in just a moment. let's begin with the torturous report that has leaders around the world with sounding off. >> former u.s. vice president dick cheney was in office when these interrogations took place and he's been using some of the most colorful language in defending what happened. take a listen here as he makes his feelings known. >> what are we supposed to do, kiss him on both cheeks and say tell us what you know. of course not. >> that's not all he said but you will hear more of his fiery comments in just a moment. >> first look at international reaction coming in response to the report. governments across the globe are condemning the u.s. after the release of the senate report on cia interrogation tactics. >> the report details brutal acts of torture and now has governments who helped the cia on the defensive. here's our barbara starr. >> today the impact of the torture report spread even as key allies are speaking out. >> torture is wrong. torture is always wrong. >> reporter: afghanistan's new president furious at the cia report calling it shocking. >>. >> the report indicates some of our country men who have been tortured were innocent. >> reporter: condemnation around the globe as the white house says making the secret activities public was the right thing to do. >> the president did decide that the benefit of releasing this report, and taking a significant step to rebuild our moral authority was necessary. >> military and intelligence officials continue monitoring for any violent reaction. the concern a demonstration could break out, such as those across the muslim world in 2012 after a u.s. film mocked the prophet mohammad. marines remain on alert ready to move. officials insist they are always ready. >> i think i have never seen security taken as seriously as it has been in the last two years. >> a monitoring group has found some jihadi websites calling for retaliation against u.s. personnel involved in the torture. human rights groups calculate some 50 governments around the world secretly helped the cia, including thailand, egypt and morocco. several years ago syria tortured a detainee after the cia helped to engineer sending him there and the libyans also shared information on tortured detainees. countries who helped the cia now in a critical cross step. the former polish president said he knew the cia had a secret interrogation site in poland but he insists he knew nothing of the torture. >> translator: the americans, by publishing this report, in large part lose their ally abilities because in a new situation every country will be wondering to what extent the u.s. can be trusted. >> reporter: even iran weighing in publicly on the report. iran's supreme leader posted a number of tweets about it and one of them said, and i quote, today the u.s. government is a symbol of tyranny against humanity, even the american people are faced with cruelty." . that's the reaction from iran. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> lieutenant commander in the u.s. navy reserve says he has some idea of what the detainees experienced because similar torture tactics were used on him. ryan casey says it was part of a military training program called f. e.a.r. he talked to us earlier. >> these measures were never meant to, as a means to actually elicit reliable intelligence but to get you used to torture. there's a big difference. being tortured as it is, and i assure you it was very unles pleasant and as groggy as you are from sleep deprivation you know it is training. a real p.o.w. or detail knee doesn't know it is training or if he or she will ever get out and see the light of day or their family. that's a big difference. the point is it was never meant for interrogation. it was meant for torture. >> that's an audacious claim that you make. that the enhanced interrogation techniques was not to extreme intelligent but to flex american muscles as you write. do you believe the cia had no interest in obtaining any intelligence from this? >> no. that's not what i'm saying at all. i think they thought they could get whatever information they could get. my point is they were going about it in the wrong way in a way that was never designed to work in the first place and the people doing it, as the senate intelligence report has reported these two guys had no training in international interrogation, no expertise in allocate tarks counterterrorism or anything of the like. >> just before the report came out, george w. bush's second in command when all of this happened called it a bunch of hooey. vice president cheney took it a step further saying it is quote full of crap. hear more of what he had to say in an interview with fox news. >> khalid sheik mohammad the mastermind of 9/11, hit the pentagon, taken down the white house or capital building, the twin towe. he is in our possession. we know he is the architect. what are we supposed to do kiss him on the cheek and say tell us what you node of course not. we did what we had to do to prevaent further attack and we were successful on both parts. >> cheney said president bush was involved in discussions about the cia's interrogation techniques. the report says bush was kept in the dark about the torture tactics. this just in to cnn. an al qaeda affiliate has attacked yemen's largest air base. look at this map. yemeni defense officials tell cnn six rockets were launched at the al annan air base near aden. they report a number of injuries but won't say if anyone was killed. on the twitter account militants said they targeted the u.s. section of the base they say it is for the revenge for the death of muslims in this recent attempts to rescue luke somers killed by his captors. >> a suicide bomber killed five afghan soldiers in an attack that kill attacked an army vehicle. it comes as u.s. troops prepare to shift their mission from combat to training and advising afghan troops at the end of this month. still to come here on cnn, outrage in the west bank where a palestinian minister died after a scuffle with israeli troops. what caused his death? it's not exactly the middle of sand but a mystery and why the mystery may be solved. a call to action on behalf of children everywhere. still come the message from the latest recipients of the nobel peace prize. christmas tree lights were burned out in bethlehem's manger square. abbas is calling the minister's death an intolerable act and they will investigate. >> answer wane doctor in ramallah say israeli security forces are to blame. >> reporter: pushing and shoving are normal for protests in the west bank. this one north of ramallah ended with the death of a palestinian minister who was active in protests against the now 47-year-old israeli occupation. >> first he was choked he recalls and then hit, kicked an an officer hit him from behind. he then lost consciousness. the doctor inspected his body an said the cause of death was clear. >> asphyxia. >> the statement issued by the israeli army described the protesters as rioters, contradicting eyewitness accounts who said the demonstration was nonviolent. the army said it will conduct a review of the incident, adding a israeli pathologist will join a team of jordanian pathologists to look at the circumstances of his death. he was sentenced to life in prison in 1982 for his role in a bombing that killed two israeli teenage but released three years later in a prisoner exchange. in the wake of the killing abbas declared a three-day period of mourning and he's ordered his security services to halt coordination with the israelis. small scattered clashes broke out in the west bank between israeli soldiers and palestinian youth. at a refugee camp, a 14-year-old was seriously wounded in the head by, according to palestinian doctors, live ammunition. you tube video shows both sides trying to treat him at the scene. ties between the palestinian authority and israel have been rocky since last spring when u.s.-brokered peace talks collapsed. under these circumstances, the slightest glimmer of peace is fast fading. >> an autopsy is still being carried out. switching gears now. two human rights activists were awarded the nobel peace prize. malala has become a world icon and a hero in so many people's hearts. you of course remember her. the taliban tried to kill her for her work around two years ago. >> you see she is sharing this year's award with a man from inya who is honored for fighting the oppression of children. the two called for unity in speeches given at the award ceremony in norway. >> if we are to real peace to the world we shall begin with the children. i humbly act. let us unite the world through the compassion part of our children. >> i'm not a lone wolf. i'm not a lone voice. i'm many. i'm malala, but i'm also many. i am 66 million girls who are deprived of education. and today, i'm not raising my voice because the voice of those 66 million girls. >> the average age of a nobel peace prize winner is 62 and she is 17. >> tl me you didn't get chills listening to her. >> for sure. >> such a future ahead of her. coming up, we will look at south africa's criminal justice system. people are asking questions about its fairness. >> if you are poor in south africa, you don't have money, forget about the justice system. it won't work for you. 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[ female announcer ] k-y yours & mine. his excites. hers delights. together feel them ignite. keep life sexy. >> you are looking at live pictures from hong kong where police are telling protesters to pick up. their time is up. police are walking down the street and tearing down tents. right now we are hearing some arrests have been made. protesters are camped out there for two and a half months and they are demanding open elections in 2017. we are joined by our reporter in hong kong for us. i know there haven't been clashes, per se, between protesters and police, although arrests have been made. what are you seeing on the ground? you can see hundreds lining in. what they are doing, they are moving in on the front lines. they are stepping forward, one by one, reclaiming what is a highway. what they want to return to being a highway. if you look in the distance they are using machinery to now pick up all of the tents of the belonging left behind by the protesters who have voluntarily cleared out. what the police have been doing is coming forward this this line, marching forward and pushing to the side, inch by inch, all of these, what was once the home of the protesters pushing them to the side waiting for machinery to pick them up. some protesters have moved voluntarily and others are staying willing to be arrested. they are down there right now. there is a sit-in going on and the police said if they need to they will use force. let's have a listen. >> translator: anyone who refuses to leave from the thorough fare we will start to disperse and arrest them. in the process if there is a resistance or provocations or the use of force by the occupiers, we will have no other alternative and may use minimum force to reach our lawful objectives. >> now we have seen a lot of symbolic moments all morning. we have seen the police pulling down the umbrellas left behind. we have seen protesters spreading the floor with glitter trying to leave a piece of themselves for. in the shadow of the umbrella remain the remnants of the tents and occupy central movement surrounded by the police. we only have a couple hundred meters left. by the way, if you can see the highway behind me. that is where we are seeing another line of police coming around. they brought with them the police van. now they are driving down the highway. the first time we have seen any cars coming down here in more than two months. it is right down there. on this side of the highway. what we are seeing is the police close in on that. one of the protesters there is a billionaire businessman. he's been supporting the protest. he says -- financially all the way through. coming down and encouraging and supporting it. i put it to him that this movement has been a failure. they haven't got what they wanted. this is what he said in spahn. so what they have been saying all along is this is the first of many more occupy or some kind of battles against both the hong kong government and the governments of china for these demands. we have seen banners around today. it is just the beginning or we'll be back. what they are saying is they will be back in some other shape or form. for now they are closing in on the sit in down there. >> looking behind you at the highway, clearly the police have their work cut out for them but they are being aggressive. clearly they mean business. it is almost 4:30 in the afternoon and we appreciate it. >> okay. that is cannon fire marking the birth of royal twins in monaco. gabrielle was born on wednesday two minutes before her twin brother jacques. >> the twins are the first children born to princeal better and his wife. >> the palace was lit up in red lights to celebrate the occasion. >> beautiful. mystery is washing up on beaches in western europe. 100-year-old rubber blocks all bearing the same word have been appearing for decades. >> now the enigma of where they came from may finally be solved. >> old and washed up by the shore these rectangular rubber blocks have been a source of mystery and fascination. for many in england, france, norway and spain but a close inspection shows they are more than a slab of rubbish, they are the printed word which reads -- for 30 years now, people around europe have been bumping in to these while strolling through the peach. they have been so common they have their own facebook page. jake taylor was walking on a nearby beach when he found one. >> i saw something on the floor and i thought i'm not picking that up on the beach anden then i thought it was interesting and picked the block up. it was rubber. and felt weird. saw something written on it. so i took it home. >> it is not actually rubber but a gum of a tree found in malaysia, a material popular in the 19th and 20th sechblgry and used as a cover for underwater cable and some use them as chopping boards and others as decorations. >> sits in my house looking pretty. i like it. it is rare and i don't think that many people have got them. it is a nice ornament. >> many believe ship wreck is an explanation, the most prom dent the doomed "titanic." it is also true other ships transported the rubber too. experts believe the current direction would make a japanese ship a more likely origin. the ship was sank by a german submarine. whatever the origin, experts believe these 100 year blocks have probably gone around the world a few times already and may still be found in beaches around the world for centuries to come. cnn, england. >> wonder who's heading to the beach to find their own. >> me, right after this forecast. still to come, hackers reveal what is going on behind the scenes in sony's film business and much of it is not pretty. a top bomb maker for al qaeda previously thought to be dead may still be alive. we will have more on that in just a moment. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365, the team can gain real time insights and instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. this is the microsoft cloud. you are watching cnn. we appreciate. let's get to the headlines. a suicide bomber killed five afghan soldiers in an attack on their vehicle in kabul. the defense ministry says 12 others were wounded. the taliban claimed responsibility. u.s. troops are weeks away from transitioning from combat to a training mission there. >> we are getting pictures to see the extent of the damage. meantime, in hong kong, police right now are clearing the main site where pro democracy protesters have been camped out for more than two months. you are watching live pictures as this continues to unfold. we understand the area is under lockdown and protesters must give their names before leaving. police gave a final warning to people staging nearby. they have been chanting i want true universal suffrage. a man carrying a mexican flag interrupted wednesday's nobel peace prize ceremony. he was steps away from malala yousafzai as she received her award. police say the man was not armed but remains in custody. french jihadist thought to be killed in an air strike in syria may still be alive. >> u.s. officials say new intelligence datas that bomb maker was seriously wounded in the november strike but ended up living. he is part of the allocate-linked khorasan group. >> the fight for the syrian city of kobani from a new perspective isis would have the world believe that their fighters are making gains but analysts see things much differently. >> reporter: the camera flies in to the battle for kobani, the fighters are seen scrambling for a better position. heard panting. this isis propaganda video shows what the terror group claims are its fighters battling for control of the syrian border town against kurdish forces. isis recently used a british hostage to make a false claim about its control for kobani. >> it is coming to an end. they are mopping up now. >> reporter: in reality, they say isis is losing. and controls less than 50% of kobani. nick peyton walsh traveled there and captured these scenes. but a key question after three months of air strikes by the u.s. and its allies why hasn't isis been driven completely out of kobani? >> the problem is the air strikes came too late. this allowed the islamic state to get in the city. once you get fighters inside of a city it is hard for air power to dig them out. if they can hide, even if the building doesn't provide any protection, it provides concealment. >> reporter: a pentagon official tells cnn, the air strikes have impacted the ability of isis to move around kobani. the official says isis tanks and other vehicles can no longer roam free and warns it's too soon to judge the military strategy. isis' propaganda campaign isn't slowing down. in another new video isis shows what it claims are iraqi soldiers running away from isis forces. a narrater says in english, the iraqis are fleeing like the cowards they are and still photos published by an isis twitter account showing what it claims are isis militants on a rooftop in a self-proclaimed isis province. isis claims they are throwing a gay man off the roof and stoning him. they say it is part of the group's battle plan. >> they don't turn out videos like this that have a kick to them people will start to say maybe they are on their heels, not as tough as they said they would be. >> for isis and the u.s.-led allies kobani is the center of it all. kobani is the most important battlefield of the war tactically and symbolically. if the allies win it is a set back for isis, a huge turning point. if isis wins it shows the u.s. can't help its allies. the coalition isn't as powerful as it seems and isis gets control of a huge stretch of syria's border with turkey. so right now both sides are all in kobani. brian todd, cnn, washington. this point i want to get you back live to hong kong and show you what is happening at this moment. after six-plus hours of police coming in to clear out demonstrators we are now seeing them face off with the students who were, i guess trying to have a sit-in, trying to sit in place. what we saw a few moments ago, before we brought these images to you were police officers picking up the students and carrying them out. so that is a slight escalation of what we have seen today. already there is a barricade around this area. the police have been methodical as they move through and now we are seeing them try to remove students who are trying to stage a sit-in. we will continue to track this and keep in mind this was able to be done through an injunction of a bus company. this is something that officials want finished today. we will bring you updates -- in fact, now you are seeing one individual there on the right side of the screen and on the left methodical work. piece by piece they move away from the tents and other items that students have had there now more than ten weeks. we will keep an eye on this and hope it doesn't get violent. but this is still developing as we speak. >> okay. we will keep an eye on those protests. they have been going on now for about 11 weeks. russian president putin is on a one-day deal-making trip to india. he is in new delhi meeting with india's prime minister. russia's news agency reports the leader signed an agreement to build two more power units and a nuclear power plant in india. russia has been in talks with india about developing nuclear power plant there and possibly also building the first oil pipeline between the two nations. mr. putin will help to start the first ever world diamond conference on thursday. roughly 24 hours ago we found out that prosecutors in south africa can appeal the conviction of oscar pistorius but the judge rejected a challenge to his prison sentence. he was convicted of negligent killing in of reeva steenkamp. he was sentenced to five years. the appeal could take a year or more. >> we will monitor the appeal as it happens. the trial of pistorius put a spotlight on the south african justice system, exposing what some say are cracks too deep to ignore. in a country with huge disparity between rich and poor, questions are asked whether people at opposite ends of the spectrum are equally served. >> she wears an electronic tag around one crippled ankle. disabled like oscar pistorius he is accused of criminal wrongdoing in his case fraud. in pistorius' case murder. pistorius received a conviction sentence ar culpable homicide and faces the upcoming appeal at the supreme court, his case is yet to be heard and already he spent three years behind bars. >> if you have money you get ten months and go home. and for me, in a wheelchair, disabled you have to spend your life in prison because you don't have the money to get yourself out. >> reporter: he was finally released on bail once his family found the funds. his time in south africa's notoriously crowded facility was a far cry from the hospital wing his disabled olympian counterpart experienced. he has no control over his bladder. once in prison he contracted tuberculosis and no provisions were made for his special needs. >> i was in a small cell which has a lot of people. where a cell can have 23 people, we have 80 to 90 at times. >> reporter: his case was discovered by the justice project, an advocacy group says it is a number of cases they are investigating. south africa's criminal detention service says they are looking in to his case. they have not responded to repeated requests for interviews on the conditions of prisoners awaiting trial. in a week that has seen a british millionaire depart capetown airport, acquitted on all charges in connection with he murder of his wife and a ruling that will see pistorius reach the highest court in the land, he wonders when his trial will come. >> if you are poor in south africa, you don't have money. forget about the justice system. it won't work for you. >> reporter: he decided the judge disagreed. she was adamant and concluded the pistorius trial that justice had been done. it would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one love for the poor an disadvantaged and another for the rich and famous. >> but men like him find it hard to believe. cnn, johanns in aburg. still to come here on cnn, health workers risking their lives on the front line in the fight against ebola. a unique distinction from "time" magazine. we will look at sometimes controversial recipients of a similar honor. stay with us. welcome back. the national football league has announced a new personal conduct policy. from now on, any players or other personnel involved in any kind of violent act, that includes sexual assault or domestic violence, they will face a mandatory six-game suspension. this is new coming from the nfl. now it could be longer, longer than six games if there are, quote, aggravated circumstances. roger goodell decided to revise the policy after high-profile domestic abuse cases involving players like, of course 0, ray rice and adrian peterson. the nfl has been in hot water recently. the players union said it didn't get a chance to review the policy before wednesday's announcement. new details about the massive computer attack against sony pictures. investigators uncovered at least one clue of who maybe responsible. >> reporter: while it is unclear if it was north korea, an anarchist group or former employee with a grudge that breached sony's computers, what is clear is the infiltration was deep and damaging. >> reporter: while it is still unclear if it was north korea, an anarchist group or a former employee with a grudge that breached sony's computers, what is clear is the infiltration was deep and damaging. guardians of peace are claiming responsibility for leaking the information of celebrities and scathing e-mail exchanges between producers and directors. some bad mouth ing a-list entertainers. one calls angelina jolie, minimally talented and a spoiled brat. >> i think it is a very scary trend, and organizations which have sensitive information have to be concerned about. >> reporter: the documents revealed the social security numbers of 47,000 people, including celebrities conan o'brien, rebel wilson and sylvester stallone and the aliases stars use to check in to hotels or do business. tom hanks apparently goes by johnny madrid. jessica alba as cash money. and sarah michelle gellar as milio har ra. >> kim jong-un wants to d an interview -- it shows seth rogen raked in $2 million more than james franco for "the interview" a comedy about a plot to kill north korean leader kim jong-un. the cyberattack appeared to be at first leaking the movie on-line before its debut. leading to speculation that north korea may have been involved. while north korea denied involvement it called the film an act of terrorism and leak of righteous deed. cnn learned a code used in the attack was written in korean and used from previous attacks against korea. >> it's important to realize, depending how sophisticated your adversary is, they may be routing attacks, or using known attacks from a language code base in order to throw your atri bugs thoughts off. >> pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> sony saga continues. if you are a frequent flyer, listen to this. you'll now have to choose from five different fare options when you book a delta flight. starting march 1st, the airline will be splitting seating in to five levels going from basic economy to delta one elite first class. the bare bones level gets you a cheap seat. >> outside of the plane. >> but no perks. just a seat. that's it and then the main cabin that lets you pick your seat in advance, which i love to do and make changes, as well. but if you want premium or alcohol, guaranteed overhead bin space can be useful you'll have to spring for the delta comfort option. delta one seat has perks like head sets and chef menus. powerful storm takes aim at the western u.s. this could be one of the worst the area has seen in five years them latest information about this break. it will be a white christmas for most of the northeast u.s. look at these pictures. it may not be a merry one. >> if you have to get through this i'm not so sure. >> several inches of snow fallen there. thousands of people have spent part of the day without power. not a merry situation. >> meanwhile, on the west coast, look at these photos. people in california spent the day filling sandbag. a powerful pacific storm is threatening to drench several parts of the state. let's turn now to our wonderful meteorologists. >> i like the preface. if you think of anything else, wonderful. >> we do love you. so california had a drought for so long, so this storm must be pretty welcome. >> it is. absolutely. when you think of what happened here in 018, we are talking about portions of california, san francisco 3 1/2 inches came down in all of 2013. this particular storm could easily top that across the bay area in to 24 to 48 hours of what they saw in an entire calendar year last year. one to four inches in los angeles. the heaviest, most impressive rain upwards of ten inches in the northern areas of california. you work toward the pacific northwest and all of this is coming in on the balmy side. high pressure an issue on the southwest facing shores. gorgeous places on the central coast of california will be battered by incredible surf here. higher elevations 6,000 feet. measuring snow in the feet as well. one to three feet above the elevations. you see the amount of moisture available and it pushes across. blizzard warnings are in effect for the high country. take you to reno, lake tahoe, this is a storm that will get your attention. winds could exceed 80 miles an hour with these storm systems. this will be a widespread event across the state of california. that pattern doesn't look like it will taper until thursday in to friday. quickly leave you with what is happening in ireland. similar set up in waves and winds. take a double-decker bus, we had wave heights observed at one of the buoys at 70 feet. that is 21 1/2 meters. remarkable. you would imagine significant damage to the coastal communities. if you are traveling across northern europe, it will run in to a lot of delays with the winds of 60 to 80 kilometers an hour. that's worth noting if you are flying in the region. >> global forecast. >> appreciate it. >> the health workers battling the ebola outbreak are honored as "time" magazine's persons of the year. >> the magazine editor said the unprecedented number of doctors and nurses who responded to the medical emergency in west africa deserve the title. >> they join notable people in history. we take a look. people who changed our world this year. defining moments of history always shaped by the people living it. on september 11th, new york mayor rudy giuliani became america's mayor. "time" magazine's person of the year in 2001. >> the person of the year is somebody who drove the news, exerted important influence. time tile magazine chose the figures you would expect, roosevelt, martin luther king jr., pope john paul ii. ♪ a yearly tradition that began as an accident. in 1927, the editors realized charles lindberg, the first solo aviator to cross the atlantic was never on a cover that year. he tried to make up for the oversight by calling him man of the year. 87 years later, the choices ranged from heros to villains. recognizing history is often paid by the contemptible. 1938's cover, adolf hitler. 1939 and 1942 soviet leader josef stalin. in 1979, as the iranian hostage crisis unfold, ayatollah khomeini man of the year. the person sometimes isn't one but a group. 2011, the world rocked by protests. the arab spring, the occupy movement. the occupy wall street hashtag became the most popular topic on twitter. the american soldier, among the groups chosen and mem rabably, or not, in 2006 you as in social media. that choice leading to some friendly mocking. >> how do i look? i'm the man of the year. >> time tile magazine says it will take the jab, history's on their side. >> i don't think there is any question about the role social media has played. it is only grown since then. certainly this is a year where we have seen that importance with protests across the country. >> like in ferguson, but even the stunning protests couldn't beat the hearts of this year's choice, the ebola fighters. as the influence of magazines diminishes in the internet age, this tradition perseveres. a choice that gives us a snapshot of our year and ourselves. cnn, chicago. >> i love that. i think you are my person of the year. >> yea. favorite person. >> thank you so much. >> cnn newsroom is next. have a great day. tell the good from the bad?"o so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. visit angieslist.com today. ♪ the united states under fire. scathing criticism for the cia because of the report on their enhanced interrogation techniques. the agency's director preparing to speak out today. how leaders around the world are reacting. still alive. one of the most dangerous bomb makers in al qaeda survives a drone strike. once thought to have killed him. where is he now and what threat could he pose? monster weather. we are talking on both coasts here. parts of california repairing for what could be the state's