for more on what the review panel is recommending we turn to michael leiter, the first director of the "national counterterrorism center" under president george w. bush and president obama. he is now with a private technology firm. and kate martin, the director of the center for national security studies, a civil liberties advocacy group. first i would like to just get an overview of how you read the panel. let's start with you, kate martin. how strong is this? >> it's very strong. it's recommend an end to the bulk collection program tore telephone records. it questions the-- all of the various programs for bulk collection. it has some specific recommendations for changing to other authorities. and it has a lot of recommendations for increasing transparency on this kind of national security intelligence gathering. >> brown: michael leiter, how do you read it. >> i agree with some of what kate say t is relatively strong. it actually doesn't recommend the termination of any of these programsment it recommends changing how they are done an high lates the-- highlights the prorns of transpa

michael leiter, we appreciate your analysis. thanks. >>> a "new york times" report today has reignited a long-running battle between the white house and republicans over the circumstances surrounding last year's attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that killed four americans, including ambassador christopher stevens. our white house correspondent kristen welker is here with details. >> good evening. the report is significant because it is the first to suggest that al qaeda did not play a role in the attack and that an american-made video which many perceived as anti-muslim may have sparked the unrest. republican congressman darryl issa, one of the most outspoken critics of the white house's handling of the benghazi attack, stood by his version of the september 11 events on "meet the press" today. >> al qaeda is not decimated, and there was a group there that was involved that is linked to al qaeda. >> issa has long asserted the administration lied about what led to the 2012 attack. four americans were killed, includi

. >> let's bring in msnbc terrorism analyst, michael leiter, the former director of the national counterterrorism center. so let's talk about when something like this happens, michael. obviously they get these unconfirmed reports. what's likely going on right now? >> yes, chris. the key word here, unconfirmed reports. you're going to have a flurry of activity, both with the harvard public safety people as well as the cambridge police department because there are explosives involved and also because of what happened in boston earlier this year. you're undoubtedly also getting calls to the fbi and other federal officials. as we see from the video, they're locking down those areas. what i would say from the video that we're all watching, it's a remarkably calm scene and i think that's quite appropriate. as we've seen in event after event over the past several years, first reports are often wrong, so they're going to take precautions. they're going to make sure people are safe. they're going to start sweeping these buildings with explosive detecting dogs and the like and slowly but surely they'll sta

obama to limit the powers of the nsa i'm joined by nbc justice correspondent pete williams and michael leiter, nbc news counter-terrorism export and former director of the national terrorism center. mike liter, y e liter, you know. how is this possible and implications. >> there is something in common with target and edward snowden. that's we as companies and governments but an enormous amount of incredibly valuable information including privacy information with credit cards in our computer systems. that means crime today affects people. when it happens to a company like target, which is so committed to public safety, anti-fraud, it's really one of the best in the nation, it shows it can happen fir. >> shopping habits have been transformed. i remember a time when you didn't want to put your personal data in, now everybody shows this way. do we have to rethink our way of living. >> it's when the card was swiped that whoever stole it was able to somehow get into the system and grab the data swiped in the hopes of selling it to people who phony up credit cards, the printing on the back of the cr

i want to bring in msnbc counterterrorism expert michael leiter, who joins me on the phone right now. michael, you heard probably what jim maceda was telling you there, if this indeed is an effort to disrupt the sochi games, can it be stopped? and if so, how? >> richard, i think it's very, very hard to stop these sorts of attacks. i think what is easier for the russians to do and i think they likely will is secure the sites around sochi. so i think the venues, the athletes, even the spectators once they're in sochi should be relatively safe. it's an enormous security presence there with tens of thousands of troops. but the areas away from sochi, especially the mass transit areas, although they can be protected to some extent with metal detectors and the like, these sort of small-scale attacks by a very determined and skilled enemy are going to be very difficult for the russians to stop altogether. >> and you know, michael, when sochi was initially selected, this sort of attack, these types of attacks were the concern at the time. now that we're seeing evidence of that, what does that

. >>> joining us now is michael leiter of the national counterterrorism center under president bush and take a listen to peter king. >> we need the nsa to remain -- as i said, no abuses by the nsa. the president has said that. this is all to me a debate, generated by the hysteria caused by edward snowden and why we're listening to him is beyond me. >> he says there is no abuse. that's not really true, though, is it? >> well, it really depends on what your definition of abuse is, ari. by abuse, there was no systemic violation of the rules set for nsa. doesn't mean there were none. there were. the examples you have. but those weren't broad. the real disagreement is whether what the guysa court, foreign intelligence court and what two presidents asked the nsa to do, whether or not that -- what they were supposed to do violated people's privacy. now, we have disagreements on both sides of that. you have judge leon in the district court of dc saying yes. you have had 15 fisa court judges say no. so what is going to play out here is what is our definition of what privacy should be and what sp

michael leiter, thanks so much. we'll take a quick break and regroup as we get more information about what's taking place there on the harvard campus. >>> and then there is also that disturbing report where the "boston globe" unveils its five-month investigation into the two brothers accused of masterminding the boston bombings. the feds thought they might be linked to terror groups but was something else really going on? >>> plus this man is the government's top expert on climate change. highest paid employee at the epa. nbc news has learned he's avoiding doing his actual job, has done avoidance for years, bilking the government. >>> and you may have heard of the series "sister wives." a federal judge has struck down part of utah's polygamy law brought on by the stars of that show. what type of ripple effect can this have? >>> next a man is carjacked and killed outside a high-end mall in new jersey. the latest in an emotional weekend surrounding gun violence and the chances for national reform, next. hi honey, did

. >> michael leiter, thank you very much. 'tis the season for poinsettias. what about a shakedown?were forcing to allegedly force shop owners to buy the christmas plant at 100 times their wholesale value to raise money for their jailed friends. you could say it was an offer they couldn't refuse. here in d.c. the obama's dog sunny is out of the doghouse after rubbing elbows with this little girl and knocking her down at a holiday event this month. yesterday sunny joined first lady and older brother bo on a trip to the national medical center. it's part of a christmas tradition back to the 1940s when former president truman's wife bess began visiting the hospital to cheer up the season. palace night on david letterman, courtesy of will ferrell, anchorman and the vienna boys' choir. who knew? ♪ snowflakes in the air carols everywhere olden times and nations rise of love and dreams to share ♪ my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, t

. >> of course, sam you heard michael leiter and there is resistance from the intelligence committee and listen from the select committee on it and this is saxby chambliss on "morning joe" today. >> we had public the fact that there are 64 instances that we interrupted and disrupted from a potential attack standpoint. does the death of another 2,000 americans have to happen before we step in and say, well, you know, hey? >> but in the conclusion of this report was this isn't making us significantly safer, but is there still the fear of a terror attack that could trump these privacy concerns? >> well, yeah. it's interesting because it's not as if the panel will which is packed with civil libertarians and these are members of the intelligence community and think you're absolutely right as this debate goes forward as the president spends the next few weeks trying to read the report and trying to decide which of the recommendations he'll adopt from the national security community that they could risk another attack. i think it would be surprising if the president took all of the recommen

. >> michael leiter, thanks so much. >> thanks, guys. >>> coming up, senators john thune and saxby chamblissoin us here in washington. also chuck todd. plus mike leibovich with his cover story on senator john mccain. up next, the top stories in the politico play book. but first bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> hi karin, what's snup. >> definitely could not marry a girl name karen. >>> a wild ride we'll go on. from spring to summer back for winter and then an arctic blast. yesterday record high temperatures. denver was 68, beautiful. we were 70 in dallas. only cool spots were up there in the great lakes. so this morning we have a new cold blast coming down. but this time it's only going to be up there in the northern plains. the warm air will win out. and it's heading for the east coast. washington, d.c., you won't know what do with yourselves on saturday and sunday. temperatures 64 saturday, sunday could be record highs near 74 degrees followed by rain maybe even thunderstorms as we welcome in winter. so as far as the forecast for today, not a lot of travel trouble. the worst is

michael leiter is an nbc news counter terrorism analyst and the former head of the national counter terrorism center. he's with us by phone. we have a bombing today on a trolly or bus and bombing yesterday in a train station. any reason to believe they're not linked? >> caller: good morning, no, there's no doubt. the timing of the attacks, the mass transit and techniques, it's virtually certain at this point. >> isn't this a troubling sign? in the build up or lead up to the olympic games in sochi, obviously russian authorities are trying to crack or detur any major plots but it's these plots they'll have a hard time preventing. >> caller: it is. we know how big a logistics challenge these olympics are. we see the events but the security around sochi is tremendous and the russians made that into a hard target. what they haven't been able to do is harden the rest of the targets throughout the country. that's why the strikes 400 miles away from sochi at a key transportation hub, that is really hitting the underbelly of russia in a way that's going to zap some confidence before the games. >> and