Secret Service Agents Drove Past Suspicious Package
PEREIRA: Two senior-level Secret Service agents now under investigation for allegedly driving after a night of drinking may have also disrupted an active bomb investigation on the night in question, that incident another in a series of embarrassments for the embattled agency trying to repair its reputation. Big question, is the new confirmed director, Joseph Clancy, the right person to fix the Secret Service? Joining us to discuss all this, White House correspondent for the "Washington Examiner", Susan Crabtree. Good morning to you. We know you've been a whole lot of digging and a lot of research into went on and I want to see what you have compared to what we are learning here at CNN, that in this night of question, the two agents were able to get through two checkpoints without issue. The car was driving very slowly and may have just nudged an orange traffic cone, instead of crashing into some sort of blockade, but they did disrupt or drive through a suspicious package investigation. Does that match what you're hearing?</s>SUSAN CRABTREE, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: That's the same as I am hearing. The one sort of outrageous thing is they may have actually run over the suspicious package. All of that will come out in the details. And that's what I think is bothering some of the officers that were on the scene that night and that's maybe why this leak came out in the press. You have had Joseph Clancy not knowing for many days about this incident.</s>PEREIRA: Five days.</s>CRABTREE: Yes, and that's pretty outrageous.</s>PEREIRA: I want to talk about him in a second, but to this investigation, one of the things that's coming into question seems a little murkier. These details about whether or not they were drinking, whether the agent driving was drunk at the time. And the fact that an officer who had wanted to do a field sobriety test was overruled by a supervisor, that essentially sent them home. What are you hearing about all of that?</s>CRABTREE: Well, there will be eye witnesses that were at this retirement party for Edwin Donovan, a retiring Secret Service spokesman. And there will be witnesses. So, if they were drinking, that will all come out in the investigation. But I talked to lawyers and they say that the person who wasn't driving, he's going to be getting off, this is not a problem for him. It's the person who was driving.</s>PEREIRA: Sure, behind the wheel.</s>CRABTREE: Exactly.</s>PEREIRA: We know the two agents involved have been named Mark Connolly, second in command of President Obama's security detail. George Ogilvie, a senior adviser in the D.C. office. These are high- ranking fellows. Any word on discipline? If they have been or they will be?</s>CRABTREE: Well, what I have been told by an attorney who specializes in labor law, she said that they're going to be facing a 30-day suspension at least for the person who drove the government vehicle. That's misuse of a government vehicle. That's taxpayer dollars -- they're not allowed to take these government vehicles to social events and certainly not allowed to be drinking at the social events. So, that's one of the things they're facing. And but it's going to be six to nine months before we -- months and months before this investigation wraps up.</s>PEREIRA: Just what this agency that's already facing other challenges and perception issues doesn't need. They brought in Joe Clancy to oversee and to bring back the sterling reputation that this agency once had. He didn't get told about this until some five days into this. What is your sense of what people are saying? That he's doing the right thing? It's just going to take time to turn this agency around? Or is he not the right person to change it?</s>CRABTREE: Well, it's interesting, because President Obama backed him strongly yesterday through his spokesman. So, we have that confidence that the White House level. But what people are saying is that this is all too typical, that there's a culture of cover-up at the Secret Service. And that these supervisors often provide uneven discipline. And sometimes cover up misdeeds and misconduct. And maybe Joseph Clancy didn't even know about it. But the problem is, is that he's from the inside, he's not an outsider. And the independent panel recommended an outsider for this role to really shake things up.</s>PEREIRA: We have heard about this morale issue inside the agency for some time, dating back several months, even perhaps years. We've heard about the allegations of cover-up. Is that still prevalent, even under Clancy?</s>CRABTREE: Well, you know, it seems like this incident is, if this is an anomaly. That would be a good thing. But this incident really is raising the hackles of congressional investigators. And they want to see some strong response, some strong action taken. And basically you're going to have to have a sped-up investigation and there's going to be some message that needs, that Joseph Clancy needs to do. He's going to have to send a strong message in this case.</s>PEREIRA: Susan Crabtree, great to have you with us on NEW DAY, thanks so much for joining us and for your great reporting.</s>CRABTREE: Thanks for having me.</s>PEREIRA: A whole lot of news, so let's get right to it.</s>PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace!</s>CUOMO: Live from Ferguson, Missouri, once again.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thuggish opportunist can set back an entire movement.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heinous and cowardly attacks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no trust for Ferguson PD right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to see anybody get hurt. We now know the identities of the two Secret Service agents.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These officers had suspected alcohol on their breath.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The new director of the Secret Service didn't even find out about this incident until about five days after it happened.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three-quarters of the city of Tikrit in northern Iraq now back in government hands.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the Iraqi army, this is a crucial task. We saw them melt away in the face of ISIS last summer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things that struck me is the charm and her humor.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.</s>CUOMO: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm coming to you live from Ferguson, Missouri. There are protests here last night. There was a vigil for the officers as well. But the city, very much divided and on edge. Police in a desperate search for these two suspects now, in the ambush shootings of two police officers. We're going to have more on that in just a moment. First, let me get you back to New York with Alisyn and Mick.</s>CAMEROTA: Chris, great to have you on the ground, walking us through the geography and logistics of how this could have happened. We'll get back to you in a second. Also this, morning we're learning more about those two Secret Service agents who allegedly drove on to White House grounds right through an active investigation. Why did it reportedly take days for their boss to find out about this?</s>PEREIRA: Also, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Egypt talking to Middle East leaders about terrorism before these next round of nuclear talks with Iran begin. We're going to get to all of that. But, first, let's head back to Chris in Ferguson -- Chris.</s>CUOMO: All right. The big question is who did it. Yes, there were protests last night, yes, the message was the same. That they want justice or there will be no peace. But that message means a little something different now in the shadow of these two officers being shot. There are so many different witness accounts of where they came from. It's actually complicating this investigation. Let's get to you CNN's Alina Machado monitoring the manhunt. What's the latest information?</s>ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, authorities here are tracking down all the leads they had. They are desperately trying to find the people who are responsible for this ambush shooting. And even though it's been more than 24 hours since the two officers were gunned down just outside this police department, we know that there are no arrests so far. Now, we also know that authorities say they've identified two people they believe may have been involved, one of them could even be the shooter. So far they have not found these people. And they continue searching for them.