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

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

Speakers

Matthew Olsen
Director National Counterterrorism Center
CSPAN 01/29/2014
Olsen: (in reference to the damage impact from Snowden leaks) what was seen in the last six to eight months is an awareness by these groups and their increasingly sophisticated and awareness of our ability to monitor communications and specific instances where they changed the ways in which they communicate to avoid being surveilled or being subject to her surveillance tactics. Collins: And obviously, that puts us at greater risk of an attack? Olsen: It certainly puts us at risk of missing some thing that we are trying to see, which could lead to putting us at risk of an attack, yes. Collins: And just a quote you back to yourself, you said this is not an exaggeration. This is a fact. And you stand by that. Olsen: I absolutely do, yes.
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Matthew Olsen
Former Counsel to the NSA, and Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center
WHYY 10/09/2014
Olsen: These programs were aggressive. They were designed to be aggressive, especially the metadata bulk collection, That has been essentially, the President said we're going to work to stop doing that. Rose: Do agree with the President on that. Olsen: yeah, I agree at this point. It should have been done-- shouldn't have been done. Everything we did was right-- nothing was done that we shouldn't have done. Rose: Did the President say he was going to stop it. Olsen: He did say that. Rose: Does that mean you shouldn't have been doing. Olsen: No. Rose: What is the reason to stop it? Olsen: I think the reason is the public outcry over that. Rose: We thought it was a good idea, and we are happy we did it, the only reason we are going to stop doing it is because the public seems to be up set. Olsen: I wouldn't be quite so glib. We're always trying to get this right had. This is my main point. Had there is lots of discussion, what is the right thing to do here. That program was one that was believed to be necessary by the intelligence community. But once it was revealed and the President made the decision to reform it, then we're going to move forward.
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Matthew Olsen
Former Counsel to the NSA, and Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center
WHYY 10/09/2014
Rose: Is there any evidence that anybody lost their life because of the disclosures of Edward Snowden? Olsen: No, I'm not aware of anything that direct. That would be an extraordinary sort of example if there were anything like that. I think again look, what I'm concerned about is a drop in our ability to see these terrorists, as these plots unfold. I mentioned earlier our best chance of stopping an underwear bomb from getting on to an airplane not at the airport. It's when those plots are being hatched in places like Yemen. Rose: Intelligence. Olsen: Through intelligence collection, and that's largely through the collection and interception of their communications.
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Matthew Olsen
Former Counsel to the NSA, and Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center
WHYY 10/09/2014
Rose: But there was such an outcry about Snowden and being called a traitor and all the things, accusations made, yet, that successor to Keith Alexander in testimony, I think, said literally downplayed the harm done by Edward Snowden. Olsen: Right. You know, Admiral Rogers the successor to General Alexander. My interpretation is, first, there has been harm, no doubt there has been harm. But-- Rose: Along the lines you were suggesting. Olsen: They changed how they communicate, made it harder for us to collect. And I would say another, and potentially more far reaching damage is the relationship with these service providers. The internet service providers and the telecommunications companies. Rose: They are less cooperative. Olsen: They’re less cooperative. That is a real paradigm shift from where we were several years ago when-- where if we went to a company with an order or a lawful directive, you know there was a presumption that that was something cooperation. Rose: Now they pushback. Olsen: And I think that’s changed.
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