Former NSA and CIA director Mike Hayden said it was possible Obama did not know about the alleged Merkel phone tapping.

But he said it was "impossible" that Obama's top staffers were unaware. "The fact that they didn't rush in to tell the president this was going on points out what I think is a fundamental fact: This wasn't exceptional. This is what we were expected to do."

Hayden's defense of the president comes days after he reportedly criticized the White House's handling of NSA revelations, when a former Democratic political operative tweeted snatches of Hayden's phone conversation, overheard on an Amtrak train.

Pfeiffer appeared on ABC's "This Week," while Rogers, Feinstein and Hayden were interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation."

美国国家安全局（NSA）前雇员爱德华·斯诺登日前发表公开信，寻求国际社会支持，以说服美国撤销对其控诉。据英国广播公司报道，美国政府11月3日明确回绝了斯诺登的要求，强调对其“绝不宽恕”。

今年6月初，斯诺登将美国国安局“棱镜”大规模监控项目公之于众。而后，美国政府对其提出从事间谍活动、窃取政府财产等三项指控。今年8月，斯诺登获得俄罗斯当局临时庇护，至少能够在俄避难至2017年7月31日。

成为俄罗斯临时难民后，斯诺登一直深居简出、行事低调。然而上周，他却在莫斯科与德国国会议员汉斯-克里斯蒂安·施特勒贝勒会面，并委托施特勒贝勒捎去一封写给德国总理默克尔、德国议会和德国联邦检察官的公开信。

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