james mitchell has a ph.d. in clinical psychology, served 22 years in the u.s.ir force he personally performed those techniques on five high valued detainees including khalid sheikh mohammed. you know the narrative about you. the cia was clueless about what to do with high value detainees. they came to you and a colleague of yours. you charged a fortune. you didn't get anything worthwhile. none of this worked. and, oh by the way, you committed torture. we can only parse so much of that in the time we have. i'll ask you this -- did it work? >> yes, it did. in fact, you shouldn't take my word for it. take the cia's word for it. it said it disrupted attacks. that it allowed them to understand better the enemy that we had. that it saved lives and that it presented another catastrophic attack here in the united states. >> in your book, you take us inside the room. in fact, i'll reference abu zubaydah. you wrote this, bruce poured the weather out of a one liter plastic bottle and i controlled the duration of the pours by standing at the top of the abu's head raising a

james mitchell joins us now and he is also author of the new book "enhanced interrogation, inside the minds and motives of islamic terrorist, trying to destroy america." thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having me on. >> what are your thoughts as you saw that attack play out in berlin? >> the first thing i thought of, is this is the exact thing that khalid shaikh mohammed predicted. in early 2005 years after his last harsh interrogation, he and i were talking about what he saw as upcoming trend in terror attacks. and he had become fascinated by the amount of damage that was done along with mohammed, around the beltway, shooting people out of the trunks of cars. for him, what surprised him, is how much paralysis was involved, and how few deathets. few deaths from his perspective, right? and what he said is that our civil liberties and openness and willingness to be spresponsive other people's cultures were gift from his god. that they were weaknesses and flaws that they had -- that had put into his god, allah, had put into the american culture so we could be defeated.

james mitchell on his involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogation program. sports illustrated's sl price reports on working-class town through the lens of high school football. that is a few of the programs you will see on booktv this weekend. for complete television schedule booktv.org. booktv on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors, television for serious readers. publications are offering their picks for the best books of the year. here are some of the books the editors at amazon have selected. former twitter advisor and facebook product manager gives an inside look at social media in chaos monkeys. >> the second to last time was 2005. i have been out of iraq for a year. a narrative about what had gone on in the prisons in iraq didn't match up with what i had seen or done. i recognized that again, as a soldier i had an obligation to the truth. i saw the narrative switch. i saw people talk as if it was an isolated incident at abu ghraib that was taken care of or hadn't happened the way we thought it did. those of us who were there again had a

james mitchell agreed. he was assigned to question mohammed more than a year ago. they warned back then about the attacks we're seeing today. he predicts islamists would try to take over the world through immigration. >> this is exactly the sort of thing that he predicted. he and i were talking about what he saw as upcoming trends in terrorç attacks. the easiest way to win the long battle to take over the world was actually through immigration and by out breeding non-muss lip . they would come to the united states. then they would rise up and attack. >> isis promised it fewer years ago. it's happening. >> yeah. it has people talking. it has us talking. it doesn't have enough people talking about this. if the world were a jewelry store, america is the hope diamond. you don't have just a velvet rope around it in a glass box. think about how you keep that thing secure. our problem with america is everything is team sport politics. you have to be pro security or pro tolerance when they compliment each other if you want the most diverse country in the history of the wo

james mitchell.ced interrogation, inside the mind and motives of the islamic terrorists trying to destroy america. doctor, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me on. >> fascinating to listen to some of the things you said and read some of your own writing. one quote caught me what you said to our own sean hannity, you were talking about water boarding, which you have something done, as they went on, they turned on the charm, it was easier to work with them. because it was shocking, but i was surprised their indifference to the violence and death of other people around them. their indifference to the violence and death to people around them. talk to me about that. >> i will talk to you about that. one of the recent quotes i heard president obama say is that more people are killed by bathtubs every year than terrorists. so far as i know, bathtubs are not trying to hunt us down and kill us. they're not trying to set off a nuclear weapon or crock pot bombs. and the thing that i lear

at 7:30 p.m., psychologist james mitchell discusses his involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogation program. on booktv's afterwards program at 9:00 p.m. eastern, eugene solstice examines white-collar crime. at 10:00, fox news anchor megyn kelly recalls her life and career. we wrap up our sunday prime-time line-up at 11, former army intelligence officer, nina wilmer, recalls her personal and professional connection to east germany. this is tonight on c-span2's, booktv. [inaudible conversations]. >> i think we're going to go ahead and get started. thank you, everybody, for coming. a quick show of hands, this is your first time to book culture of columbus. oh, welcome to the family. 20 years ago this space was the endicott book seller and it was lost to the upper west side along with many other wonderful bookstores over the years, but almost two years ago we took the plunge and opened our third location here. we're so happy to be a space that is able to host just farber and this wonderful panel to talk about the james baldwin, james baldwin, escape from america. exile in province. we h

at 7:30 p.m., psychologist james mitchell discusses his involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogationprogram. and on booktv's "after words" program at 9 p.m. eastern, harvard business school professor eugene soltis examines white collar crime. then at ten, fox news anchor megyn kelly recalls her life and career. and we wrap up our sunday prime time lineup at 11 wior

those terrorist and got them to provide that information the same time so many american lives, james mitchell. since those 15 years nobody has heard from k. as saddam. but dr. mitscher hot -- has spent thousands of dollars to look directly into the sun evil and begin to understand the terrorist mind because he told him what drives them and now for the first time dr. mitchell in is not sharing his opinions on the counterterrorism policy and plans for new attacks and ultimately by a ksm thinks they will prevail his new book "enhanced interrogation" inside the minds and motives of the islamic terrorists trying to destroy america" offers a first-person account of the interrogation program and those who would do that again if they had the chance this is the first time he is speaking and public about this sabir very honored that you chose to join us here at a e eye. >> face for having me. >> so those details have been widely discussed and i am sure when we get to q&a we can discuss that the primarily what have you learned? and just so people understand the conversations with ksm he was strapped to

at 7:30 p.m., psychologist james mitchell discusses his involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogation program. and on booktv's "after words" program at 9 p.m. eastern, harvard business school professor eugene soltis examines white collar crime. then at ten, fox news anchor megyn kelly recalls her life and career. and we wrap up our sunday prime time lineup at 11 with former army intelligence officer that willner who recalls her personal and professional connection to east germany. that all happens tonight on c-span2's booktv. [inaudible conversations] >> hello, everyone. welcome to -- [inaudible] i'm so happy to be here with courtney and that you can all be here with us. i do want to say trent gillis, who is just really one of the cofounders of our project, is courtney's editor on the blog. he's really, really sad he can't be here. he's sick today, so i kind of -- i just want to bring his name in here. >> get well, trent. >> i know. [laughter] >> that's right. >> so courtney sent an e-mail yesterday. i guess when we planned this, we didn't -- we weren't looking at the calendar and say

at 7:30 p.m., psychologist james mitchell discusses his involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogationam. on booktv's afterwards program at 9:00 p.m. eastern, eugene solstice examines white-collar crime. at 10:00, fox news anchor megyn kelly recalls her life and career. we wrap up our sunday prime-time line-up at 11, former army intelligence officer, nina

terrorists and got them to provide that information that saved, saved so many american lives, that's james mitchell. in the 15 years since 9/11, no one has heard from ksm. he's been isolated from the world first in cia custody, then at guantanamo bay. but dr. mitchell has looked directly into the face of evil, and in doing so he came to understand the terrorist mind, what drives and motivates them better than almost anyone in america, because the terrorists told him what drives them and what they believe. and now for the first time, dr. mitchell is sharing what ksm told him, including his opinions on u.s. counterterrorism policy, the bush administration's response to 9/11, his plans for new attacks and why ksm believes that, ultimately, they're going to prevail in their war against new york. dr. mitchell's new book, "enhanced interrogation," offers his first person account of the cia's terrorist interrogation plan, his personal interaction with the men who executed the worst terror attack this history and people who would do it again gladly if they had the chance. this is the first time that dr. mi

james mitchell, who developed the cia's enhanced interrogation program joins us now. of 9/11. but the issue of the day is does water boarding work. something you know firsthand. first of all, does it work and did it lead to intelligence to prevent another attack? >> well, eits were certainly necessary to get information from detainees that allowed us to prevent another attack. so in some cases water boarding was the appropriate thing to do. in other cases it wasn't as effective. but i think it's less about water boarding because it was never a central part of the cia's interrogation program, and it was only done on three detainees. less important than water boarding itself, because the media seems to be obsessed with it, is the fact that at some point we are going to need some kind of legal coercion and that's a conversation that i think america needs to have. >> indeed. so great point. you can't conflate water boarding and enhanced interrogation techniques. it's a menu of options through coercion. >> right. >> do we need more at our disposal in light of the enemy we'

james mitchell, the man who interrogated 9/11 master mind khalid shaikh mohammed.peared on the kelly file last night and talked about how the rise of our politically correct culture contributed to the spread of islamic terror. come in fox news military analyst thomas mcinnerney. i presume you would agree with mr. mitchell, but i want to talk about president-elect trump meeting with a dozen admirals and generals. did that have to do with terror? >> it did, but with the air force one and f-35, stuart. plus, i think the president, he's a master, as you and lisa were saying, we've never seen anything like it. he is a master of judging people and i think he wanted to see the top military leaders. they are absolutely delighted that president trump is going to be in office the 20th of january. they have been through hell the last eight years, if you look at the south china sea, the ukraine, middle east, afghanistan, everything that this president has brought about and destabilized the world and they've had to sit and watch it. stuart: okay. now, i want to show a brief sou

james mitchell talking about mit. >> he said like minded jihadi brothers would wrath themselves in ourprotection, support themselves in our welfare systems while they spread their message and when the time was right they would rise up and attack. >> that's all scary stuff. you don't have any idea who these people are. the other thing is the fact that when the federal government drops these refugees in different states, who is on the hook for paying a lot of bills? the state of texas and taxpayers there. >> that's abchutely true. this is one of the reasons our governors are pulling out of the refugee program. it doesn't stop these people for coming in. we don't want to put our stamp of approval. >> do you think donald trump will fix this problem? >> i really do. i'm encouraged and hopeful given what he talked about in the campaign. he is not afraid to address it. >> all right. thank you very much. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. >>> straight ahead, harry reid finally coming clean about bashing mitt romney. remember when he told a lie about romney in 2012? >> there are no

jackson brown, j.d., linda ronstadt, joanie mitchell, james taylor.>> is it difficult to reveal it constantly to so many people. why do you do this? >> i feel an obligation to people and to myself to share myself maybe as honestly as i can. ♪ i left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out ♪ ♪ well i hit the rowdy road and many kinds i met there many stories told all the ways to get there ♪ ♪ ooh ♪ so on and on i go ♪ the seconds tick the time out ♪ ♪ there's so much left to know when i'm on the road to find out ♪ ♪ >> everyone was just trying to do whatever came into their head. >> in the early days paul and i we wanted to be the group from england. they were very big those days. >> we had no idea who the people were, the mysterious mr. king was. wrote the songs, chains the beatles did, i'm into something good. which was part of the british invasion. we did discover this remarkable woman, carole king. >> carole king made the transition from being behind the scenes woman to a star in her own right. ♪ i feel the earth move under my feet i

james stavridis met with the president elect last week. >> i think it is a legitimate question and i think given the stakes at the national level, the question deserves an answer. >> reporter: nbc's andrea mitchell pushed hard to get that answer from the white house. >> i think it was a powerful thing to have the intelligence community in that statement verify russian meddling in our elections approved by the highest levels of our government. >> reporter: the statement he is referring to was a one-page release on october 7th which outlined the intelligence assessment that russia's senior most officials were interfering in the u.s. election. no direct mention of putin, though a month earlier the g20 summit in china president obama privately confronted putin the white house confirmed today. so should the administration have come out bolder and sooner with the hard intelligence they possessed as donald trump suggested, should they have pushed congress to enact sanctions against the russians making the public understand this was serious? >> in retrospect it certainly seems as though it was a mistake not to call the russians sooner and respond to them in a very forceful way. >> high level intelligenc

mitchell reports," call of duty. in an impromptu announcement the president-elect surprises his own staff telling a rally he's drafting james mattis to lead the pentagon. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- as our secretary of defense. but we are not announcing it until monday, so don't tell anybody. >> why the general might face some opposition on the hill. on the road again. the president-elect is back in campaign mode, launching his victory tour in ohio. >> although we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't we? right? >>> and bitter end. going rogue at harvard, exposing the raw emotions for the winners and losers. >> if providing a platform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, i am glad to have lost -- >> do you think i ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? are you going to look me in the face and tell me that? >> it did. >> really? that's how you lost? >> do you think you could have had a decent message for the white working class voters? >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. a week of trump transition, twists and turns ending w

james baker. >>> let's talk more about mr. trump's choice. andrea mitchell is nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent. andrea, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. in his statement announcing rex tillerson this morning, donald trump blasted what he calls years of misguided foreign policies. but in choosing a texas oil man with no government experience and deep ties to vladimir putin, the president-elect is also buying in to what could be a bruising confrme ining confirma. this morning donald trump is tapping rex tillerson to become the nation's top diplomat. but the ceo set to become a critical member of trump's cabinet could face a confirmation challenge on capitol hill. on the heels of the cia's assessment that russia meddled in the u.s. election. tillerson's ties to the kremlin are raising red flags with high-profile republicans like john mccain and marco rubio. both questioning the texas oil man's close relationship with vladimir putin. undeterred, the president-elect has been talking up his nominee. >> i have a tremendous respect for him. >>

mitchell reports," call of duty. in an impromptu announcement the president-elect surprises his own staff telling a rally he's drafting jamesd the pentagon. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- as our secretary of defense. but we are not announcing it until monday, so don't