CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript:

Interview

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DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Do you still think Julia Pierson should remain on the job?

NORTON: Well, Julia Pierson now has, besides a problem with the core mission of protecting the president, a growing credibility problem. The credibility problem, remember the failure to tell us how far the intruder got into the White House, the failure to tell us about -- to tell the public about the gunshots that pierced the living quarters of the president or to investigate it until four months later.

And now why weren't we told at least in the secret session we had at the end of the hearing. That credibility problem is certainly going to hurt her. I have not called for her resignation because I believe the problem goes beyond personnel. She was brought in to correct the problem. That was the problem with agents essentially doing things off duty that they shouldn't have been doing with drinking and carousing.

All right. Maybe she corrected that problem. Now we bring in somebody to correct another aspect of the problem. That's not enough here. We need a total overhaul of that agency. It is not equipped for a 21st century terrorism, domestic and international mandate.

COSTELLO: So shouldn't an outside person come in and change the culture of the Secret Service? Because most experts believe the culture is the problem, and how can an insider -- because Miss Pierson has been with the Secret Service for a very long time. How could an insider change the culture when she's probably part of the problem.

NORTON: The culture is a huge problem but the culture isn't the only problem. I'm not convinced, for example, that if there had been multiple fence jumpers at one time, and that's what we ought to fear now particularly with ISIL having what appear to be Americans who are going over there with American passports. I fear five or six jumping the fence and don't have any confidence after the hearing that we have a Secret Service that is equipped to stop them.

I think we have an old time Secret Service, the culture is one part of it, we've had no outside investigation, that's what we need first, the change of the guard at the top won't change the culture either. We probably do need some cleansing of the agency, but we don't even have an outside investigation to tell us top to bottom what went wrong and what should happen.

COSTELLO: Here's the thing, though, America is at war with is. This is a dangerous time for the president of the United States. Doesn't an immediate change need to happen? Maybe the military should take over the duties of protecting the president. What do you think?

NORTON: Well, you know, that's something we ought to consider, but again we've had no investigation. I'm not convinced that an old- fashioned Secret Service that's been guarding the presidents throughout the 19th and 20th century is the same Secret Service we need in the 21st century.

But that's you and I sitting here speculating. The committee called for an outside investigation yesterday, and most people didn't call for a resignation -- not because some of them don't believe it should happen, but because they know that won't solve the problem.

COSTELLO: Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, thanks for your insight, I appreciate it.

NORTON: Of course.

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