New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker, Brookings Institution President Gen. John Allen, NPR Host Mary Louise Kelly, American Enterprise Institute Scholar Leon Aron Join Marvin Kalb for April 16 National Press Club Forum

Adelphi, Md. (March 26, 2018)—Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election may be just the tip of the iceberg for a former world power that is dealing with a crumbling economy and diminished reputation on the world stage.

With Vladimir Putin’s re-election to another six-year term as president, what is the Russian leader’s end game? Is Moscow trying to destabilize democracies around the world, including the mid-term elections in the U.S., in order to bolster its own standing? And what role is the Trump administration wittingly or unwittingly playing in Putin’s plans?

New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker, Brookings Institution President Gen. John Allen, NPR All Things Considered Host Mary Louise Kelly and American Enterprise Institute Scholar Leon Aron will join moderator Marvin Kalb to discuss Russia, Putin and his possible trump card.

The Kalb Report: Putin’s Trump Card will take place in the main ballroom of the National Press Club (14th & F Street, NW, Washington, DC) at 8 p.m. on Monday, April 16.

“Nothing appears more important today than President Trump’s relationship with Russia,” said Marvin Kalb. “It is the source of a major investigation, a source of turmoil in U.S.-Russia relations and a mystery that must be resolved. I am thrilled to have this superb panel address this perplexing and potentially dangerous threat to our democracy.”

The Kalb Report series is produced jointly by The National Press Club Journalism Institute, the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center, University of Maryland University College and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. For the 15th consecutive year, the series is underwritten by a grant from Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

Since 1994, the partnership has produced 95 forums with guests including Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Rupert Murdoch, Diane Sawyer, Roger Ailes, Katie Couric, Bill O’Reilly, Bob Costas, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Hillary Clinton, David McCullough, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and Walter Cronkite.

The Kalb Report was most recently honored with a Gold World Medal in the 2015 New York Festivals International Radio Awards competition for its program Writing History: Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and Journalism’s Finest Hour. In 2012, the series received the overall Grand Award at the New York Festivals for Anchoring 911, The Day and the Decade with Charles Gibson, Brit Hume, Dan Rather, and Frank Sesno.

The Kalb Report series is distributed nationally by American Public Television. Oklahoma Educational Television Authority serves as the presenting station. The series airs on Maryland Public Television, Sirius-XM Satellite Radio and Federal News Radio in Washington, D.C. Each program is streamed live at press.org.

Moderator Marvin Kalb is Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and senior advisor to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. In a distinguished 30-year career in journalism, Mr. Kalb served as chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS News and NBC News and moderator of Meet the Press. He went on to serve as the founding director of Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. Among his many honors are two Peabody Awards, the DuPont Prize from Columbia University, the 2006 Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club and more than a half-dozen Overseas Press Club awards. Mr. Kalb has authored or co-authored 16 books including two best-selling novels. His latest book is “The Year I was Peter the Great: 1956 - Khrushchev, Stalin’s Ghost, and a Young American in Russia.”

Executive Producer Michael Freedman is a senior vice president and professor of the practice at University of Maryland University College, as well as a professorial lecturer in journalism at the George Washington University, and a member of the National Press Club Board of Governors. He is the former general manager of CBS Radio Network News, and a former managing editor of United Press International. He and his teams have earned more than 85 honors for journalistic excellence including 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Senior Producer Heather Date is a vice president at University of Maryland University College and former CNN producer. She received the Alliance for Women in Media’s 2011 Gracie Award as Outstanding Producer for her work on The Kalb Report.

Director Shelly Schwartz has distinguished himself as one of the premier producer/ directors in the nation’s capital for more than 30 years. His directing credits include The McLaughlin Group, The George Michael Sports Machine and It’s Academic.

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