US Spying, Declining Moose Population, News Roundup

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• Expert: U.S. Has Crossed Line With Latest Spying Allegations

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  Tensions between the United States and its allies continue to mount after the latest release of secret memos reveal that the National Security Agency has been monitoring hundreds of phone calls internationally, including 35 top world leaders.

  The newest report in the British newspaper, the Guardian, this week reveals more internal documents leaked by former government contractor and self-professed whistleblower Edward Snowden indicating that the NSA was acquiring information that would only be available from private communications of world leaders, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel..

  According to Jeremi Suri, professor for global leadership, history and public policy at the University of Texas at Austin, the latest revelations have already had a significant short-term effect on U.S. diplomatic relations, particularly in Europe.

  “It has lead Angela Merkel and many Germans wondering how close the relationship really is between the United States and Germany,” said Suri. “Many people wonder if this is a breach of trust and evidence that despite the ‘public’ alliance, whether behind the scenes is much more American effort to act in distrustful ways.”

  Suri said in the case of Merkel, there are personal considerations that enflame the situation further still.

  “Particularly traumatic for Germans, especially for someone like Angela Merkel who comes from what was East Germany because of the experience they had with Stazi (secret police) survelliance during the Cold War,” said Suri.

  Suri indicated that all foreign goveernments spy on both adversaries and allies, but as the French and German governments have demanded talks with the U.S. by the end of the year over the spying activities, it’s clear that they believe the U.S. has gone beyond what was the norm.

  “I tend to believe that post 9/11, we sort of took off all the brakes and really did everything we could to acquire as much information as possible from whomever and whichever way possible, and we probably crossed the line,” said Suri.

• US Spies on 35 World Leaders

  Diplomatic tensions continue to grow for the United States as report reveals NSA spying on 35 World Leaders. We assess the damage with a foreign policy expert.

• Moose Mystery: Numbers On The Decline in Minnesota, Elsewhere

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  There are moose near Minnesota’s border with Wisconsin–and their population is on the decline there and elsewhere in the United States. Central Time’s guest is trying to find the culprit.