reporter: asked to clarify, the white house was vague? they are committed to closing guantanamo i don t have a timetable on that process. based on briefing, he reinforced the administration s position it s a lightning rod for jihadists. the existence of gitmo is something they use as recruiting effort. but there is another story. the first bombing of the world trade center took place before guantanamo bay was there. the c.i.a. director told congress that osama bin laden and number two anwar al-awlaki would military custody if caught. we would move them quickly into military jurisdiction at bagram for questioning. and then eventually move them probably to guantanamo. reporter: today the attorney general took the statement and they would deal with the al-qaeda leader by committee.
reporter: asked to clarify, the white house was vague? they are committed to closing guantanamo i don t have a timetable on that process. based on briefing, he reinforced the administration s position it s a lightning rod for jihadists. the existence of gitmo is something they use as recruiting effort. but there is another story. the first bombing of the world trade center took place before guantanamo bay was there. the c.i.a. director told congress that osama bin laden and number two anwar al-awlaki would military custody if caught. we would move them quickly into military jurisdiction at bagram for questioning. and then eventually move them probably to guantanamo. reporter: today the attorney general took the statement and they would deal with the
for the first time, senior obama administration officials are outlining a potential detention plan for al qaeda top leadership. leon panetta caused a bit of a stir telling congress if osama bin laden or his deputy are captured they will be held by the military and probably sent to guantanamo bay. let s say your folks were successful in capturing bin laden, zawahiri, any other hvt tomorrow. what you going to do with them? especially with the two target you just described, we would probably move them quickly into military jurisdiction at bagram for questioning, and then eventually move them probably to guantanamo. i thought they shut that down? however hold on a second. they shut that down. they shut it down. is the president is it still within a year?
a key variable, again, the key thing to watch, of course, is whether these government as how these protests to continue or crack down. ron allen, thank you for the update. president obama had promised to close the guantanamo bay detainee prison by the beginning of 2010. a short time ago during a hearing on worldwide threats, the cia director said it could be used now even to house the very high-level terror suspects. pete williams joins me. he s talking big names here. reporter: he was asked today, the cia director, leon panetta, asked at a hearing what would happen to what they call in the government hvts, high value terrorists, what would happen if bin laden himself or perhaps his deputy, al zawahiri were captured? what would we do with them? this is leon panetta s answer we would probably move them quickly into military jurisdiction at bagram for
bin laden would be caught? we would move them quickly into military jurisdiction at basram for questioning and then eventually move them probably to guantanamo. reporter: it was a striking response given that president obama promised to guantanamo as one of first acts as president. that is probably the best place to go. i appreciate your honesty. the new white house spokesman punted. earlier muslim brotherhood dominated testimony. how committed sit to the egyptian-israeli peace agreement? i would assess they are probably not in favor of the treaty. reporter: reading from prepared testimony the director of national intelligence tried to clear his statement that the brotherhood was a secular group? in my attempt on my description, my message was lost