there's already it's i was pleased to see that senator feinstein and levin cane sent a letter to a sony pictures asking them to correct this error saying that they've seen the senate report the thousands and thousands of pages cia documents about enhanced interrogation and that it didn't work and it is a disservice to the public to perpetrate this law. why i think it's also a disservice to the people that were involved in the program that i knew because apparently in the film it's portrayed as being you know people that enjoy abusing other people and it's gratuitous and at least my experience was that these were dedicated people that you know had a a purpose and i would certainly debate whether it's misguided but a purpose for doing what they were doing so i think it is a disservice on both sides of the ledger all right so i know that you're also a big advocate saying that now is the time to make the guantanamo testimony public why do you say that well you know guantanamo has been this black mark on our history in fact the russian president vladimir putin brought it up yesterday you know the u.s

. >>> sky fall has sony pictures top movie of all time. it's cleared $918 million worldwide.n the u.s. weekend, it made $11 million and that was enough to beat the other contenders. animated adventure came in second with $10.5 million. new twilight movie slipped to third place after three weeks on place. lincoln came behind in fourth. >>> i saw sky fall and it was amazing. >> you have to see that at the movies. >> there is so much action but i still thing i like

in a letter to sony pictures, they were especially bothered by the suggestion that torture produced theip that led to the military capture of bin laden. >>> america has a new ally in the ongoing conflict of north korea. she is south korea's new president-elect, nicknamed the ice queen. she won yesterday's election. her father was president in the '60s. >>> a familiar honor for president obama. he is, again, "time" magazine's person of the year. an editor said, we are in the midst of historic, cultural and demographic changes. and obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new america. he also received the honor in 2008. >>> and coming up next, after the break, how the fiscal cliff could mean a delayed tax refund. don't like to hear that. for millions of americans. >>> plus, it's a procrastinator's dream. deep discounts expected at stores this weekend, after a disappointing season so far. >>> and the universe has a new reigning beauty queen. we'll tell you the winner when we come right back. (kj;ñ;ñ;ñ;ñx >>> welcome back, everybody. the deadlock over how to avoid th

it's also the highest earning movie for its distributor, sony pictures.r action here ooh flicks were huge hits. "the avengers" and "the dark knight rises" also passed the $1 billion mark. >>> tired of hear the same old phrases. there's a banished words list for 2013. laker superior state university compiled the list. the top word right there on your screen -- fiscal cliff won the most nomination. also, kick the can down the road --. 6. >>> lowly here at the end of the year. by tomorrow -- >> like that. the other word they say is now overused. we used it one time on the air. kim-ye. we will never say that again. >> our lips are sealed. >> how about "snow"? >> i would love to say that. >> freezing. >> you don't like that at all. >> but as far as rain or snow goes, not a lot of chances, though you may see a couple flurries or sprinkles. right now you can see plenty of cloud cover. they've been here just about all day long. not too bad. once again, average high temperatures this time of year low 40s. that's exactly where we are, currently sitting at 40 degree

here, new data showing employees of companies lucky paramount pictures, warner brothers, disney, sony pictures they're all illegally downloading this material while at the same time their industry is calling for a stop to this. interesting. >> trace: evil, evil insiders. ferry. >> thank you. >> syrian rebels reject offers for more peace talks but the decision may have more to do with who was offering those talks. >>> police say the woman in this surveillance video pushed a complete stranger to his death. another fatal confrontation on a new york subway is coming up. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [

they wrote a letter to sony pictures saying they should clarify that the information shown in that movienot based on facts. >>> in the wake of the newtown shooting, the sergeant served two tours in iraq and one in afghanistan. he is now a stay at home dad but yesterday he went to houston elementary school and stood guard and greeted students who were grateful for his presence. the marine said he plans to be at the school today and after the holiday break. >>> our time is now 6:26 blowing filled a plane, this is hard to imagine, 20,000 pounds of potatoes and they were testing something meant for human passengers. boeing put sacks of poe tates in airplane seats. they were a stand in for humans to make sure they don't interfere with the communication system. the potatoes represent the way human reflect electronic signals and the potatoes were -- show more patience than humans. >>> you can see fire crews are on the scene between capital and plymouth. this two-alarm fire was reported about a half hour ago and the ocean muni line is blocked. they do have bus bridges bringing people -- printing

you have written a letter to the chairman, ceo of sony pictures, along with senators carl levin and diannetein, democrats. why are the three of you writing the ceo of sony who produced this? >> i watched this film. it shows a very brutal investigation tactics by the cia interrogator. it also shows extensive waterboarding -- the people that they are holding. and the -- clearly the information is that this waterboarding and torture was -- was the major factor in obtaining information about the whereabouts of bin laden, specifically a courier that had been working for bin laden. the fact is that no information -- according to the former cia director leon panetta -- no information useful to them in tracking bin laden was the result of torture. in fact, khalid sheikh mohammed, or ksm, when he was waterberded, like 134 times or something -- incredible. he stated that this cower courier had retired. in other words, not only they didn't get good information from these techniques of waterboarding and torture, they got bad information. >> greta: what do you want the ceo to do at this point? >> we sh

senator's john mccain, dianne feinstein and carl levin are asking the head of sony pictures to correct the record. we believe you have an obligation to state the role of torture in the hunt for osama bin laden is not based on the facts, but rather part of the film's fictional narrative. let's turn to the director of the aclu national security project. thank you so much for coming on the show. >> thank you for having me. >> the opening scene depicts the torture of a detainee. later the detainee supplies a piece of information during a meal with his interrogators. do you think the film misleads people on the hunt for bin laden, does it not provide sufficient context? >> i think the film certainly starts out with the claim that it's based on fact and it leaves the strong but entirely false impression that torture led to bin laden. and we know that that is false from the people who have reviewed the cia's records. senator's feinstein, levin and mccain are amongst the senate intelligence community personnel who reviewed millions of pages of cia documents that in fact torture did not lead to

democratic senators dianne feinstein and carl levin in writing a letter to the chief executive of sony pictures, which backed the film. and they said -- as you know, the film graphically depicts cia officers to the letter goes on to say -- >> meanwhile, pakistan continues to face the fallout from the raid that led to the capture and killing of bin laden in may 2011. eight help workers have been killed this week during a nationwide anti polio drive, as opposition to such immunization efforts in parts of the country has increased after the fake cia hepatitis vaccination campaign that helped locate bin laden last year. pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic. pakistani clerics said medical workers should not pay the price for those who collaborated with the cia. >> would never dr. shakil afridi he did does not mean you can kill innocent people to avenge him rid of you thin. >> for more, we're joined by matthieu aikins which just returned from two months in pakistan or he examined what led to the capture and killing of osama bin laden. matthieu aikins is a j

it's released by sony pictures classics and it's called "searching for sugar man." ♪ ♪ ♪ sugar man won'tiguez's old neighborhood in downtown detroit and the smoky bar where, back in the late '60s, he was discovered by dennis coffey, a legendary motown producer. >> dennis coffey: we thought he was like the inner city poet, you know, putting his poems to music of what he saw. and it was definitely a very gritty look at what he saw on the streets of detroit. the only writer that i had heard of of that time period was maybe bob dylan, that was writing that well. ♪ ♪ ♪ lost my heart when i found it ♪ >> simon: coffey co-produced his first album, "cold fact." critics liked it, but it bombed. steve rowland was responsible for his second. it did no better. >> steve rowland: nobody in america had even heard of him. nobody... nobodyven was interested in listening to him. how can that be? how can that be? ♪ ♪ >> simon: and how could it be that no one in america knew that rodriguez had become an icon in south africa? steve segerman owns a record store in cape town. >> steve segerman: to many of us s

that's why three senators, dianne feinstein, karl levine, and john mccain wrote to the head of sony picturest what they call the film's grossly inaccurate and misleading suggestion that torture helped the united states capture and kill the world's most wanted terrorist. joining us now is msnbc contributor jimmy williams and toure, my colleague and the co-host of "the cycle." toure, the director and the screenwriter both say that "zero dark thirty" is not an endorsement of torture. mr. boll also points out the film is not a documentary and shouldn't be judged as such. but isn't that slightly disingenuous given the fact that for something like 38 minutes at the beginning of the film, there are relentless scenes of enhanced interrogation, to use -- for want of a better phrase -- which then a name pops out and he's the guy that leads to bin laden. >> well, it is disingenuous because the film makes a point of going after authenticity. he say they talked to people who really know what really happened. so they're trying to get this almost documentary-like reality, realism. so to say now, you know,

they said it's grossly inaccurate and they blasted the ceo of sony pictures and wrote zero dark thirtyy inaccurate and we believe you have an obligation to say it's not based on the facts, but rather the film's fictional narrative. let's talk about this flick. joining me live in l.a., spell it out for me. what is fact and what is fiction? >> that's a very good question, brooke. i'm not sure what they expected the filmmakers to do. i'm talking about the senators. the movie is out and i don't know if a disclaimer would be that effective anyway. we have the three lawmakers and particularly senator mccain with experience as a pow and made him a critic of any kind of torture. they are upset with the filmmakers and they say in a letter as far as they are concerned, zero dark thirty is perpetuating the myth that torture is effective. they call it coercive and didn't result in any information that led to osama's capture. they said in a statement to us that the intelligence information was brought in a 2 1/2 hour film. we had practices and intelligence methods that were used to find bin laden.

the senators have sent a letter to sony pictures saying it should clarify that the role of torture issed on fiction, not facts. zero dark 30 debuted in new york and la. it will have a nationwide release next month. >>> 8:16. right now in washington, house of representatives is special. it's a lot different from what the democrats want -- is in session. it's a lot different from the what the democrats want. >> reporter: we're taking a look at the capitol, eric canter is scheduled to talk about boehner's plan in a minute. plan b would raise tax rates only on those making more than $1 million a year. and to would put a hold on automatic tax spending. it's a temporary fix and a long- term deal would have to come later. president obama wants to raise taxes on households bringing in more than $400,000 a year. >> they keep on finding ways to say no as opposed to finding ways to say yes. >> he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in american history. >> reporter: we'll hear from john boehner again and nancy pelosi shortly but the vote on plan b is not scheduled to happen until toni

mccain, a republican and prisoner of war democratic senator dianne feinstein, sent a letter to sony picturesto the film. the protest follows reports that it makes a hero of a female cia agents who in real life was passed over for promotion because see should -- she is such a pain. like carry on the series homeland. this is just the kind of controversy that can make even more people line up to see the film. already set up records for a limited opening on wednesday plaaing in new york and los angeles, directed by kathleen bigelow who won the oscar for best film for her previous military -- shea beach avatar and james cameron for that. one scene shows water boarding of one suspect who doesn't end up cracking, senators sent a letter that said, quote, we believe the film is grossly inaccurate, suggesting torture led to the location of usama bin laden. below is undaunted, saying the senators are taking that scene out of context, bigelow putting it bluntly saying, quote, this is a ten year intelligence operation brought to the screen, a 2-1/2 our phone. we encourage people to see the film for chara

other names on the list, amy pascal, co-chair of sony pictures. dana walden.s on this list? anybody you didn't expect would be coming up and making it this quickly? >> listen, i think one of the big turnarounds of the year is oprah. her own network went from being, looking like it might not be vi viable to having a ratings surge. and oprah moved up on the list this year. we asked women a lot of funny questions. katie couric is on the list this year, thanks to the success of her talk show. she revealed the ring tone on her cell phone is "lmfoa's "i'm sexy and i know it." >> if you've seen her lately, it isn't just a joke. she looks fantastic. >> no, it's not. >> i remember hearing a quote, there's a special place in hell reserved for women who don't help other women on the way up. great to see you, janice. thanks so much. >>> coming up, a live performance from broadway's "a christmas story." [ boy 1 ] hey! that's the last crescent. oh, did you want it? yea we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light, buttery and flakey. that's half that's not half

senators have now sent a letter to sony pictures asking the filmmakers to state that the use of torturewn in the film is not based on fact. one of those senators, john mccain, who himself was tortured as a p.o.w. in vietnam. here is what he told greta last night. >> we showed our displeasure and they should acknowledge they were either given wrong information, they had a lot of access to the cia in fact one of their, there's an investigation going on about some of the information that they used. and clearly i think they got the slant of those who are defending, in my view, what is unconscionable, and that torturing people. bill: retired u.s. navy captain chuck nash, fox news military analyst and good morning to you. this letter, is, it's strong! this is hollywood. it concludes by saying please consider correcting the impression that the cia use of coercive interrogation techniques led to the operation against usama bin laden. did not. are they right or are we out there a little bit on this? >> i think we're engaged in the theater of the absurd, bill. we have real world problems and sena

have a bunch of senators, dianne feinstein, carl levin, john mccain, all of whom sent a letter to sony picturessly inaccurate and misleading. "the new york times" is now reporting that cia act director michael morrell sent out an agency-wide letter criticizing it. >> it is no question that the -- political drama around this movie is added to the buzz and made it as interesting as the film itself. i guess in the -- in the -- lit help drive interest into this thing but there's also a negative which is the fact that there's been so many of these political complaints that it could hurt the film at oscar time. lot of people will be voting for best picture, you know, may vekd thoughts because they -- they have this sense from, you know, authoritative sources that there is misleading and -- harmful position. >> can i ask you quickly of focus on this lone wolf character maya who is credited with the tracking down of bin laden. was this the case in reality? >> this is a very accurate portrayal. the woman is a real person and not a composite. she is still at the cia and under cover. a woman in her 30s wh

three senators have written to the head of sony pictures, criticizing the movie "zero dark thirty" asrossly inadequate and misleading. it suggests that torture produced the tip that led to bin laden. the senate intelligence committee chairman dianne feinstein and and others say the summit president has an obligation to say that portrait in the hunt for bin laden was a fiction and not based on fact. the lawmakers say the cia detainee who provided significant information about bin laden did so before any harsh interrogation. congress is hearing about a state department report on the september 11 attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, today. in the senate and house foreign relations committee is, they're holding hearings on the report. you can hear the senate hearing on that issue right after today's washington journal on c- span radio. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. [video clip] >> our first experience was to in a different way than any other family. after dad was sworn in, we took a picture behind the oval office desk. that night we did not get to mo

signed by dianne feinstein, senator carl levin, and senator john mccain, they wrote to the head of sony pictureswhich put out the movie, saying that this depiction of the reliance on those interrogations was incorrect according to the records. there's also a senate intelligence committee report that has not yet been made public, but the summary released of that categorically states that these enhanced interrogation techniques were not -- that they are discredited as an intelligence- gathering mechanism and that they were not a central part of the pope binding in bin laden. host: this is the headlights from yesterday in the baltimore sun -- what did the cia and the intelligence community learn from the bin laden killing and how does that play into the future operations? guest: the cia was working the intelligence exploitation and putting together the trail of breadcrumbs that i think was really what is a fascinating story and reveals the cia detective work, this very painstaking and often un glamorous work to put together clues, sift through mountains of data, intercept, and put together a pictur

million in north american ticket sales also became the highest grossing movie in the history of sony pictureset's get straight to our newsmaker of the hour. he is one half of the simpson-bowles commission and he wants to fix the debt before the end of the year. erskine bowles is the co-founder of the fix the debt campaign and co-chair of the national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform. and erskine it is a pleasure to have you with us this morning. >> thank you, becky. becky, can i ask you a question? >> you may. >> was that a picture of joe running a santa claus race over there? >> ah-ha! where's your button? do you have your button on today, erskine? >> i have it on my coat. i didn't wear my coat. i've got it on my coat. >> you wear it everywhere, don't you? >> i wear it everywhere. >> you seeing any of that, erskine? >> look, i think the atmospherics are getting so much better. we've kind of got down to the kabuki theater and moved on to, you know, dancing the tango with the guys. any time you start to tango you got a chance. >> when we've talked to you in the past you said that

sony and approach to politics -- wilsonian approach to politics is the following. as i draw the differences between these two, recalls a teacher who asked for a class of eight-year-olds to draw a picture of a whatever each of them chose. as they drew, she circulated among their desks. she paused at the desk of little sally, she asked, what are you drying? -- drawing? sally said, i am drawing a picture of god. the teacher said, nobody knows what god looks like. sally said, they will in a minute. [laughter]in 30 minutes or so, you will have a picture of my theory on the role of religion in american politics. i will begin by noting three pertinent peculiarities -- but we owe so much to the generosity of the danforth family. the first is this, i write about politics, primarily to support my baseball habit. i also have the bad taste to mention the chicago cubs, now standing in the belly of the beast. it is cardinals nation. i grew up northeast of here in champaign, illinois. midway between chicago and st. louis. and at an age to tender to make life shaping decisions, i had to choose between being a cubs fan and a cardinals fan. all of my friends were cardinal fans been grew up cheerful and