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NSA Bulk Surveillance Debate Gets New Heat

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A federal appeals court rules NSA bulk surveillance illegal just as the Patriot Act is up for renewal in Congress. We’ll have the debate.

President Barack Obama, left, greets John O. Brennan, center, Dir. of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Admiral Michael S. Rogers, right, Dir. of National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), after speaking at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) 10th anniversary at ODNI headquarters in McLean, Va., Friday, April 24, 2015.  (AP)
President Barack Obama, left, greets John O. Brennan, center, Dir. of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Admiral Michael S. Rogers, right, Dir. of National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), after speaking at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) 10th anniversary at ODNI headquarters in McLean, Va., Friday, April 24, 2015. (AP)

We know because of Edward Snowden. The NSA – the National Security Agency – took the PATRIOT Act, passed after 9/11, and ran and ran with it. Including forcing American phone companies to pour their records directly into government computers. Where our “metadata” was at their fingertips. Everyone you called. Now, that PATRIOT Act provision is expiring. Should that NSA domestic surveillance be ended with it? Defenders say no. Say ISIS and more are a real and current threat. Opponents say end it. For privacy. For freedom. And we don’t need it. This hour, On Point: the NSA’s spying at home.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Dustin Volz, tech policy reporter for the National Journal. (@dnvolz)

Stewart Baker, former general counsel for the NSA and former Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security. Author of "Skating on Stilts." (@stewartbaker)

Glenn Greenwald, co-founding editor of the Intercept. Author of the recent book, "No Place to Hide," among others. (@ggreenwald)

From Tom's Reading List

National Journal: Republicans Make Dubious Claims in Defense of NSA Surveillance — "One by one, several powerful Republican senators took to the floor Thursday morning to offer one of the most full-throated defenses of the National Security Agency's bulk collection of billions of U.S. phone records since Edward Snowden exposed the program nearly two years ago."

The Intercept: NSA's Bulk Collection of Phone Records Is Illegal, Court Says — "A federal appeals court panel ruled on Thursday that the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata of phone calls to and from Americans is not authorized by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, throwing out the government’s legal justification for the surveillance program exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden nearly two years ago."

Washington Post: NSA: The 2016 issue that defies partisanship — "A New York federal appeals court ruled Thursday that mass collection of phone records by the NSA is illegal. It's a major ruling, and declared and potential 2016 candidates were either silent on it or all over the map...More than just about any other issue these days, privacy and surveillance are cutting the two major parties in odd ways."

This program aired on May 12, 2015.

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