LESTER HOLT: Also breaking tonight, the release of ten Americans detained in Venezuela in a prisoner exchange announced by the Biden administration late today, but it is not without controversy. Gabe Gutierrez reports now from the White House.
GABE GUTIERREZ: Tonight, ten Americans are on their way home. Some expected to land soon in San Antonio, among them six people the State Department says were wrongfully detained in Venezuela. The Biden administration striking a deal with the country's socialist government led by president Nicolas Maduro.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We have no higher priority than the release of detained and/or hostages re-- Americans being held hostage.
GUTIERREZ: Venezuela is also releasing 20 political prisoners and sending back a fugitive. Leonard Francis, better known as “Fat Leonard”, was behind one of the worst bribery scandals in U.S. Navy history and fled to Venezuela last year before his sentencing. In return, the U.S. Is releasing Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a Maduro ally, who is accused of bribery and money laundering.