The Watch Floor with Sarah Adams

Episodes

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  October 7th: The Enemy You Think You Know 07.10.2026 24m

  October 7th was not simply an intelligence failure. Israel had warning, surveillance, military power, and years of experience watching Hamas. What it lost was enough doubt about whether its own assumptions could be wrong.In this episode of The Watch Floor, I look at the lessons from October 7th that go well beyond Israel. We examine how complacency shaped intelligence assessments, how Hamas studied and attacked Israel’s dependence on technology, why warning indicators were missed, and what happened when the national response became overwhelmed and the fight turned local. I also look at the broader threat environment around Hamas, including training and relationships outside Gaza, and why intelligence services have to understand the enemy they actually have, not the enemy they remember. Most importantly, this episode is about what the United States can learn from those failures before someone tests the same weaknesses here. Complacency does not always look like laziness. Sometimes complacency looks very sophisticated.
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  What’s on My Reading List 06.10.2026 12m

  I’m doing something a little different on The Watch Floor and sharing what is currently on my reading list.I’m reading Rooftop Korean by Tony Moon now, a firsthand account of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and what happened when communities suddenly found themselves responsible for their own safety.I also have five newer releases on my radar covering Cold War counterintelligence, warning intelligence, jihadist terrorism in Spain, practical preparedness, and protective security.These are not five books I am pretending I have already read and reviewed. They are simply books that caught my attention because they deal with many of the same issues we discuss here: recognizing threats early, understanding what can go wrong, and being better prepared before it does.Books mentioned in this episode:Rooftop Korean: A Memoir of the 1992 L.A. Riots by TonyMoon - https://a.co/d/08YLqD8OThe Defector by Richard Kerbaj - https://a.co/d/03Oj815hPredictive Intelligence for Tomorrow’s Threats edited byErik J. Dahl and David Strachan-Morris - https://a.co/d/0hKOBlKvUnderstanding Spanish Jihadist Terrorism: The Ideology Behind the Metaphors by Carlos Yebra López - https://a.co/d/04S9x9K5Common Sense Preparedness: Building Resilience for Uncertain Times by Laurie Neverman - https://a.co/d/08tIh7goThe Protector’s Edge: Leadership Through Strategy and Actionby Charles Randolph, Jonathan Wackrow, and Fred Burton - https://a.co/d/07ZSqWw9
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  The Expert Is the Target 02.10.2026 14m

  On September 17, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency released its annual report on foreign efforts to acquire sensitive U.S. technology from the cleared defense industrial base. DCSA received more than 22,000 suspicious-contact reports during fiscal year 2025 and identified roughly 2,900 incidents involving foreign entities seeking U.S. information or technology. The leading method was the exploitation of experts. In this episode of The Watch Floor, I break down what that targeting can actually look like. It may begin with a consulting request, conference invitation, peer review, recruiting approach or research discussion. The interaction can look completely legitimate while giving someone access to the people who understand a technology, its limitations, its supply chain and where development is headed next. We also look at elicitation, front companies and intermediaries, why unclassified knowledge can still have intelligence value, and the warning signs experts should pay attention to when an ordinary professional relationship begins moving in another direction. The episode also covers why former government, intelligence, aerospace and defense personnel remain valuable targets long after their access or clearances are gone.Sometimes the most valuable technology is not sitting inside a secure computer system. It is sitting inside the head of the person who spent twenty years learning how that system works.
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  U.S. Commandos Join the Raid in Ecuador 30.09.2026 8m

  Before dawn on September 24, Ecuadorian police launched a major counter-narcotics operation against a cocaine-trafficking network. More than 320 Ecuadorian police took part, but this raid was different. About 50 personnel from U.S. Southern Command and the Drug Enforcement Administration joined the operation, with images showing U.S. personnel wearing Marine Raider insignia.In this episode of The Watch Floor, I break down why that matters, what the U.S. brought to the operation, and how the American role in Ecuador appears to be changing. We look at the raids in Samborondón and other areas, the use of drones, night vision, communications equipment and rapid exploitation of seized devices, and the broader effort to disrupt trafficking networks moving cocaine through Ecuador’s ports.The key question is whether this was a one-off operation or the start of a more direct U.S. role alongside Ecuadorian forces against transnational criminal organizations.
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  The FBI Breach Is a Counterintelligence Problem 29.09.2026 16m

  The FBI is investigating a breach tied to FBIJobs.gov and the possible exposure of employee personally identifiable information. Hackers connected to ShinyHunters claim they stole terabytes of data covering current and former FBI personnel, applicants, medical information, background investigations, and other sensitive systems.Some of those claims remain unverified. But reporters have already reviewed thousands of records containing names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, family contacts, employee identifiers, and details pointing to sensitive FBI assignments involving China, Russia, human intelligence, surveillance, cartels, and other national security work.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams breaks down what is actually confirmed, what the hackers are claiming, how the breach may have happened, and why this is much more than an identity-theft problem. When personnel records can be combined with family information, assignments, travel indicators, and other breached data, they can become a map of an organization and a valuable counterintelligence tool.We also look at the comparison to the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach and the biggest unanswered question: who else may already have this information?
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  The UVU After-Action Report: Lessons in Protective Security 28.09.2026 16m

  Utah Valley University released its independent after-action report on September 25, 2026, examining the September 10, 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk. The report identifies a number of security failures, but the biggest lesson is broader than any single missed rooftop or breakdown in communication.In this episode of The Watch Floor, I walk through what the report says about venue selection, elevated positions, the missed joint security walkthrough, camera monitoring, mutual aid, emergency messaging and protective intelligence. The focus is not on hindsight for the sake of criticism. We look at after-action reports to understand what failed, what should have happened differently, and how to keep the next team from making the same mistakes.The central lesson is simple: reacting to individual security concerns is not the same thing as running a protective-security operation. Security has to work as a system.
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  See Something, Say Something: What to Look For 25.09.2026 24m

  Writing“See something, say something” leaves out the hardest part: what are you actually looking for?In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams explains the behaviors that can appear before an attack, from repeated surveillance and security testing to unusual questions about access, possible preparation near home or work, and warning signs at an airport. She explains why context and patterns matter, what details make a report useful, and whom to tell when something needs attention.
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  How Russia Outsourced an Assassination in America 21.09.2026 14m

  A Russian intelligence-linked network allegedly recruited people already inside the U.S. to surveil a prominent Russian dissident in the Washington, D.C., area. The price was up to $1,500 for photographs and videos. The offer to carry out the murder was $40,000.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams breaks down how the operation moved from Russia through Cuban and Venezuelan intermediaries to a Brooklyn resident, why the completed surveillance matters, and how the same network was allegedly tied to assassination and sabotage operations across Europe.The plot reveals a model that is cheaper, harder to trace, and designed to place distance between the Russian government and the person closest to the target.The assassination was not carried out. The pre-operational surveillance was.
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  The AI Warning Is Information. It Is Not a Conclusion. 18.09.2026 21m

  Artificial intelligence is moving from answering questions to taking actions. In controlled tests, advanced AI models have deceived operators, attempted blackmail, concealed information, recognized when they were being evaluated, and taken steps researchers describe as self-preservation behavior.Those findings have produced extraordinary warnings about where AI may be headed. But a warning is information. It is not a conclusion.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams walks through four questions: What can these systems actually do? Can we reliably control them? What is driving companies and countries to move so quickly? And if there is a problem, who gets to decide what the response looks like?We look at the emerging AI threat picture, the difference between capability and intent, the race for technological advantage, the national-security competition with China, and the competing concern that AI safety could also become a justification for concentrating enormous technological power in the hands of a small number of companies and institutions.The goal is not to tell you what to think about AI. It is to separate the warning from the assessment, understand what the evidence actually shows, and ask better questions about what comes next.
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  The German Cell in Benghazi 16.09.2026 18m

  For fourteen years, most of the Benghazi debate has focused on what happened after the attack began. This episode looks at what happened before.In May 2026, Dave “Boon” Benton and I returned to Benghazi, where we were briefed on a completed Libyan investigation into the terrorists and networks behind the 2012 attacks. One part of that investigation followed a German terrorist cell that moved from Europe through Turkey and Egypt into eastern Libya.Twenty German citizens reached Libya as part of the network. Fourteen members of the cell ultimately participated in the attacks on the U.S. Consulate and CIA Annex. Some of the same terrorists later surfaced with ISIS. In this episode of The Watch Floor, I break down how they got there, what their movement tells us about the networks behind Benghazi, and why the story of an attack has to begin long before the first shot is fired.Read the full investigation: The Hidden History of One Benghazi Cell: The German Terrorists Who Joined the Attack at SOFREP.https://sofrep.com/news/the-hidden-history-of-one-benghazi-cell-the-german-terrorists-who-joined-the-attack/
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  Hamza bin Laden Is Alive. Why Is al-Qaeda Showing Him Now? 14.09.2026 23m

  Hamza bin Laden is alive. On September 10, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, al-Qaeda released A Quarter Century After the September 11 Raids, Part One, featuring Hamza in three separate scenes.But the footage was not new. Hamza recorded it on August 13, 2021, in Kandahar, as Afghanistan was falling to the Taliban. Al-Qaeda held that footage for more than five years.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams breaks down what the video actually shows, the 2019 deception that led the U.S. to announce Hamza bin Laden was dead, how al-Qaeda concealed his survival and eventual rise to emir, and why the decision to reveal him now matters.The most important question is no longer whether Hamza survived.It is why al-Qaeda spent years hiding him, only to begin showing him now.The threat did not disappear. It evolved.
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  The 10 Warnings Buried in Congress’s New 9/11 Report 07.09.2026 26m

  Twenty-five years after 9/11, the House Intelligence Committee went back and reviewed what the United States fixed, what it never finished, and where new intelligence gaps may be forming.In this episode of The Watch Floor, I break down ten of the most important warnings buried in the committee’s new bipartisan report, including unfinished biometric exit screening, counterintelligence stovepipes, the debate over CIA paramilitary authorities, the growing role of OSINT and AI, the risk of losing regional expertise, and why the next strategic surprise may look nothing like 9/11.The report’s message is clear: the national-security system is stronger than it was in 2001, but some old gaps remain and new ones are emerging.
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  The Oil War Behind the Headlines 02.09.2026 14m

  Oil is back at the center of geopolitics, but the biggest story may not be where everyone is looking.In this episode of The Watch Floor, I look at what is happening around the Strait of Hormuz, why that narrow stretch of water still matters so much to the global economy, and how the pressure on energy markets connects to a very different development much closer to home: Venezuela and its enormous oil reserves.This isn't just a story about the price of a barrel of oil. It's about who controls supply, who controls the routes that move it, how much leverage the United States actually has, and what happens when energy becomes part of the battlefield.Because while everyone is watching the headlines, there is another fight taking place underneath them.This is the oil war behind the headlines.The Watch Floor
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  85 Americans Missing in the Himalayas 01.09.2026 14m

  A massive glacial collapse along the Nepal-Tibet border has left more than 900 people dead and thousands still missing. Among the unaccounted for are approximately 85 Americans.Many weren't hikers or adventure tourists. They were pilgrims traveling to or from Mount Kailash in Tibet, one of the most sacred places in several of the world's religions. Some had planned the journey for years. One was celebrating his 60th birthday. A mother was traveling with her 14-year-old daughter. Another American sent his family a video of the Himalayan valley that morning. Less than two hours later, the glacier collapsed.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams walks through what happened, why so many Americans were concentrated near the Gyirong border crossing, and the enormous search-and-rescue operation now underway across Nepal and Tibet. The episode also looks at the nearly 1,000 hydropower workers reported missing from projects downstream, some potentially trapped inside mountain tunnels, and why reconciling the lists of missing Americans has become so difficult. As of the episode's recording, nine Americans had been evacuated and there were no confirmed U.S. citizen deaths. But approximately 85 remained unaccounted for, leaving families thousands of miles away waiting for a phone call. The search is still underway.
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  Secret Chinese Police Stations: How Beijing Polices Beyond Its Borders 28.08.2026 21m

  Secret Chinese police stations have been uncovered in the United States, France, Italy, Britain, and dozens of other countries. But the buildings are only part of the story.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams looks at how Beijing extends its reach beyond China’s borders to monitor dissidents, collect information, pressure critics, and in some cases push people to return to China.From the federal prosecution of operators tied to a clandestine police station in Manhattan to recent expulsions in Italy, investigations are exposing how these networks operate. Sarah breaks down China’s overseas police service centers, “persuasion to return,” Operation Fox Hunt and Sky Net, the role of community networks and access, and why shutting down a physical police station does not necessarily dismantle the system behind it.The question is no longer simply how many secret Chinese police stations remain. It is whether the networks that made them possible are still operating. They are.
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  The Untold Story of the Abbey Gate Plot 26.08.2026 45m

  Five years after the Abbey Gate bombing, we know the name of the suicide bomber. But that is only part of the story.In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams reconstructs the twelve days leading to the August 26, 2021 attack at Abbey Gate, tracing how the plot moved from authorization to execution and identifying the Taliban, Haqqani Network, al-Qaeda, and ISKP figures her investigation found connected to the operation.The story begins on August 14 in Kandahar province, moves through the fall of Kabul and the release of the future bomber from prison, and follows the network that selected him, moved him, prepared him, provided the explosive vest, controlled the checkpoints around the airport, and ultimately helped him reach the Marines at Abbey Gate.It also asks the question that remains five years later: Who was actually held accountable?Thirteen American service members and nearly 170 Afghans were killed that day. This episode names the people responsible, but it ends where the story should end: with the Americans standing at Abbey Gate, trying to get others to safety.
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  70,000 People Crossed Into Spain. Here’s What Happened. 19.08.2026 23m

  More than 70,000 people reportedly surged toward the tiny Spanish city of Ceuta in a matter of hours, overwhelming a city with a population of roughly 85,000.So what happened?In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams breaks down the extraordinary events in Ceuta: the Spanish court ruling that was distorted online, the role of Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Instagram in accelerating the movement, the warning signs authorities had before the surge, and the unanswered questions surrounding Morocco's role.Then something unexpected happened. Tens of thousands of people began going back.Two weeks later, another mass crossing was being discussed online. This time, Spanish and Moroccan authorities were watching, and the outcome was completely different.This isn't only a story about migration. It's a case study in how quickly information, perception, and human movement can converge, and what can happen when warning signs are recognized too late.
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  Look Past the Candidate 17.08.2026 24m

  Most voters know what a candidate promises. But how many know who is standing behind them?In this episode of The Watch Floor, Sarah Adams looks beyond the campaign slogans to examine the political coalitions forming around candidates in the 2026 elections. What starts with very real concerns about rent, housing, healthcare, wages, and affordability leads to a larger question: who else sees an opportunity in the political coalition those issues create?Following the trail from candidate endorsements to political organizing, Sarah examines the overlap between Democratic Socialists of America and CAIR Action in several races, then goes another layer down into federal court records, the Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing case, and the documented history involving CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas.The point isn't to tell you who to vote for. It's to remind you to look past the candidate, understand the coalition helping put them in power, and ask what everyone in that coalition hopes to gain when they win.
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  Back to Benghazi | Episode 4: The Libyans Who Came for Us 26.06.2026 34m

  In today's episode of our series, Back to Benghazi, we'll be discussing the Libyans who came for us. Mars Men: For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off FOR LIFE, Free Shipping, AND 3 Free Gifts at Mars Men at https://Mengotomars.com. Glacier: Join the waitlist http://theglacierapp.com/waitlist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  This Watch Was Really Used In The CIA... 24.06.2026 15m

  One of the questions I get asked all the time is surprisingly simple: "Sarah, what watch did you wear at the CIA?" Today, I'm answering that question. Ground News: Go to https://ground.news/watch for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe through my link for 40% off unlimited access to world-wide coverage. Mars Men: For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off FOR LIFE, Free Shipping, AND 3 Free Gifts at Mars Men at https://Mengotomars.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices