. let us rededicate ourselves to press on until all people in this country regardless of where can live free from discrimination and fear. until people from every walk of life can stand together and say that it lasted america dr. king's dream became a reality. as we reflect on the history of the civil rights movement let us remember the unfulfilled promise. it will not come easily. the road ahead contains no comfortable and convenient solutions. seeing so many dedicated colleagues and sharing the stage with our dedicated attorney general . anorney general lynch keeps

eye on problems too often hidden the shadows of our society, so despite the many serious and pressing challenges we face, her courage gives me great optimism in our ability to tackle them. join me in welcoming the 83rd attorney general of the united states, loretta lynch. [applause] loretto -- atty. gen. lynch: thank you all. good morning, everyone. ok, this is martin luther king day. good morning everyone!

thank you for that kind introduction and for your outstanding leadership for the department, which has also been called the conscience of the department. i would like to thank my workney general for her and friendship. to serveen a pleasure with you and an honor to work with you to lead this great department. i also want to thank richard and ofny's and their colleagues the evil opportunity staff for organizing this important event. it takes a lot to pull this together. it takes just a few minutes out of the day to recognize the importance of the legacy and how it spurs us on today. -- i also wantis to recognize the senior high

colorguard. want a great? -- weren't they great? i hope their mothers are here, if not let me tell you as a mother how proud i am. can we think again that dorothy williams from the civil rights of disability center? [applause] sitting therech: thinking, i am the attorney general i have to maintain a certain level of dignity but what i really wanted to say was, "whoo!" yourank you for sharing gifts with us on this special day. and let us congratulate norman jones, the winner of the martin luther king oratory competition.

will soon seewe why. let me also thank our special atst as we occurred, she was the center of so many of the crucial triumphs of the civil rights movement and as a young college student before she came into her current career here as a social worker and washington, d.c., she worked with the freedom riders. was one of the pillars of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, committed to raising the issue by raising the conscience of the man who was against this movement. running the march on washington, she marched from selma to montgomery. the progress we celebrate today was made possible by brave americans like her. am able to you, i

stand here today because she much then and so i thank her for all that she did. [applause] it is such an honor to have misled in here today as well as a all of our special guests as we commemorate the life of the reverend -- of the reverend martin luther king junior. dedicate ourselves to the task of continuing his unfinished work and it is indeed unfinished. or dr. king, the work was his life effort again, and frankly, was carried out throughout what he himself called "a long night of racial injustice." segregation was the law of the land. we stand here the great hall of the department of justice, we have an african-american president, and attorney general. yet there was a time when the

laws we work to a poll today were used against people of color and anyone who was perceived to be different, to get them in what was perceived to be there place. if there is not anything more then described as the force of the government, the force of our own country acting to suppress our own citizens, it was that. those were those days. regulation and how right bigotry -- and out right the good treat denied people of color at the right to vote to vote and they were dominated by fear. threatened by violence. constrained by prejudice. longarkest hours of that night, dr. king's words, provided a spark, a light. a spot in daylight of humanity. us.alled forth the best of in that spark in that light spread across the country. of thee granite steps

lincoln memorial to the dark and cold cell of a turning him -- birmingham jail. a position ofted dignity and democracy. he described a beloved community, one not driven by hatred or divided by color by govern by brotherhood for all mankind. america, hed challenge this country that he loved to rise up and to live out the meaning of its founding creed, to ensure opportunity. to promote inequality. to demand justice. thanks to the struggles and sacrifices of the working, his colleagues, in the non-untold number of ordinary citizens who believe in the possibility and necessity of a more perfect union. we live in a nation today that has indeed traveled an extraordinary distance from that long night. as dr. king wrote in his moving

letter from a birmingham jail, it is indeed true and we will look back on the civil rights movement and see the heroes were the ordinary people. woman who said, my feeds is tired and my soul is at rest. the young student who stormed down the police dogs. those who fought for the future for their children and the children of this country. because those were citizens, those heroes work willing to raise their voices and risk their safety and even to lose their lives, we live in a nation where segregation no longer receives the sanction of law. we live in a nation where no person can lawfully be denied the right to vote civilly because of their race and we live in a nation that in fact did the civil rights act of -- the did not to the civil rights and 1965, landmarks in our nation's his jury despite the issues.espite

in the later campaign so many of have joined, include improving the welfare of our citizens and realizing the hubs of our nation. equality,aigns for for justice, for advancement, have rested in large part on the extraordinary example of the civil rights movement. these are campaigns not as much as in this country, but around the world and on this day, dedicated to martin luther king, jr., it is fitting and stop toate that we appreciate how drastically the ourment he led improved common life. we do that here today and we continue to the year. to trulyif we want honor martin luther king junior and the millions who marched, and stood up, who sat in, who spoke out, we have to recognize their words and deeds are not relics of history will stop

their not confined to the past but they are living challenges. they are calls to action that still echo in our hearts, urging us to continue their journey to extend their cause and to realize their vision of a more just society, in, a more beloved community. dr. king's challenge, a challenge to a nation to live up to its defining principles still echoes today. it did indeed, my friends, it is the challenge of every generation. every generation realizes the price of freedom is constant vigilance. it is the challenge to understand we cannot erase every dark prejudice from the heart of man, but we can went to ensure the angels of our outer selves when the day. win today.

cabinetonly special named for an ideal, we only testament of our determination of that effort. we vigorously defend every citizen's right to vote, upholding the wars that were asked over the blood of so many that went before. will use every legal tool available to us to enforce the voting act in the wake of the supreme court's decision in shelby county. we're working to broaden american idiot and other -- american indian and other citizens voting rights. line -- ] full we are protecting civil rights beyond the ballot box as well. since 2009, i am proud to say

our civil rights division has filed more civil rights cases and prosecuted and convict did more defenders on hate crimes charges then add any other point in the department's his story. [applause] we are alsoynch: working to ensure civil rights and criminal justice, in part by promoting trust and strengthening the relationship between law-enforcement in the communities we also. playing a leading role in this administration's effort to reform our criminal justice system especially through our reduce work to recidivism and improve reentry outcomes. lester, our programs disperse $53 million in second it chance act grants. they went out to 43 municipalities nationwide. work is as important as the

work we do in prosecuting cases, ensuring the citizens who live out our in cursive tory institutions have the ability and right to go home. our institutions have the ability and right to go home. we have also joined in with other cabinet level agencies over the departments of education, labor, and housing and urban develop in to launch an innovative program in a number of areas. in particular, making helga rhodes, educational grants, available to some incarcerated individuals who are also working to help with record cleaning and expungement said that every american returning home has the chance to contribute to their community to make a life for themselves and to rebuild their families. [applause] atty. gen. lynch: this is tremendously vital work.

importantemendously work and these cup and the pace of our work on the behalf of justice and civil rights demonstrate how far we've come the last century in indeed, it is far. but it is clear even now that we still have a long way to go to reach the promised land of which dr. king's spoke and he described so beautifully. it is also clear that everyone of us must be committed to doing our part, and off -- and after all, as dr. king did so well, and as all of you here in this room understand, there is nothing inevitable about progress. does nothing foreordained about our advancement. we often look to act on the achievements of the civil rights movement. as of it represents a story that was written with heroes preordained to succeed. it is a great american novel come to life. how could they not reveal? the cause was unjust.

how could they not win? they were so clearly right. yet, in those days there were no guarantees. never knew of their efforts would be successful or not. , john lewis, a million boynton, and nor -- dorian ladner, marched across the edmonton bridge not knowing if they would he met with accommodation or more of the armed resistance. and yet, what they knew, which led to what they did, was that whatever the cost, they must march forward. there was no other way to go. thiss been ever true in country, a nation described both by and for the people, that the future, the future has always whoined -- belong to those dare to imagine it. to those who decide to hold it. and, to those who is often protected from those who might tear down. that is why it is incumbent upon

all of us here today, upon all of our partners run the country, every citizen of the united states, all those under the sound of my voice, all of those who hear this feature hear about devote ourselves to the perfection of our union. to devote ourselves to the continuation of dr. king's gauze and we dedicate ourselves to the journey still to come. it does when you honor dr. king's life and legacy, we must renew our commitment to the vision he embodied and hasten the arrival of the day when history will come to pass, notches for every american but for all of the world will stop dr. king understood bad our choices, our choices particularly those in the face of the problems the divine is, are what define us. he understood that even those who stood on the sidelines and allowed oppression to continue when choosing a path to support it. he understood the words of

edmund are, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good and to do nothing. thank you. [applause] atty. gen. lynch: and in that americaneyond their of democracy, letters from a birmingham jail, he afforded the rights of the south to stand up and support what was right. my friends, i tell you today and every day, we all have that choice. we all face a moment at some point in time when we have to decide, are we going to sit back and watch someone else suffer the oppression based on some incompletely outside of their control, or are we going to act? are we going to stand up for what is right? are we going to choose not to stand on the sidelines but too

much. it is so telling the activity of the 1960's was a march. moving forward. taking action. you today thatto this department of justice will always choose to act. [applause] this gen. lynch: we -- department of justice will always choose to protect the week from the strong. this department of justice will always choose to lift up the essential humanity into the april rights of every american, regardless of what they look like, where they live or whom they love. and, this department of justice will always choose to work to extend the promise of equality, to extend the promise of america to all. i want to thank all of you for this dedication -- your

dedication to this mission. the day oftion that martin luther king is not a day to said and watch others suffer but to keep taking action and protect those who depend upon all of us. i look forward to the work we would do in the future to make sure that to our beloved community lives up to these highest and best ideals. thank you so much. [applause] >> can i just ask everyone to

give me another round of applause for those inspiring remark is? [applause] >> it is truly an honor for those of us here at the department to work with florida. williamsime, dorothy will perform a musical selection for us in honor of dr. king's birthday. if i can hope -- as ipass alone. care for somebody

--i can living cannot in vain in vainliving cannot be living shall not be in vain somebodyhelp pass along

then my living cannot be in vain cannot living vain cannot living vain somebodyhelp alongass then my living

then my living living vain ♪ot [applause]

>> please join me and another round of applause for dorothy. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will now hear from norman jones, the winner of the martin luther king oratorical competition sponsored by the sorority. go for a minute. i found out backstage that norman one for the third consecutive time in 2015. for the third consecutive time in 2015 and he is joined here today by his parents and three of his grandparents. welcome.

[applause] ladies and gentlemen, norman jones. jones: hello. diverged in a. and i, i took the one less traveled by. and, that has made all the difference. today, in a country and the different of so many roads to choose. as robert frost said, they are make a difference both positive and negative. the hardest part, however, will always be which -- choosing which road to shows. in life, when identifying our own house, we must do as we do with any ordinary street, road, or pathway. .irst, try not to go alone then, look for signs.

finally, never turn back on our decision. these three steps will ensure you make the right turns in behind. not be left so, if taking the high road involves bringing others to a solution, and notice i did not say that with others to fix a problem. now, when we go out, our parents often tell us, do not go by yourself. are they morass, and you going with other people? asy say this for assurance my government to dangerous places. when an opportunity arises, we are so focused on keeping it to ourselves that we do not share it with others that could benefit. why is this? why is it that we mind together for the problems of the low road, yet we separate for the solutions of the high road? i personally believe this is because we have become more available yet of society the in

april act of society. do not ever take action until it hits home. but we cannot root for someone else to start the movement. i cannot wait for the people close to us to be put in harms way for us to do what is right. we cannot wait to join a group for change, because we have to be the group for change. needve all of the tools we in our community. it will just have to be willing to put their hands to the plow. willing to work. to love. to change. together. no longer can we take a detour around the high road of brotherhood, but once we join together as a people, we have got to look for signs because they were point us in the right time election. during the civil rights movement, signs were highly influential components of peaceful protest.

red,igns that read of civil rights for all or i am a man, people's roses and opinions could be easily identified. you could identify what they're going was. at the same token, when we are faced with a divergent road in the words of life, we have also got to look for signs. they were point us in the right direction. there is so much information we can use today. that homicidect is and has been the leading cause of death among teenagers, they continue to turn on our radios to turn up the sounds of the songs about shootings, gangs, and other violent crimes. we're missing these signs. despite that we can show up to class consistently unprepared and not ready to learn, we can shop at a store consistently prepared to pay $200 and $300

for choose. despite that fact that anorexia is the leading cause of death among teenage girls, companies clothingto make smaller and smaller and smaller, including the new triple zero from j.crew. it seems were missing the signs. millionshe fact that of americans, every single day, continue to blame the government for not representing their points of view and their ideas, worlduntry way 120 in the -- in the world! -- when it comes to voter turnout. seems we're missing all of these signs. there's so much information we can use to take that next step like dr. king wanted us to do. but we cannot only stare at the problems, we have got to raise the signs with these solutions. -- surround

ourselves so we do not have to trip and fall and stumble over racial, religious, and gender stereotypes. [applause] buyave got to watch what we so we do not support the emotional chokehold that finances hold on our family. " as one nation under god, it is our civic duty to come together and vote, and not every four years. [applause] we have to stay aware, we have to be alert, more importantly, we have to be the difference. because in the words of dr. king, nothing is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. [applause]

we cannot only look at the issues of today. but we have to raise the signs of solution. we are the ones to fix this problem. but once we continue that path together as a people, raising the signs of solution, we have to do what it takes -- whatever it takes -- to never turn back on our commitment and our decision to take the high road. because when you take the high road, it is a lifestyle change. , 9-5 job.a part-time a 24-7the high road is after. you have to be invested in the change. we cannot erase our efforts through riots. we cannot travel back in time through government shutdowns. we cannot possibly move forward when we are denied desperate

families into this country in order to succeed. as mentioned by dr. keith savage, why is it that, as americans, we are more upset when we go into other countries to outsource our jobs then we are when people come into our country searching for opportunity? we have to make sure that we do not race our efforts with vengeance and greed. we are the ones to fix this. we are the ones with the duty to fulfill ou. our selfish motivations cannot deter us from brotherhood. you cannot make a u-turn on the high road, because it is simple not about you. long.e road may be there may be some potholes.

and there may even be some speed bumps to slow us down. but we have a choice to make. a road to choose, and we have to remember that, in choosing this road, we have to bring others along. convince someone else to take the high road, bring them along with you. then, you have to look for signs read and also take that initiative to raise the signs with a solution. and finally, we have to do what ever it takes to never turn back on our decision to take the high road. because right now, today, two roads have diverged. and we cannot travel both, and be one people. your road and your choice may make all of the difference. thank you. [applause]

>> attorney general with -- loretta lynch will be on capitol hill to answer questions about the actions on guns. a subcommittee will hear from , andlegal officials gun-control advocates about the justice department rules. that will be live wednesday, at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> on this weekend newsmakers, our guest is leon rodriguez, the head of u.s. citizenship and immigration services. he talks about the process for screening foreigners trying to enter the address -- the u.s..

>> to understand, we have 8 million transactions a year. 8 million cases that are reviewed the year. -- a year. the feasibility of reviewing social media postings for every case may or may not make sense. clearly there are areas where we would want to focus -- either with countries or particular inclusion criteria. those of the things we're sorting through as we speak. >> as of now you have syrian refugees, what percentage of the syrian refugee applicants are having their social media presence reviewed? >> right now, i don't know the specific number, but we are moving to more applicants. before very long, the majority of the applicants will have a social media check done. syrians and iraqis. in terms of what we have been seeing as areas where there is some threat of heavy activity by

terrorist groups, though seem to be areas of particular concern. >> you can watch the entire interview with leon rodriguez tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> monday is martin luther king jr. day, and with congress not in session, we have featured programs on all three c-span networks. on c-span at 11:30 a.m. eastern, live coverage of the british house of commons debate on whether to ban donald trump. book tv, at 6:30 p.m. eastern, william p jones and his book, "the march on washington -- jobs, freedom, and the forgotten history of civil rights.". >> when he went to organize this march, everyone said, you better get martin luther king. you need his support.

he went to martin luther king. martin luther king said, but let's expand the goals of a march. the march is not just about jobs,g equal access to fighting implement discrimination, it is also about winning the right to vote in the south. 8:30, georgia at representative john lewis recalls his part in the civil right movement. on american history tv on c-span3, at 2:00 p.m. eastern, international history officer at the london school of economics and political science on a cold war partnership with the united states. thirdn has to look to a power to preserve their sovereignty against the imperial in russia. in the 1930's they went to germany to play that role. after the second world war, a whole generation looks to the u.s. as a country that had no

imperial ambitions, and no history of colonialism in the region. at 8:00 on really america, the 1963 interview with the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. on his nonviolent approach to civil rights. his comments on president kennedy's civil rights bill, and how gandhi influenced his work. for the complete schedule go to c-span.org. click next, a look at the future of guantanamo bay. speakers include the director of ford and university's center on national security, and the cofounders of a group that advocates for closing the detention facility. from new america, this is one hour and 20 minutes.

peter: i am peter bergen. thank you for coming this afternoon. thank you for watching us on c-span. we are 14 years to the day since guantanamo was opened. we have had one of these events featuring andy and tom, and now we have karen as well. we have done this for many years. it was hard to predict that we would still be here, given the fact that george w. bush said we should close guantanamo. of course it was one of president obama's election promises. whatnsider the question of is going to happen over the next year, what will happen with the prisoners? we have a distinguished panel. ,aren greenberg, to your right to the right of me is the director of the center of national security at fordham university. she wrote a book about

guantanamo kolbe one -- first 100 days. the focused on the decisions that happened in those first 100 days, which are critical for where we are today. in fact, karen also has a book road justice, which will be published in may, which also andines some of the legal department of justice kind of imaginations around the issue. we have andy worthington in the middle. and he knows more about the prisoners than anyone on the planet. he would've book about it that looks at exactly who is being held. when his first book came out, it was not clear who was being held. he put a name and a face to many of the prisoners. he and tom have set of an organization called close guantanamo. we will have more about that. tom wilmore, who argued probably

the most important case in american legal history which was russ hill versus bush which gave right to detainees, and it was arguably up there with young son -- youngstown in terms of rolling back executive claims of reestablishing what is an old principle that happened in 1215 which is heaviest corpus -- habeas corpus. we'll start with andy, and then karen, and then tom. andy: thank you. hello. good to see you here. we have been doing this such a long time, this is the third location i have been at an event for. movingyou have been around quickly, or guantanamo has been around for a long time, sadly it is the latter. i have been working with campaigners from a variety of

groups. they were calling for the closure of guantanamo. been in there for the long haul. the feeling today was that we have got more reasons to be optimistic about guantanamo finally closing that i think in -- time since, obviously 20 2009 when president obama came in, promising to close the prison. who are any of us to think that he really did not mean that. it was such a prominent statement of the beginning of his president -- presidency. there are a couple reasons to think that we're getting somewhere. the cynical one is that his legacy is being written. when you come in, making a promise to", no -- to close it takeso, and then longer than a year, that will be

written in big letters. he needs to sort that out. withthink is the case presidents, they do care about the legacies. cynical, therebe are other reasons to think that within the administration, not 100%, but within their come -- within the administration, there are people that care about the injustice represented i guantanamo and the dangers it presents to american national security. i think there are clearly parts of the administration that is not endorse that point of view. i think we have reached the point where prisoners are being released weather is a push to close. there are significant forces within the administration who want to make that happen before he leaves office. the situation that we have today is that there are 103 men in guantanamo. an announcement was made today that another prisoner has been replaced. -- release.

of those 103 men, 44 have been told they can leave the prison. men or approved for release from the prison by the guantanamo review task force that president obama established when he took office. that was a high-level interagency review process. these guys met once a week. they spent time looking at the cases of the men to decide whether they should approve them for release, whether they should approve them or recommend them for prosecution, or whether they should continue to be held without charge or trial on the basis that they were too dangerous to release, because there was not significant evidence to put them on trial. those men who were approved for release six years ago clearly -- it is a shame for everyone responsible that they are still held. to have a process where you approve people for release and then don't release him.

, sixny significant time years is a long time, is a disgrace. i think we make the comparison with dictatorships which i do think is appropriate. when dictatorships thread you in a dungeon, holding you indefinitely without charge or trial, that is the basis of guantanamo. they don't say, i will tell you what, we will have a review process to decide whether we want to continue to hold you. have the review process, tell people your decision, and then not let them go -- that is the particular cruelty that is acceptable. beyond these people approved for release -- we know that the state department is working very hard at finding countries that will take them. ghana took into yemenis. these involves negotiation with whatever that involved.

this is undoubtedly going on with numerous countries as we are talking. hopefully that is not a particular difficult problem. majority of the rest of the --soners -- 59 men are held men that are held not be put on trial, according to the latest assessment. there are just 10 men. as an additional note that if we add in the people who have already been prosecuted and have left the prison, that is a as oftotal of 15 people the 779 men that have been held, slightly less than 2% of the entire population of the prison. cost, thens that has damage it has done to america's credibility for a country that believes in fairness, what a shocking statistic. 10 men. facing trials 49 others, this is

the area i would hope that the president will put his foot down -- and speed things up. these are people that are facing the periodic review board. the latest of many review processes that have been set for guantanamo over the years. the periodic review board process was established in 2013. it was established as a result of a decision taken by president obama's task force in 2009. this category of men who were called to dangerous release, but the administration and knowledge they had insignificant evidence to them on trial. that means to me that if you have not got evidence, you don't have a case. fundamentally i think that is true. whom are people against what was supposed to be evidence produced that were not conducive to the truth being told. prisoners who were tortured, and otherwise abused and bribed.

prisoners were bribed with better living conditions. they were bribed with being told that they wouldn't hassle them and wake them up in the middle of the night and take them to interrogation if only they would help them by telling them who the people were in the photos they kept showing. the photo books, family albums. -- what was such an important part relentlessly in interrogation. not just in guantanamo, and proxy prisons. showing prisoners photographs and telling them, you know this guy, identify them, tell us about them. people dead, they told them lies. those files released by wikileaks and 2011 about guantanamo prisoners are packed full of unreliable witnesses. unreliable statements. part of the issues with the prisoners that they call too dangerous to release those that actually these are people who at some point during their long and

unjust dissension have threatened them. it could well be that some of these threats are real. i have to say absolutely that i think a lot of this threat are the things that people come up with when you're facing the kind of injustice that they had been faced with. what people really want is to get onto their lives. the periodic review process has been successful. but it is moving party slowly. -- far too slowly. and the last few years there have been 18 prisoners who had had their cases decided. 15 of those cases the review boards decided that they are eligible for release. that is an 83% success rate. there are 40 other men waiting for reviews. at the current rate among those will not be finished until 2020. obama is long gone. we are so far into the next presidency. these are men who were told when the president set up the executive order to hold them,

two years before the purex review board started, these reviews would take place within the year. he is very good at promising things within a year, not doing them. the one thing that could happen would be to speed up its review process. clearly what is happening is that these men are being represented by military representatives in guantanamo. they are able to engage fully with their lawyer on saying to the ministration, to the review board, made up from the various government departments and agencies, i do not bear ill will against the u.s.. i need to get out of here and get on with my life. getting job offers in place. getting marriages arranged. all kinds of things that these people, who lets her member, where very little more than low levels of soldiers -- low-level foot soldiers.

the issue facing the president, whether he goes to congress or an executive order is that he is going to have to move people from guantanamo to the u.s. mainland. that iflem with that is he is bringing people to face trial, that is fine. the issue is bringing people to the u.s. and holding them without a charge while they're are here -- both tom and i are convinced that will open up new opportunities for them to challenge the basis of their gestation. they have rights by the u.s. constitution on the mainland which they civilly don't have that guantanamo. -- in guantanamo. the rights they had in guantanamo were shut down in washington. which base shut down the kb is beasslation -- have legislation. get real -- get more approved for release.

also put coming into play that will make it more difficult for congress to raise obstacles. prisoners approved for release by a high level interagency review process -- i think are kind ofafe from the extremely cynical right-wing maneuvering we say repeatedly in congress. from people who want to keep guantanamo open forever. for people who don't really care about the rights. thatlike having a nation they think people are dangerous and they should be able to hold them for the rest of their life. that is fundamentally un-american. as a british person, that is fundamentally against all of the bases in which we understand the law should work and justice and fairness that we have to have in our lives. otherwise we drift into dangerous territory, which is where we have been. i hope i have provided some kind of summary of where we are at and at my colleagues will be able to expand on these things. we will be able to open up for questions.

karen: -- >> how did we get here? karen: i wrote this book about the first 100 days a guantanamo, which begins to tell the story. people ask all the time, when will you write the last 100? we're try to figure that out. i do think that i might be an outlier, i do think that guantanamo will close under this president. i am not sure it will close anyway we would define closure. maybe that is something we can talk about. i want to talk a little bit about what the expectations were at the beginning of guantanamo, and how that has haunted this country and the process for a long time. donald rumsfeld in fall 2001, when we were contemplating the did tension -- detention facility. he did say of the commanding general, six months.

the general said, i don't think that is true. i am living here, i am feeling differently about what we have done here. he said, i am going to make a bet with you, the most it will be as 18 months. to which the commanding general said, you know what -- i am going to be retired, and you will is left, they will still be there. this is a running debate. obviously, who would've thought 14 years later, quintana moke would still be open -- guantanamo would still be open. on the other hand you have a policy establishment which has seen from the beginning this is a war without end. they never predicted this would make the hostilities end, whether it was killing bin laden or getting out of afghanistan. as soon as there was no hostility, no definition of the end in sight, the question of the end of guantanamo has remained elusive. i wanted to point out that the beginning of guantanamo -- there are three reasons that build on each other.

not just in the first 100 days, but the first 18 months. the first was, preventive detentions. the idea that you take these people off the battlefield, you put them in custody so they cannot join the forces. they cannot harm anyone. the problem with that notion was that if you put people in a kind of preventive detention that you had at quintana mo -- guantanamo they became were dangerous. if you talk to the guards and officials and say to them, why do you think they are dangerous? i interviewed a number of these people and asked why they were dangerous. they said, they said they would kill me and my family once they got out. that is an interesting definition of what makes people dangerous in a wartime situation. the second principle for guantanamo interrogation, which happened quickly, but was not necessarily what some of the people in the justice system

that was going to be about. interrogation -- interrogation in terms of who do you know on the battlefield, in your network, what do you know about omar? what about bin laden? do you know where he is? this is a real problem about guantanamo. the notion of these people were there for information. when the first 20 got off the plane who was waiting for them on the ground? whether interpreters? there interpreters? no, they can talk to anybody. what we knew about them was so scant, we needed the idea that they -- any kind of information because we were so crushed, we

felt such a lack of information that became an intelligence collection. there were other aspect that you're for two, but this need for information, both tactical and strategic is very much a mess in the beginning. the third thing, is military commissions. military commissions or set out -- the possibility was set out in november of 20 -- 2001. they were always on the horizon, but when guantanamo was created, when the marines were told they had 96 hours to build guantanamo, they thought they were establishing it for military trials. that is what i thought. which is a weird story about a commander of the naval base. being charged with finding a courthouse. finally, he realized, nobody cared. these were the three principles

that started. when you look at them, discreetly you see that we are still stuck with them. it is how they play out through the legislation, these are the three concepts we have to come back to. i wanted to bring this up to date, but first i want to point to what george bush did before he left office so we understand. brought 9/11e defendants along with others who to commit illegal attacks against the u.s. and a couple others. high-level terrorism crimes. that was a transformative moment for guantanamo in terms of what president obama was when you face. it addressed all of these issues at the same time. here you had people who could not return, who were going to be kept in an definite detention. -- indefinite detention.

them come here. second of all, they justify guantanamo. it was meant to be a holding facility for the worst of the worst. as andy said, the worst of the worst? no, these were foot soldiers. had it stayed like that, not only with president obama be able to continue president bush getting rid of 500 individuals who we knew were not even at the level of potentially dangerous. they were there, all of the sun, after four years, it came the place for the worst of the worst were. in terms of intelligence value, who knew what else is he will had to say. the idea that there were people at guantanamo that had intelligence had a reality. and finally, the military commissions -- now there were thought -- there was some of you to try.

-- somebody to try. this was the attack of 9/11, the of the few bombings, etc.. commissions extract which was less important. when obama came into office -- this is not in excuse. this is what he inherited. he inherited all of these even a 500 have been released, even though the military process of tumbled along for so many years, and it pushed back again. obama now had these three categories in today's world, in today's guantanamo -- preventive detention. when obama took office, he wasn't there for months before he made a speech saying, indefinite detention is part of the roster of options that we are going to have to quintana mo detainees -- guantanamo detainees.

for many people, myself included, closing guantanamo means ending indefinite detention. as soon as he said that, there was kind of panic, or worry. how could you close it? the idea of actually closing it may have passed for that particular moment. that was one thing that prevented detention model which is we're not in a let -- the other thing was informational value. that seemed to dissipate under obama, finally. in 2007, i went to guantanamo, the head of the time, admiral harris said to me, at the time, how is the information of value here. he said, look, things could happen in the leadership of al qaeda, and the guys here might recognize. you might be able to describe them. there was still a lingering sense that they had information by the detainees. . i don't get that sense anymore.

i don't know if you get that. i have not seen that come up. the final thing is military commissions. the military commission has gathered in -- tremendous steam, if not activity under president obama. attorney general holder decided that after all he would not bring the 9/11 defendants to the federal court system and cap them in the military commission system, this is a commission that had stumbled and fault continually. a really begs the question, at what point do you say, these do not work. i would point do you say, these commissions need to be had in virginia or do, or someplace where now we have the expertise and the structure to try these individuals. ironically, the way i see what is happening in guantanamo, is, who went about that the military commissions are what is going to

get open -- keep it open? what is happening last six months, there is much more energy being placed into getting these people out of guantanamo. although the media is not drawing attention to it, i think that is good. a number of individuals have come off the -- we will never be released list, quietly. it is not a lot, it is a half-dozen or so. but taking people off that list is what matters to if you look at the reasons, the reasons are minimal. they have said they will rethink whether actually think about this war on terror. for their ideological stance. way foralways in the guantanamo to get rid of that list. this is something tom and i were talking about earlier, the idea of charging anyone besides these 10 detainees seems to have gone away.

when obama came into office, it was always said, we will have a certain amount of indefinite detentions. about 30 will be tried. for tobacco? -- where did that go? how did that disappear as a category. from the point of you who somebody -- from somebody who studies the judicial system, where tobacco -- where tobacco? -- where did that go. i think the military commissions will have to move to federal court for that to happen. isis is on the horizon. what that means for how we will deal with individuals who we to't necessarily want declare prisoners of war. allowed to say is that this problem started with the decision not to have prisoners of war. i don't think it a decision thae repeated.

tom: i don't know what will happen with guantanamo. i am concerned that isis on -- is on the rise. i was thinking the other day, russia is filled with nuclear weapons, and we don't take it as seriously as we do isis. something very strange about where we put our thought. the concern of the public with isis, what happened in paris, and california, is operable -- how little -- palpable. figures pewter great form to speak on cnn. -- it gives peter a great form to speak on cnn.

i am not positive the obama administration will close a -- close guantanamo before the end of its term. i think there are other political things going on. seem to cares about closing guantanamo. it seems to be very easy just her up passions against closing seems to be very against closing guantanamo. about releasing terrorists in the united states and somewhere else. i am worried obama will not take the action. i certainly hope you will -- he will. i don't know how hillary clinton will deal with it. whether she was to say, don't do that, it will jeopardize the election. i am not confident. let me speak about a few other things that karen and he spoke about -- and andy spoke about.

i am amazed as a washingtonian inning and hearing the debate within congress on this and other issues, how so much of it is premised on misinformation. that started in the review that came out in january 2010. the obama review of the people at guantanamo. when they created this category of people who are too dangerous to release, but not capable of prosecution. everyone reading that thought that what it meant was these guys were dangerous, horrible terrorist, but there is a legal technicality that prevents them court.ing tried in a so you have to keep them. that is really not the case. is it was as horrible stupid category. what it meant simply was there is information and allegations against these people, made

mostly by other detainees, as andy said, who have been interrogated a lot. it was not the sort of stuff you could ever try somebody on because it was so flimsy it would never stand up in a court of law. you have some suspicions about them, but no evidence that would make trying them possible. another thing karen said, we lose sight of the fact that the bulk of the people on that list, almost all of them on that list were people in guantanamo before these sort of high-value detainees were transferred there 4-5 years after it opened. it was accepted through security studies at the time that the people at guantanamo, before these high-value people came in, were nothing. they were either caught by mistake, or at the most, low-level foot soldiers. the categorization of these people as too dangerous to release is misinformation.

the prb's that have come out, 18 have been conducted, 15 have been cleared. it shows that these people are not too dangerous to release. and yet, people in congress don't even know that. people in congress don't even know that people in guantanamo have been cleared. it is shocking to me. they talk and debate based on the misinformation that the people in guantanamo are trained, horrible killers. it's just a shame. i don't know whether the news media, or the rest of us who need to get the story out and look at the facts, it is not so. that is one thing that bothers me terribly. another thing andy spoke about the court of appeals in the district of columbia. when we started this, we didn't count just all the legal remedy to get people out of guantanamo. but we did count on a legal remedy, the right of habeas corpus