at the time, you said it was potentially a turning point for the the world. this is not a legally binding document. you bipartisaned congress completely. are you worried that a republican president who might take over for you in the white house could stop the deal in its tracks entirely and considering that possibility, are are you more interested in campaign iin for a democrat cannic nominee considering that danger? it s fair i was going to be campaign iing for a democratic nominee even. without that danger, and i am very confident that we re going to have a terrific democratic nominee and whose phone is that now? come on, guys. you recognize your ring. don t be. embarrassed. just turn it off. there you go. i think it s off now. i think we will have a strong
comparison, but the fact is americans view it differently. there s something about an isis attack inspired from abroad that frightens americans more. that s a fact. and that connection, i thought, was an interesting one. also the connection about guns. which the president says people on the watch list should not be able to get guns. . that wasn t specifically raised but it s something the president wants to change. the president did acknowledge that he and the administration are speeding up the process of transferring detainees from guantanamo bay. and that s interesting. he said there would be fewer than 100 next year. it s true. he also acknowledged that many of them, 70 i think he said, would be in this strange category of they can t transfer them and they can t try them. so what do you do with them? he was going to turn to congress and hope for help with that. it s the big dilemma. if you bring them to the united states, they are
there s going to be a challenge there. but 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. i m not being coy. i think it s fair to say that there s going to be significant resistance from some quarters to that. but i think we can make a very strong argument that if it doesn t make sense for us to be spending an extra $500 billion to have a secure setting for 70 people. we will wait until congress has
constitutionally protected to a fair trial. that s one of the reasons they are a at guantanamo outside of the united states. what s interesting is the connection a lot of republicans and opponents of the president are going to make between letting these prisoners out, and there s a recidivism rate, people who are going to return to the battlefield, resuming or starting a a life of terrorism against the united states. and the disconnect between that act and the fear that the people of the united states are feeling right now when it comes to the terrorist threats. . hold on for a second. david ignatius is joining us, washington post congress. he was at the off the record meeting with the president at the white house. david is a good friend. thank you for joining us. i want to pick your brain. you wrote a column. you didn t quote the president, but you took us inside the mind
over the course of the next decade. that then creates a different dynamic that is independent of what congress does, but also helps to shape what congress does. because the more people that are now getting jobs in solar installation and production, the more that you have companies who are seeing how american innovation can sell products in clean energy all across the asia pacific and in europe and in africa. it s a monetary incentive to get. ing this right. that s been the history of environmental progress in this country. every time we have mad a decision, we re going to have clean air. predictions were everything would fall apart. and low and behold, turns out