John Pistole: Full Circle

The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg

MSNBC

Chuck Rosenberg, News, Biden, News Commentary, Government, Politics

4.8 • 15.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2019

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Pistole’s remarkable life has come full circle. A career FBI special agent who rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Director (the second highest official in the Bureau), John held that crucial and sensitive position longer than anyone in the history of the FBI and, in his case, under iconic Director Robert Mueller. Though John imagined that would be his last job in public service, President Obama tapped him in 2010 to serve as the head of the Transportation Security Administration - an agency John led for almost five years and through significant change. Raised in Anderson, Indiana, on the campus of Anderson University - where his father and sister both taught - John has since returned to his alma mater to serve as the President of Anderson University. Indeed, his life has come full circle. On The Oath, John shares fascinating stories of his work as an FBI special agent, of working with and for Bob Mueller after 9/11, and of reforming the TSA, including the use of intelligence assessments and risk mitigation strategies to drive TSA operations. If you have thoughtful feedback on this episode or others, please email us at [email protected]

Transcript

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0:00.0	I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
0:11.0	But I will bear true faith and allegiance to the sea, that I take this obligation freely.
0:15.5	Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
0:24.5	So help me God, it's a help me God.
0:26.5	So help me God.
0:30.0	Welcome to the Oath. I'm Chuck Rosenberg and I'm honored to be your host for another compelling conversation with a fascinating guest from the world of public service.
0:39.0	This week I sit down with John Pistol, the former head of the Transportation Security Administration.
0:45.0	Every person who has ever passed through a U.S. airport knows of TSA, but not many folks know much about TSA.
0:52.5	How big it is, how many airports does it cover, and how does TSA incorporate intelligence into its mission?
1:00.0	John Pistol came up through the ranks of the FBI as a special agent all the way to the number two spot before President Obama asked him to run the TSA.
1:10.0	John's life has come full circle since his time at the FBI and the TSA.
1:14.5	He grew up on the campus of Anderson University and Anderson, Indiana, graduated from Anderson, and today serves as its president.
1:23.0	And we are with John on a beautiful fall day in Central Indiana in the President's office, his office.
1:30.0	John Pistol, welcome to the Oath.
1:32.0	Thank you, Chuck. It's great to be with you.
1:34.0	We are in your office at Anderson University and Anderson, Indiana, where you are President John Pistol.
1:40.0	Yes, which is somewhat surreal since I was a student, John Pistol decades ago.
1:46.0	And so it's been a full journey coming back home in a sense.
1:50.0	You grew up in and around campus.
1:52.0	I grew up in a half away from here. My dad was a professor here at the school theology seminary, where faith-based school, two older sisters and an older brother all who went into education.
2:04.0	And my dad, as a college professor, then my mom was a high school teacher.
2:08.0	So five out of the six of us were in education. And then I broke bad.
	...

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