During the September 6 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, CBS chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer offered his analysis of -- but ignored the politics behind -- President Bush's announcement, made earlier that day, that 14 terrorism detainees once held at secret prisons operated by the CIA had been transferred to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility to await trial. Schieffer claimed that Bush had “no choice” but to go to Congress now and request the authority to try the detainees, and that there is no doubt that Congress will grant him that authority. Contrary to Schieffer's assertion, however, Bush was in no way obligated to make this announcement when he did -- five days before the five-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and less than two months before the midterm elections in November when its potential political impact was at its greatest, as opposed to earlier or after the election. Also, three prominent Senate Republicans have raised serious questions regarding Bush's proposed system for trying terrorism suspects.

The New York Times reported on September 7:

President Bush said Wednesday that 14 high-profile terror suspects held secretly until now by the Central Intelligence Agency -- including the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks -- had been transferred to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to face military tribunals if Congress approves.

[...]

The government says the 14 terror suspects include some of the most senior members of Al Qaeda captured by the United States since 2001, including those responsible for the bombing of the destroyer Cole in 2000 in Yemen and the 1998 attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Most of the detainees have been interviewed extensively and are believed to have little remaining intelligence value.

With the transfer of the suspects to Guantanamo, which is run by the Defense Department, the International Committee of the Red Cross will monitor their treatment, Mr. Bush said. He used the East Room appearance to urge Congress to authorize new military commissions to put terror suspects on trial, replacing rules established by the administration but struck down in June by the Supreme Court.

The Times referred to the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the Bush administration lacked the power to set up “military commissions” to try detainees held at Guantánamo Bay without congressional authorization and that the administration had violated American military law and the Geneva Conventions in doing so.

On the September 6 broadcast of the CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric asked Schieffer, “Why now is the administration going to Congress, Bob, for interrogation and prosecution of these detainees?” Schieffer responded that the administration “had no choice,” adding: “The Supreme Court told them that they had to bring these people into some kind of system of justice, and they had to do it under rules set down by Congress.”

The administration did, however, have a choice as to when it would approach Congress to ask for this authority, and it chose to do so shortly before an election while Congress is in session for only a brief period of time, and during the week before September 11 as part of a series of Bush speeches related to national security. As NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert noted on the September 6 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News:

RUSSERT: Could they have done this a month ago? Yes. Could they do this on November 8th, the day after Election Day? Yes. Why now? Because it helps them politically in the midterm elections, and, two, the Bush administration thinks they can influence Congress over the next three weeks, [anchor] Brian [Williams]. Hammer out a bill in the full spotlight of the midterm elections and hope to put the Democrats on the defensive.

When Couric asked Schieffer whether Congress would “accommodate” Bush's request, Schieffer responded: “Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it. This will give Congress something to do, and they'll have an excuse not to act on things like working on the deficit and immigration problems, all those controversial things that they'd really not -- rather not handle as we come into this election.” Schieffer did not mention, however, that Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC), and John Warner (R-VA) have all criticized aspects of Bush's proposal for trying terror detainees.

From the September 6 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

COURIC: For more perspective on this, we turn now to Bob Schieffer, our chief Washington correspondent. Hi, Bob.

SCHIEFFER: Hey, how are you, Katie?

COURIC: Fine, thank you. I know, Bob, you believe this is a major change in policy for the Bush administration, but the president has gone about this quite artfully. How so?

SCHIEFFER: Well, I -- he was very deft in how he did this, Katie. And there's no question about it. The president stressed the benefits from this program. They talked about how much information they'd gotten from these people. He said that the CIA had never tortured any of these people. He never used the term “prison.” This is a real change for the administration.

COURIC: Why now is the Bush administration going to Congress, Bob, for interrogation and prosecution of these detainees?

SCHIEFFER: Well, basically, Katie, they had no choice. The Supreme Court told them that they had to bring these people into some kind of system of justice, and they had to do it under rules set down by the Congress.

COURIC: And do you think Congress will accommodate him?

SCHIEFFER: Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it. This will give Congress something to do, and they'll have an excuse not to act on things like working on the deficit and immigration problems, all those controversial things that they'd really not -- rather not handle as we come into this election.

COURIC: Bob Schieffer in Washington. Bob, thanks so much, great to see you.

SCHIEFFER: Thank you, Katie.