There is a lot going on in the world right now, a whole lot.

But I want to start tonight with these new images

that we have from the Olympic Games.

That is Team USA competing in women's basketball

against the nation of Belgium. And the person you see in the nation of Belgium.

And the person you see in the center of your screen

is US Olympian Brittany Griner.

Brittany Griner helped lead the United States

to victory 87 to 74 against Belgium.

And the reason that was possible,

the reason that Brittany Griner was able

to represent the US in these Olympic Games

and helped the United States claim

victory in women's basketball was because of a real feat of diplomacy by

President Joe Biden. It was February of 2022 when Miss Griner was detained in Russia on trumped-up

charges related to cannabis products that were found in her luggage. By August, Griner

had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

But just a few months later, in December of that year, President Biden announced that he

had negotiated an historic prisoner swap,

securing Brittany Griner's safe release.

And that is why Brittany Griner was able to play for Team USA today in the Paris Olympics. But Brittany Griner was not the only American prisoner being held in Russia. And so the Biden White

House worked to use the momentum from that griner deal to continue negotiations for other hostages.

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