The man accused as the mastermind behind the September 11th terrorist attacks and his two accomplices have agreed to a plea deal in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

The development comes 16 years after their prosecution

started. Ali Rogan has the latest. The three men, Khaled Sheikh

Mohammed, the alleged leader behind the attacks, and Walid Mohammed Sala Mubarak bin

Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hausawi all agreed to plead guilty in

exchange for life sentences. The men have been in custody since 2003 and initially charged in 2008, but there have been

years of legal delays due in part to the brutal torture the men were subjected to while

in detention.

In a letter, government prosecutors said they recognized the deal would be met with mixed reactions

among thousands of family members who lost loved ones, but they called it the best path to finality and

justice in this case.

For a closer look, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Jess Braven.

He's the author of The Terror Courts, an account of military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

Jess, thank you so much for joining us. How did this deal come to be and why is it happening now?

Well, this deal was under negotiation since 2022.

And it wasn't the first time a deal like this was considered for years

prosecutors and officials in the military commission apparatus

thought that a deal for life sentences in exchange for guilty

plays was pleas would be the only way out.

So an earlier effort was quashed by higher-ups in the Pentagon.

This one began, as I said, in 2022,

and has continued as some of the detainees,

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