00:00My next guest knows exactly what it takes to secure this kind of perimeter and how to respond
00:04if something does go wrong. Here with us now is Barry Donatio, former Secret Service agent
00:08assigned to the White House to protect Presidents Bush and Obama. Good morning. Welcome to the show.
00:14Thank you for having me. Of course. Let's talk about the security preparations that go
00:18into an event like this, the magnitude. And we know it is traditionally held at the Washington
00:23Hilton. So this is familiar territory. What happened here? Yeah, Secret Service has home
00:29field advantage here because they're so used to having events here. So that was in their favor.
00:33The other thing that's in their favor is they have a lot of officers and agents for this event.
00:38So there's no shortage of law enforcement whatsoever. Watching the video, I think the
00:43Secret Service did exactly what they were trained to do. They did a superb job, whether it's right
00:49there on the stage with the president or even at the checkpoint. And we have to look at that video
00:54close. That man is running as fast as he possibly can to get through that checkpoint. And it's very
01:00similar to a checkpoint at an airport. And those agents responded perfectly within a second. And
01:06then they tackled him. So they really saved the president's life. Those officers right there did,
01:11as well as the officers and agents on the stage. Great job, Secret Service.
01:16Absolutely. I echo that. We really have the best in the world. And the president said just that during
01:21the briefing. Barry, I want to ask you about the metal detectors outside the ballroom. And why were
01:26they there just feet away from the ballroom instead of, let's say, the hotel entrance? Why were they
01:31so close to the event? Well, there's a magnetometer entry points all over. And you see just in your
01:37picture there, that is an immense hotel. And by the way, for your viewers, that's also the same hotel
01:42where Reagan was shot at. So it's a lot of officers and agents manning many checkpoints. That
01:50checkpoint does not look familiar to me. I've worked there doing the same kind of an event.
01:55And I think that's more of like a tradesman entrance or an entrance just for the guests
01:59of the hotel. It doesn't seem to be right at the main entrance. So they were doing it. And that
02:05was
02:05just there to prevent guests at the hotel from coming in without getting checked. So there has to be a
02:12front gate to every event, whether it's a castle or the Olympics or an event like this. There has to
02:19be an outer gate. And that's what you're seeing. That's the outer gate, which happens to be inside
02:24one of the corridors of the hotel. And anything can happen at a checkpoint. That is literally
02:29the world is outside of that checkpoint. And inside that checkpoint is where it's safe.
02:35And that's the purpose of the checkpoint, to stop that, what we saw in that video. So
02:40if you ask me, success. And they saved the president's life.
02:44Absolutely. And there are over 2,000 people in that room. Barry, explain to me how difficult
02:49it is to keep that many people safe.
02:53Sure. This would be like a medium event for the Secret Service. We have to remember that they
02:58secure and they're in charge of securing the Super Bowl, the Olympics. So this would be
03:04kind of small compared to that. So nothing they do is easy. I can tell you that. But they already
03:10have the game plans set up. They've done this before. They know all the entries and exits very well.
03:16They know how to handle a situation like this. So everything was in the advantage of the Secret
03:22Service because of the location and they're used to using it. So it turned out great. Based on their
03:29training and experiences, they did exactly what they were trained to do. And these guys train,
03:35these men and women train over and over and over for this exact same kind of a scenario,
03:40just like I did when I was in. You're actually taken off of the work schedule every month and
03:46rotated through training over and over and over, requalifying with all of your weapon systems.
03:51That could be up to three different weapons, too. So for me personally, I was on the emergency
03:57response team, a tactical team, very similar to what you saw on a stage, the men and women with
04:02the rifles. And they were repelling a tactical threat to the president of the United States.
04:06They are all experts in every weapon system. The minute they're not an expert and they can't
04:11qualify an expert, they're taken off that team. So the threshold is very high. All of these officers and
04:18the agents are the 1% of 1% of people that are even trying to get into Secret Service.
04:24So that's how specialized they all are. Barry, and that's why I'm so excited that you
04:28came on this morning because you have personal experience. You've protected two presidents in
04:33the past. What is going through the mind of Secret Service agents in moments like this? And even after
04:38as they're processing what happened? I can speak well on this. They are not afraid of anything.
04:44The only thing they're afraid of is failure. And that's all they keep themselves up at night
04:49for, just thinking, what can I do to be better? This agency is always changing, making itself better
04:55literally by the week. There'll be a massive look into an investigation on what they could do better
05:00after this. Maybe it's even put up barriers and fences within the hotel to prevent somebody even
05:06running through. Maybe that's an answer. But certainly they are going to make changes that are going
05:12to increase and enhance the security of the president and the event moving forward.
05:17This isn't the first assassination attempt against our president. How difficult is it to keep him
05:23safe and protected? I'd say it's like carrying an egg everywhere you go forever and without letting
05:31that egg crack, right? So just think of how fragile a president can be. Not one hair on his head
05:37can be
05:37harmed. And not one incident can happen. Otherwise it's a national failure, not just a secret service
05:43failure. So there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the secret service itself to do its job,
05:50keep the president safe, the first family, foreign dignitaries, the vice president. And you've seen
05:56it. And then even up on your screen, I see something that we never had when I was on. Military
06:01police were
06:02there too. So that's another added caveat to the security that they have now today, which we didn't
06:08have an out time when we were doing these events. I really appreciate you again, waking up with us,
06:14sharing your expertise over something that many, many Americans are waking up to this morning,
06:18really the world. Barry Denadio, thank you so much.
