Former CIA official calls for release of report on CIA's post-9/11 interrogations
(CNN) - Former CIA Counterterrorism Official Phillip Mudd tells CNN host Michael Smerconish that a controversial report on the CIA’s counter-terrorism activities in the wake of the 9/11 al Qaeda attacks should be made public.
“Those of us who have names or titles in there, it will be a tough time. This is important for the American people to understand this era in American politics and war on terror. If this happens, I think it is okay,” Mudd told Smerconish.
However, Mudd admitted that it may be hard for the public to put the details of the report in the proper context.
“History can remember the facts, history cannot remember the feeling of sitting at that table every night in 2002 and 2003 and saying what's going to happen tomorrow and how do we find out what al Qaeda is up to? You can’t replicate the sense of tension that I remember,” Mudd said on CNN Saturday.
CNN Poll: Majority of Americans expect terrorist attack at Olympics
(CNN) - Nearly six in 10 Americans think a terrorist attack will likely happen in Sochi during the Winter Olympics, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony.
Islamist militants have warned of attacks as Russia makes final preparations for the sporting events in the South Russia region.
Senate confirms Jeh Johnson to lead homeland security
(CNN) - The Senate broke another Republican filibuster on Monday in confirming former top Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson to head the Homeland Security Department.
The vote to approve Johnson, a key architect of President Barack Obama's anti-terrorism policies that have included stepped up drone use in terrorist hotspots, was 78-16.
Johnson was nominated by Obama in October and will replace former Secretary Janet Napolitano, who left the Cabinet post earlier this year to head California's public university system.
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Terrorists are gaining ground, intelligence committee heads say
Washington (CNN) - The leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence committees said Sunday that terrorists have gained ground in the past two years and that the United States is not any safer than it was at the outset of 2011.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, agreed that despite the death of Osama bin Laden and drone strikes aimed at decimating al Qaeda's leadership, President Barack Obama's administration has lost ground in the ongoing battle with global terrorism.
What the terror raids say about an 'Obama Doctrine'
(CNN) - U.S. raids in pursuit of two terrorists over the weekend threw a question surrounding President Obama into the spotlight: Does he have a guiding doctrine for foreign policy?
The operations in Somalia and Libya, only one of which went as planned, come after the Obama administration silenced its drumbeat toward a possible military attack on Syria.
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Obama reminds Marines of continued al Qaeda threats
(CNN) – Shuttered American embassies dotting the Middle East are a reminder that extremist threats still exist, despite a dismantled al Qaeda core in Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Barack Obama told a crowd of Marines Wednesday.
During his address at Camp Pendleton between Los Angeles and San Diego, Obama said those threats shouldn't cause Americans to "retreat from the world."
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Intercepted al Qaeda message led to shuttering embassies, consulates
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(CNN) - An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days raised alarm bells that led to the closing of embassies and consulates Sunday across the Middle East and North Africa, CNN has learned.
CNN has agreed to a request from an Obama administration official not to publish or broadcast additional details because of the sensitivity of the information.
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Obama briefed on security threat
Updated 3:46 p.m. ET, 8/4/2013
Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama spent much of his birthday weekend away from the White House but was briefed about the terror threat that prompted embassy closings and heightened military readiness across the Middle East and North Africa.
On Sunday afternoon, he returned to Washington from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he had flown Saturday afternoon after golfing with close friends earlier in the day. Obama turned 52 Sunday.
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Graham praises Obama administration; trip to Egypt still on
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(CNN) – One of President Barack Obama’s most vocal critics in the Senate said Sunday that he approves of how the administration is handling the recent terror threats.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, also said he plans to continue his trip to Egypt with fellow Republican Sen. John McCain, despite a United States global travel alert amid fears that al Qaeda may launch attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond in coming weeks
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Udall: 'I did everything' to alert public to gov't snooping
(CNN) – After President Barack Obama asserted Friday that lawmakers opposed to the government's phone surveillance program had a chance to raise concerns, one Democrat said he's been trying to alert the American public for years about attempts to mine their personal data.
Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat who has long pushed for greater transparency in the government's counterterror efforts, told CNN he had taken exhaustive steps to unveil the reasoning behind the National Security Agency's collection of phone call information.
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