--- title: Snowden: ‘I’d Like to Go Home’ description: The NSA leaker says he sees himself as a patriot in his first interview with a U.S. television network airing Wednesday night canonical: https://time.com/134428/snowden-id-like-to-go-home/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-29T00:09:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:38:14.601Z article:section: Politics og:title: Snowden: ‘I’d Like to Go Home’ og:description: The NSA leaker says he sees himself as a patriot in his first interview with a U.S. television network airing Wednesday night og:url: https://time.com/134428/snowden-id-like-to-go-home/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Snowden: ‘I’d Like to Go Home’ twitter:description: The NSA leaker says he sees himself as a patriot in his first interview with a U.S. television network airing Wednesday night twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Snowden: 'There Are Some Things Worth Dying For' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Snowden Speaks: “There Are Some Things Worth Dying For” [Watch (HLS stream): Snowden Speaks: “There Are Some Things Worth Dying For”](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HEz0anrx.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2014-05-30. The man responsible for the largest security breach in U.S. history says he had no choice, and he did it for his country. Wednesday night’s broadcast on NBC marked the first interview by the now infamous NSA leaker with an American network._  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks May 29, 2014 12:09 AM UTC  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks May 29, 2014 12:09 AM UTC Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, stands by his decision to leak a huge collection of classified National Security Agency documents that revealed extensive, global U.S. government surveillance programs. “There are some things worth dying for,” Snowden said in an interview with _NBC News_’ Brian Williams that aired late Wednesday, “I think the country is one of them.” The interview was his [first](http://time.com/109490/edward-snowden-brian-williams/) with a U.S. television network since he fled from Hawaii to Hong Kong a year ago with classified materials. Snowden has been living for the better part of a year under asylum in Russia and said if given the opportunity he’d like to go home. “If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home,” he said. The leaker made [similar comments](http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/23/snowden-wants-to-come-home/) in an interview in January. Snowden told Williams he attempted to travel to Latin America to seek asylum after leaving Hong Kong, but was left stranded in Moscow airport after the U.S. revoked his passport. The Kremlin granted Snowden temporary asylum, which expires at the end of July and which Snowden says he will ask to extend. He has been charged in the United States with theft and [espionage](http://time.com/121231/edward-snowden-interview/). Secretary of State John Kerry had harsh words in response to Snowden’s statement that he’d like to return to the United States. “Edward Snowden is a coward,” [Kerry told MSNBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/kerry-snowden-coward-traitor-n116366). “He is a traitor. And he has betrayed his country. And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so.” In his denunciation of Snowden, Kerry said, “Patriots don’t go to Russia,” but Snowden told NBC that he sees himself as a patriot. “I’ve from day one said that I’m doing this to serve my country,” he said. In his lengthy interview Wednesday, Snowden scolded his critics for exploiting the trauma of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to justify the surveillance programs he exposed. Intelligence officials have defended the programs as essential tools in the effort to combat terrorism. “I’ve never told anybody this. No journalist,” he said. “But I was on Fort Meade on September 11th. I was right outside the NSA. So I remember — I remember the tension of that day. I remember hearing on the radio the planes hitting. And I remember thinking my grandfather, who worked for the FBI at the time, was in the Pentagon when the plane hit it. I take the threat of terrorism seriously. And I think we all do.” Snowden fired back at assertions made by American officials that he was little more than low-level tech support for the intelligence community, saying he was “trained as a spy” and worked undercover for both the NSA and the Central Intelligence Agency. He also rejected the assertion, made to [TIME](http://time.com/49121/mike-rogers/) by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, that he is being controlled by Russian intelligence officials. “I have no relationship with the Russian government at all,” he said. Despite his stated desire to come back, Snowden brushed off questions about whether or not he would make a deal with the U.S. government in order to return. “My priority is not about myself,” he said. “It’s about making sure that these programs are reformed — and that the family that I left behind, the country that I left behind, can be helped by my actions.” ## Transcript The man responsible for the largest security breach in US history says he had no choice and he did it for his country. Had the government not gone too far and over reached uh, we wouldn't be in a situation where whistleblowers were necessary. There are some things worth dying for. And I think the country is one of them. During the hour long broadcast Wednesday night, Snowden told NBC's Brian Williams, in his first interview with an American network, that he felt he had no choice but to expose the NSA's massive surveillance system. US officials have estimated Snowden leaked 1. 7 million top secret documents. And have charged him with espionage, that happened last summer. While Snowden said that he wants to return home, he dodged the question when Williams asked how anxious he is to make a deal to return to the US and leave temporary asylum in Moscow. My priority is not about myself. It's about making sure that these programs are reformed and that the family that I left behind, the country that I left behind, can be helped by my actions. US Secretary of State John Kerry and other officials denounced Snowden ahead of NBC's broadcast, seeming to seize on pre- released sound bites of Snowden saying he considered himself a patriot. Patriots don't go to Russia. Edward Snowden is a coward, he is a traitor and he has betrayed his country. And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so. The New York Times reports NBC negotiated with Snowden's associates for months to get the interview, with what the paper called cloak and dagger tactics. Including unannounced plane travel, lost luggage, hotel bookings under assumed names, and two days sequestered in a room with a view of Red Square. Snowden acknowledged concerns he's abroad and receiving shelter from a country most would consider as having uneasy relations with the US at best. However Snowden says he's had no contact with the Russian government and he destroyed his own copies of the documents so no one could leverage him. The political and diplomatic damage in wake of Snowden's leak has been well documented, but government officials won't detail what actual damages the leaked documents caused to national security. Snowden also said if there's any indication his temporary asylum appears in danger of expiring this summer, he'll apply for an extension to stay in Russia. Thanks for watching. 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