MALVEAUX: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

One of the major differences between 1995 and now is that you have an African-American president.

And this was what former President Bill Clinton said to our own Wolf Blitzer. I want you to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Obama is different, and symbolizes the increasing diversity of America. And both of them -- and, for him, it's like a symbol of, he symbolizes the loss of control, of predictability, of certainty, of clarity that a lot of people need for their psychic well-being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: To what degree do you think having an African-American president factors into the philosophy or even the motivation behind some of these anti-government groups that we see today?

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Well, we certainly, in some, hear it mentioned. So, it's not about speculation. It's what they're actually saying.

But, you know, the Secret Service is constantly monitoring the safety of the president and his family, and devoting the resources to make sure that the president, the vice president and their families remain safe.

And that is something that, you know, there's just no -- no quarter left unspent in order to make that happen.

MALVEAUX: To what extent, when you take a look at the these vast groups, these extremist groups, does race play a part of that? Is that a small percentage, or is that a lot of folks out there who take exception to the fact that this is an African-American president? NAPOLITANO: Well, as I said, it is mentioned by some. But lots of things are -- are now being mentioned. And so it's really hard to extrapolate from what a few are saying to what all are saying or would all believe. There's, obviously, a great deal of -- of political anger out there and angry rhetoric out there.

But as I said earlier, you know, that's something that we -- that we've had constantly in our country's history. We may not like it and don't appreciate it, but it is -- it is protected under our Constitution -- under our sense of values.

Where it's not protected was where you start moving into preparation for and carrying out of violent acts. And that's where law enforcement -- local, state and federal -- have to be synced up and leaning forward, sharing information, sharing threat information, specifically, so that the -- the risk of something violent occurring, something like an Oklahoma City, something like a 9/11 or some other horrific crime, that those risks are minimized.

MALVEAUX: What is the biggest threat now facing Americans?

Is it from a domestic attack, is it from local groups or is it from foreign groups like Al Qaeda?

NAPOLITANO: You know, I don't have the luxury of ranking those things. We have to lean forward and be prepared for both, that it could be an international terrorist or a domestic terrorist. It could be someone who is a -- a U.S. citizen who now has been trained in an international camp and come back.

All of those things are phenomenon that are currently happening in the United States. All of them are things that, you know, we are constantly working, as I said, to -- to minimize the risk that they could actually go from those kind of extremist and violent extremist beliefs into violent action.

MALVEAUX: But certainly, Madam Secretary, there's a way of measuring which -- which organization, which group, which individual is -- is most prepared and perhaps the most potentially threatening to the United States?

NAPOLITANO: Well, I -- I'm not sure. I think that's a -- you know, I think that's a question the media might ask.

I'm not sure that's quite the way that law enforcement would respond. Because if we are attacked internationally, it doesn't give any comfort if I say, yes, well, internationally, it was ranked number two or -- or the reverse. We know that there are continued attempts, for example, by Al Qaeda and its affiliates to take down commercial airliners. We saw an attempt on that on Christmas Day. We know that there are domestic militias that are organizing in the United States. We saw that with the arrest of the Michigan militia. We know that there are persons who reside in the United States who adhere to violent extremism that connects them internationally, but they wish to carry out their crimes right here in the United States. And we saw that with Zazi. And we saw that with Headley. So we need to constantly prepare for, be thinking about and be thinking ahead of all of those sorts of scenarios.

MALVEAUX: I have to ask you this. We hear you're perhaps on the short list for the Supreme Court nominee.

Have -- have you been vetted or are you considering at all a change in position?

NAPOLITANO: Look, it's -- it's flattering to be mentioned by the great mentioner. But as you can tell from this interview, I've got a pretty -- a pretty big job and I'm really focused on this job.

MALVEAUX: Would you accept it if you were nominated?

NAPOLITANO: Oh, I think that is speculation that really is not required. Like I said, I'm flattered to be mentioned, but, indeed, focused on -- on the big job that I have right now.

MALVEAUX: OK. Madam Secretary, thank you so much for joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

NAPOLITANO: Thank you.