Obama steps up military aid to Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's decision to authorize lethal aid to Syrian rebels marks a deepening of U.S. involvement in the two-year civil war. But U.S. officials are still grappling with what type and how much weaponry to send the opposition forces and how to ensure it stays out of the hands of extremists battling for control of Syria.

U.S. officials confirmed Obama's authorization Thursday after the White House announced it had conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime used chemical weapons against opposition forces. Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line," suggesting greater American intervention.

While a small percentage of the 93,000 people reportedly killed in Syria are said to have died from chemical weapons — U.S. intelligence puts the number at 100 to 150 — the White House views the deployment of the deadly agents as a flouting of international norms. Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said the multiple chemical weapons attacks gave greater urgency to the situation.

"Suffice it to say this is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing," Rhodes said of the ramped-up U.S. response. But he added the U.S. would make specific determinations "on our own timeline."

The Obama administration could give the rebels a range of weapons, including small arms, assault rifles, shoulder-fired remote-propelled grenades and other anti-tank missiles. The opposition forces could operate most of that equipment without significant training.

Obama's opposition to sending American troops into Syria makes it less likely the U.S. will provide sophisticated arms or anti-aircraft weapons that would require large-scale training. Administration officials are also worried about high-powered weapons ending up in the hands of terrorist groups. Hezbollah fighters are among those backing Assad's armed forces, and al-Qaida-linked extremists back the rebellion.

The CIA and special operations trainers are already running some weapons training programs for the rebels and are expected to take charge of teaching the opposition how to use the weapons the U.S. has agreed to supply, another U.S. official said.

There is also some debate within the administration about who would provide the lethal aid and how it might be delivered, the U.S. officials said.

All the officials insisted on anonymity to discuss internal administration discussions.

Obama has resisted arming the rebels until now, a cautious approach that underscores the deep divisions within his administration. The proponents of more aggressive action, including Secretary of State John Kerry, appeared to have won out over those wary of sending weapons and ammunition into the war zone.

The U.S. has made no decision on operating a no-fly zone over Syria, Rhodes said.

The U.S. has so far provided the Syrian rebel army with rations and medical supplies. The administration has also agreed in principle to provide body armor and other equipment such as night-vision goggles to the rebels, although the Pentagon has said there has been no movement on that as yet.

Word of the stepped-up assistance followed new U.S. intelligence assessments showing that Assad has used chemical weapons, including sarin, on a small scale multiple times in the last year, killing an estimated 100 to 150 people.

Obama advisers believe Assad's regime still maintains control of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and does not see any evidence that rebel forces have launched attacks using the deadly agents.

The administration announced in April that it had "varying degrees of confidence" that sarin had been used in Syria. But they said at the time that they had not been able to determine who was responsible for deploying the gas.

The more conclusive findings announced Thursday were aided by evidence sent to the United States by France, which, along with Britain, has announced it had determined that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.

Obama has said repeatedly that the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" and constitute a "game changer" for U.S. policy on Syria, which until now has focused entirely on providing the opposition with nonlethal assistance and humanitarian aid.

The White House said it had notified Congress, the United Nations and key international allies about the new U.S. chemical weapons determination. Obama will discuss the assessments, along with broader problems in Syria, during the summit of eight leading industrial nations next week in Northern Ireland.

Among those in attendance will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of Assad's most powerful backers. Obama and Putin will hold a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the summit, and the U.S. leader is expected to press his Russian counterpart to drop his political and military support for the Syrian government.

The Syrian fighters have been clamoring for bolder Western intervention, particularly given the estimated 5,000 Hezbollah guerrillas propping up Assad's forces. Assad's stunning military success last week at Qusair, near the Lebanese border, and preparations for offensives against Homs and Aleppo have made the matter more urgent.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he supported the president's decision "to expand assistance for the vetted Syrian opposition." But other lawmakers expressed reservations, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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Colorado wildfire destroys at least 360 homes

A U.S. Army Chinook helicopter delivers a load of water to the Black Forest wildfire area, north of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, June 13, 2013. The blaze in the Black Forest area northeast of Colorado Springs is now the most destructive in Colorado history, surpassing last year's Waldo Canyon fire, which burned 347 homes, killed two people and led to $353 million in insurance claims. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

AmeriCorps volunteer firefighters assigned to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Woodland Fire Crew, help contain a spot fire in an evacuated area of forest, ranches and residences, in the Black Forest wildfire area, north of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, June 13, 2013. The blaze in the Black Forest area northeast of Colorado Springs is now the most destructive in Colorado history, surpassing last year's Waldo Canyon fire, which burned 347 homes, killed two people and led to $353 million in insurance claims. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A voracious wildfire driven in all directions by shifting winds destroyed at least 360 homes — a number that was likely to climb as the most destructive blaze inColoradohistory burned out of control for a third day through miles of tinder-dry woods.

The destruction northeast of Colorado Springs on Thursday surpassed last June's Waldo Canyon fire, which burned 347 homes, killed two people and caused $353 million in insurance claims just 15 miles to the southwest. The heavy losses were blamed in part on explosive population growth in areas with historically high fire risk.

"I never in my wildest dreams imagined we'd be dealing a year later with a very similar circumstance," said El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, who drew audible gasps as he announced the number of homes lost to the blaze in Black Forest.

Hours later, residents were ordered to leave 1,000 homes in Colorado Springs. Thursday's evacuation was the first within the city limits. About 38,000 other people living across roughly 70 square miles were already under orders to get out.

Colorado's second-largest city, with a population of 430,000, also asked residents of 2,000 more homes to be ready to evacuate. The streets became gridlocked with hundreds of cars while emergency vehicles raced by on shoulders.

Gene Schwarz, 72, said he had never fully unpacked after last year's fires. He and his neighbors wondered whether open space grassland to the north of them could be a barrier from the flames.

"It doesn't matter because a spark can fly over from anywhere," said Schwarz.

Hot, gusty winds fanned the 23-square-mile wildfire, sending it into new areas and back into places that had previously been spared. Even investigators sent in to determine the cause of the fire were pulled out for safety reasons.

No injuries or deaths have been reported, and a person reported missing has been found safe. The Red Cross said more than 800 people stayed at shelters.

Black Forest, where the blaze began, offers a case study in the challenges of tamping down wildfires in Colorado and across the West, especially with growing populations, rising temperatures and a historic drought.

Developers describe Black Forest as the largest contiguous stretch of ponderosa pine in the United States — a thick, wide carpet of vegetation rolling down from the Rampart Range that thins out to the high grasslands of Colorado's eastern plains. Once home to rural towns and summer cabins, it is now dotted with million-dollar homes and gated communities — the result of the state's population boom over the past two decades.

El Paso County, its economy driven largely by military and defense spending, saw double-digit growth in the last decade and is now Colorado's largest county, with more than 637,000 people.

"There's so many more people living here in the last 30 years, you couldn't believe it," said Bruce Buksar, who's lived in Black Forest since 1981.

Untold thousands of homes in Colorado's heavily populated Front Range are at risk for fires, saidGregory Simon, an assistant professor of geography who studies urban wildfires at the University of Colorado-Denver. Many are built on windy mountain roads or cul-de-sacs — appealing to homebuyers seeking privacy but often hampering efforts to stamp out fire. Residents in the outdoor-loving state are also attracted by the ability to hike from their backyards and have horses.

"Unfortunately, these environments give the appearance of being peaceful, tranquil and bucolic and natural. But they belie the reality that they are combustible, volatile and at times dangerous," Simon said.

Nigel Thompson was drawn to Black Forest by the rural feel, privacy, lack of crime and space to raise a family.

"A safe place for my kids to grow up, lots of room for them to run around," said Thompson, a computer programmer who moved to a house on a 60-acre lot in 1997.

Five years later, he took in evacuees from a devastating fire in the foothills to the northwest. That drove home the fact that his family was living in a tinderbox. Thompson cut down 20 pine trees to form a firebreak around his house, which he topped with fire retardant roof tiles. He diligently cleared away brush, downed branches and pine cones, like many here do in community cleanups every spring.

"It didn't make a damn difference at the end of the day," Thompson said Thursday. His home was incinerated Tuesday.

"If you're surrounded by people who haven't done anything, it doesn't matter what you do," Thompson said. "It's interesting that you can have a house in a forest and the building code doesn't say anything about the roof design."

That's what makes fire prevention so difficult, said Anne Walker of the Western Governors' Association.

"Local government has ultimate authority over where homes are placed," she said. "You need to look at local ordinances and where homes are placed and what they're made of."

El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn said the commission has tried to ensure that new developments have brush clearance and easy emergency access.

"Sometimes it's just nature," he said. "When you have a fire like this in a semi-arid environment, there's not a lot you can do."

Maketa said firefighters were hampered by a matted layer of pine needles and grass fuel on the forest floor — fuel called "duff." Spot fires below the trees can smolder for days and even weeks inside it, then blow up. Firefighters see dry matting, Maketa said, "and when you look 10 minutes later, it's full of flames."

The military pitched in, manning roadblocks with Humvees, providing firefighters, plowing fire lines with bulldozers and flying two C-130 cargo planes and several helicopters to drop slurry and water. The aid came from nearby Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Buckley Air Force Base and the Colorado National Guard.

Other fires burned in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon and California.

In Canon City, 50 miles southwest of Black Forest, the 5-square-mile Royal Gorge Fire was 20 percent contained. Royal Gorge Bridge & Park officials said that of its 52 buildings, 48 are now gone. The park's suspension bridge 955 feet above the Arkansas River is still up, though the fire damaged some wooden planks. An aerial tram was destroyed. Park officials vowed to reopen.

A lightning-sparked fire in Rocky Mountain National Park was burning on about 300 acres, less than originally estimated.

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Associated Press writers Haven Daley and Colleen Slevin contributed to this report.

While working for spies, Snowden was secretly prolific online

By John Shiffman, Mark Hosenball and Kristina Cooke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While working for U.S. intelligence agencies, Edward Snowden had another secret identity: an online commentator who anonymously railed against citizen surveillance and corporate greed.

Throughout the eight years that Snowden worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency contractors, he posted hundreds of messages on a public Internet forum under a pseudonym.

"I can't hope to change the way things are going by overtly complaining, writing letters, or blowing things up," Snowden wrote in 2003 in response to a discussion about corporate greed on the Ars Technica online forum.

"That's not the way a good person does things. I will, however, do what I can with the tools that are available to me."

New information discovered by Reuters about Snowden's employment record, online postings and education comes as U.S. lawmakers grill intelligence officials about how a 29-year-old high school dropout managed to gain access to such top secrets as the NSA's electronic surveillance programs.

According to sources briefed on the matter, Snowden was employed by an unidentified classified agency in Washington from 2005 to mid-2006, by the CIA from 2006 to 2009, when he primarily worked overseas, and by Dell Inc (DELL.O) from 2009 to 2013, when he worked in the United States and Japan as an NSA contractor.

He was also a prolific commentator on technology forum Ars Technica, posting approximately 750 messages using the screen name "The True HOOHA" from late 2001 to 2012.

Most of the postings were not political in nature: he dispensed advice about government careers, polygraphs and the 2008 stock market crash. He claimed to own the same gun as James Bond and posted glamour photos of himself. He jokingly compared the video console Xbox Live to NSA surveillance.

One of his postings, however, dealt with the now familiar issue of corporate compliance with government eavesdropping programmes. On February 4, 2010, while working for Dell, Snowden commented on a discussion about a major technology company that allegedly was giving the U.S. government access to its computer servers.

"It really concerns me how little this sort of corporate behavior bothers those outside of technology circles," Snowden wrote. "Society really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types."

It is not clear if his former employers knew about his online persona. The CIA, NSA, Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH.N) - which most recently employed Snowden - declined to comment.

One former national security official said the government should have scrubbed his record harder. But Stewart Baker, former general counsel for the NSA, said holding such views did not automatically disqualify someone for a sensitive government job.

"Maybe the government will have to look at that again but that's a difficult thing to decide," Baker said.

UNDER SCRUTINY

According to the sources, Snowden told employers he took computer classes at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, earned a certificate from the University of Maryland's campus in Tokyo, and expected in 2013 to earn a master's degree in computer security from the University of Liverpool in England.

A Johns Hopkins spokeswoman said she could not find a record of Snowden's attendance but he may have taken correspondence courses for which records are not kept. A Maryland official confirmed Snowden attended at least one summer class. A Liverpool spokeswoman said Snowden registered for an online master's degree in computer security in 2011, but did not complete it.

Born in 1983 in North Carolina, Snowden grew up in a Maryland suburb near the NSA headquarters. He left high school in 10th grade and later earned a G.E.D. At 18, he worked as a webmaster for Ryuhana Press, a start-up promoting Japanese anime artists.

Snowden began posting on Ars Technica on December 29, 2001. He sought technical help for his work at the anime site and a website company called Clockwork Chihuahua.

As early as 2002, Snowden wrote online of his desire to work in Japan: "It is pretty far-fetched, but I've always dreamed of being able to make it in Japan."

An avid gamer, he posted on the ethics of video game piracy in 2003: "I feel the megacorporation is promoting hyper-materialism and I don't like that. That means I want to punish the company in any way I can."

"Legality does not factor into this, getting away with it (OMG dispensing justice LOL!) in order to do it again does," Snowden added. "If my actions contribute to driving the corporation I view as "evil" into the ground, I'll sleep easier at night knowing I have (in my mind) done society a service."

On Ars Technica, Snowden gave more advice than he sought. To others hoping to land U.S. government jobs, he bemoaned high living costs and commuting hassles in Washington.

"My life is great except for the fact that while I'm making twice the average income, I could not afford a house in my zip code without robbing a bank," he wrote in 2006.

State-by-state look at Iowa to Mid-Atlantic storm

Threatening skies appear over Barrington, Ill. as severe weather approaches the Suburbs of Chicago on Wednesday, June 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Daily Herald, Bob Chwedyk) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT, TV OUT

Nancy Barkema, foreground, helps clean up her brother-in-law's farm in Alexander, Iowa, after a tornado was reported in the area on Wednesday June 12, 1013 in Alexander and Belmond. (AP Photo/The Des Moines Register, Bryon Houlgrave)

Massive thunderstorms have swept across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, knocking out power to thousands of people and causing some flash flooding in certain areas. Here's a snapshot of what is happening, state by state:

GEORGIA

Severe thunderstorms on Thursday left about 160,000 customers in north and middle Georgia without power. Lightning lit up the nighttime sky over Atlanta, and falling trees left two people with non-life threatening injuries in Canton. There were reports of a possible tornado in Cherokee County.

ILLINOIS

National Weather Service authorities reported several small tornadoes and quarter-size hail as severe weather moved acrossnorthern Illinois. Meanwhile, airlines canceled more than 120 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Wednesday night's White Sox game was postponed, along with Northwestern University classes and finals scheduled on its Chicago and Evanston campuses. Game 1 of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup series was played at the United Center. Power outages: About 34,000 in northern Illinois.

INDIANA

The National Weather Service says several farm buildings near Wabash, Ind., were destroyed by 90 to 100 mph straight-line winds. Building damage and downed trees were reported after winds topping 60 mph and golf ball-size hail pelted places from Gary to Fort Wayne. Thousands of customers across northern Indiana were without power at one point, though utility officials said most had been restored by Thursday.

IOWA

Weather officials say preliminary reports indicate multiple tornadoes touched down in northern Iowa on Wednesday, though an official tally isn't immediately available. A team has been surveying damage in the Belmond area in Wright County, where reports indicate more than one tornado may have hit the area. There has been significant damage to a few houses and businesses on the north side of town. It includes collapsed walls, broken windows and debris.

The team is headed to the Hampton area in nearby Franklin County, where there also have been reports of damage. No injuries or fatalities have been reported.

MARYLAND

Storms on Thursday caused three reported tornadoes, downed trees, tens of thousands of power outagesand closed roads. Also, a 19-year-old woman was sent to the hospital after being struck by lightning.

MICHIGAN

Consumers Energy spokesman Roger Morgenstern said about 32,000 of the utility's 1.8 million Michigan customers remained without power Thursday afternoon. Allegan and Van Buren were the hardest-hit counties, with about 14,000 outages between them. Morgenstern said many customers will have power restored by the evening, while some in the hardest-hit areas will have to wait until Friday afternoon. Many trees struck power lines, bringing them down - along with poles in some cases.

MINNESOTA

A storm dumped heavy rain to parts of southern Minnesota on Wednesday morning, including nearly 3.25 inches at Hutchinson airfield. Hail and wind gusts of up to 65 mph were also reported.

NORTH CAROLINA

A wave of storms Thursday evening downed trees and left more than 157,000 customers without power, mostly in the Piedmont region.

OHIO

Storms left thousands without power early Thursday in the Buckeye State. An emergency management official in Morrow County told The Columbus Dispatch late Wednesday that there were reports of two possible tornadoes in the central Ohio county. Downed trees were blocking some area roads, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

PENNSYLVANIA

The entire state of Pennsylvania remains under a flood watch through Thursday. Lightning from a fast-moving storm may have sparked a fire that killed a western Pennsylvania man early Thursday, the state fire marshal said. The fire happened in New Brighton, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. .

In Ardmore, stormy weather halted the first round of the U.S. Open less than two hours after it began but it resumed about three hours later. Meanwhile, flights at Philadelphia International Airport were delayed an hour and a half to two hours.

RHODE ISLAND

A flood warning has been issued for areas for the Pawtuxet River and areas along the Pawcatuck River. Some areas along the Pawtuxet have already experienced minor flooding.

VIRGINIA

Storms were blamed for the death Thursday afternoon of a 4-year-old boy who was struck by a tree that toppled while he was visiting a Richmond park with his father, who suffered non-life threatening injuries. Statewide, more than 300,000 customers lost power.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Storms came and went in Washington before the evening rush hour, bringing winds and thunder that knocked trees onto houses and cut power to thousands of homes and traffic signals. Flightstats.com reported that more than 100 flights were cancelled at the Baltimore-Washington area's three airports, and there were hundreds more flights delayed.

WEST VIRGINIA

The West Virginia National Guard sent personnel to assist in Roane County after several inches of rain prompted flash flooding Thursday. A county 911 center was evacuated and some roads in the Spencer area have been closed because of flash flooding.

WISCONSIN

A partial roof collapse at a Wal-Mart in Lake Delton left two employees with minor injuries as heavy rain and high winds spread across southern Wisconsin. Street flooding was reported in parts of the village of Boscobel in Grant County and in Portage and Pardeeville in Columbia County.

TIMELINE: Edward Snowden's Life As We Know It

Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, slipped out of the U.S. in late May, traveling to Hong Kong with computers full of secret documents in order to expose what he called "horrifying" U.S. government surveillance capabilities.

He began in the shadows, leaking top secret files to The Guardian and The Washington Post, but just a few days after the first stories broke, Snowden stepped into the media spotlight himself, confessing to being the papers' source and telling viewers a little bit about himself.

Since then, little by little, the details of Snowden's life – the parts he left out -- have emerged, providing a picture of a smart kid who dropped out of high school only to embark on his own patchwork college education on his way to working for one of the most shadowy espionage agencies in the world. Here's what we know so far:

June 21, 1983: Edward Snowden is born. He would spend some of his childhood in Elisabeth City, N.C. and then move with his family to Maryland. (Source: Army records, The Guardian)

1991-1998: Snowden attends schools in the Anne Arundel County Public School System in Maryland from the elementary level to high school, where he dropped out his sophomore year. He'll later say he earned his GED. (Source: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, The Guardian)

1999-2005: Snowden takes a variety of classes from Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. He does not take any cyber security or computer science classes, however, and he never earns a certificate or degree. (Source: Anne Arundel Community College)

RELATED: U.S. Fears Edward Snowden May Defect to China: Sources

2002: Snowden attends Catonsville Community College, according to his Army records, but a spokesperson for the school told ABC News that the name for that school had been changed in 1998 and there was "no record" of any student by that name. (Source: Army records, Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville)

February-May 2002: A student with the name Ed Snowden takes a Windows systems engineering course at a for-profit entity called Advanced Career Technologies. The school offered career training in Columbia, Maryland, under the name "Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins University." Hopkins ended its relationship with the company in 2009 and it shut down in 2012. A source told ABC News Snowden had said he attended classes at Johns Hopkins on the campus in Columbia, Maryland. A spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins University said they have "no record" of Edward Snowden taking classes there. (Source: ABC News sources, Maryland Higher Education Commission)

May 7, 2004: Snowden enlists in the U.S. Army Reserve's 18-X program, designed to fast track recruits who want to join the U.S. Special Forces, popularly known as the Green Berets. Later Snowden will say he broke both his legs in training and was discharged. Army records show his discharge in September of that year. (Source: Army records, The Guardian)

Post-Military: Without providing dates, Snowden told The Guardian that following his brief flirtation with the military, he got a job working as a security guard for a covert NSA facility at the University of Maryland. From there, he joined the CIA and worked in IT security. (Source: The Guardian)

2006: Writing online under the username TheTrueHOOHA, Snowden allegedly posts on a forum that despite not having a high school diploma, "employers fight" over him because of his computer talent and networking skills. In another post, he lists the countries in which he would like to live in order: Japan, Thailand, Korea, China and Australia. (Source: Arstechnica.com)

March 2007- February 2009: Snowden serves undercover with the CIA in Geneva, Switzerland "maintaining computer network security." He claims it was here, after allegedly learning of a dangerous CIA recruitment gambit, that he first becomes disillusioned with U.S. intelligence. (Source: The Guardian, Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs)

2009: Snowden says he left the CIA for the private sector, getting a job working as a contractor for the NSA in Japan. (Source: The Guardian)

RELATED: In Their Own Words, Is Alleged NSA Leaker a Hero or Traitor?

Summer 2009: A man named Edward Snowden attends one term in the Asia Program at theUniversity of Maryland University College. A source who shared information with ABC News on the condition of anonymity said the program was in Tokyo and the man who attended is the same one sought by U.S. officials. (Source: ABC News sources, University of Maryland University College)

February 4, 2010: TheTrueHOOHA writes online that society "really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types… Did we get to where we are today via slippery slope that was entirely within our control to stop, or was it [a] relatively instantaneous sea change that sneaked in undetected because of pervasive government surveillance?" (Source: Arstechnica.com)

2011: Snowden works towards, but never receives, a Master's Degree at the University of Liverpool by taking online classes, including taking a class in computer security. (Source: University of Liverpool)

January 2013: Snowden contacts documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras anonymously offering to share information on the intelligence community. The next month, he contacts The Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald and around the same time, Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman. Greenwald and Gellman have given conflicting reports on the order and content of the communications. (Source:Salon.com, The Guardian, The Washington Post, POLITICO.com)

March 2013: Living in Hawaii, Snowden gets a new job with the technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton working at a secure NSA facility. (Source: Booz Allen Hamilton, The Guardian)

May 20, 2013: Telling his employers he needs some time off and giving a vague excuse to his girlfriend, Snowden skips town and flies to Hong Kong. (Source: The Guardian)

June 6, 2013: The Guardian publishes its first story based on information allegedly obtained from Snowden. The story reveals a top secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court document compelling Verizon to hand over phone records for millions of its customers in the U.S. A flurry of news reports from The Guardian and The Washington Post on other secret programs follow.

June 9, 2013: Snowden steps from the shadows in Hong Kong in a taped interview with The Guardian, saying he leaked information on the NSA's "horrifying" surveillance programs because he doesn't "want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded." Snowden then disappears again in Hong Kong. (Source: The Guardian)

June 12, 2013: Snowden reappears, but only in print, giving an interview to the South China Morning Post in which he claims he has evidence that the U.S. has been hacking Chinese networks for years. Snowden also says he has no plans to leave Hong Kong and, as to extradition, he is placing his fate in the hands of the Hong Kong government and people. (Source: South China Morning Post)

ABC News' Randy Kreider contributed to this report.

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