Snowden's Father Says His Son is Not a Traitor

Says Snowden has not betrayed the U.S.

The father of Edward Snowden acknowledged Friday that his son broke U.S. law, but maintained that he is not a traitor for releasing classified information about the government's previously secret surveillance programs.

"At this point I don't feel that he's committed treason. He has in fact broken U.S. law, in a sense that he has released classified information," Lonnie Snowden told NBC's Michael Isikoff in an exclusive interview that aired on TODAY. "And if folks want to classify him as a traitor, in fact he has betrayed his government. But I don't believe that he's betrayed the people of the United States. "