whistleblowers kirk we and thomas drake two men who were involved in exposing the n.s.a.'s illegal surveillance program known as the trail blazer project let's get back to it. thomas you were you were pointing out that there were illegal dimensions to this program that were unnecessary what were they why how did they come about and why were they on this short to my horror i discovered that is a band in a twenty three year legal regime called the foreign intelligence surveillance act they completely bypass dropped it overboard a and act was passed in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight largely because of the massive abuse even in the seventy's against americans in violation of the constitution so i discovered to my horror. that is a and was now an entirely different vehicle that i did not recognize post nine eleven with the excuse of nine eleven found out that this program called stellar wind had been directly authorized by the white house and fact i remember talking with attorneys because of my concerns about the program he said it's all been approved it's legal so whi

individuals out there fighting for the taxpayer, like former national security agency analyst thomas drakee m.f.a., one of my responsibilities was to discover the very best that existed and put it into the fight. and one of those programs was spin thread. >> an efficient $4 million intelligence gathering program. the problem was the n.s.a. already had a program called "trailblazer" that didn't quite work, spied on americans and was a tiny bit more expensive. >> $a 3 million program made a $4 billion program look pretty bad. >> and after he showed his superiors how much money they could save by implementing thin thread, he received the government's highest honor. >> i was charged as a spy. >> sorry. you misspoke. >> i was charged under the espionage act for blowing the whistle on massive fraud, waste and abuse and illegalities committed by the u.s. government. >> whoa! this guy wasn't some pencil pushing cost benefit analyst. he was a super spy at war with the bum administration. we needed to meet more discreetly. >> i think this is a safe place we can talk. >> i hope so. do you gentlemen h

suddenly become reality here in the united states and now our conversations with great minds with thomas drake and kirk will be.

we did to mr drake but after a public outcry last year the government dropped charges against thomas drake in exchange for him pleading guilty to a misdemeanor as misuse of a government computer speaking truth to power is very dangerous in today's world the power elites. those in charge they don't like dirty linen being aired. they don't like the skeletons in the closet being seen. and they not only do they object to it they decide to turn it into criminal activity national security journalists say the government always has and always will leak information deliberately to advance their own interests and it's not all leakers that they're after the primary that's what i would agree looking at here is the national security state is stretching back is becoming much war repressive in regard to its response to whistle blowing by you know individuals who. oppose policies that are being carried out or who oppose simply abuses of power or the obama administration spending record amounts to keep it secret coming down hard on the kurds and yet thousands of classified documents are making their way on

welcome back to the special edition of the big picture recently i had the opportunity to speak with thomas drake and kirk we.

whistleblowers thomas drake incur we are going to want to miss. well for the. life so he's better down where it's wetter so get on board and check out world class cutters as they get a lightweight super strong make over while the giant floating lad prepares to charge the plunder explored aids to logan arctica and find a novel way to make waves with a brand new entity a supposed whatever your destination kid's a ride to tomorrow's water world today.

whistleblowers thomas drake and kirk we beat on just how far the surveillance state is willing to go and how little little regard there is for the fourth amendment nowadays here's a clip. i want to happen to with regard to the fourth amendment was there was there it was there a general sense within the n.s.a. that we have to operate within the. of the constitution or did nine eleven did do it cause people to say you know the ends justify the means we need to be safe yes that better sense we happened. and it was totally unnecessary. it was well within technology's capability at the time to encrypt or safeguard the identities of american citizens then as it is right now and yet we have no fourth amendment protections built into any of the recent legislation granting the u.s. government unbridled capability to grab people's data whether it be for intelligence purposes or for cyber security now on the one hand there are those who say well you know if you're not doing anything wrong why do you care if somebody's snooping on the other hand you have some of the founders of this country talk

thomas drake william vini john character and hava heroic whistle blowers must they must be caught in a compensated for the hardships they have endured as servants of the public record . and to the army private who remain in a military prison in fort leavenworth kansas who was found by the united nations to interview would months of torture us detention in quantico virginia and who has yet after two years in prison to see a trial he must be released all the all bradley manning mufti release the old car. if bradley manning did.

the sons went on to mention the names of several people people like bradley manning thomas drake william binney the staff and supporters of wakely wiki leaks all of them are the new faces or i should say the new victims of an assault spearheaded by the united states against those who are trying to bring corruption war crimes constitutional violations and corporate and governmental abuse into the spotlight they are the whistleblowers in freedom of information activists who are exposing the corporate state its assault on dissent and its ruthless expansion of influence around the planet they are the ones at the forefront of a struggle that is bigger than julian assange and bigger than wiki leaks it's a struggle all to believe for the soul of our nation when julian assange has asked the united states to do the right thing he's asking our nation and the rest of the western world to once again embrace democracy transparency and freedom and to ditch secrecy surveillance and indefinite detention. as long as assad is trapped in the ecuadorian embassy ecuadorian embassy in london and bradley manni

information to the press more than all other passive ministrations find earlier i spoke with one of them thomas drake that is who once was a senior executive of america's largest intelligence agency then he blew the whistle on fraud and abuse with regards to the agency's secret surveillance program here's what he told me speaking truth to power is very dangerous and today's world power elites. those in charge they don't like dirty linen being your. they don't like the skeletons in the closet. scene. and they not only do they object to it they decide to turn it into criminal activity. i guess we have to point out that not all the start being criminalized because you have a type of information that the government leaks deliberately to manage and control the discourse in the media so to say but any journalist would tell you that it's the on the rise that really helped reveal a sensitive story to the public otherwise journalists would just have to copy paste and reprint whatever the government decides to release to the press in washington i'm going to check out. spain is the words are also accused of try

heeded the likelihood right now is not high but my clients three of whom he personally called out thomas drake and william binney and john kiriakou stream grateful that a songe in his very brief speech saw fit to mention them i think there's an accusation out there that joined us on just only about joanna songe and clearly he cares about the plight of whistleblowers who like him are being criminally pursued under the espionage act and there are persistent rumors that there is an indictment against julian assange chair in the us and they want to try to that has been made public yet and he has not been charged yet so so you know a lot of people are saying you know what's the what's the big hoopla he has been charged why is he why is he so concerned well the big hoopla is that neither of the united states nor sweden promised not to extradite him if they got their hands on him so it's very much seems to imply that the sexual assault allegations are there have been no charges filed but there those are pretext to get him to a country that has a history of expediting people to the u.s. . to be tortur

whistleblower is thomas drake and kirk we are going to miss. loring mr. we just put a picture of me when i was like nine years old to tell the truth. i'm a contestant i am a total get a princess i love rap and hip hop is a planned trip. but it was kind of a yesterday. i'm very proud of the all the belgians she has played.

. >> cenk: thomas drake was at the nsaa whistle blower, and he said look, they're monitoring privateg american citizens. william benning, among others, said that they have got folders on american citizens. david, is that possible? i mean, have they slipped from just trying to track terrorists, which makes sense to, tracking all of us? >> when you have absolute power which they're very close to at this point, it's very easy to shift the goal post and change the definition of innocence. one of the most damning e-mails that we've seen, which can wikileaks has leaked several e-mails. in one of those they say we need to get the camera running in francisco more for activists than terrorists. that should terrify you that they're using this program to go after people who do not mean to do harm as civilians and to track activists and protesters across the country. everything that america stands against. if this were happening in any other country in the world, i think we would be on the edge of our seats condemning them. >> cenk: one last quick question. how do you think the rest of the media

thomas drake, william binney, john kirakou and the other hero was the bourse must -- they must be pardoned or compensated for their hardships they have endured as servants of the public record. and to the army private who remains in a military prison in fort leavenworth, kansas, who was found by the united nations to have endured months of tortures detention in quantico, virginia, and has yet -- after two years in prison -- to see a trial, he must be released. [applause] bradley manning must be released. it recommended as he is accused, he is a hero and an example to all of us and one of the world's foremost political prisoners. bradley manning must be released. on wednesday, bradley manning spent his 815th de of detention without trial. the legal maximum is 120 days. on thursday, my friend nabeel rajab, president of the bahrain human rights center, was sentenced to three years in prison for a tweet. on friday, a russian band was sentenced to two years in jail for a political performance. there is unity in the oppression. there must be absolute unity and determination in the response. [app