'This Week' Transcript: Rep. Mike McCaul

— -- Below is the "This Week" transcript for March 22, 2015. It is a rush transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.

ANNOUNCER: Starting right now on ABC's THIS WEEK, breaking news. Evacuation -- why U.S. Special Forces are pulling out of a key country in the war on terror. The critical impact on the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda.

Clock ticking -- will President Obama's direct appeal to the Iranian people spark a nuclear deal?

Bloody arrest -- this morning, new developments from the University of Virginia.

(VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did officers go too far?

And center stage -- Monica Lewinsky back with a powerful new message. What it could mean for the Clinton campaign.

From ABC News, THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS begins now.

MARTHA RADDATZ, HOST: Good morning.

I'm Martha Raddatz.

We start off with breaking news, major developments in a country considered one of the most dangerous in the world to the US. And now, U.S. Special Forces announcing they're pulling out of Yemen because of the growing chaos -- meaning there will be no U.S. presence on the ground there, which could have a huge impact in the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda.

ABC's Alex Marquardt has been tracking all of it -- good morning, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martha.

It's hard to see the situation in Yemen this morning as anything other than completely anarchy in a failed state -- a complex web of warring factions that have pushed the U.S. out and created a vacuum that America's biggest enemies are now trying to fill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (voice-over): This weekend, Yemen's growing chaos forcing the U.S. to pull out completely, the State Department saying 100 military trainers and Special Operations Forces have now left, forces that had remained even after the U.S. Embassy closed last month, eliminating the American presence in a country the Obama administration considers vital for counterterrorism.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We continue to go after high value targets inside of Yemen and to continue -- we will continue to maintain the pressure that's required to keep the American people safe.

MARQUARDT: But now, the unrest in Yemen has reached a new low. The U.S.-backed president has fled the capital. Rebels from the Shiite Houthi tribe, supported by Iran and sworn enemies of the U.S., now in charge. And this morning, taking over Yemen's third biggest city.

Then, during Friday prayers, suicide attacks that struck two different Shiia mosques. More than 130 people killed, a Sunni jihadist group claiming links to ISIS warning, this is just the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unclear how much ISIS has actually been involved in these attacks. But I do think what is clear is that their -- their ideology and their inspiration has impacted several of these attacks.

MARQUARDT: Yemen's spokesman in Washington Tweeting, "I hate to say this, but I'm hearing the loud and clear beating of the drums of war."

It was in Yemen that the USS Cole was attacked by al Qaeda suicide bombers in 2000. Seventeen American sailors were killed.

Then, in 2012, in an operation designed by the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the so-called underwear bomber tried to bring down a plane with plastic explosives.

Martha Raddatz later touring the school and apartment where he trained.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MARQUARDT: And back here in Tunisia, the government overnight releasing new video of that attack on the national museum that left at least 21 people dead. Tunisia's president saying this morning, a third gunman was involved, but he escaped. That attack, like the ones in Yemen, evidence of ISIS trying to expand their global reach -- Martha.

RADDATZ: Thanks, Alex.

Now the stunning new threat from a group claiming to represent ISIS. Publishing an online hit list with the names, addresses and photos of U.S. military personnel. The Pentagon is redeploying this morning and ABC's Hamish Macdonald joins us with the latest -- good morning Hamish.

HAMISH MACDONALD, ABC CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good morning.

This is unprecedented. The names and addresses of around 100 U.S. military personnel published online by a group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division. And they're calling on their supporters to kill those identified at home in the United States.

Now, a Pentagon spokesman has told ABC News that they won't confirm if the details published are correct. But we do know they've been connecting the families of those on the list, mainly air force and navy personnel.

On the CENTCOM Facebook page, there is a broader warning, saying that there are bad actors out there trying to gain your information for their own benefit, potentially to use it against you.

Now, it does not appear that this information was actually hacked from government servers. Officials are saying this morning that most of this information was already in the public domain in places like social media -- Martha.

RADDATZ: Thanks, Hamish.

Let's bring in the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Michael McCaul.

Mr. Chairman, I want to go back to Yemen and the dangers there.

Can you tell us what the latest intelligence on that situation is?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, I think the problem is that we're not going to have any intelligence in Yemen. Yemen is one of the most dangerous spots in the world. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is the largest external operation force within al Qaeda. They are responsible for, as you saw in your broadcast, the underwear bomber; five plots against the West in the last several years.

They were tied to the Corazon Group in Syria to make bombs to blow up airplanes.

Now that we've pulled out embassy out and our Special Operations...

RADDATZ: And that came because of the chaos, they have taken over the third largest city, the Houthi rebels are everywhere.

MCCAUL: Precisely. And now, because we are withdrawing completely. We will have no intelligence footprint or capabilities to monitor what AQAP and ISIS and the Shia militants are -- are doing in the region.

And without -- you know, good intelligence stops plots against the homeland. Without that intelligence, we cannot effectively stop it. That's what I'm most concerned about.

RADDATZ: This is what the State Department is saying this morning. "We also continue to actively monitor terrorist threats emanating from Yemen and have capabilities clustered in the area" to address them. It's just not as good.

MCCAUL: But it's not -- it's not in country. And the human intelligence value is not there. And maybe we can launch drone strikes from other countries, but if you don't have that intelligence on the ground, how do you know who to hit and where and when?

RADDATZ: We don't even have allies...

MCCAUL: That's the problem.

RADDATZ: -- on the ground (INAUDIBLE)...

MCCAUL: We don't have any allies...

RADDATZ: -- leaderless, lawless.

MCCAUL: And, you know, it -- look, it's a model from Libya. We pulled out of Libya. Now look what's happened, a safe haven, a vacuum, ISIS training militants to hit in Tunisia. And now we get Yemen. you know, all of the Northern Africa seems to be falling to this power vacuum that is being filled by the terrorists.

RADDATZ: And ISIS joining with al Qaeda, I think it all seems to be blurred anymore.

MCCAUL: It is getting more blurry. I know that AQAP is very much -- fights ISIS. But on the other hand, Boko Haram recently pledged their allegiance to ISIS. And I predict you're going to see more and more of this shifting of Al Qaeda fighters going over to ISIS because they are the game in town.

And so I think these developments in Yemen greatly disturb me, because of the -- their potential to attack the United States.

RADDATZ: And let's talk about what's going on in Iraq. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Baghdad. People seemed quite confident that the Iraqi security forces would be able to retake Tikrit, which then they could go on and do Mosul.

But we're seeing that completely stalled.

MCCAUL: I -- I think it's -- it's a matter of leadership and policy. I think we're not letting the military do their job here.

It's a policy of containment, not a policy to degrade and destroy and defeat ISIS in the region.

You know, the president, when he launched the airstrikes in Syria, the same day touted Yemen as the model for counterterrorism operations. And that has now imploded.

We can't have the same thing happen. We have -- we have no intelligence in Syria, which is a major problem. We have to get more aggressive in taking out ISIS where they exist and the head of the snake is in Iraq and Syria.

RADDATZ: And just on that note, the -- you saw the threats against the U.S. military and this hit list with 100 names on it. They probably compiled that from social media.

And yet, do they have the capability to strike those people and their families?

MCCAUL: Well, we have the foreign fighters. There are about 30,000 of them, 5,000 with Western passports according to the DNI, Clapper, 180 have returned or gone to the region. And we have a -- a number that I can't disclose publicly.

They're here in the United States. So the foreign fighters, in addition to that, the homegrown violent extremists who can be inspired and radicalized over the Internet is what greatly concerns me. To inspire them to attack our military in the United States. And I think, unfortunately, it would be not so difficult to pull off.

RADDATZ: Thank you very much for joining us, Chairman McCaul.

MCCAUL: Thank you.

RADDATZ: And now joining us, General Carter Ham, retired commander of U.S. Africa Command.

General -- General Ham, I want to talk to you about these threats to the families specifically.

And you just heard Chairman McCaul talk about it could be possible they could carry out those threats.

What does that do to a military community?

GEN. CARTER HAM (RET.), U.S. AFRICA COMMAND: Martha, this is -- this is very disconcerting, obviously, to the families. The specific families that were identified in this release, but more broadly across the armed services, to that those who engage in social media, that that information now can be corrupted and used by a terrorist organization to threaten them, and in the worst case, what they hope to do is inspire or motivate someone here in the United States to attack or kill these service members or their families.

RADDATZ: And I have to say that last night, when this first came out, I went on Facebook to see if I could find those people that they talked about, very easy to find. The Defense Department has said clean up your social media.

I went on again this morning and -- and some of those pictures were still public and those names on Facebook accounts showing they're in the military.

I suppose you would say get that off social media, as well?

HAM: Yes. The Department of Defense has been very active over the past many years of reminding service members and their families to be very cautious about the information you put on social media. Disabling your geolocation, being very circumspect about the location of the service members for precisely the reason that has now played out.

And I worry that this increasing sophistication by these Islamic terrorist organization to manipulate social media to their own ends is a very worrying trend.

RADDATZ: And you've got to worry about cyber security, too.

HAM: Absolutely.

RADDATZ: OK. Thank you very much for joining us General Ham.

Now to the nuclear negotiations with Iran. The clock ticking this morning. The deadline for an agreement just nine days away.

When I was in Iran last month we found many Iranians open to more ties to the west, but how open is their government prepared to be when it comes to its nuclear program.?

ABC's Terry Moran now with the man who would monitor it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRY MORAN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: President Obama sending a greeting to the people of Iran this week on the Persian new year. And urging them to pressure their leaders to reach a deal on their country's nuclear program.

OBAMA: We have a chance, a chance to make progress that will benefit our countries and the world for many years to come.

MORAN: The lynchpin of any deal is here in Vienna in the laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the world's nuclear watchdog. It'll be their task to monitor Iran and assure the world that its programs are all peaceful.

Do you think that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon?

YUKIYA AMANO, DIRECTOR-GENERAL IAEA: We have never said that Iran has a nuclear weapon program, or nuclear weapons, what we said is that we have information -- so Iran has to clarify the information.

MORAN: Yukiya Amano is director-genera of the IAEA.

You don't know what you don't know.

AMANO: That's exactly the case.

MORAN: In the labs, the tools of the nuclear inspection trade are developed and tested.

These are the latest generation cameras that they install in nuclear facilities around the world.

These underwater cameras, a bank of them here, they're in those cooling tanks, the spent fuel ponds, making sure that none of that nuclear material gets loose.

For some facilities, the pictures are transmitted all the way back here to Vienna where they are stored on servers and every single image is reviewed and examined.

But Amano says Iran must agree to tougher inspections, to the so-called additional protocol granting IAEA inspectors sweeping new access to sites, to data and to personnel.

AMANO: At any time they may be asked to give access to the IAEA.

MORAN: If that happens, he says, there will be years of inspections before Iran could finally be cleared of all suspicion that it's working to build nuclear weapons.

Any deal that's reached is really is just a first step.

AMANO: Exactly. A deal needs to be reached. About more importantly, it should be implemented.

MORAN: For years, Iran has been playing a cat and mouse game with the IAEA and the real question now for Iran's leaders is will they stop playing that game and once and for all come clean?

For this week, Terry Moran, ABC News, Vienna.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: Something we will all be watching thanks to Terry.

Coming up, after that bloody arrest at the University of Virginia the Charlottesville police chief is our exclusive guest.

Plus, Mitt Romney, his take on the 2016 field, Hillary's emails and more.

And later, Monica Lewinsky's powerful new TED talk. Why her message is getting so much buzz this morning.

Back in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Now our closer look at the growing firestorm over that arrest of a University of Virginia honor's student captured on video. A confrontation that left the 20-year-old bleeding on the pavement, many now asking if officers went too far. And the owner of the bar where the incident began is now speaking out.

ABC's Lindsey Davis has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, his head is bleeding.

Yo, his head is bleeding.

LINDSEY DAVIS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This morning, Virginia State Police actively investigating why 20-year-old UVA student Martice Johnson ended up bloodied and under arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought he was dead (EXPLETIVE DELETED) racist.

DAVIS: Once again sparking a national conversation about police brutality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of people at school here that were not surprised, wouldn't be surprised the thought that it was racially motivated.

DAVIS: On UVA's campus Friday, a meeting between law enforcement and students turned contentious. Black students ultimately walking out in protest, Johnson was among them.

One day after his arrest, Johnson with 10 stitches in his head, stood by his attorney who spoke out on his behalf.

MARTICE JOHNSON, STUDENT: The trauma from what the ABC officers did yesterday will stay with me forever.

DAVIS: His attorney says the trauma happened when Johnson was denied entrance to this popular pub and was then questioned by alcohol beverage control agents responsible for enforcing alcohol laws and combating underaged drinking

He says Johnson never used a fake ID, the officers involved described Johnson as belligerent. The owners of the bar say they disagree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't think he was intoxicated at all. He was very cordial.

DAVIS: Those officers have now been placed on administrative duties, pending the outcome of the state investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're going to get to the bottom of it. And somebody is going to have to answer for it. But let's at least let the investigation run its course.

DAVIS: While not all students here are protesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for equality, but equality that's due process, not mob mentality which is what I'm seeing here.

DAVIS: Many here say at a school where only 6 percent of the student body is black race was likely a major factor.

So you don't think that if it had been a white student who was underaged entering a pub that he would have been arrested also?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not believe so. If he had been arrested, he would not have been assaulted.

DAVIS: For this week, Lindsey Davis, ABC News, Charlottesville.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: Our thanks to Lindsey.

And joining us now, Chief Tim Longo from the Charlottesville, Virginia police department where the UVA campus is located.

Chief, let me ask you this morning, do you believe those officers went too far from what you have seen?

TIM LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: You know, I think the Virginia state police investigation will best answer that. I will tell you that what is depicted on video is unfortunate, it's tragic, it's certainly disturbing to me as a law enforcement official and frankly disturbing to this community.

Look, this campus, these students, this community, this city has been through a lot in the past several months. And once again here we are on a national stage over just an unfortunate event.

RADDATZ: Well, the owner of the bar, as you heard, talked about Matice Johnson having a legal right to be in that establishment and that he did not appear to be intoxicated in the least.

LONGO: Yeah, that's certainly what this statement reveals that certainly what the owner said based on what I just heard. And again that will be a factor that I'm sure the investigation will consider as it evaluates the reasonableness of the officers actions.

My concern, my focus is helping this community restore and move forward and continue to have a really important discussion with the students here on grounds about race and the relationship of our community with our police departments.

And Chief Longo, you talk to many students on Friday night in a meeting. A lot of black students, 100 black students from UVA. And they didn't seem satisfied with your answer to this question.

Why has there been a pattern of escalation especially on black bodies?

LONGO: You know, that's a difficult question to answer. I think it -- that's a national discussion that we need to have.

You know, law enforcement depends so much on a relationship with its citizens. And when any aspect of our citizens feels threatened, feels that they're not being treated fairly, that disrupts my ability to have that relationship and carry out the function of what I call relational policing.

So I think together we're going to try to figure out exactly the answer to that question and I'm committed to this student body and to this community to continue to have that discussion.

I did meet with the chapter president of the NAACP when -- Wednesday or Thursday afternoon and then again on Friday we met. We've had an email exchange over the weekend and I'm committed to continuing to work with the students.

RADDATZ: So let me just ask you this.

What needs to change?

LONGO: The attitudes need to change. I think hearts need to change.

You know, this is a difficult discussion. It's an uncomfortable discussion as we all saw on Friday afternoon with students that are hurt and are angry and are needing and wanting and deserving of answers.

We need to keep this discussion alive and well and law enforcement, frankly, needs to be reminded of the history of this country and the history that the aspect of race and the importance it plays in our history.

And we need to remind ourselves of that as we go into our communities to engage the people that we need to have a relationship with.

And so I'm committed to continuing the discussion here on grounds and throughout this community. You know, the -- I'm fearful that the reputation of this group place is damaged because of incidents like this and we simply can't allow that to happen.

RADDATZ: Well, thank you so much for joining us this morning, Chief Longo.

LONGO: Thank you so much.

RADDATZ: Let's bring in ABC News contributor John Cohen, former counterterrorism coordinator at the Homeland Security Department; also a former police officer.

And I want to talk to you in that former capacity most of all. Your reaction to what the chief said, he said right away it was disturbing.

JOHN COHEN, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Well, Chief Longo is a great chief and he runs a fine department. He has a very difficult challenge ahead of him.

One, he's -- his community is reacting to events that his officers were not a part of. And as he pointed out before, this is one of a series of events that had (INAUDIBLE) from that university that have been thrust on the national stage and that he's having to deal with.

Secondly and most importantly I think that there are members of his community who have already made up their minds about what has happened. Even though the state police have just initiated their investigation, they will look into whether it was appropriate for those officers to approach a student. They will look into the circumstances of the arrest. They'll look at the force. But some of the community have already decided that they know what happened.

RADDATZ: And that really damages the relationship between community and police officers, which is so important across the country right now.

So what do you do about that?

And how important is that?

COHEN: Well, it's critically important. Communities across the country are dealing with increases in heroin overdoses. They're dealing with gang violence. They're dealing with increasing crime problems. And as was discussed earlier in the show, we're dealing with a terrorist threat that requires close police community collaboration.

If we can't have an honest discussion between police and community about how they can work together to keep their communities safe, I fear we're just going to see a continuation of the problems we're experiencing.

RADDATZ: And I would have to say that it seems that this should be done quickly. The community is looking for answers right away.

COHEN: Well, it needs to be done quickly, yes. But it also has to be done honestly. And it is not helpful when public officials, whether they work at the university or whether they're part of the national government, mischaracterized or jump to conclusions prior to the facts being in regarding these types of situations. It's damaging, it's premature and it element -- and it introduces a -- in the sense fuel in a combustible situation.

RADDATZ: Thanks so much for your comments this morning, John (ph).

Up next, a big announcement coming up from Ted Cruz. Plus a Capitol Hill shocker Aaron Schock, that congressman with the "Downton Abbey" office, stepping down. Why the FBI is on the case this morning -- back in just two minutes.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE: In the past nine months, the question I've been asked the most is why, why now, why was I sticking my head above the parapet. You can read between the lines in those questions and the answer has nothing to do with politics.

The top note answer was and is because it's time.

Time to stop tiptoeing around my past, time to stop living a life of opprobrium and time to take back my narrative.

RADDATZ: Monica Lewinsky back in the headlines, delivering a passionate TED Talk this week, calling for an end to cyber bullying.

So let's bring in the roundtable, Democratic strategist and CNN commentator Van Jones; Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole; Steve Inskeep, post at NPR's "Morning Edition" and our own Cokie Roberts.

Good morning to everyone.

Cokie, I want to start with you.

You were watching Lewinsky; the people in the audience seemed to respond.

(CROSSTALK)

COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I covered the story like a cheap suit.

(LAUGHTER)

RADDATZ: So does the country reassess what happened 20 years?

How are we supposed to look at that?

ROBERTS: I think that people bring to it whatever prejudices they already had.

But in her case, look, she clearly wants to be in the limelight. You don't do this unless you want to be in the limelight.

But if she's using the limelight to -- for a good cause, more power to her.

I was kind of struck, listening to her talking about how awful the Internet can be, the social media, the bullying and all of that, because it was very similar to what the Romney family said about not running for president again.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: You know? It's brutal out there.

RADDATZ: Steve, what about the message of cyber bullying and shaming, is --

(CROSSTALK)

STEVE INSKEEP, NPR: It's a very real thing. We're actually expecting to interview an author who has an entire book about the culture of shaming and the way that people can be flamed permanently in a moment.

And so while people may cringe that Monica Lewinsky is out there again, I watched the TED Talk. It's rather interesting. She's reaching out and talking about other people and other people's experiences and it's never really a bad thing to try to understand what's happening to someone else, particularly someone else on the other side of that digital divide, who you can reach in an instant and you can destroy in an instant but you may not realize --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- be in the spotlight no matter what?

Might as well do something good?

ROBERTS: -- change your name or get married and take her husband's name and --

(LAUGHTER)

RADDATZ: Good luck with changing the name.

(INAUDIBLE), were you cringing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, well --

RADDATZ: Watch that?

REP. TOM COLE, R-OKLA.: No, not cringing but count me somewhat skeptical that the timing is purely coincidental. But look, it's an important message. She certainly has a right to make whatever statement she cares to make and she's gone through a lot. So you know, probably teachable moment but I don't think it's a particularly profound moment.

RADDATZ: And she says it's not political. She doesn't really mention the Clintons, particularly Hillary Clinton.

VAN JONES, CO-HOST, CROSSFIRE: But listen, I think everybody -- and I think that would all 300 million Americans who ever made a joke with Lewinsky as the punch line, should watch this talk. It was riveting. She's much smarter. She's deeper psychologically, historically, than I expected. And I think that she actually makes a point that a lot of people can identify with.

Obviously, people have sympathy for Hillary Clinton. I think that a lot of people now feel fear that they're going to be cyber bullied or they're going to have their personal lives exposed. And she spoke about it in a way I think punch line no more, good on Monica Lewinsky.

RADDATZ: And I think she's really talking to a younger generation, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

RADDATZ: Before we go to break, our Powerhouse Puzzler, inspired by this visit -- Prince Charles and his wife Camilla meeting President Obama in the Oval Office this week.

So here's the question -- the prince's first trip to the U.S. was back in 1970, when, reportedly, President Nixon tried to set up the Prince of Wales with whom?

The answer in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: So who did President Nixon reportedly try to set up Prince Charles with back in 1970?

Van?

JONES: Maybe Pat Nixon?

(LAUGHTER)

JONES: You never know.

RADDATZ: OK. This is -- you get the humor award. You get...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he could have done this sort of thing.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: Oh, no, very, very good. Yes, yes, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: -- kind of a Nixon into China kind of...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elvis.

RADDATZ: And Cokie...

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- very straight and narrow.

ROBERTS: -- I've also added, when was the first Prince of Wales' visit to America, ever?

RADDATZ: Go ahead. Give us the answer.

ROBERTS: It was in President Buchanan's administration.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: OK, maybe we'll have that on another Puzzler. This was a pretty easy one, Patricia, five her a word again.

The answer is Tricia Nixon.

Back with that big announcement from Ted Cruz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are a number of things that you just say, you know, I wish I'd have said that differently. But the real heart that I -- I wish we'd have done differently and that I'd have done differently is make a greater effort at communicating to minority voters in this country the policies that I think are right to help minority families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ (voice-over): Mitt Romney this week revealing what he says is the biggest mistake of his 2012 run for the White House in an exclusive interview with Yahoo! global news anchor, Katie Couric, and also weighing in on Obama's ISIS strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMNEY: Well, he's the Pete Carroll of foreign policy play calls. Today, our options are dramatically limited as a result of our president having been so bad at taking action at the best time, at the propitious time.

KATIE COURIC, YAHOO! NEWS: So do you think fighting ISIS will require, ultimately, U.S. boots on the ground in those countries?

ROMNEY: I sure hope not. But I think as the president of the United States, you have to say that we will defeat ISIS period. We're not going to say we won't do this, we won't do that, we won't do that. And we sure hope that's enough.

RADDATZ (voice-over): His take on Hillary Clinton and the e-mail uproar.

COURIC: If you were in Hillary Clinton's shoes right now, what would you do about this controversy surrounding her e-mails?

ROMNEY: Well, I think it's hard for me to make that assessment, because I don't know what she's hidden, I don't know what she has in her server at home, I don't know she deleted. But it's a mess.

I mean what -- what you see here is Clintons behaving badly. I mean we've seen this before. It's always something with the Clintons, which is that they -- they have rules which they describe before they get into something and then they decide they don't have to follow their own rules. And -- and that, I think, is going to be a real problem for her.

COURIC: Plenty of other politicians, though, as you know, Governor, have used personal e-mail while in office. You did while you were governor of Massachusetts.

So what is the difference and why is what she did more egregious?

ROMNEY: Well, because there are federal guidelines and federal rules that Hillary Clinton didn't follow. There are no state of Massachusetts rules about using private e-mail. She was the secretary of State, but she chose to say no, I'm not going to follow those rules and regulations. Now only am I going to have private e-mail, I'm going to put the server in my house so that there's no way anyone could find out what was really said.

That is something which is going way beyond the pale.

RADDATZ: And his thoughts on the 2016 field.

COURIC: What do you think of Jeb Bush?

ROMNEY: He's a terrific guy. We're good friends. I think he would be a very good president.

COURIC: Is he your guy then?

ROMNEY: Oh, I haven't chosen a person and I don't expect to endorse anybody in this race. Maybe...

COURIC: Ever?

ROMNEY: -- maybe way down the road. But at least at this stage. We've got a large group of -- of mainstream Republicans that -- that I'm going to be watching carefully.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RADDATZ: Our thanks to Katie.

Check out the full interview at yahoo.com.

And back now with the roundtable.

And Congressman Cole, I want to turn to you and I want to quickly talk about those e-mails a little bit more.

The House Benghazi Committee on Friday called for Secretary Clinton to turn over her private server for review by April 3.

Is that something they should be doing?

COLE: It is. And, frankly, it's a -- it's a mystifying self-inflicted wound. I mean it's not as if you didn't know this was going to be found out at some point. It's like taking money from foreign countries for the corporation, or, frankly, the whole string of -- of well-paid speeches when you don't really need the money.

If you're getting ready to run for president, you ought to be preparing yourself to run. This is, I think, bad governance and not appropriate, but it's just political stupidity.

RADDATZ: Van, there's a -- there's a new CNN poll out this week. A slim majority of voters think the personal e-mail issue is a serious problem and that she did something wrong. But 57 percent still say they'd be proud to have her as president.

JONES: Yes, absolutely. Look, this is -- look, I wish that she had handled it differently. She said she wishes that she had handled it differently.

But this is just the Republican, you know, machine. It jumps up and down every time she does something.

The reality is, she is head and shoulders above every Republican candidate. And they've got about 20. She's 10 to 20 points...

ROBERTS: Well...

JONES: -- ahead of them.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: That'll change once there's one Republican...

JONES: But this particular scandal is a big nothing for her.

ROBERTS: No, I agree that it's going to go away, but Governor Romney actually made the point that will stick, which is the point about there go the Clintons again. And now it's possible that anybody who feels that way was not going to vote for her to begin with, but there is that sense in the body politic of oh is it going to be an exhausting scandal-ridden administration that we have to just keep going back at?

RADDATZ: Well, the big news this morning, a Boston Globe editorial, saying Elizabeth Warren step up and run. Democrats would be making a big mistake if they let Hillary Clinton coast to the presidential nomination without real opposition and as a national leader Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren can make sure that doesn't happen. But Warren has reportedly vowed that she won't run for president herself. She ought to reconsider.

I believe the Boston Globe supported Barack Obama.

ROBERTS: I do think it's true that it's better for the Democratic Party if Hillary Clinton is opposed, because she has to get her arguments out. It would make her a better candidate in the general election.

If I were Elizabeth Warren, I would not choose to be the sacrificial lamb in that particular contest. And the Boston Globe is rooting for a hometown girl in a very liberal state.

RADDATZ: OK, Steve Inskeep, I'm going to turn to you for the Republican field, because tomorrow a big announcement from Ted Cruz. Surprise? He will be running in 2016.

INSKEEP: What do you know? What do you know.

RADDATZ: And the others are -- you probably get a few more in April. So...

INSKEEP: Well, I guess I'm not too surprised that he would go out early, because Ted Cruz is competing for the leadership of the purity wing of the Republican Party. And he suddenly has competition in the Senate from Tom Cotton, this new freshman Republican who has been making a lot of news.

This is a way that Cruz can get back out in front of things. And it's really fascinating to me to watch the different approaches of different Republicans here, Martha. You do have someone like Cruz whose saying I'm the purist. And of course he's the purist of his version of Republicanism, but he says I'm the guy who is going to purify the Republican Party.

You have someone like Rand Paul who already has credibility as a certain kind of purist and is working to show that he's actually credible and a well-rounded person.

And then you have other potential candidates like Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush who are trying to work on the Republican brand, and to argue that some of the stereotypes of other Republican Party need to be broken and that Republican ideas can be, as you even heard Mitt Romney saying on the videotape, good for poor people, good for minorities. And they're working on those issues.

RADDATZ: Congressman Cole, I want to turn to you. And turning to what we call our Facebook sentimeter, which measures the social discussion online about the 2016 candidates. Much more conversation online about candidates like Scott Walker, Rand Paul, then Jeb Bush. In the past week, over a million interactions for Walker and, Paul, listen, half that for Bush. And the interactions for Walker and Paul were much more positive.

Is that a generational thing, or...

COLE: Well, I actually think -- and Steve alluded to this, we're really in a big debate to define who and what the Republican party is. It really transcends the individual candidacies. And each one of these people represent different slivers. And the question is can they grow and be more inclusive, or if they'd purify the Republican Party I mean we'll be down to 5 percent.

So I don't -- you know, this is an addition not subtraction business.

I feel pretty good, honestly, about the array of candidates that we're going to put in front of the people. And I think the more the merrier. And I like the contrast with the Democratic field.

RADDATZ: OK. I want to turn to another Republican. A resignation this week of 33-year-old Aaron Schock, who most of us I think remember from a magazine cover, or maybe Instagram more than that. Listen to what his father said after his resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SCHOCK, AARON SCHOCK'S FATHER: Ten years from now, whatever he's doing, he'll be successful at it. I promise you that. Two years from now, he'll be successful if he's not in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: And on that note -- thanks, dad. Yeah, thanks for that support.

But the FBI is investigating.

JONES: I think it's awful. I know him. And I don't take any joy in this problem that he has right now.

What's really interesting is that we have a system of legalized bribery where people basically run down the halls of congress with big wheelbarrows full of cash, but as long as you file the paperwork properly, it's OK.

Now he may have gotten greedy and sloppy and maybe had bad judgment, but nobody is saying his boat was for sale. I think sometimes we miss the forest for the trees.

You know, I'm very proud of people like Lawrence Lessig at Harvard who was trying to call attention to the whole money in politics problem, not just this one outlier. He's not corrupt. He may have been dumb, but he's not corrupt. He's not for sale.

ROBERTS: The mileage was a little corrupt...

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: But he's not for sale.

ROBERTS: And he's an exhibitionist. That's what he is. But the truth is, is that this is something, as Tom was saying, about the emails. Why would you do this? You're in public office. You're dependent on voters to want to vote for you. And everything you do is going to be public, and everything your family does is going to be public. So why on Earth would you do this unless you just want to draw attention to yourself.

JONES: It's especially sad, though, because he was bipartisan. Unlike Ted Cruz or some of these other people. He was bipartisan. He was reaching out. He was trying to do good things. I think it's a terrible lapse of judgment.

But he was not for sale. And we've got people for sale we're not talking about.

RADDATZ: OK, before we go I want to turn to Israel. Steve, you just go back from Israel. You just interviewed Benjamin Netanyahu. We heard the president last night in an interview with the Huffington Post say essentially he doesn't really trust that Benjamin Netanyahu wants a two-state solution. What's your...

INSKEEP: Netanyahu all along in different ways has been trying to waffle, that's a pejorative term, I guess, but balance between his voters and another important constituency: the United States. The United States wants him to go for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. His voter base doesn't want him to do that. And Netanyahu from 2009 when he said that theoretically he was in favor of a Palestinian State has tried different version of saying I'm in favor of it, but only under these conditions and it can't happen right now.

He went a little farther right before the election and now Obama won't let him take it back.

RADDATZ: And let me ask you how you think it will affect politics going forward, the candidates for 2016. How do they deal with this?

INSKEEP: I think the -- oh, go ahead.

RADDATZ: No, go ahead Steve. Let's hear quickly from you both.

INSKEEP: The question is the White House has talked about supporting Israel in a different way actually less at the United Nations where they've really needed -- Israelis have really needed U.S. support. If that were to happen. If the U.S., for example, were to let some kind of a resolution about a Palestinian State go through the United Nations security council, then you have a live, ongoing news event in the middle of the presidential campaign. And we will hear a lot from Republicans.

COLE: If that happens, they will pay a tremendous price politically, the Obama administration and the Democratic Party. It's a huge mistake to make a threat like that.

ROBERTS: Then it becomes a partisan issue. And Israel has never been a partisan issue. And for Israel to become the Republican cause and the Democrats just seem to be backing away would be very bad -- actually for Israel and for both parties.

COLE: But it would split the Democrats. It's not as if it would be partisan, it would actually be bipartisan opposition to a very narrowly based position by the president.

RADDATZ: Because that's changing.

JONES: This is the worst time for us to be having this -- shame on Netanyahu to come over here, disrespect the president of the United States, go back home. He did fear mongering against his own Arab citizens, which is horrible. And then to throw under the bus not just Obama, but Reagan, both Clinton -- to say you're not for a two-state solution, that goes against the basis of our partnership.

So, shame on Netanyahu for doing this to us. We should be talking about how to stop these extremists, not how to do with the extremism from Netanyahu.

ROBERTS: And he can't just say nevermind.

JONES: No, you don't get...

RADDATZ: That's definitely not going over well.

Thanks to all of you. Thanks everyone.

Next, we take on the heated debate over Islam's ties to violent extremism. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Now the big questions around the connection between Islam and terror. Last month, President Obama came under fire for referring to violent extremism without any mention of Islam. And now a provocative new book is taking that brewing controversy head on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: Ayaan Hirsi Ali has become one of Islam's most prominent critics, penning four controversial books in 10 years.

Born into a Muslim family in Somalia, raised in Kenya, she fled Africa at 22 after being subjected to female genital mutilation and narrowly escaping an arranged marriage.

It was later in 2002 that she broke from Islam, becoming an atheist, and beginning to speak out against the faith, demanding better treatment of women and charging too many Muslims were in the grip of jihad.

AYAAN HIRSI ALI, AUTHOR: All of that violence you can long longer divorce it from the religion of Islam.

RADDATZ: That kind of rhetoric landed Hirsi Ali on al Qaeda's most wanted list. But that hasn't silenced her. Her new book "Heretic" calls for reforms to the faith she left behind.

But many Muslims say that change is already happening. Manal Omar is one of them. A prominent author and activist, and regarded as one of the world's most influential voices on Islamic culture. She's devoted her career to promoting tolerance and peace from within her faith.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: And I'm joined now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Manal Omar.

Welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

RADDATZ: I want to start with you, Ayaan. Your argument is that it's foolish to insist as our leaders habitually do, you write, that the violent acts of radical Islamists can be divorced from the religious ideals that inspire them, Islam, Islam is not a religion of peace.

AYAAN HIRSI ALI: Islam (INAUDIBLE) today is not a religion of peace. And in the book I make a distinction between let's say three sets of Muslims --

(CROSSTALK)

ALI: The Medina Muslims, the Mecca Muslims and the dissidents who wants to reform. And the Medina Muslims are those Muslims who apply anything and everything that the Prophet Muhammad did after he emigrated to Medina and they apply the Quran literally.

So it's groups like ISIS, the Taliban, et cetera. But there's a huge group of Muslims -- I think they are the largest number -- who I call them Mecca Muslims, who (INAUDIBLE) practice only the peaceful parts of their religion. And then there are those who want to reform the religion, the reformists of the heretics.

And it's extremely important today for the Medina Muslims to lose. We want the dissidents to convince the Mecca Muslims that large contingents of people to reform their religion from within.

RADDATZ: Should she really be the voice for that?

ALI: I think that --

RADDATZ: You're not a believer anymore.

ALI: All of us who are born into Islam, the minute we start to criticize a religion from within, we're labeled heretics, apostates; we're condemned to death. And I think change is not going to come from the clerics. Change is going to come from the heretics. That's why I'm speaking out.

RADDATZ: But you're trying to make changes as well. You believe there should be some reform, Manal.

Is she the right spokesperson for this?

MANAL OMAR, AUTHOR AND ACTIVIST: Well, I think the authenticity of the message is very important. I think the challenges -- if you've been on record attacking Islam or trying to marginalize those who have a voice believing in peaceful Islam, then it's very hard for you to be able to call on a reform of Islam.

I think it's happening. I would actually argue that the very creation of Islam from day one was an act of revolution, trying to stop the opposition that was happening all across the Gulf region area.

In fact, the first verse of the Quran is (speaking foreign language), and I would argue that is to the participation, that is holding accountability. It is exactly not letting the clerics define your religion. But you as personal responsibility. I feel that once you are questioned it will not be my first word was pray, cover, fast. It was read. And I think that that is a direct command from God in the Quran, which every Muslim really takes seriously in terms of initiating change.

RADDATZ: You have an argument with that?

ALI: I have an argument with that. I think -- and I mentioned in the Quran -- in my book that there are these five key concepts within Islam that need to change.

Yes, the Quran says read, but the Quran also says kill.

And there are Muslims who take that literally.

Yes, the Prophet Muhammad preached peace in Mecca, but later on he --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- in the Torah as well. I get --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- the name of the Lord should surely be put to death, all the congregation shall --

(CROSSTALK)

ALI: -- today who are forming movements like the Islamic State, who wants to introduce sharia law and apply it. And look at what happens when sharia law is applied. Wednesday, just this Wednesday, in Yemen, Muslims killed 135 other --

RADDATZ: But should it be --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- such a broad brush?

Medina, as you say, Medina Muslims are a small group. I know that means millions and millions of people, but should all Muslims -- doesn't this incite people to be anti-Muslim?

ALI: Day in, day out, in the name of Islam, people are killed and most victims are Muslims. It is now time to look at and reform the religion of Islam so that we get to a place where we have peace. That is the message of this book. Message of this book is not to attack, I'm not here to attack Muslims. I'm here to say we need that courageous step. And that is to reform the religion from within.

RADDATZ: Thank you very much, both of you, for joining us.

And we'll be right back after this from our ABC stations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Now our "Sunday Spotlight." We're just days away from the start of a year-long study that could lead to a new frontier in space exploration. Two of NASA's most recognizable astronauts will embark on a groundbreaking mission that is ABC's David Kerley explains, only one will leave the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get the easy part of this.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get the real easy part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get the fun part.

DAVID KERLEY, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Astronauts Scott Kelly's idea of fun starts this Friday, day one of 365 days in orbit, living at the International Space Station to find out how the human body is affected by long duration space flight.

He showed me the cramped quarters in the Soyuz capsule that will give him his ride.

SCOTT KELLY, ASTRONAUT: You're in here for about four or five hours until you get in orbit.

KERLEY (voice-over): And in orbit, a year of his life will be spent in the real version, not this model, of the space station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there's not a whole lot of room in here. Pretty comfortable, yes, for...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- for a space bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to figure out how people are going to live in space for really long periods of time, especially if we want to send somebody to Mars or maybe want to send people to -- maybe want to one day build a base on the moon.

KERLEY (voice-over): To better figure that out, while Scott is in space, his twin brother, former shuttle commander Mark Kelly, will stay on Earth.

The brothers' perfect subjects to study since they share that unique genetic code.

KERLEY: How important is it to have a twin, Mark, on the ground as a baseline as you watch Scott for a year in space?

MARK KELLY, ASTRONAUT: You can look at in detail at the -- how the genes and the proteins that are made from them change as a result this unique environment.

KERLEY (voice-over): For scientists like NASA's Dr. Steven Gilmore (ph), this mission could provide a gold mine of data.

This is the first step in ambitious plans for space. NASA will use this data to figure out if the human body can survive a trip to Mars, an 18-month round trip. No U.S. astronaut has spent longer than six months in space. And the physical strain, the radiation exposure, muscle deterioration and psychological impact that Scott will endure is a bit unknown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can mess up your eyes. It can mess up your heart. It can mess you up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are risks and I'm willing to accept that for what we're going to learn from it.

KERLEY (voice-over): For the Kelly brothers, the potential rewards far outweigh the risks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you could come back with permanent damage to your body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could, you know, we all could. Many of us who've flown in space could have some permanent effects --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't take risks, we don't go anywhere. So risk-taking is -- has always been a part of a space program. And always will. I mean, but in this case, yes, I mean, there's extra risk.

KERLEY: You both have the chance of actually paving the way to Mars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one of the things that makes it exciting and something I'm really happy to be a part of.

KERLEY (voice-over): For THIS WEEK, David Kerley, ABC News, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: Love that.

Onward to Mars.

And we end with some good news. The Pentagon did not release any names of service members killed in Afghanistan this week.

That's all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT" and we'll see you back here next week. Have a great day.