the facts on the table. when you get the allegations like the metadata program, that is not the case, but we have to deal with the perception. some of the things we're doing, we are trying to make sure we can declassify more information so that we get people more information so they know we are always following the law but also trying to protect the american people.

american people. the head of al qaeda they will start targeting more in the united states and allies. believe me, we are more all vulnerable because of the leaks. we will lose lives because of these leaks and where we're going. we have a lot to do. we ask you all to be there with us. we have a lot more to do to communicate with the american public.

make the alternative case. one of the things we are doing is to try to open up and be more transparent and explain to people what we are doing. it is very clear that to the extent we keep the tools at all it will be legislatively amended. we can do with more oversight that would give people more confidence in what we are doing. .> thank you let me ask another question.

so let me move on to snowden. just to make the point, not a whistleblower. to give any credit for what has happened here, which is egregious, some of the conversations is has generated, some of the debate, is actually -- it probably needed to happen. it is unfortunate it did not happen any time ago heard if there is a good side to this am a that is it.

you all to be skeptical. the notion the agency is collecting on u.s. persons and giving it to any foreign intelligence agency in the way it was described is completely wrong. that is not what has happened. i can guarantee you the privacy of americans are protected in the way we operate. part of the problem was we were too aggressive in the oversight, and we documented it and talk about it with leadership in order to fix it. they stole the slide deck and put it out there and said we caught them doing something