Ellington

George Bush is trying defend the vast spying on Americans that was revealed this year.

President Bush defended the scope of the government's domestic surveillance programs that have riled privacy advocates and threatened to impede the Senate confirmation of Bush's new pick to lead the CIA. "The privacy of all Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. We are not trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

Bush's broadcast comes two days after news reports revealed the ultra-secret National Security Agency was collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans.

USA Today reported Thursday that the NSA was building a database with the help of three major U.S. telephone companies — a revelation that highlights the problem of balancing American civil liberties with efforts to protect citizens from terrorist attacks.