New York Times
Scott Shane is a national security reporter for the New York Times and the author of Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone.
PROFILE
Scott Shane
Guest
FROM Scott Shane
To the Point
WikiLeaks posts trove of alleged CIA hacking documents CIA hacking programs called "Umbrage" and "Weeping Angel" are part of the latest revelation of classified information by WikiLeaks. It's comparable in size to the cyber-dumps of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Scott Shane, who is part of the team covering the story for the New York Times , says what may be the largest dump of documents in CIA history raises questions about how the government guards its own secrets. Special thanks to Yael Even Or for production assistance.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Is the US intelligence community bloated? We examine exactly what the 17 intelligence agencies do, and what the rift with Trump over their assessment of Russian hacking will mean for intelligence gathering in the future.
To the Point
Cracking the Code on Terror Since the Charlie Hebdo murders 10 months ago, France has been on high alert against possible terror. Authorities knew that attacks on Paris were being planned, but could not prevent the killing of 129 people, the wounding of many more — and the growing uncertainty about what to expect in the future. Was there too little information about thousands of possible suspects, or were investigators overwhelmed by too much data? Should the US give the NSA new power to intercept private messages, or is that too high a price for a strategy that hasn't been proven to work? And what about YouTube, Facebook and other public media used for terrorist propaganda and recruitment? Is it time to crack down on Silicon Valley?
To the Point
Down to the Wire on the Patriot Act The Senate meets this week in rare recess negotiations about whether to extend controversial provisions of the Patriot Act, including the NSA's bulk phone records collection program. That program, launched after 9/11, is due to expire June 1 if the Senate doesn't come to a consensus on how much and what kind of surveillance best serves the nation. Earlier this month the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation which would reauthorize the Patriot Act while at the same time ending the NSA's bulk collection of phone records. The House also approved certain reforms intended to make the agency's programs more transparent. Will Congress go the way of a recent federal court ruling that called NSA surveillance overly broad and in violation of American's rights to privacy? If the NSA's broad surveillance programs lapse, will the nation be less secure?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Saudi-Terror Connection Families of those killed in al qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center have sued the government of Saudi Arabia alleging it financed the attackers. That lawsuit has been working its way through the U.S. court system since 2002. Recently, high-level al qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui was allowed to testify in the case from his high security prison in Colorado. Moussaoui testified that he met with members of the Saudi royal family as a messenger for Bin Laden.
To the Point
‘20th Hijacker’ Says Members of Saudi Royal Family Funded al Qaeda Today’s New York Times reports on “highly unusual testimony inside the federal supermax prison,” where Zacarias Moussaoui is serving a life sentence. He’s the so-called “20th hijacker,” who was in jail on immigration charges when his co-conspirators conducted the attacks of September 11th. Now he has implicated the Saudi Royal Family in planning for the attacks. Scott Shane is the reporter.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Masterminds of the C.I.A.’s Brutal Tactics We take a deeper look at where the C.I.A.’s enhanced interrogation methods came from, and specifically the two psychologists who pushed for them. Their code names were Grayson Swigert and Hammond Dunbar. They were paid more than $80 million by the C.I.A. during their time as contractors with the agency. Who are they really, and how did they get that contract?
To the Point
Edward Snowden Says He Was Really a Spy In a recent interview with NBC's Brian Williams in Moscow, Edward Snowden said that the US labeled him a low-level hacker to, as he put it, "distract from the totality of my experience." In fact, he said, he was trained as a spy in what he called the "traditional sense." NBC will air the full interview with Snowden on its evening news programs. Scott Shane has covered the NSA and the CIA for the New York Times .
Which Way, L.A.?
The FBI, the CIA and Now, the Pentagon Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says one of the women associated with former CIA Director David Petraeus exchanged tens of thousands of pages of e-mails with General John Allen, Commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, nominated to be Commander of NATO in Europe. At the White House briefing today, press secretary Jay Carney expressed the President's admiration for the job Allen had done in Afghanistan, acknowledging that "at the request of the Secretary of Defense, the President has put on hold General Allen's nomination as Supreme Allied Commander Europe pending the investigation of General Allen's conduct by the Department of Defense IG." Is the nation at risk? Is it really about the hubris of powerful men, designing women and Washington politics?
To the Point
The FBI, the CIA and Now, the Pentagon The latest figure caught up in the Petraeus scandal is General John Allen , current Commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says he exchanged tens of thousands of pages of e-mail with one of the women caught up in the FBI’s Petraeus investigation. (Jill Kelley, a socialite friend of David and Holly Petraeus, told the FBI she’d been getting threatening emails. The FBI traced them to Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell and discovered that she and Petraeus had an affair. Petraeus resigned as Director of the CIA.) Have national security or military effectiveness been compromised? Is there a cover-up of the CIA’s role in Benghazi, or are routine cases of high-level hanky-panky being magnified by the politics of exposure?
To the Point
Double Agent Foils Bombing Plot We're hearing more details today about the CIA's take-down of an al Qaeda plot to blow up a US-bound airliner with a more sophisticated underwear bomb. Like something out of a John Le Carre novel, the CIA worked with Saudi intelligence to infiltrate al Qaeda in Yemen with a double agent. Scott Shane is national security reporter for the New York Times .
Which Way, L.A.?
What's the Real Truth about the War in Afghanistan? On Sunday, the New York Times interviewed Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who also published an article in the well-regarded Armed Forces Journal . After long experience with military spin doctors and a year in Afghanistan, Davis, who has been praised by superiors for his "devotion to mission accomplishment," reports that the Pentagon is not telling the truth about it calls "progress in Afghanistan." We hear from him and others.
To the Point
War in Afghanistan: Are Pentagon Officials Telling the Truth? Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis has risked his career by accusing the Pentagon of misleading the public with reports of progress in Afghanistan. After a year of visits to every combat zone — hoping that "rosy official statements" were true, he saw "the absence of success on virtually every level," and reported that the Pentagon is not telling the truth about what it calls "progress in Afghanistan." We speak with Davis and others, including one of the members of Congress whom Davis briefed with classified information. How widely shared is the colonel's conclusion that American soldiers are dying in a war America can't win?
Which Way, L.A.?
The Pros and Cons of Drones Wars are vastly expensive in blood and treasure. The outcomes are always uncertain, and continued public support is not guaranteed. Witness Iraq and Afghanistan. Faced with the threat of terrorism, the Obama Administration has "decisively embraced the drone… as a cheap, safe and precise tool to eliminate enemies." But the Obama Defense Department isn't the only one adopting unmanned drones for reconnaissance and, ultimately, for targeted killing. Is it legal? Will the US be vulnerable when China, other countries or terrorists develop their own technologies?
To the Point
The Pros and Cons of Drones Wars are vastly expensive in blood and treasure. The outcomes are always uncertain, and continued public support is not guaranteed. Witness Iraq and Afghanistan. Faced with the threat of terrorism, the Obama Administration has "decisively embraced the drone… as a cheap, safe and precise tool to eliminate enemies." But the Obama Defense Department isn’t the only one adopting drones for reconnaissance and, ultimately, for targeted killing. Is it legal? Will the US be vulnerable when China, other countries — or terrorists -- develop their own technologies? Will they make outright war less likely? Are their pilots committing remote-control murder? We hear the pros and cons.
To the Point
American-born al Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in Yemen today by an American drone strike. He was the first American citizen deliberately targeted and killed by the US government since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Speaking at a retirement ceremony for Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Obama called Awlaki's death a " significant milestone ," and "a tribute to our intelligence community and the efforts of Yemen and its security forces, who have worked closely with the United States over the course of several years." Scott Shane is national security reporter for the New York Times .
Recommended
To the Point
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.
To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.