Transcript: DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf on "Face the Nation," August 30, 2020
The following is a transcript of an interview with Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf that aired Sunday, August 30, 2020, on "Face the Nation."
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mark Strassmann in Atlanta, thank you. We want to go now to the Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. He joins us from FEMA headquarters here in Washington. Good morning to you.
ACTING SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY CHAD WOLF: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Given the storm damage in Louisiana and in Texas and people having to go into shelters, how are you preventing these areas from being- becoming COVID hotspots? Do you expect an uptick?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Well, no, MARGARET, we anticipated this at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. FEMA has been working with state and local emergency managers really since the- the beginning. They put out guidance back in May talking about how do you respond to a natural disaster such as a hurricane in a COVID-like environment. So we've done a number of steps. We've given a number of recommendations. And what you're seeing today is we've got about 16,000 folks in non-congregate shelters. Those are mainly hotels. And less than a thousand in the big congregate shelters or the gymnasiums that you would normally see. And those that we do have to put into those gymnasiums, we're making sure that they're social distanced and they are abiding by some of those mitigation measures. So these are issues that we've thought about. FEMA has been working on this for several, several months.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about what is going on in Portland overnight. We saw a man there killed during dueling demonstrations between a pro-Trump caravan and Black Lives Matter activists. Given the situation, which seems very tense, will the Trump administration ask for everyone, including those pro-Trump supporters, to pull back?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Well, we've been asking Portland to do their job really for over three months now. What you see in Portland is an environment--
MARGARET BRENNAN: But I'm asking about the pro-Trump supporters.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --they- they foster an environment- they foster an environment of this lawlessness and chaos. We've been asking the governor and others to send in the National Guard to address the violence so that you don't have dueling demonstrations. You don't have this violence that occurs night after night after night on the streets of Portland. So we need them to do their job. We need them to step up and if they can't or they don't have the ability or the resources, ask the federal government. We'll provide those resources, as we've done in Wisconsin and in others, so that we can address any violence, any violence across the spectrum.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But- I hear what you're saying but the president has tweeted about Portland 12 times in the past 48 hours, including retweeting a video of his supporters, people with Trump flags flying, driving into Portland, and he called them "Great Patriots." Doesn't that heightened tension when you say you're trying to lower it?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Absolutely not. I think what- again, what we see in Portland and various other cities--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you endorse this--
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --is- is local--
MARGARET BRENNAN: --as the president appears to be doing?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --officials not doing their job and protecting the people of those communities. And what we've seen in Portland is almost three months, three months of allowing individuals to come in night after night and set fire to government buildings with little to no consequences.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So are you saying that the local officials have failed to stop the Trump supporters from driving into Portland?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: I- I've-- they have failed to stop--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because the president seems to be endorsing that.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: They have failed to stop- they- they have failed to protect their communities, specifically in Portland. And we've seen that. We have over 74- over 90 arrests, 74 different criminal citations that the FBI is pursuing against individuals. We need Portland to step up, bring this violence to a close, and I think you'll see a lot of this go away.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, it sounds then like you're asking Portland officials to crack down on the Trump supporters, too. If that's not what you mean, please clarify. The president said that--
ACTING SEC. WOLF: I'm ask--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Go ahead. Sorry
.ACTING SEC. WOLF: I'm asking Portland officials, so that's the mayor, that's the governor and that's local law enforcement to do their job to address any violent activity that is occurring in their streets. As soon as they do that- again, we'll see that, as we've seen in Wisconsin and other places, we'll see the violence go down to almost zero. And this will address the issue that Portland has been dealing with for three months,--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --that the citizens of Portland have been dealing with for over three months. It's time to end the lawlessness and the chaos that we see in Portland.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The president said Friday at his New Hampshire rally that he's been discussing invoking the Insurrection Act to deal with Wisconsin. He's mentioned things about Portland as well. You've been in the room when the president has discussed using the Insurrection Act in the past. Do you support its use now to send in active duty military to American cities?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Again, I'm not going to get in front of the president on any decisions that he may or may not make, but what I can tell you--
MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm not asking about the president's decision. I'm asking if you support?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --is I have been in- I have been in a number of decisions, in a number of meetings where we have addressed and talked about the violence that's going on in a number of cities around this country, including Portland, but also Wisconsin, Chicago, Atlanta and other cities. The president's been very clear. I think he made- very numerous public statements asking state and local officials to do their job--
MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm asking if you- if you think it's something you support.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: -- to do their job and if they can't, request assistance from the federal government. Department of Justice will send assets. The department will send assets if there's federal facilities or federal law enforcement officers being targeted. And we will help them to provide assets and resources that they don't have.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, that sounds like no since that would be seeking consent of the governor and local officials. It sounds like you're saying, no, you don't support the Insurrection Act. If that's not the case, please, clarify.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: MARGARET, I- again, MARGARET, what I will tell you is, again, I'm not going to get in front of the president. It's the president's--
MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm not asking about the president's decision. I'm asking do you support it.
ACTING SEC. WOLF:--decision to do the Insurrection Act. What I support is making sure that we bring this violence in a number of these cities around the country to an end.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I also want to ask you about what's going on with election security. DHS is the primary federal agency tasked with overseeing election security. Will your agency continue to brief both houses of Congress on election security?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Absolutely. We've--
MARGARET BRENNAN: In-person?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: --done that over 25- yes, MARGARET. Again, if I can answer. Absolutely. We've done that over 25 times in the last two months. We have briefings, in-person briefings set up this week for the Senate and the House. And we have another eight or nine scheduled between now and the election. Again, I think what people need to differentiate between what the department does and what the intelligence community does, the department, DHS, through our CISA Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, we're focused on cyber threats targeting election infrastructure. And we're going to continue to work with our secretaries of state around the country, but also brief members of Congress. A lot of the information that the department deals with is in an unclassified nature. So we're happy to continue to share the good work that we're doing to try to secure those systems ahead of the November elections.
MARGARET BRENNAN: As you know, the director of national intelligence informed Congress that he will not brief in person, at least members of the House, on election security as it relates to foreign interference. Given that you say it is a concern to protect the integrity of elections, why are you limiting information flow to elected lawmakers?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Again, the DNI statement that he put out, again, they deal with classified intelligence.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I understand.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: His concern is the leak- is the leak of that classified intelligence. They're going to continue to provide Congress all the information they need in a written, finished intelligence product so that Congress can have the information they need to do their oversight responsibilities. So this is not about limiting access. This is about providing the information to Congress. They're going to do that in a different format.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you feel comfortable sharing classified information with members of Congress?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Again, the information that we share with Congress that we brief with Congress is almost exclusively unclassified information. And again, it's about cyber threats to election infrastructure. Different from the foreign interference or disinformation campaigns that the intelligence communities and others are dealing with.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Don't those lawmakers need to have the information in order to do their jobs?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: Absolutely. And they will have that information not only from the department, but from DNI, providing that in a written format.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Michigan secretary of state tweeted this week she has evidence of a robocall scheme targeting Detroit voters using racially charged stereotypes and false information to deter voting. Is this something you're watching? Are you seeing this happen in other states?
ACTING SEC. WOLF: This would be something that the Department of Justice would certainly be looking at when we talk about election fraud, which is what this sounds like, MARGARET. I'm not- I'm not familiar with this instance. This would be something the Department of Justice would be looking at if there's any effort to suppress voter outreach or the like. So, again, not something the Department of Homeland Security deals with, but probably something the Department of Justice is looking at.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary Wolf, thank you very much for joining us today.
ACTING SEC. WOLF: OK, thank you.