Report on CIA interrogations draws criticism from around the world – Part 1

GWEN IFILL:

Now: the fallout from the Senate Intelligence Committee's report charging torture and deceit at the CIA.

The interrogations described in the Senate report span the globe from Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan. Criticism came from around the world today as well. The new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, spoke in Kabul.

PRESIDENT ASHRAF GHANI, Afghanistan (through interpreter):

The report is shocking. All accepted principles, human rights, the United States Constitution, and all accepted international norms, have been violated by CIA agents and their contractors.

GWEN IFILL:

In Iran, a Twitter account linked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said Americans have been "debased and misguided" by their government.

China also took the chance to shift the focus to American actions and away from accusations that Beijing routinely tortures political opponents.

HONG LEI, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman (though interpreter): China opposes torture. We think the U.S. should reflect and correct their actions. The U.S. should abide to international conventions and regulations.

GWEN IFILL:

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest conceded the U.S. will have to work to rebuild its moral authority.

JOSH EARNEST, White House Press Secretary:

The release of this report is critically important step, because it demonstrates a commitment to transparency. It demonstrates a commitment to accountability in terms of fessing up for falling short. And it also demonstrates a commitment to making sure that these kinds of shortcomings don't ever happen again.

GWEN IFILL:

Countries that once hosted secret CIA prisons also felt the fallout, including Poland, where a former president insisted he never knew any particulars.

FORMER PRESIDENT ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI, Poland (through interpreter):

The American side turned to the Polish side with a request to find a quiet place where it could conduct operations to effectively obtain information from persons who were willing to cooperate with the U.S. side. We agreed to this.

GWEN IFILL:

In Lithuania, the prime minister pressed for information on whether detainees were tortured at a site near Vilnius.

The United Nations special counterterror investigator said the interrogators themselves should be prosecuted. And U.S. Senator Mark Udall, the outgoing Democratic senator from Colorado, demanded high-ranking CIA officials be fired.

SEN. MARK UDALL, (D) Colorado: It's bad enough not to prosecute these officials, but to reward or promote them and risk the integrity of the U.S. government to protect them is incomprehensible. The president needs to purge his administration of high-level officials who were instrumental to the development and running of this program. He needs to force a cultural change at CIA.

GWEN IFILL:

But former CIA Director Michael Hayden pushed back, here this morning "The Today Show."

MICHAEL HAYDEN, Former Director, CIA:

I don't know that the report that was released yesterday is that historically accurate report. It reads like a prosecutorial screed, rather than a historical document.

GWEN IFILL:

Meanwhile, six American embassies around the world stepped up security, in case of possible attacks.