and, bob, the law that created 215 under the leadership of jim sensenbrenner. over time, the law has been secretly interpreted to be broader and broader and the case i've been trying to make is that we ought to limit it. we can be effective in protecting our country but we don't need to collect every single phone record of every single american on every single date. you think about it, although these are just phone numbers and times. after awhile they become a form of content. you can read, if you will, what people are doing by analyzing those numbers. when you combine that with the fact that this program has not provided uniquely valuable intelligence, there's no example of where the 215, bulk data collection program is uniquely valuable intelligence we don't need it. in so doing we keep faith with the constitution, we lessen the costs involved we rebuild trust in the intelligence. that's my mission, i want to join chairman rogers and thank all the men and women who keep our country safe. i want to rebuild support for and trust in the intelligence committee, t

information that even james sensenbrenner, the author of the patriot act -- you served with jim sensenbrenner. he didn't authorize all these metadata -- >> let me interrupt. this is really bothering me a great deal. the man betrayed trust to his country. the man was given the opportunity and, frankly i'm one of the few people that think he has a hand or two, it's difficult for me to think that he acted on his own. but perhaps he did. look where he went. i could have taken him up to people on the left and on the right who would have been appalled by that revelation. i should have taken his hand and walked him into the aclu so you could have revealed it. but they're talking 1.7 to 2 million pieces of information and where does he go? he goes to china? and then to russia? >> i've not seen any acts of espionage engaged in by this individual. and you cannot deny that we would not be having this debate -- the president would not be -- well, wait a minute. the fact is the fact. the president would not be giving this speech if these revelations were not disclosed. >> that's right. that's absolutely c

after the break, congressman jim sensenbrenner, he was one of the architects of the patriot act.hing is all right♪ ♪ i'll be the one to tuck you in at night♪ ♪ if you want to leave, i can guarantee you won't find nobody else like me♪ if you've got copd like me... ...hey breathing's hard. know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, troue urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe bett

it even has the backing of some conservatives, including jim jordan and jim sensenbrenner, the author of the patriot act. the government last year spent about $53 billion on clandestine activities without publicly accounting for the money and as best as we can understand it, because they are part of this, we have it all covered for you tonight and we will be joined by her panel of radio superstars tonight will weigh in on these folks who want to reveal the black budget for intelligence agency work. can you imagine? we will have on the senate intelligence committee report and benghazi and the recommended changes to be robust with the idea of changes at the and nsa. we will be joined by the "a-team" in our radio talkers panel. and jay joins us from the american center of law and justice to talk about their surveillance activities that they wanted for five years and now somehow they are not responsible for. so they want to change things but maybe not. we will take all of that up. also a "new york times" best-selling thriller writer, brad meltzer expanding his empire and he has a new proj

one of the people behind this is jim sensenbrenner. to win gop support this time, the bill was written so that voter i.d. laws, not be included as one of the five violations that can trigger preclearance. and as currently drafted the new law would only apply to four states. none of them are north carolina, which has undertaken the most sweeping attack on voting rights in the nation. still, this is forward progress from the state of affairs just yesterday. we're going to see from the republican members of congress, which side they are on. one of them announced, he was so taken with voter i.d. laws, he wants to expand the franchise. he introduced a bill that food stamps recipients display i.d. to get their food stamps. even though fraud is at historic low and need remains extremely high. the real impact of this bill would be to make it harder for the people at the bottom of the economic ladder to get food stamps they desperately needs. david vitter knows that. it is, no matter how he spins it in future, on a bug. >>> hillary clinton hasn

ron johnson of wisconsin and representative jim sensenbrenner. the court had s being asked to block the federal government from paying for health coverage for members of congress and staff. representative sensenbrenner calling it an unfortunate political stunt. senator johnson defending his legal action. >> i don't believe this is trivial, frivolous, that this is a stunt. this is, i think, a very important constitutional question. i think it's a very important issue that deserves a full airing, its day in court, quite honestly a very full public discussion. >> joining us, our political panel. washington examiner chief political correspondent byron york, "fortune" magazine editor nina easton, and "the weekly standard's" john mccormack. before i ask about the wisconsin dynamic because he hails from wisconsin, many awhat's the problem here? -- many awhat's the problem here? >> i think this issue has been hanging around for some time. and i think really resonates politically with people. let's go back to the days when congress exempted itself from al

jim sensenbrenner is next.ver the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreli down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had thpower to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies. so call liberty mutual at... today. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >>> you know the truth is the nsa keeps tabbing but will its power soon be tapped out or reined in. the president is going to reform it and my guest since it's not enough. thank you for coming. happy new year. >> thank you. >> year not happy about these proposed reforms. you c

wisconsin congressman jim sensenbrenner called it, quote, frivolous.e said senator johnson's lawsuit is an unfortunate political stunt. he should spend his time legislating rather than litigating. spend his time legislating. isn't that a crazy idea? >> yeah. i don't know what the play is for wisconsin republican. we're not talking about someone from the south here. a wisconsin republican to try and for start not be on point for where wisconsin is at in terms of jobs and the economy. i know republicans keep on trying to say that stopping obama care is going to free up the economy somehow. but you can't have it both ways. you cannot say obama care is a complete failure, it doesn't work, and at the same time it's crashing the entire economy. beyond the website, what have they got here? and it's not an agenda to go statewide. for the house republicans, it's something else. they don't need to go statewide. they don't need to bring in the moderates. >> but johnson does. >> he really does. in a piece of legislation it's something you would expect from ted cru

. >> this is why jim sensenbrenner, he was the author of the patriot act, the chairman of the judiciary committee on september 11th. he wrote the patriot act and said, a lot of these programs are not working the way i intended and he has put together a piece of legislation, and he says the administration and the spy community is not credible. that's why you need to have legislation. you can't do this by fiat in the administration. a democrat from new york city, a member of the judiciary committee, said, this administration and previous administrations have all used executive powers for their own means and the argument of national defense, and he said this is the same thing happening here. very interesting comments from the house speaker john boehner. he said the house will look at this. he has general bily been very supportive of these programs and said they protected against terrorist attacks but says he's not going to let them cut into the programs. i wonder if that is a comment saying we're not going to let the omash amendment to come up. we are going to whip against the amendment or

and he was joined by one of those republicans, congressman jim sensenbrenner, who talked about the challengest we were facing and drafting a modernization of the vra was both a constitutional challenge given the court's decision, as well as a political challenge in figuring out how to get the votes to pass this legislation in a divided and very fractured and partisan congress. i think we have threaded that needle. >> congressman sensenbrenner has worked hard and across the aisle on this issue, and i congratulate him for it. this bill is not perfect, and it's not yet clear when or if it will come to a vote. but it is progress. and it is time. past time for our representatives in washington to finally take action to write these wrong. the old dining tabe at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪

representative jim sensenbrenner who helped write the patriot act when all this nsa came out about collection all the data, he said this is not what the patriot act intended and we need reform. a lot of people are not calling for the destruction of the nsa. they are saying we need more government oversight and it needs to be tailored to terrorism not simply gathering all data an americans not involved in terrorist activities. >> laying out clear manner how it is effective would go a really long way and i'm into the sure that information is necessarily out there. it ace big question mark. we'll see where it goes. thank you very much, katie, kirsten. bill: amazing story of a man going missing and then his parents see this picture in "usa today." a homeless man in washington, d.c. how that picture took that missing man back to his family. plus this. [gunfire] martha: major cities in iraq falling under the control of al qaeda and was this predictable? what can be done about it if anything at this point? kt mcfarland joins us next. [gunfire] g band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life.

jim sensenbrenner will be in attendance.red the patriot act back in 2001. >>> to today's media quandary. some online or old line broadcasters just snagged some of their best ratings in 20 years or more but the internet threat may be bigger than ever. dennis kneale joins to us explain. >> good news, bad news. first, just the good news. boffo tv ratings foo highbrow brits and football hits. of the maybe television is the next thing to be wiped out by the internet after all? sunday night premier of season 4 of highbrow british period drama, "downton abbey", the biggest debut in the network's history. up 22% from the premier a year ago. almost three million twitter users were watching, putting out almost 100,000 tweets on the upstairs downstairs do pell ganger for 15 million impressions. fox, cb such, nbc, garnering the highest ratings in 20 years for the nfl wildcard playoffs. fox's 49ers-packers nail-biter was most watched show, drawing 47 million viewers, biggest wildcard audience ever. the four wildcard playoffs were the fou

with constant -- wisconsin republican congressman jim sensenbrenner was about a dozen republican lawmakerst with the president at the white house yesterday to discuss the next step. he told fox afterwards, quote, i'm not so sure that the president thinks we need legislation, suggesting that he thinks at least the president may act by executive order rather than coming to congress. but democratic senator ron widen, who also attended the meeting said the next couple weeks be quote, crunch time for both the president and congress how to handle the nsa reforms. jenna? jenna: we'll see what they come up with, molly, thank you. jon: a federal disaster declared in west virginia. a chemical spill there tainting the water supply in nine counties. the latest on that spill and what is being done to help the hundreds of thousands of affected people who have no drinking water. >>> new mortgage rules rolling out today. a look at what these revamped regulations mean for lenders and those of you who might be looking to buy a home in the future. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new

host: are you on board with the legislation drafted by your chairman, patrick leahy and jim sensenbrenner? i am not on any piece of legislation at this point, -- ise i have not found want to find the middle ground. even the middle ground can be controversial when you have extreme views over here and well thought out views over here. host: we cover the hearing yesterday with president obama. -- members of his task force that he put together. before we get to phone calls, let me move to the trillion dollar spending legislation. how do you plan to vote? tost: i am probably going vote for it. i have not gone through the 1500 pages yet. host: will you? final bill comes out three days before you're going to vote. thisve been working on over a long period of time. not everything is new. are noto make sure there earmarks in it. if there are earmarks in, both political parties decided no more earmarks. not be any earmarks in it. that might be a reason to vote against it. if it stays within the budget adopted before christmas, that is voting for it. i better reserve judgment until you get through a

host: are you on board with the legislation drafted by your chairman, patrick leahy and jim sensenbrenneram not on any piece of legislation at this point, -- ise i have not found want to find the middle ground. even the middle ground can be controversial when you have extreme views over here and well thought out views over here. host: we cover the hearing yesterday with president obama. -- members of his task force that he put together. before we get to phone calls, let me move to the trillion dollar spending legislation. how do you plan to vote? tost: i am probably going vote for it. i have not gone through the 1500 pages yet. host: will you? final bill comes out three days before you're going to vote. thisve been working on over a long period of time. not everything is new. are noto make sure there earmarks in it. if there are earmarks in, both political parties decided no more earmarks. not be any earmarks in it. that might be a reason to vote against it. if it stays within the budget adopted before christmas, that is voting for it. i better reserve judgment until you get through all p

here's what he said, representative jim sensenbrenner, who i had the good fortune to serve with when i was in the house of representatives and the presiding officer also served with him. here's what he said: "senator johnson's lawsuit is an unfortunate political stunt. i am committed to real estate peeling obamacare but the employer contribution he is attacking is nothing more than a standard benefit that most private -- all federal employees receive, including the president. success in the suit will mean that congress will lose some of its best staff and will be staffed primarily by recent college graduates who are still on their parents' insurance." sensenbrenner is a longtime house member and former chairman of the judiciary committee. he is expressing concerns that were -- that have been shared publicly and privately by many lawmakers and senior aides about the possible brain drain by taking away employer contributions. several senators have floated legislative proposals that would accomplish the same goal as the johnson lawsuit. sensenbrenner went on to say "senator johnson shou

reason to believe that congress will act responsibly here, and the reason i say so is because jim sten n sensenbrenner and democrats agree we shouldn't be doing that, so i think there's reason we can move forward in a bipartisan way to balance the equities in a proper way. we just have seen the other day on voting rights, you know, reasonably, we could try to move the ball forward, particularly with the struck section that the supreme court took out. so, i'm optimistic, but i think we're going to have to have a lot of public engagement, people talking about this issue in shops, hair shops, community meetings, so that we can build a consensus around how much control should the government try to exercise over this information. >> i want to ask you both about priorities and how the president might approach this, how congress might approach this, but let's go to kristen welker, who is at the white house for us. give us a preview of what we're expecting to hear. >> chris, here's what we know, the president is going to try to walk a fine line in this speech. he's going to say that the government should no l

including protecting civil rights of americans for many years after the jim crow law by recently drawing representative sensenbrennerand we also talk about our national security and sophisticated methods of criminal activity in developing new tools and resources to respond to these threats and this includes remaining true of our liberty and privacy and government responsibilities to the people. we live in a digital age and the challenges even more acute than those that have simple routine tasks including calling a friend in searching for direction on the web. as the technology improves our life the vast amount of data increases. .. i ask at some point is there anything in the u.s. constitution that gives authority to the congress to pass a law that enables and empowers the executive agency such as the nsa or bureau of land and management, for that matter, to open, to listen, or seize either the mail, the phone conversations, or electronic communications of u.s. citizens simply by a law. in vermont we treasure our privacy and it makes me weary of government overreach or lax protection for consumers in these laws. i b

years after the jim crow laws and poll taxes, that's why i recently joined with representative sense brenner to introduce a -- sensenbrennera bipartisan voting rights act. we also face ever-more complicated threats to our national security. more sophisticated methods of criminal activity. the department has had to quickly develop tools and resources to respond to these threats. but along with these challenges, the challenge remains true to our core values of liberty, privacy, and a government responsible to the people. we live in a digital age. we all know that. challenges are even more acute. every day americans generate enormous amount of information about their lives from simple routine tasks like using a credit card, sending a text message, calling a friend, searching for directions on the web. as technology -- this technology improves our life. the vast amount of data it creates is almost remarkable vealing, vulnerable to exploitation. i'll ask at some point, is there anything the u.s. constitution that gives authority to the congress to pass a law that enables and empowers the executive agency such as the n.s.a. or t