Target USA Podcast by WTOP

George Kent, U.S. Ambassador to Estonia discusses the history of Russian aggression and the current threat facing the region. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Ambassador Joseph Detrani, former director of the U.S. Counter Proliferation and Center talks about concerning developments. They include China building hundreds of nuclear weapons silos, Russia's plans to test tactical nuclear weapons, and talk of using AI to control nuclear weapons. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-...

Bret Schaefer, senior fellow, Media and Digital Disinformation, for the Alliance for Securing Democracy breaks down the threat, how disinformation is laundered, and the "democratization of disinformation" in an episode loaded with important and fascinating details about the threat today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-n...

ATIDNA International Founder and President Elijah Kahlenberg, who is Jewish, and Vice President Jadd Hashem, who is Palestinian talk about their group and its effort to find and promote common ground on Jewish and Palestinian issues. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Part two of our conversation. This time, ask yourself a key question. Why is he saying these things? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Paul Whelan called us in December of last year with an urgent message for the president. He called again on April 11th with another. He has been detained in Russia for five years and is again appealing to President Biden to accelerate efforts to bring him and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich home. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https:/...

Washington Post national security correspondent Joby Warrick reports Iran now has enough fissile material to make three bomb with in days See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, worked for the World Central Kitchen. She was one of seven WCK staff killed in an Israeli drone strike on April 1st in Gaza. She is remembered fondly by her friend Brian Weaver, founder of Hoops Sagrado. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Eeva Eek Pajuste, Policy Advisor, Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the view of democracy in Russia is "totally different" from the Western view. She explains how the early days after the collapse of the Soviet Union shaped that view. It's also a key reason why Vladimir Putin is still popular inside Russia. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Daniel Fried, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, lays out bluntly the consequences of Putin getting another term as President of Russia and what he's doing to get the U.S. Congress to support Ukraine. Also, Ukrainian journalist Nataliia Bozhyk speaks out about the devastation the war has caused. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...

Robert Baer, a former CIA undercover operative with deep knowledge of Russian intelligence has some ideas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Nataliia talks about the hardship, the unlikely friendship that helped her get out of Ukraine, her work in Ireland and her message to the U.S. government. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Luke Harding, correspondent for the Guardian and author of several books about Russian corruption and assassinations, has himself been detained by the Kremlin. He talks about Alexei Navalny's death, what likely happened and Russia's "forever game" of American hostage-taking. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-in...

Former US President Donald Trump, who's running for another term said recently he wouldn't help NATO countries that were attacked by Russia if they were not contributing 2% of their GDP to their own defense programs. Kurt Volker, former US Ambassador to NATO and Kristjan Prikk, Estonia's Ambassador to the US, discuss the impact of Trump's statement and the reality of life as a member of NATO. See...

Andrew Scott, Associate Director for Chinese Operations at CISA indicates that this is a wide-ranging and very sophisticated threat. If successful, it would give the Chinese government complete control over critical US infrastructure whenever they want it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Counterterrorism expert Bruce Hoffman talks about the new book he's co-written on the rise of far right extremism in the US.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran says the the Iranian "regime" is the "head of the snake" of trouble in the region. And it should be "crushed". Jafazadeh was targeted by the regime in a kidnap operation in 2018 inside the U.S.. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...

Ambassador Kurt Volker, Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, discusses the murky situation regarding a plane crash on January 24, 2024. Moscow claims Ukraine shot it down and that there were 65 Ukrainian POWs aboard. Ukraine says Moscow is playing with the lives of Ukrainians. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19...

Paul Whelan and Ambassador Roger Carstens share more details about Whelan's case. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Paul Whelan, who's been imprisoned in Russia, wrongfully for 5 years called me on Christmas Eve, with a message for President Biden. You'll hear our conversation and his deep concerns on this episode. You'll also hear Ambassador Roger D. Carstens, the US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, discuss his team's efforts to free Whelan and fellow American Evan Gershkovich. See Privacy Policy at https://...

The assassination of a Hamas leader in Beirut and a terror attack in Iran have triggered fears of an explosion of attacks throughout the region. Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Sr. Director at the Counter-Extremism Project says the attack in Iran is unprecedented. Fred Burton, Executive Director of Protective Intelligence at Ontic says the killing of Saleh Arouri could lead to a wave of retaliation, dir...

Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, says the foiled Hamas plot in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands recently, was likely started well before the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Michael Hammer discusses his deep concerns about the war in Sudan, the lack of global attention, and what's being done to address it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Fran Townsend, President of the Counter Extremism Project says her organization believes Qatar is harboring terrorists. Also We check in with Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces about the search for Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

We talk with Major Libby Weiss, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces about their recent military activity and, the hostage/prisoner exchange efforts in Israel and Gaza. Also, I join WTOP News Anchors Anne Kramer and Shawn Anderson to analyze the hostage negotiations and, what Israel has learned about Hamas during its military operations in Gaza. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...