CNN "Paula Zahn Now" - Transcript: Surveillance Programs

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CNN Paula Zahn Now - Transcript

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ZAHN: Senator Durbin, always good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: So, late last year, President Bush said that the monitoring would exist exclusively with international calls. Now we hear today that domestic calls are being tracked. Is there any justification for this in the overall war on terror?

DURBIN: Of course.

If we knew that there was a domestic telephone conversation involving a would-be terrorist, they should be tapped; they should be eavesdropped. And there's a way to do it. There's a court approval under the law. And I would want them to -- a president, any president, to go forward to keep America safe.

What we're worried about, though, is, this administration apparently believes that it can gather this information without court approval, without legal authorization. And that is why we need to do our job on Capitol Hill and ask some hard questions.

ZAHN: So, you think what the administration is doing is illegal, in spite of the fact that -- that the president has defended the surveillance program so far as being perfectly legal?

DURBIN: Two things going on here, warrantless wiretaps, where the president is not following the law and says he doesn't have to. I think that is clearly illegal.

Now we have this data mining, where the National Security Agency is gathering more intelligence data in one place than anyone in the history of the world and is gathering the telephone records to show calls that we have made, every American has made, in our nation. I don't know the legal authority for that second activity by the government.

ZAHN: What is it, Senator, you think Americans should be afraid of?

DURBIN: Well, it is not just a matter of being afraid. It's a matter of being sensitive to the fact that we have basic rights and freedoms, including our own right to privacy.

Did I, by deciding to pick a certain telephone company, say that they can surrender my privacy, my freedom, and my records, without even notifying me? By what authority did they do that? And, secondly, by what authority did the government request the information about innocent Americans who have never been suspected of doing anything wrong?

ZAHN: Beyond the obvious civil liberties issues here, how else might the government use this information?

DURBIN: You know, at this point, we don't know. It is an embarrassment to think that members of Congress didn't know, weren't brought into the loop, didn't have a basic understanding of what we are trying to achieve.

ZAHN: Senator Durbin, again, thanks for dropping by tonight. We appreciate it.

DURBIN: Thank you, Paula.

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