Holder: Water-boarding is torture; president can't authorize it

Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be the next attorney general, is due to be before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9:30 a.m ET for his confirmation hearing.

As USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand wrote this morning, Holder "faces a bruising confirmation hearing today as Senate Republicans prepare to question the former Justice Department lawyer about his role in several controversial presidential pardons and whether he will act independently of the White House."

Donna is set to be at the hearing and we're expecting to get updates from her as it happen. Check back here once it's under way.

Update at 12:10 p.m. ET. Holder pledges to make public as much information as possible about warrantless wiretapping program:

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is asking about the Bush administration's so-called warrantless wiretapping program. Will Holder pledge to release as much as possible from an upcoming Inspector General's report about that program?

"Absolutely," Holder says. He calls that report, due next summer, "an important assessment tool."

Update at 11:56 a.m. ET. Early leads:

There's a rolling USATODAY.com news story now here.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, is leading its story on the hearing this way:

Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder Jr. forcefully broke from the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies Thursday, declaring that waterboarding is torture and pledging to prosecute some Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. courts.

It was the latest signal that President-elect Barack Obama will chart a new course in combatting terrorism.

Update at 11:50 a.m. ET. Detainees will be handled by a system "consistent with our values," Holder says:

After a break, the hearing resumes with questions from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. She asks about how detainees now held at Guantanamo Bay will be handled legally, Donna reports.

"I think we want to leave our options open. I don't know which system we would utilize," Holder responds. "Whatever system we use, it will be consistent with our values, it will be a system that includes due process -- it will be seen as fair."

Update at 11:02 a.m. ET. Basketball provides a lighter moment:

Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., ends his questions by asking Holder if he'll do everything he can to defeat Obama on the basketball court (the president-elect is a regular player).

Holder, who played high school ball in New York City, says of Obama that "he's 10 years younger than me. He plays a lot more frequently than I do. Having said that, I've got a New York City game. ...

"If you give me a little time and a little space to get back in shape, I think I could hang with him."

But beating Obama might not be a great idea, Holder jokes.

Update at 10:59 a.m. ET. "Guantanamo will be closed;" but just when is unclear:

The detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "will be closed," Holder promises. But, he adds, "this will not be an easy task. The physical closing of the facility is something that can be done relatively quickly." But after that, decisions need to be made about what to do with the 250 people held there.

"I think substantial numbers of those people can be sent to other countries, safely," Holder says. "Others can be tried" in U.S. courts. But with some prisoners, "we're going to have to figure out what we can do with them."

Donna reports that when Holder said Guantanamo will be closed, a "Code Pink" member in the audience let out a quiet "Yeah!"

Update at 10:46 a.m. ET. Specter asks about Marc Rich:

Holder's role in getting a presidential pardon, in the waning days of the Clinton administration, for financier Marc Rich is one of the key issues Republicans will question him about.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's ranking Republican, says of Rich that "the guy had a reprehensible record. The guy was a fugitive. ... How do you explain (the pardon), beyond simply a mistake?"

"I don't mean to minimize what I did by calling it a mistake," Holder says. "I take what I did seriously and have expressed regret for what I did consistently."

Update at 10:38 a.m. ET. "I made mistakes:"

"My conduct, my actions in the Rich matter -- I made mistakes," Holder says. He calls it the most "searing" experience he's had as a lawyer.

Update at 10:36 a.m. ET. Holder says Supreme Court has spoken on Second Amendment:

Donna reports that Leahy questioned Holder about the Supreme Court's recent decision affirming an individual's right to bear arms.

"The Supreme Court has spoken," Holder said. "That is now the law of the land."

Update at 10:31 a.m. ET. Water-boarding is torture, Holder says.

"I agree with you Mr. Chairman, water-boarding is torture," Holder just told committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

And, Holder said, "the president does not have the power" to authorize torture.

(Photo: Holder being sworn in. By Jonathan Ernst of Reuters.)

Update at 10:11 a.m. ET. AP says Holder will "acknowledge past mistakes."

According to the Associated Press:

Holder planned to acknowledge past mistakes at his hearing. His prepared opening statement, obtained by The Associated Press, does not address the specific issues of character and independence that Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have raised.

But it does set a conciliatory tone, with Holder asserting he made more good decisions than bad ones.

"My decisions were not always perfect" while serving as the top deputy to Clinton administration Attorney General Janet Reno, Holder said. "I made mistakes. I hope that enough of my decisions were correct."

He continued, "But with the benefit of hindsight, I can see my errors clearly and I can tell you how I have learned from them."

Update at 9:54 a.m. ET: Retired senator John Warner, R-Va., is testifying about his support for Holder's confirmation. "I felt I wanted to be among those all across the nation who are working for a bi-partisan approach to support the president-elect" as he faces extremely complicated issues, Warner says.

"This is the individual who he (Obama) deems best qualified" to be attorney general, Warner adds.

Update at 9:45 a.m. ET: The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, just said in his opening statement that some questions need to be asked -- and answered -- before Holder is confirmed.

Specter has also defended his right to raise such questions, saying that he has done the same to nominees from his own party.

Update at 9:44 a.m. ET: In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had this to say:

"We need an Attorney General, as Robert H. Jackson said 68 years ago, 'who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.' That is the kind of man Eric Holder is, the kind of prosecutor Eric Holder always was, and the kind of Attorney General he will be. The next Attorney General will understand our moral and legal obligation to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans and to respect the human rights of all people."

Update at 9:35 a.m. ET: The hearing just got going. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is delivering an opening statement expressing his support for Holder's confirmation.

Update at 9:25 a.m. ET:

Go here if you want to watch a webcast.

Meanwhile, Donna checked in from the Hill to say that the hearing may not get started until close to 10 a.m. ET, although Holder now is in the room.

And speaking of Donna, she's been with USA TODAY since 2000. In the past, she's worked in Washington for Gannett News Service and Knight-Ridder newspapers (now McClatchy). Tomorrow, she's takes on the duties as president of the National Press Club.

Click here to read the rest of The Oval.

(Photo: Holder as he arrived at the hearing this morning. By Lauren Victoria Burke of the AP.)