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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

Judge Richard Leon
D.C. District Court Judge
CNNW 12/16/2013
Cooper: A court ruling that deals a body blow to the NSA mass surveillance program. Once a top secret program until Edward Snowden revealed it. A program that can collect phone records on each and every call that Americas make. D.C. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruling the program likely violates fourth amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. He writes “I can not imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval.” Judge Leon, a George W Bush appointee called the program “almost Orwellian” and says that founding father James Madison would be aghast at the scope of it. All the same, he did hold off shutting the program down giving the government six months to make a case for continuing it. The Justice Department had little reaction beyond saying they are studying the opinion and believe the program is in fact constitutional.
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Anderson Cooper
Host of CNN Anderson Cooper 360
CNNW 01/23/2014
Cooper: We've taken public servants on their word before only to find out they weren't telling the truth or were exaggerating. Listen to this exchange from senator Ron Wyden and director of national intelligence James Clapper. Wyden: What i wanted to see is if you could give me a yes-or-no answer to the question does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper: no, sir. Wyden: It does not? Clapper: not wittingly. There are cases where they could Cooper: Again, when the facts finally came to light, we learned that statement by director Clapper was not true. It was false.
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Anderson Cooper
Host of Anderson Cooper 360
CNNW 08/06/2014
Cooper: Another national security leak possibly inspired by Edward Snowden. Investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald hinted at his or her existence. And today officials confirmed it. We’re talking to Justice Correspondent Evan Perez who joins us now. So how concern are government officials about this new leaker of any information that he or she may have had access to? Perez: Anderson, they're very concerned. The issue here is obviously we've only seen one document or a couple documents that were published today by “The Intercept,” on Greenwald's website. The person who leaked this document obviously had access to a pentagon computer system, which is the same computer system that Chelsea Manning, Bradley Manning had access to. That as you remember caused the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified documents which the U.S. says caused a lot of damage to national security. So far we don't know how serious the damage is. They're obviously very concerned though, Anderson.
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Anderson Cooper
Host of Anderson Cooper 360
CNNW 08/06/2014
Cooper: Didn't the government improve security after Snowden? Do we know how this happened again? Or did it happen before Snowden and it's only now coming to light? Perez: Well, it's not clear exactly when this document was leaked. We do know that it was dated from August of 2013, which is after Snowden fled the United States to avoid criminal charges. And yes, the U.S. Did improve its computer security system because obviously Snowden exposed a huge vulnerability. But problem is that there is still about three million people that have access to secret documents in the U.S. government. That's a lot of people who could easily get access to this stuff and leak it at any time, Anderson.
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Lincoln Chafee
Former U.S. Senator (R-RI)and-Governor (I-RI)
CNNW 10/13/2015
Cooper: Governor Chafee, you and Hillary Clinton both voted for The Patriot Act which created the NSA surveillance program, you emphasized civil liberties and privacy during your campaign. Aren’t these two things in conflict? Chafee: No, that was another 99-1 vote, for The Patriot Act. And it was seen as, at the time, modernizing our ability to do what we’ve always done, to tap phones which always require a warrant that Cooper: (inaudible) that? Chafee: No, no. As long as you're getting a warrant, I believe that under the 4th Amendment you should be able to do surveillance. But you need a warrant. That’s what the 4th Amendment says. And in The Patriot Act, section 215 started to get broadened too far. So I would be in favor of addressing and reforming section 215 of The Patriot Act.
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Hillary Clinton
Former U.S. Secretary of State,-U.S. Senator (D-NY) and First Lady
CNNW 10/13/2015
Cooper: Secretary Clinton do you regret your vote on The Patriot Act? Clinton: No, I don't. I think that it was necessary to make sure that we were able after 9/11 to put in place the security that we needed, and it is true that it did require that there be a process. What happened, however, is that the bush administration began to chip away at that process and I began to speak out about their use of warrantless surveillance and the other behavior that they engaged in. we always have to keep the balance of civil liberties, privacy and security. It’s not easy in a democracy but we have to keep it in mind.
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Bernie Sanders
U.S. Senator (I- Vermont),
CNNW 10/13/2015
Cooper: Senator Sanders, you're the only one on this stage who voted against The Patriot Act. Sanders: Was it 99 to 1? Applause. Cooper: And the reauthorization votes. Let me ask you, if elected, would you shut down the NSA surveillance program? Sanders: I’m sorry. Cooper: Would you shut down the NSA surveillance program? Sanders: Absolutely, of course. Cooper: You would? Sanders: Well, I would shut down, I would shut down what exists right now is that virtually every telephone call in this country ends up in a file at the NSA. That is unacceptable to me. But it's not just government surveillance. I think the government is involved in our e-mails, is involved in our web sites, corporate America is doing it as well. If we are a free country, we have the right to be free. Yes, we have to defend ourselves against terrorism, but there are ways to do that without impinging on our constitutional rights and our privacy rights.
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Lincoln Chafee
Former U.S. Senator (R-RI)and-Governor (I-RI)
CNNW 10/13/2015
Cooper: Governor Chafee, Edward Snowden, is he a traitor or hero? Chafee: No, I would bring him home. The courts have ruled that what he did was, what he did was, Cooper: bring him home. No jail time? Chafee: The American government was acting illegally. That's what the federal courts have said. What Snowden did showed that the American government was acting illegally.
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Hillary Clinton
Former U.S. Secretary of State,-U.S. Senator (D-NY) and First Lady
CNNW 10/13/2015
Cooper: Senator Clinton. Hero or a traitor? Clinton: He broke the laws of the United States. He could have been a whistleblower, he could have gotten all the protections of being a whistleblower . He could have raised all the issues that he has raised and I think there would have been a positive response to that. Cooper: Should he do jail time? Clinton: In addition, he stole very important information that has unfortunately fallen into a lot of the wrong hands. So I don't think he should be brought home without facing the music.
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Martin O'Malley
Former Gov. of Maryland
CNNW 10/13/2015
Governor O'Malley, Snowden. O’Malley: Anderson, Snowden put a lot of Americans lives at risk. Snowden broke the law. Whistle blowers do not run to Russia and try to get protection from Putin. If he really believes that, he should be back here.
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