Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy
Former analyst at the CIA (1966-1990) where he worked with and for Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates; Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy and author of the forthcoming Failure of Intelligence the Decline and Fall of the CIA
The CIA Then and Now, and the Role of Dick Cheney Today, the CIA released 693 pages of reports about 25 years of illegal activities during the 1950's, 60's and 70's, a report nick-named " Family Jewels ." It tells of illegal wiretaps and domestic surveillance, assassination plots and human experimentation. CIA Director, General Michael Hayden, calls it, " a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency ." What are the differences -- and similarities -- between then and now, with Dick Cheney the President's "go-to guy" on intelligence?
Robert Gates Promises 'Fresh Eyes' at the Pentagon At his Senate confirmation hearing today to replace Donald Rumsfeld , former CIA Director Robert Gates was asked a crucial question by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, whether America was winning the war in Iraq. Answering "no," he said there will be no easy answers if he's confirmed as Secretary of Defense . It's expected that Gates will be confirmed, but he's still controversial. Does he have the background to run the world's most sophisticated military establishment? Will he "speak truth to power," or tell the President what he wants to hear?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.