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Controversial Report on Torture by CIA after 9/11; 3D-Digitizing in Smithsonian Museum; CNN Hero of the Year

CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: A strongly divisive U.S. government report leads off our show this Wednesday. It involves controversial interrogation

techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The report was released

yesterday by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Its job is to oversee and monitor the intelligence activities of the U.S. government.

In order to get information from terrorism suspects, the report says the CIA would deprive them of sleep, sometimes for days, sometimes in

uncomfortable positions. It says some suspects were beaten, and some were water-boarded, when water is poured onto someone`s face and head to instill

a fear of drowning.

Critics including President Obama called these methods torture and say they are ineffective in getting information. Defenders including the CIA called

the methods effective and say they helped prevent terrorist attacks.

Yesterday, U.S. security officials warned law enforcement that the report could influence extremists and terrorists to attack the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thousands of U.S. military personnel on heightened alert, anticipating the release of a report by the Senate Intelligence

Committee on top secret interrogation tactics and torture of CIA detainees.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R) INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and deaths.

The Marines are positioned in key areas, ready to respond to potential violent reactions directed at U.S. embassies and military bases around the

globe. Believed to be included in the report, details of water-boarding and other interrogation tactics in the years after 9/11.

The CIA believes the so called enhanced interrogation techniques including water-boarding provided key information that prevented other terror attacks

and led to the capture of Osama bin Laden.

But the report questions the effectiveness of those procedures. Critics of the $50 million report question the timing of its release.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When would be a good time to release this report, and it`s difficult to imagine one. Particularly

because of the painful details that will be included, but again, the president believes that it is important for us to be as transparent as we

possibly can be about what exactly transpired, so we can just be clear to the American public and to people around the world that something like this

should not happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed the Senate report saying, the CIA`s interrogation methods were "absolutely

totally justified."

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cheney who hasn`t read the report strongly defended CIA leaders arguing the program itself was worth it, adding "As far as I`m

concerned, they ought to be decorated, not criticized." That sentiment was echoed by former President Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH: These are patriots, and whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country, it is way off base.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Next today, gas prices, they are free falling, and it looks like they are only going to get lower. The U.S. national average for a gallon

of gas was $3.26 one year ago. It`s about $2.67 now. By next spring, analysts predict it will be below two bucks a gallon. Why?

U.S. oil production, for one thing, it`s booming. Even though a method called hydraulic fracturing or fracking is controversial, it`s yielding a

lot of oil. Also, the price of crude oil, the biggest factor in the price of gas, it`s dropping. There`s less demand for crude in Asia and Europe

where economies have slowed down. All this is good for us, drivers, it`s not for countries whose economies depend largely on crude oil sales.

The Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum complex in the world, has a new way for you to wrap your mind and your hands around history. It`s

using three-dimensional imaging to scan everything from Abraham Lincoln`s facial structure to a T-Rex toe. And if you have access to a 3-D printer,

you can use it to create replicas of priceless and matchless museum artifacts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It`s a - look at the crass (ph) commercialization part of this, but we are a few years away from like

really, really good Halloween costumes.

ADAM METALLO, 3D DIGITIZATION PROGRAM OFFICER SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: It`s up and coming. Yeah.

TAPPER: How long does the president have to sit for this?

GUNTER WAIBEL, DIRECTOR, DIGITIZATION PROGRAM SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: : It took from the minute he walked into the room until we were done with the

process seven minutes.

TAPPER: Seven minutes.

METALLO: So here we`ve lured Jake Tapper out of his natural habitats, and we are scanning him. So, what we have here is a handheld 3D scanner that

is part of the technology that we use when we actually were able to scan the president of the United States.

What it`s doing is it`s projecting a pattern onto the subject, and then cameras are actually tracking the way that that projection deforms. And

that`s how you get a 3D image. And we are actually collecting about 16 3D images per second.

WAIBEL: What 3D capture really represents is scientific accurate measurements, so for us, it`s a way to document our collections and it`s a

way to engage the public in these collections and there`s two life masks to tell an incredibly compelling story about how the Civil War aged that man.

And now that we have that data available, and we allow schools to download it and 3D print from that data, it`s a completely new way for students to

connect to history. They can 3D print a Lincoln life mask, they can hold it in their hands, they can trace the deep froze on Lincoln`s face to

understand the impact the history that man lived through had on him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: From the Gulf Coast to the Northwest U.S., it`s time to take roll. E.D. White Catholic High School kicks things off for us today, they are

watching in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The Cardinals are perched for CNN STUDENT NEWS.

Arvada, Colorado, is right near the capital of Denver, and it`s home to the dragons of Drake Middle School. And Nampa is a city near Idaho`s border

with Oregon. We`ve got the wildcats watching there from Columbia High School.

There`s no stronger bond between man and dog than that`s formed during war. The quote is from Pen Farthing. He`s a former sergeant with Britain`s

Royal Marines, and he was chosen by viewers as CNN`s Hero of the Year. Farthing received a $125,000 for his cause, which continues to grow,

bringing troops and their pets together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEN FARTHING: As the troops sergeant I was there to motivate the guys, but no one was doing that for me, so my time I sat with this dog was just life

distressing, and (INAUDIBLE) back in the game.

(on camera): One more piece?

FARTHING: When I actually returned from duty, (INAUDIBLE) out of Afghanistan for (INAUDIBL) all kind of military operation. I ordered to

him to do whatever I could to get him to safety.

Although I`d rescued the dog, I wanted to actually still do something for Afghanistan. I wonder how the people and the dogs.

We found a little puppy. (INAUDIBLE).

There`s absolutely, you know why, (INAUDIBLE), we can`t live this - thing here.

Hey guys, hello.

The mission of the Nowzad Dogs Charity is to prevent rabies by controlling the stray dog population. But one of the things we never realized would

happen would be the amount of soldiers that actually come to us asking for our assistance to rescue a dog or a cat.

When we get a call from the soldier, we have to get a dog from wherever the soldier is in Afghanistan to our shelter in Kabul. We`ll neuter or spay

the dog, and we vaccinate it against a variety of diseases.

This is Rex, little Rex should hopefully be going off pretty soon. We are working on the flight, so when actually the soldier will be back to the

country to be out to pick the dog up.

Then the animal starts his journey from Kabul to the soldier`s home country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They started to bringing these crates out. I`m looking for Cans (ph), and I finally see her, and I pull her out, I`m hugging her

and kissing her. I was just so excited, I was even more excited that she remembered me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t believe that they are here.

She offered so much companionship to me overseas, and I just wanted to give her a better life. She`s a huge part of the transition being easier for

me.

FARTHING: We`ve now rescued over 650 dogs or cats for seven soldiers from around the world to be in Afghanistan.

My connection with Afghanistan stayed alive because For me, every time I look at him, just makes you smile because I can never dream that we`d be

doing something like this in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Before we go, Christmas came earlier to Ranga Zoo (ph) in Sydney, Australia. Santa brought popcorn, fruit and edible flowers. Treats the

animals wouldn`t normally get as part of a special celebration. It`s not just about getting snack stock (ph). The chimpanzees, giraffes and tree

kangaroos - ever seen one of those before, they got gifts designed as puzzles and challenges to keep them engaged and thinking as they enjoyed

unwrapping.

Of course, they can re-gift them at a white elephant party and they might be lying if they said they hadn`t monkeyed around with them or kangarooted

into them or simply lemured them alone. That would be about taste and make for a bad gift to present. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS.

END