First start from tonight, the phone scandal and the Obama healthcare website mess. Whether president Obama know about each and what does he say about how he governed on many occasions and on many subjects the president is proud to project an image of hands on leadership and personal accountability. 

 

“(I am the president and) (ultimately)the bucket will stop/stops with me.”

 

Where precisely the buck stops is somewhere less than clear, when it comes to longstanding NSA phones spying on  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders. The Wall Street Journal reports that the president did not know about it until last summer.  A senior administrative official backed up and another official though tells us he was briefed on the details about what the NAS was doing even he was not told whose phone was being tapped.  And late today the democrat senator D tells the intelligence senator has been waiting for this, by this I am quoting  now: It is my understanding that president Obama was not aware of Chancellor Merkel’s communication would be spied since 2002. That is a big problem. She also said she was not briefed either and she is calling for a total review of all intelligence programs.  Others have been no less blessed and the White House is in deep damage control mode right now. A ,our security correspondent and our senior White House correspondent are  joining us.

 

Jim, first to you, a top statement form the chairman, what is the White House reaction?

 

Well, the White House’s reaction is in part of war that the senator is correct that the president did not know about this foreign surveillance program about the world leaders and they are taking issue with one thing of what the senator  did say in that statement is that the collection activities aimed at these foreign leaders will not continue and to a senior official earlier from this evening the senator says that part of the statement is not accurate. And some of these programs are being changed on individual basis but that in a large part these policies and these programs are continuing for the time being while all of this is being reviewed. As you mentioned,the focus of Capitol Hill wants to center on the intelligence committee. They want to have a look at this, but white house maintains they are conducting their own internal review right now, should not be by the end of the year. So there may be some more changes coming by the end of the year. 

 

So the White House has reiterated that the president has not known about eavesdrop on the German Chancellor. President Obama did  know about certain aspects of the program,right?

 

That’s right. The administration  says in a matter of fact that the president set the priority and another US intelligence official is telling us, but he also agrees on the framework of this program which may included and targeted at ally countries abroad and even possibly their leaders without being told the specific targets. That’s the delicate square. But the administration was trying to circle here. I was opposed to see a senior official earlier today who said this does not mean that the NSA is necessarily going all by the white house standards. It needs better guidance on policy and  priority here. So they don’t go beyond what the president approved ever as an error.

So Jim, how concerned are  the US officials about the diplomatic  repercussions  of these revelations?

 

They are really concerned and you have a delegation on the Hill today form the EU speaking about these very issues. I s

poke to one of members of the delegation who said,people in European capitals and leaders concerned  are confused and they are a few for this kind of spying. So they want explanations. And there is supposed to be another former US official who told me that you know the US has listing post in the countries and they are calling diplomats. You know people with relationships in those countries and speak their accounts on part. And this is the kind of information that those countries want to share. It is about fighting terrorism.So that is the much better way for many officials even inside which as they going forward to gather this kind of information.