The New Push To Close Guantanamo

President Obama lays out his plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.  We’ll look at the plan, the battle ahead in Congress.

Once more with feeling, the President called yesterday for the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. He laid out a broad plan to do it. He laid out – again – the rationale: that Guantanamo is a costly stain on American core values and a recruiting poster for ISIS. Guantanamo, he said, is counter-productive. Donald Trump and Marco Rubio’s immediate response: keep it open. Ted Cruz’s response:  expand it. Republicans in Congress:  hands off. This hour On Point, Guantanamo.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Kathleen Hennessey, White House correspondent for the Associated Press. (@khennessey)

Pardiss Kebriaei, senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. (@PardissKebriaei)

Mike Newton, professor of the practice in law the Vanderbilt Law School. Editor of the Terrorism International Case Law Reporter and co-author, with Michael Scharf, of "Enemy of the State."

Associated Press: Obama: Guantanamo Bay undermines security, must be closed — "The long-awaited proposal, which was requested by Congress, is Obama's last attempt to make good on an unfulfilled campaign promise by persuading Congress to change the law that prohibits moving detainees accused of violent extremist acts to U.S. soil. Fourteen years after the facility opened and seven years after Obama took office, the president argued it was 'finally' time to shutter a facility that has sparked persistent legal battles, become a recruitment tool for Islamic militants and garnered strong opposition from some allies abroad."

NPR News: Obama Says Guantanamo Prison Doesn't Help U.S. Security, 'It Undermines It' — "U.S. operation of the Guantanamo Bay military detention center in Cuba is 'contrary to our values' and is seen as 'a stain on our broader record' of upholding the highest rules of law, President Obama said Tuesday as he announced plans to close the facility."

Defense One: Obama’s Gitmo Closure Plan: What’s New and Where the Problems Are — "The closure plan doesn’t endorse a specific facility stateside, Obama said, it merely gives an outline of the options. The plan includes 13 locations, including 'the Brig' at Charleston; the 'Supermax' facility in Colorado, as well as a nearby medium-security facility; Army facilities at Fort Leavenworth; a possible site in Illinois, and about a half-dozen unspecified U.S. military bases—so-called 'green-build sites,' as officials referred to them."