to pass a $1.1 trillion spending bill funding the federal government through next september. the move avoids a government shutdown and we ll discuss it with our panel later in the program. first, that bombshell senate report on the interrogation tacticings used by the cia after 9/11 has led to a number of questions about how far we should go to keep america safe. joining us to debate this, karl rove, one of george w. bush s top advisers in the white house and senator sheldon whitehouse, a former member of the intelligence committee who was involved in preparing the report. gentlemen, welcome back to fox news sunday. thank you, chris. i want to focus on three central questions today first of all, was it torture.
againstous them against us. all of that is a fantasy. these people don t want the techniques used and i understand the reasoning of them not wanting them, but the idea they don t work is spurruous. none of us support true torteur. but most say it is not torteur, there is a difference. what is the line, gary, help us to understand. americans are confused, is it torture or not. eits are not torteur. you don t want to take it to the point where you cause physical damage to someone. but again, only uses them in cases of individual terrorist who have information on catastrophic information on the state. and we should only do that that going to kill tens of thousands of people. we are talking about the
we are tracking what you need to know. welcome back to early start. i m christine romans. it is 30 minutes past the hour. the battle over the harsh interrogation techniques under fire after john brennan holds a news conference defending the techniques and useful intelligence. brennan calls it unknowable. whether that information could have been obtained without harsh interrogation. he would not call it torture, he did not use the word torture. brennan said officers used techniques beyond what they were legally authorized. in a limited number of cases, agency officers used interrogation techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and should be repudiated by all. the subjects enhanced by the techniques provided information
useful intelligence. brennan calls it unknowable. whether that information could have been obtained without the harsh interrogation. while he would not call it torture, he did not use the word torture, brennan admitted some officers used techniques that went beyond what was legally authorized. a number of cases, agency officers used interrogation techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and rightly should be repudiated by all. the detainees subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that was useful and used in the ultimate operation to go against osama bin laden. i m not going to attribute that to the use. top bush administration officials fighting a firestorm by the senate 500-page torture report. bush-era lieutenant michael
using torture is inappropriate. however, i would tell you that i m not sure what anyone would do if faced with another 19-11, what would be authorized? so certainly without question, we should hold ourselves to a higher level of value on how we interact with the world. we certainly should not expose our allies to this report and the challenges that will come with this report. it certainly denigrates the character of many people. sir, do you have an opinion on this? yes, i do. without question. is it torture and is it wrong? let me say it one more time. i think we all would agree that torture is inappropriate, should not be used. however, i think it s very important for us to realize the context and the timing of the decisions being made, who would not go if they were faced with another 9-11. are you saying torture is wrong unless it is right? i m saying without question,