Transcript: Sue Gordon and Frank McKenzie on “face a nation with Margaret Brennan”, 30. March 2025. Years star-news.press/wp

The transcript of the interview with Sue Gordon, the main deputy director of the National Intelligence Service in the first trump card, and Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the CBS vestigator, who broadcasts “faces a nation with Margaret Brennan” 30. March 2025. Years.

Major Garrett: I want to return to a situation that surrounds the administration and signal use officers, an application to exchange messages for discussion on military attack plans. In our new surveys for CBS – let’s see three quarters of Americans say it was a serious thing. A total of 76% of Americans also announced the use of a discussion application on military plans was their way of thinking, not suitable and involved eight in 10 independence and more than half of the Republicans responded. Now we turn to Sue Gordon, which in the first Adutian administration served as the main deputy director of national intelligence. She is in Austin. And the retired ship’s corpus General Frank McKenzie, former head of the American central command. This marks its first official appearance as the CBS news associate, and he joins us from Tampe, Florida. Good morning both. Sue, I want to start with you. You just interrupt him for our audience. How much of this falls into everything you want, through your career, understand that you are acceptable communications on sensitive or classified information?

Sue Gordon: Well, good morning, Major. Only a top line without intrusion in the classification guides. There is nothing about information that has to do with the operations that are suitable for this communication channel – none. I- and there are other communication channels that are available for this type of thing, and the risk of loss that comes with uncontrolled communications is deep. So I don’t think we should argue at any level, whether it was suitable for this time. Now we can talk about how it happened. We can talk about what they could do, and we can talk about what next. But on the upper line, this is not what you are talking about in those channels.

Major Garrett: So when the administration, Sue, he says, but nothing happened. No one has been given, so don’t worry about it. How do you react to that?

Sue Gordon: One, I’m glad the operation was successful. But we have a saying to say that every success is failure, where something went right. And I don’t think we should take a break on the fact that this time nothing bad happened. We don’t know if that communication path is penetrating. So we don’t know whether state actors who have a lot of resources are just sitting and lurking now knowing that we do important things on it. Surely the information that now comes out for any intelligence officer – I can talk to the great professional professional, it’s all super useful for the next time or understanding the source or understanding of how we work, or what our operational pace. So all this information is valuable. I’m so glad that the operation was successful. Now we have to deal with the fact that this should not happen. The consequence is when it does, and you cannot be sure that there is no lasting risk that follows.

Major Garrett: Frank, this story has forests and trees. I don’t want to lose my forest. The bigger problem here is a new pace, an increased pace of military operations – some of them in a day, day in day, the day Van Houthis in Yemen. Assess that and its significance in understanding the wider context of this story.

General Frank McKenzie (Ret.): Of course, Major. And first of all, it’s great to be here today. I think the bigger story here is actually that we finally started striking Hutuis. There is an old Neil Young song – I’ll raise the line from her, I should have done a long time ago. Well, now we start working, and we begin to strike effectively in the pace, scope and a pace that have been sincerely, avoid the latest information – the last administration – the last administration. And I would argue that we do it, because for the first time we have a political will to hire the appropriate military ability against Houthis. And we want one of two things from Houthis. We want them to turn away from attacking ships passing through Bab-El-Mandeb, which really means a Suez Channel. That’s one condition. Another condition would be, if not – if it won’t stop, we want to remove their ability to do it. Another task would be harder. It’s in our ability. It won’t be a short action. It will not be what would call the unique period of darkness. These attacks will have to continue. Can grow in the scope and scale. Certainly not endless in time. And we need – we need – we need to solve the problem and move on to other things. I think that the fact that we have a second mounting carrier moving in the CENTC is a certain sign that this administration is very serious about these requirements. The fact that we move the B-2 in the region similarly signaled. But I believe again, for the first time we combine the true political will to act together with military abilities. So that is unique – is a unique moment in the theater, and I am glad to see that this administration catches that opportunity.

Major Garrett: Frank, the terminology you just used, distracted and degraded, can I be done from a distance, which means antennas and from the ship worn on board?

Gen. McKenzie: So I think we can do a very good job. I wouldn’t take anything from the table. Again, when you remove things from the table, it tends to give help and comfort to the enemy. We did too much. I think we should leave everything on the table and I would go on the table, actions against Tehran. All paths in this issue water back to Tehran and we must know and understand it. They are the main supplier for Houthis and right now, Iran finds it appropriate for the return to the pedal and ask for that close relationship. But in fact, Houthis exists because of Iranian support, and now, to a lesser extent because of Russian support, and we must recognize that, and we should not give Iran for free driving. And I think we have the ability, in fact, right now in Iran’s weakened state to threaten them very much. And I’ll just say another thing as I closed on this, Major, the first trump card did three things that were currently placed them in a unique place in the region. Number one, that administration hit and killed by Qassem Soleimania, which was forgotten in the United States, it was not forgotten in Iran. She showed American will at the level that was mostly absent in the region. The second signing of the Abraham Agreement, which made Israel the opportunity to enter the region diplomatic, economically and to some extent. It will be a rough road, but I think it will only expand and last, the movement of Israel from the European command in the central command actually made a very successful defense of Israel that we saw in the last few weeks and a huge step forward. All these were taken together give this administration a unique opportunity currently in months that are in front of which shaped events in the region.

Major Garrett: Sue, I want to go back, because the Senator Warner told this program that they are worrying that they were in five eyes in the community, whether not worried as recklessly, and in order to encourage. Working in Trump Administration, you first collaborated with our partners there, you know what their feelings are. Do you share those concerns?

(Crosstalk)

Gen. McKenzie: They can express these concerns. I would argue-

Gordon: I mean –

Major Garrett: Frank, this is for Sue. Frank, this is for Sue.

Gen. McKenzie: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Sue, please just go ahead.

Gordon: Well, General, everything you have to say is worth it, but let me – let me – let me – let me go to this. Listen, we count on our allied allies and partners and protect their dealers and interests and their sources of information are really important. I- historically were mistakes in the past. It is not limited to this one you think that – one partner or other is unable to protect partners data. I think what is hard about these are two things that the administration needs to be addressed. One, you really need to tighten how you communicate, because they just did something accelerated, and I want someone to go on the call, if we go this time, we have to go this time, we need to go this time. But the other thing is the way we react to that when I suggest that there is nothing to see here. I think that’s actually a thing to be better to get rid of our partners and allies, yes, yes, we understand that it wasn’t what we should do, so we want to want to want to. So it’s not that there is no mistake. The question is, do you do things that inspire self-confidence? And I think we know that, only from the ecological perspective, our relations with our allies and partners, so we create something we cause whether we are reliable, we have a great influence on our ability to progress our ability to progress.

Major Garrett: Frank, you are a CBS associate, I will give you a minute a warning period on this. Close with your thoughts on this issue with a signal chat.

Gen. McKenzie: So I think that the lawsuit on her analysis is in her analysis, I would simply claim to believe that the United States remains an indispensable nation in a lot of places. And I think I’m sure we’ll learn from this. I would like to think that he won’t happen again, but I think it’s unhappy that the signal chat has a very good, very real job that has been done to troubleshoot that is far dragged in Bab-al-Mandab to close the effectively closed the lawsuit.

Major Garrett: And really fast, Frank, when you looked at, did you shock you? I mean, like, what? Are you talking about it?

Gen. McKenzie: I was surprised.

Major Garrett: That’s it. You learn the whole TV thing. Frank Mackenzie and Sue Gordon, thank you very much, very much. I appreciate it for your time, your expertise and we get all this out for the audience. Thank you very much. We’ll be right back.