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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

Jameel Jaffer
Deputy Legal Director, ACLU and Director of the ACLU's Center for Democracy
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Jaffer: One of the things I think this decision is valuable for, or one of the reasons it's valuable is I think it makes clear that the reforms being considered by Congress right now don't go far enough because the reforms are being championed by people who are truly committed to privacy, but they've had to make a lot of concessions to the intelligence community. And so the bill makes some reforms at the margins. It's good in some respects but it raises concerns in other respects. This decision I think is going to strengthen the hand of those of us who have been calling for more far-reaching reforms than have been considered so far.
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Jameel Jaffer
Deputy Legal Director, ACLU and Director of the ACLU's Center for Democracy
MSNBCW 05/07/2015
Hayes: Is this the clearest -- the clearest case of all that we've learned about these programs throughout the Snowden docs and through other reporting? Jaffer: Yes mean, is it the worst surveillance program, is that what you mean? Hayes: Yes. the clearest -- the sort of clearest violation of its own authority. Jaffer: Right. Hayes: Or the clearest constitutional problem. Jaffer: Well, it may be that this is the clearest violation of a statute, of a federal statute. Although there are other provisions -- other surveillance programs that are based on the same problematic legal theory that the government was advancing here. but there are other programs that in some ways are even worse, but they don't rely – Hayes: It's striking to consider this was happening in secret and there's no way to challenge it until you knew about it. Jaffer: That's right. Hayes: Then once it came out, it was challenged and the courts say it's not legal. Jaffer: That's right.
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Jeb Bush
Former Governor of Florida
FOXNEWSW 05/08/2015
Bush: I would say the best part of the Obama Administration would be, his continuance of the protections of the homeland using, you know the big metadata programs the NSA being enhanced advancing this.
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Rand Paul
Senator (R-Kentucky), Member of Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
FOXNEWSW 05/08/2015
Bolling: What would you like to say to Governor Bush now that the courts have deemed the program illegal? Paul: I think as he gets out around the country, he's going to discover that not many people agree with him. I think most Americans think that you shouldn't have your records collected. Now the second appeals court thinks the same thing. Really your records should be collected consistent with the fourth amendment. A judge should write a warrant, your name should be on it . They should say what they want and they should have probable cause. But I think people who think that we're going to indiscriminately gather up all the phone records, they're not talking to the Americans I'm talking to. Cause I'm gonna have 1,200 kids today at Arizona State, and I’ll bet you not one of them wants their phone records looked at by the government without a warrant.
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Marco Rubio
Senator (R-FL)
LINKTV 05/08/2015
Rubio: The perception has been created, including by political figures that serve in this chamber, that the United States government is listening to your phone calls or going through your bills as a matter of course. That is absolutely categorically false. The next time that any politician, Senator, Congressman, talking head, whatever it may be, stands up and says that the U.S. government is listening to phone calls or going through your phone records, they are lying. It just is not true.
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Jameel Jaffer
Deputy Legal Director, ACLU and Director of the ACLU's Center for Democracy
LINKTV 05/08/2015
Jaffer: This is very frustrating because what Senator Rubio is doing here is creating a straw man. Nobody is saying that this program is about listening to phone calls. It’s not. It’s about tracking phone calls, it’s about who you call and when you call them. That kind of information can be very sensitive. It is one of the things that the Second Circuit acknowledged yesterday. The government says, look it’s not content, but that does not mean it is not sensitive. The government with this kind of data can track your political beliefs, your religious beliefs, your medical history, your intimate relationships. There is very little that the government cannot find out by tracking your phone calls over a significant period of time.
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Ron Johnson
U.S. Senator (R-Wisconsin), Chairman Homeland Security Committee
CNNW 05/10/2015
Johnson: I hope the reality of the situation, the reality of the threats we face will actually play a big part in terms of exactly how Congress responds. It's important to note that the second circuit court of appeals did not rule it unconstitutional. They just said it was not being applied properly based on how the law was written so we have to take a careful look at the way we write these, quite honestly very complex laws and always keep in mind these threats are real and let me repeat our best line of defense trying to keep this nation safe and secure is an effective intelligence gathering capability with robust Congressional oversight. And this is what should give people comfort. Protecting civil liberties is not a partisan issue, from the extreme right to the extreme left and everywhere in between, we all want to guard and protect American civil liberties. But we also have to keep this nation safe and secure.
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Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator (D- Vermont), Judiciary Committee Chairman
KQED 05/22/2015
Woodruff: Senators came to work this morning, confronting an impasse on surveillance, and a looming deadline Leahy: Unfortunately, the clock's been run out. Woodruff: On June first, the National Security Agency loses legal authority to collect bulk phone records, as key provisions of the "Patriot Act" expire. But the Senate is leaving for the Memorial Day recess and won't return until June first leaving Vermont democrat Patrick Leahy to point across the capitol. Leahy: The house worked very hard on this. They completed their work and they left. They're not coming back until after the surveillance authorities are set to expire. And the House leadership has made clear they will my not pass the extension even if they're in.
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Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senator (R-Kentucky), Senate Majority Leader
KQED 05/22/2015
Presiding Officer in the House: The yeas are 338 and the nays are 88. Woodruff: The bill that passed the House is the U.S.A. Freedom Act. It replaces bulk collection of phone records, with case-by-case searches. But senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is firmly opposed to that measure. McConnell: The untried and as of yet non-existent bulk collection system envisioned under that bill would be slower and more cumbersome than the one that currently helps keep us safe. At worst, it might not work at all. Woodruff: McConnell favors a two-month extension of the patriot act, to buy time for a compromise. Another proposal calls for a shorter extension. Other republicans strongly disagree. Kentucky's Rand Paul held the floor for 11 hours Wednesday. Paul: I will not let The Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged.
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Harry Reid
U.S. Senator,( D-Nevada), Senate Minority Leader
KQED 05/22/2015
Woodruff: Many democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid, are also dug in against keeping The Patriot Act alive. Reid: There's efforts made to extend a program that's already been declared by the second circuit court of appeals of the united states, already declared is illegal. How can we extend an illegal act? But that's what some of the talk is from the other side of the aisle. Woodruff: This afternoon republican Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairing the intelligence committee, offered yet another option: Extend the Patriot Act, but end bulk data collection after two years. In the meantime, the Justice Department has announced the N.S.A. will have to start in winding down phone surveillance this weekend, to meet the June 1 deadline.
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