Attorney General nominee Eric Holder is breaking from the policies he dealt with under the Bush administration, saying waterboarding is torture and pledging to prosecute some Guantanamo detainees in US courts.

His words on waterboarding are in stark contrast to ones Vice-president Dick Cheney said just last week, when he defended water-boarding, and said it provided valuable intelligence.

Holder also repeated an apology for not studying the pardon of convicted tax evader and Democratic fundraiser Marc Rich more closely in 2001. Holder was the number two official at the Justice Department at the time of the pardon. The move could make Holder seem to Senate leaders like a man unwilling to put the law above politics.

Still, no Republicans have said they won't vote to confirm Holder. If he’s confirmed, Holder will be the nation’s first African-American attorney general.

Hear more from Holden on the issue of water-boarding and torture below...

Meanwhile, smoother sailing for Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Clinton's nomination 16-1. Louisiana GOP Senator David Vitter was the lone vote against her. Her full senate vote is expected next week.