Eric Holder's "I Told You So"?
BLITZER: A strong I told you so today from the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, to all those who opposed his plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 plotters in a New York City court.</s>ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Not to be egocentric about this, but that I was right. I think that had we gone along the path that I announced at that time, we would not have had to close down half of Manhattan. It wouldn't have cost $200 million a year, and the defendants would be on death row as we speak.</s>BLITZER: Holder's plans quickly collapsed in a sea of concern from Republicans in Congress and others that such a move potentially could endanger the United States. Joining us now to talk about this, our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. So you agree with Holder? Does he have a point that -- you know, that the U.S. should have closed Guantanamo, moved Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others to a courtroom in New York City for trial?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, he has at least half a point, I think, because it is certainly true that over four years -- I mean, this was 2009 when he put that plan into -- or he tried to put that plan into effect, he would have -- his office, the Justice Department, would have gotten a conviction and would have gotten a death sentence. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has a perfect record on terrorism cases that the evidence against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is overwhelming. So I think he's right that they -- he would be on death row today. The question of whether Lower Manhattan would have been shut down because of antiterrorist precautions, whether it would have cost $200 million, whether there would have been a terrorist attack, you know, no one can know, but he certainly I think was right about the case itself.</s>BLITZER: The $200 million comes from what the White House says it cost U.S. taxpayers to maintain that prison facility at Guantanamo Bay. In fact the president just issued a statement through his press secretary saying he remains fully committed to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Made clear that the Special Envoys have his full support as they work to facilitate the transfer of Guantanamo detainees. The press secretary adds, "To the greatest extent possible the administration will continue transferring detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries. And we call again on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers, which have significantly limited our ability to responsibly reduce the detainee population and ultimately close the facility." I guess the question is, is Guantanamo ever going to be closed?</s>TOOBIN: That's a hard question because at the moment, President Obama does not have the legal authority to close it. As a result of this political debacle of trying to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the United States, Congress passed a law which President Obama reluctantly signed, saying the facility had to remain open. Now it is true that the administration one by one is trying to place those deemed ready for release around the world, but that's a slow and laborious process. Some of the people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed himself will probably get military commissions and will probably be sentenced to death, but there is this other category of people for whom there is not enough evidence to try them, but our view is they're too dangerous to release. Their status remains very uncertain and they appear to be in a legal netherworld that will not end anytime in the foreseeable future at all.</s>BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin, with that, thank you as usual. Straight ahead a very different story. CNN's Jeanne Moos finds Jesus in a most unlikely place.