President Obama stopped by the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to talk about the crisis in the Middle East and his feelings toward Russia over Edward Snowden. The interview started off on the lighter side with Leno asking the president how he celebrated his recent 52nd birthday.
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Obama told Leno he was chatting with the seven-year-old son of one of his staffers when the child asked Obama how old he was. Obama replied 52 and told Leno the child responded with "wow." Obama and Leno laughed as the president explained the how the little boy had a hard time wrapping his head around such a large number.
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Then the interview between Obama and Leno took a more serious side. Leno asked the president "How significant is the threat?" Leno was referring to the Al Qaeda threat that forced the U.S. to close a number of embassies in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
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"Well, it's significant enough that we're taking every precaution. We had already done a lot to bolster embassy security around the world, but especially in the Middle East and North Africa, where the threats tend to be highest. And whenever we see a threat stream that we think is specific enough that we can take some specific precautions within a certain timeframe, then we do so," Obama said to Leno.
The president added that despite all the progress the U.S. has made against terrorism, such as killing Bin Laden, there are still radicals and extremists out there.
"We've got to stay on top of it," Obama told Leno. "It's also a reminder of how courageous our embassy personnel tend to be, because you can never have 100 percent security in some of those places."
Leno asked the president more about terrorism and how to keep they U.S. safe without overreacting. Then Leno moved on to the growing conflict with Russia and asked the president point blank if he felt Edward Snowden is a whistleblower.
"Well, we don't know yet exactly what he did, other than what he's said on the Internet," President Obama said. "And it's important for me not to prejudge something."
"Hopefully," the president continued. "At some point he'll go on trial and he will have a lawyer and due process, and we can make those decisions."
Obama also added, "I can tell you that there are ways, if you think that the government is abusing a program, of coming forward. In fact, I, through executive order, signed whistleblower protection for intelligence officers or people who are involved in the intelligence industry. So you don't have to break the law. You don't have to divulge information that could compromise American security. You can come forward, come to the appropriate individuals and say, look, I've got a problem with what's going on here; I'm not sure whether it's being done properly.
If, in fact, the allegations are true, then he didn't do that. And that is a huge problem because a lot of what we do depends on terrorists' networks not knowing that, in fact, we may be able to access their information."
Currently Edward Snowden is living in Russia. The government refused the United States' requests that Snowden be forced to return home. Russia granted Snowden a one-year asylum while they examine his request for permanent asylum.
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