All language subtitles for Secrets.Declassified.with.David.Duchovny.S02E07.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[David] Tonight
on "Secrets Declassified,"

secret units,
unseen and unheard,

shaping events
from the shadows,

from a CIA heist
high in the Himalayas...

[Dan]
They're elite cat burglars

risking their lives
to steal the world's

most guarded secrets.

Or a surprising secret agent
under deep cover...

[Hakeem]
It wasn't just a whale.

It looked like part
of an intelligence operation.

And a covert unit
with a dirty secret.

[Sami] Now, the CIA can do
a lot of things.

But they cannot be caught
producing porn.

- These are the astonishing
and sometimes terrible things

done by governments and
the people who work for them.

It's time to bring them
to light.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

During the Cold War,
the U.S. Navy creates

a secret unit called Red Cell.

Its mission?

Stage mock attacks
on U.S. naval bases

to test for vulnerabilities.

And it's successful.

A little too successful.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- By the mid-1980s,
the United States

is the world's preeminent
military superpower.

[cannon fire]

There isn't a nation on Earth
that can match it.

It has the best equipment,
the most advanced technology.

Yet, there is
a critical weakness.

[Andrew]
There have been a string

of high-profile attacks

against U.S. military
installations.

These have highlighted
that the U.S. military

is vulnerable
to small terrorist units.

[David]
In 1984, the Navy creates

Red Cell as a solution
and launches it

against its most secure bases.

- This mission is
unlike anything

the U.S. Navy has
ever sanctioned before.

It's like mock terrorism
against itself.

[David]
To lead the unit,

the Navy picks
Richard Marcinko,

a man who doesn't just
think outside the box,

he blows it up.

- Richard Marcinko,
real-life Rambo,

he's one of the U.S. Army's
best fighters.

But his reputation
for flouting the rules

gets him desk duty.

- He's a loose cannon
that might be the perfect fit

for the Red Cell operation.

So he's placed in charge.

He recruits 13 Navy SEALs
and one Force Recon Marine.

[Sami] Now, officially,
Red Cell's HQ

is assigned to the Pentagon.

However, in reality,
Marcinko runs his unit

from his favorite
Virginia dive bar,

Shooter McGee's.

And it's here that the team
spend their nights

drinking, brawling,

and planning covert operations.

[David]
Soon, barroom bravado

becomes real-world threat.

- Over the course
of several months,

Red Cell runs a string of
increasingly bold operations.

They infiltrate
the world's largest

naval base
in Norfolk, Virginia,

and plant dummy explosives.

They bypass security
at Naval Base New London.

And they launch fake attacks
on submarines.

[dramatic music]

[David] With each success,
Marcinko pushes harder,

until he sets his sights
on the biggest target of all.

[Dan] It's 1985 in California.

President Reagan
is on vacation

at his ranch in Santa Barbara.

And about an hour
down the coast,

Air Force One, the world's
most defended plane,

is parked
at a secure naval base,

Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

[tense music]

[David] Marcinko and his team
plot their attack.

[Dan] Red Cell
stakes out Air Force One,

probing it for weaknesses,
looking for points of attack.

And they also hit local bars,

where they steal ID cards
from sailors.

That is illegal.

But Marcinko plays
by his own rules.

- On August 30th, Marcinko
gives the green light

for the operation.

One of his team members,
disguised as a commander,

drives up to the base
with radio equipment,

weapons, and dummy explosives
hidden in the vehicle.

He sails right on through,
no questions asked.

- They're able to get out
onto the airfield.

And several members get off
and attach fake explosives

to the side
of F-18 fighter jets.

Then it's time
for Air Force One.

[Evy] They steal
a weapons carrier,

load it up with fake
500-pound bombs,

and drive it straight up
to Air Force One,

all unchallenged.

Had this been a real attack,

they could have blown up
Air Force One,

as well as a host
of F-18 fighters

for good measure.

[David]
Eventually, Marcinko's team

is detained by base security.

For the Navy,
it's a major embarrassment.

In a real attack,
the president and his plane

could have been blown up.

[Sami] It's a wake-up call.

And security is
completely overhauled.

A brand-new unit
of specially trained Marines

is created to protect
U.S. Navy installations.

[David] The attack
on Air Force One marks

the high point
of Red Cell's operations.

Soon after, Marcinko's team
takes their mission

one step too far.

- In March of 1986,
a naval security officer

is kidnapped by Red Cell,

ostensibly
for a training exercise.

- Red Cell interrogates him
so violently

that he suffers
lasting injuries.

He's thrown against walls.

He's kicked.
He's punched.

He's waterboarded.

- It seems that Marcinko's
finally lost sight

of the difference
between security tests

and real violence.

[David] Marcinko is
stripped of command.

And in a separate case,
the law catches up with him.

He's placed under
criminal investigation,

convicted on federal charges,
and sentenced

to nearly two years in prison.

Red Cell is
officially disbanded.

- You know,
some people would argue

that Marcinko was somebody
who never knew

what the limits were.

[David] In 1992,
Marcinko is released.

Soon after, he publishes

a tell-all memoir
called "Rogue Warrior"

that blows the lid
off of Red Cell.

The book becomes a bestseller,
a dramatic final chapter

in Marcinko's
controversial career.

Some secret units
destroy targets.

Others destroy reputations.

In the 1950s, the CIA forms
a secret unit that fights

the Cold War not with guns,
but with a fake sex tape

code-named Happy Days.

[tense music]

[Hakeem] In the depths
of the Cold War,

the CIA calls on a secret unit

so adept at bizarre,
covert operations,

they're kept
completely off the books.

The man in charge?
Ex-FBI agent Robert Maheu.

- Maheu's unit is founded
in 1954.

And its main strength is
the litany of unusual contacts

it can draw on.

Maheu's little black book
stretches

from the mafia
to Hollywood's rich and famous.

[David] In 1957,
the CIA gives Maheu

his toughest mission yet--

stage a fake romantic
encounter on film

to blackmail a global leader.

[suspenseful music]

- Indonesia is the world's
sixth most populous nation,

making it a pivotal power
broker in Southeast Asia,

which is a key battleground
in the struggle

between the USA and the USSR.

[Hakeem] Indonesia is led
by President Sukarno.

He is a charismatic dictator

that Washington considers
to be a wild card.

For years, he's been
carefully courting

both the U.S.
and the Soviet Union.

- Now the CIA spots
an opportunity

to bring Sukarno to heel.

They learn that on
a recent trip to Moscow,

Sukarno became involved
with a blonde flight attendant,

who was actually a KGB agent.

- This flight attendant
has since visited

President Sukarno in Indonesia
a number of times.

CIA sources also know
that the KGB has filmed

compromising footage
of President Sukarno

with his flight attendant/
KGB lover

in a suite in the Kremlin.

And of course, they've done so
for blackmail purposes.

[Hakeem] The CIA now sees
an opportunity.

If they can embarrass
the president of Indonesia

by pointing out
that he's dating a KGB agent,

perhaps then
they could twist his arm

into working for the U.S.

[David] The problem is,
how can the CIA

leak a film it doesn't have,
one that's locked away

by Soviet intelligence forces?

So it comes up
with a radical idea--

fake it.

[Sami] Now, the CIA can do
a lot of things.

But they cannot be caught
producing porn,

and certainly not one starring
the leader of another nation.

So this needs to be a totally
off-the-books operation,

conducted by a team
who can make this film

without any trace
leading back to Langley.

[camera shutter clicking]

[David] Enter Robert Maheu's
secret unit

and its network
of Hollywood contacts.

[Jesse] The CIA shows Maheu

photographs
of the Kremlin suite

and Sukarno's blonde lover.

Both will have to be exact

for the fake film
to be believable.

[lively music]

[David] Maheu gets
straight to work.

And he knows
exactly who to call.

- At the top
of his address book

is the Academy Award-winning
actor

and famed singer Bing Crosby,

the voice behind
"White Christmas,"

and his brother Larry.

- Maheu convinces
the Crosbys to do

their part for their country.

So they find
a small Hollywood studio,

and they convert it
into a replica

of the Kremlin suite,

as seen in the CIA photographs.

[Sami] The Crosbys supply
Maheu with a camera

and teach him how to use it,
keeping the film's crew

to an absolute minimum
and maintaining secrecy.

[David] The biggest challenge
is finding the right cast.

He needs perfect doubles
for Sukarno and the KGB agent.

For help, he turns
to local law enforcement.

- First, they find
a doppelganger

for this KGB agent.

She's, in fact,
an informant for the police.

[Jesse]
For a convincing Sukarno,

a Hispanic-looking
former roommate--

with help from Bing Crosby's
makeup artists,

they're able to turn him
into a near-perfect replica

of the Indonesian president.

[David] With the set
and cast in place,

the cameras are ready to roll.

- In the dead of night, Maheu,
his team, and the two "actors"

shoot their fake tryst.

The set is dressed
to the tiniest detail,

and lighting mimics the grainy
look of hidden surveillance.

- After months of planning,
filming is over

in just a few minutes.

What happens next is disputed.

[Sami] One story goes
that worrying

about the consequences of
putting together a fake film,

the CIA got cold feet
and never released it.

[Jesse] But Maheu said
that stills from his film

were circulated in Indonesia,
which caused the president

to drop the blonde
and eventually led

to his fall from power.

- Either way,
the story of Hollywood's

most unlikely production stays
secret for more than a decade.

[David] In 1976,
Alexander Cockburn

exposes the story
in an article

for "The Village Voice."

Today, in the age
of deepfakes and AI images,

the story seems
even more incredible.

But once upon a time,
a fake movie was enough

to topple a president.

- Secret units are meant
to stay hidden,

out of sight and in deep cover,

like Unit 29155,
a distinctly unmemorable name

for a team
of Russian assassins.

[Hakeem] Unit 29155 is
a clandestine Russian

military unit that has been in
existence since at least 2008.

And they're linked
to poisonings and sabotage

across Europe.

[dramatic music]

[David]
For years, the unit works

in total secrecy,
unknown and unseen

by the world's governments
and intelligence services.

♪ ♪

Then in 2018, one operation
changes everything.

[Sami] It's a spring afternoon
in the city

of Salisbury, England,
and locals find

two people slumped on a bench.

♪ ♪

So somebody quickly dials 999,

and first responders
go rushing in.

[sirens wailing]

- As the hours pass,
it becomes clear to residents

that this is
no normal incident.

Hazmat suits appear, and a huge
portion of the city center

is completely closed off.

[David] Soon, police identify
the victims,

Sergei Skripal, a former
Russian intelligence officer

who defected to Britain,

and his daughter Yulia.

- Investigators discovered
that the Skripals

have been poisoned
with something called Novichok.

This is
an assassination attempt.

And really, there's only
one plausible suspect--

Russian military intelligence.

[David]
Both Sergei and Yulia

are near death when found.

But after weeks
in the hospital,

they somehow survive.

- Global news outlets
begin to point the finger.

Russian military intelligence
is now the prime suspect.

[David]
Can investigators find

any hard evidence
linking Russia to the attack?

[Sami]
British police investigate.

And months later, they release
CCTV stills and video footage

of two men that they believe
traveled from Russia

to Salisbury
to carry out these poisonings.

And the names listed
in the passports

are Ruslan Boshirov
and Alexander Petrov.

[David] A database search
for these names

turns up nothing,

and the investigation
grinds to a halt.

- This is where
Christo Grosev comes in.

At the time, Grosev is the
lead researcher at Bellingcat,

an open-source
investigative group

that uncovers
covert operations.

And Grosev sets about
trying to uncover

these men's real identities.

[David] With the men's names
offering no clues,

Grosev turns to the only other
piece of information he has--

their passports.

- Grosev uncovers
a crucial detail

reported in the Russian press.

The passport numbers
of these two men

are virtually identical, except
for the last three numbers.

In a country
of over 140 million people,

the chances of two travelers
having nearly consecutive

passport numbers
on the same plane

going to the same city
is almost impossible.

[Sami] Grosev attempts
to trace the two Salisbury

suspects online
but finds nothing, which is odd

because in a world
where almost everyone leaves

a digital trail,
a total absence of information

suggests something deliberate.

It's a hallmark
of fabricated identities.

[David] With no other
personal details on the men,

once again, the investigation
hits a dead end.

[phone vibrates]

- That's when one of Grosev's
ex-intelligence contacts

gives him an idea.

Why not look at the alumni
of Russia's military academies

to search for any
high-flying graduates,

men who might have
been recruited

by the elite security services,

and match the photos
of the Salisbury killers?

- One of these places is
Russia's Far Eastern Higher

Combined Arms Command School,
which is one of Russia's oldest

military academies
that has connections

to the GRU, which is Russia's
secretive military

intelligence agency.

[Don] Grosev begins
cross-checking

the school's graduates
with award rolls

and keeps hitting one name--

Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga.

Since graduating, he has
become a decorated GRU officer

and recipient
of Russia's highest honor,

the Hero
of the Russian Federation.

- When Grosev compares
photographs of Chepiga

with Ruslan Boshirov...

[intensifying music]

♪ ♪

They're the same men.

A parallel search of an elite
Russian military medical school

finds that Chepiga's
accomplice, Alexander Petrov,

matches the image
of an Alexander Mishkin.

And Mishkin's car is
even registered

to the GRU's
Moscow headquarters.

[David]
It leaves no doubt.

The two men's arrival
before the poisoning

is no coincidence.

They're highly trained
Russian killers

operating under state-issued
false identities.

[Don] Most investigators
would stop here.

But Grosev pushes further.

He is determined to uncover
the sprawling secret unit

that he believes is
behind the Skripal plot.

His big break comes when
a Russian opposition paper

exposes a third suspect--

Sergey Fedotov.

Grosev discovers
he's really Denis Sergeev,

a senior GRU officer.

[Sasha] By looking
into Sergeev's travel records,

Grosev sees a chilling pattern.

Wherever Sergeev goes,
disaster follows.

A weapons depot explodes
in the Czech Republic in 2014.

There's an attempted poisoning
of an arms dealer

in Bulgaria in 2015.

- Essentially, if Sergeev
shows up at passport control,

it pretty much means

the Kremlin has marked
a target.

- Grosev digs deeper
and discovers Sergeev is

a senior figure
in a top secret GRU unit

of assassins and saboteurs.

After years in the shadows,
the existence of Unit 29155

is exposed.

[Dan] Using the same
techniques that he used

to identify the two attackers
of the Skripals,

Grosev keeps going.

And ultimately,
he's able to uncover

the identities
of dozens of members

of this secret subunit.

And he makes sure
that Western law enforcement

and Interpol know
exactly who they are.

- In one swoop,
Unit 29155's operations

are disrupted for a generation.

[David] In 2019,
Grosev publishes his findings.

The revelation of a secret
Russian hit squad

creates a sensation worldwide.

But for his extraordinary
detective work,

Grosev pays a high price.

[Sami] In early October,

Western intelligence
warned Grosev

new Russian operatives
had been detected

in Europe, gathering
information on his movements.

Grosev's name is
now on a kill list.

[David] Grosev exposed
Russia's most secret

assassination unit.

Now he's forced
into a life on the run.

- Some army units get
the job done with force.

Others use deception,
like the Alamo Scouts

in World War II,
who rescued 500 prisoners

in just 28 minutes.

[unsettling music]

- In the midst of World War II,

the United States creates
a secret unit

that is so clandestine,

not even
U.S. military service people

know that it exists.

They're not shock troops.

They're not commandos.

They're specialist
reconnaissance spies.

[Sami] They're called
the Alamo Scouts.

More than 700 men try out,
but only 138 are chosen,

the most resourceful
and unbreakable.

♪ ♪

[David]
Their most important mission

begins in the Philippines
in 1945,

when a local passes along
troubling intelligence.

[Sami] 500 Allied prisoners

are being held in a POW camp
near a village

called Cabanatuan,
about 30 miles

inside
Japanese-held territory.

[Martin]
The prisoners being held

at Cabanatuan don't know it,

but they are in mortal danger.

- If liberation looks imminent,
the order is simple--

execute them.

[David] It's a job
for the Alamo Scouts.

♪ ♪

Their mission is
to get eyes on the camp

and gather intel for a U.S.
Army Ranger rescue operation.

- They are masters at sneaking
behind enemy lines

without being seen themselves.

[David] They're led
by Lieutenant William Nellist,

a combat veteran with a talent
for deception and disguise.

He assembles an elite team
of 13 men for the mission.

- They are literally
the best of the best,

trained in jungle survival
and guerrilla tactics.

If anyone can get
near the camp

without triggering a massacre,

it's them.

[David] On January 27th,
the operation begins.

But as the 13 men
approach Cabanatuan,

they encounter a problem.

[Paul] Lieutenant
William Nellist discovers

all of the foliage
and normal cover they expected

is actually not there.

Cabanatuan is built
in the middle of a rice paddy.

[Martin] The space around it
is wide open.

The enemy has guard towers,

and the area is
under observation

at all times.

[David] Then Nellist spots

a crumbling shack
overlooking the camp.

If he can reach it, he'll have
the perfect vantage point

to scout the camp's defense.

- Nellist decides
that he and another man

will essentially
disguise themselves

as Filipino rice paddy workers.

[Hakeem] They wear
coarse shirts and straw hats

that they picked up
from local villagers.

And in plain sight
of the Japanese guards,

they head out
across the rice paddies

and go to the shack.

[David] If their deception
isn't perfect,

the consequences
could be deadly.

[Martin] They eventually reach
the shack

located close enough
to the camp

that it can function as
an excellent observation post.

[Hakeem] Inside the shack,

they perform surveillance
for over two hours.

They draw a detailed map
of the camp,

and they count
around 250 guards.

[Paul] The problem is,

the guard force is
more than twice as large

as they'd been led to expect.

And the American prisoners are
in terrible physical shape.

[Hakeem] They've been
weakened by starvation,

torture, and death marches.

In fact, some of the POWs
are so weak,

they can barely move at all.

[David]
Outmanned and outgunned,

they devise a rescue plan
that uses

deception to level the field.

- The plan
that the Alamo Scouts

come up with,
they need something

to function as a distraction.

A U.S. Army Air Force's P-61
Black Widow night fighter

will fly in,
simulating that it is

encountering engine problems.

And then
they'll launch the raid,

recover the prisoners
of war using caribou

and bamboo stretchers,
move them to safety.

[tense music]

[Sami] On the night
of January 30th, the scouts,

now backed by the 6th Army
and local guerrillas,

move into position
for the rescue.

[David] Inside the camp,

Japanese guards
lounge about smoking.

What the guards don't know
is that the attack

is already underway,
starting with a diversion.

[jet engine roaring]

[Sami] A P-61 Black Widow
night fighter swoops low,

engines roaring, backfiring.

It's weaving.

It all is trying
to sell the illusion

of a stricken plane
that's about to crash.

And the guards naturally
look skyward, distracted.

♪ ♪

[David] The rescue raid
springs into motion.

[dramatic music]

- The U.S. troops
and the Filipino guerrillas

converge on the camp.

♪ ♪

[Martin] The guards are
overwhelmed and confused.

They don't realize what's
happening until it's too late.

[gunfire]

- They breach through
the fence of the POW camp,

get inside,
and begin liberating prisoners.

♪ ♪

It all goes down
like clockwork.

[solemn music]

[David] The raid is over

in less than 30 minutes.

The Japanese suffer
nearly 600 casualties,

but not a single
Alamo Scout is lost.

Altogether, 500 Allied
prisoners are freed.

- This is, like,
one of the most daring,

heroic operations

the American military conducted
during World War II.

♪ ♪

[Sami] Despite their success,
for over 40 years,

the Alamo Scouts
remain a secret.

♪ ♪

[Paul] The records
of their operations are,

for all intents and purposes,
just buried.

[tense music]

[David] In 1986, the U.S. Army
finally declassifies

the record
of the Alamo Scouts.

♪ ♪

[Jack] Two years after

their records are
declassified,

the Alamo Scouts are granted

the insignia
of a Special Forces soldier.

♪ ♪

[David] Over 40 years after

their heroics
in the Philippines,

the Alamo Scouts finally
receive recognition

for pulling off
one of the most daring

POW rescue missions
in American history.

- Most secret units stay
out of sight.

They rely on false identities
and clever disguises.

But during the Cold War,

the Soviet Union assembles
a team that truly

operates below the surface--

an elite force
of highly trained dolphins.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] At the height
of the Cold War,

Soviet navy commanders
are worried.

They're concerned enemy divers
could slip into their bases

and sabotage their fleet
without being detected.

In the warm waters
off the Crimean Peninsula,

the USSR sets up a top-secret
training school for dolphins.

[dolphins chattering]

- The Soviets,
by utilizing the dolphins'

incredible hearing
and intelligence,

create a highly effective
early warning defense system

for any possible inbound
enemy submarines.

♪ ♪

[David] The Dolphins are
fully trained

to trail a signal buoy
and kept on standby.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] In 1991,
the Soviet Union breaks apart.

Modern Russia has no use
for these trained dolphins.

So the marine mammal program
falls apart

and is just remembered
as a relic

of the old Soviet empire.

♪ ♪

[David]
Fast forward three decades,

and the mammal program
resurfaces

in the most unexpected
of places.

- It's a spring day
off the coast of Norway.

Three fishermen spot something
strange drifting in the ocean.

As they get closer,

they realize
it's a beluga whale.

♪ ♪

[Greg] Now, this is odd.

Belugas swim in
colder waters than this.

Also, they typically
travel in pods.

So for it to be this far south
and to be alone,

something is suspicious here.

[Hakeem]
As the whale swims by,

the fishermen notice
that there's something

caught around
the beluga's body.

One of the fishermen dives
into the water

to help the animal.

But once in the water,

the fisherman realizes

that this isn't debris
wrapped around the whale--

this is a carefully designed
harness.

[dramatic music]

[David] As they haul
the harness onto deck,

they spot something strange--

a stamp that says,
"Equipment, Saint Petersburg."

This isn't fishing gear.

It's Russian tech.

♪ ♪

[Dan] Just for the record,

no zoo or research institution

has put out a statement
saying that

they are missing their beluga.

It is a total mystery
where this thing came from.

♪ ♪

The mystery quickly makes
international headlines,

and news outlets settle
on the unsettling conclusion

a Russian spy whale has just
surfaced in Norwegian waters.

[Sami]
Locals embrace the theory,

and they give the animal
a name, Hvaldimir,

which is a playful mashup
of the word Hval,

which is Norwegian for whale,

and the first name
of Russia's president,

Vladimir Putin.

♪ ♪

[David]
The Putin administration

doesn't confirm knowledge
of Hvaldimir.

♪ ♪

[Greg]
Intelligence journalists

across the world
start digging in

to see if Hvaldimir really is

a part of a secret
Russian unit.

[Sami] Footage on social media

of Hvaldimir playing with
tourists along Norway's coast

reveals a pretty big clue.

It shows Hvaldimir
being playful--

tugging at ropes,
nudging boats.

He even retrieves
a girl's phone from the seabed.

[Hakeem] It becomes clear that

this whale has experience
with humans

and may even be trained,

but it's not clear
by who or why.

♪ ♪

- The following month,
European journalists

make a breakthrough while
trawling through Google Maps.

[dramatic music]

They're scrolling along
the coastline,

looking at clues.

And they spot something

hiding in plain sight
in Olenya Bay

near Murmansk.

♪ ♪

[David] Floating in the water

are what appear to be
large pens,

roughly 20 meters wide.

[Dan] Murmansk is
Russia's key Arctic port

and the base
for its main submarine force,

the Northern Fleet.

That fleet comprises
more than 30 submarines,

including a bunch
that are capable

of launching nuclear strikes.

[David] The freezing
waters of Murmansk

are too cold for most
dolphin species.

♪ ♪

Have Russians begun
secretly training

a new mammal to serve
as underwater sentinels?

[Dan] Inside those berths

are white shapes that match

the sizes of beluga whales.

♪ ♪

[David]
This discovery is only

the tip of the iceberg.

Later that month,
more intel is revealed.

[Sami] A tip reaches
Ukrainian marine biologist

Dr. Olga Shpak.

She's told Hvaldimir is
actually a whale named Andruha

and went missing
from the Research Institute

for Applied Problems
in Murmansk.

It's a branch
of the Russian military

that has been secretly
training beluga whales.

♪ ♪

[David] A secret unit
of Russian marine troops

is finally exposed by the most
unexpected whistleblower.

[Sami] After his escape,

Hvaldimir lives out
the remainder of his days

on the Norwegian coast,
living proof

of Russia's
latest shadow unit,

this top-secret battalion

of cute belugas
that are trained

to guard its submarine
strike force.

♪ ♪

- When a secret unit mission
ends in success,

no one ever hears about it.

But when a mission fails,

that's when it makes
the headlines.

[tense music]

[Sami] In the early years
of the Cold War,

the CIA creates its own
team of cat burglars,

a unit so secret, it operates
entirely off the books.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] It's known only
as The Shop.

They're trained in
lock picking, safe cracking,

and silent entry.

And they're the CIA's answer
when what they're looking for

is literally locked
behind closed doors.

♪ ♪

[David] In 1989,
the CIA has a problem

only The Shop can crack,
high in the Himalayas.

[Sami] The CIA has
intelligence that

a code machine is
locked away inside

the East German embassy
in Kathmandu, Nepal.

♪ ♪

It's the key to unlocking
three decades

of encrypted East German
communications.

It's an intelligence gold mine.

[Hakeem] If they can steal
the code machine,

then they can decrypt
the intelligence

and tip the balance

between the U.S.
and its Cold War rivals.

At this point,
the Eastern Bloc is crumbling.

And understanding
what's happening

behind the Iron Curtain has
never been more critical.

[David]
With the stakes so high,

the CIA turns to its
most skilled safecracker,

a man named Doug Groat.

[Sami]
Groat is a former Green Beret,

trained in survival
and evasion.

But after leaving
the Special Forces in 1980,

he joins the CIA.

[David] By 1989,
he's a seven-year veteran

of The Shop,
trusted with the jobs

no one else can handle.

- Groat is ordered
to fly to Kathmandu

and steal the code machine.

He's ordered
to take the entire safe

because attempting
to crack it on-site

would just take too much time.

[tense music]

[David]
As with most of his work,

failure means likely death.

- Members of The Shop do not
have diplomatic immunity.

And that means that
if they are caught,

the CIA will deny their
existence and disavow them.

♪ ♪

[David] Two days
before the mission,

Groat's team arrives in Nepal
disguised as tourists.

They move into a safe house
and begin final preparations.

- To give Groat's team
a window of time

to carry out the operation,

CIA stationed in Kathmandu

sets up a diplomatic event

about an hour
outside of the city.

They know that
the East Germans can't deny

an invitation
to come to the event...

♪ ♪

Which gives Groat's team
about three solid hours

to carry out this mission.

[dramatic music]

[Hakeem] Groat and his team
need to reach

the East German embassy
without any suspicion.

That's kind of hard
for a group of white dudes

to accomplish in Kathmandu.

[Jesse]
Groat and his team are given

latex masks,
complete with black hair

and darker skin tone

to turn them into
convincing Nepalese men,

[tense music]

[David] On the day,

the Americans put on
their disguises

and begin the operation.

[Sami] At the closed embassy,

Groat quietly opens
the front door.

Inside the embassy,
it's too hot to concentrate.

So they have no choice.

They have to remove
their masks.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] Groat and his team
identify the safe,

but it's much heavier
than they anticipated.

♪ ♪

They drag the safe
down the stairs,

load it into a van,

and speed away
to the U.S. embassy.

[dramatic music]

- When they reach the embassy,

Groat cracks open the safe
to retrieve his prize.

[David]
But it's completely empty.

[Hakeem] It's a failure.

So when another job
goes wrong,

Groat is furious.

it's putting his
intelligence team at risk.

In the months that follow,
Groat falls out with the CIA

and eventually leaves
the agency under a cloud.

♪ ♪

[Sami] Decades later, in 2012,

Groat reveals details
of The Shop

to journalist David Wise, who,

through Groat's testimony
and other sources,

pieces together details

of this still very
top secret unit.

In fact, it's Wise who
publishes a bombshell article

revealing the botched
Kathmandu job

and sheds light
for the first time

on the inner workings
of The Shop.

[Andrew] The Kathmandu job
remains the only

confirmed operation that
The Shop ever carried out,

even though people assume
dozens,

if not hundreds,
of additional operations

have also taken place.

♪ ♪

- Were it not
for that failed mission,

we'd probably never have known
that The Shop even existed.

- Spying on your enemies
is standard practice.

But when your targets are
your own allies,

espionage enters
dangerous new territory.

[tense music]

- F6 is a subunit of the CIA's
Special Collection Service.

Essentially, it's a team
of master eavesdroppers.

- Formed late in the Cold War,
some of their triumphs

include bugging Moscow's
phone exchanges

and tapping
Pakistan communication networks

to steal nuclear plans.

[Don] If you want to listen in

on any conversation on Earth,

these are the people you call.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] The United States'
relationship with Germany

is facing its biggest strain
since the end of World War II.

♪ ♪

George W. Bush is
making his case

to start the Iraq war.

Germany will not be
joining in.

[Don]
It is a very public snub.

And it makes
intelligence chiefs

inside the U.S. government
uneasy.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem]
If Berlin is so willing

to openly defy
the United States,

that creates fears
they're sowing distrust

among America's other allies.

♪ ♪

[David] The Bush
administration wants to know

what's being said behind
closed doors in Germany,

so it turns to F6.

[suspenseful music]

[Sami]
To bug the German government,

F6 places their faith
in a newly-developed

piece of computer code
that targets a weak spot

in the administration's
communications security.

♪ ♪

- For sensitive business,

the Germans use secure,
encrypted landlines.

But they all carry
mobile phones,

which bounce microwave signals
from tower to tower.

♪ ♪

[David] F6 has developed
a top-secret program

to monitor
these transmissions.

♪ ♪

[Sami] F6 can sift through

the storm cloud of microwaves

whizzing over a city
or an entire nation

and pull out any messages
linked to that number.

♪ ♪

[Hakeem] The entire operation
can be run

from the U.S. embassy
in Berlin.

There, they can place
an antenna on high

to trawl the airwaves
for sensitive communications

between targeted politicians.

[tense music]

[David] The challenge is
installing the antennas

where they won't
attract attention.

♪ ♪

F6's solution is another piece

of high-tech trickery.

[Sami] The antennas are placed
inside rooms

at the very top
of the U.S. embassy,

near windows,
which they coat with

a special dielectric film.

What this film does is,
it blocks visible light,

concealing the antenna
while allowing radio

and microwaves to pass through
to be collected.

♪ ♪

- With the antennas in place,
the U.S. now has

a direct line
into Germany's inner circle.

♪ ♪

[Andrew] For weeks,
the U.S. pushes Germany

to support
the invasion of Iraq,

all while simultaneously
listening

to the private communications
of German leadership.

[Sami] Armed with this intel,
they soon realize that

the Germans likely won't budge.

And it's little surprise
to the Americans

when Germany refuses
to join their invasion of Iraq

in March of 2003.

♪ ♪

[David] F6 keeps
the phone tap operation

running even after
the Iraq war ends.

- As Angela Merkel rises
to become chancellor

and one of the West's
most influential politicians,

her phone remains
under surveillance.

On paper,
she's one of Washington's

closest allies,
yet F6 keeps listening,

undetected and undeterred.

[David]
It stays secret for years,

until June 2013,
when it's finally revealed.

[Sasha] NSA contractor
Edward Snowden

walks off the job in Hawaii,

and he's carrying
what will become

one of the most damaging
intelligence leaks in history.

♪ ♪

[Don] He releases this
information to journalists.

Overnight, the world learns of

vast and secret
U.S. surveillance programs.

♪ ♪

Buried among the details
is a document

listing the personal number
of Angela Merkel

as an active NSA target.

[Sami] Scandal erupts,

and Merkel calls
President Obama to tell him

spying on friends is
not acceptable.

♪ ♪

[Don] Within days,
the world learns that

F6 is tapping into
the inner circles

of allied governments.

Outrage sweeps
Germany and beyond.

[David] The CIA never
officially acknowledges

the German
eavesdropping operation

or even the existence of F6.

The question is,
who are they listening to now?

♪ ♪

From an unusual spy
in the waters off Norway

to a daring rescue
in World War II

and a team of deadly
Russian assassins,

secret units operate
in every era

and for every government.

When they succeed,
no one's the wiser.

But when they fail,
the world finds out.

♪ ♪