'If You Can Keep It': How ready are American security agencies for Iran?
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
That move came amid a year of layoffs, budget cuts, resignations, and shifting priorities across America’s national security agencies — including the FBI, the CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Now, as U.S. officials warn that Iran could retaliate with cyber attacks or terror attacks on U.S. soil, some experts are asking if the United States still has the capacity to defend itself.
That’s the question we try to answer in this edition of “If You Can Keep It,” our series exploring the biggest stories of the day and what they mean for our democracy.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Seattle, 1999, teen reporters hear a troubling rumor about a beloved teacher. |
| 0:06.5 | They report it. He later dies. I was one of those students. Now I'm uncovering what really happened because people said we killed a man. |
| 0:15.7 | Listen to adults in the room from KUOWW Focus and the NPR Network. |
| 0:28.4 | Fighting escalates across the Middle East as oil prices spike, and Iran names the son of Ayatollah Ali Hamenei as its new supreme leader. |
| 0:39.4 | This despite warnings by President Trump that he'd be an unacceptable choice. Meanwhile, on U.S. soil, national security experts warned that Iran |
| 0:46.0 | might seek reprisals within the United States. Their questioning our readiness to defend against them. |
| 0:52.2 | Days before the United States dropped its first bombs on Iran, FBI director Kash Patel |
| 0:57.4 | fired members of a team that monitored threats from the Islamic Republic. |
| 1:01.4 | The reason? They had investigated President Trump's handling of classified documents. |
| 1:06.0 | That move came amid a year of layoffs, budget cuts, resignations, and shifting priorities |
| 1:10.4 | across national security agencies, including the, resignations, and shifting priorities across national security |
| 1:11.7 | agencies, including the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security. |
| 1:16.2 | As U.S. officials warn Iran could retaliate with cyber attacks or terror attacks on U.S. soil, |
| 1:22.6 | does the United States still have the capacity to defend the homeland? |
| 1:27.0 | That's the question we're trying to answer in the latest edition of If You Can Keep It, our weekly politics series. I'm Jen White. And I'm Todd Zwillick. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll be back with more after this short break. Stay with us. |
| 1:42.8 | This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. |
| 1:48.2 | You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. |
| 1:53.5 | Be smart, get Wise. |
| 1:55.6 | Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. |
| 1:58.8 | T's and Cs apply. |
| 2:04.2 | Let's jump right into our conversation. Joining us to talk about what the war in Iran means for threats here in the U.S. is Shane Harris. He's a staff writer at the |
| 2:09.1 | Atlantic covering national security and intelligence. Shane, it's great to have you back. |
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