in chief. plus, is russia trying to disrupt the u.s. elections? >> we will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes. >> we'll ask our sunday panel what could happen in november. and our power player of the week, nfl quarterback kirk cousins playing for a lot more than winning games. >> god wired me to be a leader and to want to impact people. >> all right now on "fox news sunday." news in washington. today marks 15 years since the worst terror attack on u.s. soil. once again we pause to reflect on those who died and in less than two months we go to the polls to choose our next commander in chief. in a moment we'll speak with secretary of homeland security jeh johnson about the threat the nation faces now, but first we take you to ground zero in manhattan where family members almost 3,000 people who lost their lives that terrible day. they're about to mark the moment when the second plane hit the world trade center's south tower. >> craig michael blass. >> vitablaus. >> michael ba card did i. >> john paul bottinno. >> michael >> susan m.bottino. >> vieira francis bodily. >> bruce douglas boehm. >> mary katherine murphy bolka. >> nicholas andrew bogden. >> darryn christopher bohan. >> lawrence francis bodeau. >> vincent m.bolan jr. >> tori balarky. >> andre benar jr. >> collin arthur bonnet. >> frank j.bonamo. >> yvon bonomo. >> sean booker sr. >> can field d. -- >> earlier i spoke with secretary of homeland security jeh johnson about the threats we still face 15 years after 9/11. secretary johnson, thank you for talking with us. 9/11, how would you characterize the threat to the u.s. homeland right now? >> chris, we are stronger against another 9/11 style terrorist directed attack over seas. our government has become pretty good at deteching something hatched from overseas, launched overseas. our intelligence community is pretty good at picking that up. is with the lone wolf style attack. the self-radicalized actor. terrorist organizations have the ability to into our home and through the internet and recruit and inspire. that's a relatively new environment and requires a whole of government response. >> i want to try, if i can, sir, to break down the threat, and let me put a couple of things up on the screen. terrorists now have a greater safe haven in isis than they've had any time since 9/11. the f 900 active investigations against lone wolves and other suspects in all 50 states. a test last year found tsa screeners missed weapons 95% of the time. last year almost 500,000 people overstayed their visas and the number of african and asian migrants trying to cross the border is rising. secretary johnson, i don't have safety net. >> a couple of things, chris. first, our u.s. military, along with our international partners, as we speak, is taking back territory from isol in iraq/syria. we've taken out a number of the leaders, those focused on external attacks. you're correct to note the number of open pending investigations by the fbi here in the homeland. the fbi's become pretty good when it comes to their counter terrorism capability detecting e aviation security, tsa is actually stronger now in my view than it was a year ago after those horrible i.g. test results. as you know, we've replaced the tsa, hired a new one, pete neffenger. we were challenged earlier this summer. we're investing in more aviation in terse of the southwest 3w0irder i just recently asked for them to focus on immigrants coming illegally from other hemispheres from the middle east, protect them, block them before they get to the homeland working with governments in south america, central america to prevent that from happening. you're correct we're seeing illegal migrants coming from africa, coming from the middle east. and happening before they reach the southwest border. >> so bottom line, is the threat we face now worse or less serious than during 9/11 because the chairman of the 9/11 commission, tom keane and lee hamilton, say they think it's worse. >> we're stronger when it comes to preventing against a 9/11 style attack. we very plainly have a serious who self-radicalize. that's a relatively new phenomenon that we've got to protect against. the public can play a role. a lot of people are working hard to protect against it. it's still here and will be here for a while, chris. >> i want to turn to russian hacking into our political system, democr and at least two states, arizona and illinois. do you believe that the russians are trying to undermine confidence in our democratic processes and what is the possibility that they could actually disrupt the vote count in november? >> first, there's an open investigation into the dnc hack, into various intrusions that we've seen into state election to alter a ballot count, alter how we tabulate votes in this country in part because the system is so decentralized. there are 9,000 jurisdictions involved in the process. i've been sending the message that my department, our cyber security experts, are in a position to help them further secure their presence on the internet where it exists. we're in the midst of having that conversation literally between now and november 8th and beyond. >> mr. secretary, does it bother you when you hear a major american political figure say that vladimir putin is more of a leader than president obama? >> well, chris, i don't comment on what the political candidates say this election season. i think we have to be extremely about foreign leaders, republicans and democrats on both sides of the aisle have a lot of concerns about what vladimir putin is up to, so i think we need to be careful in our rhetoric, and that's -- that's a non-partisan bipartisan statement, chris. >> let me ask you about another non-partisan bipartisan issue. in july of last year you stopped using your government computer for personal e-mails and banned all homeland security officials from doing the same. question. why? >> well, accessing your personal e-mail online on a desktop at work is not a cyber security best practice. and so in homeland security, certainly in the leadership of homeland security we've got to set the example. we've got to be a model in terms of best practices. material you receive is classified whether or not it's marked, whether or not there's a header? do you know simply from the content and do you feel an obligation to protect classified material regardless of the marking? >> well, i certainly feel an obligation to protect classified material regardless of the marking. from my department of defense days i think i can recognize it. in fact, very often when a skiff talking with my people i question whether something has been correctly classified based upon what i'm reading, based upon the subject of what i'm reading. classified material should be on a wholly separate system, separate and apart from the unclassified daily e-mail traffic that we see on our official networks. >> finally, sir, you were a lawyer working in new york city on 9/11. is your birthday. i wonder, what is your central memory from that terrible day and how does it shape the way you approach your job as the secretary of homeland security? >> well, thanks for asking. i was a lawyer in private law practice here in manhattan on 9/11, 2001. i had just left the pentagon nine months earlier as general practice for the airport. first of all, everyone recalls how beautiful a day i recall a real feeling of guilt that i had left public service. i wanted to be back at the pentagon where it was going to be all hands on deck. i remember coming down to a street to give them blood. you were either dead or you escaped. chris, i've dedicated myself over the last nearly eight years now in defense and homeland homeland security threats, making us safer and improving our national security. thanks for asking. >> mr. secretary, thank you for talking with us what i know is for all of us a very difficult day. thank you, sir. >> thank you, sir. up next, hillary clinton and donald trump clash over national security. we'll bring in our sunday group to discuss the threats one of them will face as commander in chief. plus, what would you like to ask the panel nation is 15 years after 9/11? just go to facebook or twitter @foxnewssunday. 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(announcer vo) so wherever work takes you, you can put your customers first. another way verizon connects your business better. a live look at the pentagon where a crowd is now gathering to remember the 189 people who lost their lives there on september 11th. and it's time now for our group. syndicated columnist george well, juan williams, julie pace who covers the white house and the campaign for the associated press. and washington examiner contributor lisa booth. george, there's so much more security in this country now than there was 15 years ago but the threat has also grown. bottom line, are we safer? >> i think we're probably safer from terrorism. there's an asterisk. began badly. then we begin to learn. and we've done a lot of learning about terrorism and as the secretary just stressed, we've made technological advancements. some of which we know, some of which we don't know. i think the world at large is less safe because the threat has metastasized and particularly because europe, with unassimilated communities of immigrants, is just more proximate to the caliphate, the isis caliphate than it was. that said, it seems to me america today is measurably less safe than it was 15 years ago for a number of reasons. putin is ram pant on russia dismantling the european nation threatening the balance particular states which are nato members. china is extremely aggressive which can be a threat at any point. north korea launches a missile iran is another regime we cannot read but are right to be worried about. the world is more ominous. >> we asked you for questions for the panel on this particular subject. we got this on facebook from paul wascoulgian. fascinating. i was in the world trade center for the bombing in 1993 and then again in the world financial center for the attacks on 9/11. the harsh reality is since 1993 not how do you answer paul? >> i think a lot has changed. some of the obvious things are obviously creation of the department of homeland security. you just heard chris's interview with secretary jeh johnson. homeland security is i think the third largest agency in government. trillions know that experience. what paul's talking about, chris, is something that's million americans think terrorists have more ability to attack us now than in 2001. you see this in our politics. politicians going for fear, concern, anxiety in their thinking. this is particularly true among republicans. over half think there's more chance of an attack. only 1/3 of independents and democrats. i would just point out again to paul, we've had the patriot act. the government has the ability to look at e-mail messages, we have troops stationed. we've degraded al qaeda. we've degraded isis. all of these things you'd see in a math attacks. i think there's less a chance. what you heard a few moments ago from george will, that in turns of the lone wolf attack, coming in terms of a threat from putin and china, yes, there's reason to have some sleepless nights. subject, particularly pow continue and the threat, and not necessarily the threat of terror but a different threat, and that is the threat of russian hacking of our american political system, both the democratic campaign organizations and apparently state electoral systems, at least in two states, arizona and illinois. julie, how seriously do they take this at the white house, the possibility that putin and the russians could be trying to disrupt our elections? what d to? >> i think they're taking it quite seriously. that's why you see them wait before they officially say this was russia. they want to make sure all the evidence is completeland and they have that all in hand. in terms of what they do, this is just such a complicated issue every time we deal with russia because one of your major tools is sanction. we're also trying to partner with russia in syria. you saw lavrov and kerry meeting the question of what russia is trying to do is fairly obvious. they are trying to create some sort of uncertainty in the election and in the process and ultimately in the results which if you -- >> to what end though? >> i don't know what end. i think the idea of creating chaos in american democracy might be the end because if you really think about this idea, no matter what happens in our electoral campaigns we generally are confident that the yom come is nervousness in the american population, maybe that is there end. >> i want to pick up on that with you, lisa, because the russians don't have to disrupt our elections if they just create doubt about the outcome, about the reliability of the vote count. they've kind of achieved their goal, haven't they? >> that's what they've done. this is russia attempting to flex its power and muscles in does not believe that russia could ultimately affect the outcome because the election outcome is so decentralized and vast. that being said, russia has been hacking eastern european banks prior. germany accused them of messing with them. russia is accused of knocking out power for 80,000 ukrainians. russia is the master of subversion and putin was a former kgb analyst. he knows that all too well. >> in ukraine in 2014, in fact, there was a russian effort to interrupt the electoral website before the presidential election. george, this effort would seem to be right out of the kremlin i think it's quite right. what they want to say is we have our problems in russia. we have orderly elections. so orderly we know the outcome before we have the elections. there is something wrong with the systems. to demoralize the united states, that is, to get people to think they have a government that is somehow tainted, legitimacy compromised by inadequacies is an inordinate benefit. >> it's putin believed that the united states and specifically hillary clinton helped try to work against him when he was running for election. do you think this was pay back in some sense both to the united states and to clinton? >> i don't know. i don't know whether we did that. i hope we did that because he was an extremely dangerous man. i don't think mr. putin needs motive. >> you were nodding your head. administration, neyeta was coming having lunch. they were hoping that in russia the population would want that. that has proven not to be true. yeah, there was a real effort to try to create another power center in russia. >> we have to take a break. see you a little later. up next, hillary clinton and donald trump engage on national security, and we'll continue the debate with two top who would make a better >> your families love and miss you. today we honor your memory and life and the lives of all who lost that day. >> observances continue at ground zero in new york city on this 15th anniversary of 9/11. as family members read the names of the were killed in four separate attacks. joining me now to discuss the new focus on national security, former speaker newt gingrich, one of trump's top advisors and clinton advocate congressman javier basara. welcome back. >> thank you. >> before we get to national security, i want to ask you both about remarks that clinton made at a fund-raiser in new york city on friday night. trump's supporters into what i call the basket of deplorables, right? the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic. you name. >> she says that half, half of trump's supporters are, not america. your reaction. >> she said she was generalizing but since then she says she regrets the comment about half. there are some, i don't think that anyone denies there are people there who are deplorable. the white supremacists, david dukes of the world who are supporting donald trump. the great thing is there's one made. but the more important thing is we never had a president who would be taking off from a position of hate and anger. i am a son of immigrants or women who are watching a candidate who has said deplorable things about women. i don't think what we want is someone who will get into office based on advocating, campaigning, and governing based on anger and hate. >> spea congressman mentioned, hillary clinton released a statement yesterday trying to clean this up. she says this, last night i was, quote, grossly general is tick and that's never a good idea. i regret saying half. that was wrong. does that make it any better? >> no. hillary is beginning to fall apart. she comes out of a terrible national security debate. she then says isis is praying for trump to win. she turns with this grow tess being statement which any reasonable person would if you're talking about 47% dependent on government, she just made a statement in which she lumped together millions of americans. those i think that was a deliberate statement on her part. she wants to pick a fight, that's fine. let's get sheriff clark, he can debate her on racracism. he can debate her on racism. the left has for years used vicious comments to block the discussion in the inner city. this is the same. >> congressman, looking at the record, she has made this comment, not necessarily half, but talked about trump supporters being this basket of deplorables. it's a line she's used supporting donald trump. they're deplorable. those who say anyone based on their religion should not be allowed to come to this country. they are deplorable. my father could not walk into a shop because of a sign that said no mexicans. he's american. we shouldn't have people who get elected to office based campaigning on anger and hate. newt, accept that she said i regret those remarks. at least she's willing to say that. >> but let me tell you -- >> finish talking. >> donald trump has repeatedly, explicitly repudiated david duke. that's a fact. donald trump has issued statement after statement. he's been on television saying this. this idea that donald trump is secretly courting people, that's wrong. trump goes to a black church in detroit to talk about the policies in the city. let's have a debate of the failure which leads to them yelling racist because if they can't smear trump -- >> gentlemen, i'm going to move on. >> he regrets that remark. >> they can keep talking. i will talk to you folks. let's turn to trump and his running mate and their continued support for russian president vladimir putin. here they are. >> it's a very different i don't happen to like the system, but certainly in that system he's been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader. >> i think it's inarguable that vladimir putin has been a stronger leader in his country than president obama has been in this country. >> we're talking about someone named putin who runs an oppressive regime, kills his opponents, invades other countries -- >> more effective. >> in achieving his goals. let's go back to this. >> he said he's been a leader far more than our president has been a leader. mike pence said vladimir putin has been a very strong leader in his country. >> he has been a very strong leader. george w. bush who said she got a button out of the hot that was her opening. let's go to this week where secretary kerry is sitting down trying to work out a deal in syria with the russians. let's go to iran where this -- >> but you can't be comfortable with this continued praise of vladimir putin. >> i'm not comfortable or unputin. i don't think our efforts to say bad things -- it's been pathetic. red line on syria, it didn't work. calling him names may not be the best strategy we have. >> let me bring you in, congressman bassara and respond that trump went on to rt, russian propaganda arm. here he is. >> tremendous dishon necessity. congressman, your reaction? >> how can you not feel for president at the same time he admonishes our generals, he criticizes our troops and he shames the families of american soldiers. he's running for the president of the united states, not president of russia. to me, it's not just deplorable, it's, again, a sign of how he campaigns and why so much of what he does is deplorable. putin more than getting americans to reframe him. >> come home. >> all of us at the table understand he appears on rt. >> he went on the larry king show. larry king has been an icon of american talk for 60 years. if larry king called up, oh, my god, this would help the russians, larry, old friend, of course i'll do your show. >> you don't think the allow that network to teleadvice anything people want, do you? >> i think it allows larry king. >> i want to move on to another subject. hillary clinton had yet another explanation this week for her mishandling of classified information on her private e-mail system. here is her latest defense and what fbi director comby had to says top secret, secret, confidential. none of the e-mails sent or received by me had such a header. >> even if information is not marked classified in an e-mail, participants who know it is still classified are still obligated to protect it. >> that's the fbi director saying it doesn't ma tefr whether it's classified is classified. >> you want to be careful. i believe the secretary says numerous times that she regrets she used a plastic use the big binder. >> she was defending her actions by saying there wasn't a header. >> the reason she's not going to be prosecuted, chris, is because >> would you agree with the header, we talked about this with second johnson, doesn't matter. >> i, too, have reviewed classified information. it typically has a very bolt and obvious header that says classified. what she is saying is the documents that may have passed along the way did the -- they agree there was not information that boldly -- he said she did not have criminal intent. he didn't say -- i want to bring this up to you because this is the classified nondisclosure agreement that secretary clinton signed just as she became secretary of state in january of 2009. here's what it says. classified information is marked or unmarked classified information including oral being granted access to special confidence will be trusted. congressman, it's clear the marking, the header doesn't matter. it's the content that matters. >> if it's classified, it would have that marking on it. i don't believe there's any evidence that says that secretary clinton intended to disclose classified information. as she said,he was a mistake and as colin powell had said, there are ways you use your e-mail that could become problematic and that's why you -- >> i'm sorry, speaker, i'm going to bring you in for one last subject and that is because trump's comments this week about u.s. generals and clinton's response. here it is. >> under the leadership of barack obama and hillary clinton, the generals have been point where it's embarrassing about our country. >> what would ronald reg began say about a republican general who surfed and in addition he thinks to think that he could replace them, as you well know, i suspect as we all know them. the, he could chairman but there are generals up and down the line. >> i suspect he is reflecting the views of people like general flynn. i suspect he's reflecting the views of the 50 plus analysts at centcom who said they were explicitly giving you reports. there is a severe problem in the this. eye you saw that in how to handle speaker ryan. the obama -- >> does that mean the generals are an embarrassment? >> i am very surprised that the centcom scandal in which a general officer who was coordinating his scandal. >> i would love to consider this conversation with both of you. in fact, we'll have you both back to continue it. thank you for your time today. >> thanks, chris. when we come back, trump praises putin and clinton defends her e-mail. our sunday panel returns to ?? before it became a medicine, it was an idea. a wild "what-if." so scientists went to work. they examined 87 different protein structures and worked for 12 long years. there were thousands of patient volunteers and the hope of millions. and so after it became a medicine, someone who couldn't be cured, could be. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. which means we can fix things differently. thanks for calling fios, this is ryan. you can't tell me this cord isn't in, i know it's in, it's in but it's not working. i'm sending you a link to the my fios app that's going to let me see what you're seeing. mcenroe. see that cord? just plug it into the connector on the right. so you can clearly see what's in and what's out? oh, absolutely. i like that. (announcer vo) that's right, keep rockin'. siriusxm's free listening event might be over, but now you can turn us back on with packages starting at $5.99 a month, plus fees. just call 855-874-7743 so call 855-874-7743 or visit siriusxm.com/getsxm to turn us back on. and up. ? the sun'll come out tomorrow... ? for people with heart failure, tomorrow is not a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. ? tomorrow, tomorrow... ? in the largest heart failure study ever. entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, ask your heart doctor about entresto. and help make tomorrow possible. ? you're only a day away ? we humbly -- >> you're looking at one world trad the new york city skyline and the tallest building in the western hemisphere, as we listen to those who are reading the names of the 2,753 people who died at the world trade center. that does not include -- well, it includes the firefighters, the new york police officers, port authority police and others who were killed in the attacks of that day. the ceremonies continue in lowe shanksville, pennsylvania, at what is now a national memorial as well as at the pentagon. as you look at the blue sky, something of a gift. we were told that at least in new york it would be a very rainy day today. people were prepared for, well, pouring there's a nice breeze blowing out of the west and the family members who are gathered in lower manhattan to remember those they loved and lost will continue the reading of the names. since the 9/11 attacks, twin spotlights, shooting beams of ?? is depression more than sadness? ?? it's a tangle of multiple symptoms. ?? trintellix (vortioxetine) is a prescription medicine for depression. trintellix may start to untangle or help improve the multiple symptoms of depression. for me, trintellix made a difference. tell your healthcare professional right away if your depression worsens, where obama in the end won by a wide margin and the polls looked pretty similar. they go back to clinton's ground game. have to give it to clinton because of her experience. >> why is trump still within striking distance and the race is tightening? >> first of all, mrs. clinton has a likability problem she can't solve. as you say, this could change very quickly. when ronald regan went to cleveland for his one debate against jimmy carter, they were essentially tied in the polls. a week later capitalized by the debates reagan won by a movement. it makes the first debate all the more important. >> are you suggesting that if reagan -- if trump were to pass the commander in chief, you could see that kind of shift? >> i think you could if either candidate does something that changes the deplorable nature in both of them. >> do you agree with that? the higher undecideds are higher in this race than they were in previous elections. part of that is people don't like trump or clinton very much and, remember, the media plays a role here, too. the media wants a horse race. i think lots of times that's why there was so much criticism of matt lauer and how he handled the debate. a lot of attention, chris wallace. >> wasn't any debate, it was an interview. last word, quick. >> but hillaryli comes to judgment and being commander in chief. look at how she handles her private e-mail server, the failed russian reset, failed iranian deal as well. bill clinton getting speeches in russia and getting a personal phone call from putin. >> lots to cover. so much material, so little time. thank you, panel. see you next sunday. up next our power player of the week. (announcer vo) who says your desk phone hi, pete. i'm glad you called. (announcer vo) all your phones can work together on one number. you can move calls between phones, so conversations can go where you go. take your time. i'm not going anywhere. (announcer vo) and when you're not available, one talk helps find the right person who is. hi, john. (announcer vo) so wherever work takes you, you can put your customers first. introducing one talk-- another way verizon connects your business better. today is the first sunday of the nfl season, and we want to introduce you to someone who's playing for a lot more than just trying to pile up victories on the field. here is our power player of the week. >> at the end of the day if you don't win football games, people aren't going to want to listen to what you have to say. football is the most important. we have to win on the field. when you do that, it sure opens to happen on the field. >> kirk cousins is quarterback of the washington redskins and he's hoping to turn victories on the field into visibility for a cause he's been backing for years. he was a teenager when a man named gary howgan came to his church. >> i remember in that moment as a 17-year-old said if god ever blesses me to have the finances to make a difference, that's an organization, that's a man i want to get behind. >> he's talking about the that over the last 20 years has rescued 28,000 people from slavery and child sex trafficking from around the world. >> the little kids were on this boat and abused beyond imagination. >> kids like joshua in forced labor and elsa who's a survivor of sex trafficking. >> i.j.m. puts lawyers and investigators into the field to push local law enforcement to bust these rings. convictions, which brings us back to kirk cousins. >> you like that! you like that! >> after leading the redskins to their biggest comeback, the usually mild mannered quarterback had this outburst that caught on. t-shirt sales brought in $50,000 and rally towels for a playoff game raised another 30,000 that all went to i.j.m. >> i believe in the quote set come for miles to watch you burn. in other words, when you live and play with passion, people want to see that. >> as cousins knows, his platform depends on winning. >> i played my senior year of high school football with no scholarship offers and had to prove myself to college recruiters at that point. that was pressure. last year i was playing in my fourth year knowing it was a make or break opportunity. that was pressure. so while there's pressure, it's nothing new. >> adding to that pressure, season, cousins and the redskins could not agree on a long-term contract so he's playing under what's called the franchise tag. one year for $20 million. cousins wants to keep playing and keep supporting i.j.m. >> god wired me to be a leader, to want to impact people and i see this as a great opportunity to do that. it's a challenge every day. it can feel like a weight or responsibility at times, but what an honor and a privilege and i pray every day that the lord well. >> cousins and the redskins start the season monday night when they take on the pittsburgh steelers. if you'd like to learn more about i.j.m. please visit our website, foxnewssunday.com. that's it for today. have a great week and we'll see finally week one is here. last season jameis winston was just the third rookie in nfl history to pass for over 4,000 yards. today he faces his rival in atlanta. this is the 15th anniversary of 9/11. our season begins here and will ultimately end in houston, texas, home of super bowl li.