Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says terrorist attacks like the one that rocked the Boston Marathon present presidents with a leadership dilemma.

While presidents typically wants to comfort the nation, Rice says, it can be difficult for them to do this while saying or doing nothing that would compromise a crime investigation.

Rice tells "CBS This Morning" President Barack Obama "wants to reassure the American people that the government is on the trail." But she also says he "has to be very careful not to give out information prematurely here and they have to be sure they aren't tipping off the people who are responsible."

Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.