It's not even a sweeps month, and yet Vladimir Putin's televised call-in show featured some stunt casting with Edward Snowden. The NSA leaker asked the Russian president about the country's use of mass surveillance on its citizens. "Does Russia intercept, store or analyze, in any way, the communications of millions of individuals?" asked Snowden via a video link-up.
Putin, a former KGB agent, set the tone by treating him like an "equal," notes Talking Points Memo. "Mr. Snowden, you are a former agent, a spy. I used to be working for an intelligence service," he said. "We are going to talk one professional language." Putin went on to deny that Russia carries out mass surveillance on its population and that any intelligence operations are regulated by court orders. Watch below. --Jordan Valinsky
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