dealing with a mess the next few days across the northeast. >> jennifer gray, thank you so much. make sure to follow me on twitter. check out our show page at cnn.com. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i now turn you over to the able hands of one mr. wolf blitzer right next door in t"the situation room". happening now, breaking news, terror warning, an urgent bulletin issued to law enforcement nationwide. they're warning of possible extremist responses to the controversial report on cia interrogation. are terrorists poised to retaliate against the united states? disturbing details, the report is revealing a catalog of horrors, including waterboarding, beatings, sleep deprivation and more. bush top administration officials were kept in the dark. studio attack, new details of the cyber assault on sony, more devastating than previously revealed. was north korea behind it?

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following the breaking news. an unusual joint warning by the fbi and the department of homeland security. they're telling law enforcement agencies nationwide to be on alert right now for a possible terrorist response to the senate report on cia interrogation. that report released today. the blistering document five years in the making details interrogation techniques adopted after the 9/11 terror attacks that are described as cruel, inhumane and degrading. we're covering all angles of the breaking news with our correspondents and our guests, including two members of the senate intelligence committee, the democratic chair, dianne feinstein and republican senator james risch. let's begin with barbara starr who has more on the disturbing findings. what are you learning? >> reporter: the cia says today some mistakes were made but that

what they did was legal and that it did gain the country valuable intelligence that prevented additional attacks. the senate democratic report begs to differ outlining what can only be said as brutal interrogation techniques including something called forced rectal feeding. that's just the beginning of it. abu zubaydah, a top al qaeda operative, deprived of sleep for 17 days as part of his interrogation. other practices and let me walk you through it, other practices the report details, detainees chained up and hung by their arms. again, sleep deprived others for more than seven days. shackled naked, one likely detainee froze to death. sexually threatened with a broomstick, waterboarded, near constant drownings. the report also, there is acknowledgment that president george w. bush, this happened during his administration. he did not know for some time

some of the details involved. and, wolf, there was a decision to keep the details from then secretary of state colin powell fearing that if he found out, he might blow his stack about it all. but the cia today says, yes, they could have done better but that they say it was legal, they had the authority to do all of this and that it did gain the country intelligence. many, wolf, disagree. >> the military around the world, they're going on a higher state of alert. you first broke the story yesterday 24 hours ago here on cnn, barbara. this alert, i assume, continues. marines, soldiers, airmen, sailors all over the world, they're worried now, what, that terrorists will read this report, will be inspired to try to kill american military personnel, diplomats, u.s. citizens around the world? is that the fear? >> reporter: look, wolf, the big fear in this age of social media, isis, al qaeda, other terrorist organizations will start putting things online that

may or may not be true about all of this, they will incite violence, that when mullahs, imams who are radicalized, not people of the genuine islamic faith, people who are radicalized to terrorism will start communicating information and that it will lead potentially to violent repercussion. there is worry about u.s. embassies around the world, military installations and of course here at home, also concerns. officials are telling all reporters at cnn, all of us are looking into this, that there's no specific intelligence at this time. but it is something they worry about especially in the coming days as word of all of this begins to filter through the internet and through social media. wolf? >> we'll get back to you. let's get more on this extraordinary joint warning by the fbi and the department of homeland security. pamela brown is here with me in "the situation room." give us some more specifics, pamela. what are you learning?

>> we're learning the fbi, dhs sent out a warning telling lauchl agenlaw enforcement agencies throughout the country to be an high alert. it says while unlikely it may spark online reaction, as barbara starr alluded to, and could influence home-grown violent extremists to act out, those living in the u.s. right now. the warning also says terrorist groups may exploit the findings for recruitment purposes. today during a closed-door session with reporters, fbi director james koumei said the fbi is focused on whether this memo will generate any activity overseas or from home-grown violent extremists. he echoed the sentiment in this bulletin. and the warning was sent out as a precaution. sources say there's no new intelligence so far indicating there's anything in the works as a result of the memo as barbara just said. >> thanks very much, pamela. update, let's dig deeper right now on all this. the woman at the center of this report, the chair of the senate

intelligence committee, senator dianne feinstein of california, is joining us. senator, thanks so much for coming in. >> you're welcome. >> what do you make of all this concern? u.s. military going on a higher state around the world, here at home, the department of homeland security, the fbi are warning all law enforcement, be on the lookout, no specific threat yet? was it worth it to release this report today, if in fact american lives, the diplomats, military personnel, civilians are going to be in danger? >> look, there is no perfect time to release this report. this began 12 years ago. we have worked for 5 1/2 years to document records as to what happened. barbara starr is a great reporter. i want to correct one thing she said about abu zubaydah. he was denied sleep for seven days, not 17 days. during a 17-day period in the month of august, he was the

victim of these e.i.t.s for some 17 days -- >> enhanced interrogation techniques? >> yes. 24/7. so there's confusion there and i wanted to straighten it out. i think you've done a good job certainly of hyping the warnings. is it possible that something would happen? yes. but it's possible that something happens even without this. there have been beheadings, there have been attacks without this report coming out. this doesn't mean that we shouldn't clean our house. it doesn't mean that an intelligence committee that has worked for 5 1/2 years to put together a cogent report that we believe will stand the test of time shouldn't release it. the world is an unstable place. you know as well as i do, isil

is pure evil. they may seize upon it, they may not. but they are going to continue to behead, they are going to continue to destroy, they are going to continue to kill innocent people until they are stopped. and i deeply believe that. i think john mccain said it very well of what america is all about, we admit our mistakes. we commit ourselves to never let these mistakes happen again. and that's what this is all about. >> but if americans are killed as a result of this report and they tell you that, i assume you would feel guilty about that. >> i would feel very badly, of course. what do you think, wolf blitzer? but we lose control. at the end of this year, the republicans take control and there's some evidence that this report would never see the light of day. we believe it should see the

light of day. and let me say this -- this is a 400-plus-page summary. it is not the 4600-page documentary of all of the detail of what happened. that can be declassified and released one day at an appropriate time. but in the meantime to get out what the executive summary said that these e.i.t.s did not work, that the program was not well-administered, that it was not well-managed, i think is extraordinarily important that there were sites where people were not qualified to do the interrogation did interrogation. these are things that come out in the report. cnn is doing this these days. you are really hyping it to a point -- obviously they're going

to take 96 hours before the report came out to secure all our facilities. >> let me interrupt for a second, senator. you and i are friends. we've known each other for a long time. when the department of defense issues a warning saying thousands of marines are now being put on a higher state of alert around the world in advance of the release of this report, when the department of homeland security and the fbi issue a joint statement going out to all law enforcement authorities across the united states, be on a higher state of alert, cnn is not releasing those statements, we're just reporting what the pentagon and the department of homeland security and the fbi are telling law enforcement and military personnel around the world. that's their words, not ours. >> is there a question? >> i just wanted to point out that this -- >> you have pointed it out, wolf, three times during our discussion. >> let's go to the question,

then. here's what the cia director, john brennan, an official statement from the cia said today in response to your report -- our review indicates that interrogations of detainees on whom e.i.t.s, enhanced interrogation techniques, were used did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives. the intelligence gained from the program was critical to our understanding of al qaeda and continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day. john brennan, a man you know well, a man i know, he was appointed cia director by president obama, not by george w. bush. what do you say to his reaction to your report? >> we disagree. an examination of the records going back to the beginning of the program indicates that this is simply not true. >> so he's lying, is that what you're saying? >> wait a second, wolf. i'm not going to get into this kind of discussion. what this says is clearly

there's a big difference of opinion. what we asked is that people read the report. everyone said the report is documented from where it came from, whether it was a cable, e-mail, some other form of communication. and therefore, it's not based on reinventing history 12 years later. now, we think this bears the public review. we think this should not be repeated again. if mr. brennan is making an argument that this kind of torture works, we can submit all kinds of experts to say it doesn't work. and we submit the record to say the record shows it did not work. wait one second, wolf. i would welcome the time when we can sit down and go over this.

the cia spent $40 million to prevent us from issuing this report. that is fact. we did not spend the money. we used our staff to do this report. they went into our computers illegally to take out information, not once, not twice, but three times. which i believe is a separation of powers violation. this, to me, shows that the cia has pulled out the stops to prevent this from coming out. additionally, there have been statements made by individuals, articles written that simply don't meet the test of truth. >> here's what else the cia said today in response to your report. once again, john brennan, the director of the cia is in charge -- information, they say, the cia's statement, information that cia obtained from detainees played a role in combination

with other streams of intelligence in finding osama bin laden. you deny that? they say it did help find bin laden. >> well, what helped find bin laden was human intelligence, was signals intelligence, was information from certain people before they were interrogated with enhanced interrogation techniques. that is what we found. the particulars are classified. but we would be very happy to sit down with mr. brennan and go over specific names. >> why didn't you interview anyone from the cia in preparation of this report? >> because six months after we began, what happened was that the attorney general who was doing a criminal investigation

of this essentially expanded that investigation. and it created the problem for employees that we could not interview because they then had additional liability. so this is essentially -- i've said what it is and i've said what it isn't. what this report is is a study of documents. every single statement made is documented in the report. if you take fault with it, you can look it up and see that the statement is true. when the cia did their report, i said, we will amend the report with any item that you say is false and we agree. and if we don't agree, we will put in a footnote that the cia disagrees and why. and you will see some of that in the executive summary. you will see much more of it if

that becomes public. >> the things you document is brutal in there, people lying to congress, people lying to the president of the united states, people lying all over the -- doing stuff that they clearly should not have been doing. do you want the justice department now, the u.s. government, to go after these people and charge them with crimes? >> look, i want the facts to be there so that this never happens again. i believe that a great deal was kept from the leadership in the white house at the time. this is my belief. i can tell you that we were not advised until 2006, with a short briefing, that very much diminished the actual enhanced interrogation techniques.

it was not until the cable -- excuse me, the tapes were burned that chairman rockefeller and kit bonn each designated staff to take a look at three cases. and that was abu zubaydah, it was k.s.m. and al nashiri. and they did and they reported back. and at that point when the intelligence committee saw what had been done, the vote was 14-1 to move ahead with a fuller investigation. and that fuller investigation has taken 5 1/2 years. we stand by it. we believe it will meet the test of time. and we believe that it says to our adversaries that we admit when we're wrong and we change the path. more importantly, wolf, as i said this morning on the floor, we had the cia inspector general

point out in the mid-decade that this has has been an historic problem with the cia, the loose administration, nobody in charge, that it sort of haunts the cia decade to decade. and we want this to change. we are the oversight committee. we have the right to look at these things. and we must change as a nation. not everything we do is right. and this is one that quite simply wasn't. i don't want to get into a battle with anybody over this. all i want people to do is read our report, please. >> fair enough. >> thank you very much. >> senator dianne feinstein, the chair of the senate intelligence committee, as i said, certainly a woman in the news on this day. appreciate it very much. good luck. >> thank you. up next, we'll get more on this extraordinary report. today, another member of the senate intelligence committee is standing by to join us live. there he is.

republican senator james risch, a very, very different perspective on what's going on. much more of the breaking news right after this. they take us to worlds full of heroes and titans. for respawn, building the best interactive entertainment begins with the cloud. this is "titanfall," the first multi-player game built and run on microsoft azure. empowering gamers around the world to interact in ways they never thought possible. this cloud turns data into excitement. this is the microsoft cloud.

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following the breaking news, law enforcement nationwide now being warned by the fbi and the department of homeland security of possible, possible terrorist responses to the new senate report on cia interrogation in the wake of 9/11. we're about to hear from a key republican member of the senate intelligence committee, senator james risch, here in "the situation room" with me. different perspective from the chair of the committee, dianne feinstein. the report dismisses the cia claim that its coercive

interrogations helped lead to intelligence to the capture and killing of osama bin laden. cnn's brian todd is taking a closer look at this part of the report. what are you finding out? >> we're getting real pushback from the cia tonight. the agency says the senate intelligence committee is flat-out wrong when it says no key evidence in the hunt for bin laden came from enhanced interrogation. the cia says they got to the man who led them to bin laden in part through two detainees who they interrogated. one of the most successful intelligence operations in american history, the hunt for osama bin laden and the raid that killed him. but tonight, top democrats on the senate intelligence committee say no meaningful clues, no key evidence in that decade-long search came from enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding, sleep deprivation and stress positions. >> actionable intelligence that was, quote, otherwise unavailable, otherwise

unavailable, was not obtained using these coercive interrogation techniques. >> reporter: the cia and senate republicans dispute that saying detainees in cia custody who had been the subject of those techniques helped lead them to a man named abu ahmed al kuwaiti. this interrogation is believed to be that of a detainee who the cia says told them al kuwaiti was bin laden's courier after interrogation. >> what's the target? where was the last time you saw bin laden? >> reporter: the cia says that information, quote, fundamentally changed our assessment of the courier's potential importance to our hunt for bin laden. the intelligence committee and the cia are also sparring over

the importance of another detainee named hassan ghul. the intelligence committee says, the most accurate information on al kuwaiti was provided by a cia detainee who had not yet been subjected to the cia's enhanced interrogation techniques. but they say he gave up a critical piece of information about the courier after his interrogation. >> takes us pretty far by saying, this guy delivered a letter from bin laden to the operations chief. that sort of nails the fact that he's in touch with bin laden and that he's actually doing things for him. >> but he acknowledges the information given by those detainees were just pieces of a much larger intelligence mosaic that led to the bin laden raid. he says years of signals collection, overhead photography, other human intelligence were crucial in

taking down the al qaeda leader. >> brian, didn't some of those interrogations lead to what were described as fabricated information about bin laden's so-called courier? >> yes, he said when the cia built confidence that they knew all about bin laden's courier, they went to khalid sheikh mohammed to ask him about the courier. mclaughlin said mohammed denied any knowledge about the courier, they say mohammed was lying about it. he lied to them to protect bin laden but in lying to them, he tipped them off that the information they had about that courier was right. >> brian, thanks very much. joining us now, republican senator james risch of idaho, member of the senate intelligence committee. senator, thanks very much. you were among those who opposed releasing this extensive report, right? >> i did. >> and your concern was it could result in? >> three reasons. first of all, i think the -- there's a lot of talk right now

about retaliation or retribution. i think that's legitimate. i wrote a letter last week saying that they needed to buck up for it. today they put out a piece that says people should be aware here in the united states and for that matter around the world. second one is recruiting. >> but there's no credible specific -- >> there's not. >> threat that's out there right now? >> there's not. >> go ahead. >> the second thing is isis is becoming more and more aggressive in both syria and iraq. they have been very successful in recruiting and indeed most of the intelligence community says that all future recruiting will include quotes from the report that has come out. so we've actually helped them with recruiting. but thirdly, the thing that's lost that nobody's talked about is this is going to hurt us a long time. i think for decades to come, with our allies and with our partners who we work with on covert operations. the united states runs a lot of covert operations around the

world, certainly that isn't secret, it's written about all the time. we have to have partners in working with that. >> but all that information was redacted in this report. we've got the whole report right here. they didn't name the countries where these secret cells were being used to interrogate, in effect, to torture some of these detainees. >> if you get online, already the identification of those countries has been teased out -- >> that's been reported widely, whether egypt or morocco or poland, that's been reported for at least a decade. >> that's true. and the more that's reported and now affirmed by this report, it is going to damage our ability to go to our partners and some of them are not necessarily allies, but also to allies and say, look, you've got this information, we've got this, let's work together on this, they're going to be very reluctant to do that. a good example is the drone program today. they talk about interrogation here.

we don't do that anymore. there's no interrogation -- >> there is but not through these type of techniques. they question these terrorists. >> they aren't picking up prisoners anymore. when they identify a high-value target, the target is droned. there's no terrorist left to interrogate. >> they're not questioned, they just kill them? >> that's right. >> i want to be specific. you're saying president obama has ruled out torturing prisoners, but he supports just killing them, is that what you're saying? >> you're saying that more directly than i would. certainly he has ruled out the torture, as has everybody. nobody thinks this is a good thing to do. having said that, when and if we get these people -- and that is very, very rarely, they are interrogated. but more importantly, when we do identify these people, instead of trying to get our hands on them, they are sujbject to our covert drone program that's out there -- >> which is targeted assassinations, killing of these suspects? >> i wouldn't call them assassinations.

these are people in the fight against america. it is only people who we are engaged in conflict with, in war with that are identified and listed as possible targets for the drone program. >> you support killing these terrorists? >> i support the drone program. i absolutely do and so do most of these people talking about this report. dianne feinstein is a strong supporter of the drone program and she's right. and i agree with her. >> senator, stand by. we have more questions. i want to go through this report with you, senator james risch of the intelligence committee. we'll resume the conversation right after this. shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. into one you'll never forget.

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we're following the breaking news, fear of terrorist retaliation following the release of the senate report on alleged cia torture. it's prompted an unusual warning by the fbi and the department of homeland security to all u.s. law enforcement agencies across the country. we're talking about the report with republican senator james risch of idaho. he's a member of the senate intelligence committee. john mccain, republican senator, a man you know well, he himself was tortured in vietnam during the vietnam war. he went on the floor right after dianne feinstein, strongly endorsed what the committee did releasing this lengthy report and what she said. to your friend, john mccain, you say? >> well, first of all, john and i have had long conversations about those kinds of things. and he's absolutely right. torture has no place in this. the release of the report is a different -- >> didn't the u.s. torture these prisoners? >> i think there's no question some of those people would -- what they did to them would fall

in the definition of torture. whether the united states did that -- there were people that did that but they were not authorized by the united states -- >> what do you mean people? these were foreigners, not american -- >> no, these were american citizens. >> these were contractors hired by the cia. >> contractors and others. but not -- certainly not operating with the authorization -- >> should they go to jail? >> well, i think it's a little late under the statute of limitations for that. early on, there probably could have been some prosecutions and probably would have gone to jail under those circumstances. my point is, what was the purpose of releasing that report? i heard dianne say, this should be done so we don't do this again. we're never going to do this again. when people found out about this, they were angry about it. the objective of the intelligence committee is to oversee these operations and also to see that they're doing their job well. there's nobody on this committee that's going to authorize that again. it's not going to happen. >> we did a little checking.

when it comes to torture, there's no statute of limitations. if you're charged with torturing -- this is a criminal act and the united nations, an official of the u.n. today said there should be an international investigation of the united states right now and those individuals responsible -- because this was a clear policy, they said, orchestrated at a high level within the bush administration, which allowed -- which was allowed to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law. they want those involved in this so-called torture, alleged torture, torture, whatever you want to say, to be criminally investigated. >> well, if you're talking about international investigation, i'm absolutely opposed to that. anytime the united states or israel get involved in the international investigations because of the animosity towards both of us, it always comes out badly. we've seen some of those reports -- >> this is what the u.n. said today. they said, as a matter of international law, the u.s. is legally obliged to bring those

responsible to justice, the u.n. convention against torture and the u.n. convention of forced disappearances requires states to prosecute acts of torture and enforce where there's sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction. the its is a signatory, signed those international treaties. >> that would be a question best asked to the administration. i'm not interested in any involvement in international participation whatsoever. this is our issue. if the administration wants to pursue it, so be it. we have a third branch of government that handles that sort of thing. >> senator risch, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. we have much more coming up. the fbi and the department of homeland security, their new warning issued today about a terror threat, potential terror threat and reaction to this senate intelligence committee report. but up next, we'll get reaction from the white house, the vice president, joe biden, has some very strong words while defending the report. and later, north korea

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we're following the breaking news, law enforcement nationwide now being warned by both the fbi and the department of homeland security of possible terrorist responses to the new senate report on cia interrogation in the wake of 9/11.

many republicans are blasting the report. but the obama administration is defending it. let's go to the white house. our correspondent, michelle kosinski, is working this part of the story for us. what's the latest, michelle, over there? >> reporter: republican outcry over this today is extensive and detailed. here's senator mitch mcconnell. >> i think what it does for the u.s. government is endanger every one of our people overseas, every embassy flying an american flag, as several of my colleagues have just pointed out, endanger the working relationship we've had with a variety of different countries in trying to deal with intelligence gathering. in short, it was a big step in the wrong direction. >> reporter: and we heard senator cornyn say he could think of no bigger disservice to the people of the cia, no bigger recruiting tool for terrorists than the release of this report. republicans say it endangers american lives, it's politically

motivated, essentially the democratic senate's last chance to release it it shifts. and they say these methods produce no actionable intelligence. senate republicans say it led to the break-up of terrorist plots, the arrest of leaders, even the killing of osama bin laden. the white house today refused to wade into that debate over intel or the other big one, whether people should have been prosecuted over this. but they did call the release of the report an example for democracy. here's the vice president. >> we made a mistake. we made a mistake. we're exposing it. that will strengthen us worldwide. it will not weaken us. and it will make it more difficult for the mistake to ever to be made again. >> reporter: the white house said a threat assessment, who was done for every single u.s.

diplomatic post overseas and embassies have been prepared for months. >> and the president pointedly made a phone call to the polish prime minister. and that is significant. tell us why. >> reporter: that phone call happened yesterday. we know that poland did allow the u.s. detention and torture to take place on its soil. it was held up in court over that. but interestingly in the first readout from the white house of that phone call, the cia report was never mentioned. but later on, senior administration officials did confirm it was talked about and we can expect the u.s. to be reaching out to more partners soon, wolf. >> we are hearing that the president is speaking to other world leaders whose names and countries were redacted from this report. but there clearly is u.s. concern there could be major fallout, deterioration in relation to intelligence cooperation for example in the days and weeks, months ahead. michelle, thanks very much. michelle kosinski at the white house. we have much more coming up, including the shocking new

details in today's report on these brutal interrogations of suspected terrorists. also, north korea now praising the cyberattack on a major movie studio. but are the north koreans behind it? brian todd is getting new information. stay with us.

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we're learning new details about the devastating cyber attack on sony pictures. north korea calling it a righteous deed and there's an investigation on whether they are directly involved. brian todd has the very latest. >> tonight, new details on the severity of the attack and what some cyber sleuths say about the possible north korean connection. a group of cyber experts not connected to the investigation were interviewed by bloomberg. some believe the cyber attack was launched from the st. regis hotel in bangkok, thailand.

to them the markers from the attack show possible involvement of a group called dark soul. experts say that group works outside north korea because of that country's limited access to the internet. cnn reached out to the representative of the chain and they have not responded. north korea has we've been reporting could be motivated to attack sony because of this. the scheduled christmas day release of the comedy movie, the interview, about a cia plot to assassinate kim jong un. they've been fuming about this movie, the kim regime calling it terrorism, an act of war, a moral attack on its leadership. but north korea denies hacking sony. and the investigator said this. he said there is no attribution to north korea at this point but fbi officials say they are still investigating this, wolf. >> they certainly.

are you have new information on how far this attack actually went, right? >> right. an fbi official told me the anti-virus software that is often used to hold off these attacks, this would not have prevented the hack. they said this was a very sophisticated attack from an organized group. sony is not commenting on any of this, wolf, but clearly, sony is just still reeling from this attack. still recovering from it. this investigation may take a while. this was an absolutely devastating cyber attack. >> this film coming out in the next week or two, is that right? >> about two weeks. christmas day is the scheduled release. with sony still reeling from this, sony could lose a lot of money on this and other films. as a result of that cyber attack, five of the holiday releases were posted on illicit websites. it is losing millions of dollars. in other movies possible revenue because of the cyber attack. >> thanks very much. news coming up next. federal officials issuing a

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happening now, new terror warning. news on the possible threat to americans after the release. a bombshell senate report on u.s. interrogation tactics. the cia under fire. i'll talk to a former lawyer for the spy agency who signed off on the bush era program that critics now describe as torture.

why didn't he keep secretary of state colin powell in the dark? plus, protests back lash. will police try to crack down on daily demonstrations against nypd chokehold case? and stabbing attack. the dramatic video of a terrifying attack in new york city that ended with police opening fire. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. >> a new bulletin warning the terrorists may, repeat, may retaliate against americans in the united states or around the world. this after today's release of an explosive report on cia interrogation of terrorists during the bush administration. democrats on the $senate committee say the tactics were far more brutal than previously revealed and in some cases

amounted to torture. the cia is pushing back, calling the program effective. the report is reigniting a debate over terrifying tactics used after 9/11 including practices now banned by president obama. we have our analysts and news makers all standing by to all cover all angles of the breaking story, the conflicting views and what it all means for this story. first let's to go our penlt correspondent, barbara starr who has the very latest. >> just one of the al qaeda operatives was subjected to days of enhanced sbaig interrogation. some call it torture and days of sleep deprivation and that is just the beginning of what is in this report. the brutality is shocking. at least five detainees were subjected to rectal feeding. interrogation procedures that went on for months. at least one detainee died from

hypothermia. >> stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods of time. they were deprived of sleep for days. in one case, up to 180 hours. >> one detainee had his lunch pureeed and poored into his rectum. he eventually attempted to cut his wrists, chew into his arm and cut a vein in his foot. much of the information kept from president george, with bush's own secretary of state. >> there are cia records stating that colin powell wasn't told about the program at first because there were concerns that, and i quote, powell would blow his stack if he were briefed. >> top cia officials says some of the details were held close. >> those who needed to know were absolutely brought in and made parties to the conspiracy.

as i said, we were very, very clear that, about what it was that we intended to do. what we were doing to make sure that we had the necessary insurances from the justice department that what we were doing is legal. >> some of the worst abuse occurred at a secret location called cobalt where detainees were walked around naked or shackled with their hands above their heads for extended periods of time. cia officers dragged detainees hooded down hall ways, slapping and punching them. and in an admission in cia documents that waterboarding did cause physical harm. abu zubaydah became unresponsive with bubbles rising through his open full mouth. they called khalid sheikh mohammed waterboarding 183 times a series of near drownings. torture that wasn't even effective, according to the report. >> it produced little useful intelligence to help us track down the perpetrators of 9/11 or

prevent new attacks and atrocities. >> now the cia issued a lengthy and detailed counter statement, if you will, saying that the program was legal, it was effective, it did gain the country valuable intelligence but also acknowledging that some mistakes were made. >> thank you. we have more now on the new terror warning for the fbi and the department of homeland security. in reaction to this new senate report. let's bring in our justice reporter, evan perez. tell us specifically what their fear is. >> the big concern is that this basically plays into the hands of terrorist groups for the propaganda purposes. this is the type of thing they've shown repeatedly with previous videos that have been put out by isis, isil is what the government calls it. and they use images of guantanamo prisoners in orange

jumpsuits them use this to recruit and as propaganda against the united states to show that the united states is hypocritical. >> you've heard the united nations today. one of the top officials there. the u.n. special report on counter terrorism and human rights says the united states must now criminally investigate all those responsible for this alleged torture campaign against the suspected terrorists. >> the justice department has looked at this a couple of times now, wolf. and in 2009, attorney general eric holder asked a prosecutor to take a look at everything that the senate was able to look at. all 6 million pages that they were able to look at. and they decided there was not a prosecutable crime. the justice department repeated that today. they said that it stands by its decision not to initiate criminal charges. that is not going to make everybody happy. >> so there won't be any criminal investigations by the federal government into this alleged use of tort you. even though the u.n. now says if in fact all these reports are

true, a matter of international law, they stay united states is legally liable to bring those responsible to justice. they cite the u.n. convention toward torture. unenforced disappearances, the u.s. is a signatory but the justice department you're saying, as recently as today is saying there will be no criminal -- >> right. >> this puts them in a very tough position. president obama and the attorney general eric holder both used the term torture to describe what happened. >> they certainly did. the president did it as recently as a year ago when he spoke at the university of washington. there are though, this is interesting, some high ranking bush administration officials who still fear potentially even leaving the country, going to europe because other countries might want to arrest them? is that the concern? >> there is that concern. if they won't get prosecuted in this country, that traveling to certain countries, spain, belgium, france, for instance, there have been efforts to try

to bring prosecutions against former official in the bush administration. i just talked on the phone with a former senior level person in the white house. and he said he is very careful about which countries he investigates. he doesn't know what someone might try to pull. he can travel to friendly countries but countries like france and spain and belgium have been very active. >> those are friendly countries to the united states. throws nato allies but there are even concern about going to those countries that they could be arrested on war crimes and brought before the international criminal court in the haig? >> right. but you have prosecutors who want to make a name for. they and even if a prosecution doesn't go forward, they can always get a lot of headlines. >> and certainly in this report there's extensive detail if they want, those countries want to pursue those kinds of criminal investigations and start picking

up, arrests american officials from the bush administration. former justice department officials, cia officials, military personnel. they have a lot of evidence they can point to in this report released today. thanks for that report. defense secretary chuck hagel is saying there may be back lash that could put the united states on military at serious risk. >> how did it go? give us the reaction from the defense secretary. >> reporter: secretary hagel supremely focused on the safety of the many thousands of u.s. troops now deployed to this region. 11,000 troops in afghanistan. 1,500 just across the border in iraq with another 1,500 authorized on the way. a major navy base on the persian gulf in bahrain. all of them in the pentagon exposed and all of them today on high alert.

>> we sat down with secretary hagel in baghdad, iraq, where he made a surprise stop to visit the 1,500 u.s. troops now deployed there and where 1,500 more are on the way. a region certain to be angered by the interrogation report. >> in light of the danger it imposes, do you think it is a mistake to release that? >> well, you know, the president has said that we need to be honest and get this report out. we have had not a opportunity to redact some of the most sensitive parts of that, to protect our people. >> do you believe the military in the field is prepared for the fallout, even with the redactions? >> i've directed all our combatant commanders to have all their commands on alert. because we want to be prepared just in case. we've not detected anything specific anywhere. we want to be prepared and we

are. >> secretary hagel told us he was encouraged by progress against isis in iraq. >> have you identified a positive turning point in the fight against isis? >> we have stymied and stopped isis in many areas. they have retreated in some areas, they have lost ground in some areas but it is still an immense threat. it is too early to be defining any turning points. >> still he acknowledged help from an unlikely source. iran. >> is iranian military force -- >> any time the isis leadership or its structure is weakened, it plays to the overall benefit of the degrading and destroying isis. >> secretary hagel is assisting in yemen and with so maniers and the south african hostage pierre

korkie both dead. the third failed rescue mission just this year. >> do you believe that you owe the pentagon owes, not just the families involved but to the military men and women. you took part in very risky operations to review how and when these operations were over? >> these are immensely complex. and high, high precision engagements. these are reviewed intensely every which way. intelligence, military, state, and so the review is ongoing all the time. in fact, the operations were flawless. but when a hostage is killed, that's a risk. and we thought about that. we talked about that. it is intelligence and it is imperfect. >> secretary hagel told me that iraqi security forces in iraq are beginning to emerge from their purely defensive positions

into some offensive operations taking back the dam, for instance. but expectations management here. no one is talking about major operations to take out major pieces of territory from isis for some months. we learned today as well, wolf, that the iraqi prime minister asking secretary hagel for more military support. more air power, more heavy weapons. they say they needed to strike back. >> did you get a sense how concerned the defense secretary jim, might be about this senate intelligence committee report? the impact it could have on the united states military? >> reporter: he is very concerned. i think you heard that in his voice as i asked about this alert. that's why he said he was directing his combatant commanders in places like afghanistan that we visited on the weekend. iraq that we visited today. he did say some of the redactions helped mitigate the threat. it doesn't eliminate the threat

and they are looking to friday. friday prayers is a potential flash point for some of the pushback in some of the back lash to the release of this report. >> all right. traveling with the secretary of defense. appreciate it very much. let's get some more now. joining us, a former cia insider during the bush era. john rizzo served as the top lawyer for the central intelligence agencies. also the author of the book company man. 30 years of controversy and crisis in the cia. thanks very much for joining us. >> good to be here. >> you were the lawyer at the cia during all of this enhanksed interrogation technique. this debate right after 9/11. how far the u.s. could go in interrogating al qaeda suspects. >> i was the chief cia lawyer. >> did you sign off on what is now widely seen as torture? >> i was the first lawyer in the government briefed on these proposed techniques. difference one who referred this

matter over to the department of justice which resulted as we now know in the top secret memorandum coming back to me, addressed to me. the first of the so-called torture memos. >> to john ashcroft. >> it was signed by the legal council but the attorney general did approve the memo. >> did you know specifically, you personally, what was going on with the waterboarding, the sleep deprivation, all the other really techniques described in the senate report? >> those were two proposed techniques. sure, i knew about them at the beginning and i certainly knew that they were eventually approved by the department of justice. >> so you were okay with it. >> yeah. once the department of justice said that they did not violate the torture statute, then yes. i deferred to the department of justice. >> in the unclassified report. there are hundreds of pages. we went through it. there is a reference to you, to

an e-mail you wrote in which you said, it is cheer to us from some of the run-up meetings we had with white house counsel that the white house is extremely concerned. secretary of state colin powell would blow his stack if he were to be briefed on what was going on. that was an e-mail from john rizzo, that's you. on july 31st, 2003. explain the background, why you believed, the white house believed the then secretary of state colin powell, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, four star general, former national security adviser, would blow his stack if he were briefed on what the cia and its contractors were doing to these al qaeda prisoners. >> sure. indulge me first for a second. i have not seen that report. i was denied access to it so this is the first time in the 12 years since i've. i wrote that e-mail that it's been shown to me. i'm trying to recall on the fly. that e-mail is accurate and it

was true. it's important as you read. i wrote the e-mail because i took notes in the particular meeting with the white house lawyers. it was not i who said colin powell would blow his stack. i was reporting back to my bosses the reaction of senior lawyers at the white house that they thought that he would blow his stack if he were to learn about these proposed techniques. >> could you tell us who at the white house wanted to deny this information to the then secretary of state general colin powell? >> the white house counsellor at the time was alberto gonzalez. >> who later became the attorney general. >> yeah. and he was chairing the meeting that i described in that e-mail. now, if i said he said that, he said that. but i don't know whether this was mr. gonzalez himself or someone higher than him had told

him and he was relaying it. i'm not sure after all these years. >> but obviously, if they have the actual e-mail, and you're saying it is accurate, what you wrote, but you were describing the reaction from white house officials and why they would keep all this information secret from the secretary of state. >> yeah. and as a coda to this, the secretary of state was briefed into the program. not immediately after the program began but some months later and as it turned out, secretary powell did not blow his stack. >> do you think he was given all the specific details? because in this report that the, dianne feinstein, the chairman of the committee released said they were still not sharing all the sordid details even with high ranking officials. >> i can tell that you all of the techniques were scribbled to him in the kind of detail pitch my design it sbeenlt chilling details. so he certainly knew all of

that. you're asking me whether he knew every detail in this 500 page summary that i have not read. i can't tell you that. >> of course not. so stand by. we have more questions. you have a unique perspective on what was going on. you were right there in the middle of the cia, the top lawyer at the cia during this very, very sensitive period right after 9/11 when these critically important decisions were made. much more with mr. rizzo and the breaking news after this. celebrate what's new, the bigger, better menu at red lobster! with more of what you love! try our newest wood-grilled combination! maine lobster, extra jumbo shrimp, and salmon! so hurry in! and sea food differently.

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i want the facts to be there so this never hams again. i believe that a great deal was kept from the leadership in the

white house at the time. this is my belief. i can tell you that we were not advised until 2006 with a short briefing that very much diminished the actual enhanced interrogation technique. >> the chair of the senate intelligence committee dianne feinstein. we're back now with a top cia lawyer during the bush administration. a career attorney over at the cia, john rizzo, is still with us. you heard her say that she believes, her belief, i can tell you, the top white house officials were not advised until 2006. she says, about what was going on with these so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. you say, mr. rizzo? >> utter nonsense. the top white house officials were told about the techniques because i'm one of the ones that told them. at the very outset of the program. what did you tell them?

who did you tell? >> well, i can tell you, it went as high as the vice president and it included the national security adviser. >> you met with dick cheney. >> dick cheney was in meetings where we cia officials discussed the proposed program, why we thought it was necessary, what the techniques entailed. so yes. and that was done right at the very beginning. so as soon as the enhanced interrogation techniques, the sleep deprivation, the waterboarding started, you immediately briefed the white house? the highest officials in the white house? including the vice president. you never met with president bush. >> no. >> you never met directly with colin powell. the secretary of state. >> not at the very beginning but he was subsequently briefed on all these things and attended the national security meetings. >> and national security adviser condoleezza rice? >> yes. as a matter of fact, miss rice and the vice president's lawyers at least and the president's lawyer, form matter, knew about

the proposed program before it was finally approved so they were in before the thing was actually put into place. >> and what about the chair, the chairman and the vice chairman of the senate intelligence committee and the house intelligence committee at that time? were they told about what you guys at the cia were doing? >> yes. the program officially began when i received the memorandum from the department of justice approving the techniques. >> do you remember who you briefed specifically? >> i was not in that particular briefing. but it was originally the chairman was a democrat senator. >> jay rock feller? >> no. before him. senator bob graham. and the ranking member, the republican member at this point, it escapes me. i'm sorry. then the election of 2002 happened. the senate flipped to republicans. jay rockefeller was brought in.

he was briefed. now talking on the senate side. also on the house side. nancy pelosi was briefed. she was house intelligence committee chairman. >> what i hear you saying, mr. rizzo, is that you, that when they say they weren't told, when senator feinstein said on the senate floor, the full committee wasn't briefed, you're saying the ranking member and the chair, the chairman and the ranking member, they were fully briefed as was the speaker of the house and the senate majority leader? is that what you're saying? and the minority leaders as well? >> at the outset. >> they knew exactly about the waterboarding, the sleep deprivation, the black hole sites in just a minute or morocco, where they engaged contractors to torture these prisoners? >> they knew all of. . they knew the black sites. they did not know the locations because that was kept to an extremely small number of people.

>> who knew the locations where these interrogations were taking place? >> well, the people in the cia had to know about it. and i can't tell you how many people those were. i was one of them. outside the cia, you know, honestly, i don't believe the vice president was ever told where the locations were. >> where the black sites were? where the secret cells were? >> yeah, yeah. >> why wonderful the vice president of the united states or the president for that matter, in a daily intelligence briefing be told that information? >> because of the countries who were cooperating with us and their extreme sensitivity about their role, it was kept to an absolute minimum. i cannot guarantee that the president ask vice president weren't told the locations by someone because there were a few people in the white house that knew. i can't guarantee they weren't told by them. all i can tell you is we at cia did not tell them and they did not want to know. >> i want you to listen to john mccain, republican senator from

arizona know candidate, himself a p.o.w. during vietnam war who was tortured by the north vietnamese. this is what he said today on the senate floor after dianne feinstein released this report. >> i have long believed some of these practices amounted to torture as a reasonable person would define it, especially, but not only the practice of waterboarding which is a mock execution and an exquisite form of torture. >> are you ready to concede that these techniques amounted to torture? >> no. no. tort sura legally defined term in statute. i did not believe at the time they were approved they were torture. certainly the justice department didn't conclude that. and i do not believe it today. they were harsh, they were brutal, but they did not in my view cross the legal line. senator mccain of all people has the right and experience to say

what he is convinced is torture and that this was torture. we and everyone at the cia totally respect that and have always respected him. so i have absolutely no quarrel with senator mccain. and obviously, it is not my place to start debating a hero like that. >> you heard our reporting and i've heard this for a long time, that some high ranking bush administration officials, cia officials are now afraid to go to various countries in europe because they might be arrested, accused of war crimes based on these allegations of torture. you were the top lawyer at the cia who signed off on these technique. are you afraid to leave the united states? >> yeah. i'm concerned. i'm sure once i finally read that report, i will be concerned, yes. anyone would. >> concerned that what would happen? >> as evan noted in his speech, some of these governments,

governments like spain and italy and france are very independent magistrates. so anything is possible. >> so you're staying put here in washington, d.c. >> i'm going on visit yosemite national park. >> thanks very much for joining us. you have a unique perspective on what's going on. we appreciate it. coming up, new fuel for protests. we have some more information about the ferguson shooting grand jury. much more on that story and a lot of other news coming up in the situation room. ♪ [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com.

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we're back with breaking news. a new warning by the department of homeland security and the fbi of possible terror activity in the united states or overseas in response to the new senate report. democrats and republicans in congress are debating the report's release today and whether the brutal cia tactics and outlines amounted to torture. i spoke a little while ago with senator dianne feinstein. she is the chair of the senate intelligence committee. i asked her about the timing of the report and the possible back lash. but if americans are killed as a result of this report and they tell you that, i assume you would feel guilty about that. >> i would feel very badly. of course. what do you think, wolf blitzer? but we lose control at the end of this year, the republicans

take control and there's some evidence that this report would never see the light of day. we believe it should see the light of day. >> let's go to the capitol hill. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is getting more reaction. the reaction has been explosive, i must say. >> reporter: people are used to seeing political warfare on capitol hill but the senate intelligence committee is usually a rare oasis of bipartisanship. not on this. >> my words give me no pleasure. >> reporter: an empassioned 58-minute floor speech, graphic descriptions of torture. >> detainees were subjected to the most aggressive technique immediately. stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions in long periods of time. >> reporter: dianne feinstein says those technique did not

work. the controversial conclusion of her committee's report which has the backing of most democrats and even some republicans. >> they stained our national honor. did much harm and little practical good. >> reporter: john mccain was a prisoner of war in vietnam for more than five years. >> i know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence. >> reporter: but for most republicans, democrats who wrote the report are living in an alternate reality, ignoring the contech of post 9/11 times. >> over $40 million focused on a program that effectively ended over eight years ago while the world around us burns. >> reporter: top intelligence committee republicans says the tactics did produce critical intelligence. he panlts democrats' conclusions as inaccurate and the investigation flawed. no interviews with cia

operatives. >> this is a poor excuse for the type of oversight that the congress should be conducting. >> reporter: many republicans accused democrats of playing politics. >> i'm more interested the -- >> reporter: orrin hatch said this. >> a pure political piece of crap. >> reporter: others accuse democrats of recklessly risking national security. >> i think what it does for the u.s. government is endanger everyone of our people overseas, every embassy flying an american flag. >> reporter: how do you respond to those who worry that releasing this will put american lives at risk? >> there is no good time. and i think the greatness of this country is that we can examine mistakes and remedy them. and that really is the hallmark of a great and just society. >> reporter: feinstein has been trying to declassify and release this report for months. there has been a protracted and

very tense negotiation with the cia, finally the white house and cia green lighted it this week but timing certainly was a factor here, wolf, since democrats lose control of the senate effectively this week. republicans take over and feinstein admitted to me that was part of the reason they wanted to do it this week. >> if it didn't happen this week under the republican majority in the new senate in january, it probably wouldn't happen for a while. thanks vex for that report. let's get more now on these cia interrogation tactics. the fallout still with us as johnrieso, he served as the top lawyer for the cia. we're also join by our security analyst, peter bergen. the former cia officer and analyst retired general mark. you were right at the center, mr. rizzo, of approving these interrogations including the waterboarding right after 9/11 of these al qaeda suspects. but you were never questioned by the senate intelligence

committee about any of this. dianne dianne feinstein says they could not question them because there were investigations underway for possible criminal action. as a result they just read transcripts from interviews that all of you gave but they couldn't question you directly. do you accept that? >> no. that's absurd. and i could go on for 25 minutes on this. the fact of the matter is the justice department has never had real power over congressional committee who seeks to interview employees. it is up to employees in the case of an ongoing criminal investigation to decline because of possible self-incrimination. the point is the choice with s with the employee. every previous congressional investigation including iran-contra i was deeply involved in. the congressional committee wants to talk to the people whose work they are scrutinizing. in this case, maligning. so the fact that this notion that somehow they were precluded is silly.

first, a personal example. january 2008. i testified, not interviewed. i testified under oath under threat of perjury with no lawyer, no handlers before the full house intelligence committee. 26 members on the issue of the destruction of the cia video tames. remember that? at the same time there was a criminal investigation ongoing into those tapes. >> they would have asked to you fwef this investigation. you would have been happy to go up there and tell them whatever you knew. >> i would have been delighted. i wrote a whole book about it. >> what do you make of that? they didn't question one cia official. yet in this report, they're accusing these cia officials of basically breaking the law. >> well, in their defense, you know, documentary evidence tends to be better than people's faulty recollections. so one of the strengths of the report is it is tied to a lot of documents that were written at the time the events happened.

that said, i'm hearing john rizzo hear. if he was willing to testify, he obviously had things to say, why wonderful they speak to him? i think that's an interesting question. >> i want to you listen, this is the president of the united states. he is acknowledging that there was in fact torture. he's been saying this long before he became the president of the united states. let me play you a little clip. this is what he said last year at the national defense university in washington. >> i believe we compromised our basic values. by using torture to interrogate our enemies and dedetaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law. >> so do you agree that the united states engaged in torture? >> i don't know. i haven't read the 528 pages yet from the redacted executive summary so i would have to look at that. i think it is a reasonable criticism to say that the bush

administration, particularly the president and the vice president, and the senior members of congress who were briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques, should have made this a public issue very early. >> what does that mean? >> we should have had a debate about it. you should have said, these are the type of techniques that we're going to do. let's have a debate about it. >> you want to tell al qaeda suspects that this is what the united states -- >> i don't really think, the distance between abstract and the real is enormous. so i don't think they would have been able to prep themselves tak terribly well for this. i think the most important thing was at that time to ensure the case officers and other opposites officers involved in this were assured that they were under no legal jeopardy. >> as you well know, the u.s. military has strict rules banning torture. the civilians, the cia in this particular case, others, they didn't have those rules.

for the military there was no use of torture. you guys in the u.s. military always stayed away from these so-called enhagsed interrogation techniques. is that right? >> pretty much so. there was a manual that we would teach some interrogators about different enhagsed interrogation techniques. i have to remind everyone during this period of time, there was a demand for a great number of interrogators. they were brought on very quickly. some of them did not have the best of training. that's all part of the argument. what i'm very concerned about, there is a difference between real and the philosophical. right now we have military people in harm's way. this is going to have severe repercussions as did it in 2004 when i was in baghdad in the abu ghraib photos were released. this will affect our soldiers in

the field. i talked to some of my friends in europe and they're perplexed as to why this report was even released. i? i want everyone to stand by. we'll continue our analysis of this extraordinary report released today. then all the parts. come together, and there it is ... our new car! so, that's how santa fits it in his sleigh. wow ... wow. the magic of the season is here, at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. you can't breathe through your nose, suddenly, you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38% more.

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general. you say you've been speaking with military personnel? they are deeply concerned today that there could be terrorist attacks against u.s. military personnel around the world as a result of the release of this report. i want to be precise. is that whar they're telling you? >> these are individuals in iraq right now and they are concerned. one of the individuals was in baghdad with me in 2004. he said we had the same experience when the you feel like you are getting isil at a culminate point and then to have the potential for additional recruiting efforts and they are used to social media, we've been attempting to learn how to counter the social media. this is not the way to counter it. >> but peter, the terrorists, whether al qaeda or isis or any of the other groups, they have wanted to kill americans for a long time. they don't necessarily need more

inspiration, do they? >> that is right. they executed steve foley and steve sotlof. and then it was guantanamo and abu ghraib. people were reacting. and there is a document, it wasn't seismic details, much of this was already out. >> people knew they were waterboarding, and not like with abba ghraib where the prisoners were being tortured and degraded. do you think there is a difference there? >> i doubt seriously that anyone is going to attack the united states that wasn't planning on attacking the united states any way. and i also -- whatever you think about the democrat-driven senate

intel report, it is an appropriation function of the u.s. government and don't think you should hold functions of the u.s. government hostage to whether some terrorist is going to strike you or not. >> and if you look back, mr. rizzo and you were there and you authorized it, you were at the top lawyer at the cia and worked with the top lawyers at the department and in sanctioning the harsh terror techniques, looking back on that, what would you have done, if anything, differently? >> it is a major mistake and i bear the responsibility for that. this program should have been briefed to far more many members of congress in the first years than it was. it was only briefed as we discussed with the leadership, eight members of congress, not the full intelligence committees. that was a serious mistake. >> the four top leaders in the senate and the house. >> as we've seen in subsequent years, some of the people have claimed they didn't remember or weren't told.

we should have, with a program like this, should have done that. >> thank you, guys, very much. obviously the questions will continue, the fallout from this report will be, i suspect, major, in the coming days and weeks. just ahead, other news we're following. including this, a synagogue attacks and a student stabbed in the head sand the suspect shot and killed by police in new york city. we're learning new details. a wake-up call. but it's not happening out there. it's happening in here. [ sirens wailing ] inside of you. even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. it's more than the car.er.tool at crohnsandcolitis.com.

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a review of a disturbing video of a stab ago tack inside of a new york city synagogue and the police response.

here is cnn's rosa flores. >> reporter: a chaotic scene between new york city police and a suspect armed with a knife in a brooklyn synagogue early on tuesday morning. [ yelling ] >> reporter: police say the suspect had just stabbed this man, levi rosenblatt on what they call a random attack. the 22-year-old struck in the left temple with what police say was a nine-inch knife with a 4 1/2 inch blade while in deep study at the habad lovo vich headquarters. the man who captured it all on video doesn't want to show his face but he wants to share what he witnessed. >> it was just shocking. a guy is running around trying to stab people for no reason. he is not saying anything, not demanding money or anything. just saying who wants to die tonight. >> reporter: the standoff

lasting several minutes and the police repeatedly telling the suspect to put down his blade. meanwhile, a bystander off camera trying to play arbitrator. >> the guy inside is trying to negotiate with him. >> reporter: and also asking the suspect to put down the knife. that didn't work either. >> he grabbed the knife again. >> reporter: police say the suspect lunged toward the officer before the officer took a shot. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: and didn't miss, shooting the suspect in the chest. >> don't move. >> even after he was shot, he didn't give up. >> reporter: the suspect identified by police as calvin peters, later pronounced dead at the hospital. the stabbing victim is in serious condition. members of the synagogue gathered in prayer for him this afternoon. people say the suspect had psychological issues and it is unclear why he snapped.

>> rosa flores in new york. thank you for that. join us again tomorrow in "the situation room." you can watch us live or dvr the show so you don't miss it. thanks for watching us live. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. breaking news, the fbi and homeland security issuing a senate warning in the wake of the senate torture report, a 24-year veteran of the agency is outfront next. plus thousands of new documents released in the ferguson shooting case, except for the testimony of a key witness. it was held back. what other evidence is being withheld? and protests growing again tonight in what is being called a week of outrage. protesters demanding rage and justice for eric garner. let's go "outfront."