attorney, we briefed the national security adviser and we didn't brief the president. and i guess one of my questions would be, did they not brief the president so the president could say he hadn't been briefed? i do think it's interesting that you had briefed those people at a time, as we talked b-such heightened awareness about the potential for another attack and yet not brief the president on that. that seems like an interesting facet that we should drill down on. >> i think condi actually said or somebody said there's no reason to brief the president. >> i think that just protects. >> they were just trying to protect the president. >> the most fascinating subplot of the torture report was the role that condi played in deciding what the president got briefed on and what he didn't get briefed on but that she was the pivot point, that she was the conduit which course the national security adviser