America's Book of Secrets (2012–2014): Season 1, Episode 1 - The White House - full transcript

It is home to the most
powerful person in the world.

It is a center of global military power.

And it is one of the most
heavily protected fortresses ever built.

But behind the classic columns
and lush, green lawns are secrets.

Secrets so outrageous...

Some systems were installed post-9/11,

but I don't want to talk about it.

...so controversial...

They were right with the president,
and they hadn't even been invited.

...so dangerous...

In the event that there might be a threat,



there are ways of moving
the president in the White House.

...that they must
be kept hidden from the public.

The White House
is a Mecca for all these nuts

who want to go after the president,

so they will show up at the White House,
and, uh, try to get in.

There are those who believe
in the existence of a book.

A book that contains the most
highly-guarded secrets

of the United States of America.

A book whose very existence

is known to only a select few.

But if such a book exists,
what would it contain?

Secret histories? Secret plans?

Secret lies?

Does there really exist



America's Book of Secrets?

It is the most public
of private residences.

And the most private
of public buildings.

Because while the White House
serves as home and office

for each American president,
it is also home to the First Family.

The best way to describe it is,

it's like living in a museum.

It's kind of hard to feel comfortable,
to make it your own.

The hardest adjustment is the press

and the comings and the goings.

For me to get from the house
to my dad's office,

you'd have to walk by the press room.

It was people
always knowing where you are

and what you're doing,
and notifying people.

I used
to walk by the White House,

just like you or I would,

and look through those bars, those gates,
and wonder what the heck they do in there.

And all of a sudden, ten months later,
I find myself standing there,

because my dad's become
President of the United States.

It didn't make any sense.

The Nixons left so quickly,
so unexpectedly.

I mean, the resignation
was unexpected at that time.

And they didn't have time to pack up
all their belongings and their clothes.

So that night, we had to go back to our
little house in Alexandria, Virginia,

and we lived in that house for the first
six, seven days of Dad's presidency.

Little preparation can be given

for the radical changes
the First Family will face

while living at the White House,

especially when it comes
to the loss of privacy.

You might walk
by one of the tours.

As you're coming in,
they might be going by

and going to the East Room
or the Blue Room

or something like that,
and you would see them, and I...

A lot of times, I'd stop,
shake hands, say hello.

You know, it's your home,
but you're also welcoming the public.

I think people would be surprised

by the private White House
is a very artificial place.

Presidents don't get a lot of privacy.

Presidents are sort of living
a very abnormal existence.

So you wonder
how they cope with this.

Some do better than others.

One of the classic stories
about that, you know,

that realness of,
this is what happens, uh...

My parents had a golden retriever,
Liberty,

and one night, Liberty woke Dad up
and had to go to the bathroom.

So Dad put his bathrobe
on over his pajamas,

came down the family elevator
to the first floor of the White House

and went out,
I think it was the diplomatic entrance.

And here it is, like,
two o'clock in the morning.

He takes the dog out
to do its business,

like any husband has to do
in their own home.

He gets ready to go back in,
and the door's locked,

and the Secret Service
don't know he's out there.

And here's the President
of the United States,

at 2:00 in the morning,
standing there in his pajamas,

trying to get his dog back in the house,
and the door's locked.

I think of us as,
who've lived there,

as a fraternity or a sorority or a club.

We don't know everybody.

You don't get to know them very well,

but you have secrets
that only you can tell each other.

To ensure
the safety of the First Family,

every aspect of their daily needs
is monitored,

including the food they eat
and the gifts they receive.

The food
that goes into the White House

is screened at a remote site, before
it ever gets to the White House itself.

So a lot of precautions are taken

to ensure that whatever meals
or whatever food

that's going to be provided
at the White House

is thoroughly screened.

If food comes as a gift,
unless it's from someone

who's a very close friend
or family member,

the Secret Service
will just throw it away.

And I think, you know,
even friends and family learn

that they shouldn't bring food
into the White House.

Protecting those who live
and work at the White House

extends not only
to the food they eat,

but also
to the very air they breathe.

In the White House
itself, when people enter,

they're automatically put through
not only, of course, metal detection,

but also detection
of radiological devices.

The air in the White House is filtered.

The air in the White House
also is increased in pressure

so that if there is some biological
element introduced,

it'll be expelled.

The West Wing
has radiation detectors.

And I know this because
when I was giving a West Wing tour,

Secret Service, I believe,
got a silent alarm,

or something
came in over their earpieces

and they locked down the area
that we were in.

And they said that someone had
brought in some form of radiation,

and they needed
to figure out what it was

before anyone was allowed
to move forward or leave the area.

It turned out that someone was
going through radiation therapy,

but I found that
really interesting to learn

that they have those type
of security things

that they don't just advertise,
even to all staff.

Of course, the White House

is not only the Chief Executive's
home and office.

It is also a command center
for nearly 1,700 employees

who come to work there every day.

But before anyone works
for the president or his family,

they must be cleared

through a background check
known as Yankee White.

Everybody who gets cleared
into the White House permanently,

as a regular thing, has to go through
a secret security clearance process,

to look into your background
and so on.

When I first was asked
to be an intern,

we were told to fill out a form
called an SF-86,

which, basically,
is where they ask you

every single little detail
about your life.

Um, more than you
ever could remember.

And you're going through
old pictures, old notes.

Being, like, "Oh, my gosh,
what was that address ten years ago?"

And, "Oh, what date
did I go on that trip?"

And then the FBI
goes around and investigates

to make sure everything
on that SF-86 is accurate and true.

They interview your friends,
your family, your neighbors,

your old bosses to make sure that
they know every single thing about you.

But once employed,
can the White House staff

and personnel go anywhere
within the building,

or are there secrets so highly prized
and highly guarded

that only a handful of the most trusted
employees can have access to them?

There are pins that people use,
they have on their lapels,

in addition to the badges
that people might see on TV images.

The pins are the most prized,

because you can get
the close access to family badge,

where you can get pretty much
all the access.

That's what...
The First Lady would wear those,

the children, and so on,
and some very senior staff members.

But if White House employees
are so thoroughly checked and monitored,

how do visitors and members
of the public get in?

How hard is it to visit the White House?

And what kind of security is required

to protect
the world's most powerful person?

While the White House
serves as the private home

of one of the world's
most highly guarded families,

it is also the only residence of a head
of state that is open to the public.

And although security at the Executive
Mansion has tightened over the years,

interest in visiting
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

has existed for centuries.

If there was a passage

in America's Book of Secrets
on the White House,

it probably would deal
with the security there,

because it used to be that it
was thought of as the People's House.

Presidents, years ago,
would entertain everyday people

who could
just walk to the White House,

get in and talk to the President.

Souvenir
hunting has been a problem

at the White House
over the two centuries of its existence.

After Lincoln's second inaugural,

there were people cutting
the crimson curtains.

They must have come armed
with pocket knives and things like that.

Pieces of carpet were cut.
It was just pillaged.

Believe it or not,
even famous celebrities

have shown up at the White House
uninvited.

On December 21, 1970,
Elvis Presley appeared at the gates,

asking to see President Nixon.

And although the rock and roll dignitary
known as The King was welcomed in,

his visit was very much kept under wraps.

It was all done secretly

because Nixon didn't want to let
the public know that he was seeing Elvis.

Like everybody else, Nixon was enamored
with Elvis and his songs,

and at the same time,
he thought it would be embarrassing

if the public knew that he had
an interest in meeting Elvis Presley.

But for the thousands
who visit the White House each year,

access to certain areas of the home

and the president
are strictly off limits.

And when access is breached,

it becomes a matter
of national security.

On November 24, 2009,

400 guests
attended a White House state dinner

honoring the Prime Minister of India.

Among the attendees
were Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

According to the White House,
the couple had arrived uninvited.

But if so,
how did they manage to get past

one of the tightest security systems
in the world?

How could a suburban couple
get past several security checkpoints,

dozens of plainclothes
uniformed security agents,

and the Secret Service?

At the first gate, we present
our real names, we show our real IDs.

And the Secret Service agent at the first
entrance is going through the guest list,

doesn't immediately see
our name on the guest list,

but tells us to proceed
to the second checkpoint. And we do.

A very confusing situation
existed there at the first checkpoint,

there at 15th and E Street,
and one individual decided

that these individuals
looked like they belonged.

I don't know how else to explain it.

After gaining access
onto the White House grounds,

the Salahis passed through
a second security checkpoint

stationed near the main building.

We are in a line.
We meet with Katie Couric.

She's in line with us.
We start chatting with her.

And we are getting checked in now.

So now there's this another
Secret Service checkpoint here.

This person was not
in a uniformed Secret Service outfit.

This person was in coat and tie.
And at this point, there's a checklist.

And they're checking everybody off.

And we present our I.D.'s,
present our real names,

and we get checked off
at the second checkpoint.

We're now proceeding into the White House,
into the reception area

where there are magnetometers
and X-ray machines.

And we get screened from,
you know,

purses to going through
the metal detector.

We go through that,
get processed there and checked in.

We're now in a line,
a line going into the,

uh, if you will, the red carpet

of the White House
where you're announced.

Mr. and Mrs. Salahi.

It's an incredible feeling

and it's just an honor
being in the White House.

Especially being announced
by the White House,

being welcomed by the White House.

And at this point, we are... we are...
This is better than our wedding.

We found ourselves in the receiving line
to meet the President.

And we met with the President
of the United States, President Obama.

Then the First Lady.

And then the Prime Minister.
And then his wife.

They had their pictures taken
with the president, which is remarkable,

because they were right
with the president and the First Lady,

and they hadn't even been invited.

So that was the worst breakdown,

certainly, at a social event,
that I've ever seen.

And that caused a huge fuss,

and people were fired over that,
or left because of that.

There were undeniable planning
and execution failures

of the entire Secret Service apparatus.

While the Salahis maintain

that they had come to the White House
event as invited guests,

many believe the secret
to their successful entrance

was merely looking the part.

The Salahis were actually able
to talk their way in.

It's not that they were particularly
known, that's what made it so bizarre,

but they were all dressed up
and they looked like they belonged there.

But when the Salahis
crashed the state dinner

at the White House,
they were not on the guest list.

They had not been cleared
by the Secret Service, as a result,

and the Secret Service uniformed officers
simply ignored the fact

that they were not on the guest list.

Usually, the security
at the White House is very intense,

and at the social events,
it's very intense.

They have staff members
from the social secretary's office,

with lists of people who are entitled
to come in, who are invited.

There's a number of those folks at
the gates always checking people off.

Then they have another checkoff.
And there's still another list.

But in this particular case,
the system broke down.

But while the Salahis
undoubtedly became

the White House's
two most infamous unwanted guests,

there were only a handful
who knew about the other,

even more mysterious visitor
who attended the same event that night.

The same night that the Salahis
crashed the state dinner,

there was a third intruder,
Carlos Allen.

And the way that he was uncovered

was that Secret Service
surveillance cameras

spotted him going to the dinner,
and nobody knew who he was.

They knew that he was not
on the guest list.

They finally figured out who he was.

He had intruded
with the Indian delegation,

got into the White House,

and the Secret Service
again ignored the fact

that he was not on the guest list.

It just demonstrates

that all of the work
of all of the people

and all of the systems
and all of the processes,

one individual,
if they don't do their job,

can literally destroy all of that work.
It wasn't a pleasant time.

I feel confident,
based on what I've heard,

based on what I've seen,
based on what I've been briefed on,

that they did not provide
a risk to the president.

But while uninvited guests

may be more of an embarrassment
than a security threat,

how is the White House prepared

to deal with more serious
and secret situations?

And what rooms and tunnels
exist within its walls

that can help protect the president
and the nation during a deadly attack?

It is one of the most critical

intelligence gathering centers
in the world.

Located in the West Wing,
just below the Oval Office,

the Situation Room

serves as an advanced
communications headquarters

where America's commander in chief

can monitor and control U.S.
military forces around the world.

One of the subjects brought up
with every President-elect,

as soon as he becomes elected,

as part of his briefings,
is the Situation Room

and how it works
and the information that comes in.

Mr. Obama, for instance, on his first day
in office, went down to the Sit Room

and participated in a conversation
with some of his military people.

There's a huge misperception
in the general public

about what goes on down there.

They think it's just a meeting room,
but it really is more than a room.

It's an intelligence center.

Measuring approximately
5,000 square feet,

the Situation Room's technological
capabilities are for now top secret.

Today, the President could not do his job
without the White House Situation Room.

First and foremost, the Situation Room
is the President's alert center.

Their most important responsibility
is to make sure

the President knows
what's going on around the world.

Secondly, it's a meeting room,
a place where he can go,

either in crisis or meet with his advisors
in a secure, safe place.

Thirdly, it's his communications center,
and whether it's dedicated communications

between the President
and the Prime Minister in Great Britain,

or whether it's a connection
to the CIA's communications systems

or DOD's, it's all the same.

But while it is officially
called the Situation Room,

White House insiders know it by another,
more secret name.

One of Nixon's aides, who later became
the national security advisor

to President Clinton, Tony Lake,
Alexander Haig said,

"Come on, you want to go with me
to the Situation Room?

Henry Kissinger is going to take
the CIA to the woodshed."

Lake thought the room
was the Woodshed,

so it ended up getting that name.

It shall be the policy
of this nation

to regard any nuclear missile,

launched from Cuba
against any nation

in the Western Hemisphere,
as an attack.

It was the disastrous
Bay of Pigs Invasion

in 1961 that prompted
President John F. Kennedy

to create the Situation Room as a way
to improve real-time communications,

current intelligence and crisis support.

The previous Presidents had been
hostage to the State Department

or Defense or Intelligence
for information.

And he realized during
the Cuban Missile Crisis

that he couldn't
really run the government

unless he had a more rapid arrival
of information at the White House.

So he arranged to build a facility
on the ground floor of the White House,

and he called it
the International Situation Room.

And it was shortened
to the Situation Room.

National Security Advisor
McGeorge Bundy

equipped the center
with state-of-the-art technology,

including a hotline
to the Russian Kremlin.

But, contrary to popular belief,

the famous hotline was not,
in fact, a telephone.

The hotline to the Kremlin
was a Teletype device.

It allowed for more security
of the information

that was flowing across it.

Someone felt that
by not being a voice connection,

eliminated confusion from translation

and it was easier
to communicate very precisely,

which would be needed
in an emergency.

That degree of precision was increased

by having a written word versus
a spoken word.

But during the Cold War,

few knew that the White House installed
another secret phone system.

The State Department
established what was called

the warm link
as an alternative to the hot link,

in order to foster
more routine communications.

But it was an alternative

because people wanted to keep
the hotline for crises only

and not diminish its circumstance.

In fact, Carter went against that grain
and used it for routine communication.

And Brzezinski warned him not to do it

because it would perhaps undercut
the importance of it during crises.

Like the rest
of the White House,

the Situation Room
has been renovated and rebuilt

and has grown in size,
scope and strategic importance

as the threats
to the nation have changed.

Following 9/11
and during a period of war,

the Situation Room really proved
inadequate in terms of its capabilities.

We made the decision that
the facility needed to be modernized.

We needed more conference rooms
to have classified conversations in.

And then the facility
was really taken down

to the brick and the dirt floor.

It was totally gutted top to bottom
and in the process of doing that,

we exposed a lot of very old wiring.

And it's a miracle that the West Wing's
not burned to the ground.

Today,
the Situation Room, or Sit Room,

is composed
of approximately 30 personnel

organized around five watch teams

that monitor both domestic
and international events.

The Situation Room, of course,
is on duty 24 hours a day,

seven days a week,
with a staff of people on duty there.

And these telegrams come in
from State or from Defense

or CIA constantly
in the Situation Room.

If it's anything that is significant
for the President,

they'll wake him up right away.

There are no levers
that the President reaches over and pulls

or twists knobs or pushes buttons
to launch missiles

and all that sort of thing.

What happens is he meets with the people
that he trusts in that room,

and then they go off to their places,

and that's where they push
the buttons and pull the levers.

Several times each day,

the teams distill
the latest real-time information

into reports that are prepared
for the president.

The CIA, the Director
of National Intelligence

in the CIA sends down a once
daily president's daily brief,

which has the most sensitive
information available

and gives it to the President.

But right next to it in the folder
is the Situation Room daily summary,

which goes out three times a day.
And that covers everything else.

And so the president keeps track
of things on a daily basis

through the help of the Situation Room.

This is the watch floor
of the White House Situation Room.

And the watch floor's commodity
is situational awareness.

We're a fusion center,
meaning that we fuse approximately

2,000 pieces of information every day.

One of the cool features
of this particular room

in the White House Situation Room
is the opportunity to provide privacy

for the President if he's making
a head-of-state phone call

from the Situation Room itself.

And what we'll do
is we'll be able to fog the windows

to give him that level of privacy.

Now the President can engage
in face-to-face,

top secret teleconference conversations
with other leaders of the world.

He's got that equipment, for instance,
with the Chancellor of Germany,

with the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom,

and with military people
like General Petraeus.

There's the famous picture
in the Situation Room

of President Obama
and Secretary Clinton

and the staff during the mission
that went after Osama bin Laden.

The capability certainly exists
within the Situation Room

to watch live broadcasts.

I don't believe any other leader
in the world

has the communications
and technology capabilities

that are available
to the President of the United States.

And that's the way it has to be.

But as much
as the Situation Room can help

the president function
during a national crisis,

just how safe is the White House
from a physical attack?

In 2010,
a major classified construction project

broke ground on the north lawn
of the White House.

While officials claim
the work was to upgrade utilities

for the East and West Wings,

the project's top secret price tag
led many to speculate

it was a much more serious undertaking.

But could the project really have been
intended to serve a more secret purpose?

The new construction
at the White House grounds

is simply more facilities in the event
of an attack to guard the President

and to allow the White House
to function with many aides,

even though an attack may be occurring.

A lot of the information

regarding the president's safety
and security,

and that of the White House,
by their nature, have to remain secret.

You can't give
your adversaries a hand

in understanding how to defeat
your systems and your procedures.

It is secret and it'll remain so.

Over the past 200 years,

the function of the White House
has grown beyond

just being
the president's personal residence.

It has become the nation's center
of executive power,

a strategic location
that has required the home

to become more like a fortress.

December 7, 1941,

a date which will live in infamy.

Pearl Harbor was such a shock.

Engineers then, they began to look
after the President's safety.

Many people wanted him to move
and to go somewhere else

to a secret place,
but he wouldn't do it.

And he said,
"The President belongs here."

Of course, President Roosevelt
was in a wheelchair.

And so that worried them even more
about moving him around.

So several things came up.

One was that they closed off
all the skylights.

They covered them all with paint.

He did let them put wet sand in a bucket
and a gas mask in every bedroom.

But what never changed

was the color of the structure,
even in times of war.

They asked President Roosevelt
if they could paint the house camouflage.

Camo.

And he said, "No, you cannot."

But perhaps one of the biggest
of the White House's many secrets

is the fact that the current building
is actually less than 70 years old,

having been extensively remodelled
in the late 1940s

by President Harry Truman.

Truman's daughter
Margaret's piano leg

fell through two boards,
and they said, "Out."

So he moved to Blair House.

And a survey was done of the house,
and the Corps got to Truman.

One of the men told me,

who was an engineer
who surveyed the house at that time,

that you could walk between
the plaster ceiling

and the wooden structure
of the East Room.

I mean, you couldn't stand up,
but it was four feet if dropped.

After securing
the funds from Congress,

Truman authorized
the 147-year-old residence

to be gutted from the inside

and meticulously rebuilt
from the original blueprints.

But was the construction done
purely for the safety of the First Family

or might there have been another,
more secret reason?

Was the renovation an opportunity

to clear the house
of any Cold War spying devices?

Or was it an occasion
to harden the executive offices

against any potential atomic threats?

Between 1948 and 1952,

engineers replaced
all the wood-frame substructure

with concrete
and state-of-the-art steel beams.

They tore off the attic and roof

and created a new roof
that was a bigger pitch,

but not so much that it would
be a hat from the street.

And they added some bedrooms
and some storage rooms and things,

all in steel.

They built a steel structure
just inside the original walls

and new foundations
were given to the original wall,

so they don't support anything
but themselves.

And each room is a steel cage.

And the whole house
was rebuilt in steel

and then the plaster
put on steel lath.

And the idea was that it would
be a house for the ages.

Today,
the exterior sandstone walls

are all that remain
of the original White House.

But could Truman's extensive
renovation project

have really been
a cover for changes to the building

that were meant to be hidden
from the public?

Changes similar to the those
undertaken in 2010?

Research on the effects
of a Hiroshima-sized explosion

set off at a midpoint
along Pennsylvania Avenue

suggest that the White House,

with its reinforced concrete,
low-lying silhouette

and large surrounding buildings,

would sustain less damage
than the Capitol Building.

Equally critical to ensure
the president's protection

are the invisible defenses
built into the White House itself.

While the exact specifications
remain classified,

it is believed the entire building
has been modified

to be practically bulletproof.

Not long ago,

this is what you needed to
protect against armor-piercing.

As you can see,
it's about four inches thick.

It's a combination of glass
and polycarbonates.

And though it's very clear,
it's still very heavy, very thick.

It's an intense piece of product.

Since then,
the glass has gotten much thinner.

And actually, there are even
space-age polymers

available this thin and light.

It also has amazing stopping power.

A very lightweight material.

Once you've protected your glass,

you want to start considering your walls,
ceilings and floors.

Now, if you can imagine,

this is the kind of thing
that is typically done

in buildings to achieve a Level Seven.

Level Seven is armor-piercing.

So, if we were to be doing
a high-level government facility,

say something like the White House,
it would be reasonable to assume

that you'd have something like this
throughout the walls, ceilings and floors

of the rooms that you really wanted
to protect against projectiles coming in.

Is it possible
that the president

is heartening
the White House even further,

perhaps expecting a direct attack?

While the White House
is fortified against acts of war,

just how vulnerable
is the President and his family

to an attempted assassination?

In the age of terrorism

and political assassination...

...just how safe
is the White House?

And are there secret measures in place

to keep the President
and his family secure?

The White House is sort of a Mecca
for all these nuts in the world

who want to just go after authority.

The president is the top enchilada.

And so they will show up
at the White House

and try to get in.

The Service takes those threats,

regardless of whether
it's against the president,

the vice president,
members of the family,

the White House itself,

very seriously,

and investigates to make sure
that they get a full understanding

of exactly what that threat is
and how to mitigate it.

The first lines of defense

against White House intruders
are the visible deterrents,

such as the iron fence
lining the perimeter

and the guards patrolling
the White House grounds.

But there are also security measures
hidden from the public eye.

The White House grounds are protected

by a complete array of sensors
that detect heat, motion.

If anything is detected,
the Secret Service comes running.

The uniformed officers
of the Secret Service, in particular,

are in charge of guarding the White House
grounds and the White House itself.

And they have dogs
that will attack an intruder.

If necessary, they will shoot
the intruder to kill him.

The Secret Service is one
of the most professional organizations.

They put their lives on the line every
single day protecting the president.

Over the years,
a number of armed

or otherwise dangerous intruders

have attacked the White House.

In 1974, Robert Preston,
a young Army private,

hovered above the south lawn
in a stolen helicopter.

White House guards responded
with a barrage of gunfire,

forcing Preston to land.

Slightly injured and clad in fatigues,
the hijacker was apprehended

and admitted for psychiatric observation.

I, George Walker Bush,
do solemnly swear...

I, George Walker Bush,
do solemnly swear...

...gunshots,
the sound of gunshots

on the south side
of the White House.

In February, 2001,

two weeks after George W. Bush's
inauguration,

Robert W. Pickett,
a former IRS employee

with a history of mental illness
and suicide attempts,

waved a gun at tourists and police
outside the White House,

firing several shots.

A Secret Service agent shot him
in the knee after a ten-minute standoff.

November 11, 2011.
Oscar Ortega-Hernandez,

a 21-year-old man from Idaho,

fired a semi-automatic assault rifle
from a passing car.

The bullets struck
near the residential quarters.

Recently, you had a situation

where there was someone
shooting at the White House.

Fortunately, they had the appropriate
level of security there

that prevented any penetration
of those rounds

from actually getting into the interior
of the White House itself.

But one
of the most unusual attacks

on the White House
came on September 11, 1994.

Just before midnight, Frank Corder,

a 38-year-old Army veteran
suffering from depression,

stole a Cessna plane
and flew it towards the White House.

Seven minutes out,

air traffic controllers
stationed at the National Airport

picked up the Cessna
on their radar screens.

But it was too late.

Corder crashed the plane
directly on the south lawn,

missing the White House
by just a few feet.

While reports indicate
Corder committed suicide,

many speculated that he was,
in fact, shot down.

Could there be, as some believe,

anti-aircraft missiles
on top of the White House?

And people just assumed
that the White House

had all of those defense mechanisms
in place,

and when this Cessna flew
into the White House,

people were asking,
"How can that happen?"

But since then, I can assure you,

there have been defense mechanisms
put in place

that would prevent that sort of situation
from happening again.

If you go back, in the Washington Post,
when we were in the Bush administration,

there was a picture on the front page

of some systems
that were installed post-9/11.

So you can unearth your own secret,

that way, but I don't want to...
I don't want to talk about it.

But with all the corridors,
offices, tunnels,

and secret areas of the White House,

is there one area that is the safest
and most secure of all?

A place where the president
and his family

can go in the event
of a national emergency?

Obviously, I'm not going
to be able to say specifically,

but just let's say
that there are ways of moving

the president
and the First Family around

in the event that there might
be a threat in the White House.

Some speculate
that the safest area

of the White House
is the secret underground facility

located below the East Wing,
known as the PEOC,

or President's Emergency
Operations Center.

Originally constructed as a bomb shelter

by President Franklin Roosevelt
during World War II,

the PEOC has been designed
to withstand a nuclear attack.

It's in the East Wing basement.
It's an old World War II bomb shelter

with a great, big, heavy door,
full of bunks,

and canned foods, canned water,
and all that.

Cheney, Condie Rice,

and a few other people
rode out the storm on 9/11 in the PEOC.

With the contingency plans
seamlessly followed on 9/11,

the nation and its leaders
can be confident

that the most public of private homes
is today safe and secure.

For over 200 years,
the White House has more than

met George Washington's
original intention:

To house, serve, and protect

the President of the United States
and his family.

But perhaps the greatest secret
the White House holds

is that each passing president
is a temporary resident

in what is actually a home
that belongs to every American.

I look at our family
and, God, what a blessing.

I mean, to live there
at that very unique time.

This is America's home,
it's not our home.

You want to cherish it,
you want to enjoy it,

but you want to respect it.

It's not the First Family's home,
it's America's home.