In this week’s episode of Intelligence Matters, guest host Ret. Navy Admiral Sandy Winnefeld speaks with Derek Maltz, former Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration for an important conversation about the national security implications of the opioid crisis gripping communities across the United States. Maltz explains the connectivity between drug traffickers and terrorist networks, China’s growing export of fentanyl a...
Nov 07, 2018•36 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with David Cohen, former Deputy Director of the CIA and Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence about whether, when, and how targeted financial sanctions work. Cohen explains why the U.S. sanctions snapping back on Iran's oil industry may not have the same bite they did years ago, and why the Trump's administration's once-effective North Korea sanctions may have been weakened by the Singapore summit. Cohen descr...
Oct 30, 2018•38 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, guest host retired Navy Admiral Sandy Winnefeld interviews Norman Roule, who spent decades at the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence managing significant programs related to the Middle East. Roule, who recently returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, explains how developments in the Khashoggi matter are being received by Saudi citizens and what senior officials in the Kingdom may do in response to widespread calls for transparency and a...
Oct 22, 2018•32 min
In this week's episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with top Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about the state of Iran's economy, its domestic politics, and its diplomatic posture vis a vis the West. Sadjadpour offers insight into the evolving dynamics within Tehran's leadership structure and growing discontent in Iranian society, including whether unrest or revolution may be on the horizon. He also assesses the ...
Oct 16, 2018•43 min
In this bonus episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with the former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers about the case of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared in early October after walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Amid reports that Turkish officials have audio and video tapes showing Saudi agents are responsible for the murder of Khasshoggi -- a U.S. resident who had written critically ...
Oct 12, 2018•17 min
In this week's episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Senator James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, who serves on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Morell and Lankford discuss the state of the nation's election security, the gamut of ongoing foreign misinformation efforts, and whether social media platforms need regulating. Lankford discusses the need for auditable ballots and his work to move a recently-stalled bipartisan election security bill through the Senate...
Oct 09, 2018•44 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Christopher Johnson, Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the current status of and the future possibilities for the U.S.-China relationship. They discuss the implications of a newly competitive economic relationship, the compatibility of domestic, regional and global objectives, and whether compromise is possible - or conflict is inevitable. Johnson ...
Oct 02, 2018•36 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the national security threats posed by global pandemic, epidemics, superbugs, man-made pathogens and bioterrorism. Fauci provides his assessment of the United States' and the world's level of preparedness for all of them. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy L...
Sep 25, 2018•37 min
In this week's episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, Stephen Hadley. They discuss the need for continued American engagement on the global scene and the merits of a rules-based international system based on democracy, respect for human rights, and free markets. Hadley and Morell also review the major obstacles impeding a functional US-Russia relationship, as well as opportunities to interface strategically w...
Sep 18, 2018•39 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell has a wide-ranging conversation with Jake Sullivan, former senior policy adviser on Secretary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. They discuss key lessons learned from Russia's 2016 election interference, the Obama administration's response, and how future political leaders should be thinking about the presidency. Sullivan, who was deeply involved in brokering the 2015 Iran nu...
Sep 11, 2018•44 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with William Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, about the top counterintelligence threats facing the United States. Evanina shares his experience tracking the operational activities of Russian agents in the so-called "illegals" network that culminated in a U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange in 2010. He explains how Russia's ongoing tactical efforts today target critical infrastructure and elect...
Sep 04, 2018•42 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, speaks with host Michael Morell about top national security issues facing the intelligence community, the policymakers who oversee it, and the administration within which it operates. Warner shares his views on the responsibilities of currently-serving intelligence officials and the importance of adhering to the rule of law, and explains why the Senate Intellig...
Aug 28, 2018•50 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Barbara Leaf speaks with host Michael Morell about the importance of diplomacy, the state of governance in the Middle East, and the path forward for Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine. Leaf, who spent over three decades at the Department of State overseeing some of the most challenging diplomatic missions in the Middle East, explains why the United States has a "binding interest" in the regio...
Aug 21, 2018•34 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Stacey Dixon, newly named director of Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the so-called "DARPA-for-spies." Dixon explains how IARPA's work helps the intelligence community forecast global events like cyberattacks, civil unrest and bio-threats, and advance capabilities that use artificial intelligence and machine learning. She also addresses China's outsize investments in high-tech industries, which she...
Aug 14, 2018•32 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks to Juan Carlos Pinzon Bueno, Colombia's former minister of defense and its ambassador to the United States from 2015 to 2017. They discuss the status of the historic peace deal with FARC rebels, the growing political turbulence in Venezuela, and why trust remains at the crux of democracy. Pinzon and Morell also discuss the potential for a resurgence in drug trafficking, its implications for the United States, and other evolving ...
Aug 07, 2018•38 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Laura Rosenberger and Jamie Fly of the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy. The bipartisan duo discuss their latest project on disinformation campaigns being conducted worldwide, explain how European nations served as a training ground for operations in the United States and describe how other authoritarian regimes are taking examples from Russia's toolkit. They also detail how Russia's effort to sow soci...
Jul 31, 2018•39 min
In this bonus episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell addresses the Trump administration’s threat to revoke the security clearances of number of former senior government officials. Morell speaks personally about the value that former officials can offer to current administrations, whether and how clearances can be monetized, and how continuity among agency leaders can help serve the public interest. The episode features previous commentary from DNI James Clapper, NSA and CIA Directo...
Jul 27, 2018•10 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Pakistan's former Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, who takes stock of Pakistan's prevailing domestic ideologies, its fraught regional relationships, and explains how it deals with Washington today. Just ahead of the elections in Pakistan, Haqqani describes the entrenched challenges facing the country and explains what political leaders can do to confront them. He also shares themes from his latest book, Reim...
Jul 24, 2018•39 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the evolving military threats facing the United States and how potential adversaries are developing non-military means to counter U.S. capabilities. They also discuss the fracturing of the liberal world order and whether threats to it are coming from internal sources - like the United States itself. Winnefeld tells Morell how the U.S. military...
Jul 17, 2018•33 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell leads a rare interview with CIA's Chief of Talent Acquisition, Sheronda Dorsey, who describes how the agency finds, trains and retains its global network of employees. Dorsey, an agency veteran of nearly three decades, describes her own experience climbing the CIA's ranks as a young black female, and tells Morell how the CIA is working to boost diversity within its ranks and leadership today. She also shares the top qualifying and disq...
Jul 10, 2018•34 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, speaks with host Michael Morell about the state of America's election security, and why, as midterms get underway, he believes there is much more to be done. Quigley and Morell discuss the vulnerabilities that Russia's 2016 election interference laid bare and how, in the aftermath of the Intelligence Committee's contentious investigation, it can work to restore trust with the...
Jul 03, 2018•33 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor to President Barack Obama, speaks with host Michael Morell about some of the administration's pivotal policy decisions - including potential missteps - in Syria, Iran, Cuba and Russia. Rhodes explains Obama's calculus in confronting Russia during its 2016 election interference, assesses the administration's response to the conflict in Syria and tells Morell what part of Obama's legacy is most likely to endure. ...
Jun 26, 2018•46 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell has a wide-ranging conversation with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. They discuss Clapper's five-decade career in the intelligence community, his views on the U.S. approach to nuclear adversaries like Iran and North Korea, and how to best address ongoing threats to American democratic institutions. Clapper shares details about his tough conversations with President Obama and President-elect Trump, and explains w...
Jun 19, 2018•36 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Dr. Paul Heer, former National Intelligence Officer for East Asia in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, about the outcome of the historic U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore - as well as its winners, losers and necessary next steps. They also discuss the strategic, military and economic challenges posed by China, and how the United States should position itself and seek to craft its policy in the region. ...
Jun 12, 2018•31 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell talks to former CIA analyst and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Sue Mi Terry about the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore. Terry shares what advice she would give President Trump when preparing for talks with Kim Jong Un, and what the outcome of the meeting holds for U.S. and North Korean relations as well as for the region. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practice...
Jun 05, 2018•28 min
For a special Memorial Day episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with former deputy director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin about the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, which was founded in the aftermath of 9/11 to help the families of fallen officers. McLaughlin explains the foundation's unique mission and shares some of the inspiring stories of children it has helped. The two also discuss the intelligence challenges facing the CIA and its new director, Gina Haspel...
May 29, 2018•32 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell interviews former CIA clandestine officer and current member of Congress Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), who also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Hurd tells Morell how he went from conducting operations in Kabul to running for office in San Antonio, and how he sees the strategic challenges presented by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. He also reflects on his experience serving on the House Intelligence Commit...
May 22, 2018•36 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell interviews former Ambassador and Iran expert James Jeffrey, who also served as deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush. Jeffrey explains what implications the United States' withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal may have - in the region, among European allies, and in the world. Morell and Jeffrey also discuss what President Trump's subsequent strategy for negotiating with Iran might be and how the Iranians may choo...
May 15, 2018•30 min
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell interviews former Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, who served as Special Envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea. Their conversation covers the escalating strikes and varied regional interests behind the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit, what Kim Jong Un may be thinking - and willing to concede - and what President Trump must achieve in the leaders' historic and highly-anticipated meeting. Morell and DeTrani also discuss what the United S...
May 08, 2018•32 min
In the premiere episode of CBS News’ newly-relaunched Intelligence Matters podcast, former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell sits down with former NSA and CIA Director General Mike Hayden to discuss Hayden’s new book on post-truth, tribalism’s effect on American traditions and institutions and the challenges facing CIA nominee Gina Haspel. They offer new details about Haspel’s clandestine career and arguments for why she’s a timely choice to lead the agency. To learn more about listener data an...
May 01, 2018•35 min
