Now it is time for the last word with my friend Jonathan Kapart who is in for

Lawrence good evening Jonathan good evening Alex thank you very much enjoy the

rest of your evening have a great show.

Their brutal ordeal is over.

In the next hour, President Biden and Vice President Harris will welcome three Americans who were

wrongfully imprisoned in Putin's Russia when they

land at joint-based Andrews on American soil for the first time in years.

President Biden secured the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovic,

former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kermashiva,

and journalist and Putin critic Vladimir Karamazooza in an historic exchange.

The largest prisoner swap since the Cold War was coordinated by Turkey and involved 26 people and 8 countries following

nearly two years of negotiations and diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration.

After the triumphant release of W

WnBA and Team USA star Brittany Griner.

Today a senior official told reporters that a breakthrough in the deal came when

President Biden met with German

Chancellor Olaf Scholes who quote responded to the president saying for you I

will do this. The deal was finalized in the last two weeks.

NBC News reports, quote,

even with the Russian OK, it was a pitch in progress

that did not come together until about an hour before Biden announced on July 21st that he was ending his run for re-election.

That was when he called the Slovenian Prime Minister to make sure his country was ready to release

...