05/19/2024: Pope Francis, Cuban Spycraft, The Album

Norah O'Donnell meets Pope Francis for a rare and historic interview at his home, the Santa Marta guest house in Vatican City, a week before the Catholic Church hosts its inaugural World Children's Day. The 87-year-old, Argentinian-born pope - the first named Francis and first from the Americas - is known for his dedication to the poor and marginalized, and for being the most unconventional head of the Church in recent memory. He spoke candidly with O’Donnell about the wars in Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, and the migration crises around the world and on the U.S. southern border. The wide-ranging conversation also touches upon the Church's handling of its own sexual abuse scandals; Francis' deep commitment to inclusiveness within the Church; the backlash against his papacy from certain corners of U.S. Catholicism; and an exploration of his thinking on surrogate parenthood. For decades, prolific Cuban spies working in the U.S. government, serving in high profile positions with top security clearances, have evaded American intelligence officials. Correspondent Cecilia Vega reports from Washington, D.C. and Miami on the stories of two such undercover agents, former U.S. Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha and onetime Pentagon official Ana Montes. Cuba continues to supply one of the most dangerous exports to American adversaries around the world: American secrets. When a photo album depicting Nazis socializing at dinner parties and picnics arrived at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007, historians weren’t sure what to make of it. After an extensive investigation, it turned out to be a rare personal scrapbook of a high-ranking Nazi officer who helped run the daily operations of Auschwitz, the concentration camp where more than a million people, mostly Jews, were murdered. Correspondent Anderson Cooper tells the story behind the album and why acclaimed theater director Moises Kaufman decided to turn it into a new Off Broadway play called HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices