Intelligence Matters

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Col. Chris Costa, executive director of the International Spy Museum, about the museum's reimagined exhibitions and upcoming reopening in a new location in Washington, DC. Costa explains how the museum obtained over 7,000 artifacts and uses them to tell a newly dimensional story of global spycraft. He covers the tactics, products and gadgetry of espionage, and tells Morell how the museum provides new insight into different facets of intelligence work.

In this special edition of Intelligence Matters, which is marking its one-year anniversary since being relaunched by CBS News, host Michael Morell speaks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the top foreign policy challenges facing the United States. Morell and Pompeo discuss the post-caliphate capabilities of ISIS, the way forward in Afghanistan and Syria, the Trump administration's policy priorities in Iran, and its strategy for countering immediate threats from North Korea and long-term threats from China. Secretary Pompeo also makes a case for America's continued global engagement.

In this week's episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell interviews Chris Darby, President and CEO of In-Q-Tel (IQT), the strategic investment arm of the C.I.A. and the broader intelligence and national security community. Darby explains the history of IQT, how it identifies and vets the companies it chooses to invest in, and how its priorities have evolved since 9/11. Morell and Darby discuss the top technology challenges facing the intelligence community as well as the intensifying strategic competition with China. Darby explains why imagination and creativity play a central role in keeping the intelligence community agile and the country safe.

In this bonus episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell leads a panel discussion with four top journalists and editors with decades of experience covering intelligence-related issues. Morell interviews NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Cipher Brief CEO and Publisher Suzanne Kelly, and the Washington Post’s National Security and Intelligence Columnist David Ignatius and National Security Editor Peter Finn about how the media balances accountability journalism with the need to protect national security. The event was sponsored by the Michael V. Hayden Center and the Schar School of Policy and Government.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Jamie Metzl, a geopolitics expert, technology futurist and author of a new book called Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity. Metzl and Morell discuss recent advances in reproductive technologies and genetic screening, as well as how their convergence with other technologies like artificial intelligence and big data processing could fundamentally change population health and growth. They also review the national security implications of certain advances in genetic engineering, including how societies worldwide may navigate the ethical questions raised by gene editing and embryo screening.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with former career CIA official Meroe Park, who served at the agency for nearly three decades in a variety of roles -- including analyst, executive assistant to former director George Tenet, chief of payroll and, most recently, chief operating officer. Park was also acting director when President Trump made his first visit to and speech at the CIA in January 2017. She recounts the last-minute preparations for his appearance and explains why the backlash to Trump's controversial speech missed part of the story of his visit. She also discusses the CIA's efforts to boost diversity and demonstrate effective internal leadership.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Glenn Gerstell, the National Security Agency's top legal officer. They discuss the looming legal, ethical and societal implications of the digital revolution underway across the globe, as well as the challenges posed by the rapid development and adoption of new technologies. Gerstell explains how changes in the information landscape have prompted an evolution in the NSA's own approach to transparency. He also details the NSA's internal protocols for identifying surveillance targets and unmasking individuals whose communications are captured by incidental collection.

In this bonus episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell leads a panel discussion with four former intelligence committee members in partnership with the Michael V. Hayden Center and the Schar School of Policy and Government. Former members of the congressional intelligence committees, including former Representatives Jane Harman (D-CA) and Mike Rogers (R-MI) and former Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), weigh in on the role and practice of oversight, challenges that can arise, and how politicization can be a complicating factor for essential accountability work.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks about a growing crisis in American foreign policy with Eliot Cohen, Executive Vice Dean of Johns Hopkins University?s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies. Cohen, who also served as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's senior adviser, tells Morell the United States risks becoming 'erratically internationalist' by making inconsistent or incoherent choices about where it is engaged abroad. He argues President Trump represents a broad American disenchantment with the country's post-World War II role, and suggests other state and non-state actors will move to assert more control in their respective regions.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, former CIA director General (ret.) David Petraeus speaks with host Michael Morell about strategic leadership and the need to conceive, communicate, implement and refine 'big ideas.' Petraeus, who commanded coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, weighs in on the 'big ideas' that should shape some of the biggest challenges in U.S. foreign policy, including vis-à-vis China, Russia and North Korea. He also offers a five-part framework for confronting Islamic extremism, and shares insights about his time at the helm of the CIA.