including sudden vertigo, nausea and debilitating headaches. since the incidents began in 2016 in cuba, investigators have struggled to figure out what or who is causing this. there are also cases involving russia, china, and even u.s. soil not far from the white house. joining me is former cia senior intelligence officer. in december of 2017, he suffered a mysterious attack while on assignment in moscow. he s also the author of a new book called clarity in crisis. you called your bout with what you believe to be havana syndrome the most terrifying experience in your life. what were the symptoms like? what did it feel like? sure, so i made a trip to moscow in december of 2017 and i woke up in the middle of the night early in the trip, and i had an incredible case of vertigo, i had tinnitus, ringing in my ears, a brutal headache, and as i thought about it, quite some time, i spent years in
but the effects can be debilitating. nausea, vertigo, numbness and more. maybe you heard about this happening to americans in cuba, hence the name the havana syndrome. then in russia. and what about right here on u.s. soil? investigators now looking at two nsc officials that came down with a mystery illness late last year right near the white house no less. i ve got two perfect guests to talk more about it. former cia officer mark, who came down with a mystery symptom in moscow. mark, how did it feel? this was one of the most terrifying experiences in my life. it was december of 2017. i woke up in the middle of the night in a moscow hotel room and had an incredible case of vertigo. i couldn t stand up. i was falling over. i had a splitting headache and had tinnitus in my ears.
investigators now looking at two nsc officials that came down with a mystery illness late last year right near the white house, no less. i ve got two perfect guests to talk more about it. former cia officer mark who came down with a mystery symptom in moscow. and adam entiss, who has written about this. mark, how did it feel? this was one of the most terrifying experiences in my life. it was december of 2017. i woke up in the middle of the night in a moscow hotel room and i had an incredible case of vertigo. i couldn t stand up. i was falling over. i had a splitting headache and i had tinnitus ringing in my ears. i ve spent a lot of time in war zones in iraq and afghanistan, but this was the most terrifying experience of my life. i know that now you re retired from the cia. are you retired on some form of disability? in other words, does the government recognize, formally recognize that you suffered an
what is your take on what s going on here? you know, we first detected this havana syndrome way back in 2017. and we didn t see a lot of action that was taken both to treat those that had been subjected to in some cases traumatic brain injury as well as collect the intelligence to confirm who was hinds the attacks. what we re seeing now from the state department as well as my former cia colleagues, including one subjected to an attack many moscow in december of 2017, the frustration that you highlight. martha: we spoke with mark about his experience with this. there s the treating and recognizing the injury to people who are serving their country and who is doing this and how do we stop it. it s very frightening. it s a silent weapon. how you think this is traveling
until recently they have been denied medical care at walter reed national military medical center, and the national institutes of health, and it forced them into a costly search for a diagnosis and relief for their lingering symptoms. here with us now is someone who experienced this personally. mark polymoropolis, a long time cia operator, who said he was forced to retire after being struck by one of these invisible attacks. we ll grateful to have you wus. thank you so much for sharing your story. it s difficult to understand. if you could walk us through what it was like to experience in? how did you first notice that something was off? sure, boris. thanks for having me this morning. so look, i traveled in december of 2017 as part of my duties as a senior officer at cia. i traveled to moscow, and i woke up in the middle of the night, it was at a five star hotel but woke up with an incredible case of vertigo.