i think there were specific -- there were specific elements around the khalid shaikh mohammed issue that lent itself to that. there hasn't been, so far as i know, a lot of squawking about the two that you mentioned now. so one hopes that we're past that and there is a recognition that you know, this is a really -- this is really a good way to go if we're going to bring these guys to justice and do it in an expeditious way. >> we know how to prosecute terrorists. >> we do. that's never been in question. there are hundreds of terrorists in american prisons who were prosecuted in article 3 courts, civilian courts. i have great confidence in our justice system. i donate know why those folks don't. >> it will be fascinating to see how republicans feel about this new guy, the ones who objected to khalid shaikh mohammed being tried. david axelrod, we are lucky to have you. >> thank you. >> i hope you enjoy your time here and it's only occasionally uncomfortable. >> that's fair enough. >> all right. >> that's fair enough. >>> all right. when a space capsule re-enters the earth's atmosphere, temp

is it notdz word khalid shaikh mohammed and three people to get waterboarded. it worth to get bin laden, i say absolutely? >> i think torture, we should be approving. >> sean: we had doctors there and it worked. >> our soldiers were subjected to the water boarding. it's ridiculous premise. he is bragging taking out osama bin laden and he is aiding and abetting those with the same goals. >> sean: what do you mean by that? >> in most significant manifestation in the rise of islamic supreme sift regimes in syria, now in egypt and tunisia and libya. in syria we see the election in the government of a former hamas linked so obviously once again, we see the evidence that was entered in the largest terrorist holy land trial where 300 groups were named as muslim brotherhood groups and we know obama's department of justice has execute ltd those prosecutions. >> sean: we have a great esteemed group here tonight. really, bright smart people. i asked the question. i asked the question is the number one problem we face is rise of radical islamists. this is the single greate

we're in pretrial motions with khalid shaikh mohammed. let's get the trials going in new york city. all of the people who were affected that day could go see the trials. >> i think a lot of people would echo the sentiment. they don't want politics involved in this, but there are politics involved. lindsay graham very strong today. i'm sure other congressman and women will come out tomorrow saying similar stuff. what could happen politically? could this decision be overturned? >> i think that's unlikely. the way that the executive branch from the president on down from a policy perspective organized this operation, they organized it with the specific purpose of having this guy in federal court. it's a uniquely executive branch decision. so it's unlikely, there could be a lot of fuss about it. i think in fairness, while i think it's quite right to say there's politics being played, there is a reasonable legal debate to be had about whether or not you treat someone as a civil defendant and accord them constitutional rights they denied their own victims or you treat them as an enemy com

we're in pretrial motions with khalid shaikh mohammed. let's get them to new york city. that's where they should be, in new york city. >> what do you say to him, senator, because he reflects the views of many of the 9/11 families feel. they want to see justice right in new york, right where that atrocity happened. and they're pleased that he's being tried there. >> well, the last time that was contemplated, as you may recall, there were estimates of the cost of security in the millions of dollars. but more importantly, these are enemy combatants. we're in a long struggle with the forces of al qaeda and radical extremism. and if you give someone their miranda rights, which means that if they're in civilian court, then they're not an enemy combatant, they're just an ordinary criminal, but if you do that, and any good lawyer is going to tell them not to say anything, that prevents us from having the ability to get intelligence without use of torture, by the way, to get intelligence information that would probably prevent another tragedy and another father such as we just he

that the crimes that he's suspected of committing don't rise to the level, let's say, of a khalid shaikh mohammedy terror suspect should be tried in civilian federal court or everybody should be tried at gitmo? >> well, i'm not even really frankly concerned with whether they're tried at gitmo. what we've got here is a conceptual divide whether we treat terrorists and acts they commit as acts of war subject to one set of rules on how we handle it or whether we treat them as criminal law defendants and bring them to the united states and give them a full panoply of constitutional protection. i'd rather take this fella to gitmo, may be too late now that he's fully protected and told what his fifth amendment rights from. i'd interrogate him on iran and-- >> he gave a 22-page statement, ambassador. he gave a 22-page statement. do you really think when a suspect goes to guantanamo they're more valuable in terms of the information they give, the interrogation techniques may differ, they're not mirandized so you may be able to push further and may not have their attorney president. do we gain more intell

>> i think the government has said they will not attempt even against major figures like khalid shaikh mohammed to use information that was obtained through water ready boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice,eady boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice,ady boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice,dy boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice,y boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice, boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice,boarding. >> so before we get so excited about who this guy is and how he might see justice, peter you've said he's a small fish. yes, a relation of osama bin laden and pictured with the big father. why is he a shawl fish? good me a poor hairtal choice which was marrying one of bin laden's daughters. that doesn't necessarily make him a key player. and the indictment is a c

. >> we had this discussion and debate with khalid shaikh mohammed and it ended differently.ing to see peter king, senator chuck schumer, democrat of new york, both saying we're okay this time having bin laden's son-in-law tried in a courtroom. why is this different? >> because of the individual. and this particular individual is not believed to have any operational significance within al qaeda. he's been in iran according to all the reports that he was arrested on his way, you know, from turkey into jordan. he had lived the last ten years in iran. he didn't have a lot of operational significance with al qaeda. he had been detained and in jail in iran. i think somebody like khalid shaikh mohamed is somebody that a lot of al qaeda followers and sympathizers would be galvanized and rally behind him and maybe be fueled by that and see him on display in whatever process that may lead. they may feel he's being humiliated and try and do something about it. i think he's far removed from the scene. he may not be as galvanizing a figure. and i think that's why they feel a little more

the suspected mastermind of the september 11@tacks, khalid shaikh mohammed was arrested and confessed to pearl's murder. he was never charged with the crime, though. >>> last-minute preparations for president obama's trip to israel. he leaves healater tonight. he visited israel once while campaigning in 2008. he will spend several days meeting with israeli and palestinian leaders before wrapping up the trip on saturday in jordan. >>> if you thought the canceling of the white house tour due to forced budget cuts was bad, wait until you hear this. the white house may cancel next month's easter egg roll for the very same reason. can you say sacrilege? no more rolling eggs on the white house lawn? the joy of children dashed by the government grinch? the easter bunny, a victim of sequestration? well, nothing is definitely yet, but guests have been warned. politico go this explanation from a white house official. "because we distribute tickets to the easter egg roll far in advance, we alerted all ticket holders that this event is subject to cancelation, due to funding uncertainty, including

the same man who gave the united states valuable information about khalid shaikh mohammed. >> an earthquake in taiwan. one person killed, 19 others injured. a memorial service today for a pizza deliveryman in colorado. investigators believe he was killed by the same suspect who shot the director of the state prison system, just an innocent bystander in all of that. jon: right now sacramento police are searching for a pair of brazen thieves. this violent robbery caught on surveillance tape. the crooks busted in around closing time, pistol whaoeupg the cashier and sending others running for their lives. >> they had guns and put them to their forehead and knocked one of my employees down. my employees are really strong, and they are taking it day-by-day. i didn't even think they'd be able to come to work but they are all here. jon: the thieves made off with a thousand dollars cash and a customer's purse. the store owner says the pair cased the market earlier and tried to use a stolen credit card but were turned away. now she is glad nobody was shot or killed in their attack. jenna: right now t

he'll be eight stories underground, unlike khalid khalid shaikh mohammed where they were not advisedo it. in this case, both commissioner ray kelly, the police commissioner of new york and michael bloomberg, the mayor, were fully informed that this man was being brought to federal court in manhattan. they are all agreed, everybody is on the same page. the only people who are objecting are the two cranky old guys in the senate, lindsey graham and john mccain. [ laughter ] >> steve: all right. geraldo. >> clayton: we want our viewers to weigh in on that topic. plus this, much was made this week of senator rand paul, his big filibuster. he actually gave a speech. he want reading from a magazine or a phone book or anything. he gave a speech. he was citing all sorts of libertarian bloggers as it relates to these drone strikes in the united states' use of these drone strikes around the world and here at home. he wanted clarification on something very specific, which is does the american government have the right to launch a drone here in manhattan, new mexico, wherever, and target an ameri

another difference is the high visibility nature of the two individuals khalid shaikh mohammed beingnderstandably the people in lower manhattan were worried about security and disruptions caused by a high-profile trial. i think people are thinking, hoping that this one is more low key. >> you write in the commentary that president bush was wrong on detaining americans and president obama is wrong on killing them. what relevant legal precedence do we have at this point to guide us, to guide us with regards to policy making on drones? >> we don't have very many. we don't really have any direct precedent in the courts. in particular the supreme court on targeted killing by any means. drones or any other way. we do have a supreme court decision from the bush era on detention. and what due process rights need to be afforded someone who is designated an enemy combatant by the president and in that case president bush's lawyers lost the case and the supreme court ruled that did deserve and was entitled to due process rights. the same kind of argument with targeted killing. it's a different

. >> reporter: the obama administration's plan to put 9/11 mastermind ka legal -- khalid shaikh mohammed was abandoned in new york city. this time, commissioner ray kelly posed no opposition. >> kelly and others have been consulted ahead of time about this and gave the green light to do it. >> u.s. officials say abu ghaith is already cooperating with american interrogators, answering questions about al qaeda's organization. if he's convicted he could face life in prison. savannah? >> pete williams in washington. thank you very much. >>> natalie morales is here with the morning's top stories. >> good morning, lester, savannah and al. good morning, everyone. tensions are soaring on the korean peninsula, one day after the u.n. passed new sanctions and north korea threatened nuclear war. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in washington with the latest. good morning andrea. >> good morning, natalie. today pyongyang said it was canceling all nonaggression agreements with south korea and a north korean general said they had nuclear long-range missiles ready to blast of