CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Reaction to President Obama's Remarks on the National Security Agency

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Let's talk about what we just heard from the president, the surveillance reforms that he outlined. Joining us, the Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders. He's the independent senator from Vermont. Senator, thanks very much for coming in.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: My pleasure.

BLITZER: You and I have discussed this on several occasions over the past several months. At one point, you said strong, new limits are needed to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. Did the president go far enough today, in your opinion?

SANDERS: Wolf, the devil is going to be in the details. I think in a very significant way, the president began the conversation on what is a very difficult issue and a complicated issue. It's difficult because everybody wants to see us do all we can to protect the American people from terrorism. It is complicated because every single day technology changes.

And the question of how we protect the American people without undermining our privacy rights and our constitutional rights is a huge issue. I'm going to be having a town meeting in Montpellier, Vermont on February 1st. I would hope that millions of people become engaged in this enormously important issue. I think the president started that conversation. We've got a long way to go.

BLITZER: You have said, and I'm quoting you, once again, that the current NSA surveillance program, in your words, represents a clear violation of the fourth amendment ban on unreasonable searches. So what you heard today, the outlines of some reforms, are you satisfied?

SANDERS: I think it's a start. To my mind, when every telephone call made by every single American is on file in the NSA, that is clearly, to my mind, a violation of the fourth amendment to the United States constitution. No question in my mind. And that has got to end. The president (INAUDIBLE) --

BLITZER: Well, let me interrupt you -- let me interrupt you, senator. The president says he wants to continue doing that but not storing it any longer over at the NSA. The companies that have all these records, they don't want to store it for a variety of legal and other privacy considerations. So, who is going to store all these records? Who would be an appropriate source or person or institution --

SANDERS: Well, it's --

BLITZER: -- to do such a thing?

SANDERS: -- well, Wolf, it's not a question. You're asking who should store it. The question is whether they should be stored. It's probably --

BLITZER: The president says that they should be stored.

SANDERS: -- the better question.

BLITZER: The president says, by the end of March, he wants a new formula to store all that all that information, so in case there is some sort of threat of a terrorist operation, they can sort of connect the dots and find out who might be responsible.

SANDERS: Again, the devil is in the details but I don't agree with the overall position of the president on that issue. Again, I do not think it is -- that the Constitution of the United States supports the belief that every call made by every American, 99.99 percent have -- who have nothing to do with terrorism should be kept on file.

Look, you know, let me tell you what I'm really am concerned about in this whole business, Wolf. And it's a very subtle thing. There are writers' organizations who say, you know what? When we write stuff on the internet, we are now fearful of what we're putting on -- we don't put everything that we're thinking.

You've got kids in America who walk into a library and are saying, you know, shall I get that biography of Osama Bin Laden? Should I write that report or is somebody going to think I am involved in terrorist activity? What we want as a nation is our young people and all of our people to be brave. You want to sign a petition, sign a petition, without worrying the government is going to keep file on you. You want to investigate an issue, you want to research your paper, we want an inquisitive, curious people. That's what freedom is about.

And I think all of this stuff has a very significant, chilling impact on the willingness of the American people to be thinking about issues, to be writing about issues, to be talking about issues. That is my fear.

BLITZER: I'll ask you a question I asked Senator Rand Paul, your colleague, the Republican senator from Kentucky a little while ago. Let's say the NSA determines a known terrorist suspect in some country, whether Yemen or Somalia or Afghanistan or some place, is making a phone call to someone in Burlington, Vermont for example. Do you want the NSA to check out who that individual is why this known terrorist suspect is making a phone call to an American in Vermont?

SANDERS: Yes. In other words, look, where there is reason to believe that somebody may be involved in a terrorist attack, I want our government to do everything that it can to protect the American people. But what I do not want are files being kept on the 99.99 percent of Americans who have nothing to do with terrorism.

BLITZER: So, how do you bridge that gap? How do you --

SANDERS: Well, that --

BLITZER: -- protect national security on the one hand and prevent another 911, while on the other hand making sure that Americans' privacy is protected?

SANDERS: Well, that is the -- that is the question. And let me -- let me add to that question by saying that that technology is changing every day. And think about what technology will be like in 10 years from now. And that is why we need a constant discussion and debate on this issue. My own view is that, at this point, we have gone too far in attacking the privacy rights of the American people. But you're asking the right question. And there is no simple answer. And that answer will change 10 years from now. We need a massive conversation on the parts of the American people to say how do we protect ourselves from folks who we know want to hurt us but do it in a way that maintenance us as a free society. Not an easy they think. President started this discussion. I would go further than the president in terms of protecting privacy rights. But this is an issue that Congress has got to embrace. It has to move up the totem pole in terms of important issues that we discuss.

BLITZER: One final quick question, if you can give me a quick answer. You raised a sensitive subject the other day whether or not the NSA is spying on members of Congress like yourself, senators and representatives. You've gotten some answers from them. Are they satisfactory?

SANDERS: Well, not really. I mean, what we -- what we have been told by the NSA in a response to a media inquiry is that all of the phone calls that members of Congress make are kept in the same files that every American. And the danger there is -- and I'm concerned about all Americans. The dangers about members of Congress is, it is just -- when you have that information, Wolf, it is easy to engage, if you have a rogue operator, unscrupulous president, you could start blackmailing members of Congress, impact public policy, impact elections.

BLITZER: And you earlier -- in an earlier conversation we had, you recalled Richard M. Nixon and what potentially could be done along those lines. All right, senator, you want to make a final point?

SANDERS: Well, yes, and I want people to think if Nixon had the resources and the technology that now exists, think of what he would have done.

BLITZER: Bernie Sanders is the independent senator from the state of Vermont. He caucuses with the Democrats, as all of our viewers know. Always good to have you here on CNN. Thank you, senator.

SANDERS: Thank you.

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