i want to start with thomas drake.ou your self having worked for the national security agency metellus about this trip -- agency, tell us about this trip you took to russia to give edward snowden an award. >> the award is given to the recipient and we make every effort to actually deliver it and present it in person. given he was in russia, we made arrangements to go to russia and present him with the sam adams integrity and intelligence award. >> who was sam adams? >> i will let ray mcgovern share the history of that because he really has the background as well as the personal knowledge of what sam adams did during the vietnam war era. >> rate, you're sitting next to thomas drake and the d.c. studios. tell us about this award. >> sam adams was a colleague of mine. he entered the agency under president kennedy on the same day i did. he was given a count to count up how many communist forces were under arms in south vietnam, and discovered in 1967 that there were twice as many as are generals in saigon would admit to. t

you saw that interview i just conducted with thomas drake, a whistle blower for the nsa. you make of what he to say of his argument? >> drake was involved in -- he basically lost his point of view in a competition for certain symptoms at the agency. issue as to who was right about that, he may have been wright. nothi nothing wrong with the way he conducted that. he decided to leak information to "the baltimore sun." he was really leaking classified information. i thought it was a terrible thing -- i thought he was overprosecuted under the espionage act. i thought it was ridiculous. >> you thought prosecution of him for giving material to "baltimore sun" under 1970 espionage was in itself a wrongful act. >> not a wrongful act. bad politics, bad law. we create people like mr. drake who have become a force to be adversary when they see what it is like to be attacked by their own government. when you impose the question whistle-blower or leaker, very often people can be whistle blowers and leakers. they can be scoundrels and do something useful. we listen to snowden for examp

the joining me now in the studio let me introduce them to you just the radix with this also thomas andrews drake ray mcgovern and colin rally thanks guys for taking the time to come in we've got a busy show jewel here would you remorse first of all you saw edward snowden last night how we're going to put that to you how easy i think doing remarkably well under the circumstances in which he came here and we've we've obviously covered his story extensively on this channel so we're obviously going to find out personally i was the you know what it looked like these days i thought he looked great he seemed very centered and and. brilliant smart funny very engaged. at that he looked very well. considering the amount of pressure he's a. do you think that's taking any toll at all and the psychological toll i think it would in ordinary circumstances but this is an extraordinary person he's made his peace with what he did. he's convinced that he put he did was right he has no regrets and he's willing to face whatever the future holds for him do you agree with that as well as the person you saw in front of

nsa whistleblower thomas drake thomas gary johnson, former congressman dennis kucinich and u.s. representativess were some of those who spoke at the rally. >> thousands of people gathered on the capitol lawn on saturday, demanding congress pass meaningful reforms to rein in the nsa and stop the mass surveillance. a petition was signed by more than 500,000 people demanding congress investigate the programs. the senate judiciary and intelligence program has planned hearings. the congress is divided among those who want drastic overhaul and those who suggest a bit more oversight. as certain members of congress believe, oversight can turn into overlooked. congressman alan grayson came out and said congressional oversight of the nsa is a joke. he said he has learned far more about it from the media than from official intelligence briefings. so have many other members of congress. >> unaccountable to anyone. >> one of the messages of the rally has been watch the watchers, but many wonder if it is even possible, realistically. any light that has been shed on the watchers so far western

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american killing your next f.b.i. agent just so. turned whistleblower again if you can briefly tell of you as an open about your story how you were treated well i was also a legal counsel that taught constitutional law to f.b.i. agents and police for thirteen years and so when you saw this one hundred eighty degree switch to the war paradigm and the use of intelligence rather than judicial process due process you know the law of interrogation i had to speak out and explain the failures of nine eleven except yourself i was still employed in the f.b.i. and i did not get fired i have to say that we gretz that i'm aware of usually stem from the fact that people didn't speak out we the sam adams story itself is one of somebody who went through vietnam and did not go public with the these concerns and so it's quite the oppo

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american calling your next f.b.i. agent just so. whistleblower again if you can briefly tell all of you is an open about your story how you were treated well i was also a legal counsel that taught constitutional law to f.b.i. . and please for thirteen years and so when you saw this one hundred eighty degree switch to the war paradigm and the use of intelligence rather than judicial process due process you know the law of interrogation i had to speak out and explain the failures of nine eleven except just so i was still employed in the f.b.i. and i did not get fired i have to say that regrets that i'm aware of usually stem from the fact that people didn't speak out we the sam adams story itself is one of somebody who went through vietnam and did not go public with the these concern.

whistleblower thomas drake former cia analyst ray mcgovern and former f.b.i. whistleblower colleen rowley met snowden in a secret location they are the first americans known to have met him since he was granted asylum in russia in august they travel to moscow to present snowden with the sam adams amir for integrity in intelligence also noted edwards' father arrived at the sheremetyevo airport this morning one has yet to meet his son but is planning to see him in the next couple of days. no wins caught up with the group of whistleblowers today here's a wrap up of that conversation. well you know some would call them veteran whistle blowers jesselyn radek thomas andrews drake remedy govern colin rowley all sides around the table with me earlier to tell me their experiences of whistle blowing themselves and how they were treated them by the authorities as a result just earlier they met edward snowden at the undisclosed location here in russia we still under heavy security to present him with the sam adams award this been presented annually since two thousand and

normally you go through channels, which is exactly what another client of my, thomas drake did. he went to his boss, went to the n system a general counsel, the defense department inspector general, and both -- and both intel committees in congress. >> >> snowden didn't do that. >> because he studied the case of tom drake and realized -- in tom drake's case, not only did it achieve nothing, but the government turned around and prosecuted him for espionage in a case that collapsed in spectacular fashion, because his allegations were substantiated and because he never retained -- >> so why not go to rand paul, who is a critic of this program, long been a critic of the administration's policies, or ron wyden who's been trying to change this policy? there was a responsible way to do this. he didn't do that. >> he didn't do that, because, for example -- >> he ran to -- >> i think he did the only thing he could conceivably could have done. he would have been put in jail -- >> that's the consequence. >> if you feel that strongly about it. >> let me answer stephanie's question first, in

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american what was the reaction from snowden last night when you told him that he'd won this festival with what he already knew because we awarded to two months ago the problem was getting it to him and it is our tradition starting with colin that we physically present this it's sort of like an emmy or an oscar what it is is a candlestick holder for someone who has shone bright light into the dark corners so he knew what he was he didn't know about the candlestick holder he knew that he had cheated the award and you know we were coming you know and the reception we got was just so for the warming it was a person who now realizes that he has very senior people alumni you know some of his size senior people who speak for a lot of people still within these organizations that admired greatly what it would snowden has done

intelligence officials thomas drake of the n.s.a. a former f.b.i. agent coleen rowley jesselyn a radical of the government accountability project all of them whistleblowers in their own right as well as former cia analyst ray mcgovern now our team was lucky enough to have those four in our studios on thursday for an in-depth discussion and now of course with this new video we're able to hear from mr snowden himself and that video was provided to us by wiki leaks now the head of that organization judy this own judge has also voiced concerns as he absolutely did r.t. did have the opportunity to sit down exclusively with the wiki leaks founder at the ecuadorian embassy in london where he's still basically trapped in ins and some ways with no ability to leave now he said that he was concerned not so much for the safety of mr stone and but for the safety of. publishing his we leaked and really working to get his story and that information out there let's play that clip as well but i'm more concerned in terms of present people at risk. of this sort of har

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american what was the reaction from snowden last night when you told him that he had won this civil war he already knew because we awarded to two months ago the problem was getting it to him and it is our tradition starting with colin that we physically present. this is sort of like an emmy or what it is is a candlestick holder for someone who has shone bright light into the dark corners so he knew he was he didn't know about the candlestick holder he knew that he had received the award and he knew we were coming and the reception we got was just so warming it was a person who now realizes that he has very senior people alumni you know some of the size senior people who speak for a lot of people still within these organizations that admired greatly. and hopefully will summon the courage to follow his example. to discu

legitimate reasons than any other president all of the presidents put together and the most recent one thomas drake who was subjected to four years let me jump in here maybe i'm going to want to show our brakeman of that short break we'll continue our discussion on the fate of the internet stay with our team. you know leave the room. one of the new poll shows common in washington d.c. making news all the face i describe you know about. the pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm roll researcher. cools salary. child legal rights. to the. law. paying for the young girls cammo for the future hunter. between two and three hundred million guns united states so you can act like they're not here and keep kids away from them. the causes that is the law are you know i mean this teaches them a lot of rough spots ability to simply come to pay through the eyes of children if we can do it for our children for our future what is the country will solve. real damage and complexity of this oil spill was not something you can grasp just by looking at dirty birds we have between four to five million peopl

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american calling your next f.b.i. agent so. whistleblower again if you could briefly tell if you was an open about your story how you were treated we gretz that i'm aware of usually stem from the fact that people didn't speak out we the sam adams story itself is one of somebody who went through vietnam and did not go public with the these concerns and so it's quite the opposite that the regret comes from not being able to get this important information out about illegal acts risks to public safety fraud waste and abuse what was the reaction from snowden last night when you told him that he had won this civil war he already knew because we awarded to two months ago that the problem was getting it to him and it is our tradition starting with colin that we physically present this it's sort of like an emmy or not what it

imagined in a million years that president obama would begin indicting and prosecuting people like thomas drake and edward snowden and bradley manning and john kiriakou and a number of other people under the espionage act which is the most serious charge you could level against an american what was thoughts about the future did you did you speak to you or anyone else around the table here about what you think is going to happen any time soon well i think it's most what he has done is starting the conversation to discussion not just the united states but around the world in terms of the direct threat to the sovereignty of individual citizens people need to realize that there's a greater issue of human rights. that is brought up by asylum and the fact that a number of people involved in his case like sarah harrison glenn greenwald laura portress people are having trouble even moving around and getting where they're going i can speak personally and say we weren't worried about coming into your country we are worried about getting back into our own country and and that should not be that we are uni

executive thomas drake former f.b.i. agent coleen rowley both of them whistleblowers in their own respects as well as just one radek from the government accountability project also a whistle blower and former cia analyst ray mcgovern now those for we were actually quite lucky to have them stopped by our studios right here in moscow last week at r t mr snowden meanwhile did speak out quite a bit he discussed the government transparency situation in the united states let's take a quick listen to what he had to say about that this latest you know relationship to go where we know exactly for sure it's on the wrong. side to the bombs. but they'll stop ok the. first stop will be to try. so strong passionate feelings as you heard right there mr snowden did also say that he doesn't believe mass surveillance actually increases people safety a point of view that he thinks is growing more popular across the world now the organization lucy that provided us with those clips and we keep leaks and the man in charge of that june in the

legitimate reasons than any other president all of the presidents put together and the most recent one thomas drake who was subjected to four years let me jump in here maybe i'm going to want to show our breaking news of that short break we'll continue our discussion on the fate of the internet stay with our team. splits to fight the syrian opposition party takes a close look as mine. it's just a particular moment us from the capital damascus but at least like a state within a state the free syrian army has been slowly. big the syrian military cannot and artie's morea fanaa reports from fragmented syrian rebel held territory. syria on the rebel group. dramas that can't be ignored. stories others refuse to notice. closest changing lights never. so picture of today's. politicians from around the globe. look to. the book . little. the the. lives. clint. when you take three. four three. three. three. three. three brown video for your media project free video don carty dot com. please. welcome back across the uk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle your mind you were discussing who should c

whistleblower thomas drake retired cia analyst ray mcgovern and f.b.i. whistleblowers coleen rowley and just one radek the latter to join me now to discuss their visit and what lies ahead for mr snowden thanks much for coming on justin and calling me in so much. so just start with you both went to russia you presented ever started at the sand out of the terrier world what is this award all about and why did you choose to give it to him well this award is true recognize people who have shown courage and integrity in the in intelligence communities where it can be particularly hard to speak up because those people are unprotected it doesn't necessarily have to go to a whistleblower but often has and we felt it was very important to give it to edward snowden because he had engaged in that magnificent amazing act of civil disobedience. and basically threw away his life as he knew it to do so to help people here in america certainly cold enough to move on to you considering the reach of n.s.a. control do you guys take any precautions to make sure his location

legitimate reasons than any other president all of the presidents put together and the most recent one thomas drake who was subjected to four years let me jump in here greyhounds are going to want to operate and of that short break we'll continue our discussion on the fate of the internet stay with our team. we speak your language might be rolling out a deal. with these programs documentaries in spanish what matters to you. we'll turn to bangalore stories. here. altie spanish find out more visit i two on the. old. child a little. bit. more. pain for the young girls cammo for the future han are. between two and three hundred million guns the united states so you can act like they're not here and keep kids away from them. the pass' out is they you know i mean this teaches them a lot of rough spots ability to think through the eyes of children if we can't do it for our children our future. home. please. welcome back across the uk where all things are considered on peter lavelle mind you were discussing who should control the internet. ok jim i'd like to go back to you in london we learned over the las

liberties speaking out once again you had dennis kucinich gary johnson was speaking at the event thomas drake o.-g. n.s.a. whistleblower saying you know the only way that we can fix the patriot act is to repeal the patriot act that's something that really needs to get back into the forefront because this is a bill that continues to have to have effect some people and just keeps getting passed it just getting worse and worse and one thing i really loved is the signs that are rick was absolutely incredible the amount of effort that was put into this march and also the art and music that was integrated in the rally i want to play a little clip from the spoken word. malaki byrd performing malpractise let's hear from him. you don't want to be felt that all men are created equal whenever any form of government becomes destructive and it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it so we put a civil disobedience of the hypocritical congress and expect us to assimilate and so this republic which is barely pay is is one nation under many gods individuals keep up their liberties just because. s

organizers deemed it the largest ever protest against mass surveillance and as a whistle blower thomas drake former presidential candidate gary johnson former former congressman dennis kucinich and u.s. representative justin amash were some of the people who spoke at the rally. was there and brings us some of the sights and sounds from the event. thousands of people gathered on capitol lawn on saturday demanding congress pass meaningful reforms to rein in the n.s.a. and stop this mass surveillance. they delivered a petition to congress signed by more than five hundred thousand people demanding congress investigate the n.s.a.'s mass spying programs the senate judiciary and intelligence committees hearings on those programs congress is divided into those who want to address the overhaul of the programs and those who suggest a bit more oversight but as certain members of congress believe oversight can very well turning to overlook those are congressman alan grayson's words he actually came out and said congressional oversight of the n.s.a. is a joke he's learned far more about government spying