I appreciate it.
>>> Joining me now from the
white house is John Kirby, the
spokesperson for the national
security council.
John, this is a very important
day.
And it is, as the president
said, a day of mixed emotions
for so many people.
You heard Paul Whelan speaking
to my colleague Jennifer hansler
from the state department saying
that he knows that his case has
been considered a higher level
or considered differently or
separately than others like
Britney's.
Biden spoke to this today as
well for totally illegitimate
reasons.
What are the reasons?
>> Well, I don't want to get
into too much detail here, with
you, Kate.
But it has to do with the sham
charges against him based on
espionage.
That is the hook that the
Russians so many to have in him.
And we're just not able to -- to
deal with him the same way that
we were able to deal with Mr.
Reid or in this case mostly
sunny -- in the case with
Griner.
That demonstrates what a
remarkable individual Mr. Whelan
is.
The stoicism and the courage is
not something lost on us here.
And we worked very hard to get
there Whelan home.
It was the goal to get both of
them home and just couldn't make
it work.
That is the deal that we could
get and now was the moment we
could get it and it was either
get one American home or get
none and it was important to at
least get one home and we're
able to do that.
>> And you also heard right
there Paul Whelan in his own
words, his message for the
president saying that he hopes
that the administration could do
everything they can regardless
of the price to get him home.
What will do now to make sure
that he comes home, especially
now that you don't have the
bargaining chip of Victor bout.
What more can you do?
>> Victor bout was never a
bargaining chip for Mr. Whelan.
And the Russians consistently
made that clear.
So I think we need to make that
well-known.
We will work as hard today and
tomorrow and the next day to get
Paul Whelan home as we've been
working since he's been in
Russia wrongfully detained.
It has never escaped us, it has
never been off our minds.
We will continue to make every
effort we can in good faith to
get Mr. Whelan home and I can
assure Mr. Whelan and certainly
the Whelan family that the focus
of this administration and this
president in particular will not
waiver, will not wane, we will
continue to work on this.
>> What with the news today and
you say Victor bout was never a
bargaining chip for Paul Whelan,
and looking for any bargaining
chip to get Paul Whelan home.
Is it fair to say that it is
back to square one in trying to
negotiate for his release today?
>> No, I don't believe I would
say that, Kate.
We have been in active
discussions with the Russians on
Mr. Whelan's case again for a
very, very long time.
>> Right.
>> Certainly those conversations
accelerated in recent months.
And I could assure that we're
going to stay at those active
discussions going forward.
So, no, I would not say, hey
we're back to square one.
We knew it was pretty obvious
early on they were going to
treat Mr. Whelan separate and
distinct from Britney.
That is still the case.
So we're going to continue to
have the conversations that we
need to have to deal in good
faith with the Russians and see
if we get Mr. Whelan home.
>> The president said this
morning that Brittney Griner is
in good spirits but what more
you could say about how she's
doing physically and mentally
and emotionally?
>> Well, again, I want to be
careful that I respect Ms.
Griner's privacy.
She was in good spirits on the
phone call with her wife
Cherelle and the president.
Being able to now come home.
I'm not going to talk aboutler
health.
We'll make sure, the first
priority right now, is to make
sure that she gets the adequate
care she needs after being ten
months in detention in Russia.
And under what the president
described as intolerable
conditions.
So we suspect that they'll be a
need here for her to have access
to proper health care before
she's ready and fit to get back
home.
I don't think that that will
take a very long time.
But again that is up to the
doctors to work with the family
on.
That is going to be the main
focus now.
Is just making sure that we look
after her well being before
she's able to, you know, to get
on her way.
>> Democratic senator Chris
coons in reacting applauding her
release and said he is concerned
that the more the government
engages in these swaps, the more
Americans are going to be at
risk and the more that the U.S.
Will be forced to release people
that you don't want to have
released.
Is the world more dangerous now
with Victor bout released and
free?
>> We were focused on our
national security yesterday and
today and now that Mr. Bout is
out of detention here in the
United States, he is at a jail
and will be going back to Moscow
or to Russia.
Coy assure you, and I could
assure all Americans and coy
certainly assure our colleagues
up on capitol hill that our
focus on our national security
interests is not going to
change.
We're going to make sure that we
could defend this country
against any and all threats so
with Mr. Bout back on the
street, we're going to focus on
making sure we could defend this
country.
>> Absolutely.
The president said this morning
that returning all wrongfully
detained Americans is a
priority.
In Russia and beyond of course.
Amad shargy is an American
wrongfully detained in Iran
since 2018.
We followed his story closely
and I believe we've spoke to you
about it in the past.
His sister will join us in a few
minutes.
Short of getting Ahmad home,
they want to meet with president
Biden which Cherelle said was
critical for her as well.
Will the president do that and
meet with the family?
>> Well first, I want to tell
the family, again, we are still
focused on that case as well.
P we want to get all wrongfully
detained Americans home.
We are going to work on this and
that and every other case very,
very hard.
And we'll have continued
conversations with them as
appropriate at various levels to
do that.
I don't have a schedule item to
speak to today, Kate.
But I could promise you that the
president is going to stay
focused on this and every other
case of every other wrongfully
detained American.
>> And I totally appreciate
that, John.
But I know you appreciate, the
final decision on this is the
president of the United States
and this face-to-face
engagement, everyone who has
someone released from wrongfully
detained said that face-to-face
interaction has been critical
for them.
>> Yes.
And the president understands
that.
And that is why he has met with
so many of the family members in
the past.
I just don't want to get ahead
of the schedule right now, Kate.
But the president was personally
very much involved in helping
get Brittney Griner home.
He is personally involved in
helping try to make negotiation
with the Russians to get Mr.
Whelan home.
And he's personally kept in
touch or briefed and constantly
monitoring the cases of all of
the wrongfully detained
Americans around the world.
He knows the weight that sits on
his shoulders.
He understands the
responsibilities that he has to
Americans overseas to make sure
when they are wrongfully
detained that we're doing
everything that we could to get
him home and do everything that
he needs to do in the interest
of those families and every
other American around the world
to make sure that we're keeping
their safety and security right
at the forefront of his mind.
And if that -- if doing that
means he's got to have and he
will have conversations with
family members, whether that is
telephonetically or in
face-to-face, then he'll do that
as he has done in the past.
We've secure in this
administration alone dozens of
releases of wrongfully detained
Americans overseas and I can
promise every family that the
president will do whatever he
needs to do to get the rest of
them home.