NSA director promises greater transparency

National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers said he wants to promote greater transparency within the agency tainted by releases of classified documents by Edward Snowden.

He said he intends to be more candid with the public about the NSA’s activities.

"The idea of accountability and responsibility is very important to me," he said. "We must ensure that we do not in any way abuse this capability.” He also defended the NSA’s metadata surveillance program, saying it needed better explanation but not necessarily an overhaul.

"It is by design that I have tried to start a series of engagements with a broader and perhaps more different groups than we have traditionally done," he added. “The dialogue to date that we have had for much of the last nine months or so from my perspective, I wish was a little bit broader, had a little more context to it, and was a little bit more balanced."