by jess bravin, supreme court correspondent for the wall street journal and wrote a book on guantanamo bay. nice to see you again. tell us about the plea deal. what was in it and how long was it in the works? guest: what the deal was was a much life terms for three of the initially six, then five, descendants and the 9/11 conspiracy case in exchange for pleading guilty. they were guilty, they plead guilty, and they go to prison for life, probably staying where they are now, guantanamo bay. host: what was the thought about doing it that way, to avoid a lengthy trial? guest: these defendants have been in u.s. custody for 20 years, and they have been at guantanamo bay since 2006. trial proceedings against them began in 2008, so this procedure has gone on, you can say, it is somewhat lengthy right now, and what was the purpose of the plea deal? the problem was the government's case was compromised. there is little doubt that they are guilty. i was at the quorum in 2008 when five attempted to plead guilty but were not allowed to for procedural reasons, so there is not a lot of doubt like a

for a closer look, i'm joined by wall street journal reporter jess bravin, he is author of the terrorn account of military trials at guantanamo bay. thank you for joining us. how did this deal come to be and how is it happening now? >> this deal was under negotiation since 2022 and not the first time a deal like this was considered. for years, prosecutors and officials in the military apparatus thought that a deal for life sentences in exchange for guilty pleas would be the only way out. so an earlier effort was quashed by higher ups in the pentagon. this one began in 2022 and has continued as some of the detainees, some of the defendants, ks m and the other two decided they wanted finality for their own fate and move forward. it accelerated in the last two weeks. there was a court session at guantanamo bay. prosecutors and the defense attorneys said they were ready to wrap it up and try to get the case closed. reporter: prosecutors had sought the death penalty but the alleged torture the defendants underwent four years complicated those proceedings. how did that factor into the decis

ali: jess bravin covering this every step of the way, thank you so much for joining us. f: today's historic prisoner release from russia was thanks to the diplomatic work of a group of democracies. freeing over a dozen people from the autocratic regime of vladimir putin. but as william brangham reports, a new book examines how autocracies are gaining power, and what they're doing with that power. william: in her new book, pulitzer prize winner anne applebaum punctures the commonly held image of an isolated autocrat. instead, she documents the often interconnected ways these strongmen rise to power, how they bolster each other, and then work in tandem to undermine democracy. the book is called "autocracy, inc., the dictators who want to run the world." and anne applebaum joins us now. welcome back to the "news hour." anne: thank you. william: can we start with a definition? because people throw out socialist, fascist, communist, often without knowing what those terms really mean. what is an autocrat, and who are the autocrats out there that we would know? anne: an autocrat

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