much for being with us from what
we know right now. Should the
suspect in this case jack to
share even had should have even
had access to these documents.
Did it make any sense to you?
When you heard that this young
man had access to that kind of
sensitive information? All
right. I don't think there's any
question but that, uh somebody
who's a low level air guardsmen
should not have had access to
some of the highly classified
information that was out there.
There's no reason for it. He
doesn't need it. Uh and I think
the fact that, uh, there are
literally thousands upon
thousands of people who have
access to classified information
is something that really has to
be looked at very seriously in
order to limit access and make
sure that it is more secure. And
how much damage do you think has
been done as a result of these
documents being, uh, released
and put out there? It's quite an
embarrassment for the us. I mean
, with allies all over the
world. I'm sure they're they've
been burning up the phone lines
over to the white house trying
to get to the bottom of this
well, the interesting thing that
I'm seeing is that we really
don't know the full extent of
the damage that's been done. We
get new rail revelations almost
every day now, uh, involving
just exactly what was in the
leak of this classified
information, which tells me that
this stuff is spread all over
the place, but make no mistake
about it anytime. There is a
leak of highly classified, uh
information. It is going to
damage our national security and
that's happened here. There are
sources that are at risk those
that provide that information
are now vulnerable. Uh it
impacts on on our allies our
trust with our allies, even
though they're they know that we
all spy on one another. The fact
is, when this information does
come out, you've got to repair
that relationship again. Add to
that the battlefield information
with regards to Russia and
Ukraine clearly affects military
decisions that are critical as
to what happens with that war
and then add to that just are
reputational damage and the
damage to our trust if you're
going to have intelligence
relationships with others, there
has to be a relationship of
trust, and that's been damaged.
And what guardrails do there
need to be in place to make sure
this doesn't happen again. Mr
secretary, I have to ask you
because I know you've been in
various roles. Chief of staff
CIA director defense secretary.
I mean, is this the kind of
situation where the president of
the chief of staff, so we were
at the white house is maybe
demanding some resignations over
this? Well there's no question
this is a giant wake up call.
Alright anytime this happens
whether it was Snowden whether
it was others who have revealed
this kind of information. What
happens is that you suddenly
have to take another look. Stop
becoming complacent about what
happens with regards to
intelligence. I think there are
several areas that have to be
looked at. I'm glad the
president directed both the
Pentagon and intelligence
agencies to not only investigate
but determine how we improve.
Security number one asked the
question. Are we classifying too
much? Ah should we tighten up on
the classification process to
secret and top secret and not
include all of these other areas
that are part of the classified
information? Secondly who should
have access and how do we secure
that access? Uh if you're going
to have access, shouldn't you
have somebody else in the room,
particularly if you're a low
level airmen. Shouldn't you have
a superior officer or somebody
else in the room to make sure
that it's secure? Thirdly what
about clearances? Shouldn't we
have a review process on
clearances? We provide a
clearance as was provided here.
But then when somebody like this
goes astray and starts getting
involved in chat boxes with
others, uh, shouldn't we have
the opportunity to be able to
take a look at that and
determine whether he should
retain his clearance? And
lastly, oversight of social
media. This stuff was out there
for almost a month before it was
detected. We should be looking
regularly at social media,
because clearly that is going to
be the media where this kind of
information is going to wind up
going. And what do you make of
some of these leaders on the far
right like congressman? Woman
margin Taylor green defending
too? Sure I'm sure you've seen
some of that out there. I mean,
there are actually some folks
who were defending this. Well.
You know if you really are
concerned about protecting the
United States of America well,
what she said, is just the
opposite. What she's doing is
basically saying we ought not to
protect our most classified
information which in my mind
undermines our national
security. And for someone to say
that what they're essentially
saying is we should not protect
ourselves because the only way
we protect ourselves is with
good intelligence about our
adversaries so that we can make
the right decisions. What she's
saying is oh, no, let's not
protect that information. Let's
just throw it out there. So our
enemies and our adversaries all
have access. To this very
sensitive information. I think
it's grossly irresponsible,
particularly for an elected
official to take that position.
And while I have you, I'm sure
you just heard a few moments
ago. We have suffered another
mass shooting in this country.
You worked inside the white
house during the Clinton
administration. You Clint
administration tried to tackle
this problem. Passion assault
weapons ban signed it into law.
It expired during the bush
administration. What does it say
about this nation's security
that so many of us are afraid of
mass gun violence in America?
You know, it's uh. It's shocking
every time these mass killings
take place. But it just reminds
us of the dangers within our own
society that we're not paying
attention to whether it's mental
problems, whether it's too many
weapons that are out there,
whether it's the problem of
basically not overseeing, uh,
the distribution of both
ammunition and weapons in this
country in a in a way that can
limit you know who has access to
those kinds of weapons. Ah! I
just think that ultimately and
I'm really glad that somebody in
Tennessee recognize that you
have to take some steps here. I
think that's the bottom line
right now is we can't just keep
excusing it. We have got to take
steps. Yes, they can be small
steps. I understand that, but
taking any kind of steps right
now would send a signal to the
American people that we aren't
just ignoring what is obviously
a danger within our own society.
Yeah ignoring it's not going to
work. That's that's for certain