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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

Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator (D-Oregon), Member of Select Committee on Intelligence
MSNBCW 12/14/2014
Wyden: Director Brennan particularly on Thursday said some important things and also left out some things that were important. For example, he indicated that he would no longer be using the terms with respect to torture that the information would be otherwise unavailable. That's a real vindication of the committee because we showed that we were able to find Bin Laden, find KSM without torture. So that was good. What I was troubled also about was that he undercut the Panetta review. The Panetta review really agreed with what the committee found. Todd: But I go back, Director Brennan, you're comfortable with him running the CIA? Wyden: Not at this point. Todd: You think the president should fire him? Wyden: I want to give him the chance to end this culture of denial, to deal with the misrepresentations, if he doesn't do that, we're going to have to get somebody who will.
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Dick Cheney
Former Vice President
MSNBCW 12/14/2014
Cheney: We were very careful to stop short of torture. The senate has seen fit to label the report torture, but we worked hard to stay short of that definition. Todd: What is that definition? Cheney: The definition is the one that was provided by the office of legal counsel. We went specifically to them because we did not want to cross that line into where we were violating some international agreement that we had signed up to. They specifically authorized and okayed, for example, exactly what we did. All of the techniques that were authorized by the President were, in effect, blessed by the Justice Department opinion that we could go forward with those without, in fact, committing torture.
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Dick Cheney
Former Vice President
MSNBCW 12/14/2014
Todd: (Majid Khan) was subjected to involuntary rectal feeding and hydration. It included two bottles of Ensure. Later in the day his lunch tray consisting of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins was pureed and rectally infused. Does that meet the definition of torture? Cheney: That does not meet the definition of what was used in the program. Todd: I understand, but does that meet the definition of torture in your mind? Cheney: In my mind, I've told you what meets the definition of torture. It's what 19 guys armed with airline tickets and box cutters did to 3,000 Americans on 9/11. What was done here apparently certainly was not one of the techniques that was approved. I believe it was done for medical reasons. Todd: Well, there is no -- the medical community has said there is no – Cheney: If you look, for example, at Jose Rodriguez's book, and he was the guy running the program, he's got a very clear description of how, in fact, the program operated. With respect to that, I think the agency has answered it in its response to the committee report.
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Dick Cheney
Former Vice President
MSNBCW 12/14/2014
Todd: With Abu Zubaydah over a 20-day period, aggressive interrogation, spent a total of 266 hours, 11 days, two hours in a large coffin-size confinement box, 29 hours in a small confinement box, width of 21 inches, says depth of 2.5 feet, height of 2.5 feet. that's on page 42, is that going to meet the standard and definition of torture? Cheney: I think that was, in fact, one of the approved techniques. In terms of torture, I guess what I do, I was struck, for example, by the statements by Bud Day and Leo Thorsness and Admiral Denton, these are three folks who were captured by the North Vietnamese, held for years, subject to extreme torture and all of whom said that waterboarding was not torture. Now, you can look for various definitions. We did what was, in fact, required to make certain that going forward we were not violating the law.
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Dick Cheney
Former Vice President
MSNBCW 12/14/2014
Cheney: I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that in fact, were innocent. Todd: 25% of the detainees, though. 25% turned out not to have, turned out to be innocent. Cheney: Where are you going to draw the line, Chuck? How are you going to know? Todd: I'm asking you. You're okay with that margin for error? Cheney: I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective. And our objective is to get the guys who did 9/11 and it is to avoid another attack against the United States. I was prepared and we did, we got the authorization from the president and authorization from the justice department to go forward with the program. It worked. It worked now for 13 years. We've avoided another mass casualty attack against the United States. We did capture Bin Laden. We did capture an awful lot of the senior guys of al Qaeda who were responsible for that attack on 9/11. I'd do it again in a minute.
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Jacqueline London
C0-Host NBC News 10
WCAU 12/25/2014
London: There were some errors in the National Security Agency's surveillance program. That's according to a new NSA report. It details intelligence collection that may have violated the law or American policy. This includes unauthorized surveillance of Americans' overseas communication. The report was released to the President's intelligence oversight board and covers between 2001 and 2013.
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Amy Goodman
Host and Executive Producer for Democracy Now
LINKTV 12/29/2014
Goodman: The National Security Agency has released internal oversight reports showing violations and errors over a 12-year period. the practices include sharing Americans' emails with unauthorized recipients and wrongfully gathering private information. Most of the violations appear to have come from human error as opposed to deliberate intent. The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized the NSA for releasing the documents on Christmas Eve, saying the timing suggests officials wanted to minimize their impact.
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Amy Goodman
Host and Executive Producer for Democracy Now
LINKTV 12/30/2014
Goodman: A new report has revealed a kill list used by the U.S.-led Nato coalition in Afghanistan targeted not only high-level commanders of the Taliban, but mid and lower-level operatives and even drug dealers. The secret documents, at least some of which came from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden span from 2009 and 2011. According to the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel which reviewed them, they show targeted killings were --
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Amy Goodman
Host and Executive Producer for Democracy Now
LINKTV 12/30/2014
Goodman: Meanwhile, Another round of documents from Snowden published by Der Spiegel show some encryption tactics have successfully thwarted spying by the National Security Agency. An NSA document describes “catastrophic levels of difficulty penetrating the communications of users who employed a combination of different encryption technologies.
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Amy Goodman
Host and Executive Producer for Democracy Now
LINKTV 01/06/2015
Goodman: New York Times investigative reporter James Risen has appeared in court and refused to answer questions about his alleged source. The hearing in Virginia took place ahead of the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who is accused of giving Risen classified information, which revealed a botched CIA plot to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. Risen has waged a seven-year legal battle against the Obama administration's attempts to subpoena him and force him to reveal his source. It's unclear if Risen will be forced to testify at Sterling's trial. Risen's hearing comes as the administration has backed off on a threat to subpoena another journalist, "60 minutes producer" Richard Bonin, at a trial over bombings by al-Qaeda. "The New York Times" reports the U.S. attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara, has withdrawn his recommendation to subpoena Bonin over his interactions with al-Qaeda's press office (during a bid to interview Osama bin Laden) in 1998.
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Showing 1571 through 1580 of 1708