The Washington Post reported new details on the man who jumped the fence and rushed the White House earlier this month. It turns out he made it much further into the building than was originally reported. Omar Gonzalez was able to enter through an unlocked door and get all the way to the East Room before being detained by Secret Service. Couple this with revelations earlier this week regarding shots fired at the White House in 2011, and Glenn was left wondering just how safe the President really is.
"Don't worry, in the East Room, it's only where the president does all his press conferences," Glenn joked. "And that room just has national treasures in it. I wouldn't worry about it. So there's the president. There's the president's family. And, of course, there's national treasures, but I wouldn't worry about it"
Glenn's sarcasm really addressed a fundamental problem regarding presidential security in the modern world. These days, it's easy to smuggle an explosive device in something as small and portable as a backpack. What would have happened if Gonzalez had been carrying more than a knife?
"The other thing that's pretty disturbing is just being continually lied to," Pat said. "On this story, for instance. They told us the guy barely got through the door and they apprehended him."
The Washington Post also reported that the alarm had been muted at the request of the ushers.
"We don't need to get into all the details. We don't need people to know all these details. This is still under investigation. So we don't need to know that," Glenn joked.
"This guy was in the White House, and we didn't shoot him. Amazing," he added.
So what do we do now?
"Our Secret Service, I have to tell you, I'm President of the United States, before I take office, I have a long talk with the new Treasury Secretary and say, 'Look, here's the deal, dude, you and I are going to be doing a lot of things, but you and I are going to need the best Secret Service agents ever. You get this cleaned up because the entire government is at stake.'"
"Our system is at risk here and it seems to me they're having too many cocaine and hooker parties at the Secret Service. I want the best men. I want the most moral men. I want the most decent men. I want men -- and I hate to say this, I want men who are so close to being the best they can be that the spirit will motivate them. That they will -- yes, I am saying it, that they will have and they will obey those crazy hallucinations that religious people sometimes have, I like to call them promptings. They will listen to the spirit and they are worthy of hearing the spirit because we're dealing with the country. We're not just dealing with the first family's life. The President of the United States has no right to put himself in dangerous situations. He has no right to do that. There's way too much at stake. Can you imagine if this president was killed? Can you imagine what it would do to the country right now?"
"Our nation is at stake. The president's life is in danger, and I have been saying this since we were at CNN. Warning, this guy gets in and he's not everything he's promised, everyone will have a reason...By the way, just look it up. If you'll look up who the ones are that take on presidents of the United States in history, it has been radical, revolutionary, communists, leftists, and Palestinian supporters. So don't tell me about the radical right. Could it be? Yes. Could it be a racist? Yes. But odds are it is a radical revolutionary, communist, socialist, Palestinian supporter. Look it up. They are the angriest.""
"Every single time. Look it up. I have. Because I actually care about the president's life. I may not agree with him, but he's the President of the United States of America. His family. Three years ago, they shot at the White House. The Secret Service received phone calls from people saying, 'I see a guy with a gun firing at the White House.' They dismissed it. They found the bullet hole. Now, we find out about this three years later. What the hell is going on? Americans need to pay attention. We need to be on the front lines of making sure this president is safe."
Front page image courtesy of the AP.