--- description: NBC snags an interview with the former NSA contractor title: Edward Snowden's First American Interview with NBC's Brian Williams image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd79ebd0db9736e6f/69869093adae44d9d8543391/8961f8188ff3ba2f_800x800ar.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brian Williams Snags First American Snowden Interview  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent May 22, 2014 8:28 PM CUT  Brian Williams and Edward Snowden Brian Williams and Edward SnowdenNBC  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent May 22, 2014 8:28 PM CUT _NBC Nightly News_ anchor Brian Williams ventured to Moscow this week for an exclusive interview with Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs almost one year ago. Snowden fled from Hawaii to Hong Kong and then later to Russia after releasing the documents. International governments and some in the American press criticized the American government for the surveillance programs revealed by Snowden’s leaks, eventually leading President Barack Obama to propose legislation that would put an end to the NSA’s bulk data collection. NBC’s hour-long special featuring the interview with Snowden is set to air Wednesday, May 28 at 10 p.m. EST. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/109490/edward-snowden-brian-williams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/109490/edward-snowden-brian-williams/"},"headline":"Brian Williams Snags First American Snowden Interview","datePublished":"2014-05-22T20:28:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:00:23.092Z","description":"NBC snags an interview with the man who leaked documents revealing the extent of NSA surveillance","url":"https://time.com/109490/edward-snowden-brian-williams/","keywords":["russia","NSA","Edward Snowden","Brian Williams"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd79ebd0db9736e6f/69869093adae44d9d8543391/8961f8188ff3ba2f_800x800ar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd79ebd0db9736e6f/69869093adae44d9d8543391/8961f8188ff3ba2f_800x800ar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"8961f8188ff3ba2f_800x800ar","caption":"Brian Williams and Edward Snowden","creditText":"NBC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/109490/edward-snowden-brian-williams/","name":"Brian Williams Snags First American Snowden Interview"}}]}] ```