outward threats against foreign adversaries, particularly when most cybersecurity threats are about data exfiltration. it will really be fascinating to see how a former pentagon official at senior levels is able to negotiate this with the pentagon. fascinating stuff. thanks for coming in. we appreciate it. coming up on the lead, feeding your brain. a new study looks at the power of sleep in fighting off diseases like alzheimer s and dementia. we ll explain. next, the future of drone technology is here. we re using one for this very shot. coming up next on the lead. t: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the hearverythwe do. we ve added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we re sharing what we ve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitm
experience with a big sprawling bureaucracy, because that s what this job is. it has to be important. this is one of the most unwieldy agencies in the federal government. it faces a lot, right now, existential questions about should it even persist in the form we know it as. it s very easy to come into dhs and know a whole lot about one thing that it does, cybersecurity, aviation security, immigration. it s very rare and in fact, we haven t really had it yet, for a dhs secretary to know everything or at least most things about everything dhs does. tell us what you think about jeh johnson. think he could be effective? fascinating choice. johnson has a very rounded background inside a lot of the very important national security law issues that he faced at the pentagon. for someone to run an agency like this, even with the management questions, he knows a lot as we were just discussing about the inner agency process that s going to be really important. and this will be a test of how
perhaps a different background for an agency whose existence is very much in play might turn out to be an agent of change. what do you think? absolutely. i think his background at d.o.d. and his experience dealing with cybersecurity issues is going to be absolutely critical. dhs and d.o.d. are in a lot of disagreements over how cybersecurity, one of the biggest threats to our national security, should be handled. he s been right in the middle of that. i think he could be very effective in helping kind of bridge the gap. the other thing that i think, when you look at his speeches, he s a very thoughtful guy and he s good at looking at emerging issues. you ve got to have that for a dhs leader. i think he could be a good choice, particularly with the appointment of dhs dep sec majorcas. i hope they confirm him quickly. together they could be a good team. this is one of the more fascinating things about the johnson appointment from a counterterrorism perspective. johnson is one of th
government spying on your e-mail? agents busting illegal immigrants or failing to do so? the department of homeland security is a sprawling agency encompassing everything from border patrol to domestic threats from al qaeda, cybersecurity and transportation security to disaster assistance. it s been three months since janet napolitano announced she was resigning from obama s cabinet as head of the dhs. she left office early last month so who is taking her place? president obama announced two hours ago that jeh johnson will be taking over if confirmed. here to give us insight on what we can expect and what he can expect, julie myers-wood, former assistant homeland security secretary and spencer ackerman, national security editor at the guardian. we were talking about this during the break. you were special assistant to president bush helping to come up with the short list of nominees after the bernie kerik discussion exploded.
johnson might give a different speech today than he did a few months ago. recent events have shown we re not yet to an end game but you have to think about what s the end game, are we moving there. i think having a secretary that has a big voice in this discussion is important. the one management challenge i will say, i do think he faces a lot of management challenges, is how do you manage empty chairs. dhs has so many vacancies. so in order for him to be effective as the secretary, you ve got to fill in those senior level positions. otherwise, obama is not going to be able to move his agenda forward. final thought? julie made a really great point about cybersecurity. this is going to be increasingly important to what dhs becomes as right now counterterrorism is to what it is. cybersecurity faces a lot of questions about who does what, who protects the civilian internet, who protects data security on a business infrastructure and particularly the military facing a lot of questions