Whether the CIA, with legal backing from the Bush administration, tortured detainees or merely roughly interrogated them in an enhanced manner may seem like a question of semantics. But with the Senate Intelligence Committee on the cusp of releasing a blockbuster report detailing what it (and the dictionary, probably) calls torture by the CIA, Jon Stewart took a moment on Monday night's Daily Show to check in on how the three men in charge of the wars during the period in question — President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — are "dealing with their twisted legacy."

As luck would have it, all three men are back in the news. In a recent interview, Cheney took responsibility for enhanced interrogation but denied that it was torture. Rumsfeld, in a new documentary by Errol Morris, didn't deny anything, exactly, but he put all the blame on the attorney general, in the creepiest way possible (or maybe it's just the spooky music).

But what about Bush? Well, "the decider" has returned to public life mostly to showcase his paintings of world leaders. "He is a somewhat confounding dude," Stewart admitted. But other than not being impressed with Bush's commentary on his own art, Stewart didn't have a lot to say about Bush and torture. Maybe that's because Bush isn't talking about it? Regardless, you know it's a special Daily Show when Bush is the official treated with the most sympathy. --Peter Weber

The Pentagon announced Friday that President Trump has agreed to send a "modest deployment" of American troops to Saudi Arabia in response to strikes last week against two major Saudi Arabian oil facilities. The Trump administration and Saudi Arabia believe the attacks were orchestrated by Iran, but Tehran denies the allegations.

In addition to the hundreds of troops, the U.S. will deploy air and missile defense systems. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the decision was "defensive in nature" and was reportedly made in response to requests from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who are seeking protection for their "critical infrastructure." When asked if the White House was considering a military strike against Iran, Esper said "that's not where we are right now." That seems to echo Trump's rhetoric about showing restraint for the time being.

Still, the threat of a conflict, though far from imminent, has been palpable of late, with Tehran warning that a U.S. or Saudi military strike would result in "an all-out war," while the White House ramped up sanctions against Iran on Friday. Read more at The Washington Post and The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell

Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan announced Friday that white supremacy would become a top priority under the department's new strategy to fight terrorism and "targeted violence." The ramped up mission comes as mass shootings motivated by white supremacy seem to happen every week in the U.S., and McAleenan cites last month's shooting in El Paso, Texas as a major reasoning behind the change, The Atlantic reports.

After the shooting in a Walmart left 21 people dead, McAleenan told The Atlantic he recalled thinking "this is an attack on all of us." The shooting in a largely Hispanic community was seemingly motivated by racism, and much of DHS' workforce, especially at the southern border, is Hispanic. This and other shootings soon "galvanized" DHS to look "beyond terrorists operating abroad" and start tackling "violent extremists of any ideology," McAleenan said in a Friday speech.

The revised plan calls for analyzing the "nature and extent" of domestic terror threats and working more closely with local law enforcement to prevent them, NBC News reports. DHS will also crack down on technology companies who host hate-filled websites, provide more active shooter training to local law enforcement, and run antiviolence messaging campaigns, per the proposal.

The report came just hours after the House Oversight Joint Subcommittee held a hearing on confronting white supremacy, where conservative provocateur Candace Owens said that "white nationalism" isn't a problem for "minority Americans." As DHS's shifting priorities and general facts of life make clear, it definitely is. Kathryn Krawczyk

Antonio Brown is out of a job.

The wide receiver was released from the New England Patriots on Friday following an investigation into allegations of sexual assault. A woman has accused him of rape and sexual assault and sending threatening text messages, which Brown has denied through an attorney.

Earlier Friday, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick told a press conference of reporters that he wouldn't answer any questions about Brown. They asked anyway, and he abruptly ended the conference.

Brown has been at the center of several claims of wrongdoing, allegedly refusing to comply with NFL equipment policies and facing fines after an altercation with the general manager of the Oakland Raiders, in addition to allegedly failing to pay former assistants. He was released from the Raiders before the season began and picked up by the Patriots, playing one game with New England under a $15 million contract as the allegations became public. Kathryn Krawczyk

This might just send House Democrats over the impeachment tipping point.

Reports of Trump promising a foreign leader something concerning to the intelligence community drew condemnation from Democratic congressmembers over the past few days. But with a Friday Wall Street Journal report saying that account involved Trump pushing for a Ukrainian investigation of Hunter Biden, they're calling for impeachment more loudly than ever.

Per the Journal report, Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son eight different times in a single phone call. Trump reportedly wanted Zelensky to work with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani on the matter, and Giuliani told CNN on Thursday he'd talked to Ukraine about the probe.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was one of the first to respond to the report, as he was on the phone with The Washington Post's Robert Costa when it broke. If Trump "requested that the president of Ukraine interfere in an American election, we are in really dangerous, brand new territory," Murphy said, later vaguely adding in a tweet that "Congress must act."

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) was far more explicit.

He followed this with a retweet asking people to "flood" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with "pro-impeachment phone calls." Pelosi has long been reluctant to impeach Trump, and in a Friday interview shortly before the Journal report dropped, she showed no signs of softening. Kathryn Krawczyk

President Trump in July reportedly urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, not once, not twice, but eight different times on a single phone call.

That's according to a report Friday from The Wall Street Journal, which cites sources familiar with the matter saying Trump pressured Zelensky to work with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on an investigation into the matter.

The president reportedly wanted to probe whether Biden worked to shield from investigation a Ukrainian gas company with ties to his son, Hunter Biden. One of the sources the Journal cited said they did not believe Trump offered the Ukrainian president a quid-pro-quo.

This comes amid an ongoing scandal surrounding a whistleblower who filed a complaint in August regarding Trump's communications with a foreign leader, which The Washington Post reported Thursday is related to Ukraine. The whistleblower was reportedly troubled upon hearing the phone call and alerted Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who marked the complaint as being of "urgent concern."

On Friday, Trump denied having any "dicey" conversation with a foreign leader, writing, "there was nothing said wrong." But he did not deny discussing Biden in conversations with Ukraine; when directly asked if he did, Trump responded, "It doesn't matter what I discussed." The White House did not comment on the story from The Wall Street Journal. Brendan Morrow

The largest retailer in the United States is ending the sale of e-cigarettes.

Walmart said Friday it will no longer sell e-cigarettes at its U.S. stores, citing "growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty," CNBC reports. The company plans to sell off its current inventory, after which it will "complete our exit."

This comes a week after President Trump announced his administration plans to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Walmart already announced it would stop selling fruit and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes earlier this year at the same time that it raised the minimum age to buy tobacco to 21, The Associated Press reports.

When Trump made his announcement last week, there had been reports of six deaths of lung disease tied to vaping, and that number has since risen to eight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday there have been 530 confirmed or probable cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use. Brendan Morrow