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President Obama on National Security, Terror Detainees, Law; Cheney vs. Obama

Aired May 21, 2009 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: As you listen to this first part of his speech, watch as he builds to what he says he believes with every fiber of his being -- those are the president's words -- "every fiber of my being," implying at points that we can't go cowboy. We can't lose ourselves in order to protect ourselves.

Here is how the president comes to that conclusion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My single most important responsibility as president is to keep the American people safe. It's the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It's the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.

And this responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology threatens our people and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm.

We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.

Already, we've taken several steps to achieve that goal. For the first time since 2002, we're providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We're investing in the 21st century military intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy.

We have reenergized a global nonproliferation regime to deny the world's most dangerous people access to the world's deadliest weapons. And we've launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years.

We're better protecting our border and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We're building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we, once again, have the strength and standing to truly lead the world.

Now, these steps are all critical to keeping America secure, but I believe with every fiber of my being that, in the long run, we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fund mental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. These are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality, and dignity around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in Candy Crowley.

First, thematically, as we take apart this part of the president's speech, he wasn't using direct terminology, but he was referring to the previous administration in many ways throughout this speech.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely.

I mean, he talked about how he thought that, even though those who came before him were -- you know, believed they were acting for the safety of America, they, in fact, not twisted the facts, maybe massaged the facts.

This was very definitely a -- if not an attack on the Bush administration, certainly a repudiation of the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror.

A.B., I can't help but wonder if the president, being a constitutional lawyer, student of it, in fact, a teacher and professor of constitutional law, whether he was trying to make a very, very difficult argument to pose to us laymen about why it's important to stick to our foundations.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "THE HILL": Well, he -- I mean, he -- he spoke over and over again about -- about what our Constitution has laid out many, many years ago in a period where we couldn't anticipate what our life is like now, why those values still hold dear.

He all but accused the former administration of forsaking the Constitution. And he really drove home that message, as Candy referred to, that the previous administration was not governing in foresight, but in fear, and wasn't holding true to the values laid out in the Constitution.

It was a strong charge. And I -- obviously was completely rebutted by -- by the former vice president.

SANCHEZ: Yes. We are going to a little bit more talk about what the vice president said today as well, which wasn't, to be fair -- and we should let the audience know -- it wasn't really a rebuttal speech, because we understand -- in fact, Candy, you had made this point earlier in the day. I read one of the memos that you had sent us, saying, look, guys, this -- the vice president wrote this speech before the president delivered his speech. And that is an important note.

Both of you, hang tight there, because we want to continue this. What we are going to do during this newscast for those of you maybe just now getting home from work, the president gave what may be arguably his most important and comprehensive speech to date detailing not only what he is going to do to keep America safe, but why he is doing it this way.

Gitmo is a big conversation point. Gitmo created more terrorists than it ever detained, and that is why it must be closed -- those are the president's exact words.

You are going to hear more of how he came to this decision when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This is something every American should hear. We are playing for you the president's speech on national security. And with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers resisting his plan for closing Gitmo, the president chose today to take his message to you, to the American people.

The Supreme Court, he says, invalidated it. He will also remind you that he says that, for al Qaeda, Gitmo has become a symbol of recruitment.

Here is how this president makes his pitch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I knew when I ordered Guantanamo closed that it would be difficult and complex. There are 240 people there are who have now spent years in legal limbo. In dealing with the situation, we don't have the luxury of starting from scratch. We're cleaning up something that is quite simply a mess, a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my administration is forced to deal with on a constantly, almost daily, basis and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.

Indeed, the legal challenges that have sparked so much debate in recent weeks here in Washington would be taking place whether or not I decided to close Guantanamo. For example, the court ordered the release of 17 Uighurs -- 17 Uighur detainees took place last fall when George Bush was president.

The Supreme Court that invalidated the system of prosecution at Guantanamo in 2006 was overwhelmingly appointed by Republican presidents, not wild-eyed liberals. In other words, the problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility. The problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Now, let me be blunt. There are no neat or easy answers here. I wish there were. But I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo.

As president, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. I refuse to pass it on to somebody else. It is my responsibility to solve the problem. Our security interests will not permit us to delay. Our courts won't allow it and neither should our conscience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Candy Crowley, why is this such a sticking point? Why is he getting so much pushback, not just from Republicans, but from Democrats as well?

CROWLEY: Well, it is all about, where are these detainees going to go? It's the "not in my back yard" syndrome.

There -- even those -- and there are some Democrats saying, listen, we have these max prisons where people don't ever escape. We can certainly keep them secure. There are already terrorists in U.S. prisons.

Nonetheless, it is -- it's one of those subjects that, when you go back home, you have constituents going, wait -- wait a second. I don't want them in this prison.

So, what Congress did was not say, don't close Guantanamo. It just said, come back to us with a plan and then we will go ahead and maybe give you the money. And I assume that the Democrats will go along with it. But they want to see the specifics of a plan.

So, this is really one of those NIMBY things, the not in my back yard. And it sounds bad: Well, we're going to ship however many terrorists to this prison.

And it's created -- I mean, it is the one thing, I must say, that Republicans started on a drumbeat about this several weeks ago, and it really has taken hold. And, by the way, it is one of the reasons the president gave this speech, was that he has been sort of rocked back for the first time on an issue. And now he is push -- trying to push forward.

SANCHEZ: Well, he is not done with his argument.

I'll tell you what. Let's go to the break. And after the break, you are going to hear, A.B., exactly how the president details why, inferring to what Candy just said, that supermax is perfectly fine, and that you can put terrorists there, and that our legal system does work, and that going outside of our prisons and our jails and legal system is not a good idea, even if that is the way the previous administration does it.

He is going to lay all this out, and you are going to hear it for yourself when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We are playing for you something no like if you're -- no doubt if you are just coming home from work, you likely missed.

This is the president of the United States' speech on national security. Interesting timing here. You may recall that, on his first full day in office, Mr. Obama announced within a year that he would close the controversial U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

But, just yesterday, Senate Democrats ran for cover when it came to funding the camp's closure, something Candy was alluding to just moments ago.

Now, the president's own party caved under attacks by Republicans that moving suspected terrorists to U.S. prisons poses a great danger to Americans.

Here is the president. You are about to hear him directly talking to you to refute that argument.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people. Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders; namely, highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety.

As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact. Nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal super-max prisons which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, the idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the states is not rational.

We are currently in the process of reviewing each of the detainee cases at Guantanamo to determine the appropriate policy for doing with them. And as we do so, we are acutely aware that, under the last administration, detainees were released and, in some cases, returned to the battle field. That's why we are doing away with the poorly planned, haphazard approach that led those detainees go in the past.

Instead, we are treating these case with the care and attention that the law requires and that our security demands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And the president seems to be making some headway on this argument. Let me just read to you a couple of the comments that we have been getting throughout the day. This is on Twitter, on MySpace, and Facebook.

Let's try Rusty over there on Twitter. Seems to be representative of some of the stuff that we have been hearing today, although not all of it. There are some people who say, no, we don't want them here anywhere.

"If we can hold rapists, serial murders and pedophiles, we can hold terrorists. If we can't, what does that say about us?"

That is the question to A.U. -- to you, A.B.

STODDARD: Well, I mean, it's a good argument.

Unfortunately, the FBI director came before the Congress yesterday, Robert Mueller, and said that there are concerns about holding these kinds of suspected terrorists in U.S. prisons, that they would radicalize others.

And you just -- you know, as you mentioned yourself, you saw 90 members of the Senate yesterday, including most of the Democrats, reject funding because they don't see a plan. They want a plan, Rick.

But when the plan comes to the Hill and it names specific prisons, you are going to see round two of this kind of opposition, because, as Candy said....

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But you know -- but you know what that means? It means they are not thinking as Americans.

STODDARD: Well...

SANCHEZ: They're thinking as representatives of the state of X, B or Z, right?

STODDARD: That is -- that's true. But they are only there to protect their constituents, and nothing else, and not to help the president of their party. And they're going to protect their constituents no matter what

I don't know what kind of horse-trading will go on, if they will able to get more emissions permits out of the cap-and-trade bill or what. But you are not going to see these people wanting to take them on.

Only one member, Jim Moran of the 8th District of Virginia, has come up and offered to take them. And his senior senator, Jim Webb, as you know, shot that idea down last weekend.

SANCHEZ: Isn't the reality of this, though, Candy, that supermax is a place where people can be kept all but in isolation, where not only would they be safe; we won't even know what they're doing on a day-to-day basis, and they won't really have that much contact with other prisoners?

CROWLEY: Well, I'm not an expert on supermax prisons, but, so far, there has not been a breakout from any of these supermax prisons.

But I will tell you, this isn't -- you know, politics in so many ways is about perception, and it is about your constituents back home.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

CROWLEY: And I don't care how many great arguments the president makes at this point. If you have got constituents saying, not this prison, you are going to listen to them.

Having said that, I think eventually the money will come for closing down Guantanamo. Maybe it won't happen by January. Maybe it will take longer. I think, eventually, it will happen, because it has to happen.

But it -- I don't think how secure a supermax prison is, is really what this is about at this point. It is about, can we see a plan, like, how many prisons are we talking about in the U.S.? How many -- which terrorists? What are they accused of? Are there some that you can't try?

And the president mentioned this in his speech. There are going to be some of these detainees who can't be put on trial because of lack of evidence, but they know that they are too dangerous to let go. Well, where do -- where do those people go? So, it's a...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, no, I just -- I was just going to comment on your use of the word perception, because it certainly is very perceptive of you to -- to make that analysis that sometimes politics has a heck of a lot more to do with perception than it does reality. And I'm not sure that is -- that is definitely a good thing.

We are going to come back. We are going to come back with the other part of this conversation today. Did you notice what happened? The president details another shift from the Bush administration, dealing with terrorists through the legal system, again, how to use our legal system, the lawyers, the judges, the courts, and not go outside of it, again, a shot at the previous administration. You will hear it for yourself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Those are the numbers so far on Wall Street. We welcome you back.

I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN in Atlanta.

We have got plenty of comments, people who are carefully monitoring and watching the president of the United States' speech today, very first major comprehensive speech on our nation's security. Let's go to a couple of comments now.

To our Twitter board, Robert, if we can. And, there, we have got George, who says, "I think that the Obama speech puts a kibosh on the resurgent Republican theme that torture is OK."

Mechnic says: "Gitmo should stay hope. And all these privileges these detainees have should be taken away, no Koran, no prayer mats."

And then we get Rhetorich saying, "'Keep the prisoners shackled to the walls,' said Dick Chainey."

Spelled Cheney wrong, by the way.

All right, we will leave it at that. And we will want to show now a little bit more of this speech that everyone seems to be talking about.

The president of the United States, the president of the United States, he studied constitutional law at Harvard. And he went on, as I mentioned a little earlier, to become a professor of constitutional law in Chicago.

It is now apparent, as you watch this, that that is the foundation that he uses in defending how the American legal system can be used, effectively, to deal with terrorists.

And here is where he does what I think you might see as a 180- degree turn from the Cheney-Bush approach of dealing with terror detainees in many ways outside the U.S. legal system. Here is the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We're going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases, because evidence may be tainted, but who, nonetheless, pose a threat to the security of the United States.

Examples of that threat include people who've received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps or commanded Taliban troops in battle or expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States. Let me repeat, I am not going release individuals who endanger the American people.

Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture, like other prisoners of war, must prevented from attacking us again. Having said that, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. They can't be based simply on what I or the executive branch decide alone. And that's why my administration has begun to reshape the standards that apply to ensure that they are in line with the rule of law. Now, as our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These are issues that are fodder for 30-second commercials. You can almost picture the direct mail pieces that emerge from many who vote on this issue designed to frighten the population. I get it.

But if we continue it make decisions within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if he refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing.

I am not the only person in this city who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. So did each and every member of Congress. And together, we have a responsibility to enlist our values in the effort to secure our people and to leave behind the legacy that makes it easier for future presidents to keep this country safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It is amazing. He -- he mixes the rhetoric of 30- second commercials, the use of fear to get people to do things, instead of intelligence, with the idea that not only he swore to uphold the Constitution, but other people as well.

Who is he taking a shot at here, Candy?

CROWLEY: I'm not sure.

I mean, listen, the entire speech was laced with shots at the Bush administration and at Dick Cheney in particular, without mentioning any names. But I think this was as well, as I said, a speech that was designed to kind of retake the offense here, after getting sort of slapped down by Capitol Hill on the funds.

So, I think this was -- was more something that is rhetorical in the sense that he is reaching out to the American people, saying, you know, this -- this is what this is about. I'm not about politics. They're about politics, that kind of thing.

And -- and we always knew he could give a great speech.

SANCHEZ: But it is very nuanced, A.B. And I'm wondering if enough people will -- will get it. I mean, he is saying, to a certain extent, that, look, some people out there are going to try and frighten you. It is so easy to say those terrorists are bad people and we are Americans and we're good people and we ought to kill them all.

I mean, that sells. And it's so much easier to understand than a complex explanation from a constitutional lawyer.

STODDARD: I think he was taking a direct shot at Congress. He said he was not the only one in town who took an oath to uphold the Constitution that every member of Congress did. He was speaking directly to them.

This is a very significant defeat for the president, and it could have been avoided. The problem was he set a deadline in his second day in office to close Guantanamo Bay in one year's time. He did not consult with Congress about that deadline. He placed it in importance alongside managing two wars and an economic crisis, and trying to reorder the health care and energy industries.

Congress is working very hard, but I spoke with staff on Tuesday when this first happened, and they are not happy. They begged for cover on this issue from the administration and they got no response.

This is a standoff between the administration and the Congress, and it could have been avoided. He could have said, I'm going to close Guantanamo Bay, but he set a deadline that the Congress can't meet.

SANCHEZ: Good reporting. We thank you.

By the way, former Vice President Dick Cheney, as aforementioned, cast himself in a speech today as the polar opposite of just about everything that you've heard the president say so far. I'm going to take you to the north lawn of the White House in just a little bit and we're going to hear reaction to Mr. Cheney's speech from one of the president's White House advisers.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: In what is one of the most bizarre examples of political timing, just as the president finished his speech a few hours ago on security, I mean, the moment this president was done, suddenly there you saw it. It was like a wipe, as we call it on television, going from one image to the next on the screen.

Former Vice President Cheney began a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, refuting just about everything that President Obama had to say. Here is just some of what the former vice president said during his speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: It's one thing to adopt the euphemisms that suggest we're no longer engaged in a war. These are just words. And in the end, it's the policies that matter most.

You don't want to call them "enemy combatants," fine. Call them what you want, just don't bring them into the United States.

Tired of calling it a war? Use any term you prefer. Just remember, it is a serious step to begin unveiling some of the very policies that have kept our people safe since 9/11.

Another term that slipped into the discussion is the notion that American interrogation practices were a "recruitment tool" for the enemy. On this theory, by the tough questioning of killers, we have supposedly fallen short of our own values.

This recruitment tool theory has become something of a mantra lately, including from the president himself. And after a familiar fashion, it excuses the violent and blames America for the evil that others do.

It's another version of that same old refrain from the left, "We brought it on ourselves." It is much closer to the truth that terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by, not by some alleged failure to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: With us now is Dennis McDonough. He's deputy national security adviser to the president of the United States. He's kind enough to join us from the White House.

Look, the vice president is essentially saying that his techniques, including waterboarding, kept the American people safe, and that you and your administration, as an adviser to the president, are dismantling what works.

What do you say?

DENNIS MCDONOUGH, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Rick, thanks a lot for having me on the show. It's good to be you.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

MCDONOUGH: I think the bottom line, the president laid it out today over -- standing in front of the Constitution here at the National Archives. We're not going to get into a big back-and-forth in this kind of Washington, D.C., insider game that the vice president has perfected. But what we are going to do is wake up every morning and go to bed every night thinking about how we can keep this country safe.

That is what the president does. That's what he has done.

I would just only say this one thing, which is one of the issues that the vice president raised in that sound clip that you just played for me was really a shot that he was taking at Senator McCain, since the president, in his speech today, quoted from Senator McCain, who expressed concerns that the use of some of these techniques results in recruitment of more extremists to al Qaeda. So this is really the continuation, Rick, of a debate that the vice president has been having with his own party, with his own administration, and really with the rest of the country for too long, and it's time to really focus on the challenges that we face as a country, rather than on these debates.

SANCHEZ: But we have to be fair to the man making the argument. The vice president of the United States says, look, this isn't fair. People are going after me and going over my record over the last seven and a half years, when I can show that what I did kept this country safe. If you would just release some of those CIA documents showing how many times we stopped terrorism from hitting our shores because of what I did, then I will be proven right.

Do the American people not deserve to see those documents?

MCDONOUGH: You know, Rick, I think you put your finger on it, which is that the former vice president gave a speech today defending his legacy. The president gave a speech today about how he is defending the country.

And so, if he wants to make a submission to request additional documents be declassified, he should do that. He has done it once and, unfortunately, because of an executive order that came out in that administration, it wasn't able to be handled as he wished. But look, let's make sure we don't have the CIA focused on digging up old memos from the past, let's have them focus on the threats that we face today. That's what the president wants to do.

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's talk about what the president did today. And I thought it was an interesting speech.

You know, I was talking to Candy Crowley and A.B. Stoddard moments ago, two correspondents I'm sure you're very familiar with, and we were talking about the nuance that the president was trying to convince the American people with, when it really is -- and I said this a little while ago, and I think folks at home understand the spirit of it -- it's a lot easier to just say to the American people, we're good, they're bad, we've got to kill them. He's talking about constitutional law, our legal system, how to use our courts.

Is that going to work?

MCDONOUGH: Well, Rick, I'm glad you asked the question. Let's just stack them up over the last seven years.

Over seven years, three prosecutions in the old military commissions that were put together in the Bush administration. Three prosecutions over seven years. That's not a record that somebody should be proud of, and that's I think why the vice president didn't address it today.

So, what the president wants to do is talk about how we can use a comprehensive effort to go after the threats that face us. And let's be clear -- our values, our Constitution, our courts, as well as our military might, our intelligence and our capabilities are all part of what we're going to have to use against this threat. And that's what the president does from morning until night every day of the week, and that's what he's going to continue to do.

SANCHEZ: Well, you have one thing that's on your side. It's an argument that, by the way, as I let you go, I should remind you that a lot of the folks on MySpace and Facebook and Twitter have been talking about all day, and that's the fact that Osama bin Laden was never captured. And they keep coming back to that and back to that and back to that.

So, hey, thanks so much for being with us, Mr. McDonough. We certainly appreciate it. MCDONOUGH: Mr. Sanchez, thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

MCDONOUGH: Bye now.

SANCHEZ: When we come back, the president talks about transparency, the idea that the American people should be clued in and that government should not work behind our backs, even if they think it's for our own good. His idea, his explanation about this, you'll hear it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez in the world headquarters of CNN.

The president, as you'll now see, is about to address the balance between being open and honest with the American people, and taking the necessary steps to try and keep America safe. Again, nuance, but he seems to believe the previous administration lacked that nuance.

Here again, the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There's no doubt that the American people have seen this balance tested over the last several years.

In the images from Abu Ghraib and the brutal interrogation techniques made public long before I was president, the American people learned of actions taken in their name that bear no resemblance to the ideals that generations of Americans have fought for. And whether it was the run-up to the Iraq war or the revelation of secret programs, Americans often felt like part of the story had been unnecessarily withheld from them. And that caused suspicion to build up. And that leads to a thirst for accountability.

I understand that. I ran for president promising transparency. And I meant what I said. And that's why, whenever possible, my administration will make all information available to the American people so that they can make informed judgments and hold us accountable. But I have never argued -- and I never will -- that our most sensitive national security matters should simply be an open book.

I will never abandon and will vigorously defend the necessity of classification to defend our troops at war, to protect sources and methods, and to safeguard confidential actions that keep the American people safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: If you missed it, we're going to let you see how the president wraps up this speech, but first over to Candy Crowley and A.B. Stoddard. The president's point here, Candy, what is it?

CROWLEY: Well, his point is that he's trying to find that balance between protecting what should be secret -- memos, documents, all of that that he needs to keep under wraps for a variety of reasons -- and his promise to be open. So, you know, again, this is a president who very carefully, most of the time, tries to chart a middle course, and he tends to explain it just like this, saying, listen, there are some things that ought to be out there so the American people trust us, but I've got to tell you, there are some things I'm going to keep secret because my highest responsibility is to protect the United States.

SANCHEZ: And A.B., he is still catching heat for not releasing some of those photos last week, the photos that would have showed how some of the detainees were treated overseas.

STODDARD: He is under tremendous heat from human rights groups from the left for deciding to try to keep those photos and not release them, for siding with the Bush administration rulings on information on wiretapping. I mean, he really is -- even for returning to military tribunals, there's tremendous pressure coming from the left and his party. He tried to answer that pressure today.

And I think Candy is right, he tends to try to set a middle course. And that was precisely a criticism that the former vice president made of him today.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I heard that.

STODDARD: I think that we'll always hear this from Obama. It is a straddle, as Candy pointed out. He's trying to be open, but he's trying to do his job. And he realized once he governed, once he got into office, that it's much harder to do.

SANCHEZ: Straddle the line.

When we come back, the finishing touches of the Barack Obama speech on how he plans to keep you safe. A very comprehensive speech. You'll hear it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: When the president of the United States spells out his plan for keeping all Americans safe, we think the least we can do is let you listen to the bulk of the speech. Given that it was so early this morning, some of you out West were probably sleeping when the president first started speaking. It was about 7:28 in the morning, in fact, from California.

How do we as Americans defend our land and defend our values and our Constitution at the very same time? That was part of the theme of the president's speech.

Here's the president wrapping up his address today at the National Archives in Washington. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The framers who drafted the Constitution could not have foreseen the challenges that have unfolded over the last 222 years. But our Constitution has endured through secession and civil rights, through world war and Cold War because it provides a foundation of principles that can be applied pragmatically. It provides a compass that can help us find our way.

It hasn't always been easy. We are an imperfect people. Every now and then, there are those who think that America's safety and success requires us to walk away from the sacred principles enshrined in this building. And we hear such voices today.

But overly long haul, the American people have resists that temptation. Though we've made our share of mistakes, required some course corrections, ultimately, we have held fast to the principles that have been the source of our strength and a beacon to the world.

Now, this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. And unlike the Civil War or World War II, we can't count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will the case a year from now, five years from now, and in all probability, ten years from now.

Neither I nor anyone can stand here today and say that there will not be another terrorist attack that takes American lives. But I can say with certainty that my administration, along with our extraordinary troops and the patriotic men and women who defend our national security, will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe.

And I do know with certainty that we can and will defeat al Qaeda because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies. They will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are, if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals.

This must be our common purpose. I ran for president because I believed that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together. We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America. It can and must be a cause that you unites us as one people and as one nation.

We've done so before in times that were more perilous than ours. We will do so once again.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Important speech delivered by the president today. If his aim was to try and convince the American people, and vis-a-vis convince lawmakers of his plans for security, how did he do, Candy Crowley?

CROWLEY: Well, I think a president with an approval rating over 60 percent is probably always going to do well when he gives a speech. I think we have also seen, when it specifically comes to the war on terror to national security issues, that the president has a pretty high rating there.

So, I think that the question is, now looking at this, is Congress, which already knows how popular the president is, going to go ahead and give him those funds for closing down Gitmo? I don't think that he was specific enough, as in which prisons are going where, how many, at least, who else is going to be tried and how long this is going to take?

SANCHEZ: Twenty-five seconds left on this.

A.B. Stoddard, want to pick it up. Do you think he convinced some folks there in Congress?

STODDARD: Well, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he's still waiting for a plan. He listened to the speech, and he's sure that the president will come up with a plan. And the Democrats continue to say they want to close Guantanamo Bay. But he didn't sound like he heard a plan in the president's speech today.

As far as the American people, the people who move on this debate are in the middle, the Independent voters who voted for Bush when they were scared. We don't know what their response will be to Cheney's frightening speech today. And we don't know how they'll receive this debate over Guantanamo Bay.

Time will tell.

SANCHEZ: A.B. Stoddard, Candy Crowley, my thanks to both of you.

STODDARD: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: What you say -- we have one comment I'm looking at here which is very critical of the president, and another one very critical of Mr. Cheney. We will share both and also get the take of Wolf Blitzer on the president's comprehensive speech today on how he will keep America safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer joining us now for his analysis. He's been watching this speech. We'll be covering this story during his hours.

You know, interesting, Wolf, that to listen to this speech, it seems this president's policies are, in large measure, the antithesis of what the Bush administration had done. And we know that Republicans are going to oppose this president and staunch Democrats are going to like him.

Is it about getting to those in the middle? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, to a certain degree, those in the middle, they had their say last November. They had a clear choice between Barack Obama and John McCain, and we know who won that battle. So, the American people have spoken, to a certain degree, when it comes to that. There is no doubt about that, and certainly the poll numbers reflect overwhelming support right now for President Obama.

But he's got, as you point out, enormous problems right now, including a lot of problems with his own fellow Democrats. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, he's standing by live. He'll be joining us in the next hour, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." We're going to get him to respond to what the former vice president had to say today.

And we're also, by the way, Rick -- we're going to go to New York and speak with the New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly, and get the latest on that alleged terror plot involving those two synagogues in the Bronx and a U.S. Air National Guard base in upstate New York.

So we'll cover a whole range of stories today in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

SANCHEZ: Yes. There's even some talk that they had plotted to knock down a plane as well.

BLITZER: Right. And supposedly, they had...

SANCHEZ: That certainly sent shivers to a lot of folks there.

BLITZER: ... a Stinger shoulder-to-air missile, supposedly, that they had, although it was not operable. They didn't know that, according to these law enforcement authorities.

SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer, good show. We'll look forward to it.

BLITZER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We'll be right back. Your comments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Well, I'm out of time.

Here's Wolf Blitzer. Let's take him live instead of your comments. We'll save those for tomorrow.