American Brittney Griner released from Russian detention in exchange for arms dealer

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• Judy Woodruff:

  Brittney Griner is finally free tonight after a dramatic prisoner swap.

  The women's professional basketball star had been held by Russia for most of this year on a minor drug offense and was starting to serve a sentence of nine years in a prison camp. But, today, she was exchanged for a notorious Russian arms dealer doing 25 years in a U.S. prison.

  Nick Schifrin begins our coverage.

• Nick Schifrin:

  In a penal colony 6,000 miles from her home, Brittney Griner walked to freedom.

• Speaker:

  What is your mood?

• Brittney Griner, WNBA Player:

  Happy.

  (LAUGHTER)

• Speaker:

  Well, are you ready for the flight?

• Brittney Griner:

  Yes.

• Nick Schifrin:

  On a tarmac in the United Arab Emirates, the wrongfully detained basketball star in red was traded for a notorious criminal greeted by a Russian official with a hug.

  The deal done, President Biden spoke with Griner in the Oval Office and embraced her wife, Cherelle, after Brittney's 294 days in detention.

  Joe Biden, President of the United States: Held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.

  Cherelle Griner, Wife of Brittney Griner: So, over the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life. And so, today I'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions. But the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude.

• Brittney Griner:

  I never meant to break any laws.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Griner has been in Russian custody since February. She pled guilty and was convicted of drug smuggling and possession after Russian authorities said she landed in Moscow with two vape cartridges full of cannabis oil.

• Brittney Griner:

  People with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given.

• Nick Schifrin:

  She was sentenced to nine years in prison and transferred to a female penal colony known for torture and forced labor. Russia's legal system has a 99 percent conviction rate.

  And, throughout, the U.S. called her trials a miscarriage of justice. She was traded for 55-year-old Viktor Bout. When he was arrested in 2008 in Bangkok, he was one of the world's most wanted men. He was extradited to the U.S. and found guilty by a U.S. court of conspiracy to kill Americans and providing aid to terrorist organizations.

  He was so notorious, he inspired the 2005 film "Lord of War."

• Nicolas Cage, Actor:

  Ten thousand Kalashnikovs for a battalion. Your stocks are dangerously depleted, Dmitri.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Senior U.S. officials say they originally proposed freeing two wrongfully detained Americans, Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan. A Russian court convicted him on espionage charges that the U.S. called a sham.

  David Whelan, Brother of Detained American: Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission. In reality, they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday.

• Nick Schifrin:

  But, today Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the only option was Griner for Bout.

  Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: This was not a choice of which American to bring home. The choice was one or none.

• Nick Schifrin:

  David Whelan is Paul's brother.

  What's your response to Brittney Griner's release?

  David Whelan, Brother of Detained American: It's great news. Any time an American comes home from wrongful detention, it's a great day.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And yet I can imagine it's so difficult to see Brittney released and Paul not released.

• David Whelan:

  It is. And we are grateful to the White House for the trust that they showed us yesterday. They let us know in advance that this was coming, so that my sister, my brother, and our parents could process this in private, essentially, and try to come to terms with the bitter side of the bittersweet moment.

• Nick Schifrin:

  But,, some Republicans criticized the swap. Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Republican James Risch said: "Paul Whelan should have been part of this deal."

  And expected next House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Texas Republican Mike McCaul said: "Trading Viktor Bout will only embolden Vladimir Putin to continue his evil practice of taking innocent Americans hostage."

  But David Whelan says the Biden administration made the right call.

• David Whelan:

  It seems that they had come to an impasse and whoever it is in Russia was not going to make a good-faith deal that would include Paul. If the Biden administration had continued to wait, then they would have been prolonging Brittney Griner's detention for no good reason.

  So, I mean, again, it's not great for Paul, and it's not what our family would have chosen, but it's the right thing for an American president to do for an American citizen who is wrongfully detained. And if it means exchanging a 50-year-old arms dealer who has been in U.S. custody for more than a decade, I think that the harm is not as substantial as people are worrying about.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Do you fear that the price that the administration paid for Brittney Griner raises the price for what they would have to do to release your brother?

• David Whelan:

  No. I think, for each of these cases, whether it's in Russia or Iran or Syria or China, each of these cases has its own requirements. And so I'm not sure that the requirements for Paul's case have changed at all.

  And I don't think that the Russian government would necessarily expect more. They obviously have certain things that they are hoping to get as a concession from the U.S. government, and they haven't gotten it yet.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And the U.S. vows to bring Whelan home.

• President Joe Biden:

  Sadly, 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.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Whelan told us today the Russians were asking for a spy in U.S. custody to trade for Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage.

  For more on the man traded for Brittney Griner, we turn to Robert Zachariasiewicz. He was the lead agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration who initiated the investigation of Viktor Bout and saw it through to his conviction.

  Robert Zachariasiewicz, welcome to the "NewsHour."

  Do you think that trading Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner was in the interest of the United States?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz, Former DEA Special Agent:

  Well, I don't think it's in the interest of the United States, but I will start by saying what I have said many times before. I have nothing but well-wishes for the family. And I'm very happy for them that they're reunited with their loved one.

  That said, I think that there's some very negative national security implications from such an ill-fated trade. And the first of those implications, I think, is American citizens throughout the world just got made a commodity and have a bullseye put on them.

  I truly believe that we just sent the message that it is good business to have an American citizen in your pocket through a false detention or a kidnapping, because they may be needed for a trade someday, and it's a nice equity to have.

  And the second reason is, I think that it greatly tarnishes our rule of law, which is one of our strongest assets that we have worldwide. And I think that, by engaging in this type of negotiation, I think that we reduced a judicial jury verdict into a political stunt, much in the same way that Moscow has treated Ms. Griner.

• Nick Schifrin:

  On the first point that you made, that it increases the chances of hostage diplomacy, the administration says it has taken steps to deter other governments from taking Americans wrongfully, including new authorities, new possibilities of sanctions, and calling out other governments from taking Americans hostage.

  Do you think that's enough?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  I don't. I think that those are all nice points to make.

  I think, through years of sanctions in Venezuela and now Russia through the Ukrainian conflict, we can see the effects that sanctions have and how they can be controverted and outlived. And I think it just defies all common sense and logic. It's right out of the playbook of organizations like Hezbollah and others that this is good business.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And on the point of — that you made about degrading the rule of law, senior administration officials said this earlier today: "We try to form all sorts of alternatives. We try to pay as little price as possible. But we think there is a moral obligation to bring detained Americans home."

  Is there?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  I think there's a moral obligation to do everything in our power to continue to support those Americans and make every attempt to get them home.

  But that doesn't mean I don't think that that has limits. And I think that we have to take into account the other American citizens whose lives might just be imperiled by taking such actions and the national security implications.

  I will also add that I think that we have to find ways to start discouraging American citizens from placing themselves unnecessarily in harm's way, whether it's a missionary trying to spread God's word, an adventure seeker that wants to see ancient ruins, or a person that's traveling to an enemy of the state for personal gain.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And we did here President Biden urge Americans to take into account travel guidance by the State Department.

  How do you think this trade will impact the U.S. ability to work with governments overseas to pursue criminals?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  I think it really hurt our stance in the world. And I think it's going to be very hard to take the United States at face value moving forward after some of these trades.

  We make incredible partnerships with law enforcement throughout the world. And cases and investigations like the one involving Mr. Bout are incredibly delicate, and take a tremendous amount of resources, not only in physical resources, but in relationships, in trust.

  Some of these relationships take years to build, and we make great promises to our foreign counterparts.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Tell us more about Viktor Bout. He described himself as the largest arms transporter in the world. How so?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  I think what made Viktor very unique is that he had assembled a private fleet of retired Soviet military aircraft. And he was — he had reach that none other that I have seen was able to utilize to place this deadly cargo in conflict zones throughout the world, where other people simply couldn't deliver.

  And I think that's what made him unique and made him even more of a threat, not only to the United States' national security, but to global stability.

• NICK SCHIFRIN:

  And, finally, you had a long career in law enforcement. You stay in touch with colleagues, of course, who are still working in the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies.

  And I wonder, what are they telling you, those colleagues who are still in government, about today's trade?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  President Biden's lost the Department of Justice, plain and simple.

  I have spoken to multiple levels, every level of law enforcement, to include the prosecutorial side, the investigation side. It universally seems to be very disenfranchised, crestfallen. And, quite frankly, I think that — I think they have — I think that the Department of Justice has been lost for President Biden.

• NICK SCHIFRIN:

  With all due respect, the attorney general, at least publicly, works very closely with the president. What evidence do you have that, as you just put it, the president has — quote — "lost" the Department of Justice?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  I think I have an idea of where most folks felt, and it certainly would seem that the State Department won this round.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Meaning the State Department believed in this trade and the Department of Justice did not?

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  That's my impression.

• Nick Schifrin:

  We will have to leave it there.

  Robert Zachariasiewicz, thank you very much.

• Robert Zachariasiewicz:

  Thank you for having me.