john brennan and dianne feinstein set out to put anwar awlaki on trial posthumously without presenting any evidence and to issue a guilty verdict. the whole thing was a show. >> let's go to diane feinstein asking brennan to talk about anwar awlaki, the american citizen who was assassinated in yemen in a drone strike in 2011. >> can ask you questions about him? what's your the chairman critic rex did he have a connection to a man who attempted to explode a device on one of our planes over detroit? >> yes, he did. >> can you tell us with that connection is? >> alec prefer not to at this time. >> didn't have a connection to the fort hood attack? the al qaeda peninsula has a variety of means of communicating and inciting individuals, whether that the website or emails or those types of things. so there are a number of occasions where individuals, including mr. awlaki, have been in touch with individuals. i am not prepared to address the specifics of these, but suffice it to say -- >> shias on who pled guilty to the 2010 times square car bombing attempt tell interrogators in 2010 that he wa

that's one side of john brennan. the other side is he has this extraordinary relationship with the president and wants to protect the president and the only way he can protect the president is by making sure that this whole question of the protocol of drones is done correctly. drones are a part of our future. drones are a good part of warfare. they can be very helpful. there has to be a protocol which is absolute. even as you and i are talking, the white house, yes, they have agreed to release the olc, the office of legal counsel papers to the intelligence community, but they haven't agreed to release it to allow staff, compartmented staff, of each memb member. >> have you been able to read it yourself, sir? >> no, i have not. i've read the white paper, but not the olc. >> will you have access to it today? >> i would assume i would, yes. >> now, i want to ask you about your decision because since we last chatted, you have decided to step down from the senate to leave at the end of this term. what went into that decis

no i don't with john brennan. secrecy is the key word. unless of course you know if he chooses to leak for the benefit of the administration what did you expect when you decided to go public to come clean on on on torture at the cia i mean if your wife worked at the cia and she was fired because of him and your father of five and you were going to prison what future did you envision for yourself five years ago. i didn't envision prison in my future five years ago i expected there to be a national debate on whether or not we wanted to use torture as an official u.s. policy now i'm very happy proud actually that i played a role in that debate and now the limbo law of the land is that torture is illegal i'm very proud of that i frankly didn't expect that the government would would go after me so relentlessly i stood in the snow for two hours to vote for president obama i really believed that this was a positive change i believed that he deserved that nobel peace prize or only because i expected things to change so dramatically at the beginni

and you asked john brennan that today. he responded that any american who is a member of al qaeda should know that we are with al qaeda and anybody who's in al qaeda can surrender at any time and thereby eliminate their risk of being killed by the united states. were you satisfied with that answer? >> i wasn't. and here's what's at stake. there are certainly instances where an american takes up arms against the united states, where i think it's important in order to protect the country to use lethal force. but i can tell you the government makes mistakes and sometimes the intelligence is flawed and sometimes they get the wrong person. and the reason i asked that question is i think those kinds of issues ought to be part of this debate and ought to be part of a system of checks and balances. >> oregon democratic senator ron wyden, i know it's been a very, very long and tax day four. thank you for your time tonight, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> thanks. >>> it took longer than scheduled for this riveting hearing on cap

andrea, just one last point on john brennan. because so much of what he i guess represents in politics is stuff that nobody else gets to discuss, stuff that is discussed in politics because so little is known about it, do you think there is a chance tomorrow that the hearings are essentially going to be a trial for the administration's drone policies and a trial for the administration's counterterrorism policies more than they are going to be a vetting of john brennan the man, john brennan the potential cia director? >> well you could argue that they are one in the same since he was the architect of it. but he will also be asked about enhanced interrogation, because he was a part of that. he is a veteran of the cia. a lot of people argue from inside the intelligence community that he is the perfect head of the cia because he is well respected and has, you know, a life-long career there. he is very close to the president. and you can really see the body language when the president was nominating him, just how close they are. this

no i don't with john brennan. secrecy is the key word. unless of course you know if he chooses to leak for the benefit of the administration what did you expect when you decided to go public to come clean on on on torture at the cia i mean your wife worked at the cia and she was fired because of him and your father five and you were going to prison what future did you envision for yourself five years ago. i didn't envision prison in my future five years ago i expected there to be a national debate on whether or not we wanted to use torture as an official u.s. policy now i'm very happy proud actually that i played a role in that debate and now the limbo law of the land is that torture is illegal i'm very proud of that i frankly didn't expect that the government would would go after me so relentlessly i stood in the snow for two hours to vote for president obama i really believed that this was a positive change i believed that he deserved that nobel peace prize or only because i expected things to change so dramatically at the beginning of

no i don't with john brennan. secrecy is the key word. unless of course you know if he chooses to leak for the benefit of the administration what did you expect when you decided to go public to come clean on on on torture at the cia i mean your wife worked at the cia and she was fired because of him and your father of five and you're going to prison what future did you envision for yourself five years ago. i didn't envision prison in my future five years ago i expected there to be a national debate on whether or not we wanted to use torture as an official u.s. policy now i'm very happy proud actually that i played a role in that debate and now the law of the land is that torture is illegal i'm very proud of that i frankly didn't expect that the government would would go after me so relentlessly i stood in the snow for two hours to vote for president obama i really believed that this was a positive change i believed that he deserved that nobel peace prize or only because i expected things to change so dramatically at the beginning of his f

john brennan was like all of the members of the fantastic four rolled into one.e looks like the thing. he talks like reed richards. he can set things on fire halfway across the world and he knows how to make c.i.a. docs invisible. i know the media has been trumpeting bombings enjoy widespread support. so does honey boo-boo and that doesn't make it right. it is the future of warfare whether we like it or not. personally i think anybody who wants to send machines into battle for us needs to watch the first three terminator films but i was surprised no one asked mr. brennan about how drone bombs don't just kill america haters, they create new ones. i was surprised why all adult males are considered combatants and that's why they keep the death numbers so low. i was surprised no one asked him about the c.i.a.'s new definition of the word imminent for all of the imminent threats. turns out all they have to do is think you might be

i think john brennan has a lot of explaining to do as to exactly what he meant. >> brennan said in theclip that the government sought assurances from the other countries to which these individuals are rendered that human rights would be respected. the your report clearly indicates that near blanket assurances are insufficient to deal with the kind of abuse that occurred here. >> that is correct. maher arar was transferred after assurances from the country were not going to talk -- after assurances from the country that he would not be torture that was tortured nonetheless. i think there is a wealth of information in the public domain that shows these diplomatic assurances do not work. high-level bush a ministration officials themselves acknowledge there's only so much you can do it once prisoners are out of your custody. the onus is on the obama administration to explain what its policy is and how it will work. >> what do you think of john brennan as president obama is nominee? >> i think as many questions to answer. i think rendition is a documented in this report from a source of gre

but a private hearing now awaits john brennan in order to and technicalities given his performance at the senate scholar and author common cavil says brennan's appointment could set a dangerous precedent. this is a complete of our constitutional rights under the fourteenth amendment do grant so those are more an equal protection of the law and here with the administration is doing here is they're usurping the. united to the american citizens and so we can be judge jury and executioner we can show american citizens abroad without them having their court we can say they are jurors and we can go there and the danger is is we're going to look good ministrations so as we can determine who the jurors. really were in any american citizen without any drugs without any problem and that is a very dangerous precedent. drone warfare its consequences and the morality of it all are up for debate in crosstalk today coming up next hour we hear how drone strikes may be breeding the very terror they seek to destroy. it's quite horrific in africa but it's getting worse i mean there's a new new drawn be

difficult budget tear period after a decade of major budget increases, president obama nominated john brennanviser on intelligence and counterterrorism matters for the past four years. mr. brennan is without a doubt qualified for this position. he served at the cia for 25 years. in analytical, managerial capacities. seen the agency from just about every angle. as a line analyst. as chief of station. as chief of staff to the director. and as the deputy executive director among many others. people who have worked closely with him regularly cite his work ethic. his sbintegrity and determinati. in nominating john brennan, president obama spoke of his, quote, commitment to the values that define us as americans. dni clapper in a letter of support noted his impeccable integrity and his commitment to country is second to none. so with unanimous consent, i would like to insert in to the record letters the committee has received in regard to mr. brennan's nomination. john brennan by all accounts will be a strong leader. guided firmly by the law and his strong ethical code. he's assured the committee i

catcalls and jay set the tone for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing for the bombers hand-picked man seemingly sped tougher questions over drones torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands march from spain streets amid calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts sees a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. is stretched to breaking point as the country gears up for more protests and strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder has unleashed a new anti government sentiment. and a draft a bill in the u.k. aims to open up private online communications to the forty's there are concerns it's taking national security a step too far. around the world around the clock twenty four hours a day of course this is our to carry. now it wasn't quite the grilling that many had predicted as president obama's choice to head the cia face the senate in his confirmation hearing this session began with taunts and jeanne is for the protestors were removed well lawmakers then prodded john brennan on themes

we may see on thursday how many of those questions john brennan will answer. but tonight, four days ahead of that hearing, nbc news, michael isikoff has obtained a document that is closer than we have ever gotten that supposedly justifies this, the memo that may show the justification for the american government killing american citizens. tonight we have exclusive reporting. joining us is national investigative correspondent michael isikoff. michael, thank you for being here. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> everybody has been looking for this memo. you have not the memo, but a white paper based on the memo. does it tell us anything that we did not know before about how the government justifies targeted killings of americans? >> yes. in short, it does. it provides detail. it fleshes out some of the arguments that have been made publicly, and in ways that in some instances contrast with what has been said publicly. now, to be fair, attorney general holder gave a speech last march where he laid out the administration case for targeted killing of americans. he

kept goals and jails are set the tone for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing with obama's and picked men seemingly spit top of questions over drones of torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands marched on spain streets amid calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts and sees a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. tunisia could be stretched to the limits as a country gears up for more protests and even strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder unleashed the new anti government sentiment. and a draft bill in the u.k. open up private online communication to the authorities with their concerns it's taken national security a step too far from. its midday here in moscow you live with us on our gee it's good to have you a company with us it wasn't quite to the grilling that many had predicted as president obama's pick to head the cia face the senate in his confirmation hearing the session began with taunts and jeered before the audience was cleared out lawmakers then poked and

catcalls and just search of the cheering for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing with obama's hand-picked ransoming these tough questions over drones torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands marching strains astri's amid calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts is a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. tunisia could be stretched to the limit as the country gears up for more protests than even strikes on the day of a funeral of the opposition leader whose murder unleashed the new anti government sentiment. and a draft bill in the u.k. aims to open up private online communications to the authorities but there are concerns that it's taking national security a step too far. it wasn't already a line from moscow it's good to have you with us. president obama's pick to head the cia has received a grilling as he faces senate in his confirmation hearing session began with taunts and j.s.p. for the audience was cleared out lawmakers and poked and prodded john brennan though on things from torture to drawings b

catcalls and gears are set to turn for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing but the obama's handpicked men seemingly spit tougher questions over drones and targeted executions. tens of thousands marched on spain's streets amid calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts and sees a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pension and. tunisia could be stretched to the limits as a country gears up for more protests and even strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder unleashed the new anti-government sentiment. and a drive to bail in the u.k. aims to open up a bit online communications to the authorities for their concerns it's taking national security and stepped off. its ten am here in moscow you love with us on our team with me to them would say it's good to have you company president obama picked the heads of the cia has received a grilling as he faced of the senate in his confirmation hearing the session began with tongues and years before the audience was kid out lawmakers and poked and prodded

is a set of the tone for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing but obama's hand-picked man seemingly spit couple questions over drones and targeted execution some. tens of thousands marched on spain streets amid calls for the government to go off on a fresh a round of budget cuts and sees a spike in university fees and the end of the prescription drug bill pension and. tunisia could be stretched to the limits as a country gears up for more protests and even strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder unleashed the new anti-government sentiment. and a drop in bail in the u.k. aims to open up a bit online communications to the authorities for their concerns it's taking national security and stepped off. its ten am here in moscow you love with us on our day with me to bomb would say it's good to have you company. president obama picked to the heads of the cia has received a grilling as he faced of the senate in his confirmation hearing the session began with taunts and years before the audience was cleared out lawmakers and poked and prodded john br

well the nomination of john brennan to be director of the central intelligence agency has brought these issues to a head and furthermore this week you know there was a leaked memo from the justice department that detailed you the executive branch's legal rationale for killing americans in targeted assassinations without due process or any checks or balances or transparency on that power to do so you know brennan when it comes down to it when you boil it down he's he's really represents two of the most controversial. war on terror national security policies that the government has had the first is the torture program during the bush administration. which he voiced support for and called the rendition program a vital tool and the second is of course his spear heading up the obama administration this extraordinary turn of the secret drone program literally steering the targeting process in the legal in the just to go architecture of the drone wars which have killed on the order of three thousand people mainly in pakistan and yemen and as we know there's a few limits on what john brennan is

well the nomination of john brennan to the director of the central intelligence agency has brought these issues to a head and furthermore this week you know there was a leaked memo from the justice department that detailed the executive branch's legal rationale for killing americans in targeted assassinations without due process or any checks or balances or transparency on that power to do so you know brennan when it comes down to it when you boil it down he's he's really represents two of the most controversial post nine eleven. war on terror a national security policy that the government has had the first is the torture program during the bush administration. which he voiced support for and called the rendition program a vital tool and the second is of course his spear heading up the obama administration this extraordinary scene of the secret drone program literally steering the targeting process in the legal in the just to go architecture of the drone wars which have killed on the order of three thousand people mainly in pakistan and yemen and as we know there's few limits on what joh

a search of the training for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing with obama's hand-picked ransoming these the tough questions over drones torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands marching spain's astri's and it calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts is a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. tunisia could be stretched to the limit as the country gears up for more protests than even strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder on leash the new anti government sentiment. and a draft bill in the u.k. aims to open up private online communications to the authorities but there are concerns that it's taking national security a step too far. he wasn't already live from moscow it's good to have you with us president obama's pick to head the cia has received a grilling as he faces senate in his confirmation hearing session began with taunts and j.s. before the audience was cleared out lawmakers and poked and prodded john brennan though on things from torture to drawings but appe

confirming the bomb destruction but confirming john brennan and you director is. basically take clean us all back to the same destructive policies that actually led to the american and to the near american defeat in the months down the same papa sees the end take an isolation of t.l.i. as we all know that you have to stay just work very closely with several countries in this region in order to secure afghanistan this included of course five stun it included several countries in central asia that include russia and others but it with each of these countries the united states and the policies the kind of policies that the cia in particular purse you would really in antagonized all of these key u.s. allies and made the u.s. mission in afghanistan very very difficult so why confirming and by picking john brennan the united states administration is basically that is telling everybody you know what i will continue to do would pursue policies unilaterally and these policies would be quite similar to the ones that actually antagonize many of the americas so as this region

. >> will this imperil john brennan's nomination? >> the president believes john brennan is uniquely qualified. >> i don't know bay fler tosses the ball right back to the president. >> at some point, washington has to deal with its spending problem. i've watched them kick this condition down the road for 22 years that i've been here. i've had enough of it. it's time to act. >> hollywood joins the gun control debate. >> doctors can ask if their patients practice unsafe sex or use illicit drugs or have suicidal ideations or feel threat tleled in the home, about you it's illegal for them to discuss guns. >> i believe as assault weapons were invent vented for war. shouldn't be on our streets here. >>> coming up, elijah cummings. and whatever happened to clint eastwood's chair? the hunt to track down the famous furniture. >> and you would i know is that about two minutes into clint eastwood's speech when i realizedwould i know is that about two minutes into clint eastwood's speech when i realized that he was talking to the chair and telep

what's really remarkable is john brennan appears to have the support to be confirmed. but a lot of pent-up animosity from all the last decade or so in the post- 9/11 era all came out at yesterday's senate confirmation hearing. everyone has their own pet issues. and we saw kind of a big blow-up on the drone issue after nbc reported on some of the memos about legally targeting, you know, american citizens. so everyone kind of hit john brennan as a pinata over their own issue, even though it was clear by the end of the day yesterday that he will eventually be confirmed. >> so we've heard so far that the senators questioned brennan extensively about the use of drones. what other topics can we expect him to be grilled on about these hearings? >> torture remains a sensitive issue. part of the walk down memory lane was asking brennan what he knew and when and why he didn't do more to stop harsh interrogation tactics like waterboarding that were employed during the bush administration. there was also a lot of criticism over leaks that have happened. even though the presidentia

. >> we've been listens to the senate confirmation year of john brennan. we've heard testimony on drones, we've heard testimony on cyberterror and on water waterboarding. we're going to take a break and come right back and pick this hearing up again. ok's fascinating testimony. we'll be right back. >>> you're listening to the senate confirmation hearing of john brennan. president obama's c.i.a. director nominee. we heard him testify on drones and cyber terror, waterboarding, torture. take a listen. >> perhaps it had something to do with airlines and explosive devices. that apparently they had that for a few days and then either 0 were about or had gone ahead and released it. i'm assuming your answer, your then calling the conference call was in response to the -- what they have just released. is that correct? >> yes, a number of news networks put out information about this. >> and you expressly called this -- arranged this teleconference for what exact purpose? >> there were a number of people who were going out on news shows that night asking about the re

kept calls and gere's us at the tone for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing with obama's i'm thinking men singing these bed top of questions over drones a torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands marched on spain streets amid calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts and sees a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. tunisia could be stretched to the limits as a country gears up for more protests and even strikes on the day of the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder unleashed the new anti government sentiment. and a draft bill in the u.k. and she opened up private online communication to the authorities for their concerns a stake in national security a step too far from. its midday here in the moscow you're live with us on our g it's good to have your company with us. it wasn't quite to the grilling that many had predicted as president obama's pick to head the cia face the senate in his confirmation hearing the session began with thompson gere's before the audience with cleared out lawmake

one of the senators who sits on the intelligence committee is going to get a chance to question john brennan is oregon democrat john wyden, who is a bit of a contrarian on the issues. he recently wrote a letter to john brennan asking for answers of his own about targeted killing and why it's justified and how it's justified. the questions themselves are so basic that they are almost more telling than some of the answers they could but probably won't receive. questions like, for example, how much evidence does the president need to determine that a particular american can be lawfully killed? also, this is one that sticks with me, does the president have to provide individual americans with the opportunity to surrender before killing them? sand are there any geographic limit tagtss on the intelligence community's authority to use lethal force against americans. including can intelligence agencies kill people under this authority in the united states. could the cia or any other intelligence agency come kill you if the appropriate high-ranking official in the obama administration, say president

there was a vocal opposition to the program and to john brennan becoming the next director. he was questioned over his past involvement in enhance interrogation techniques. >> i've expressed my personal objections to my colleagues about certain of those situations such as water boarding, nudity, and others. i've expressed my personal objections but i did not try to stop it because it was something that was being done in a different part of the agency under the authority of others. >> when asked about john strikes, he criticized the protesters. >> i think there is an impression on the part of some american people who believe that we take strikes to punish terrorists for past transgressions. nothing could be further from the true spirit to we only take this as a last resort to save lives. -- nothing could be further from the truth. we only do this as a last resort to save lives. >> it recently, a secret base in saudi arabia was revealed, first yeaused to kill this man. he was also a u.s. citizen and the obama administration agreed to show congress the legal opinion justifies s

calls engineers a set the tone for cia hopeful john brennan's confirmation hearing with obama's hand-picked man similarly spared tougher questions over drones torture and targeted executions. tens of thousands of munch on strangers' streets are made calls for the government to go after a fresh round of budget cuts sees a spike in university fees and the end of free prescription drugs for pensioners. tunisia could be stretched to the limit as the country gears up for more protests and even strikes on the jail the funeral of the opposition leader whose murder on the ship the new anti government sentiment. and a draft bill in the u.k. to open up private online communications to the authorities but are there are concerns it's taking national security a step too far. you're watching r t live from moscow with me to bomb let's say. the grilling all but says will do for president obama's favorite jihad the cia as he faced the senate in his confirmation hearing the session began with taunts and just before the audience was cleared out lawmakers and poked and prodded john brennan on things from tortu

soon to be cia chief john brennan went through a confirmation hearing this week amid catcalls and protests but it's still hard to tell where the architect of the targeted assassination program will take america's spy bureau. plus concerns arise if the u.s. missile defense shield is fit to fulfill its announced goal repelling any possible strike from iran as classified studies unveiled serious flaws into the constantly system. russia countdown to the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics with moscow promising a grand spectacle the highly anticipated games are shaping up to be the most expensive in history with huge overspending already costing a key organizer his job. and live from our studios in moscow this is our team thomas certainly glad to have you with us. egypt's opposition has called for more rallies and threatened to storm the presidential palace the protesters accuse mohamed morsi of not upholding the goals of the revolution that ousted hosni mubarak two years ago the turmoil has also been fueled by the authorities decision to block the video sharing web site you tube in the c