Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The Next Attorney General and Waterboarding

    Michael Mukasey is now considered certain to be confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States after today's vote by the Judiciary Committee to send his name to the full Senate.

    • rss
    • Share
    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Michael Mukasey is now considered certain to be confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States after today's vote by the Judiciary Committee to send his name to the full Senate. The former judge has refused to say whether he thinks waterboarding is torture, but told New York Senator Chuck Schumer he would enforce a law against waterboarding if Congress passed one. That was good enough for Diane Feinstein of California, who joined fellow Democrat Schumer in providing the two deciding votes. Eight other Democrats voted no, insisting that waterboarding is torture and that Mukasey should declare it already illegal. Should a Medieval practice be classified as torture? Would that incriminate US officials all the way up to the White House? We talk to a Navy veteran who's been through it and taught it. Does it provide reliable information that could save innocent lives?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Next Attorney General and Waterboarding
    1. 1:36Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 50 in Northern Afghanistan
    2. 7:34The Next Attorney General and WaterboardingYou’re reading this
    3. 43:11Subterranean Cocaine Trafficking
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Malcolm Nance

      Veteran counter-terrorism consultant

    • KCRW placeholder

      Lee Casey

      former staffer, Justice Department

    • KCRW placeholder

      Scott Horton

      Columbia Law School / Harper's

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Next Attorney General and Waterboarding
    1. 1:36Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 50 in Northern Afghanistan
    2. 7:34The Next Attorney General and WaterboardingYou’re reading this
    3. 43:11Subterranean Cocaine Trafficking
    Back to To the Point