riffle and sabet, followed by discussion on the fbi, their budget, and how they adapt to law enforcement and national security. our guest is president of the agents association, reynaldo "washington span.al," 7 a.m., on c- >> the security inside of iraq, i spent my life over there. 2010,006 until september i was there as we continued to reduce the level of violence, and the sectarian violence was going on. i believe we left it in a place where it is capable to move forward. we have now seen because of several political issues situationo iraq, that has now devolved into something that is concerning. about iraq.not just this is something we have to be cognizant of as the look across the middle east, what is going on in serious, that is going on in lebanon, what is going on inside of iraq, and it is this sectarianon -- influences he will try to take advantage of this. >> this weekend on c-span, general ray odierno looks at the security situation in the middle east and the future of the u.s. army, saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. live saturday on c-span two, .olitical sciences span3,

are dan riffle and kevin sabet, followed by discussion on the fbi, their budget, and how they adapt to law enforcement and national security. our guest is president of the agents association, reynaldo tariche, on "washington journal," 7 a.m., on c-span. >> it's disappointing to all of us to see the deterioration in iraq. i spent a lot of my life over there. from 2006 to 2010 i was there as we continued to reduce the level of violence tapped sectarian violence was going on. i believe we left it in a place that was capable to move forward. we've seen it because of political issues internal to iraq that situation has deinvolved into something that is in my mind concerning. this is not just about iraq. we have to be cognizant of what is going on in syria, what is going on in lebanon and inside of iraq. and it's this sectarian potential building of sectarian conflict and then the exploitation of that by non-state actors such as al qaeda and other organizations who will try to take advantage of this. >> this weekend on c-span army chief of staff looks at the middle east and the future of the

national security letters. we do not talk as much about them. using them, the fbi can obtain detailed information about individuals communications records and financial transactions without additional approval. the recipients of national security letters are subject to permanent gag orders. senator durbin and i propose additional safeguards on this controversial authority for years to limit the use and make sure that recipients of national security letters have an opportunity for judicial review. something that most americans think already exists. it would change the way national security letter operates -- letters operates. . i think that we have to look at it. report wants to create an institutional public service advocate. i strongly support that proposal and i am concerned that merely allowing the fisa court to participate in time to time will publicrove nor rebuild product -- confidence in the process. if you think about it, we are having a debate about americans fundamental relationship with their government. the government exists for americans and not the other way around. is a

them the fbi can obtain detailed information about individuals' communication records and financial transactions and credit reports. do that without judicial approval but the thing that's troubling to many is the recipients of nsls are subject to permanent gag orders. we're fighting for additional safeguards on this controversial authority for years. to limit the use. to ensure that nsl gag orders comply with the first amendment. and to provide recipients of nsl was a meaningful opportunity for judicial review. something that most americans would assume already exists. and the review group makes a series of important recommendations to change the way national security letters operate. we haven't seen as much about these recommendations in the press vice president generated that much -- as much attention but they should. and i think that we have to look at it. and the report also recommends creating an institutional public interest advocate at the fisa court. i strongly support that proposal. i'm concerned that merely allowing to participate in the fisa court from time to time will n

agencies, then one of them, the fbi, could have gone to the fisa court and could have in a very timely manner gotten a warrant to monitor the appropriate telephones. they didn't because they were unaware of the information that existed elsewhere in the government at the time. but there was a period of over two years where that information was available. so it would have been possible in a very timely manner to get a warrant from the fisa court. >> wasn't that one of the things that the senator graham and his review committee found, that it was a sharing? >> that's exactly right. the joint committee. the two intelligence committees of the house and senate found that the information was in the government at the time. it just wasn't shared. >> thank you. now, i raise the issue of national security letters or nsls. and as you know, for those who are not familiar, they permit the government to obtain certain communications and financial and credit report records without a court order. also, as i raise, the fbi can impose a virtually permanent, permanent gag order on nsl recipients. number o

in our buildings. the committee on the consolidation of the fbi, our resolution makes it clear that the practical administration should require that they efficiency or storm water management in accordance with the executive order, this is the largest public works consolidation probably of this decade. we also want to consolidate the fbi. it's also causing excess energy used in a larger carbon foot fingerprint than we need. the committee is pretty clear when we say we want a consolidated headquarters facility. giving 2.1 million rentable square feet and up to 55 acres. the appropriations committee just recently in its report accompanied me made it clear that the fbi headquarters consolidation is expected to resolve in full consolidation at the fbi headquarters. can you assure this committee that passed the resolution that you'll be in full compliance with both the environmental issues as well as the plan that is ultimately selected? and that's going through a competitive process but will provide for a full consolidation. >> that's definitely in our interest, having these employees sp

up reform to the national security letter statutes. using them, the fbi can obtain detailed information about communication records and financial transactions. the thing that is troubling to many is the recipients are subject to permanent gag orders. senator durbin and i have been trying to impose additional safeguards on this controversial authority for years, to limit their use and to ensure that the gag orders comply with the amendment and to provide recipients with a meaningful opportunity for judicial review, something that most americans would assume already exist. series ofhas a important recommendations that change the way national security letters operate. we have not seen as much about these recommendations, and the press is not generated as much attention, but they should. we have to look at it. the report also recommends creating an institutional public interest advocate at the fifa court. i strongly support the proposal. the stakes are high. you think about it, we are really having a debate about americans fundamental relationship with her own government. the go

asked them to commit an illegal act. they never went to the fbi. compared to the congressmen who did take the money, they became national heroes. some people thought it was a sad commentary. that turning down a broad makes you a hero. host: that was a quote from larry pressler. we want to show you a bit of that hidden fbi video from john murtha. there is some video from the late 70s come and john murtha. [video clip] >> introducing legislation is only legitimate to the guys in your district because otherwise you'd got a real problem. >> he can buy something there. talking about a residence of some sort. >> is this commitment -- and business commitment that makes it imperative for me to help him. let me tell you something. there is a lot of things i've done up here with environmental regulations, with all kinds of waivers of laws and regulations, if the district people say that son of a bitch, let me tell you something, this guy is on the take. once they say that, what happens? then they start going around looking for the goddamn oney, so i want to avoid that i haven't some type of di

. >> fbi director james coming to talked aboutomey the relationship between law enforcement and local agencies. he was speaking to the national sheriff's association winter conference. [applause] >> thank you so much for that introduction. thank you for giving me a chance to visit with you. you are stuck with me. i'm beginning a 10 year term, so you have nine more of these talks. i will try to keep them fresh each time. i thought it would make sense for me to talk about three things this morning. to introduce myself a bit to you and share with you what i expect from the fbi, what the fbi should expect from me, and lastly, what you should expect from the fbi. let me start by telling you how exciting it is to be back among law enforcement. the most rewarding parts of my career have always been when i am working cases with federal, state, and local enforcers. i grew up in a law enforcement family. one of my heroes was my grandfather. kid in sixth grade when his dad was killed in new york. he was the oldest and his family , so he dropped out of school in sixth grade to support his family.

illegal act. they never went to the fbi. compared to the congressmen who did take the money, they became practically national heroes. some people thought it was a sad commentary. host: that was a quote from larry pressler. one of the congressmen was john murtha. i want to show you a little bit of video from john murtha. there is some language that someone might find offensive, but here is video. [video clip] introducing legislation -- >> you could buy something there. business commitment. business commitment that makes for me to help. i am sure that there are a lot of things i have done here with red environmental regulations, and all kinds of waivers of loss and regulations. if it weren't in my district, people would say this guy is on the take. once they say that, what happens? then they start looking for the money. i want to avoid that by having something in the district, that is all. host: what were we watching their? -- there? guest: you were watching a congressmen turned out a bribe, for alsong it open accomplishing the same objective. cubesmart murtha was not prosecuted. --

immediately turn it into the fbi and report the bribery attempt? host: in a word, no. and neither did those who turned down the bride. back to just to go senator williams, at one point -- and this was something the defense attempted to use -- at one point in the meeting with the sheik, the sheik offered him something like $20,000 in personal expenses as a goodwill gesture, and williams said, no, no, i don't want to take that. my interest in seeing that this titanium venture succeeds. senator, united states and he has been confronted with an illegal act committed by a representative, a foreigner in the united states, and nonetheless makes it clear he wants to continue doing business . and ultimately, with all the controversy that abscam generated come in the end, i think what moved the juryies and courts that reviewed the convictions is simply that the american people had a right to ,xpect that their congressman this senator, their intellect and officials, would not behave in this manner -- elected officials would not behave this manner when confronted with these very corrupt propo

cooperation between the russians and the fbi with respect to security at the olympic games. >> thank you very much. let me say i appreciate your leadership and your focus on terrorism and the leadership of the entire committee. , i agree with director clapper's assessment of the situation in syria. as you made out in your statement, the accommodation of a permissive environment and extremist groups in the number of foreign fighters combined to make syria a place that we are concerned about. potential for terrorist attacks emanating from syria to the west. with respect to your question, we are focused on the so chelan picks and we have seen in up take in the threat reporting regarding sochi. this is what we expected given where the olympics are located. there are a number of extremists in that area. a group which is the most prominent terrorist group in russia. the leader of that group last july announced in a public message that the group would intend to carry out attacks in sochi in connection with the olympics. we have seen a number of attacks stemming from last fall, suicide bombings that

, identify a number and we could give that to the fbi. probable get there cause, they could get the locational information they need. asking the nsa to clarify these are marks but it has not happened yet. to havebi required probable cause in order to cell siteericans' information for intelligence purposes? alln all -- almost circumstances we have to obtain a quarter to. we have to show relevance to the investigation. >> you do not have to show where -- noble cause. is that standard different if the government is collecting the location information from a smart phone app rather than a cell phone tower? >> i probably ought to ask someone who is smarter on the standards that governs those. >> my time is up. can i have an answer to that within a week? >> you sure can. >> thank you. overinadvertently skipped your name and called on senator wyden. it is your moment. >> good morning to you and thank you for being here. i want to make it clear how much this committee respects and admires the hard-working members of the community. everyone keeps this worldwide threat assessment handy. it is

whether fbi agents should be so quick to, you know, protect somebody who is presumed innocent, of course, but just tactics were pretty wild. this was the trial started in, like, october 15th of '07. headlines like this every day in the new york tabloids. agent of death. i mean, like, they basically convicted him. but the star witness, one of the star witnesses was linda. the woman i told you. it was alleged that by these reporters, now onen the left you see jerry. one of the problem of the most famous and the greatest contemporary reporter on organized crime. he had a column called "gangland" for years. he had played himself in the sopranos. you know. so but each and whatever. on the right mike. and a lot of these -- i'm half italian. half of my book is accurate. jerry -- at the height of the war. the war was waged from 91 to 93. they wrote about it and knew that she was going to be one of the star witnesses. she lies and they end the trial. look now the headline. two weeks later, talk about a reversal of fortune. mob tape frees g-man. say that celebrated at sparks steak house ove

the fbi was still interested up until the suit in colorado the headley suit. two former members of the sea org had sued the church, alleging physical abuse. in the case of marc hadley. he had been beaten by the leader of the church. his wife clara claimed that she had been forced to have an abortion. they had worked years and years from the age of children when they went in. and they had been confined on the base. they both had to escape. but a judge ruled that all of these were religious practices. and there was little that the law enforcement could do about it. whereupon the fbi gave up on their investigation. what were they to do? and that's one of the reasons i hold people like tom cruise accountable, because we are in an odd spot. joe and i can write about it. we can't prosecute it. we can just bring to public attention what's actually happening and going on. the law enforcement agencies are stymied and the irs, which is another agency that can make a difference it's cowed. so there is very -- there are very few avenues for actual reform inside of the church except that those

. i am surprised they made those recommendations. we have had the fbi before our committee and we have had a about what, if we follow the directions of the review committee, and evidently, the president agrees with the fbi director, it would inhibit our opportunity to go after terrorist. it may put more requirements on going after terrorists then you would before a grand jury for a common criminal in the united states. what was the other point? will not require core permission for security letters. he will not endorse leaving bulk data in the custody of telecommunication firms. guest: i don't know why he is making that recommendation. we all want to wait until the president makes his statement before we react to it. that gets back to some of the concerns that i said that i have. that would target being breached and everything and 70 million people in america having some of divulgedancial stuff to other people and be used for fraudulent purposes. more privacyhat is concerns they are then the government controls the. host: more from the new york times. instead of taking bold data ou

of september, all of the survivors were interviewed by the fbi in germany. i have talked to one. i can tell you in a quick summary the man was brave. the people on the ground deserve medals. he said there was no protest. there is not one report coming from benghazi about a protest around the embassy. the turkish ambassador left before the attack. do you think he would walk out in a protest? do you think the ambassador would have gone to bed? it was never reported because there never was. he said i saw 16-20 armed people kercar with a banner in aribic. it was a coordinated military attack. who plans this? the former gitmo detainee? the man came from there. he was a libyan who went back and started the group. and the 60 minute report identified him as the organize of the attack. all i can tell you is there is no mystery about who planned this. it was an al qaeda affiliate and on 16th of august something is sent back saying we cannot defend because ten training camps are in al qaeda and the al qaeda flag is flying. and the red cross left benghazi and the british left as well. this was

fbi was interviewing survivors. on the 15th, 16th, and 17th. why would any administration go on national television and tell the world what happened while the fbi is still interviewing people who were in the attack. where did the fbi interview goes? he said not one person interviewed by the fbi in germany ever said there was a proit's. all of them said it was a terrorist attack. saying there was no protest. it was a terrorist attack. that not get to the system. did the fbi just sit on those interviews? who did they give the interviews to? and how could susan rice tell the american people and the world we know what happened in benghazi before the interviews were over. she bent on television to spin this story. how could the president of the united states, after the interviews were taken go before the american people time and time again for weeks and tell a story about a protest that never occurred. ladies and gentlemen, this may not be a big deal to you. it's a hell of a big deal to me. when it blew up, senator mccain myself said this is not a few rot rotten apples. it's system f

the fbi and the cia. so the next few months of reporting very hair-raising, i had hackers threatennenning to destroy the -- threatening to destroy the company i was working for. i watched my sources get paranoid. i was able to meet some of them face to face through convoluted names of encrypted communication, and i learned a lot of these guys were young men, unemployed and quite isolated in society. extraordinarily intelligence but also -- intelligent but also often lacking an extraordinary amount of common sense. it was full of contradictions. so, for example, this is jake davis who i met face to face before -- while he was still part of the group and before he was arrested. online he was the leader of one of the cofounders and this witty, charismatic kingpin in the community. but face to face he was a scrawny young man. he was actually not particularly good at socializing and quite shy. of course, he's not like that anymore. this was a while ago. i also learned about a web site called forten, and you'll hear more about this from cole stryker, my colleague, who's really i

on a par with gettysburg. we know a lot of these details because the fbi were kind enough to record them for us. [laughter] he wants something on a par with gettysburg. and so his, one of his main aides, wyatt t. walker, says to king don't do the i have a dream thing. it's trite, it's a cliche. you've used it too many times before. and that's the first line of the book. and, indeed, king had used it many times before. he first recorded using it in '62. it's thought that he probably used it in '61, a couple of years before. he'd used it in june at a rally in detroit and even a week earlier at a fundraiser for black insurance executives in chicago. so this was not the first time that, by a long stretch, that he had used the "i have a dream" refrain. and king worries away at this speech. he seeks counsel, he has a lot of input, much more than he would generally. and what we know is that when he goes to bed at 4:00 in the morning the morning of the march, "i have a dream" is not in the text of the speech. that we know. and according to clarence jones, his lawyer and his speech writer, i

the fbi and the justice department on the matter of national security letters. on 215, this is of course the core of the political debate. it is actually not the molten core of the issue that faces either from my point of view the intelligence community or the civil liberties community. which is to say, this is a comprehensive collection program but its comprehensive collection program aimed at a very narrow category of data, which is to say collectively metadata. and so it's capacity to either do great good, as bruce described, or frankly, to do terrible damage in the civil liberties arena is actually much less than either collection under 702, which i'll come to in a minute, or collection under executive order 12333. it's just not that broad-based a program in terms of its them in terms of what gets collected and analyzed and how. so what the president did here is he basically said, he basically adopted in a limited sort of way the review group recommendations, which is to say move the program outside of government, and allow it to be queried. keep the capabilities that allow it

governor speaking about the state's expansion of medicaid under the health care law. after that fbi director james talking about the relationship between local law enforcement. in is 20 minutes. [applause] thank you. thank you very much. have some credibility to it. because my dad was a baptist preacher. and so right toward the end of my talk today, if you don't want to answer the alter call, you better leave early. [laughter] i appreciate the opportunity to come here and talk to you about a subject we're not all only interested in, but very fervent about, and our feelings of what ought to be done for this country. you know, people who don't know kentucky might consider the commonwealth on odd choice to be leading the nation and implementing federal health care reform. suffered from national stereo type being one of the southern states that a little bit behind the times. further more, as ron pointed out, our two u.s. senators, mitch mcconnell and rand paul, are vocal and have a meant about their opposition to affordable care act, medicaid expansion, government spending and about any

conversations] >> fbi director james comey wildlife deliver the keynote speech for the national sheriff's association. director comey is expected to deliver remarks on the relationship between local law enforcement and federal agencies. this is live coverage on c-span2 this is expected to get underway in just a moment. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ [inaudible conversations] ♪ [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ >> and we're live this morning here in washington, d.c. for remarks from fbi director james comey. he is the keynote speaker at the national sheriffs association and major county sheriffs association winter conference. director comey is expected to talk about the relationship between local law enforcement and federal agencies. should again get underway in just a moment here. this is live on c-span2. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning. please rise for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, wit

thrilled and honor to be the director of the fbi and to be your colleague. thank you very much. [applause] >> director comey, thank you for your remarks. we appreciate the relationship we sheriffs had with the fbi over the past. it has been a strong relationship and we mow that will only continue to get better under your leadership. as thanks for being here, we know you've bottom other things to do and you have to leave us but we would like to give you this history book, the history of the office of the sheriff, national/s association portfolio and a commemorative mug. thank you very much. >> that's great. thank you very much. [applause] s sheriffs and guests please remain in the room as we still have several items to discuss. before we turn our attention to the next item on the agenda we have two drawings for two complimentary registration to the 2014 nsa annual conference in north worth, texas, in june. each prize consist of one full and one spouse registration including banquet ticket and spouses bun. you must be present to win. first drawing is. he is here, i saw him. mark

blessed it for me. one of the things the fbi needed for me was for me to focus on the budget. i had no plans to be rejected a joint, but i heard from my folks loma walked in to you will not believe the impact of this is having on those. we are rationing guess, trying to decide whether to go do an interview because we may need to do an interview on thursday and i don't want to spend against libya during the interview day. that's crazy, sort focused on the budget right away. gun to a place where congress workers support is adequately funded the fbi for this year than hoping for next year offs. you should see me coming around with my mouth closed and my ears open will would you tell a branded director of the fbi in? what should he worry about? and so i've been doing that much traveling a ton, walking around, of fairness that inspections and is going in seeing my folks and talking to them. no starting to develop a picture of what are the things i should focus on. i believe as a leader i only have a small slice of discretionary time. and to take that and focus of a few priorities of the man

working with this the fbi be to solve challenges like making sure that manufactured housing remains a viable alternative for the many families that benefit from this important product. as you know, many times will we attempt to address, these types of issues, we have intentionally create loopholes and undermine consumer protection instead of fixing the problem. can you commit to working with us to address the concern of the manufactured housing industry will continue to protect our constituents from the actual bad actors that the rules are meant to target? >> i do commit to that. believe i have committed to it today already, but commit to a note. been open and accessible to representatives from both the building in lending industry. they have made a strong case for why this fits a particular need in the population and it's a case that i am familiar with from my own personal experience. where i grew up to my family, particularly eastern ohio. so yes, we are very interested in those issues. >> thank you for the response could be in the area of more visuals to was steps has the siepi b

government in order to effectuate that desire. >> a few more questions. the fbi interviewed the survivors of the attack at the state department on the 15th ,-com,-com ma 16th and 17th of september. i have asked for those if di interviews because i want to know what they said about a potential protest carried the deputy director retired of the fbi says none of the survivors told the agents on the 15th, 16th and 17th of september september -- [inaudible] would you allow members of congress to have access to these interviews? >> i'm not aware of what happened with these interviews with these three days of interviews. i'm not conversant with what happened. >> when did you first get notified about what happened and benghazi and did you believe there would be a terrorist attack? >> i would have to think about it. i'm not sure when i first heard about the attack. i'm sure it was sometime shortly there, probably -- >> do you member being briefed by the fbi about what they learned mcgaw's a? >> after the attack xp yes. >> i've been briefed by the fbi on a number of occasions with regard

an fbi prosecutor, wanted to get your sense of the afghan scandal and how closely to the movie what your experience was? >> the beginning of a movie there is a line, some of this actually happened. some of it, about 5% of the movie actually happened. i took a lot of grief from the fbi team i was working with at the time. i was u.s. attorney in connecticut and the movie bears a faint resemblance to the truth. interesting, i think it is a great movie but i wouldn't look to it for what actually happened. >> from your personal experience. i really appreciate it. [applause] >> congressman chris van hollen, thank you for joining us. we will get started. you heard some of what the senator spoke about and what is your read in terms of the one thing you learned about the president last night? in his first speech he is making to the congress, you met with him before. any insights you drew? >> first of all i thought the president -- i want to thank michael graham for delivering the republican response. which essentially said to the american people i am going to throw the agenda over the balcon

president has also asked you to do a review of the fbi whistle-blower protection and recommend changes on how to improve them the assignment was contained in presidential policy directive 19, which claimed to create protection for whistle blowers with access to classified information. the president gave the 180 days to complete the review, and it's 10 month overdue. there's a lot of service to whistle-blower protection. but there is another example of how the actions don't match rhetoric. i'm concerned about the president's districtive. i recently had a whistle-blower from the cia contact my office. he was seeking to report alleged violations of the whistle-blower protections in the president's directive 19 false statements to congress and concerns related to legislation. he tried to get permission to share the classified detail with me, yet a cia lawyer wrote a letter denying permission claiming judiciary committee members aren't authorized to receive classified information from the cia, which is, of course, false. but it scares whistle blowers and intimidates them in to silence inspect

threats. joining them at the hearing with heads of the cia and fbi. directors of john brennan and james comey. >> if you want to talk about national security, let's talk about drones that violate international law. director clapper, you are fired, too, for lying to congress, for lying to the american people. >> the committee will come to order. let me say at the outset that we hold this hearing to provide information to the public on the intelligence communities assessments of threats facing our nation. i ask that everyone in this room remove any signs you may have, and refrain from any disruptions are in the hearing so that the committee can conduct the hearing, and people sitting behind you can see. i will ask the capital place to remove anyone who disrupts this proceeding. this committee meets today in open session to hear the annual report from the united states intelligence community on the range of threats to the nation's security. and let me start by welcoming the witnesses. they are the director of national intelligence, james clapper. the director of the central intellige

professional, a former fbi agent. i take what he says very seriously. i've not seen any evidence to suggest what he said. >> the future of spying in america is going to be something that congress is going to take up. how much authority should these intelligence agencies have? do you think these programs that allow the government to collect bulk metadata, should they be here to stay? >> we have to change these programs. the president challenged us to do it. i have spoken on the floor of the senate for years about this program but only in the most circumspect way. i couldn't be specific or tell the details we now know. but the fact is we have to change them. if we have a suspicion of a person in area code 312 in chicago connected with terrorism, we don't need to collect all the phone records of every person living in the 312 area code. that's just unacceptable. the government shouldn't hold that information. the president has challenged congress and the attorney general to come up with an alternative to keep us safe but to not create an opportunity for the government to overreach. >>