What 60 Minutes learned about Edward Snowden

By 60 Minutes Staff

December 15, 2013 / 6:59 PM / CBS News

On assignment for 60 Minutes, CBS' John Miller asked the NSA's Rick Ledgett what he would say to Edward Snowden if given the chance

Words for Edward Snowden from NSA investigator 00:37

On assignment for 60 Minutes, CBS' John Miller interviewed Rick Ledgett who's in charge of the National Security Agency's task force on the Edward Snowden leaks. When Miller asked Ledgett what he would say to Snowden, video above, Ledgett responded, “How do you like that Moscow winter?”

Snowden theft was seen by colleagues 01:12

NSA investigator Rick Ledgett said system administrators detected that Snowden was downloading confidential documents. When they asked him about it, Snowden responded with a good “story.”

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Is Edward Snowden a whistle-blower? 01:34

The NSA’s Rick Ledgett said labeling Snowden as a “whistle-blower” offends him; instead, he argued, Snowden’s motivation was a desire for fame: “He's achieved his 15 minutes of fame.”

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"Bad guys" are talking about Snowden 00:44

According to Ledgett, the NSA has been listening to suspected terrorists as they discuss with regularity and great interest the intelligence documents that Snowden leaked.

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Did Russia or China take Snowden's cache of U.S. intelligence? 01:45

The NSA's Rick Ledgett said he'd be "shocked" if China and Russia hadn’t already gained access to the complete cache of U.S. intelligence documents stolen by Snowden. There is also a “very real possibility” that foreign intelligence agencies have hacked the media outlets that were sent classified materials.
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After Bradley Manning, how could the Snowden incident happen? 01:30

After Bradley Manning made thousands of secret documents public, Ledgett said the NSA was in the midst of implementing changes to prevent a similar attack on the agency. At the time Snowden stole documents, the changes were only half completed.
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What's being done to prevent another Snowden? 01:26

Currently, Ledgett said the NSA has 43 different programs designed to “fill in the gaps” of the agency’s vulnerabilities. “We have since taken steps to make that sort of activity impossible,” Ledgett said.
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Snowden's role in sparking a national debate 01:19

Ledgett said the NSA needs to be more “transparent” about their surveillance programs and oversight mechanisms. However, he says, “the potential exists that people will die because of the things that have been compromised.”Click here to watch"Snowden's role in sparking a national debate"