Snowden set for first US TV interview

Edward Snowden will appear in his first TV interview with a U.S. news outlet next Wednesday, NBC News announced Thursday.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams traveled to Moscow this week for a wide-ranging interview that will air in an hourlong special at 10 p.m. ET on May 28. 

“Williams’ in-person conversation with Snowden was conducted over the course of several hours and was shrouded in secrecy due to Snowden’s life in exile since leaking classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs a year ago,” NBC News said.

{mosads}Williams jointly interviewed journalist Glenn Greenwald, who was the first person Snowden leaked the highly classified U.S. documents to last year.

Snowden stole the documents when he worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA). He began leaking them to journalists around the world last June, and fled the United States for Hong Kong and then Russia. 

Last August, the Russian government granted temporary asylum to Snowden, who faces espionage charges in the U.S.

Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this year rejected the idea of granting Snowden clemency, but said he would be open to holding talks with him if he returns and pleads guilty to the charges.

The documents Snowden leaked exposed the NSA’s domestic and overseas surveillance programs. On Thursday, the House passed legislation that reforms the NSA’s operations whereby the agency would have to stop collecting people’s phone records in the U.S.