Good morning, it's Thursday, Oct. 22. Russia released an American held for more than four years, and one line from President Trump afterward ties it to last week's sanctions decision.

Also in today's issue: Pulling back in Saudi Arabia, Democrats sue over voter rolls, Kansas's last debate, A $25 billion Meta bill, Ottawa accused of meddling, A pollster's confession, Chasing overseas scammers.

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An American who spent more than four years in a Russian prison is on his way home. A few hours later, one sentence from President Trump changed how last week's decision in Washington looks.

Stephen Hubbard is a 74-year-old retired schoolteacher from Michigan. Russian forces captured him in Ukraine in 2022 and accused him of fighting as a mercenary, which his family denies. He was sentenced to almost seven years. On Wednesday, Russia released him as Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Hubbard, who is in poor health, was flown toward a military hospital in Texas.

He was the last American in Russia that the State Department had formally declared wrongfully detained, meaning held as a political bargaining chip. He isn't the only one still there. As many as 10 other Americans, including dual citizens, remain in Russian custody, CBS News reported. If someone in your family travels for work or to see relatives, Russia still carries the government's top "Do Not Travel" advisory.

The moment that drew the most attention came on camera. "You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that," Witkoff told Putin. Republicans pushed back fast. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas wrote that Putin is a "stone cold killer." Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called him "a warmonger, a thug." Vice President JD Vance defended Witkoff for saying something kind to a leader who had just released an American.

Then came the sentence that matters most. Trump first said no "swap" was needed. But that afternoon, he linked the release to his choice last week to waive new sanctions on Russia, two days before they took effect. "If I would have done that, you would not have Mr. Hubbard coming back," he told reporters.

Why does that matter? For decades, Washington has tried not to reward countries for jailing Americans, because rewards can invite more arrests. Past releases, like basketball star Brittney Griner's, came through prisoner swaps. This time no prisoner changed hands, but a policy did.

Here's a detail most coverage skipped. Last year, the administration created a new label, state sponsor of wrongful detention, that lets the U.S. add penalties on countries that jail Americans as leverage. It has applied that label to Iran and Afghanistan. It has not applied it to Russia.

Supporters see results. A sick 74-year-old is coming home, and the U.S. gave up no prisoner to get him. Putin also agreed in principle to restart three-way talks with Ukraine and the U.S. Critics see a price. Russia has been pounding Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter. "We should not give the Russians any credit for releasing someone who should not have been in jail," said William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

Watch whether those talks actually resume, possibly as soon as next month. If they lead toward a ceasefire, the waiver will look like smart bargaining. If they stall, the question becomes what America got beyond one man's return.

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The State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The Houthis, Iran-backed rebels who control much of Yemen, have been striking Saudi airports and oil sites for weeks. Late Wednesday, an attack on the airport in Dammam killed two people. Two U.S. officials also told CBS News the military is quietly shrinking its footprint at Middle East posts. Central Command said it doesn't discuss troop moves. Pulling people back can be simple caution. But it comes alongside a Financial Times report that Trump blocked an Israeli offensive on Iran planned for Oct. 10, to avoid a wider war before the midterms. One source said restarting strikes after the U.S. and Israeli elections was "not an unreasonable scenario" (Times of Israel).

Top Democrats sued President Trump and the Justice Department late Tuesday. They want a federal judge in Washington to stop what they call a pressure campaign over state voter lists. The group includes the Democratic National Committee, the party's House and Senate campaign arms, and top congressional Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. They want the court to block efforts to drop voters from the rolls, set aside some ballots and threaten local election workers with charges. Part of the fight is a federal list of about 20,000 Californians the department says are likely noncitizens. Los Angeles County checked 200 of those names, and nearly 40% indicated they were born in the U.S. The department accuses California of "willful blindness." Under the Constitution, states run elections. A ruling could settle who has the final say, with 12 days to go.

Kansas's surprisingly close Senate race had its final debate Wednesday night. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, a doctor, is defending a seat his party has held for nearly a century. His challenger, Democrat Adam Hamilton, is a Methodist megachurch pastor running as a moderate who says he won't back Chuck Schumer as party leader. They split on the Iran war, which Hamilton wants ended, and on tariffs, which Marshall credits with a factory revival. Each faced his biggest controversy. Marshall defended pursuing former patients over unpaid medical bills, calling it standard practice. Hamilton admitted a mistake in his church's handling of a 2005 youth camp abuse case. More than 100 Kansas Republican leaders back Hamilton, and early voting is running near 2024 levels. Kansas could help decide which party controls the Senate.

Meta must pay New Mexico $25 billion, a judge ordered Wednesday, the largest penalty the Facebook owner has ever faced. A jury found in September that the company broke the state's consumer-protection law more than 43 million times. Jurors said it misled people about who could get their data. The case grew out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal around the 2016 election. Under New Mexico's constitution, the money goes to education. "We may have paid for the construction of schools for the next 100 years," said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. Meta plans to appeal. It argued for a cap of $3.4 billion and says the state never proved anyone was actually misled. New Mexico chose to go to trial alone instead of joining an $18 billion settlement Meta reached with nearly every other state in August.

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The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa accused Canadian officials Wednesday of trying to influence the Nov. 3 midterms. Its fact sheet cites Industry Minister Mélanie Joly saying Canada's counter-tariffs target U.S. states "to put political pressure." It also points to her meetings with Democratic officials in Boston and Chicago, and to Ontario Premier Doug Ford's TV ad using Ronald Reagan's words against tariffs. It names 11 Canadians charged or sentenced for illegal voting since 2012, but links none of them to any government plan. Ford said he has "no interest at all" in meddling. The same day, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled an 8.7 billion Canadian dollar ($6.2 billion) plan to protect Ontario's steel and auto industries. The real dispute is where pushing for trade ends and interfering begins.

A polling firm admitted Tuesday that most of its numbers were made up. Wedgewood Polling called itself a "fictional entity" running an experiment, after the site FiftyPlusOne questioned its results. Its polls had made it into databases at FiftyPlusOne and The New York Times, and several outlets cited them. Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow says a fake Wedgewood poll in June dried up donations to her Senate campaign. On Wednesday, Brendan Carr, who chairs the Federal Communications Commission, warned TV stations that airing "fake polls" could break their license rules. He didn't name any. Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez said stations that report polls in good faith can't be punished. The episode cuts both ways. Fake polls can mislead voters, and vague threats from regulators can chill how stations report real ones.

Federal agents have warned about 10,000 Americans targeted by online scammers, President Trump said at a White House event on cybercrime Wednesday. Officials said they have frozen close to $1 billion in cryptocurrency tied to overseas scam centers and shut down 503 fake websites. They estimate the effort stopped $1.6 billion in losses. Many of these scams start with a friendly message and end with a fake investment site. Officials say seniors and lower-income families are targeted most. Americans reported about $20.9 billion in internet scam losses in 2025, according to FBI figures. There's a catch, though. Frozen money isn't returned money. Getting funds back to victims takes court cases and claims, and it's unclear how much has reached the people who lost it.

That's what Meta must pay New Mexico, five times the $5 billion fine the Federal Trade Commission gave Facebook in 2019. By state law, the money goes to schools, though Meta's appeal will keep it tied up for now.

P.S. What should the U.S. give up to bring Americans home? Hit Reply — one word is enough.