Skip to main content

Curated research library of TV news clips regarding the NSA, its oversight and privacy issues, 2009-2014

Click "More / Share / Borrow" for each clip's source context and citation link. HTML5 compatible browser required

Primary curation & research: Robin Chin, Internet Archive TV News Researcher; using Internet Archive TV News service.

Speakers

Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator (D-Oregon), Member of Select Committee on Intelligence
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: Edward Snowden is in large part the reason why this case was brought to court. Should this exonerate him at least in name? Wyden: My view is that having a public debate on this has been long overdue and that's what I tried to start with my talk on the floor of the United States Senate. I do think it would have been a lot better if that debate had been started by the intelligence leadership. In fact, the intelligence leadership didn't do it and when I asked them at a public hearing, the Director, I said does the government collect any type of data at all on millions of Americans? The Director of National Intelligence said no and that was false. Wagner: Do you think that James Clapper should step down? He’s the official you are referring to. Wyden: That's a judgment for the President of the United States. He makes those calls.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Glenn Greenwald
Co-Founder, The Intercept
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: I have to ask because of Edward Snowden's involvement in all of this, have you spoken to him about the decision by this New York Federal Court? Greenwald: I have. And he is thrilled about it. I think it's really important to note, I found it notable that you asked Senator Wyden whether this vindicates Mr. Snowden and he evaded your question completely. It is true that Senator Wyden has gone around for years trying to start a debate but didn't tell the American people about what the government was doing. So we couldn't debate it. It took Edward Snowden to come forward and he came forward in large part because he heard Director Clapper, the Senior U.S. National Security official tell the senate and the American people falsely that the government was not doing exactly the program that the court today said was illegal. So to have an appellate court, the first time an appellate Court looked at the legality of the program, come out and decisively and unanimously say that it's illegal, of course is very gratifying.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Glenn Greenwald
Co-Founder, The Intercept
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: How confident are you that either the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch are going to act on this? Greenwald: Well in some sense, they need to act on it now because there's a court ruling that essentially says the program is illegal. And that although they're not stopping the program, they're giving Congress an opportunity to stop it on their own. If they don't stop it there will be this court ruling in place if they don't reauthorize it. And there’s also the question which the court raised whether this is even constitutional at all. Whether the Congress even could authorize it if they wanted to or whether it would be a violation of the first and fourth amendment and the court seems to suggest there's at least serious grounds for believing it would be unconstitutional. So I think you already had momentum to seriously reform The Patriot Act to at least significantly modify this program if not end it and I think this court decision will only fuel that.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Glenn Greenwald
Co-Founder, The Intercept
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Greenwald: It's hard to overstate, Alex how important the Second Circuit is in the Federal Judiciary for other courts. It's probably the most important court right after the Supreme Court along with the DC Circuit. And also the judges, all three judges are appointed by democratic presidents. Two by President Obama, one by President Clinton. What's amazing is just how aggressive the ruling is in rejecting the Justice Department's arguments one after the next. It says that the plaintiffs have standing to sue because the U.S. government is collecting everybody's communication data and therefore the plaintiffs are among those. And says very kind of an extreme way that the Obama administration's interpretation of The Patriot Act is unprecedented and unwarranted. That is extreme as The Patriot Act is not even the extreme Patriot Act justifies a policy this radical and I think it's going to have a huge impact on how litigation proceeds from this point forward.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Glenn Greenwald
Co-Founder, The Intercept
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: For a Federal Court to say that what the government is doing is illegal, they didn't rule on the unconstitutionality of it but to say that what the government is doing is illegal would seem to mandate some action and I wonder, do you think James Clapper's days are numbered as the Director of National Intelligence? Greenwald: To me the question that you asked is probably the most stunning part of this entire episode. We know that with certainty that the Senior National Security official in the United States government, lied to the American people, and to the Senate and not only did he deny there was a program that the NSA was doing, denied its existence, this program has now been declared by the federal court to be illegal which means he was lying and hiding a program that was against the law. If that doesn't get you fired by the Obama administration let alone prosecuted what does? If that's not a firing offense, then nothing is.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Glenn Greenwald
Co-Founder, The Intercept
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: In terms of Snowden, still overseas, do you think this brings him back home? Greenwald: It should. I mean, if you think about what a whistle blower is a whistle blower is somebody who shines a light and discloses to the public something that the government is hiding and shouldn't be hiding that at least there's a good argument to make an example of wrongdoing. And now you have not just a federal judge who last year already said the program was unconstitutional likely but a federal appeals court saying it's illegal, how can anybody say that we would be better off if Edward Snowden had kept quiet and let us remain ignorant of the spying program that the federal court now said is illegal, it's classic whistle blowing. I think he deserves our national gratitude, not a life in prison.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Alex Wagner
Anchor of NOW with Alex Wagner
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Wagner: A Federal Appeals Court in New York today ruled that the NSA's bulk collection of millions of Americans phone records is illegal. In a stunning 97 page opinion, Judge Gerard Lynch described the program as unprecedented and unwarranted. According to the New York Times, it is the first time a court in the regular judicial system ever reviewed the program. Since 2006, it has been repeatedly approved in secret by a National Security court. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU. The existence of this program, the bulk collection of telephone met data first disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Today's ruling which was unanimous, comes as congress debates to end, replace, or perhaps extend the meta data program which is part of The Patriot Act. The program is set to expire on June 1st.
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Alex Wagner
Anchor of NOW with Alex Wagner
MSNBCW 07/05/2015
Wagner: So far, Lincoln Chafee is the only person to say Edward Snowden should be allowed to come home. He hasn't elaborated on whether or not he is a traitor or not, but I still feel like it's political kryptonite. I interviewed all the guys on hill who are working in the wake of Edward Snowden to reform our surveillance state. No one will say he has done a good thing for the country. Silverstein: Right. And part of that is because even though a victory was scored this week for, you know for Snowden and those who agree with him that it's unconstitutional, that all these overreaches have taken place, the fact is that even after the bulk collection of phone records was ruled unconstitutional, the vast majority of the surveillance apparatus is still in place. Wagner: And growing
More / Share / Borrow
Add to Popcorn
Showing 11 through 18 of 18
Page 1 2