey some sense that we are here for you. We are going to make sure you're okay, and he was able to tell that there was some optimism from Paul as well. So I do think maybe he didn't want to get his home hopes up too much

in case he got left behind again, but it did seem like perhaps he knew the works and the wheels were turning there.

BROWN: So, you can sense a shift in him more recently.

HANSLER: Uh-huh.

BROWN: When was the last time you spoke with him? And what did he say?

I spoke with him about two weeks ago on the day that Evan Gershkovich was convicted and sentenced on those espionage charges that the U.S. decried as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. This was the same sentence that Whelan was given back in June 2020.

And he also saw that as potentially a good sign for negotiations. I want you to take listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, JULY 19)

PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN RELEASED FROM RUSSIA: Well, Evan's was brought forward and he was quickly convicted and sentenced. And we think that might mean that the Russians are willing to do a deal. They would've wanted to wait until he was convicted so they could say that he had been duly convicted of espionage and wasn't just being held hostage.

We think that could be a good sign that the Russians want to actually now start negotiations with U.S. for his release as well as mine.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANSLER: So, Pam, clearly, he knows about the precedent there in Russia that they always want to have a conviction before the move forward on any deal.

So, he saw that as a promising sign that things could be moving forward. And as we saw today, they were in fact moving very quickly behind the scenes to bring both Paul, Evan, and Alsu Kurmasheva back home.

BROWN: Just very quickly, what were the conditions like for him there?

HANSLER: They were pretty deplorable from what he described them. He said, you know, there was virtually no medical care. The food was atrocious and various small portions, he had to work in a clothing factory he described as a sweatshop. He said sometimes there would be guards who wouldn't let him make phone calls.

He was allowed to make phone calls to his parents almost every day, but sometimes they would cut that access off.

It was very, very hard for him over those 5.5 years there.

BROWN: Yeah, and it's interesting that he was allowed to call you, though.

HANSLER: Yeah.

BROWN: An American journalist.

HANSLER: It's very interesting. I actually asked him about that once and he said he thinks the Russian saw it to their advantage as well.

BROWN: Very, very interesting. Excellent reporting. Thank you so much, Jennifer Hansler.

I'm Pamela Brown in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.