Michael Morell has been more than a man who had a front-row seat to history.

He was a participant in two monumental events as an official of the CIA.

Morell spent more than three decades in the CIA and served as an analyst, Deputy Director, and twice as Acting Director.

He was with President Bush on 9/11, 2001, as the President’s daily briefer when George Bush learned of the attacks.

Morell was with President Obama 10 years later, on May 1, 2011, when the operation was launched that would kill Osama bin Laden.

On this 25th anniversary of 9/11, it is an important moment to consider these two events and what has changed between then and now. We will talk about what intelligence agencies knew and should have known leading up to 9/11. We will talk about the events of 9/11 as the U.S. reacted to the attacks. We will talk about the search for and killing of Osama bin Laden, and we will consider the strength of terrorism and the defense against it 25 years after 9/11. Finally, we will ask if the United States has the intelligence service it deserves at a time of increased technology and weapons.

Morell, now retired from the CIA, is an important voice in the conversation about national security.