Mike Rogers: Politicians Argue Over Semantics While ISIS Attacks

While politicians in the United States are busy arguing about whether or not to use the words "radical Islam" when talking about terrorists, the Islamic State's leaders overseas are giving their permission to homeland extremists like Orlando shooter Omar Mateen to carry out attacks, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Thursday.

"This is a political season and they're going to engage in these differences right up to the end," the ex-congressman, who is now a national security commentator for CNN, told the network's "New Day" program. 

"Our biggest problem here is in Raqqa, that's the headquarters, the command and control that's giving a permission slip for someone like Mateen to slaughter innocent Americans in Florida. We are going to have to do something to take away that permission slip," he added.

And when President Barack Obama argued during his national speech about the words and pinpointing critics like presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, that is "not very helpful to getting to the root cause of what just happened in Florida," said Rogers, the host of the new show "Declassified."

But, he told show host Alisyn Camerota, he does agree that there is a radical element at work when it comes to ISIS.

"I think it's fairly radical if you're throwing homosexuals off of buildings in Iraq or Syria as a part of the ISIS control mechanism there, and if they survive, you throw rocks at them," said Rogers. "They just burned a whole cage of women because they refused to be sex slaves."

Meanwhile, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about to become their party's presidential nominees, the candidates will have access to national security issues, and Rogers believes officials will have discussions with both to walk the through the information.

"They're not going to get everything," said Rogers. "They're not going to get the whole covert action plan for the United States. They won't see that, but they'll get sensitive information that if leaked could help our adversaries."

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