Page 15 - Prism Program News Today

Boston terrorists -- >> terrorists you mean? >> yes. >> but this program, the prism program as they call it, looks for intelligence overseas via the internet wouldnt have caught tamerlan tsarnaev because it doesnt apply to people in the u.s. >> mr. ail awack -- ail >> mr. alawahi was recruiting people through the internet and phone calls back and forth through the united states of america, but i dont claim to defend everything that the government is doing. but i am saying that the threat is grow...

Uniquely valuable intelligence hasnt been proven to disrupted plots. and finally, its only another step to take ta computer data involving human beings and taking a further look at it. its the scale of this that really concerns me and the fact that the american public doesnt know about it. the american public decides this is okay, then thats where we can be. but right now its been basically a secret program, the law hasnt been shared in the way its being applied. thats what ive been pushing for ...

Statement. >> when you have larry page, the ceo coming out and saying. >> they have to approve it. >> we have also heard that this prism program is what it is being called has thwarted at least one terror attack. is that the case to your knowledge, sir? >> well, i would say very simply that they ought to say what terrorist attack it was and what that program contributed to get it. i mean, they are not -- the fact that we are monitoring communications of all types is not unknown to the terrorists...

Mitchell, in an exclusive interview. a senior staff attorney at the electronic frontier foundation. thanks for being with us. you heard some of director clappers comments there. you may have looked at the three-page document that was released right after that. does this make you comfortable with the way the government is dealing with access to information in this prism program to internet companies? >> absolutely not. i mean, we have seen similar statements from dni clapper. i remember when he r...

Actions around the prism program, the director of national intelligence did an interview with andrea mitchell from nbc in order to explain some of what is going on and in order as you said to have greater transparency. i think we do have to have this debate. we have to understand, you know, how we are protecting privacy but at the same time, how we are ensuring that people that seek to do us harm from outside of this country, how they are operating. >> i have a question on that. if thats all rig...

Everything theyve done and everyone theyve spoken with. >> just talking about phone records with the prism program, saying transactional and youre saying it could end up being more. what can the balance be? >> first of all that balance is a false dichotomy. privacy is essential to security. having greater privacy you give people greater security. we saw the failings of the report chinese hacking into google using law enforcement access. the very access that allowed for law enforcement was the wh...

E-mails and mining your phone calls. so im not sure thats exactly the right critique of these -- go ahead. >> if thats true and i agree, i was going to bring that up myself with congressman nadler having said this. but if thats true then this whole prism program is it not thwarting whats out there in the terrorist potential attacks? i mean, are we not getting appropriate information from prism? >> i guess the terrorists may be using e-mail while still knowing that their e-mail may be exposed. th...

Cant know it is going on. certainly what the president said today stretched several things. he said congress had approved this program. well, if congress approved something with very specific standards, and those standards were secretly eviscerated, the guts were torn out of them so they were meaningless, then congress really hasnt approved the program at all. so i disagree with the president on that. when he said members had been briefed, well i was one of i think the few who sought a briefing ...

Guy. the nsa passed that information to the fbi, the fbi got warrants for his phone, surveillance on his house. fisa warrants for his e-mail accounts and by the time they set up that surveillance, within two days he was driving to new york with the explosives in the car to leave 16 backpacks on the subway. thats how the program works in theory. that example i just gave you is how it works in real life. >> john miller, appreciate the reporting. thanks. i want to continue the discussion with gle...

Likes a opposed to what? >> yeah, what do they have? hompleghts are you going to embrace? john boehner? i mean, its i think president obama will be the democrat darling of the liberal. this is a particularly, you know, conflicted situation because you have republicans and democrats on both sides of the issue. republicans and licialtsz on both sides of the issue. dianne feinstein defending this snooping to me the biggest story, a lot of people have buried the lead here. isnt either the prism prog...