University of Virginia Law School
Professor at the Virginia Law School and Associate Director of its Center for National Security Law; counsel to the President's Intelligence Oversight Board during the Reagan Administration; former chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security
Obama, Congress and the Surveillance State Britain's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post broke the stories last week about the National Security Agency collecting metadata on virtually every phone call made in this country and overseas and on Internet communications overseas. The leaker is 29-year old Edward Snowden , who worked for the CIA and as a contractor for the National Security Agency, and is now hiding out in Hong Kong. Privacy advocates are outraged over the revelations, and everybody's astonished at the volume of phone calls and personal data now in government hands. Many members of Congress say 'they didn't know', although President Obama insists that they did. Is there a violation of constitutional rights? Has he vastly expanded practices begun by President Bush — and which he denounced during his own campaign for the White House?
The Administration's Broad New Wiretapping Powers After months of quiet negotiations, Democrats and the Bush White house reportedly were close to a deal on the controversy between electronic surveillance of terrorists and the privacy rights of innocent Americans. Then—just as Congress was about to adjourn—the White House made new demands. Despite Democratic majorities, both houses passed legislation Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls “unacceptable.”
Bush Administration's Broad New Wiretapping Powers President Bush may be a struggling lame duck, but Democrats can still be out-maneuvered if they think they'll be called soft on terrorism. As Congress was leaving town, both houses gave Mr. Bush the wire-tapping authority he wanted, despite opposition from the Democratic leadership. The Bush White House denies it's a "broad expansion" of the President's powers, while House Speaker Pelosi calls it " unacceptable ." Civil libertarians and other Senate Democrats, including Barack Obama, say the new majority buckled under intimidation and pressure, that they "might be branded as soft on terrorism." We look at the new law and the politics that got it passed.
Who Really Is "The Decider?" The dispute over sending more troops to Iraq is becoming, in part, an argument over the Constitutional separation of powers during wartime. Even Republicans dispute the President's claim that he is the sole "decider," insisting that Congress has power over more than just money. Can the Congress tell the President what to do in Iraq, presuming it wants to? Members of both parties are threading their way between opposition to an unpopular war and support for American troops in the field. We speak with political strategists, pollsters, and legal experts about the Constitutional issues and a political battle that’s setting the stage for the 2008 elections.
The roofs above our heads What do our houses reveal about us – and what do they say about living in California?
Tiny Desk Talks NPR Music is proud to introduce their newest series, “Tiny Desk Talks” fueled by Lagunitas Brewing Company. Featuring one of their talks in collaboration with KCRW for an intimate conversation on music in film with composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Atlanta, Creed) and music supervisor and KCRW DJ Liza Richardson (Barry, Narcos), moderated by KCRW’s Jason Bentley. Watch the conversation below.
California catastrophe The fires rage on in our own backyard, and in Northern California, encompassing tens of thousands of acres each. In L-A and Ventura Counties, the Woolsey Fire has scorched everything in its path. To the north, in Butte County, the Camp Fire has charred and destroyed even more acreage, of trees, brush and everything else, north of Sacramento, and the town of Paradise is a scene of utter devastation and heartbreak.