Target USA Podcast by WTOP

An apocalyptic scene is unfolding in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. Large sulfur fires and huge pits of oil are burning. Buildings are booby trapped, hundreds of suicide bombers are on the loose. Hundreds of thousands of people in Mosul may be displaced and many run the risk of being used as human shields as ISIL fighters try to repel Iraqi forces. Those forces are leading the charge to retake...

Seamus Hughes is among a growing number of terrorism experts that have realized today's terrorists are far more savvy at using social media to support their activities than counter-terrorism authorities are at using social media to disrupt them. He lays out the problem in captivating detail and delivers a potential solution. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy No...

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) recently published a report about a grave, worsening global threat - the North Korean nuclear and missile programs. The bottom line: North Korea is rapidly becoming an existential threat to the U.S., and leaders can no longer wait for North Korea to meet conditions of sanctions designed to stop their nuclear program. On this episode of Target USA, former Geor...

The Department of Homeland Security campaign urging people to report suspicious activities and packages really does work. Jane Schreibman, who discovered a bomb in New York's Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17, probably saved a lot of lives because something about a pressure cooker sitting on a street bugged her. She tells Target USA the "See Something, Say Something" campaign slogan stuck in her he...

Paul Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office (WFO), is losing a lot of sleep over what he's seeing now. In the last two years, 15 terrorism cases have been brought in the National Capitol Region, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials. There have been at least seven cases this year: a college student, a former transit police officer, a former National G...

There is a laundry list of threats facing the U.S. Some are more urgent than others. In this episode of Target USA, two of the most trusted former intelligence officials in Washington lay out the problems - from North Korea to China to Russia to terrorism - and tell us how they should be dealt with. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/...

The gut-wrenching events of the September 11 attacks triggered an unprecedented effort to insulate the U.S. homeland from foreign terrorists and prevent attacks like those from ever happening again. The Department of Homeland Security was set up, strict anti-terrorism laws were passed and immigration gaps were closed. All of the weak links in the nation's security chain were tightened - except for...

On this episode of Target USA, former CIA Director Michael Hayden explains why the problem of finding terrorists is getting worse in the United States. In the 2000s, Hayden says the U.S. intelligence community essentially knew what the terrorists were going to do before they did. This is a new day in the counterterrorism world. Terrorists have a distinct advantage, thanks to NSA leaker Edward Snow...

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, architect of ISIL's external operations and its spokesman, was killed in a U.S. airstrike on Aug. 30. His death represents the biggest setback to the organization since it launched its murderous rampage in June of 2014. U.S. military officials tell Target USA that ISIL is losing money, territory, fighters and of course leaders, and the U.S.-led coalition is preparing for tw...

You've no doubt heard about the attacks on police and other law enforcement officers across the country. What seems like a wave of police-related killings has swept the nation, and as D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier prepares to step down and become the NFL's top security official, she worries that the constant negative narratives saturating U.S. society will draw out more threats. Lanier tells Targ...

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier sat down with Target USA to talk about the serious and growing terror threats. She details what's being done to prepare for and neutralize the threats. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Two years after the genocide, the region is still blanketed with millions of shattered and interrupted lives. One of those lives belongs to Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government to the U.S. She tells her emotional story to J.J. Green and sends a strong message to Da'esh. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at http...

Two years after 5,000 Yazidi men were killed and more than 5,000 women and children were kidnapped and turned into sex slaves during a genocidal bloodbath carried out by ISIL in Northern Iraq, many are still unaccounted for, and 3,200 women and children are still in the hands of ISIL. What's been done to stop the carnage and help the victims? David Saperstein, US Ambassador at Large for Internatio...

What's behind ISIL's wave of attacks in Europe? Is the U.S. next? The attacks are mostly conducted by radicalized individuals. Where are they finding these people? Why is ISIL's call being answered by so many people that are not followers of their ideology? How is it the media is actually driving ISIL's success? What is the one question we should ask before calling an attack terrorism? We discuss...

As of July 20, 31 law enforcement officers have been shot to death in the U.S. this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. That's a 72 percent increase over last year at this time. Former policeman and top State Department Counterterrorism agent Fred Burton says history may be repeating itself; but history may be the answer to a looming crisis. See Privacy Policy a...

The 2016 U.S. presidential campaign has been a tense and sometimes dangerous string of events. On June 18, the Secret Service and Las Vegas police thwarted an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. The Secret Service is bracing for the possibility of other attempts that may take place against a range of targets at the political conventions and beyond. In an exclusive interview, Secret Service Direct...

David O'Sullivan, European Union Ambassador to the U.S., says Britain's exit from the European Union will complicate the fight against terrorism. Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer, tells Target USA why this is the worst possible time for the exit to happen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Former FBI agent and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers says, "Al Qaida got the snot kicked out of 'em," and ISIL needs to get the same treatment. But, he says, it's not happening. In this episode of Target USA, he details what exactly needs to be done to neutralize the Islamic State group. Not only has ISIL demonstrated great skill at plotting terror attacks, but it's also very goo...

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12 reflects a new direction for terror attacks on the U.S. Former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers says the attack was done exactly as ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wanted it. He warns Americans need to wake up and make some changes before the next one comes along. See Privacy Policy at ht...

On Sunday morning, June 12, a delegation of Department of Homeland Security staffers and other U.S. government officials were waiting at Joint Base Andrews for Secretary Jeh Johnson, for a trip to China. But he never showed. The Orlando night club massacre had not only shocked the U.S. population and set off fear and uncertainty about terrorists possibly in our midst, but U.S. officials were scram...

The U.S. has launched more than 400 drone strikes since 2004. More than 3,100 people have been killed - most of them terrorists. The U.S. military announced more than 120 ISIL leaders, operatives and other so-called, high-value individuals have been killed so far in 2016. Rarely do U.S. officials talk about the program, but the man who commanded some of the most high-profile operations is talking...

What would happen if a person walked into a U.S. airport strapped with explosives? Would there be time to stop what would be almost certain death and destruction? WTOP National Security Correspondent JJ Green put that question, called "The Scenario" in inner circles, to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19...

A half dozen aviation incidents in the last year, bribes of airport security personnel overseas and long security screening lines in the U.S. are keeping Transportation Security Administration Chief Peter Neffenger up at night. But when he sat down with WTOP National Security Correspondent JJ Green for an extended interview, Neffenger told JJ exactly how he's going to keep U.S. airports and travel...

It happened on February 14, 2016 in Casablanca, Morocco. A strange sequence of events began unfolding in the early morning hours and spanned two airports and hundreds of miles, linked by a solitary transaction that took less than 30 seconds. The impact of that transaction may never be known, but without a doubt just the existence of the practice is wreaking havoc on aviation security around the wo...

Millions of American citizens, dozens of U.S. companies and even top intelligence officials are victims of aggressive cyber intrusions. Target USA has learned that foreign intelligence agencies, cyber criminals and terrorists are robbing the U.S. blind - taking everything from large sums of money to ideas. Bill Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), says...