>> walter pinkus is one of the most serious and senior investigative reporters in washington, d.c. just that statement touched off a moot court debate on the internet. i think it's a combination of all those things. the problem with how you determine whether something is in the public's right to know when it is classified in some fashion doesn't have the law of physics attach toed to it. it's very subjective. everyone has a slightly different opinion. but in most cases when a news kor organization like the associated press or rosen, it begins a dialogue with the government. obviously the administration is scrambling to clean all this up. but it seems to me that on this sunday morning after last week that eric holder still is in the cross hairs here. what did he know? when did he know it? what did he do about it? that will play out this week. >> do you think this is a real olive branch to news organizations? an off the record meeting to discuss changing the guidelines for how leak investigations are pursued? >> i think the burden is on both is government and the press to work out a

as walter pinkus in the wost "washington post" pointed out today both the telephone records issue and sort of data mining issue of the national security agency have both been reported. the former by "usa today" in may 2006 the latter just last march in wired magazine. >> right. jonathan, i want to spare your blushes but is your reaction to mr. snowden in part a function of your own age? >> well, you have to understand i am considerably older than mr. snowden so. >> jonathan, our audience would not believe that for a moment. >> tim, david brooks goes on to list all of those there's mr. snowden has betrayed. i'll read again. he betrayed honesty and integrity, the foundation of all cooperative activity. he betrayed his friends. anybody who worked with him will be suspect. young people in positions like that will no longer be trusted with responsibility for fear that they will turn into another snowden. is it not extremely farfetched to suggest that because of this leak, young people will be viewed as unable to cooperate, unable to abide by the rules? >> you stopped short of the most appa

claire mccaskill and walter pinkus from the washington post. plus robert gibbs, my colleague. what's next on news nation. hi, tamron. >> reporter: hi there, andrea. we'll have the latest reaction on the passing of senator lautenberg. news of a wildfire burning near los angeles, forcing thousands people right now to evacuate. a change of weather is helping crews gain some ground. plus, have you heard this controversy? cheerios makes a decision on an ad featuring a mixed race family that has sparked racist comments online. what is cheerios or the makers of cheerios saying today about this modern family depicted? ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm working every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm saving all my pay. ♪ ♪ if i ever get some money put away, ♪ ♪ i'm going to take it all out and celebrate. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker... ♪ membership rallied millions of us on small business saturday to make shopping small, huge. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. thto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take t

>> walter pinkus is one of the most serious and senior investigative reporters in washington, d.c. just that statement touched off a moot court debate on the internet. i think it's a combination of all those things. the problem with how you determine whether something is in the public's right to know when it is classified in some fashion doesn't have the law of physics attached to it. it's very subjective. everyone has a slightly different opinion. but in most cases when a news organization like the associated press or rosen, it begins a dialogue with the government. the burden is on them. obviously the administration is scrambling to clean all this up. but it seems to me that on this sunday morning after last week that eric holder still is in the cross hairs here. what did he know? when did he know it? what did he do about it? and that will play out this week. >> do you think this is a real olive branch to news organizations? an off-the-record meeting to discuss changing the guidelines for how leak investigations are pursued? >> i think the burden is on both the government and the

host: let's talk about surveillance history lesson written by walter pinkus his column in "the washington post," he writes about 43 years ago when he was a staff director to one of the committees and he asked -- he and the committee chairman went out in the field overseas, found out what the n.s.a. was doing, listening in on conversations of foreign citizens, came back and said you're going to testify and you're going to tell us everything that you're doing. the n.s.a. balked at the time and then relented. he goes on to say, some legal history, in 1979, the supreme court upheld a decision by the maryland court of appeals which said there is no constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy in the numbers dialed into a telephone system. "the phone company automatically creates and stores a record from the -- host: in other words, what's new here? guest: i'm an admirer of walter pincus and i of course respect his work. i think it is a bit of a contrarian piece that he published today. there is a difference between saying there's no ectation of privacy associated with a -- your