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CHRIS WALLACE: There's a report in the New York Times today that's been confirmed by administration officials that the Pentagon and the CIA have been obtaining financial records about hundreds of Americans suspected of involvement in either terrorism or espionage. Why involve the CIA and the Pentagon in domestic intelligence gathering?

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: Well, remember what these issues are. This is a question, as I understand it, of issuing national security letters that allow us to collect financial information, for example, on suspected -- or on people we have reason to suspect. The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets. We've got hundreds of thousands of people, innocent Americans, who work on those bases.

CHRIS WALLACE: But why not let the FBI do that, sir?

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: Well, they can do a certain amount of it, and they do, but the Department of Defense has a legitimate authority in this area. This is an authority that goes back three or four decades. It was reaffirmed in the PATRIOT Act that was renewed here about a year or so ago. It's a perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn't violate people's civil rights. And if an institution that receives one of these national security letters disagrees with it, they're free to go to court to try to stop its execution. So, you know, this is a dramatic story, but I think it's important for people to understand here there's a legitimate security effort that's been under way for a long time, and it does not represent a new departure from the standpoint of our efforts to protect ourselves against terrorist attacks.

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