The White House, facing a fast-escalating controversy over the scale and scope of secret surveillance programs, denied spying on Americans but insisted it must use every tool available to keep the US homeland safe.
Stung by a dizzying 24 hours of revelations on covert programs, the top US spy James Clapper issued a blistering rebuttal of the reports and warned leaks over a separate program to mine domestic phone records hurt US security.
The...
