CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: White House Intrusion

Interview

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TAPPER: Joining us now is the chairman of the committee that held today's hearing, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate it.

So, look, this is a mess. We have the incident with this guy getting into the East Room, the Cartagena incident, the Salahis, not seeing the bullets that were fired. What's the problem?

ISSA: This is an agency that has a very large budget, thousands of employees, plenty of time and money for training, but appears to have low morale, questionable training actually being done.

And an example is, the officer that was supposed to lock the front door thought she had locked the front door, but in fact she was not trained in how to lock an old-fashion door that had little pegs at the top and the bottom.

Since that time, for a couple thousand dollars, they put an electric lock on so that won't happen again. But this is a 150-year-old-plus building. This is an example where a couple thousand dollars of prevention would have stopped this to begin with.

TAPPER: Is the problem, do you think, the leadership? The president said that he still has confidence in the director, Julia Pierson. You said you do not have confidence in her. Do you think she should resign?

ISSA: Today, Mr. Cummings and I, I think, failed to see the energy level and the real commitment and sharp answers that we had hoped for from the director.

Both my ranking member, Mr. Cummings and I, are going to be preparing a letter asking for an outside oversight panel, nonpartisan, to really look at the series of events that in a way would look to reform with or without the director at the Secret Service, because it's clear that just saying we can do better or it was just human error doesn't get it anymore.

TAPPER: So you're not calling for her resignation, at least not at this point?

ISSA: That's really a decision for the secretary and the president. The oversight role and the reform role for us is to make sure that the tools are available, the information is available both to Congress and to the president.

But the president has not been well-served by the Secret Service, in my opinion, during his entire presidency. These mistakes, each and every one of them, should not happen in an agency with a $1.5 billion budget.

TAPPER: Let's talk about their tactics for a second. I want to play this clip from your fellow Republican, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, advocating for the use of deadly force on intruders.

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REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: We want to see overwhelming force. If a would-be intruder can't be stopped by a dog or intercepted by a person, perhaps more lethal force is necessary.

And I want those Secret Service agents and officers to know at least this member of Congress has their back. Don't let somebody get close to the president. Don't let somebody get close to his family. Don't let them get in the White House ever. And if they have to take action that is lethal, I will have their back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, look, obviously if the Secret Service had fired and killed this man, there would be an outcry and people saying that they used excessive force, et cetera.

But given the world we're in, do you think that that should be the norm, that deadly force on intruders who hop the fence and run to the White House should be standard operating procedure?

ISSA: If the procedures that were in place had been followed, the dog had been released, individuals had gotten to him in time, this wouldn't have been necessary. If the door had been locked, they would have trapped him at the door.

Failing those points, the question of should you shoot somebody as they enter the White House, the director said they have the authority to do it. It's a judgment call. But I think the important issue here is, they do have the tools, famously, sniper tools, and so on, if there's a real attack on the White House.

And I think that's what Subcommittee Chairman Chaffetz was talking about is, if there's an attack, you should be able to. But I think what should concern us here is, if it wasn't for off-duty in addition to the Secret Service agent who was at the door, they wouldn't even have tackled him until far later.

And, ultimately, he got all the way to the East Room, dragging Secret Service agent behind him, one who had a gun and a baton and who thought she had locked the door. That series of mistakes and lack of capability should concern us.

TAPPER: What's the most important fact you heard today, either from the public session or the closed-door session that we did not hear?

ISSA: I think what the American people heard that really astounded them was that a -- quote -- "ceremonial door" with a bulletproof glass overshield was not designed to be quickly locked.

And the agent at the door, the officer at the door was unable to properly lock it, which would have prevented this. That is perhaps the most egregious error. Somebody running to the fence -- from the fence, whether you could catch them in time is different than, you knew somebody was coming, you could have locked the door.

Today, that's been corrected. And as we correct these kinds of errors, in 2011, those shots fired, there are technologies that would allow you to differentiate between a shot fired and a backfiring of a vehicle.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Yes.

ISSA: There's technology to show you where it was fired from and where it went to. Those technologies have to be employed around the White House.

But, Jake, here's the concern that Mr. Chaffetz said and Mr. Cummings and I all share. The White House is the easiest-to-secure place that the president ever goes.

TAPPER: Right.

ISSA: The hard-to-secure place is somebody's home while he's doing a finance -- or a campaign event or while he's traveling, if you remember President Reagan being shot at the Hilton.

These are tougher locations. So, we need a force that is well- trained, that is rehearsed and that is motivated. And that's part of what we want to review to look at, is the morale, training and discipline of this force to make sure it's at its best.

TAPPER: Congressman Darrell Issa of California, thank you so much. Appreciate it, sir.

ISSA: Thank you, Jake.

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