MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
We have a Guantanamo update that involves this news organization. We here at NPR are part of a group of media organizations asking a judge to show the public the plea deals reached with the alleged mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks - that's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - also with two other 9/11 defendants. Those plea deals were quickly rescinded by the U.S. defense secretary. They are under court-ordered seal. NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer covers Guantanamo. Hey, Sacha.
SACHA PFEIFFER, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: OK, so it's been - what? - just more than a month since the world learned these plea deals existed. Things have moved so fast since then, so catch us up.
PFEIFFER: Yes, and usually you would never use the word fast related to Guantanamo.
KELLY: Indeed.
PFEIFFER: This is a place where it seems like nothing happens for years, but recently - really startling news coming out of there. And since so many people have just forgotten that Guantanamo is open or that it exists, I'll remind everyone we're talking about the U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. That's where the 9/11 case has been prosecuted.
KELLY: Well, and where it has still not gone to trial, even though those attacks happened more than 20 years ago.
PFEIFFER: Exactly. But on July 31, there was a surprise announcement that settlement agreements had been reached with three men charged in the case, including, as you said, the ringleader, KSM. The next day, August 1, the plea deals got filed under seal. The day after that, August 2, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, nope. He retracted the deals, and he stripped the head of the military court of her authority to make plea deals in the case. That's even though that is part of her authority. That caused uproar among Guantanamo defense attorneys. They said what Austin did was illegal. It also upset some victim family members who support the plea deals. And ever since, those retracted settlement agreements have been hidden from the public.
KELLY: And do we have any idea what is in them?
PFEIFFER: We know the basic outline. We know that the three men would plead guilty to nearly 3,000 counts of murder. That's for all the people who died in the 9/11 attacks. In return, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would get life in prison rather than face a death penalty trial. Part of the reason we want to see the retracted plea deals is to find out if the two other men - their names are Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi - whether they would also get life, presumably, or if they would get shorter sentences.
KELLY: And tell me. I've been trying to puzzle this out. Why did the defense secretary get involved? Why did he rescind these plea deals?
PFEIFFER: This is so baffling, and it has been so controversial because the head of the military court is meant to be independent. It's a woman right now, and she does not need the defense secretary's permission to make deals. But Lloyd Austin said he was caught off guard and that a decision to settle the case is so monumental that he alone should be the one to make it. Now, he did this after complaints by other 9/11 family members and by members of Congress, who said the defendants were getting off too easy. So it is unclear whether Austin caved to political pressure.
KELLY: OK, go to the legal argument. What is the argument that NPR and these other media outlets are making for why the now-rescinded settlement agreement should become public?
PFEIFFER: It's a transparency accountability argument. As we all know, September 11 was one of the most devastating terror attacks on U.S. soil, continues to have global consequences. This is the largest criminal prosecution in U.S. history. And when the government keeps the plea agreement secret, that risks undermining public trust in what is happening down there in Cuba in the military court. Speculation can end up filling that void. And it is not just NPR making this argument. Our media partners in this, to unseal the records, are The New York Times, The Washington Post, Associated Press, NBC News, Fox News and Univision.
KELLY: Sacha, we've got about 30 seconds left, but when are we and our media partners going to find out if this legal motion succeeds?
PFEIFFER: We don't know, unfortunately. But, this month, the 9/11 judge will hear arguments about whether Austin did something illegal by reversing the plea deals and if they should be reinstated. They said that he wrongfully meddled in a decision made by a subordinate. And by the way, prosecutors themselves say it would be best to settle. The consensus is that there's a state of futility in the 9/11 case. There will never be a trial. But that is hard for many people to accept.
KELLY: NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer. Thank you.
PFEIFFER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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