Dr. Evelyn Farkas is one of the nation’s premier voices on American foreign policy and geopolitics, and one of the nation’s most-trusted experts on U.S.-Russia relations. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, she was the Department of Defense’s top Russia expert under President Obama. Farkas advised three Secretaries of Defense during her tenure at the Pentagon and was responsible for policy toward Russia and the surrounding region. She is an outspoken voice on how America ought to respond to adversaries and manage aggressors, ranging from Russia to North Korea to Iran and China. Expertly positioned to discuss the at times tenuous intersection of foreign objectives and domestic priorities, Dr. Farkas appears regularly on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and other networks. She currently serves as the executive director of the McCain Institute, and her op-eds are regularly featured in leading publications. She discusses how America’s position abroad is shifting under the current presidential administration, and the global gamut of national security challenges.

In the early 1970s, Bernstein and Bob Woodward broke the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative reporting, for which they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Since then, Bernstein has continued to build on the theme he and Woodward first explored in the Nixon years – the use and abuse of power: political, media, financial, cultural and spiritual power. Renowned as a prose stylist, he has also written a classic biography of Pope John Paul II, served as the founding editor of the first major political website, and been a rock critic.

One of the foremost authorities on national security and foreign policy, Peter Bergen is CNN’s most senior security analyst and has more than 20 years experience reporting from the world’s hot spots. He has written six books, 3 of which were New York Times best-sellers, including Manhunt, which was turned into an Emmy-winning documentary. He is best known as one of the few people to interview Osama bin Laden face-to-face. Always putting himself where the action is, Bergen is a compelling and knowledgeable speaker on what’s going on in the world’s hot spots.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are best known for breaking the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative journalism. For this work, they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Their work has been called “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time” by longtime journalism figure, Gene Roberts, and the book they co-authored on their experience, All the President’s Men, went on to become a New York Times best-seller and an Academy Award-winning feature film. 

From the Baltimore Opera to QVC shopping channel, Executive Producer and TV Host Mike Rowe has had hundreds of jobs and relished his role as a chronic freelancer. He’s best known as the “dirtiest man on TV,” a title he earned on the hit TV series Dirty Jobs, where he traversed all 50 states; completed 300 different jobs; and transformed cable television into a landscape of swamps, sewers, and coal mines. He has narrated hundreds of documentaries about space, nature, dinosaurs, and how stuff works. Mike also runs the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity that works hard to debunk myths about the skilled trades and help close the skills gap.

Victoria was 11 years old when she came down with a rare viral disease, Transverse Myelitis, with which she battled for five years including four years in a vegetative coma. The disease left her without the use of her legs for nearly a decade. A lifelong swimmer and athlete, Victoria never gave up her childhood dream of competing in the Olympics Games. In June of 2010 she returned to the pool for the first time since her illness and in the spring of 2012 she qualified for the London Paralympic Games in four events. There she won a Gold Medal, and three Silver Medals. Despite missing five years of school during her illness, Victoria graduated on-time with her triplet brothers, from Exeter High School (New Hampshire) in June of 2013. Victoria is now an on-air TV personality with ESPN reporting for numerous programs including X-Games, Invictus Games, The ESPY Awards, espnW, Frozen Four, Special Olympics World Games and Sportscenter.

For over 30 years, Reggie Selma was one of CNN’s most dedicated and knowledgeable photojournalist based in their Washington, D. C. bureau. He has traveled across the globe filming every U.S. president from Reagan to Obama. Reggie has also covered some of the world’s most iconic figures of our time. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Pope Paul II, and The Dalai Lama giving him a front row to history.

Ari Fleischer is a former White House Press Secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush, from January 2001 to July 2003. Today, he works as a media consultant for corporations and sports players and organizations like the NFL, Bowl Championship Series through his company, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications. With the signature wit and humor he used to handle the toughest of questions in the White House briefing room, in speeches he provides an in-depth look at the current presidential administration, political landscape, the media, and U.S. foreign policy.

After an acting career including a role on The Sopranos (HBO), Chris decided to follow his real passion- using media to bridge intercultural gaps worldwide- so he traveled to East Africa. He now traverses the globe from Tanzania to Abu Dhabi as Host of Bridge the Gap, a new series featured on National PBS television, where he discovers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes for one day. He is a United Nations Moderator, an International Speaker (TEDx), a Writer for award-winning publications like Lonely Planet, an Eagle Scout and a National Geographic Young Explorers grantee. 1 : Actor/Activist from Brooklyn whose TV career spans MTV to The Sopranos 2 : traveled from Tanzania to Thailand hosting the internationally recognized TV Series Bridge the Gap, broadcast into 45M homes in 80 markets 3 : Published Writer for Huffington Post and Lonely Planet 4 : celebrated Emcee and Guest Speaker for TedX and the United Nations, at Jane Goodall’s National Leadership Retreat, and at events in Qatar, Rio de Janeiro, and Abu Dhabi.