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- So I think the best way to sum up
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being a Secret Service agent,
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it's prolonged periods of boredom
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only broken up by moments of sheer terror.
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[light music]
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Hello, my name is Jonathan Wackrow,
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and I'm a former United States Secret Service agent.
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I spent 14 years in the agency, and 4 1/2 years
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assigned to the presidential protection division
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during the Obama administration.
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Today we will be reviewing scenes
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featuring the president's Secret Service detail
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in TV and film.
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This is "Air Force One" directed by Wolfgang Peterson.
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Seeing Air Force one in person for the very first time
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is very majestic.
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Literally takes your breath away.
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The entire construct around the plane
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has a different sense of importance
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than your regular aircraft.
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They actually represent it and capture the moment very well.
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The reason why the plane has such distinctive markings
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and is so obvious is because of the mission that it serves.
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The Secret Service understands security concerns
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that go along with it
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and it's built into the overarching security plan.
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- Gentlemen, welcome to Air Force One.
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Please present your equipment for inspection.
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- We were just inspected at the gate.
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Sir, this plane carries the president of the United States.
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- I understand.
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I'm terribly sorry.
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- Please place your thumb on the ID pad.
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- Looking at the boarding procedures,
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what they got right is the organized structure.
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There are a lot of moving parts around Air Force One
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just prior to departure, but it's not chaotic.
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It's very organized.
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What is off on this is actually who does it.
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The Secret Service does not protect the plane itself.
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That's a responsibility that falls upon the Air Force.
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The Secret Service is responsible
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for the overall security of the airport site.
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As we saw on the clip, one of the passengers put their thumb
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on an ID pad to gain access.
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This was actually cutting edge at that time.
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Since then technology has evolved
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and has expanded the level of access control
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to further protect that plane.
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- Hello there, I'm Melanie Mitchell, deputy press secretary.
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I'll be taking you in from here.
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- Miss Mitchell,
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it is so nice to finally meet you in person.
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- The president and I were delighted
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we could accommodate your news crew.
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- So in my experience, I never wanna say never,
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but I think it's highly unlikely
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that you would see a foreign news crew,
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absent of a foreign head of state on the aircraft
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at the same time that the president is on board.
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- If you'd like, I think we have time for a quick tour.
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- [Jonathan] The press do reside
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in the back of the aircraft,
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and there is a separate cabin for Secret Service,
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and the security detail.
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- Secret service right here.
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Never try to go past them without an escort
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or you'll be very sorry.
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- Hello.
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- Hi.
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- Moving forward in the aircraft, you get into staff,
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senior staff, and then the president's cabin.
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- He could run the whole country from here,
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or even a war if we had to.
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- What is a little anomalous here is the fact that,
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so close to the president's arrival,
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White House staff would be showing foreign press around.
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- Yes.
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- The president's arriving.
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They should all take their seats, right away.
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- I'll get out of here and let you all get some sleep.
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- The president is essentially going to be
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one of the last people on the plane,
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and when he gets on, that door shuts, and that plane moves.
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[crowd chattering]
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- Mr. President, welcome aboard, sir.
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- I was stunned at how fast the plane took off
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during my first trip.
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I was actually still standing
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and we were rolling down the runway.
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You don't want that aircraft to become a target
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on the ground.
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So the point is, once the president is on board
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that aircraft it is moving immediately.
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- Mr. President.
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- Mr. President.
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- Change in plan, Danny.
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Let's go to Barbados.
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- Anything you want.
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You're the president.
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- My very first time aboard Air Force One,
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the moment that I got on board,
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you just knew that it was a different aircraft.
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The flight crew was different.
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You knew that this wasn't just a flight crew from Delta.
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These were trained professionals that were there
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to serve the president of the United States.
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And the food was fantastic.
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Skipping ahead in the movie, we see an agent
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assigned to the president's detail
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actually revealing himself as a rogue agent.
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The look of the Secret Service agent portrayed in the film
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is spot-on.
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You always have your jacket on, tie on.
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You never know when you may confront either senior staff
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or the president,
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so you want to have a professional appearance at all times.
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The only change that you may actually have
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is a change in jacket.
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Sort of the rule of thumb though, is if the president
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is not wearing a jacket, you are not gonna wear a jacket.
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We wanna blend into the environment as much as possible.
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So it's easier just to mimic what the president is doing
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at that moment.
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[suspenseful music]
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We also see the rogue agent accessing a cache of weapons
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behind a security wall.
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What I can say is that this type of weapon system,
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or armament onboard the aircraft, would be safeguarded
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by an agent at all times.
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Beyond that, there's really not much more
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that I would wanna talk about.
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I only will talk about things that are already out there
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in the public domain.
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This is "Dave" directed by Ivan Reitman.
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In this scene, we see Dave, the president's decoy,
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talking to a member of the president's detail.
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- How long has that been going on?
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- I can't say.
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- You mean you don't know, or you can't say?
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- I can't say.
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- At the White House, the president has access
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to his own private kitchen within the residence,
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as we see here, but then also the presidential food service.
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Quick answer is the president can get anything he wants
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at any time.
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The Secret Service tends to try to give as much privacy
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as possible to the president while he's in the residence.
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So while we know where he is at all times,
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it may not be representative like this scene here
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where an agent is standing next to the president
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while they're making their meal.
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- So your job is to protect the president all the time.
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That's that's your whole job, right?
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- Yes.
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- The president's day is bifurcated
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into official duties and private time.
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So while the president may be in a relaxed demeanor,
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you still have to remain on point
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and focused on your job at hand.
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And that's why in this scene,
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we see the Secret Service agent maintaining his decorum
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throughout the entire scene.
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He's staying professional and focused
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on what he needs to do.
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If the president was to ever sit down and offer you food,
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most agents that I know would respectfully decline.
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- You have a gun?
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- Yes.
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- Ever use it?
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- Not yet.
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- A very common question to get.
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I thought the agent's response was a little bit cute
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which he said, "Not yet" indicating that Dave was
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starting to encroach on some some questions
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that that agent didn't wanna answer.
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If this was the president, the actual president,
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asking questions, you have to answer them truthfully.
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But again, you have to understand what is the context
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of the questioning.
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Even though we have top secret clearance,
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you actually can't divulge things even to the president
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that are compartmentalized information.
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- You know what I've always wondered about you guys,
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where they say that you'd take a bullet for the president.
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- What about it?
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- Is that really true?
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I mean, would you let yourself be killed to save his life?
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- Certainly.
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- So that means now you'd get killed for me, too?
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- They're protecting the office of the presidency.
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So it's something greater than the individual.
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And I think that's the point that the agent at the very end
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realized that this isn't about protecting Dave the decoy,
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or stopping a bullet for Dave the decoy,
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this is about the sanctity and protecting the office
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of the presidency.
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This film is "Angel Has Fallen" directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
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We see the president being attacked by drones
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while he is fishing on a lake.
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[drones whining]
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- Drones!
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They're drones!
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- Come with me, sir!
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- [Agent on radio] Art, get him under the ballistic
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hard cover and keep him down!
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I'm on my way!
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- So every president is going to have their own hobbies,
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and each one of those hobbies is gonna present
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a very unique challenge for the Secret Service.
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It doesn't matter what the activity is,
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you have to build that methodology around it.
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[men shouting]
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[drones whining]
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[electronic beeping]
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- [Agent on radio] [indistinct] Engage, engage!
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[guns firing]
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[intense music]
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- Don't move, don't move!
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They're tracking you somehow.
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- We see the president with one Secret Service agent
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in a single boat in the middle of the lake.
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This is something that's really anomalous.
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You wouldn't see.
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You would have the president with the security detail
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on one boat, but then you'd also have a chase boat
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with additional detail members on it,
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as well as military and medical personnel.
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Again, you're taking that environment that's established
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around the president and just putting it onto the water.
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- [Mike] Just hold still and keep him covered.
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I'm coming to you!
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[guns firing]
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- One of the reasons why I actually like this scene
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is because it actually represents a bonafide threat.
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We have seen recently occurrences overseas in Syria
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where drones have been utilized
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and weaponized to attack over the horizon.
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So this scene really does represent
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what a potential threat could be.
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There's a lot of technologies that are emerging today,
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in addition to drones, that really worry
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not only the Secret Service, but law enforcement in general.
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If you think about utilizing AI, machine learning,
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anything with deep fakes, videos.
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How do you create disinformation?
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How do you tap into communication systems?
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- [Mike] They're coming at you, boss.
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Get him in the water!
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The hard cover isn't enough!
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- What about you? - Go!