james mitchell, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me on.e you were, after more than 20 years in the us air force, you'd retired, you were working as a consultant for the cia. the september 11 attacks happen, you say to the cia, "i want to be part of the solution." why? it was an attack on our homeland. you know? the main thing that influenced me to want to volunteer to help out was the death and destruction. the critical thing when they asked me if i would be willing to become involved in the interrogation programme really was the falling man, and the people jumping off the building. i thought it was inappropriate and wrong for them to have to choose which way they died as a result of this cowardly attack that was done by these islamists who were trying to destroy our way of life. so you, obviously using your experience as a clinical psychologist, working with the american military for many years, could help identify — recommend — techniques that would work as part of the enhanced interrogation programme. but how would you make the leap fro

this is james mitchell being asked about his support for the simulated drowowning technique known as waterboarding. >> you thought waterboarding was a bad -- a painful thing, right? >> i thought it could be done safely. i thought he would be uncomfortable. it sucks. i don't know that it is painful. it is distressing. >> us on interview with you with someone being breaking the leg and being waterboarded, you said most people choose having their leleg broken. do remember that? >> no. amy: the videos' release came as the associated press reported that hundreds of accused terrorists have been swept up in a secret network of prisons in yemen, where u.s. military officials participated in interrogations where torture is routine and extreme. the ap reports one methohod cald "the grill" involved tying detainees to a spit and rotating them over flames like a rotisssserie chihicken. the pentagon acknowledged the report, but denenied any knowlee of human rights abuses.. in south sudan, the united nations says parts of the country are no longer under a famine, but that the country remains in cri

james mitchell. good morning, dr. mitchell. >> thank you for having me on. ainsley: you're welcome.e said to me is that we lack the political will, the motivation and will to do the things that must be done to stop in part pause we he wanted the whole world to like us and we were afraid of criticism. he said that our freedoms were and civil liberties were weapons that allah had placed on this planet so that it would be easier for them to defeat us. as we talked about radicalization, he scoffed at the idea really that we were going to be able to prevent that. in part because of our religious freedom and because of the political correctness that acts as a cloaking device. his point, i think, to paraphrase what he was saying is that under the guise of political freedom, people who want to destroy us can come to our country, they can set up mosques, they can spread their jihadi message and recruit people to do things all without committing any crimes. when you push back against that they claim that you are violating their religious freedom. so the hard work of radicalization is already

joining me now the author of enhanced interrogation james mitchell.ou interrogated 9/11 mastermind muhammad and many others. what do you know about sodium pentothal? >> well, first, i think we need to be cautious about assuming that that's what they actually used. but i'll answer the question that you asked me. it's one of those drugs -- well, first off, the use of drugs in interrogation is against the torture convention since -- it's not even a gray area. it's one of those things that civilized nations don't use them. and the reason they don't use them is because it's unreliable. it will make a person highly suggestible so that if what you're trying to do is coerce a false confession out of them, then that's the kind of drug that unscrupulous nations might use because you're not looking for facts. you're trying to ask leading questions and convince them that they've actually done something wrong so that they provide you with propaganda. liz: it could suppress the lungs; right? if you don't have oxygen to the brain, that could cause brain tissue damag

james mitchell who interindicated mohammed linked to 9/11. they look at us they think the u.s.s worried about how they're thought about in the world and how they use their own freedoms against us. >> under the guys of political freedom people who want to destroy us can come to our country, they can set up mosques. they can spread their jihadi message and they can recruit people all without committing any crimes and when you push back against that, they claim that you are violating their religious freedom. the hard work of radicalization is already done before we do -- before a crime is committed. >> shannon: where do we draw the line with political correctness in a situation like this where it's life and death? >> in this case, shannon, this has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with politics. by the way, it is unconstitutional what donald trump has proposed. he has offered no evidence whatsoever a travel ban would succeed. this is the religion ban period. it is by his logic the fact is if you take it at face value we should be banning everyone from

james mitchell. the intense interrogation program. great to have you with us.ll it up on our screen here. as they were just told, 12 people arrested taken into custody. potentially they will find many more people there. where they even begin in their search? >> well, i'm sure they looked like the people had on them, the one shot after the attack. then they looked at the cctv coverage to identify who else might have been involved in the me in the meantime to get into social media and on tax to build a map of the links between them in other people in the community. i guess to be there in the process of following those leads and questioning the people they've picked up in developing. we are working on the mountain. we have to do have to do these things. we have to take measures to protect ourselves. we are playing whack a mole at least in the u.k. because what they've done is they've allowed this to happen. the prime minister's say one of the things they need to do is teach western values. the odds are pretty good that those people that pulled off the attack were

james mitchell.talked about how political correctness will be used against the western world and they said they were counting on that. people don't want to be viewed around the world as being bigoted or discriminatory and they also, when people are tracked down, they'll be able to push back and say if you want to look at my community or my mosque, my religious freedom. they use our freedoms against us in the western world. >> that's right. you saw in the video jihadist next door that aired several times on fox how dicey this is at the street level. you have the police doing the right thing saying we're following up on -- we'll detain you for the purpose of a search and immediately the suspected terrorist in this attack starts claiming racial discrimination. if you're an average beat cop that's dangerous because the best case is you find something on these guys and the case goes upstairs. more likely you'll get a complaint for racial discrimination in your promotion file and frankly administratively y

james mitchell, the author of enhanced interrogation joins us. heikh mohammed. welcome back to the program, james. good to see you again. >> glad to be here. stuart: what does that supreme court ruling tell you about our democracy and how it works and how it is being, i think maybe used against us? what do you say? >> well i think it points out the importance of the selection of supreme court judges to begin with. let's not lose sight of that. the other thing it does, khalid sheikh mohammed, as you said the mastermind of 9/11, told me that our system liberties and laws were weapons eventually used against those people who kept americans safe in immediate aftermath of 9/11 when there were these catastrophic terror attacks in the works. i think that particular lawsuit, that set of lieutenants that the supreme court just ruled on was an example of that. that is those people could use those laws to punish the people who were trying to protect americans. and i think the ruling adds another layer of protection especially for people that did lawfully wit

director james comey cleared permitted to testify before congress on the trump russia probe that as hillary clinton addresses the role russian spies played on her doomed presidential com pain. andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: james comey has the green light to testify to congress as early as next week. permission from special counsel robert mueller and is expected to be asked about what the president said to him about the russia probe. nbc news previously reported that comey told friends he felt pressured to back off from the investigation. this as the house intelligence committee approved seven subpoenas, four for former national security adviser michael flynn, trump lawyer michael cohen and their businesses on the russia probe and three for classified reports related to whether former obama officials susan rice, salmmanth power and john brennan improperly accessed the identity of trump associates in intelligence reports. rice strongly denied it to us. >> did you leak the name of mike flynn. >> i leaked nothing to nobody and never would. >> reporter: hillary clinton blasted russian spies for hacking her campaign manager's e-mails, then working with american political operatives she

nbc's andrea mitchell leading us off tonight. >> reporter: tonight james comey has the green light to testify to congress as early as next week. permission from special counsel robert mueller and expected to be asked about what the president said to him about the russia probe. nbc news previously reported comey told friends he felt pressure to back off from the investigation. this as the house intelligence committee approved seven subpoenas, four for michael flynn, trump lawyer michael cone and their businesses on the russia probe and three for classified reports related to whether former obama officials improperly accessed the identity of trump associates and intelligence reports. rice strongly denied it to us. >> did you leak the name of mike flynn? >> i leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would. >> reporter: meanwhile, hillary clinton blasted russian spies for hacking her campaign manager e-mails and working with american political operatives she said to target her campaign with false messages on the internet. >> the russians, in my opinion, and based on the intel and

mitchell. the aftershocks from james comey's testimony are rippling across washington and the rest of the country. president trump and comey trading public accusations as the shadow of special council bob mueller's investigation now hangs over the white house. the president will likely be pressed on his claim that comey vindicated him. >>> this counter offensive about comey the leaker when we can get into why he did dispose those documents, but they were not classified documents, so it's hardly the same as an nsa leaker. >> that's right. heas always ted to put the focus on the russia probe back to the leaks that have led to so many of these different revelations, and yesterday in the wake of comey's testimony, he got new ammunition, and he is taking it and running with it. so are so many of his surrogates who were on the air waefds last night and this morning, and then in that tweet that he sent out this morning, he was quiet yesterd yesterday. total and completed vindication and, wow, comey is a leaker. the question for the president later today, andrea, and there are so many, is, one, how did c

mitchell has more. >> reporter: tonight james comey has the green light to testify to congress as early as next week. permission from special counsel robert mueller and expected to be asked about what the president said to him about the russia probe. nbc news previously reported comey told friends he felt pressure to back off from the investigation. this as the house intelligence committee approved seven subpoenas, four for former national security adviser, michael flynn, trump lawyer michael cone and their businesses on the russia probe and three for classified reports related to whether former obama officials improperly accessed the identity of trump associates and intelligence reports. rice strongly denied it to us. >> did you leak the name of mike flynn? >> i leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would. >> reporter: meanwhile, hillary clinton blasted russian spies for hacking her campaign manager's e-mails, and then working with american political operatives, she said, to target her campaign with false messages on the internet. >> the russians, in my opinion, and based on the intel an

. >> reporter: mitchell davis is from the james beard foundation that gives award honoring the best of best in the culinary world, award routinely given to philadelphia chefs and restaurants. he says philadelphia as always been a foodie city. >> any city that can have a war about who has the best anything, pat's, geno's or ever, you have in you become a great city because you have passion, pride of how are and last few years, certainly last decade but even last five, four or three years the scene has exploded here with new restaurant at every level. >> reporter: le beck fin, booed can, vetri just some of the of the restaurant that put philly on the map. >> city of history, tradition, passion, pride and now it is city of amazing food. that is good for everybody. >> reporter: so where does this food expert eat when he comes to town. >> i think we start at goldie and eat everything. >> reporter: a few things, including a fwaffle. if you love to eat like me philadelphia is the place to be. i don't know but, jessica, but philadelphia was what it is now, and what it will be, it is all about

mitchell from vassar, is excluded because she takes her truth there. and this very pompous, bloviated professor from the university of michigan, james watson, who wants to prove that vulcan exists x. he creates this drama out of these three all covering this great eclipse. you cannot put the book down. >> host: one more book we want to talk about is jonathan -- [inaudible] new book. >> guest: he's an alabama historian. he says that we really don't know the civil rights. we always cover the familiar stories. we cover the march on washington with, we cover letter from jail, we coffer the -- and he said that, you know, as the -- [inaudible] it came in through a traveler in alabama, scott cook, who told me, bob, you have to look at it. all this trial work about this man, caleb washington, who was awe rested in -- arrested in alabama for a crime he never committed, for killing a policeman which he didn't do. he was on death row for many years. george wallace stayed the execution because, ironically, he didn't believe in the death penalty. later, when he was freed after three trials provided the evidence, he marries a woman from new york who is still alive wh

james mitch 'em, one of our -- mitchell, one of our guests.t he calls the disastrous effects of obamacare. >> we want millions of americans like rae and dan to finally have the quality and affordable health care that they deserve. they've been unfairly penalized for too long a period of time. we're working very hard to fix this big problem. ainsley: well, our next guest, one of those families that met with the president, dan withrow, he is the president of cfs distribution group, and his wife, mindy, they're joining us now with their story. thank you so much for being with us, mindy and dan. >> thank you. thanks for having us. >> it's a pleasure to be here. ainsley: what was your meeting like with the president yesterday? >> oh, it was fantastic. he is extremely genuine, extremely concerned about the country and what's happened with health care, listened to my concerns, and i feel like he is going to get something done. ainsley: mindy, what'd you think? >> he was so warm and friendly, just very, very kind with the kids. you could tell that he

mitchell reports." hot topic, the forecast has donald trump pulling back from the land mark climate change deal. >>> former secretary of state james baker this morning. >> well, i hope he doesn't pull us out of it. on the other hand, i think it is important that we have something that we can point to that would fulfill our obligations under the accord rather than just walking away from it. >> we'll hear from both sides, a leading senator and noted climate skeptic and a well-known scientist weighing in. vladimir putin says patrioticly minded russians may have hacked the election. congress is preparing for james comey and they are blind sided by the house chair. so, the russians in my opinion, and based on the intell and counter intel, could not have known how best to weaponize that information dmunless they were guided -- >> guided by american sf? >> guided by americans. good day, everyone, the official policy is to punt all questions to the president's private lawyer. someone forgot to tell the president. he tweeted today in response to comey's anticipated system the big story is the unmasking and surveillance of people that took

. >> i'm andrea mitchell in washington where top intelligence officials are stonewalling the central intelligence committee asking about reports to try to get fired fbi director james comy to back off of the russian investigation. >> is there an invocation of executive privilege, is there or not? >> then why are you not -- what you feel is not admirable. >> is it an invocation of executive privilege, if there is not, let's know about it. >> i'm not interested in repeating myself, sir. i don't mean that in a contentious way. >> high drama on capitol hill. you have been watching all of this, and most recently on services chairman, john mccain said are you suggesting the conversation reported by the washington post today and others were classified, and there was a suggestion they were, but if the investigation was being backed off of then it is not classified, right? >> correct, it is clear from the witnesses today there is no claim of executive privilege and no basis for them to refuse to hans. the fact that they may not, or the white house may prefer they don't answer, and they don't want to have to invoke executive privilege, that is not a legal basis for them to d

mitchel, thank you. that sets the table nicely for james baker. he was chief of staff to ronald reagan and president bush. he's with us along with tom brokaw. secretary baker, secretary brokaw, good to see you both. >> secretary baker, later this afternoon we'll find out if the president is going to pull the united states out of the paris accord. he said he would make no decisions that did america first and wouldn't be what's best for america before what's best for others. is pulling us out of the climate accord best for others. >> i hope he doesn't pull us out of it. on the other hand, i think it's important that we have something that we can point to that would fulfill our obligations under the accord rather than walking away from it. i have proposed to the white house a carbon dividends proposal where we would impose a carbon tax but rebait it all to the american people. it's conservative free market, limited government, and internationally competitive. that would put us in compliance with that accord. >> tom, mitt romney tweeted yesterday, he

mitchell reports." hot topic, the forecast has donald trump pulling back from the land mark climate change deal. >>> former secretary of state jamesis morning. >> well, i hope he doesn't pull us out of it. on the other hand, i think it is important that we have something that we can point to that would fulfill our obligations under the accord rather than just walking away from it. >> we'll hear from both sides, a leading senator and noted climate skeptic and a well-known scientist weighing in. vladimir putin says

mitchell, thank you very much. and that sets the table nicely for james baker, who served as secretary of state under president george h.w. bush and chief of staff to ronald reagan and president bush. he's with us along with tom brokaw, secretary baker, secretary brokaw, great to see you both. >> later this afternoon we'll find out if prt is going to pull the united states out of the paris climate accord. during his inaugural address he said he would make no decisions that wouldn't put america first and wouldn't be what is bes for america before it is best for others. is pulling us out of the paris climate accord the best for america? >> i hope he doesn't pull us out of the paris accord. on the other hand, it is important to have something to point to that would fulfill our obligations under the accord rather than just walking away from it. and i have proposed to the white house a carbon dividends proposal where we would impose a carbon tax, but rebate it all to the american people so it doesn't grow government. it's conservative, free market, limited government and internationally competitive. that would put us in c

james comey gets set to testify on capitol hill. and today we are hearing directly from another big name in all of this. vladimir putin. andrea mitchel has more on that story. good morning. >> reporter: good mog. perhaps the biggest name of all, vladimir putin, about to speak with nbc's megyn kelly, and russia front in center in washington, james comey's testimony has been scheduled for next thursday. it will be his first appearance since president trump fired him. when james comey answers questions next week, the most anticipated senate testimony in decades, he'll be asked if the president asked him to back off his russia probe. as he reportedly told friends. this as vladimir putin after months of denials is now acknowledging that who he calls hackers not connected to the government could have been involved, although u.s. intelligence officials say the election hackers were directly tied to russian intelligence. now the white house reportedly plans to return to russia two lavish estates in maryland and new york that the obama administration seized last year to punish russia for the election interference. former secretary of state jo

mitchell has all the details for us. >> good morning. hillary clinton in her most blunt comments to date accusing trump associates of colluding with the russians during the campaign. >> reporter: jamesen light to testify to congress as early as next week. permission from special counsel robert mueller and is expected to be asked about what the president said to him about the russia probe. nbc news has previously reported that comey told friends, he felt pressure to back off from the investigation. this is the house intelligence committee approved seven subpoenas. four for former national security adviser, michael flynn, trump lauer michael cohen and their businesses on the russia probe, and three for classified reports related to whether former obama official susan rice, samantha power and john brennan improperly accessed the identity of trump associates in intelligence reports. rice strongly denied it to us. >> let me -- >> the name of mike flynn -- >> i leaked nothing to nobody. and never have and never would. >> meanwhile, hillary clinton for the first time blasted russian spies for hacking her campaign manager's e-mails and then working with american political operatives, she sa

james comey would be testifying here on capitol hill this morning. and the countdown clocks have been ticking down ever since. very soon that hearing will take place alongside other historic washington showdowns and andrea mitchel of the woods. >> thank you. it's great to have you here. in a few hours james comey's words beam to the world across three broadcast networks, social media, and cable news, putting all eyes about his controversial dealings with president trump. throughout history whenever a high profile hearing happens on capitol hill, the whole country turns their attention to watch congress at work. >> in a nation now consumed by multimedia distractions, there are moments so dramatic and compelling the nation comes together to stop, watch, and mccarthy, his political career imploding before the cameras, exposed as a demagogue for falsely accusing people for being communist. >> have you no sense of decency, sir? have you left no sense of decency. >> 1973, the country is again glued to their televisions as the water gate hearin are broadcast on the evening news. >> what did the president know and when did he know it? >> all 250 hours broadcast live on public television, helping to bring down a preside

mitchell has more on that. hi, andrea, good to be in your neck of the woods. >> it's great to have you here. in just a few hours, former fbi director james networks and cable news, putting all eyes on bombshell rell ovations about his dealings with president trump. throughout history whenever a high-profile hearing happens on capitol hill, the whole country turns to watch. there are moments so dramatic, so compelling the nation comes together to stop, watch and listen. in 1954, a powerful senator joe mccarthy, his political career imploding before the cameras, exposed as a demagogue for falsely accusing people of being communists. >> have you no sense of decency, sir? at long last, have you left no sense of decency? >> reporter: 1973, two decades later, the country is again glued to their televisions as the watergate hearings are broadcast on the evening news. >> what did the president know and when did he know it? >> reporter: all 250 hours broadcast on public television. in 1987 it was iran contra threatening to consume ronald reagan's second term. >> on the advice of counsel, i respectfully and regretfully decline to answer the questi

james comey, russian interference were all targets of hillary clinton in her most outspoken interview yet about the presidential race. she now says she suspects the president's campaign gave direct guidance to moscow. nbc's andrea mitchell with more on that. andrea, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. as congress launches the russia investigation and accelerates it, hillary clinton is trying to connect the dots about her up expected loss. and putting a lot of the blame on fake news circulated by a sophisticated republican internet operation. the candidate still trying to explain what went wrong. >> we thought we were going to win. >> reporter: and placing blame, not on herself but on the democratic national committee. >> i inherit nothing from the democratic party. >> what do you mean nothing? >> i mean, it went bankrupt, it was on the verge of insolvency. >> reporter: and that private e-mail server? >> this was the biggest nothing burger ever. it was a mistake. i've said it was a mistake. >> reporter: she says the press made too much of it. >> they covered it like it was pearl harbor. >> reporter: but primarily blaming james comey for reopening the e-mail issue just before election day. >> my momentum, p

james mitchell, welcome to the program. >> thanks for having me.e gone face to orks that would be required to pull off terror attacks without ever breaking any of our laws. stuart: it seems he was arguing and stating his position in a way which makes us want to keep islamic terrorists and generally muslim recruit them into a terrorist organization because it's not like they have to introduce new ideas. the ideas are already there. there actually is a piece of malware that's embedded, so to speak, in the ideology itself, and that is that allah has already declared an unending war against nonbelievers and that if the responsibility of every muslim everywhere in the world to defend islam, to attack his enemies, and to spread to sharia by requiring people convert, subject gate themselves, be enslaved, or be slaughtered. and at the core, that combined with one other piece of malware, which is this belief at t's thiopen-ended mandate to dthis that's not constrained byhe historical context of which the person wrote those documents, that things that's used