the idea that edward snowden has damaged national security is ludicrous. it is not that edward snowden has exposed to secrets of the nsa, he is exposed the lies of the nsa. the director of national intelligence james clapper testified to congress the nsa was in collecting information about millions of americans and it turns out they were. the solicitor general told the supreme court the nsa was providing notice to criminal defendants who had been surveilled. it turns out they weren't. it is all of these misrepresentations about the nsa's activities that edward snowden has exposed and i think that is a great public service and a travesty that edward snowden is in russia. we are hopeful he will be able to return to the united states -- not to face criminal charges, but rather with the kind of amnesty that he deserves. >> i want to thank you both for being with us. jameel jaffer from the aclu and glenn greenwald who broke the story about edward snowden, speaking to us from brazil. now creating a new media venture with laura poitras and jeremy scahill and ebay

by now, most of the world has heard the name edward snowden. the former national security agency contractor who released thousands of classified documents about government surveillance in one of the most significant leaks in u.s. history. he's been charged with espionage and has been living in russia under temporary asylum. the american journalist at the center of the story lives in brazil. >> we've had to come to rio to speak to glenn greenwald. he hasn't returned to the united states since he broke the story about the nsa surveillance programs for fear of being prosecuted. >> the nsa's goal really is the elimination of privacy globally. it is literally a system designed to monitor all forms of human behavior inside the united states, which is the ultimate surveillance state. >> last december, glenn greenwald received an email from a person who didn't identify himself. >> we still didn't know who he was, where he worked, but he was saying he had access to large amounts of very sensitive surveillance information that show the united states gove

to cross edward snowden i'm joined by my guest mary fan in seattle she is a professor at the university of washington and a former federal prosecutor in washington we have ray mcgovern he is the co-founder of veteran intelligence professionals for sanity and in new york we cross to timothy car he is a senior director of strategy at free press all right folks cross talk rolls in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it if i go to you first in washington isn't it time to cut a deal with mr snowden i mean he's made his point everybody knows his name if you can if you're literate you know who he is anywhere in the world we certainly know a whole lot more about the n.s.a. i mean isn't it time to move forward in reform the n.s.a. in the intelligence community and let this guy off the hook he did everyone a huge favor peter i guess i would have problems with your freeze here elegy here cutting a deal. snowden has lived up to a solemn oath to protect and defend the constitution the united states against all the enemies foreign and domestic u.s. district judg

whistleblower edward snowden has always maintained his motivation was to force a serious conversation about the all encompassing surveillance state well he certainly has achieved this so with mission accomplished is it time to cut a deal with them or even grant him a pardon. to cross edward snowden i'm joined by my guest mary fan in seattle she is a professor at the university of washington and a former federal prosecutor in washington we have ray mcgovern he is the co-founder of veteran intelligence professionals for sanity and in new york we cross to timothy car he is a senior director of strategy at free press all right folks on a fact that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it if i go to you first in washington isn't it time to cut a deal with mr snowden i mean he's made his point everybody knows his name if you can if you're. literate you know who he is anywhere in the world we certainly know a whole lot more about the n.s.a. i mean isn't it time to move forward and reform the n.s.a. in the intelligence community and let this guy off the hook he did

should he grant amnesty to edward snowden? this morning, both sides of this heated debate. >>> plus -- >> has this been the worst year of the presidency? >> after a tough year, can obama shake his second-term slump? will the least productive congress ever do better in 2014? >>> and -- >> gross sexual immorality. >> should shocking words from "duck dynasty's" commander sink the superhit? >>> plus, our new year's predictions, right here, this sunday morning. >>> hello, again, a whole lot to get to this sunday morning before christmas. and we begin with the latest on the biggest security breach in u.s. history, the surveillance program revealed by edward snowden, under fire on two fronts this week. federal judge signalling that he would strike it down. the president's handpicked panel of experts should stop picking up phone records of american people. >>> at the press conference, president obama seemed to agree. we'll take on that debate. first, the backstory from chief investigative correspondent brian ross. >> reporter: george,

gee here cutting a deal edward snowden has lived up to its solemn oath to protect and defend the constitution the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic a u.s. district judge now has reiterated the fact that. the n.s.a. as he put it has indiscriminately and charlie invaded our privacy in direct violation of the fourth amendment it's not that we should cut a deal with edward snowden we should praise him welcome him home for exposing what what i call incipient fascism is like when the government has all kinds of information on all kinds of people and can use it for all kinds of purposes ok timothy it well there are voices in the n.s.a. that think that they the government should talk to mr snowden i in principle i agree with ray don't get me wrong here but cutting a deal is what's being talked about meaning no more leaks and you will clear your name ok this is the kind of deal and i'm not saying it's the best deal but it is a deal that's being talked about timothy go ahead well i would say that they don't need to strike a deal at all the the whole premise of the charges against e

was edward snowden protected as an nsa contractor? >> no i'm a not at all. not at all. >> we seem to have just lost kirk wiebe on satellite. --ime then go to ben wizner think we have him back. are you there? did he have another option? >> no, he did not. it is important to realize first there are no formal whistleblower protections for members of the united states notlligence community -- just the nsa, but the cia, all of the components of intelligence and the government structure. none of those employees have formal whistleblower rights. now, are there any logical paths one could take? yes. the inspector general. there is one that the nsa. but if you believe the director of the nsa is at least in part a call. works wrongdoing, that ig for him. if you really want to put the director of the nsa on report, it has to be high-level decision and you must go above the director of the nsa, which is the ig resident with the u.s. department of defense. did.is what we we did the 2002 complaint to the dod ig, even though the report was heavily classified and really ver

spying on world leaders as revealed by edward snowden. be interested to know the stream and we would be have got to make it down to the committee and spend a couple of hours going through mounds of product that would allow a member to be as informed as a member we should is to be on sources and methods and all activities of the intelligence community under the national intelligence framework i would just say and i just think we need to be careful when i talk about it but i we need to assume you don't you wish to use the classification and i think would be disingenuous mr chairman if you suggesting we have information if we don't have it so after that after what you saw there can we really buy the argument that these committees had enough knowledge all along to perform proper oversight of american spy agencies i don't think so snowden also had a message from the n.s.a. he said i'm not trying to bring down the n.s.a. i'm working to improve the n.s.a. i'm still working for the n.s.a. right now just they are the only ones who don't realize it

no sir while most americans think to edward snowden the u.s. government techmeme is a spy and a traitor the united states government classified its evidence of its own criminal misconduct its its violations of the bill of rights what we're doing is said to caving to tell a tarion procedures which is gathering information about all the individuals in the world the former intelligence contractor is now in exile knowing for certain that he'd go to jail should he return to the us like bradley and now chelsea manning who was sentenced to thirty five years in jail this august so we could leaks manning released many thousands of diplomatic cables and video proof of u.s. involvement in war crimes another man who found himself in jail this year was john key the first u.s. official to confirm the government's use of waterboarding to interrogate terrorist suspects i caught up with him shortly before he went to serve his two and a half year sentence i have never believed that my case was about a leak i have always believed that my case is about torture in

tell us about this alternative address from snowden, phil. >> richelle edward snowden apparently taped this in moscow and it will be airing shortly on britain's channel 4. we expect -- we do have an early release transcript of what he will say, and the bulk of it is about privacy issues, and in particular edward snowden says that children born today may grow up in a world where they have no idea what personal privacy is. he -- he pointed out several issues about technology and how easy it is to eavesdrop on all of us now a days with our smartphones and internet access. he also in particular points out the british author george orewell's 1984 novel in which of course famously there is the presence of big brother in everyone's lives. so it this a tradition in britain, and many will be looking to see exactly what edward snowden says. as you say his first televised appearance. >> you say that this is a tradition in britain. give us a little bit more of the history of this channel 4 alternative address. who else has done this? >> well, notably then iranian president did it one year. channel

intelligence services were close edward snowden's latest revelation speaks to just how close he gave the canadian media a top secret four page memo a recent one dated april twenty third team by the way that says canada has set up covert spying posts around the world and conducted espionage against trading partners at the request of the us national security agency edward snowden has also revealed that although the canadian intelligence agency employees twenty times less people than the n.s.a. it has done a lot of work for the n.s.a. apparently including spying on foreign politicians and diplomats during the g. eight and g. twenty summits this document says the see as e.c. which stands for the communications security establishment canada shares with the and i say their unique geographic access to areas unavailable to the u.s. now for course it does not give details on what those areas are that could be the spying posts that canada holds toward the n.s.a. around the globe that could be about the ork to the exploration progress of which is interesting to a number of sheriff stakeholders

what it does is vicinity kates edward snowden. he came forward because he said he discovered what the government was doing was illegal and a federal court, not a liberal, great with him. i think it's a huge turning point in how the story played out. >> you said that the megadata collection is more invasive. >> the government tried to claim if we collect just megadata. that somehow it is not invasive. megadata is a list of every person that calls you, how long you speak on the phone, when you call them and where you are when you do so. the same is true for emails. it reveals your location, the type of device you use and the reason megadata is more ipp vasive, if you think of the example i use, a woman who calls an abortion clinic. if you listen to the woman, eavesdropping on her call, you'll hear somebody pick up the phone, answer with a generic sound, hear the woman make an appointment and hang up. you'll have it no idea what the purpose was. if you collect metadata you see that she's calling someone you identify was an abortion p

edward snowden, edith windsor, who was a plaintiff in the case. i had the absolute pleasure of meeting her, an incredible human being. her story is incredible. there is an incredible interview we don't have time to play right now, but we'll put up later. and bashar assad is interesting, it brought up the point that this is a moral designation, stalin won it twice, hitler has won it. but as time has gone on, "time magazine," the pr, in general, the hysterical controversy, is not going to name bashar assad. >> i think the last of the evil picks was the ayatollah after the iranian revolution in the late '70s. so i'm interested to see how did they actually frame these issues back in the day, how did they get the joseph stalin -- >> that is the difference. >> ultimately, when time magazine shows activist of the year, if we're talking about nelson mandela, see, that is what he was about. he said it is about the movements, not about the man, and that is really what makes it -- >> there was a protester in 2011, which is of course the year of the occupied

phil tell us what edward snowden had to say. >> well, richelle, obviously the central point of edward snowden's christmas all tern -- alternative christmas address was privacy. he went on and on about it in certain -- in a number of different aspects. he was speaking about government and new technologies and how to balance all of that with personal privacy. at one point he said that a child born today will most likely not know what it is to have personal privacy. it was -- it was a -- relatively brief address. he did wish everybody a merry christmas, but speaking to the british audience -- now keep in mind this is bound to be watched ash the world, not least of which in washington, at up with point he did say that what is -- in many ways most alarming is that the future envisioned by the great british author, george orewell was nothing compared to the capabilities and surveillance techniques now in the hands of goes. >> phil ittner thank you so much. ahead on al jazeera america, the aloha state and land of lincoln, they are lobbying hard for rights of the future home of the presidenti

but edward snowden won't. what he wanted to do was warn people about the private information that the n.s.a. gathered. jim, most security officials, i believe, including you, have talked about the fact that he already has caused serious damage. how much else could he have, and how much damage could he cause. >> there has been damage caused. some of that language is exaggerated when there were folks who leaked nuclear weapons to the soviet union. that was more substantially threatening. there has been damage done. it goes back to the last question you asked. weighing costs and benefits. clearly there are - i think we are all in agreement that we are hope now that we know this is a problem. why do i say that. >> we have a the chair woman of the senate intelligence community saying there are problems. we have the president's panel who reviewed this saying there were problems, and the president himself, while becrying edward snowden welcomes a national conversation. we don't have a national conversation unless the

now the interview also gave us some insight really to edward snowden. he was described as relaxed and animated. he described himself as a bit of a house cat who doesn't get out much. he never leaves his house, doesn't have a lot of needs. he lives off ramen moodlnoodles chips and he has access to the internet and journalists and two lawyers so very revealing first face-to-face interview that we have seen with edward snowden since he arrived in moscow. >> interesting stuff. sat down with 14 hours with bart gilman from the "the washington post." i like the house cat and he just stays around. thank you. >>> 150 marines on alert to enter south sudan if needed to secure the u.s. embassy there. 100 americans are believed to be in that country a country that appears to be on the brink of civil war. over the weekend four navy s.e.a.l.s were wounded when their aircraft was hit by ground fire as they tried to rescue americans there. >>> u.s. official are stepping back from a hard deadline to strike a deal with afghanistan by the end of the year. they are trying t

edward snowden does have political support in brazil. several legislators asked for his support in hearings about the n.s.a. the only person that can grant him asylum is the president. >> and tomorrow night on "al jazeera america" my conversation with glenn greenwalled. >> next, an ancient site gets a makeover. tÑ >> [ singing ] >> lots of music videos, catchy tune, years of great performances and enough votes to get them into the rock'n'roll hall of fame. hall and oates among a mix of artists, along with the duo, the class of 2014 is impressive: >> now to a different set of rockers. stonehenge. tourists will have something extra to see. emily haywood reports. >> they have watched over this land for thousands of years. stonehenge and monuments set deep in the corner of england. around a million people come to see the icon every year. >> what endures about the place is the puzzle it presents. no one has been able to say with total certainty what stonehenge is. >> some say it was a solar temple. others believe it's an astronomical compute

does that vindicate what edward snowden did? >> i don't think so. but one of the things people like me have been saying from the very beginning is what snowden exposed has not been shown to be illegal. today, a judge said it was illegal. so there's no question that today is a big victory for glenn greenwald and snowden and all of their supporters. >> in your opinion why doesn't it justify what he did? >> he still took classified information and exposed it in a completely illegal way requires tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars of work by the american government to redo, plus, potentially exposed it to the chinese and the russians. so i don't support what snowden did at all. i don't think this vindicates him but it certainly comes a lot closer to vindicating him than any previous development has. >> glenn, should this vindicate edward snowden in the eyes of those who still believe he's a traitor? >> how could it not vindicate him. here is an american citizen working inside the government discovers the united states government is doing things

contractor edward snowden comes forward as the source of the recent n.s.a. stories he's left the united states and is in hong kong he says he's a whistleblower and he's handed over his trove of evidence to journalists and the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong snowden is later forced to hide out in russia as over the next six months the world's newspapers begin publishing the n.s.a.'s angy c.-h. cues most closely guarded secrets dragnet surveillance on entire foreign populations targeted surveillance on diplomats and world leaders including key allies the black budget of the u.s. intelligence agencies the deliberate tapping of undersea fiber optic cables a commitment to breaking in corruption standards we also learned that the n.s.a. has secretly hacked into google and yahoo is data links barton gellman calls this the most explosive story and it's a was breaking into the data links the private cleone the links between for example to google data centers this one in finland and one in. and they are intercepting the da

and we are watching edward snowden. his message to the world demanding restrictions on spying ran on television. we will tell you where. snoedward snowden >> sad news to report on a little girl who was suffering from leukemia. she lost the battle and passed away on christmas morning. thou. reaction from neighbors >> we are very upset. she was a sweet little girl. >> she made a bigger impact than she even knows. she is going to be around for a long time. >> last friday was her 8th birthday. >> nsa leaker edward snowden making a christmas day appearance on british television appear alternative to the queen's speech. he called to end widespread state spying. welcome to the show. many would say lars that we should not give edward snowden any more time. but did this station make a m mistake? >> if people are worried about being spied on private companies are doing far more than the united states government or other governments are doing. government gathering of data is important to keep the country safe. edward snowden has d

i think in fact that edward snowden, we've seen the triumph of edward snowden and his recent decision. edward snowden probably should have won that man of the year for "time" but i love pope francis because he's a prophetic voice, his tone and tenderness dealing with the humanity of poor people. >> i think the one thing we all agree on is that we all like pope francis. but, ross, i want to ask you a question. there's no question that government programs can be better in terms of creating opportunities, putting people on a road to opportunity. in fact the president has put reforms in place and here was his message earlier this month in his economic inequality speech. >> progressives should be open to reforms that actually strengthen these programs and make them more responsive to a 21st century economy. >> so the president -- >> who could argue with that? >> the problem is the response to the 21st century economy, that's what needs to be contested. it's the neoliberal economy. >> but also, dr. west, we have to acknowledge that in rethinking these programs, you've got to take into accou

. >> i think edward snowden is a hero. what he's been doing, is he went to china, to give the documents. it's amazing the debate that he created for the world. he helped my country to understand everything that happens here, how the u.s. has spoilt the president and the population. i wanted to help him get out in a place. i think it's a good democracy, and he can be - have his human rights defend. >> you want edward snowden to come to brazil. is it a real possibility? >> i want edward snowden to be in any country with the willingness and ability to protect its human rights and ensure that he is not persecuted by the united states for decades in prison for going the acts of the united states. whether it's brazil or russia or any other countries. that would be a good outcome. there's a possibility that brazil, for the reasons said. a lot of the reporting that came from the documents, that he showed very large-scale violations of brazilian citizens and this country has been appreciative of that reporting, and understands how

. >> edward snowden - rattling washington - unclear on how many he knows. now there's talk of even giving him a deal. >> we begin with breaking news in massachusetts. police there investigating a security scare at one of the nations prestigious universities. harvard university place are looking into reports of explosives inside four buildings on the campus. they have been evacuated. students are on campus, and are there because they are scheduled to take their final exams. we continue to follow the story and will bring you more developments as they warrant. >> the northern city of aleppo has seen some of the worst violence since the civil war broke out. women and children in syria among more than 100 dead after government troops dropped barrel bombs filled with explosives. those there now are searching for survivors in the rubble. nicole johnston has the story. >> no child should have to experience war like this boy. he's clearly in shock. many people in aleppo will feel that way after a bombing raid on the city. in the al-haidaria neighbour hood bombs fell

does that vindicate edward snowden? >> i don't think. but what snowden exposed has not been shown to be illegal. today, a judge said, it was illegal. so there's no question that today is a big victory for glen greenwald and snowden. >> why doesn't it justify what he did? >> he took classified information and disclosed it in an illegal way that is costing 10s of millions of dollars of work by the american government to redo and potentially exposed it to the chinese and russians. i don't think this vindicates him but it comes closer than any previous development has. >> should this vindicate ed snowden? >> how could it not? let use common sense for a minute. this is an american citizen who discovers that the united states government is doing things without the knowledge of the american people that is so illegal and against the core constitutional guarantees of the constitution that the judge says it's not even a close call. james madison would be aghast if he knew that the government is gathering the data doubt suspicion or probable cause.

of offering edward snowden amnesty. i would take the deal. just come back with all the intel and all is forgiven. i'll tell you what to make you feel safe we'll meet in a special amnesty zone. >> good morning. it is tuesday, december 17th. >> boy, twa

edward snowden called himself a russian house cat. never leaving his place in asylum from seeks the u.s. and stays in russia. tweetedhington post" several quotes. snowden saying i wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself. he tweeted -- "the washington post" tweeted this. i wanted the public to have a say. post," i defected from the government to the public. also, edward snowden saying this. he is working to improve bnsf. -- the nsa. i am still working for the nsa right now. they are the ones who do not realize it. "theront page of washington post. we want to get your thoughts on what edward snowden is saying. he said his mission has been a published. -- has been accomplished. "the washington post" says that during this interview, snowden curtains or step outside. russia granted him temporary asylum on august 1. he remains a target of the intelligence service. what do you think about this? republicans, (202) 585-3881. democrats, (202) 585-3880. independents and all others, (202) 585-3882. he notes in "the

is looking into continues with a new week from edward snowden just this morning r.t. sam sacks reports on the latest. just when the n.s.a. thought the week couldn't get any worse a new edward snowden leak drops this one jointly reported in the guardian the new york times and their spiegel reveals that the n.s.a. and its british spying partner g.c. h.q. are using their global dragnet to spy on economic diplomatic and humanitarian targets in more than sixty nations specifically the secret documents revealed joint surveillance by american and british spies on charity and development programs run out of the united nations including unicef on the doctors of the world a french humanitarian group that provides doctors to conflict zones and on the trade union the economic community of west african states the documents also include joaquin almunia as a target of joint surveillance as the vice president of the european commission focuses on antitrust issues and has taken on several american companies including google and microsoft companies that were pushing for n.s.a. reforms

tonight, we got the first reaction here from edward snowden himself all the way from russia. he says in part, quote, the american public deserved to see these issues determined by open courts. today a secret program authorize bade secret court was when exposed to the light of day, found to violate americans rights. it is the first of many. if you think he did damage with those leaks we are learning now that he has only released a small fraction of the 1.7 million documents he confiscated from right under the nsa's nose. in an interview with "60 minutes" the man leading the snowden task force for the nsa described them as a treasure trove for america's enemies. the u.s. should consider granting snowden amnesty in return for all those classified documents. >> my personal view is, yes, it's worth having a conversation about. i would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured. and my bar would be very high. >> reporter: the national security council said, quote, there is no change in u.s. policy on this issue and they say he will face felony charges if he com

steve doocy has the story. >> reporter: today edward snowden is living in moscow living on chips. a few months ago he had a place in hawaii. he said for me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission is accomplished. i already would be. -- i've already won. barton gelman, who has leaked some of the explosive documents last spring, spoke to snowden in person in russia last week. >> he said he is not trying to burn down the nsa, he is not trying to stop the collection of intelligence. he is trying to enable a debate in which the public can decide whether it agrees with him, that intelligence collection should be targeted. >> reporter: since snow deb wants the american public to decide the fate of some surveillance programs, one deputy cia director said he should put his own fate in the hands of an american jury. >> if you believe americans should be the judge of this program, then they should be the judge of your behavior. >> reporter: he has temporary asylum in russia. and he said if i defected, i defected from the public. and now he is carrying out in moscow largely uninterrup

has edward snowden been vindicated by this today? >> i think he's been proven right by his views of this program. i'm not so sure people think he's right in terms of how the responded individually. >> how should he have responded then, if he was there reading about all of this feeling concerned it breached americans constitutional rights, what else should he have done? >> well, you know, i'm not going to -- i'm not going to argue against the fact he brought a lot of things to light. but i think that maybe in some ways he may have exposed some of our people to great dangers in the process of doing that. i really can't endorse that, by putting some of our people that are working clandestinely in other places and putting them in a position where they're exposed. there's some obviously there's some good that was done here, in terms of disclosing the operations of this nsa program, especially the bulk gathering of data that the court has ruled, at least in this instance, to be unconstitutional. >> is there a way forward for edward snowden

or what should we make of edward snowden like edward snowden i guess i took an oath to preserve and protect the secrets. of my government and the white house and the president and i knew a number of secrets about what was going on in vietnam before the public did now legal secrets i mean secrets that the public should know about i knew of a bomb in cambodia ok i knew we were bombed cambodia long before the republic or the nation found out nixon told me because i wrote the cambodian invasion speech with him and i think i would have been derelict in my duty and i would have been virtually treasonous if i'd gone out and told the public that it might have created a big uproar on the hill and because i had taken an oath to preserve the secrets of the united states buchanan is a fierce warrior on the front lines of the american culture wars i asked him about his response to polls showing majorities of americans supporting marriage equality and pro choice in court decisions of holding those views that the american people have acclimated themselves to what i would call a steady series of defeats in

should the united states give amnesty to edward snowden? welcome to "washington journal" on this monday, december 16. for republicans please call -- you can also tweak at us. question is posted on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. you can also e-mail us at journal@c-span.org. we will take your calls in just a few moments but first let's turn to "the new york times" to get the latest on the nsa. the headline says -- american intelligence and law enforcement investigators have concluded that they may never know the entirety of what the former nsa contractor extracted. that is from this week's "new york times." on cbs 60 minutes, they took a deep dive into the nsa and spoke with leading intelligence officials who disagree or not with offering edward snowden amnesty. [video clip] my personal view is yes, it is worth having a conversation about. i would need assurances that the rest of the data could be secured. it would be more than just an assertion on his part. >> is that a unanimous feeling? >> it's not unanimous. >> among those thinking makin

thanks to the revelations of edward snowden. the keynote speaker at the hacker meeting this year was the journalist who made public snowden's story, glen greenwood. >> i think the power lies in the skills that you possess, the privacy inroads preventing the u.s. government and its allies from invading the sanctity of our communication. >> germans were shocked by revelations made by greenwald and edward snowden, past episode in the cub' cub's history. working with the nsa listened in on conversations with top european union officials, including that of unicef, calling that an outrage so they're suing britain for the european court of human rights. >> i guess the agencies and the chief of the agencies should be asked about their smieg spying capabilities and even sow we can have some hold on the future, spying didn't end just because the public knows about it, nothing changed anyway. >> many of the hackers didn't want to be filmed. they have long taken their privacy are seriously and feel there is even more reason to do so. nick s

of offering edward snowden amnesty. i would take the deal. just come back with all the intel and all is forgiven. i'll tell you what to make you feel safe we'll meet in a special amnesty zone. >> good morning. it is tuesday, december 17th. >> boy, that was an amazing ruling, wasn't it? >> yes, it was. >> but the implications are pretty crazy. >> absolutely. with us on set we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle. national affairs editor for "new york" magazine and msnbc politicalo analyst john hamm monday and for bbc news world america, katty kay and jeremy peters. >> so i'm just wondering, if this -- if what the nsa did last year, what the government has been doing for some time, violates the most sacred tenets of the constitution, and as the judge said james madison would be deeply offended by what the federal government has done prying into other people's lives, does edward snowden then become a whistle blower because i don't know what the definition of whistle blower is but if somebody -- if let's say this is held up

the white house published an interim report commissioned after the edward snowden affair in which they seem to suggest that there may be changes on the way in the way this data is collected and stored. edward snowden has what he wanted a nationwide if not a global discussion of the efficacy and morality of all this data and judges coming up with completely different decisions on the topic, many are wondering whether this issue is going to end up at the supreme court which is where it should end up as it effects all of us and splits us down the middle. >> thank you. there is new information concerning that massive data breach at target. the company is confirming incrypted pin information was taken after the cyberattack earlier this month. hackers stole names and numbers from about 40 million credit and debit card users. they said that the system is secure. and target said we remain confident that pin numbers are safe and secure. the pin information was fully incrypted and it remained incrypted when removed from our systems. >>> the number of reported sexual assaults in the military jump

this is, i think, a good day for edward snowden. >> as for edward snowden, he has something else in mind, too. that would be brazil. nsa leaker wrote an open letter to the brazilian people, telling them he would be tolg help brazilian's government investigate u.s. spieg on its soil but would only do so if granted political asylum. jim sciutto is in washington with more on this part of the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. he may have chosen well in choosing brazil. one of the country's most upset over the surveillance overseas. the brazilian president, dilma roussef confronted the president directly, saying tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law. edward snowden reaching out, looking for a way out of russia, looking for asylum, writing an open letter to the brazilians. many brazilian senators agree and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against brazilian citizens. i have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful. unfortunately the united states has limited

sign that he was able to do it through the media well i think it's quite sad actually edward snowden didn't go to in fact the media he went to someone that's closely associated with us and specific journalist glenn greenwald and another specific journalist laura portress. the most prominently prepared a couple journalists to wiki leaks has gone glenn greenwald's for his part was then working with the guardian has left the guardian. as a result in caught all of the censorship by the guardian all of that material to date less than zero point zero five percent of all the snowden documents have been published. the majority of the media are still reluctant to challenge the government like you said and speaking of glenn greenwald recently he reprimanded journalists across the globe for not standing up to the government lets out so have a listen to what glenn greenwald had to say at a recent conference in hamburg. what is that we were targeting in the behavior of the media over the past six months is just revelations have emerged almost entirely without and despite the role of the us media

live than edward snowden. but the potential is there for edward snowden to be grabbing the headlines tomorrow. >> for more on edward snowden's christmas message, let's bring in an analyst, you also have a radio show. >> the david pack ham show. >> i referred to edward snowden as a whistle blower. it must be said that the united states government does not see him as a whistle blower but as a traitor. what do you make about the statement that a child born today will grow up with no consension onoconception of pri. >> i it will be a drastically different privacy than others have had growing up. privacy that you're in a room with no other person, no cameras are there and you're not posting on facebook. it's not talking on the phone and certainly not e-mailing people. >> had you ever thought as answering that question have you taken a moment about the extent to which there is some form of information sharing, some surveillance of our daily lives, you got a phone. folks know where you are, right? the extent to which

>> what edward snowden began may very well be fished by the u.s. supreme court. especially with the -- finished by the u.s. supreme court. the agency has been collecting phone records for some time now. tapping into conversations as part of the war on terror. but do it do so in contradiction to the constitution? mike viqueria reports. >> metadata is likely in violation of the constitution, specifically the fourth amendment prohibitions against unlawful search and seizure. no court has ever recognized a special need to sufficiently justify continuous daily searches of virtually every american citizens. it is important in the ruling that judge lee oaf leon stayed s ruling. giving the government a chance to appeal. they have seen the court ruling they are studying it they go on, quote, we believe the program is constitutional as previous judges have found. we have no further comment at this time. they add for background, the fisa court that hears appeals and when the intelligence community wants to go for warrants, and other investigative tools, to look into potenti

does edward snowden then become a whistleblower? >> joining me right now, senator bernie sanders, an independent from vermont. sir, it's good to have you here. i want to get your first reaction to this ruling yesterday. we have edward snowden coming out saying that he has been vindicated by this ruling. do you think it's a vindication for him? >> well, all i can say is that i very much welcome the judge's ruling. no question to my mind that what the nsa has done is unconstitutional. i voted against the usa patriot act. we've introduced legislation to curb what the nsa is doing. but the bottom line is if you are keeping records, phone records on virtually every call made in the united states of america, you know, who somebody is calling, what time they're calling, where they're calling from, it is very hard for me to imagine that this is not a clear violation of the fourth amendment of the u.s. constitution. so what i believe is we have got to be vigorous at protecting the american people from a terrorist attack. that's very real. bu