The U.S. chief of hostage affairs reflected Sunday on the conduct of the prisoner exchange that led to the release of Brittney Griner, and the WNBA star thanked the crew for returning her to the U.S. so quickly.
“When she finally got on the American plane, I was like, ‘Britney, you must have been through a lot in the last 10 months. Here’s your seat. Feel free to unzip. You.’ ,” Roger Carstens, the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, told CNN’s Dana Bash in his State of the Union Address.
“And she said, ‘Oh no. I was in prison for 10 months listening to Russian. I want to talk. But first of all, who are these guys? I passed right by the , went up to all the crew, looked them in the eye, shook their hands, asked about them, heard their names and made a personal connection with them. ‘ Carstens recalls. “And then, on an 18-hour flight, she probably just talked for 12 hours, and we talked about everything under the sun.”
Carstens, who led the mission to the United Arab Emirates, provided CNN with new details about Griner’s return. Griner, who he described as “intelligent, passionate, caring, humble, interesting, patriotic, but most of all genuine,” remained healthy and well during the trip. He seemed full of energy.
He said he was given the feeling that she would be going home that day.Secretary of State Tony Blinken, I’ll take you home. ”
“At that point, I have to do some more choreography to get her on the plane, which usually takes about three minutes,” Carstens said.
He said Griner spoke about her ordeal during the trip, but declined to elaborate on the details.
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