we do not maintain guantÁnamo as we want to.ain it because it is in the best interest of our national security to do so. in this way one, no it's not silly jennies from historical practice. it is in plain terms the humane military prison. the unpleasant but inescapable necessity of any conflict well grounded in the war -- laws of war. unfortunately those hostilities have not ended and in fact they have -- we remain engaged in a long war against radical islamic jihad. it is not a war we started but it is a war we are committed to winning to this long war has no front lines and no specific theaters traditionally understood in the weapons of our opponents are not merely conventional ideological. islamic state and al qaeda use modern social media encrypted communication apps to radicalize individuals across the globe including our fellow americans to spur them to attacks with him. with him to resolve the bitter fruits of his tactics and paris and days ago in california. this is why we need a detention facility like guantÁnamo. it is

guantanamo bay is far from a law free zone. at no time, in any war in all of history, let alone u.s. history, have military detainees enjoyed such a procedural right. and at no time, have they never received such a heightened level of care. abouthed announcements the conditions of guantanamo -- treat them in a humane fashion. efforts that go far beyond the standards of international law. the international red cross has made 111 regular visits at the facilities that it opened. since it opened. 100 medical staff, including specialized medical linguists are dedicated to their health. they provide services, including radiology, surgery, dental, and mental health services. detainees enjoy up to 12 hours of recreation a day with access to academic classes, media, religious services, and various group activities and common spaces. extent, it is hard to understand how housing detainees indefinitely and other nations facilities or u.s. super max prisons.-- prisons, in super max their rights will not change in their treatment will likely

>> guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now. amy: in the nearly seven years since president obama ordered guantanamo's closure, republicans have blocked him at every turn. now a new report sheds light on another obstacle in obama's way -- his own pentagon. we will speak with the reuters reporter who broke this story, and the lawyer for a prisoner who was cleared for release five years ago but remains behind bars. then to puerto rico. crooks >> i will do whatever is in my powers to protect. amy: with puerto rico only days away from the biggest municipal bond default in u.s. history, the governor of puerto rico has complained to the united nations the u.s. is backtracking on its promises of self government on the island. we'll get the latest. and then, it's being called the nation's biggest environmental disaster since the bp oil spill. a runaway natural gas leak above los angeles has emitted more than 150 million pounds of methane. we'll go to los angeles to speak with erin brockovich, renowned consumer advocate and legal researc

bay and closing guantanamo bay and this is for jamie and mike does the president have the authorityhrough executive action to close guantanamo bay and let's take a break first and come back for more of the coverage, this is al jazeera america. ♪ ♪ the president just wrapped up his year end news conference and heading out to san bernardino to meet with the families of the victims of the attack in san bernardino and 14 killed and it's off for the holidays, the holiday vacation with his family in hawaii. before we went to break we suggested we wanted to take up the issue of guantanamo bay and the prison there in guantanamo bay cuba and let's start with mike on this and like look the question that i posed was the question posed in the news conference whether or not the president has the authority through executive action to close the prison there at guantanamo bay. >> well right and that is something in the terms of the white house officials that is being scrubbed right now. let's review a little of the history, the president on the day or day after he was inaugurated for the first time

also was a guard at guantanamo bay.d a white house senior adviser under president bill clinton and writer for new yorker.com. gentlemen, good to see you both. richard, i'll start with you. the pentagon denies there were any intentional delays. the white house is denying any tension with the pentagon. where does that leave us? >> well, obviously, in this country, we have civilian control of the military. and in theory, the pentagon is supposed to take orders from the civilian commander in chief. so most of the time i'm sure it works that way. but as someone who worked in the white house for president clinton, i know that there is always a bit of tension between the military and the civilian leaders. so i suspect that there was some tension around this. this has obviously been a very complicated issue for president obama and for president bush before him. >> and pete, last count i've seen 107 remain. i think that's a pretty reliable number there. but the president, you know, from day one has made this a goal, that he is g

i recently was in iraqi kurdistan, guantanamo bay. i've done a lot of american prison stories as well, lebanon, turkish protests. >> so i wanna unpack some of that in a bit. but first, i wanna talk about your politics because you've described yourself as a leftist and you campaigned for president obama back in 2008. what do you think of him today especially given the criticism he's faced over his use of drones, over surveillance and his middle east policy? >> it's a very complicated question. his use of drones is murderous. he is someone who's imprisoned many, many, many whistleblowers. his syria policy was confused and tangled and i think the worst of all the worlds in a number of ways. on the other hand, he does face a lot of criticisms because he's black and you can't deny that. and it's also nice to have a president who is intelligent. and i know that that sounds like, such a low bar, but it is nice to have a president who can make the effort to pronounce the names of other countries correctly and read books. and i sometimes wonde

>> closing guantanamo, president obama still wants to make good on a promise to close the site that houses terror suspects. is this such a good idea. lot of experts weighing in >>> the way we shop changing in a big way. >> it's one chance to make a change in their lives. >> the good -- stuff. how one organization is trying to get our youth to pick the right path in life. washington. a belgium man under arrest in connection of the tear terror attack. he was arrested on tuesday. prosecutors said he has extensive ties. you may remember her. she died in the police siege in the paris suburb. in the meantime in china a french embassy and american embassy and british embassy have issued warning to the citizen and staff. they're warning a possible threat against westerners on or around christmas. vigilance. beijing police beefed up their police around the malls. from the terror alert desk in washington. >>> new, one of president barack obama 2008 campaign promise was the to close the detention facility at guantanamo bay cuba. to be free. >> worldwide not everyone is on board with this idea. here's

go for it. >> guantanamo. it is hard to see a plan that costs $500 million getting much support on capitol hill. do you see any avenues to doing it in a less expensive way? do you think there is hope for congressional support ever for closing guantanamo? senator mccain: the president turned down the plan a finally came up with. you'd have to go back to square one. this is kind of the classic pentagon exercise. the presidential helicopter or other weapon systems that start out at a reasonable cost and then some bureaucrat layers and another one. i think you could use an existing facility, upgraded, make changes in law so we could be sure we would not be forced to release those individuals who have been judged as too dangerous to ever release. can you believe, $600 million? how could that possibly be, was my first reaction? what they need to do, obviously, go back to the drawing board. my recommendation to them is take an existing facility. one, by the way, rather than a chinese menu, one from column a and one f

we will continue to chip away at the numbers in guantanamo. there is a point where people who pose a significant threat for various reasons it is difficult for us to try them in the court and some of those folks are going through the military commission process. however, there is going to be a challenge there. now, at that stage, i am presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i am not automatically assuming congress says no. i am not being coy, i think it is fair to say there is significant resistance from some headquarters to that. but we can make a strong argument that doesn't make sense for us to be spending an extra $100 or $200 or $300 or $500 or setting for 50, 60, 70 people. we will wait until congress has definitive said "no," to a well-thought-out plan with numbers attached to it before we say anything definitive about my executive authority. it is far preferable if i get stuff done with congress. >> dave, as i said and i think you is seen me on a bunch of issues like immigration, i will not...be forward leaning

go for it. >> on guantanamo.it's hard to see a plan on capitol hill, do you see any avenues to doing it in a less expensive way and do you think there's any hope at this point for getting congressional support ever for closing guantanamo? >> first of all, the president turned county the plan that they finally came up with, so you'd have to go back to square one. this is the classic pentagon exercise. the presidential helicopter, these other weapons system that start out at a a reasonable cost and then some bureaucrat in, another one in there. i just don't believe that. i could you could use an existing facility, upgrade and make changes in law so that we could be sure that we would not be forced to rethose those individuals who have been been judged to ever release. $600 million. how could that be was my first reaction. so, what they need to do obviously is to go back to the drawing board and my recommendation is take an existing facility. one by the way, rather than a menu, a chinese menu of one from column a an

i was sitting in this kangaroo court in guantanamo bay drawing the man who probably murdered 2,000 of my neighbors and while i was drawing him, i was breaking his face down into lines and angles. it sort of sums up everything that merit is about and it is taking something that is this moment that shows the raw edges and raw horrors of the world and combining that with esthetics. i've been to many places where bad things are happening, but guantanamo is our thing, the american horror. it is a place where when i went, they were force-feeding and torturing, really, dozens of men, while at the same time there was a cheerful gift shop that sold tee shirts saying it don't get more better than this. it was a place without self reflection where terrible crimes against humanity were were done with a chipper smile and down home accent. i think that is why it struck me so deeply, even though obviously i've been to places where city blocks were being flat bombed and isis car bombing a garage near a refugee camp. i think guantanamo hit me closely because it was so intrinsically related to being am

guantanamo bay is playing less incorporate of a rule. he has argued that very few of those released anticipate the fight. >> we assume they're going to be out of four, five, 600 people that get released that a handful of them are going to be embittered and still engaging in anti-u.s. activities. >> the director of national intelligence, james clapper, concluded something different in october saying, quote, "we assess that some detainees currently at gtmo will seek to re-engage. at least 17.9% confirmed returned to the battlefield since july of 2015. another 12% are suspended of returning to the fight, meaning a total of 30%. third, the president indicated only low-level fighters had been released from the facility. that's not true, according to the joint force task. only 40% were considered high risk. only 14% were deemed low risk. >> all the low-level fighters were let go early on. now of the 137 that remain, only hard core are left. >>> could the san bernardino terror attack be prevented by going on facebook. >>> they are aggressively

now, at that stage, i'm presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i'm not going to automatically assume that congress says no, you know, i'm not being coy, david, i think it's fair to say there is going to be significant resistance from some quarters to that, but i think we can make a very strong argument that it doesn't make sense for us to be spending an extra hundred, two hundred, $300 million, a billion dollars to have a secure setting for 50, 60, 70 people. and we will wait until congress has definitively said no to a well-thought-out plan with numbers attached to it, before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here. i think it's far preferable if i can get stuff done with congress. >> it's election year [ inaudible ]. >> david as i said -- you know, and i think you have seen me on a lunch of issues like immigration, i'm not going to -- i'm not going to be forward leaning on what i can do without congress before i have tested what i can do with congress. and every once in a while they will surprise you, and -- and this may be

i'm presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i'm not going to automatically assume that congress says no. we will wait until congress has definitively said no to a well thought-out plan with, numbers attached to it. before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here. >> amy, the -- >> i think congress will sink. we don't even have to go through the motions about it. >> they're going to make the argument that it's so pricey, that their per detainee is costing so much. we just got through this omnibus bill. >> i think at a time when the number one issue now in the country is terrorism and the threat of terrorism, the idea of getting in a debate about closing guantanamo bay is not one that most members of congress, even many in his own party are going to want to engage in. the question is you know look, this is a a president who has now signaled he wants to spend the second half of his final term doing stu. he mentioned in his opening statements today, about climate, i think we're going to see a lot more on that, o

i view, for example, the prisoners at guantanamo as being enemy combatants. we do not have a declaration of war like world war ii or a country to declare war against when you are talking about al qaeda, as we were in that case. and you could be with regard to other terrorist organizations today, like isis. these people are engaged in war against the united states. detaining them while there is an ongoing, coordinated effort to threaten the united states is, i think, a legitimate thing that the administration did to detain them in guantanamo. there are questions to be resolved. basically, the way they are being resolved is one prisoner at a time. the population has been reduced by other countries' agreement to take some of them. some people being released for a variety of different reasons. but the ultimate question is, when you have an undeclared war on terrorism, when does the justification for holding somebody end? one way would be if people were of the opinion that there is no longer a threat from the organization where it was essentially military actors f

closing guantanamo bay's prison camp. why that may change in the new year... coming up after the break. 3 "siouxland news at nine on fox 44, with larry wentz, diana castillo and siouxland's chief 3 we're tracking the latest developments tonight in the war on terror... as *china* is beefing up security over terror concerns. jonathan elias has the latest developments in tonight's terrorism alert desk update. 3 from the terror alert desk in washington, i'm jonathan elias. a belgian man is under arrest in connection with the deadly paris attack.belgian prosecutors say "abdoullah c." was arrested tuesday.he's the ninth person to be arrested. extensive ties with hasna boulahcenyou may remember her, she died in the police siege in the paris suburb of saint-denis meanwhile in china, the american, french, and british embassies in beijing have issued a warning to their citizens and staff. they're warning of possible threats against westerners in the city's popular shopping district on or around christmas.embassies are urging for extra vigilance.meanwhile, beijing police

guantanamo bay is playing less incorporate of a rule. he has argued that very few of those released anticipate the fight. >> we assume they're going to be out of four, five, 600 people that get released that a handful of them are going to be embittered and still engaging in anti-u.s. activities. >> the director of national intelligence, james clapper, concluded something different in october saying, quote, "we assess that some detainees currently at gtmo will seek to re-engage. at least 17.9% confirmed returned to the battlefield since july of 2015. another 12% are suspended of returning to the fight, meaning a total of 30%. third, the president indicated only low-level fighters had been released from the facility. that's not true, according to the joint force task. only 40% were considered high risk. only 14% were deemed low risk. >> all the low-level fighters were let go early on. now of the 137 that remain, only hard core are left. >>> could the san bernardino terror attack be prevented by going on facebook. >>> they are aggressively

justice reform, the major ticket items the president will be tackling and on guantanamo bay there are 17 inmates cleared for transfer, 107 and down to less than a hundred and probably 90 if you do the math, less than 100 at the end of the year and the irreversible minimum of individuals who cannot be tried in article three or civilian court in the united states, a lot of people dispute that notion, that concept that these people, that this irreducible minimum of what is regarded as hard core individuals who remain at guantanamo whether that is an active description but over all i think you heard the president talk up the economy. he talked a lot about foreign policy and about sierra in particular and putin and certainly about this issue of surveillance and social media in the wake of the san bernardino attacks, tony. >> all right mike and back to you i believe in a second, we are working on timing here and let's get to jamie mcintyre and jamie same question for you takeaways. >> well, you know, i think when you heard president obama say that he is going to hand i.s.i.l. a lasting defe

as you just heard -- he plans to keep the guantanamo military prison open.. sending new terror suspects there for interrogation. on the democratic side...bernie sanders says his campaign is gaining momentum....and is looking to pull off an upset in the february caucuses. sanders says his progressive agenda.. and the big crowds he's seeing on the campaign trail.. are generating enthusiastic support. s/ sen. bernie sanders / (d) presidential candidate :27 absolutely believe we can win here in iowa, i think we can win in new hampshire, i just i think we can win in nevada. and if we win in those states to victory in pulling off one of the great political upsets in the history of the united states. sanders is the only major political candidate holding political events today he'll be hosting a new year's eve party at a downtown des moines hotel. and while he's not in iowa today, you certainly can't do much online without hearing about donald trump. and if you're tired of it -- google chrome can help you out. it launched a new add-on that lets users block all images

, but do i know the president promised in his campaign that he was going to release people from guantanamo bay, that it was his goal to close it, and he has continued in that path. his goal is to continue to close the facility. so here he released five individuals, and we were not able to determine if we in the negotiations ever authored one for one or two for one. all that information was and still is hidden from us. they refuse to give us that information. it took over a year and a half to carry out this investigation primarily because the administration continued to stonewall and provide us with e-mails and documentation and when we got the documentation, they were redacted out. it was very difficult to determine what we have determined and it is clear and i think the american people once they read this report will be as concerned as i am that the president violated the law plus he misled congress over and over again, even to the extent that secretary hagel came over to the armed services committee and denied that they were negotiating with the taliban when, in fact, we know he was. >>

amy: your thoughts on guantÁnamo?sident obama said it was one of his first acts after became president was to issue an executive order saying he would close guantanamo. it has been almost seven years and the prison remains opened. >> i was very pleased when president obama issued that order. people whoed with have been campaigning to close down one time obey, and get -- guantanamo bay. we do get the british nationals that were held there released after some pressure. we had a much longer campaign for shaker aamer, a saudi family., but a british i got to know his family. we have been cap and for his release. i went to washington in may with an all party delegation of conservative and labour mps to lobby for the release of shaker aamer in the closure of one-time obey. whether that had any effect on obama's decision, i don't know. we will do what we have to do. there was a sense of extraordinary fulfillment when shaker aamer came into parliament two weeks ago. i met him in a special room we have for the shadow cabinet wi

/sot/(president obama) "i'm presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i'm not going to automatically assume that congress says no."/vo/ if congress *does* say no the unilaterally to close the detention facility /sot/obama there's going to be significant resistance from some quarters to that."vo/and in wake of this month's terrorist attack in california and a heightened state of alert worldwide some critics think ththpresident's announcement is ill-timed./sot/ michael o'hanlon/brookings institution"i think he cares too much about the self consistancy of his own campaign pledges . that's not really the core issue for the american people."/sot/rep. dan newhouse (r-washington)"i think with the security issues that we have in the world, and in the country. i guess the record we have of the prisoners that have been released, i would be reluctant to move forward with that plan at this point."/vo/that record congressman newhouse refers to is inmates returning to the battlefield. the president says it's too costly to keep gitmo open for less than 100- inintes. a

let's say i am doing a quick sketch from guantanamo bay. i would have like a marker with a fat tip and skinny tip that would be light gray. first i would draw this crazy loose sketch that no one would be able to understand it except me. it is like shorthand. then i would take the fat tip and shade in the dark. and take pilot pen which is a cheap pen you get at the drugstore and i would start making lines. one thing i learned is it is better to make the wrong line confidantly than the wrong line tentively. people want to follow the sense of vitality. you do it as best as you can with as much rigor and belief as you can. >> cspan: how many times have you been to guantanamo bay? >> guest: i have been twice. >> cspan: why? >> guest: i did two features for vice and a number of other features for other places. >> cspan: here is art of your story on gitmo. explain this. >> guest: guantanamo bay is one of the most censored place on earth to make pictures. if you are a photographer there you feel like you are playing a game of twister. they would be

they said they wanted to goes down guantanamo. as you and i both know they're still doing all they can to make that happen. pentagon says, no, it is not a good idea. congress put legislation saying it won't happen. this president will try to find some means by executive order to close down gitmo. he wants to move detainees here to the united states his optimal solution will release as many as he can. we'll see over next months while he still there, some kind of action about gitmo. gerri: we'll hear more i'm sure. president obama coming in on sunday, promoting muslim rights. listen to this. >> if we're to succeed in defeats terrorism, we must enlist muslim communities as some of our strongest allies. rather than push them away through suspicion and hate. it is our responsibilities to reject proposals that somehow muslim-americans should be treated differently. muslim-americans are our friends and maybe bores, our coworkers, our sports heroes. gerri: bill, your reaction to that? pardon me, ceo mark zuckerberg saying facebook will fi

and we will continue, continue to steadily chip away at the numbers in guantanamo. there's going to come to a point where we have an ir reducible population. people who pose a significant threat, but for various reasons, it's difficult for us to try them in article 3 court, some of those folks are going through the military commission process, but there's going to be a challenge there. now, at that stage, i'm presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i'm not going to automatically assume that congress says no. you know, i'm not being coy, david, i think it's fair to say that there's going to be significant resistance from some corners to that. but i think we can make a very strong argument that it doesn't an extra 100, 200, 300, $500 million, billion dollars, to have a secure setting for 50, 60, 70 people, and we will wait until congress has definitively said no, to a well thought out plan with numbers attached to it, before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here. i think it's far preferable if i can get stuff done with c

that is the first place he tried to flex it was close down guantanamo bay. that is interesting, you were there when there were 600. can you imagine how hardcore the last 100 are. would they have been released in order of detriment to the greater society? what happened to good ol' fashion low technology of a bracelet on somebody. can we do that? can we keep up with them? >> apparently not. they would be released that who five we traded for a traitor who were worst of the worst. from the beginning they have been emptying out the pace no matter what on national security consequences. when they are released they will have gitmo street credit to be immediate leaders in whatever jihadist organization. andrea: ask, what side is he on? whose side is he on? everything he is doing is the antithesis of being pro-american. everything. you can't imagine body count. how many soldiers were killed looking for bowe bergdahl. in exchange we traded five of the top, top jihadists. that will return to the battlefield. it is complete insanity. all he cares about is his political

wrong.the and held bergdahl until president obama secured his reeaeate part of a swap for five guantanamo bay detainees. nce en, ermy hasdebated what to do with bergdahl, ranging from no jail time to the general court martial, which was recommended december 14. military experts say bergdahl's words will be closely reviewed. inevitably he's saying things that could be construed as admissions that are going to hurt him.in short, bergdahl's recent words could be used against him, instead of the 2009 actions bergdahl says he had hoped would send a message instead. i'm emily schmidt reporting. bowe bergdahl's next hearing is set for january 12. he is currently on administrative army duty in san antonio. family and friends are mourning the loss of six air national guardsmen killed in afghanistan monday... joseph lemm was among those who were killed, when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle drove into a joint patrol of afghan and coalition forces in bagram, afghanistan. lemm grew up in bernard, iowa, where he spent the first several years of his life before moving with his mother to nebraska... bun

i have been there guantanamo. there's not an army base in this country or boot camp in this country where the soldiers are treated as well as the so-called prisoners are at guantanamo. these guys are playing soccer. they are getting arts crafts and language classes. you have to be in prison you have to be in a prison camp this is the place to go. they have, again, this is better than any army boot camp, any navy marine boot camp in the country. nobody bothers them. they are abusive. they are terrible. >> president obama often brings up the cost which i find interesting because it's very -- it's not very often you hear a progressive bring up the price of something. but it's only -- wouldn't america kind of think the price might be worth it to -- by the way, there's nobody on planet earth that wants these guys. we can't -- we are calling our neighbors. can you take these people? they don't want to take them. gitmo is kind of like a favor, if you will, to the rest of the planet, because we are holding on to that. >>

i've been to guantanamo. i can tell you there's not an army base in this country, or boot camp in this country where the soldiers are treated as well as the so-called prisoners are at guantanamo. these guys are playing soccer. they're getting art classes, language classes. if you have to be in a prison camp, this is the place to go. they have, again, this is better than any army boot camp, any navy, marine boot camp in the country. nobody bothers them. they're abusive, terrible. anyway -- >> what about, president obama often brings up the cost. i find it interesting. because it's not very often you hear a progressive bring up the price of something. but it's only -- wouldn't america kind of think that the price might be worth it? by the way, there's nobody on planet earth that wants these guys. we're calling our neighbors. can you take these people? they don't want to take them. in a way gitmo is kind of like a favor, if you will, to the rest of the planet. because we're holding on to them. >> yeah. and you k

the taliban and held for years before being released in exchange for five taliban prisoners at guantanamo bay. today - the sasa day the serial podcast aired, republicans in the house came out with a report accusing the president of breaking the l to negotiate the deal.the report says the administration shouou have given lawmakaks 30- days notice of any transfers from guantanamo. in today's podcast, bergdahl tried to explain what it was really like being held prisoner. i can't screamami can't risk that. so it's like you're standing there screaming in your mind, in this room, you're standing in his blackened, dirt room that's tiny. and just on the other side of that flimsy little wooden door, that you could hinges, is the entire world out there. there.bergdahl currently faces charges of desertion.you can hear the full first episode of serial's second season by heading to our website - cbs 2 iowa dot com. once again today, people in n chicago are calling for the mayor's resignation. yesterday, cbs 2 news reported... mayor rahm emanuel made an emotional apology for the shooting death of laqua

bay. >> we see how guantanamo has been used to create this mythology that america's at war with islam. and for us to close it is part of our counterterrorism strategy. that is supported by our military, our diplomatic and our intelligence teams. >> the move is sure to insense republicans as would another unilateral move the president might make, the president putting are curbs on gun trade. >>> it's consistent with what i promised which is the most pro-labor, pro-environment progressive trade deal in history. >> other issues will be inescapable next year. at the top of the list the fight against i.s.i.l. and the conditions in syria that have allowed its rise. despite the ongoing civil war that's resulted in an estimated 250,000 dead and some 10 million displaced. mr. obama claimed vindication for his august 2011 policy calling for syrian leader bashar al-assad to go. >> five years later i was right. >> but in another revolt of the arab spring in libya the president offered a mea culpa. >> the united states has some accountability for not moving swiftly enough and underestimating the n

and we will continue to steadily chip away at the numbers in guantÁnamo.there will be a point where we have an irreducible population people who pose a significant threat that for various reasons it is difficult for us to try to -- to try them in an article three court. they will be going to a different process. but there will be a challenge there. now, at that stage, i am presenting a plan on how we can close guantÁnamo. i am not going to automatically assume that congress says no. i am not trying to be coy, i think it is fair to say that there will be resistance to that. but i think we can make a strong argument that it does not make sense for us to be spending an extra $500 million or $1 billion to have a secure setting for 50, 60, 70 people. we will wait until congress has dependably -- definitively said it no to a well thought out plan with numbers attached, before we say anything definitive about my executive authority. i think it is far preferable if i can get stuff done with congress. david, as i've said, and i think you've seen me on a bunch of is

away atcontinue to chip the numbers in guantanamo. we will come to a point where we will have a non-reducible population. tois difficult for us to try get those folks through the military commission process. there will be a challenge there. , i'm presenting a plan to congress about how we can close guantanamo. i'm not going to automatically assume that congress has no. i'm not being coy it is fair to say there will be significant resistance to that. i think we can make a strong argument that it does make sense -- doesn'te spending make sense for us to be spending million, $10 billion to have a secure setting for 50-70 people. congress hasuntil definitively said no to a well-thought-out plan with numbers attached to it before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here. preferable if i can get stuff done with congress. >> [indiscernible] president obama: you've seen me on a bunch of issues like beigration, i will not forward leaning on what i can do without congress before i've tested what i can do with congress. every

there will soon be less than 100 detainees at guantanamo bay. bay.a u.s. official says defense secretary ash carter has okayed the transfer of 17 prisoners.the countries they will be sent to will not be ma public until the transfefe is complete.there is a waiting period for the release to happen.after it takes place, there will be only 90 prisoners at guantanamo bay. closer to becoming a saint. saint.according to the vatican, the pope approved a decree attributing a miracle to mother teresa on thuday. no date has been s for her canonization.bubuitalian media speculates it will happen in the first week of september. that would line it up with the 19th anniversary of teresa's death. up next in business news - st buy is offering quite the deal today, but there's a catch.we'll you what it is "the most hated man in america" is out of jail on a five million dollar bond. bond.32-year old martin shkreli is the c-e-o of turing pharmaceuticals. he's known for raising a blood drug price from 13-dollars-50 cents per pill to 750-dollars per pill. f-b-i in an unrelated

and when you're at guantanamo, we are gonna find out everything you know about plots, past, present, or future. rubio has spent the past few days in iowa... but does not have campaign stops planned for today in the state. bernie sanders has also been in iowa. the democrat says his campaign is gaining momenum -- and he's ready to pull off what he calls -- one of the great political upsets in the history of the u-s. he was in keokuk -- and also i hear a lot of my republican colleagues, they are really tell you it's not going to be there kids who are going into those sanders is the only major political candidate holding events today. he'll be hosting a new year's eve party at a des moines hotel. security is very tight on this new year's eve, but all festivities in one city are being called off. authorities in brussels arrested two people this week. they're suspected of being involved in a plot to attack sites in belgium today. belgium's prime minister says the decision to cancel the celebration in brussels was a "delicate" one. thousands of officers will be on hand tonight in new york a