. >> dick cheney, i'd do it again. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. dick cheney could write the book on torture made morally easy. i'd do it again in a minute he said on sunday and that's how long it took him to decide. and as cheney puts it, the torture program, as he calls it, was all his. it was all i was prepared to, and we did it, we got the authorization from the president and authorization from the justice department to go forward with the program. it worked. oh, but don't anybody say w. was the boy with the dirty work. the waterboarding and the rest of it from the beginning. that's a lie, cheney said, the president was in on it big time. this man knew what they were doing. sounds like bill clinton saying he was not having sex with "that woman." he wants full credit, doesn't want george bush getting off easy. may have been mr. peabody. i want to go to ron christie here. how do you explain the pride, the self-respect with which the former vice-president takes personal

cheney isn't hiding. >> no, he's not hiding. cheney has never hidden.nk that's what frustrates a lot of people. he puts it out there and you have to deal with it. he makes it easy for you to unpack it, as he's done again. there's a lot that ron said that, i wasn't in the room, i don't know what's inside these men's hearts and heads. i do know how the process -- i do not think that the president and the vice president were sitting around over a cup of coffee saying, we're just going to start waterboarding, out of thin air. we know what the cia's business has always been about. this is nothing new. this is nothing transcendent in terms what the cia has done in terms of black ops. >> what about going into the dark areas of intelligence, we got to go back in there in the quiet, where there's no discussion -- >> absolutely. >> why is cheney saying to do that? >> why are we laying it out on the table? >> i want to make the point that came from the top. cheney exhibiting no moral qualms about the acts revealed in the report. let's listen. >> did the ends justi

at the same time, i think there are a lot of people unlike dick cheney.there are a lot of law mimakers capitol hill do believe this was improper. we actually now know that this country did this and that we didn't need to expose the gory details. it's implied that president obama is conflicted because though he says it's wrong and the secretary of state did try to stop its release and when you hear the comments from his press secretary, you can see that president obama doesn't want to say, though it's wrong, it doesn't want to be effective. >> the president using some interesting language through the interview? >> this report siz it's not successful. >> the report is full of crap. >> you're saying that this led to actionable intelligence. >> absolutely. >> look at the statement by the former director and deputy directors of the cia issued just within the last 24 hours. it did in fact produce actionable intelligence that was vital in the success of keeping the country safe from further attacks. >> you can landal to the truth and he came to you unadulterated

dick "the dick" cheney! >> you said earlier this week torture was something that was very carefully avoided. it implied that you have a definition of what torture is. what is it? >> well, torture to me, chuck, is an american citizen on a cell phone making the last cull to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the trade center in new york city on 9/11. (laughter) >> jon: that is why he is the best worst. dick cheney setting this nation's moral bar at anything incrementally better than the most despicable thing that has ever been done to us. by the way, that was out of the gates. he had just met the press and he opened with 9/11. that's like lynyrd skynyrd walking out and saying, why don't we kick it off with a little "free bird" how about that? saving you a little lighter fluid and your shouting shows there. the problem is you don't give yourself anywhere to go. >> torture is what al quaida did to 3,000 americans on 9/11. in my mind what meets the deposition of inter

what makes it more difficult is what cheney it, cheney and liby and addington and everybody did, we traineddentity of a covert officer. how do you trust an administration that will betray one of its own for political reasons. >> the vice president continually says they were on solid legal ground and now we know president bush knew of the techniques, that's being verified by former administration officials. the legal authority, people may be wondering what that is. correct me if i'm wrong, he keeps quoting the justice department, head was john ashcroft, this is who he's quoting, correct? >> i think it is even worse than that, the attorney general and his deputy refused to give the cia a blanket indemnity for the techniques they were going to use so they went to middle level officers and got them to sign off on it. >> when asked about the 26 individuals wrongfully detained cheney said he has no problem with it as long as the country achieves its objectives. is this the new standard? >> again, i think mr. cheney speaks the more he opens himself up to international prosecution if not domestic p

cheney rather than george w. bush who sallys forth to defend that legacy.peter baker is the author of "days of fire, bush and cheney in the white house." >> no republican president has been in the office in the last 40 years who didn't depend on him in some fashion or other, either in the white house or in congress. now he's in a stage of retirement where he's defending a legacy and trying to shape the way history will look at it. >> bloomberg chastised mr. cheney for not having read the report and mike hersh pronounced him a war criminal. john than carl noted that his views are basically in line with cia director brennan. >> james, thank you. we'll talk about america's top spy weighing in on the cia interrogation report and get reaction from the panel after a quick break. boy: once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. one day, it started to rain. the house tried to keep out all the water, but water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. they just didn't think it could happen. they

this is cheney. cheney. wish the interrogator of cheney had looked at is, we know positively that a minimum -- and i suspect it is higher -- of 39 people died in the interrogation process. why does no one ever mentioned that? we also know that in some of those cases, the military or civilian corner involved found the cause of that death to be homicide. the most famous case, alex "taxi in his documentary to the dark side" is known about, but even that has been forgotten about. we murdered people who we were interrogating. isn't that the ultimate torture? no one ever asks dick about that. >> that number, 39 people killed by torturers, where do you get that number and where were they killed? >> that number comes from human rights first initial report on command responsibility in the interrogation program, which i believe came out quite early, 2006-2007. it was 39 people who died in detention. now, some of them died of natural causes. they had a heart attack or whatever. of course, at the heart attack a have bee

president bush and the cia and dick cheney all disagreed.e ones in the bunker, they weren't there. this debate is hard i think to resolve. but it's one we'll be playing out for years to come in history. was it something that made any sense, was it something that produced anything of value. >> it's really interesting. i went back and read parts of "days of fire" last night. one of the best books in the last two years. >> not just because you're talking to the man who wroe it? >> i would say it to anyone who asked. you say bush did approve the waterboarding at least. flat out as a statement of fact. bush said in his sort of biographical book "decision points." does this put him in a difficult place now as he looks back? he either has to own all of it or he has to own being in the dark. >> it's interesting. he's not running away from this. to the extent -- what the senate report says is the cia didn't brief him on the particulars of the program, the specific techniques until 2006, almost four years after the event. it doesn't mean he didn't kno

colonel wilkerson who worked for secretary powell, said we all have to wear the taint of the bruise cheney brought down on us of causing pain, humiliation and harm too other human beings. it's wrong that cheney isn't languishing in a private advertised prison somewhere. >> i would guess you would call him not a fan. >> is there anything to the rule of law on this? >> the terrorists weren't covered under the geneva

tortured logic with dick cheney it's called. the shot of the former vice president, a drawing there. pouring water reference to water boarding here some kind of suspect and it says, it may not be who we are but it is who i am. tell us more about this one. >> well, i have to say that cartoonists are -- they have favorite subjects and they have favorite characters. and i would say that cheney is certainly somebody who probably falls under my favorite subject. and so in this particular case i'm referring to his ink overinterest in having fun with waterboarding. and again, i like to try to do simple concepts when i can. and so i was -- i really like drawing cheney. >> what kind of response do you get from readers about the cartoon that is awe draw? what do you hear most? >> well, you know, in the pole rised society that we live in, you get either, you're my hero or you're the worst thing in the history of american journalism. so i would say at least in sacramento i'd say the majority of my responses have been positive. and cartoons

americans can't be guilty of torture according to dick cheney. we are notal . >> the logic, i would set, torture and terrorism are not the same thing. they are both awful but not the same thing. pain is universal diagnose for what constitutes torture. conner takes apart cheney's argument and defends it by saying this. >> i mean, that's basically what he's trying to say. >> that's the slow white bronco of history. >> yes it is. >> i think this argument, within the space of five or ten years, there will be a broad national consensus about what this was very much more in keeping with john's interpretation than dick cheney. it is fascinating to watch the push back of the individuals. particularly with cheney, but also with the cia folks in terms of just sort of covering themselves i don't know if i can use that term, but covering a certain part of the anatomy institutionally. and i think brandon fell into that pattern easily. once you take that job it is your birth right to protect the agency no matter what. >> yeah, this has been pointed out by a nu

dick cheney, you bet. mr. cheney, very critical of the report and he admits he didn't read it. surprise you and how accurate is what he's saying, in your opinion? >> it doesn't surprise me. i think vice president cheney had already established what his position would be. ever since we went into iraq, that tragic misadventure, that and the means we use to extract intelligence from terrorists that we gathered around the world, he just wants to justify, i think he's wrong. if he's wrong, for no other reason, ed, that it exposes our military members overseas to torture. they might be liable to it today, but this now permits others to say you did it. what do you mean we can't? that's one of the real tragedies about this. >> cheney says that bush was not only aware of the program, but he approved it before he went forward. what's your reaction to that? >> well, if president obama did not know about it, i think that says a lot on its own. he's captain of the ship. he should not what's happening, but that said, i think the real effort here by the vice president is to try just to cement

dick cheney with a forceful defense of harsh techniques used on terror suspects saying he would do it again in a minute. >>> jail break. the dramatic escape by three dangerous inmates who outsmarted guards in alabama. tonight the latest on the manhunt. >>> under attack, new fallout from the cyber assault on sony pictures and the hot new property the hackers have stolen. >>> troubled waters. the shocking finding about the world's oceans polluted with more plastic than we thought. >>> and the sandwich man, making tens of thousands of them to go for those who really need a hand. >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. no apologies or regrets from former vice president dick cheney for the harsh iin tear gs techniques. the former vp called it necessary as he delivered a powerful counter attack on nbc's "meet the press." he took strong exception to the senate report and contrary to its conclusions told chuck todd that the interrogation techniques absolutely worked. kristin welker is at the white house with more on this. good evening. >> reporter: lester, good eveni

the report concludes the cia misled president bush about the interrogation, something cheney also denies. as you may remember time and again over the years, former president bush and cheney, heads of the cia, denied the cia was torturing people and enhanced interrogation techniques effective but the report said it's not true. take a look. >> i told our people, get information without torture and was assured by our justice department that we were not torturing. >> we don't torture people. >> whatever we have done is legal. >> the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer. >> we don't torture people. >> we've acted on information they've given us to prevent attacks. >> we don't torture. we do not talk about techniques and we do not torture people.

now, why would they need to say that dick cheney was kept in the dark?i think that has to do with the way that they said, look, torture wasn't effective. that's the argument they wanted to make. >> it is an argument that doesn't stand up. and to show the twisted logic. i can't get beyond, i can't get past vice president cheney acting like iran-contra was just made to look bad. that's the kind of twisted logic we're dealing with here. >> he is thumbing his nose at the rule of law. he is reminding the public that this isn't the first time that a rogue administration has embarked on a broad criminal conspiracy. and gotten away with it. so it is kind of a signal that this is the kind of thing that will happen again. he is somebody who deeply believes in executive authority. so he believes that because ronald reagan wanted this to happen. he wanted to train and fund an army to overthrow a government in nicaragua. even though it was illegal to do that, because the president controls foreign policy, therefore it was legal for the president to do. that he wants

what is cheney's game?s he think people will believe this or does he just try to muddy up the atmosphere? >> he and the other people who came out have been working on a plan a long time and go to post-9/11 cards, play games with the interviewers, and hope that on a live television interview you will never get down because you do not give direct responses. >> on to a story that survived the weekend. the sony leaks. superlawyer david boyd is working on behalf of sony, sending letters to websites demanding they destroy or remove information stolen by hackers. screenwriter aaron sorkin wrote an op-ed calling anyone reporting on the information "morally treasonous." do they have a point? >> i am normally a first-amendment absolutist, but i think they both have a point. people who were spreading this stuff are breaking the law and they are terrorists and you have to ask yourself before you publish this stuff, does the news value outweigh our shared national and international interests and a right to privacy? >> y

. >>> former vice president dick cheney calls the torture report crap. beyond name-calling, is anyone going down? >>> plunging oil prices sent stocks into free fall but it's not all bad. thanks for join is us today. torture report fallout. former vice president dick cheney is just furious and he's fighting back slamming critics who claimed the cia's enhanced tear investigation tactics don't work. >> this report says it was not successful. >> the report's full of crap. we asked the agency to go take steps and put in place programs that were designed to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11. got khalid shaikh mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, who's killed 3,000 americans. what are we supposed to do, kiss him on both chiks and say, please, please, tell us what you know? of course not. >> one of the teachers behind the torture techniques, james mitchell, a psychologist, who had no training in al qaeda interrogation, asked if waterboarding is torture. >> i don't think it's the right thing to do. i don't think it's the wrong thing to do. i think yo

. >>> plus should dick cheney be prosecuted for torture? aclu and "the new york times" editorial board are calling for attorney eric holder to investigate the bush torture program and bring charges against anyone who committed a crime, including the man at the top, vice president cheney himself. >> and gas prices are the lowest since 2009. good news for president obama and the country, bad news for vladimir putin, venezuela, and iran. talk about a great set of circumstances. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >> here's a reminder there are some good-hearted people in the world. in the wake of the tragic shooting of rafael ramos, boden college is paying for the remainder of his son's education and the new york yankees have offered to pay for the college education of the other son. two acts of kindness for a family who have lost so much, they lost the dad. we'll be right back. ♪ it's not about how many miles you can get out of the c-max hybrid. it's about how much life you can fit into it. ♪ the ford c-max hybrid. with an epa-estimat

bush, donald rumsfeld, dick cheney, put on trial for torture? >> they should be. bad thing is they have the defense of the lawyers opinions given to them, the opinions of gonzales, john yoo, and unless you can hears those decisions, you have a tough time. a prosecution that ends badly might not be one that we sought, whenhat should happen is the election happen to the court of appeals and nominated and voted on, and john yoo currently teachesat -- john yoo at berkeley. at the time he was appointed, there was a massive them nation against -- massive demonstration against him. you did not yet have the information. senator leahy has said if you had all of this information, jay bybee would not have passed, and john yoo would not have been appointed. they should be suspended and disbarred. prosecution,ve a you have established the faulting is, the horrific faulting us of the legal opinion. it seems to me, at least in this country, before you have a prosecution, there has to be an invalidation. he is a defense lawyer, but i strongly disagree that bush and cheney would h

i would do it again in a minute. >> that is dick cheney.ate intelligence committee report that came out last week, at least the summary, the full thousands of pages has detailed the torture. for andied as a result example after being kept in the cold. people being kept up or something like 180 hours, buzzing power drills but against their head, don't repeatedly in tanks of ice water. at least 26 people subjected to torture including one who froze to death. your response, professor mccoy, to vice president cheney saying he would do it again? dick cheney has been a forceful advocate for the enhanced interrogation techniques. he is been unapologetic. he has given dozens of interviews over the years. in fact, dick cheney is the leading voice for those in the intelligence community that are trying to win impunity for the violations of law and international conventions. as a result of the senate report, we are now in what i call the fifth and final stage of a decade-long struggle of the torture issue. it decade-long struggle for impunity. and the

"hardball" starts right now. >> dick cheney, i'd do it again.y "hardball." ♪ ♪ >> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. dick cheney could write the book on torture made morally easy. i'd do it again in a minute he said on sunday and that's how long it took him to decide. and as cheney puts it, the torture program, as he calls it, was all his. it was all i was prepared to, and we did it, we got

vice president, dick cheney, has again defended interrogation techniques the cia used during his time in office. on a u.s. news show he made no determinations. our correspondent joins us now from new york. hi there, kristen. so he's certainly standing in a defensive position despite what the report says? >> reporter: that's right. vice president dick cheney and other bush era former officials made the rounds on the talk shows here in the united states. they're having to answer some tough questions, though, after more details from that detailed 500-page report of the senate has come to light. we're hearing more about the techniques used by the cia including waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists, putting them in coffin-sized boxes, and frankly beating them and using techniques such as one that's known as rectal rehydration. these techniques sound pretty torturious perhaps to the averageperson, but dick cheney and others say it stops short of tur tur and the definition outlined by the justice department in the wake of the attacks of september 11, 2001. the report goes into detail

dick cheney says it would do it all over again.techniques following the 9/11 attacks. >>> and all signs pointing to 2016. read the tea leaves or better yet read the e-mails. the biggest sign yet that jeb bush will make a bid for the white house. this is "way too early." >>> hey there everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is monday, december 15th. welcome to "way too early." hope you had a fantastic weekend. a lot of developing news overnight, and we begin with breaking news this morning out of australia. much of sydney is still at a stand still at this point where right now nearly 12 hours after a gunman entered a chocolate store in the city's central business district, dozens of people were inside and they were held captive. australian prime minister tony abbott says the gunman is, quote, claiming political motivation. the prime minister has not declared this incident to be an act of terrorism. we know a jihadist flag, black with arabic writing there, see the white writing at the top, was displayed in the window where th

here is how vice president dick cheney, former vice president dick cheney justified the administration's response. >> well, torture to me, chuck, is an american citizen on his cell phone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the trade center in new york city on 911. there is this notion that somehow there is moral equivalence between what the terrorists did and what we do and that's absolutely not true. we were very careful to stop short of torture. the senate has seen fit to label their report torture but we stayed short of that definition. >> i want to go back to the report on the cia's interrogation techniques and now that that record has been made public, what happens next? >> certainly, there is a lot of debate, a lot of discussion taking place in this country and a lot of members of congress who are not hang about what that report revealed, but there doesn't seem to be an appetite to prosecute any cia officials, cia agent did from that time period. since most of them were operating under the justice department's guide

cheney's answer was who cares? >> i'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than i am with a few that, in fact, were innocent. >> 25% turned out to be the innocent. >> where are you going to draw the line? >> are you okay with that margin? >> i have no problem as long as we achieve our objective. >> joining me now, a public ser vant a little closer to the action. really an honor to have you here. >> my pleasure. >> first, your thoughts of cheney's defense there? >> it wasn't much of a defense. i certainly, if i was him had this came out, i would try to dissemble the way he did. but, yeah, it's clearly, i think, for republicans, it's the choice. do you side with dick cheney or ronald reagan. >> jack goldsmith, who served in that bush department, didn't quite agree with this whole thing. let me play some of that sound right now: >> these came to my attention. i thought they had a lot of lawyers in them. so it's a combination of the errors and the really excessively broad claims in the opinions that le

cheney made no distinction between improved enhanced techniques and those that were beyond the white house had authorized. the comments came after the u.s. report on cia use of techniques around the world. >> reporter: facing tough questions over the cia's so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. new details have been coming out of the 500-plus page senate report about cia tactics in the wake of the attacks septembe september 11, 2001, prompting great debate. these details include descriptions of the tactics used like waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists, putting them in coffin-sized boxes, and even a technique called rectal rehydration. they may sound torturous to the average person but dick cheney said that they did stop short of torture as defined by the justice department, and the report also outlines steps taken by the cia to stay within these guidelines, having medical personnel on hand, to make sure that they didn't overstep the bounds. former vice president dick cheney is unapologetic and stands by the techniques. >> well torture to me, chuck, is an american citi

some pretty strong words from former bush administration officials, especially cheney. >> well, cheney's just one of the bush administration officials pushing back hard against this senate intelligence committee report, both former and current c.i.a. officials also claim that the techniques used were authorized, they were legal and they were effective. >> widespread condemnation and calls for accountability in the wake of an explosive senate report detailing the c.i.a.'s interrogation program. >> real actual people engaged in torture. some of these people are still employed by the c.i.a. and the u.s. government. >> governments abroad, including china, iran and afghanistan are also taking the american program to task. >> all accepted norms of human rights in the world and american law have been violated by a number of c.i.a. agents and their contractors. >> prosecuting anyone involved in the enhanced interrogation techniques is highly unlikely. the justice department looked into allegations of prisoner abuse in 2012 and chose not to indict. >> it's bad enough not to prosecute these offici

dick cheney said what was done was legal and effect difficult. >> it worked. it worked now for 13 years. we avoided a mass casualty attack. we captured osama bin laden, and senior guys from al qaeda. i'd do it again in a minute. >> the reports reignited the debate over how the u.s. treats its prisoners, kristen saloomey has more. >> vice president dick cheney and other officials are facing tough questions as more details come to light from a 500 plus page senate report detailing the attacks. cheney defended the tactics, including water boarding, hanging people by the wrists, putting them in coffin size boxes, a technique known as rech tall vibration. it may sound tortuous, but according to dick cheney, they stop short of torture as defined by the justice department. it details steps taken by the c.i.a. to make sure the agents did not cross the line laid out by the justice department. that said, vice president cheney says not only are the techniques justified. he felt they were morally justified. >> i told you what meets the definition of torture. there's 19 gu

welcome. >> good morning. >> you called dick cheney a liar. perhaps it's easy to forget how afraid americans were after 9/11. >> no. i don't forget it at all. i was at the time the commander of the u.s.s. coal task force, investigating the attack on the "u.s.s. cole." we had agents on the ground in yemen at the time of the 9/11 attacks. no one knows better about al qaeda and the threat it poses than i do. >> so why do you call dick cheney a liar? surely he knows what went on during that time. >> i think i cited that the report indicated that dick cheney was a liar. based on the things i'm hearing out of dick cheney now and based on the evidence that i know occurred, and it was my job to investigate the al qaeda terrorist network post 9/11. what i have to say is that really dick cheney may be full of crap in what he's saying now. those who have misled, continue to mislead. i looked over the report from senator feinstein's senate select committee on intelligence. frankly, it rings true to the facts as i know them that occurred. somebody needs to

gentlemen, a metaphor for dick cheney. [buzz] robert pinsky: stephen! mr. colbert.ck cheney is a lioness protecting america's cubs from the laughing hyenas of the left, while the poachers of internationalism sharpen their guns. knives! stupid! -i'm sorry, that's incorrect. mr. penn, would you like to go for the steal? -dick cheney is the spinster left at the altar looking out her dirty window at the happy lives of the laughing girls in their calico prints, knowing that her only pleasure will be the evening bath she draws from the moisture of george bush's soiled and blood-soaked underwear. [cheers] -i'm sorry, mr. penn. the correct metaphor is dick cheney is a shattered visage half sunk in the sand, whose frown and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command tell that its sculptor well those passions read. -ah, i was gonna say that! [audience laughs] robert pinsky: the score is zero, zero. next category, computer. -no whammies, no whammies, no whammies, now whammies, no whammies! -human emotion. human emotion. gentlemen, a metaphor for love. [buzz] robert pinsky: mr. pen

but former vice president dick cheney is unapologetic. he insists the program saved american lives. >> we did exactly what needed to be done in order to catch those who were guilty on 9/11 and to prevent a further attack. >> i'll be joined by dick cheney for an exclusive network tv interview. >>> plus the drone program, killing suspected terrorists. could we view drones years from now the same way some of us are viewing interrogation tactics today? >> in fact, most of the individuals who we kill, we have much less information about than the individuals, the 119 captured. >>> also, thousands gather in cities across the country to protest police treatment of black men. >> as a young black man, you're profiled constantly. >> why is there so much distrust between police and african-americans? >> i think those fight-or-fight instincts won't be present in police officers is to deny humanity. >> i'm chuck todd. joining us are former senior adviser to president obama, david axelrod, nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell, helen

and dick cheney refused to answer that question. instead, dick cheney got away from pretending on fox news that the choice facing the cia was to torture terrorists or kiss them on both cheeks. >> what are we supposed to do? kiss them on both theek chooeks and say please, please, tell us what you know? of course not. >> not a single television defender of torture was willing to describe what the tortures actually did. >> we're not talking about anyone being burned or stabbed or cut or anything like that. we're talking about people made to stand in awkward positions. have water put into their nose, into their mouth. but again, nobody suffered any lasting injury. >> not unless you call death a lasting injury. joining me now is valerie plame and michael hirsch, interviewed michael hayden for his latest police for politico magazine. valerie, i noticed one thing about everyone who is trying to defend the program will not mention the specifics described in the report, especially all the rectal hydration. not one of them makes a single rect

. >>> former vice president dick cheney lashing out about the torture report. when he says about the tactics. >>> and a driver crashes into a lake. a good samaritan jumps into action with a car sinking fast. >>> and more fallout from the hollywood hacking scandal. a powerful producer taking aim at angelina jolie. >>> well, very good thursday morning to you. people along both coasts waking up to a mixed bag of extreme weather. look at the radar, the more powerful of the two storms, a super soaker on the west coast, high surf and rain along with fears of flooding and mudslides. relentless weather from east to west. the rain falling overnight in san francisco. the beginning of a barrage not seen in years. sandbags lined the streets and schools across the bay area are closed today. >> the house just went. it's -- it's devastating. >> this week's high surf eating away at the shoreline in washington. pulling these houses right into the pacific. >> storm is supposed to hit in the middle of the night. so what may just look like a little bit of water on the road could b

vice president dick cheney defended brutal interrogation techniques which the c.i.a. used in office. he made no distinction between: his comments coming after the u.s. released a report after interrogation techniques used at rendition sites worldwide. kristen saloomey has more from new york. >> reporter: former vice president dick cheney and other bush era officials are facing tough questions over the c.i.a.'s so-called enhanced interaction techniques. new details have been coming out of the 500 page senate report, in the wake of the 2001. these include descriptions of the tactics used, like waterboarding, hanging people by their wrists, putting them in coffin-sized boxes and a technique called rectal rehydration. they may sound tortuous to the average person. dick cheney and other officials say they stopped short of torture, as defined by the justice department. the report also outlined steps taken by the c.i.a. to stay within these guidelines, having medical personnel on hand, for example, to make sure they didn't over step the bounds. vice president, former vice pr

side with dick cheney or ronald reagan.onald reagan presented the convention against torture to the senate and said this is a practice that hat to end. >> that's why torture was illegal. jack goldsmith who serve in the bush justice department, in the wing we talk about, didn't agree with this whole thing. let me play that up so right now. >> these opinions came to my attention, i thought they had a lot of legal errors in them, both in statutory interpretation and interpretation of the constitution. so a combination of the errors and the excessively broad claims in the opinions that led me to take steps to withdraw them. >> what should our brave folks, whether at cia, military or otherwise do when they get that kind of pseudo authorization? >> well, i blame the accountability ought to be at the top so should start with the white house percolate down. but there were others in the administration, in the pentagon in the state department, that pushed back and said that john and jay had been wrong in their legal assessments but t

and dick cheney goes on record about the blasting the cia reports. and a high-speed chase what officers found in the back seat. >> and the latest trend in women's fashion and it has to do with market here. but first...here's your vine just do it unless you don't feel like it the need to do later. alex pictures as well they're not too expensive. good morning, it's monday, december 15th. i'm dan ponce. lourdes and demetrius are off today. tim mcgill is in for demetrius and has a quick look at the forecast. the let's check in on traffic first . in a month low lying fault is a big problem out there. visibility is an issue. first accident on the outbound bake just kick it off. a semi off into the ditch at 83. the second semi off the road at lake. not too far from each other causing backups. an even bigger issue is the stevenson. a road all lanes are down. they have been down for nearly 50 minutes after 2 semi trucks collided. the backups go past lorenzo road. over 3 mi. at this point. this is going into the morning rush so it's a big problem . fall so tha