on board. >> good to have you with us. u.s. house democrats introduced a resolution to impeach donald trump for incrithing violence and declaring trump unfit. the f.b.i. is warning of armed protests in washington d.c. and all 50 states in the days leading up to biden's inauguration. security is being stepped. the national guard is deploying

15,000 troops. >> we are getting briefed. i think it is critically important that there be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engage in sedition and threaten people's lives and cause great damage that they be held accountable. and that is a view held by the vast majority of democrats and republicans. >> u.s. department has designated cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. it accuses cuba of harboring fugitives wanted for political vialance and president obama delisted cuba in order to

normalize. yemen's houthi movement and plaque list the organization could undermine peace gorks efforts. and the health minister that 32,000 people are in hospitals. after today's inside story, next.

three years later in 2009. president obama took office vowing to close the facility in one year. fast forward to 2013, it was still opened. doens of inmates went to hunger strike. president obama describing guantanamo guantanamo as a facility that should never have been opened. the successor said they were terrorists and it should be kept open. for more on this, joining us in washington d.c., we have human rights counselor and cuppingted an investigation into the c.i.a.'s. from london, a legal adviser for

amnesty international and commissioned the report and in new york, director of the center on national security at fordham university. welcome to all. coming to you, first, do you think joe biden will shut ip down? >> that is hope springs aterm. how to go about doing this, we have counsel in association with a number of n.g.o.'s have come up with a series of recommendations how he can do so and re-opening or recreating the state department's position and starting to negotiate and transfer out. i think he has a good road map

for doing so and now that he has congress, his options are wider. anchor: joe biden said we will close it down. barack obama said it he will shut it down and still there. what has gone wrong? >> president obama said he would close it within one year and what went wrong, he didn't anticipate the political backlash he would have by delaying the decisions about how to close it down. president biden will have learned from this and will do this quickly and efficiently to what was just said. the special enjoy does need to be reopened and needs to be staffed in a morrow bus way. negotiations need to go on and that is an important step. >> you commissioned this report,

simon and not the first report we have had in the past 15, 16 years or so. do you get as a bushback other than more than plat tudes when presidential prime minister in the countries where people have been taken from, to guantanamo have gotten plat tudes. >> it is such a significant and ongoing human rights violation. but those who are detained, the torture to enforce this and [indiscernible]

>> at the base or was it a decision plaps taken in washington? >> during the obama administration there were

frusstrations at the pace where men were being cleared and then being transferred because obama gave free rein to the department of defense to san cease. can you saw at the end of the administration was the rush that obama was going to come in and stop transfers. and towards the end of 2016. but they couldn't get as many out and there were those cleared. facing at least another four years of being there. during the trump administration, no one is being transferred except tore one individual who is transfer was with saudi arabia. and ally of the united states and the trump administration, but that had been negotiated before trump comep coming into

office and that was by design. no one in this administration was not interested in human issues. but they weren't interested in negotiating those transfers and they have fundamental mung of the national security needs of this administration. it didn't slow but stopped completely and we are hoping it will restart. if i may briefly add on to what simon said regarding the possibility of fair trials. i represent one of the defendants of the 9/11 case and i can tell you the government has admitted that their primary evidence in this case are statements made by these men in twemp after they were brought to depaun and we are in the middle suppression hearings and what we

have so far that shows that that evidence is entirely torture. >> the people who criticized guantanamo bay, they say it is in effect a concentration camp. and application of legal and physical power applied to a place that has outgrown its orange purpose and it is highlighted ta we have these tribunals taking place in guantanamo guantanamo because if they took place someplace else they would have been to legally constituted in a different way. >> guantanamo was a problem sin the day it opened. its purpose was always contrary to united states military and international law.

and originally, they said it was for military commissions, that hasn't happened in fair or productive way. since the very beginning, that is one thing. the question of this trial and what would happen what could they want and holder and obama is not i don't think it is but everybody says that i think there are issues on the table, one is the death penalty and could it be taken off the table. the united states federal courts have tried one detainee from guantanamo for the illegal bombings in torture was involved until terms of evidence that the prosecution wanted to brian

couldn't bring in terms of individual on trial itself. but there is precedent to have these trials. there is no guarantee how they should turn out. this would be a viable solution. we can't do these trials in the united states as did he creed by law because no detainee can be brought to the united states whatsoever. anchor: is there any evidence at these enhanced techniques have stopped or foiled a potential attack on the united states or american interests around the world? >> absolutely none whatsoever. the u.s. senate investigat the program of what was [indiscernible]

>> say yes and rendition and charter a plane and fly somebody to a plaque location someplace in the world that doesn't exist.

>> guantanamo. but those guys, they are not bleeding heart liberals and do not pick up the guardian in everything theyee in the guardian or "wall street journal." they would never do that and they were signalling to mr. trump and said, no, we got it and keep it. >> i don't think it matters >> and plain wrong. and what we see in guantanamo is people who are subject that means they can pick up without

any due process and think they disappeared for many instances. and it is acknowledged. but many have not access to a lawyer. i would suggest this cannot be a republican liberal, conservative democrat issue. this is an issue of human decency. >> there needs to be education. but as an additional step that is more that the u.s. rat files the human rights trat tease that means this could never happen again. what the u.s. tried to do in the case of guantanamo is create a system that tried to push aside human rights in the geef conventions and to perpetrate

horrendous crimes we have discussed. what needs to happen is a more rebus legal framework and to make sure that that never can happen ever again and that is something that biden could achieve and that is really significant long-term legacy. and timely and the point that you raise can the slate be wiped clean? the answer is no. we think there are steps that can be taken to at least some way to improving the situation to mitigate this disaster. anchor: one point to you, though, is the existence of guantanamo bay and what america does with it now is a crisis that is going on in america and

fueled and brought together or brought into focus by outgoing president trump because there are and predate him. the proud boys aren't really going away and that is something that america has to get grips with, because there are a lot of concepts that that guantanamo bay ends and starts with because america does president like brown people. >> i say that. guantanamo bay would not exist if we were talking about white men from germany. it was ok to hold them

>> if he says we are closing it in two years' time. that is a trick. what's the point? >> to start with it would be ok, whatever reason he can find to get people out of guantanamo is terrific. it needs to be closed down and needs to be done with what this means ment allege have you pobment you had wasn't what happened at guantanamo but what we feared in the beginning and it was about human rights law. it was about what could happen to the rule of law in the united states and elsewhere because once you compromise and corrupted the standards because of torture and other things, you

could do it. >> simon, last word or two to you, you commissioned the report. barack obama, february, 2016 when he was talking about trying to close it, this is about closing a chapter about american history, that chapter is still being dick indicated by somebody and written by somebody. if it's not closed down, this guantanamo carry on serving as a recruiting tool for the kind of people who want to do bad things for america. >> we don't know and there are a myriad of reasons why people join armed groups. it will be a stape on the human rights record. it needs to be closed as a

matter of absolute urgency and thorn when it professes to tell other countries about their other human rights records. >> we must leave it there on "inside story." thank you for your company and any time. go to our website and go to our facebook page. you can join the conversation on twitter. for me and the entire team in doe har, we will see you tomorrow at the usual time tomorrow. until then, good-bye. cccccc??g

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