Silenced Page #10

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going to prison for leaking

something to the press,

when we've had numerous

top-level disclosures

of classified information,

including sources and methods

to hollywood

for the production

of the movie "zero dark thirty,"

and no one seems to have

a problem with that.

-this morning, i was sentenced

to 30 months in prison

for a crime to which

i had pleaded guilty.

i want to say

that i come out of court

positive, confident,

and optimistic.

i would like to thank several...

-[ giggles ]

-today,

i have an audience of one,

and it's barack obama.

we're at the point now

where this is between

barack obama and me.

he's the only person

who can help me,

if he's so inclined,

and i have to try

to reach him today.

-not in 2004, not in 2000,

jeb was talking

about this in 1997.

-[ laughs ]

-stand by.

-thanks.

-coming up,

the first cia officer

ever sentenced for leaking

classified information.

why does he consider that

to be a badge of honor?

and rare treasures

from president kennedy

in our studio before

they hit the auction block.

-we want to start this half hour

with the former cia officer

sentenced to 30 months

behind bars,

the first

to ever be sent to jail

for leaking classified secrets.

we're gonna talk to him

exclusively in a moment.

but first, with the backstory,

here's nbc's andrea mitchell.

-more one and three.

-interview larry, please.

-...after turning up

in a defense motion

for guantanamo detainees.

-that led the investigators

to mr. kiriakou,

who then admitted

in court under oath

that he knowingly,

intentionally

outed the identity

of his covert agent.

-kiriakou has portrayed himself

as a whistle-blower

for disclosing

the bush administration's

controversial

waterboarding campaigns.

-and john kiriakou

is with us exclusively.

john, good morning.

it's good to see you.

-good morning.

thanks for having me.

-depending on who you are, you

look at this case differently.

some people say you've betrayed

your former colleagues

in order to raise

your media profile,

hoping to sell books

and to get

a consulting business going.

others say you were

a whistle-blower.

you spoke out, and now

you're being wrongly prosecuted.

you say you wear this conviction

like a badge of honor.

-i do.

i wear this conviction

as a badge of honor

because this conviction

is not about leaking.

this case was about torture

from the very beginning.

-let me just

stop you right there

because you acknowledged,

you pleaded guilty,

and you admitted that

you identified a cia officer

who was, in fact, covert.

that is against the law.

-yes.

-you don't disagree with that.

-no.

and i should never

have done that.

that was a terrible mistake.

-in fact, in 2007,

you told msnbc

you were coming forward then

because you thought

that the agency had gotten

"a bum rap on waterboarding."

that's somebody

who's defending these practices,

not denouncing them.

-i was relying on what the cia

had told cia officers

inside the building,

that these methods

were effective.

that turned out to be a lie.

-and you've admitted not just

to the leaking of the one name,

but you also acknowledge

giving classified information

to yet a second reporter.

did you ask these journalists,

"hey, what are you gonna do

with this information?"

-well, let me correct you

on one thing.

the reporter came to me

with a name

and said, "can you talk to me

about this?"

-i think specifically

the charges said

that you disclosed

the connection of that officer

to a classified operation.

and yet, in a recorded fbi

interview a year ago,

you said you knew that

this officer was always...

one final thing --

you disclosed the name of

this officer to this journalist.

the journalist in turn passed it

to a defense investigator.

a picture of this officer

ended up in the jail cell

of a terror suspect.

how do you feel about that?

-stay there.

-stay right there? okay.

-thank you. take care.

-thank you so much

for taking the time.

bye.

-bye, mr. kiriakou.

-wonderful job.

-you don't think

i helped myself?

oh.

[ car door closes ]

i'll just keep my fingers

crossed, see what happens.

[ clippers buzzing ]

[ indistinct conversations ]

-we've never used the word

"prison" with the children.

we told them that,

"you know i've been involved

with this fight with the fbi

for the last year."

and i said,

"unfortunately, i lost.

and so, because i lost,

i'm gonna have to go

to pennsylvania for two years

to teach bad guys how to get

their high-school diplomas.

and when i finish that

contract, i'm gonna come home,

we're gonna be together again

as a family,

and everything

is gonna be back to normal."

how were your days

at school?

-good.

-it was good.

-good.

so, guys,

this is the last time

i'm gonna pick you up

from school for awhile.

-mm-hmm.

-boo.

i my wish daddy

was with me all the time.

-you guys will have

a good vacation.

-yeah, but you're

not gonna be with us.

-no.

-[ sighs ]

why?

i wish you won.

daddy,

i wish you won.

-what, honey?

-i wish you won.

-i wish i won, too.

hey, max?

-huh?

-you want to play

in the backyard?

-mm-hmm.

-okay.

you have a jacket?

i'm hoping the actual day

of my departure

is gonna be as normal a day

for the kids as possible.

-i think most of these

match the blue part of the sky.

-i don't want the kids to be

disrupted in any way that day.

[ chuckling ] oh!

i don't want there to be

lots of tears and, you know,

"oh, my god, what are we gonna

do for the next two years?"

i don't want any of that.

i want them to think,

"okay. dad's gonna go.

he's gonna work.

and we'll see him

on the weekends,

and everything's

gonna be okay."

ohh.

[ branches snapping ]

-i got it!

i got it!

-dad.

-daddy, now can you help?

-are you okay?

-it really hurts.

-where did it hurt you?

-[ crying ]

-aw. let me see.

-[ sobs loudly ]

-okay.

you gave it

a little scrape, honey.

-no, right here!

-yeah.

daddy!

-okay? yeah.

okay?

just a little scrape.

man, i'm tired.

how are you?

-how are you?

-oh, i'm all right.

-hmm. "there he doesn't look

like he's telling the truth.

you never get to do anything.

hey, i've got an idea.

let's play drive the bus.

i'll go first."

-bye.

-[ smooches ]

-don't throw it.

so, just call me

or send me a text,

and then

i'll have your number.

-okay.

-great.

-i think it's gonna take

a long time

before people realize

what a mistake we made

with this torture program.

i think it's gonna be 20, 30,

40 years before people say,

"we tortured people

in this country?

what were we thinking?"

-i have great fears for

the future of the republic

because if the trend line

continues,

the national security regime,

a secrecy regime,

cannot coexist with

a constitutional democracy.

something has to give.

-"only 10 people

in american history

have been charged

with espionage

for leaking

classified information,

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