Top Secret Interrogation Memos Revealed
CHETRY: Well a developing story this morning -- top-secret terror interrogation memos revealed. The documents detail the methods used by the Bush administration. Critics say it's proof of torture. CNN's Kate Bolduan has details this morning from Washington.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sleep deprivation, slapping, forced nudity, and simulated drowning known as waterboarding. The Bush administration saying these interrogation techniques were OK and legal in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to prevent another attack like it. Now the Obama administration is releasing four Bush-era memos about what happened behind closed doors and in back rooms as the war on terror raged.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I have to say these were some of the most shocking legal documents I've ever seen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?</s>TOOBIN: To see the United States government and assistant attorney general say that waterboarding was not torture, a position that he is totally without legal support.</s>ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: These are legal authorizations for specific actions to be undertaken. The CIA that did what they were told based on the authorization that they had been given. The president believes it would be unfair to punish those.</s>BOLDUAN: The Justice Department under President Bush issued opinions on the case of high-value al Qaeda detainee Abu Zubaydah (ph), who was said to be deathly afraid of stinging insects. The Justice Department ruled it was OK to put him in a confined space and tell him there was such an insect in the cell with him, as long as he was told the sting would not kill him or severely hurt him. A memo also noted that some detainees subject to forced nudity and sleep deprivation may be kept in diapers for, quote, "sanitary purposes", not as another way to get them to talk. Waterboarding and other techniques were said to be used on Zubaydah (ph) and Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (ph), the admitted 9/11 mastermind, but these memos stress that American troops have endured these techniques in training and do not constitute torture.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This government does not torture people.</s>BOLDUAN: Former POW John McCain disagreed.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Clearly, waterboarding is torture and it's a big issue with me.</s>BOLDUAN: And the Obama administration has since banned waterboarding and other so-called enhanced interrogation tactics but groups like the ACLU who fought for these documents to be released want something more.</s>AMRIT SINGH, ACLU: Torture is illegal, it is immoral and it is essential that individuals who conducted torture be held accountable.</s>BOLDUAN: But that isn't likely. The Obama administration has also informed CIA officials they will be not prosecuted for past waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics since they were following orders that were considered legal at the time -- Kiran?</s>CHETRY: All right, well critics continue to say that that memo -- no one is above the law when it comes to torture. Is the administration pushing back on that?</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, they are. And there is an interesting and strong statement coming out from the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair (ph). He basically says that you need to remember the context of these events when these memos came out. In part</s>CHETRY: All right, Kate Bolduan for us this morning from Washington -- thanks. Also coming up at 8:30 we're going to talk to CNN contributor Fran Townsend, former Bush homeland security adviser about the now declassified torture memos -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Here's what we're working on for you this morning -- United's new controversial policy, the airline will now charge overweight passengers for a second seat on certain flights. Is it unfair? Humiliating? We want to hear from you. And the captain of that hijacked cargo ship is headed home to Vermont as we speak. A huge celebration is planned. We'll take you live to his hometown in Underhill, Vermont, coming up. It's 53 and a half minutes after the hour.