hey, there, everyone i'm errol barnett here on cnn for the next two hours.

a big welcome to those of you watching in the u.s. and all around the world. >> stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful possessions for long periods of time. >> disturbing details of how the cia handled terror suspects, the damning report and its political implications. defenders of the program say it helped find osama bin laden, while critics say otherwise. we'll show you both sides of this issue. at this hour we expect to hear whether an appeal in the oscar pistorius case will proceed. also coming up. >> breathe, honey, breathe. >> this is fine. >> blow out. >> how and why is david mckenzie experiencing labor pains? we will explain later in the program. a lot of interesting stories to get to. but first, let's bring you the

latest information we have. dianne feinstein says the cia's actions after the 9/11 attacks left a stain on american values and history. the newly released report prompted the fbi to issue a warning now to u.s. law enforcement to be wary of any extremist reaction to the report. a united nations official accused those of being involved as part of a criminal conspiracy and is demanding they be brought to justice. among the tactics revealed in the report, the cia conducted mock executions on at least two detainees. kept some awake for up to 180 hours straight. and stripped others naked, subjecting them to cold temperatures and very cold showers as well. now, many republicans blasted this report as a partisan move by democrats before they lose control of the senate next year.

dana bash looks at the politics surrounding this report. >> my words give me no pleasure. >> graphic descriptions of grizzly torture. >> detainees were subjected to the most aggressive techniques. immediately stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods of ti time. >> dianne feinstein says those techniques did not work. the conclusion of her committee's report which has the backing of most democrats and even some republicans. >> a stain on our national honor, did much harm and little practical good. >> john mccain was a prisoner of war for more than five years. >> i know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence.

>> democrats who wrote the report are living in an alternate reality, ignoring the context of post 9/11 times. >> over 40 milli$40 million, fo a program that effectively ended over eight years ago, while the world around us burns. >> saxby chandliss says it did produce good intelligence. no interviews with cia operatives. >> this is a pour excuse for the type of oversight the congress should be conducting. >> many republicans accuse democrats of playing politics. >> they're more interested in trying to embarrass the bush administration. >> orrin hatch even said this. >> it's a pure political piece of crap. >> others accuse democrats of recklessly risking national security. >> i think what it does for the u.s. government is endanger every one of our people

overseas, every embassy flying an american flag. >> how do you respont to those who worry that releasing this will put american lives at risk. >> there really is no time. 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. >> feinstein has been trying to declassify and release this report for months. there's been a protracted and tense negotiation over that. until finally this week, the cia and white house gave the green light. timing was of the essence, the republicans take over, and senator feinstein loses control of this committee. she admitted to me, that was part of the reason for the push this week. dana bash, cnn, capitol hill. >> we're going to bring in josh rogan now from washington. josh, thanks for joining us. this report is quite stunning, what does it suggest that

president george w. bush and other top officials were kept in the dark about aspects of this program for years. is that really possible? >> on the one hand, the report shows there was an intentional effort by senior white house officials to keep key officials including president bush out of the loop on the details of the harsh interrogation techniques used at cia black sites for months and years. the cia's telling of this, is that they tried to brief the president but were rebuffed by senior white house officials. the committee says the cia intentionally misled top officials, including officials in the justice department about the extent of these techniques. this is one detail amongst many that show that there was just a huge disconnect between what was going on on the ground and many of these countries in the months and years after 9/11, and what was known by washington about the various levels of government

and congressional officials. >> if we zoom in closer and push in on that point. dick cheney often described by observers as the most powerful vice president in u.s. history, he says this report is a bunch of huey. amongst other things. who else but him who would have been pushing for these type of techniques and had the ability to hide them. >> exactly. we know that vice president klainny urged president bush to sign the original authorization that started this program in the first place. we also know that vice president cheney intervened with the cia on multiple occasions. what the report reveals is that the vice president's assertion that these techniques did produce unique and valuable intelligence that stopped terrorist plots in the making is not supported by the evidence trail, and even the cia in its rebuttal to the report states that it cannot conclude that these techniques reduced unique intelligence plots.

only that they produced intelligence that may save lives. the bush administration was in the process of setting up a massive detention and interrogation program outside of congressional oversight. it's unclear, even after we have all visits from officials, what they knew and when. the key lawmakers who were supposed to be in charge of this project were left out, whether or not that was intentional or coincidental remains to be seen. >> and now there are concerns that not just the behavior at the time, but the release of this report could damage u.s. interests abroad. but, you know, at the least, this does expose there were disagreements within the u.s. government. there was a debate over the methods, and this is an effort to make things right. i'm wondering if you think that that actually may help the u.s. image abroad. >> sure. as vice president biden said very clearly, the parts of the

administration believe that this report is a badge of honor and should show that the united states is willing and able to admit past mistakes and bring them into the light. on the other hand it's always been the contention of the republicans on the senate intelligence committee and former officials that the risk of releasing this report was two fold. it could spur attacks on u.s. personnel and interest abroad, and in the long term it could help recruiting for extremist groups and sour u.s. relationships with countries that participated in the program. the overall argument made by leaders like senator dianne feinstein is that the benefits outweigh the risks. but what we also know is that in the days and months leading up to the release, there was a quiet effort, including a phone call from secretary of state kerry to urge the committee not to release the report now, because they believe the risks were particularly high given all the sensitive issues ongoing in the world. >> it makes for fascinating reading, this is a portion of

the entire report. josh rogan, thanks so much for your time. >> any time. >> the report is the top story on our website, we have a lot more content for you there as well. you can read the full report, get analysis from our other experts, and also there's a whole plethora of background information, all of that you can find at cnn.com. now, to another story we're tracking, at least nine people are dead after a bomb exploded on a commuter bus in the southern philippines. at least 17 others were wounded we understand, reports say mostly students were on board. muslim rebels and extortionists have been blamed for previous bombings targeting the bus company. muslim guerrillas have been fighting for an awe takutonomoue in the region for decades. a celebration in france, this past hour the last french man held by terrorists arrived

to a welcome from president francois hollande. you see it here, sergei had been held by al qaeda militants in mali since 2011. as jim bitterman reports, there are questions over how his release came about. >> the french man was freed after three years of captivity at the hands of acme, the al qaeda branch of northern africa, he was kidnapped by them, along with another french man in northern mali. he was found shot to death in 2013. it's not clear exactly what kind of negotiations went on to free lazaravich. the french government has denied that any kind of ransom has been paid. there are suspicions that if the government didn't pay something directly, perhaps there was some intermediary that was involved in the negotiations, and president hollande today made a point of complimenting both the

presidents of niger and mali, with their help in negotiating a release. in the case of mali, the president is there today in part because of france. french troops were sent back in the 2013 to mali to help stabilize the country which was under attack by terrorists in the northern part of the country. they're also may have been a prisoner exchange involved, according to a reporter for the state run overseas broadcasting agency. in fact, there were two prisoners who were exchanged. jim bitterman, cnn, paris. still to come for you here on cnn, a senseless attack inside a new york synagogue, the suspect is dead, but many questions remain. plus, prosecutors have released more grand jury documents in the ferguson shooting case. some key testimony is being held back. we'll reveal what hasn't been

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this was the scene at new york's grand central station tuesday as protesters staged a die in. this is part of the ongoing demonstrations of white police officers killing unarm ed black

people. weeks after a grand jury chose not to indict officer wilson in michael brown's death in ferguson, missouri. officials have released new documents from those proceedings. they include witness interviews and a medical report. one of the most important witnesses in the case is still being held back. >> the sounds of gunshots, the dispatcher calls, a third autopsy, this one conducted by the department of defense and this, hundreds of pages of witness interviews, conducted by the fbi, investigating the police shooting death of michael brown. this is just some of the material the grand jury saw and heard that bob mccullough released after ksdk discovered many missing documents in the original document dump. for some, the revelation is

creating even more suspicion. >> grand jury transcripts and evidence is almost never released. everything is different in ferguson, because bob mccullough said he would release everything. and now we discover there were some that were held back. back in november, this is what he promised after the grand jury decided not to indict darren wilson. >> please note that as i have promised the evidence presented to the grand jury with some exceptions and the testimony of the witnesses called to the grand jury will be releases at the conclusion of this statement. >> reporter: those exceptions appear to include one of the most important eyewitnesss in the case. the initial fbi interview of dorian johnson, the friend who was with michael brown the day he was killed, has still not been released. >> he walked around with his hands up. beginning to tell the officer he was unarmed and to stop shooting, at that time, the officer was firing several more shots into my friend.

>> reporter: the prosecutor did release to the public the many television interviews johnson did, the public has not seen what johnson initially told federal agents just a few days after brown's death. the prosecuting attorney's office told usa today that federal investigators asked for that testimony to be withheld as they conduct the civil rights investigation. >> is it fair for them to say, look, the federal investigation is still open, so we were asked to hold some of this back? >> it is fair for the feds to hold back materials pertaining to this investigation. but what's not appropriate is for matters pertaining to the grand jury, that we were told were released to have been held back, and now based on a new request, now they're being released. >> and that was our sarah sidner reporting there. a knife attack at a new york synagogue was caught on video, police say the asail an the had a history of arrests and emotional problems. the attacker stabbed one man in

the head before being shot by police. cnn's rosa florez has details. >> a chaotic scene between new york city police and a suspect armed with a knife inside a brooklyn synagogue early tuesday morning. police say the suspect had just stabbed this man in 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 the four and a half inch blade while in deep study at the world headquarters. >> i was following the cop out. >> 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. the guy's running around trying to stab people for no reason. he's not demanding money, he's not demanding anything. he's just saying, who wants to

die tonight. >> the stand-off lasting several minutes. police telling the suspect to put down his blade. meanwhile, a bystander off camera, trying to play arbitrator. >> he's trying to negotiate with them. >> also asking the suspect to put down the knife. that didn't work either. >> he's grabbing the knife again in front of the cop. >> the suspect lunged toward the officer before the officer took a shot. >> get down. >> and didn't miss. shooting the suspect in the chest. >> don't move. >> even after he was shot, he wouldn't give up. >> the suspect identified by police as 49-year-old calvin peters later pronounced dead at the hospital. rosa florez, cnn, new york. still to come for you here on cnn, the royal visit to new york city comes to a soggy end. how the duke and duchess of cambridge spent their final day.

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works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture everyday. the duke and duchess of cambridge had to dodge heavy rain on their last day in new york city. the stormy weather was a royal pain in the neck. but william and kate handled it with style and grace. >> reporter: don't you hate to wake up to this on the last day of a trip? mere mortals battled with umbrellas and lost their hats, the duchess showed up in bright

pink wearing a ponytail on a bad hair day. the kind of day even a prince trips on a rain mat. they laid flowers at one of the 9/11 reflecting pools. and later sat inches away from a performance by a youth group. mostly they acted cheerful and were cheered despite the miserable weather. don't feel bad for the slightly soggy royals. save your pity for the press. following the royals doesn't exactly mean they get the royal treatment. >> back up, back up, back up. >> go, go, go. faster, faster. you're not going to get your shot if you're not there. >> the weather had improved slightly by the time prince william arrived atop the empire state building. no relations with the press. ouch. still a bit stormy. >> get out of my face, let us work. >> kate, five months pregnant

skipped the empire state building stop. who wants to smell like wet wool in a $2300 mulberry coat. everything she wears seems to sell out. the black coat she wore monday sold out. the same goes for the coat she wore when they met jay z and beyonce. delivered with an arm slung around the duchess. a royal spokesperson told nbc. but if we slung our arm around her we would be in a sling. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. the cia is defending its interrogation techniques in the wake of a scathing report by a senate panel. did those tactics really help lead the u.s. to osama bin

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you didn't bail on me, thanks for staying with us, everyone. i'm errol barnett. here are the top stories we're tracking for you right now. the fbi is warning law enforcement to be wary of extremist reaction after the release of the senate report on cia interrogation. post 9/11 detainees were subjected to near drowning, deprived of sleep for days. the cia is defending its actions saying they were needed to

combat terrorism. the french man held in by al qaeda in mali since 2011 has been released safely. he was freeze through months of negotiations, but french media are speculating a prisoner swap was involve d. demonstrators at grand central station staged a die-in tuesday. larger protests are planned saturday in new york and in washington. a court in south africa is set to decide this hour whether an appeal should be granted in the oscar pistorius case. prosecutors call his five-year sentence shockingly light for the shooting death of his girlfriend. they argue the judge misinterpreted a legal standard for intent. christian amanpour spoke with reeva steenkamp's mother about

this appeal. >> what do you hope will be the result of the prosecution trying to appeal and trying to get him a harsher sentence. >> i just hope that some truth coming out along the way. it's not dead yet, the case. all through the case reeva was the deceased. they seem to forget someone actually died until my niece spoke to the judge. she became invisible. we want to -- what we're going to do for abused women, we're going to have the reeva steenkamp foundation. also, to help other people who are going through what we've gone through, my husband and i. there's a great lot of people who have no money and they have nowhere to go, no way to get to

court. they need consoling, those people. i would like to put forward the way i was treated, people looked after me, they cared for me. they're women for women. >> and that was reeva steenkamp's mother speaking with christiane amanpour. we are expecting a decision on this appeal at any moment, we'll have live analysis as soon as it comes in. do stay tuned for that. u.s. president barack obama is defending the release of the senate report on cia interrogations. he ended the controversial program after taking office in 2009 in an interview with the spanish language network univision. he brushed aside critics who called this report biassed and inaccurate. >> we've taken precautionary measures in our embassies and around the world. there's never a perfect time to

release a report like this. it was important for us to recognize that part of what sets us apart, is that when we do something wrong, we acknowledge it. >> the cia defends its actions, the head of the senate intelligence committee sees things much differently. and cites illegal activity by the spy agency. >> 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. >> a stunning revelation when

you think about it. one argument the cia has used to defend its interrogation techniques, is that they helped get information that led to finding osama bin laden. the top democrats dispute that claim, in fact. brian todd explains. >> reporter: one of the most successful intelligence operations in american history, the hunt for osama bin laden and the raid that killed him. top democrats 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 otherwise unavailable. otherwise unavailable, was not obtained using these coercive interrogation techniques. >> reporter: the cia and senate republicans dispute that, saying detainees who had been the subject of those techniques helped lead the agency to a man

named abu ahmed al kuwaiti. >> he served as osama bin laden's personal currier, and the man who ultimately led cia and the navy s.e.a.l.s to the man himself. >> this is believed to be al kuwaiti. >> what is the target, when is the last time you saw bin laden. >> that information fundamentally changed our assessment of the currier's hunt for bin laden. the intelligence committee and the cia are sparring over the importance of another detainee named hassan goul, who gave the cia information on bin laden's currier. the most accurate information on abu ahmed al kuwaiti was provided by a cia detainee had

not been subjected to the enhanced interrogation techniques. the cia and john mcglocklin said ghoul gave up a very important piece of information after his interrogation. >> 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 mcglocklin acknowledges the information given by those detainees who got stressful interrogation was just one piece of a much larger intelligence mosaic that led to the bin laden raid, years of signals collection, overhead photography, other human intelligence were crucial in taking down the al qaeda leader. brian todd, cnn, washington. at this moment we want to get you live to pretoria south africa with the judge is now reading her decision on the prosecution's appeal of the pistorius sentence.

let's listen in. >> not only to the community, but also to the parents of the deceased, krkarg 1961, volume one, sa 231. [ a ] it seems to me that when the court has correctly exercised its discretion, in imposing a sentence, the views of the public are bound to the appropriateness or otherwise of the sentence are immaterial, and they cannot influence the outcome of an application for leave to appeal. application in terms of section 316 b subsection 1 the grounds of appeal are set out in the

application in paragraph 2.9, the politic an the concludes code 2.9 there is a reasonable prospect that another court may come to a different finding, with regards to the sentence imposed by this court and may overturn the sentences close quote. interference is not justified in the absence of material misdirection or irregularity or when the sentence imposed is not shockingly inappropriate to create a sense of shock. the grounds are set out in the application suggest that all the requirements for the interference by an appeal court have been met, and none of the submission by counsel for the applicant, i understand there was a misdirection which was

such that it could initiate this court's decision on sentence. although council for the applicant argued that the sentence was inappropriate and shockingly light for someone that killed an innocent person with gross negligence where such conduct bordered on eventualities, i am not persuaded there was any material misdirection or irregularity. or that on the facts of this matter, the sentence imposed is shockingly inappropriate. and induces a sense of shock. the application in terms of section 316 b subsection 1 therefore cannot succeed. application for the reservation of points in terms of section

319, the questions consent in this application had been summarized in the applicants request as follows. i quote, if the principles of the case and whether the court correctly conceived and applied the legal principles pertaining to the evidence and/or pertaining to multiple defenses by an accused. three, if the court was correct in its construction and reliance on an alternative version of the accused. and that this alternative version was reasonably possible

true, and/or four, if the court correctly received and applied the legal principles, pertaining to the possession of ammunition while not in legal possession of an arm to fire such ammunition. the grounds of the applications are set out clearly in the application, and it will serve no papers to repeat them here. the application is opposed and grounds of such opposition are also clearly set out in the respondent's or position papers. the main point i viewed extensively by both counsel was whether the questions raised in this application are questions of law or questions of affect mass car raiding as questions of

law. there were other points made by counsel for the applicant. however, the preliminary questions as correctly submitted by counsel for the respondent is whether or not the questions raised or the question raised is one of law or one of effect. whether or not a question genuinely raises a question of law is not always such an easy question to answer. that this is in fact so was clear from submissions by counsel who both argued ably and supported the submissions with case law. also see in this regard 2007, volume one, scar 566

[ cc ] especially where the court in paragraph 12 refers to a supreme court of appeals ruling that the visibility of the record gave rise to federal issues and not questions of law. and struck such question from the rule, while the constitutional cause preliminary judgment held that the sca had erred in this respect and that the question of the bail record did give rise to a question of law. in the present case, we are dealing with a matter which as counsel for the applicant correctly submitted is not an easy one. counsel for the respondent sought to demonstrate to this court that they had questions of

law raised by the applicant where questions were clearly aimed at the court's federal findings. having perused the application especially in areas of paragraph 12, and case law 1993 volume one sa 777 [ a ] and pages 718 g and 719

respective. i have considered that the questions in respect of count one as set out by the applicant are questions of law. that being so, i cannot say, is that the prospect of success, the supreme court court of appeal is remote. i am also of the view that if the points succeed, this might have a practical effect on the conviction. the application, therefore, in respect of count one falls to be decided in favor of the applicant. in respect of count four, i am of the view of the cases that the application does not support

his politic an the. the application in respect of this count, therefore, falls forced to be dismissed. conclusi conclusion, in the result, in respect of the application in terms of section 316 b subsection 1 the following order is granted, 1, the application for appeal against sentence is dismissed. 2, it is ordered that the politic an the pay the cost of the respondent in opposing the application to be taxed according to the scale of civil cases in the high court as in section 316 b subsection 3.

in respect of the application in terms of section 319 i am satisfied that the points raised by the applicant in respect of count one are indeed questions of law the following questions, one, whether the principles were correctly applied to the accepted conduct of the accused, including error, two apply the legal principles pertaining to circumstantial evidence and/or pertaining to multiple defenses by an accused, three waeblg the court was correct in its construction and reliance on an alternative version of the

accused, and that this alternative version was reasonably possibly true. and lastly in respect of count four, the application is refused. miss johnson before i adjourn i believe there's something that you wanted to hand over. [ [ inaudible ] >> thank you very much. court will adjourn.

>> approaching 9:50 in the morning there as the judge hands down her decision dismissing the state's application as it dries to appeal the sentence handed down to oscar pistorius some months ago. legal analyst says kelly phelps was watching and listening in us. she joins us now via web cam from cape town. i remember you saying to me earlier, this came down to whether the judge thought this was a question of law or fact. what did we just witness right now? >> absolutely. and that is what it ultimately rested on, and what she found was that the question of how she interpreted the legal rules with regard to the facts in the case were ultimately questions of law. and, therefore, do fall to the appeal that there is a reasonable chance that the court of appeal may reach a different decision, and, therefore, she is bound by the law to grant the

appeal on verdict and let it be considered by a higher court. especially considering that this law has potentially far reaching impact, not just on this particular case, but on all other cases that these legal rules would apply, and, therefore, she's granted it, we should note that she didn't grant the appeal on sentence, they will only be assuming the appeal on verdict. >> explain that for us, as she very carefully moved through her decision, she dismissed one aspect of what the prosecution was pushing for, but has now allowed something else to get to the supreme court of appeal. what was dismissed and what now can move ahead? >> two things were dismissed. firstly, the appeal on sentence was dismissed, in order to appeal the sentence, there needs to be a material misdirection, and she found that the state had not convinced her there had been one. the other thing that was

dismissed was the appeal against his acquittal on the possession of ammunition charges, she found that there was no grounds on which to advance that appeal. any other court would agree with her on that, the only grounds on which the appeal has been granted is with regard to the homicide conviction and whether in fact it should be a murder conviction. she's put two particular questions forward, was the law regarding what we call legal intention correctly applied in this case? and was the manner that she engaged with circumstantial evidence appropriate in this case? it is those two legal questions that the supreme court of appeal will need to answer. >> our legal analyst giving us a breakdown from what we just witnessed in pretoria south africa as the judge dismisses two aspectses of what the judge was looking for, but granted one

other aspect. the decision to charge oscar pistorius with culpable pop side. that goes to the supreme court for appeal. we'll be back after this short break, stay with us on cnn. because there was no accident. volvo's most advanced accident avoidance systems ever. the future of safety, from the company that has always brought you the future of safety. give the gift of volvo this season and we'll give you your first month's payment on us. does your mouth often feel dry? multiple medications, a dry mouth can be a side effect of many medications. but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. that's why there's biotene, available as an oral rinse, toothpaste, spray or gel. biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too.

remember, while your medication is doing you good, a dry mouth isn't. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. if you are watching from the u.s. west coast, listen up, you're about to be walloped by a series of storm systems. our meteorologist joins us now with a look head.

pedram, what's going to happen. >> the wettest storm we've seen since 2009. this is a big deal on the western coast of the united states. for the first time, since 2012, the seasonal rainfall in california is on the positive side. we're seeing a surplus of moisture for california the first time this season. here's a perspective as far as what we have. 1 to 3 inches from seattle down to olympia. portland could get a couple inches of rainfall, while higher elevation areas, heavy snowfall comes in, temperatures well above average. seattle set a record high temperature tuesday. sub tropical moisture surges across this region. upwards of eight inches of rainfall toward eureka. and in the higher elevations of the sierra nevadas could be looking at up to three feet of

rainfall. certainly fantastic setup. the pineapple express, as we often talk about, the current originates out of the hawaiian islands. the flooding threat is there. just last week with the rains we saw in southern california, the reservoirs and dams in los angeles county alone picked up some 1.8 billion gallons of water, that is enough water for 50,000 people to use in an entire year. certainly a lot more is needed but a good start. powerful winds in the forecast as well. a 1,000 mile area from seattle to san francisco. wind gusts of 60 miles per hour, with those winds, of course, the ocean churning out there, nine meter wave heights across the open waters as we approach the coastal communities. something worth noting as we head in toward the end of the week as well. here's the perspective on the eastern side of the united states occurring on tuesday.

record rainfall from new york's jfk in laguardia, we had 1,000 flights cancelled across the united states on tuesday, and 3,000 flights were delayed. as gusty winds pushed that across portions of the northeastern u.s. it will keep it rather blustery, and rather snowy as well. look at the scenes coming out of the state of new jersey there on tuesday. some significant flooding with these three inches of rain coming down. both coasts of the u.s. dealing with wet weather. and at least on one side of the country, across california, the state's pretty thirsty. they'll take it. >> they'll take it on the west coast. pedram gives them an update before they head to bed. approaching midnight there. the ice rink at the eiffel tower is located on the first floor, 187 feet off the ground. the rink offers breathtaking views of paris and is illuminated by twinkling lights at night.

it's been closes for the past two years for a restoration project. the attraction is open until february 15th. you are watching cnn, i'm errol barnett. after the break, rosemary church joins me for another hour of news from around the world. stay with us.

we engaged in some brutal activity after 9/11. >> horror stories. the new report that spells out how the cia handled terror suspects. >> we're learning much more, including details about a secret location where some of to worst torture took place. more international fallout for uber. the ride-sharing service is now up against a lawsuit in the u.s., and more bans in other countries. from iran -- i should say from rain to snow to punishing winds, we'll tell you what is headed to parts of the u.s. and to europe. and an american couple now back on u.s. soil after being accused of starving their adopted daughter to death. you will hear their fight for justice and freedom. >> we were unable to see each other. we were