'This Week' Transcript: Sen. Claire McCaskill
Sen. Claire McCaskill is interviewed on "This week."
— -- Below is the rush transcript for "This Week" on April 12, 2015. It may contain errors and will be updated.
ANNOUNCER: Now on ABC's THIS WEEK, Hillary re-groove -- Hillary Clinton reveals a brand new strategy on the campaign trail.
But will it work?
Plus, the latest on her next big stop, just hours away in New Hampshire.
GOP summit -- Republican hopefuls already swarming The Granite State.
So which contender can break out of the pack?
And the surprising clashes on the trail -- shocking security threats -- how that mailman's bizarre stunt buzzing over tourists at the Capitol, could signal a serious new danger to the homeland.
And inside the White House -- the secrets behind the doors of America's most famous address revealed by the staff that has seen it all.
From ABC News, THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS begins now.
MARTHA RADDATZ, GUEST HOST: Good morning.
I'm Martha Raddatz.
And we start off with breaking news.
A massive rescue operation underway right now in the Mediterranean Sea. A boat capsizing. Up to 700 people on board fleeing the chaos in Libya.
ABC's Alex Marquardt is tracking it for us -- good morning, Alex.
ALEX MARQUARDT, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martha.
This could turn out to be the deadliest disaster in the Mediterranean Sea. A United Nations official this morning already calling it one of the greatest tragedies.
Italy and Malta have now launched a major rescue operation around 60 miles off the coast of Libya, where this small boat capsized, with up to 700 migrants on board, most of them now feared dead.
So far, just 28 people have been found alive.
In the past week alone, more than 10,000 migrants have been rescued trying to make this treacherous journey from Africa to Europe. But hundreds more have drowned.
And this morning at Sunday mass, Pope Francis called on the international community to take action -- Martha.
RADDATZ: Our thanks to Alex.
Now to 2016 and Hillary Clinton's campaign kick-off. She hit Iowa with a new campaign strategy and now we're getting new details about her upcoming visit to the key state of New Hampshire.
ABC's Cecilia Vega is on the Clinton beat for us -- good morning, Cecilia.
CECILIA VEGA, ABC CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good morning to you.
That's right, next stop New Hampshire. Her campaign is really pushing hard to make this not look like a done deal. Her new strategy, an accessible, humble Hillary Clinton.
But will voters buy it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Hi.
How are you all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?
CLINTON: How are you?
VEGA (voice-over): This is Hillary Clinton 2.0...
CLINTON: I'll try both your chai and your Carmelo (ph) and maybe a glass of water, too.
VEGA: From coffee shops to Chipotle, a candidate launching her presidential bid with a road trip?
CLINTON: I want to know what I can do.
VEGA: With one failed run for the White House in the rear-view mirror, this time in Iowa, Christie is trying something new -- no helicopters or giant rallies...
CLINTON: And I'm in it to win it.
VEGA: -- it's all about the Scooby van and one-on-one with everyday Iowans, meetings that so far have been heavy on handshakes and light on policy.
Today in Hillary-land, humility is the buzzword...
(on camera): Is this lessons learned from '07?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess in some ways, you know, your whole life is lessons learned. So she -- this is how she's decided she wants to -- that she wants to do this.
VEGA (voice-over): But is it enough to win in this state, where she came in a favorite eight years ago then lost to Barack Obama?
JEFF LINK: Nobody wants a coronation.
VEGA: Democratic strategist Jeff Link says Tea Party faithful expect a contest and if one heats up, it is possible Christie could be beat.
LINK: I think anything can happen in Iowa and if you really catch fire, it can make a big difference.
VEGA: No one has sparked a serious challenge yet. But even Clinton loyalists tell me they are hopeful it might happen.
(on camera): But what does Hillary have to prove here
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she has to connect with ordinary Iowans. This is where the process starts. And she needs to -- to visit with us and meet us in our homes and so on, and, I think, you know, convince us that she's the best candidate.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VEGA: And her campaign is bracing for an Iowa challenger. It remains to be seen if that will happen.
Clinton makes her first trip of this 2016 race to New Hampshire tomorrow, meeting with small business owners, these small groups of voters. No rallies this time -- Martha, right now, it is all about these one-on-one meetings with voters.
RADDATZ: It is, indeed.
And thanks so much, Cecilia.
And Republicans have already beaten Clinton to New Hampshire, including Senator Marco Rubio, who also just kicked off his campaign. Clinton was the most popular target at this weekend's GOP Leadership Summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: -- million dollars, which -- that's a lot of chipotle, my friends.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: And I could have sworn I saw Hillary's Scooby-Doo van outside. Well, and then I realized it couldn't possibly be that, because I'm pretty sure y'all don't have any foreign nations paying speakers, right?
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I think that her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job, her not providing security for our forces, for our diplomatic missions, should forever preclude her from holding higher office.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: And quite the attacks this weekend.
Let's bring in my colleague, Jon Karl -- let's move to Jeb Bush.
This was his first really big foray into New Hampshire.
What are you seeing?
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, like Hillary Clinton, he's talking a lot about his new grandkid.
But I've got to tell you, the two big names, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, couldn't be taking more different paths or attempting to, to get to the White House.
With Hillary, of course, you've had those carefully managed events with small groups of pre-screened voters.
Jeb, it's been free-for-all. He's faced a gauntlet of questions from reporters and from some New Hampshire voters who just don't seem to like him.
What this has done, Martha, is it has given him a chance to directly confront his critics.
Take a look at this, when he was confronted on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that the vast majority of the American people support mass immigration. So you're going to have a tough sell.
JEB BUSH (R), CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT: Well, that's my job. My job is to not back down on my beliefs. (INAUDIBLE) but hopefully like some of the other stuff I've said, I'm marking (INAUDIBLE) long immigration, though.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: Another voter actually compared Jeb to Hillary and said we don't want a coronation in the Republican Party. He pointed out, joking, there are 95 candidates running for president in the Republican Party.
RADDATZ: Which there -- it may not be quite 95, but there are a whole lot of them and maybe a couple more.
KARL: Two significant names this week, the governor of Michigan took steps toward running and John Kasich was in New Hampshire telling voters keep their powder dry.
RADDATZ: And, Jon, I want to quickly go back to Rand Paul and talking about Benghazi.
Is that going to be a real focus of the Republicans?
KARL: Well, one of the biggest moments of the year is going to be when Hillary Clinton is dragged before the Benghazi Committee on Capitol Hill to be asked not just about Benghazi, but also about her e-mails. Republicans, Martha, are actually telling me they may try to bring her up twice.
RADDATZ: Well, stay tuned for that.
Jon, thank you very much.
KARL: You've got it.
RADDATZ: And joining us now, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who was one of the first to endorse Hillary Clinton.
Senator McCaskill, we just heard Jon Karl say there will likely be two hearings right in the midst of the campaign.
How does Mrs. Clinton deal with that?
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: Well, first of all, I think most Americans understand that this has turned into a political exercise. Benghazi has had more hearings, more documents produced, more investigative effort than the entire Iraq War. And at this point, it's pretty clear that she implemented all the recommendations of an independent review, she has answered all of the questions.
And so I think that they are really getting into dangerous territory where it becomes blatantly obvious that this is just about politics and not about policy.
RADDATZ: Let -- let me turn to what Democratic strategists are saying and a lot of Democrats and Independents, as well. They don't want this to be a coronation, a Bloomberg Poll saying 72 percent of Democrats and Independents say Hillary Clinton facing serious competition would be a good thing.
Yet you have said you don't think she needs a challenger.
MCCASKILL: Well, first of all, I think this is about who is most qualified to be a champion for working families in this country. That's what this election is about. It's not about personalities. It's not about what someone looks like or it's not about political gotcha moments. It's about policy.
And I think what she's shown this week is she wants to go out one-on-one and make sure she is listening to the American people about their fears and frustrations. I think the way she's going about this campaign shows she's not interested in a coronation either.
RADDATZ: But -- but you still don't think she needs a serious challenger?
MCCASKILL: Well, the bottom line is, she's the most qualified. Anyone can challenge Hillary Clinton if they would like to. The reason people aren't challenging her is because of her qualifications.
You have a cast of thousands on the Republican side because there's -- it's clear that many of them are reading Cliff Notes to try to figure out this dangerous world right now.
RADDATZ: Well, you -- you endorsed President Obama in 2008.
If Hillary Clinton wasn't the right person to be president then, why is she the right president -- person to be president now?
MCCASKILL: Listen, that was a tough choice. I am glad I don't have that kind of tough choice this time. This is not a hard choice. And I don't think it will be a hard choice for America.
This is a woman who is tested, who has a strong resume of accomplishments in every important job she's had.
She doesn't need to get briefed about the complicated world we live in. The reason this is not hard is because of who she is at this point in time in our country's history.
RADDATZ: Marco Rubio -- we were talking about the Republicans, of course -- who announced his candidacy this week, frames it as a generational choice.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Now, just yesterday, a leader from yesterday...
(BOOS)
RUBIO: -- big money a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: Your reaction to that, Senator?
MCCASKILL: Listen, there is -- if you look at Marco Rubio's record, he took a principled, courageous stand on immigration reform and we passed a comprehensive bill in the Senate. And then the minute his pol -- party's base starting chewing on about it, the minute Rush Limbaugh criticized him, he folded like a cheap shotgun. That's old politics. That's not what we need right now. That is the stalest trick in the book. That is shirking on your principles because of the political necessities of your party.
So, I don't think that he necessarily represents some generational change.
It sounds like to me old style politics.
RADDATZ: OK, thank you very much Senator McCaskill.
Now, to the fight against terror and a powerful reminder of its cost. You're looking at the spot where the deadliest act of homegrown terror in this country took place. A ceremony this morning will mark the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. 168 people were killed.
And this week both successes and failures on the homeland security front. A man allegedly working with al Qaeda captured in Ohio. And ABC's Pierre Thomas reports on that other case raising troubling questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This week, another stunning reminder that despite billions spent on homeland security after 9/11, the creative and simple, can still beat the country's most complex defenses. A Florida man piloting what amounted to a flying lawnmower, called a gyrocopter, thwarting every security system protecting the U.S. capital's restricted airspace.
It took off from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, flying low through Maryland, 80 miles straight into Washington, D.C.
Traveling just 45 miles per hour, only 150 feet above ground, zooming past the World War II memorial, past the Washington Monument, right onto the Capitol lawn.
DOUGLAS MARK HUGHES, POSTAL WORKER: I'm going to violate the no-fly zone. And I'm going to land on the capital mall.
THOMAS: Doug Hughes, the postal service worker, put in handcuffs, telling authorities he just wanted to deliver a political statement about campaign finance.
As the homeland security secretary put it, he literally flew under the radar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not good, people.
THOMAS: Defense systems designed to detect fast moving plans and missiles, but seemingly unprepared for small, slow and low-flying aircraft.
Critics say what if he had been a terrorist with guns or bombs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does an individual in the airspace get that close?
THOMAS: In 2004, the 9/11 commission concluded the U.S. government suffered from a failure of imagination in battling al Qaeda after radicals used box cutters to turn planes into flying missiles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government failed to protect the American people.
THOMAS: Clearly some lessons have been learned. The FBI and intelligence officials are now much more aggressive in trying to find radicals before they act.
This week authorities arresting a Columbus, Ohio man allegedly inspired by ISIS online and trained in Syria by al Qaeda. His attorney claims he's innocent and that the government's case is weak. But prosecutors say a radical cleric directed Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamud to return to the U.S. to carry out an act of terrorism.
In just the last three months, authorities have arrested 22 Americans accused of attempting to support al Qaeda or ISIS overseas.
Imagination and creativity now required in a deadly game of chess between the U.S. and its adversaries.
For This Week, Pierre Thomas, ABC News, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ: Our thanks to Pierre.
Let's take this on with Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of the homeland security committee.
Mr. Chairman, how serious a threat did the Ohio man pose? Was there an active plot?
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, (R) TEXAS: Yes. He said something big was going to happen. He was plotting to attack a military installation possibly in Texas. I was at the Ft. Hood Purple Heart award ceremony.
Martha, what's most significant about this case, it's the first foreign fighter case we've seen of an American citizen traveling to Syria, training with al Qaeda, al Nusra, and then returning to the United States under instructions by al Qaeda operatives to conduct a terrorist attack on American soil. That is what's hugely significant about this case.
We see a lot of these operatives go into western Europe and Australia, this is the first one in the United States. And fortunately the FBI and Homeland Security officials stopped it before it happened.
RADDATZ: I want to talk about that point. It seems that many of those who have been arrested are on social media. They're proclaiming their support for ISIS.
So it almost seems like we're getting the low hanging fruit.
MCCAUL: Right. In the majority of cases there have been 100 homegrown plots since 9/11. A majority of cases have been stopped. People trying to fly into Syria out of the United States have been stopped before they could get in. But this radicalization piece cannot be underestimated. The social media campaign and savviness of ISIS and the propaganda is what greatly concerns us as Homeland Security officials, because they can radicalize from within the United States sort of the enemy within the United States.
But the case of Mr. Mohamud out of Ohio, again a foreign fighter going over to train, then directed by top al Qaeda to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States. To me, that's very frightening.
RADDATZ: I want to turn to the gyrocopter and the mailman who made it on to the Capitol Lawn. Do we have in place technology that should have detected that small helicopter?
MCCAUL: You know, I met with the sergeant-at-arms after this event. I was actually on the Capitol grounds when this helicopter landed. And I think part of the problem is these small, ultralight aircraft are very difficult to detect, can fly under the radar as this one did, or even the small UAV devices like the one we saw that was landed in the back yard of the White House. That is the real threat.
And I think it exposed a vulnerability quite frankly that in this case the guy was just going postal, literally, it exposes a vulnerability that the terrorists I think can exploit. I am meeting with officials on Capitol Hill to see what we can do to tighten up these security procedures.
RADDATZ: And you told the AP this week that had it gotten any closer, the helicopter, to the speaker's balcony, they have long guns to take it down. But did authorities actually have him in their sights, or could he have crashed into the Capitol do you think?
MCCAUL: Well, if it's a larger aircraft F-16s scramble out of Andrews Airforce. And if they don't respond, the plane doesn't respond, the pilot -- they are shot down immediately.
RADDATZ: But did they have him in their sights?
MCCAUL: But, yeah, in hits case it was under the radar so the Capitol police when I talked to them said had it got any closer to the Capitol, they were prepared to shoot down the aircraft.
RADDATZ: OK, thank you very much Chairman McCaul for joining us.
RADDATZ: Now let's bring in Michael Leiter, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center for presidents Bush and Obama, and Colonel Steve Ganyard former fighter pilot and deputy assistant secretary of state.
And Michael, I want to start with you. While in the end, no one was hurt, you heard Chairman McCaul talk about this. This does really expose a new threat it seems.
MICHAEL LEITER, FRM. DIR. NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER: It does. And officials have to guard against the high end, the gyrocopters, and they also have to guard against the low end, the individuals who just walk up to the Capitol with weapons.
In covering all that all the time is an enormous challenge. And we live in a pretty open society. And being able to guard perfectly is impossible. Being able to track these things once they get on people's radar investigatively, that's the piece which I think in the long-term becomes troubling.
RADDATZ: I feel like I still haven't gotten an answer, and not really from Chairman McCaul, whether there is anything in place that should have stopped that, that should -- they should have seen that gyrocopter.
LEITER: They should have seen it. There are all sorts of things in place. There's actually a whole air defense umbrella around Washington. And so why it didn't get seen -- people are saying it flew so low -- what happened was, he's low. He looks like a car to a radar. So he -- it's my understanding he was seen, but people thought he was a car, it was a bird, and it wasn't addressed.
But the interesting thing about this gyrocopter it was built in the 1920s. So you have 1920s technology that's pointing out flaws in $100 million air defense system. And ironically it's a federal employee committing a felony to point out the flaws in the system.
RADDATZ: Michael, I want to go back to -- 2004, the 9/11 commission -- and you heard Pierre talking about the 9/11 commission. The U.S. government suffered from a failure of imagination in battling al Qaeda. Are we doing that again planning for the last attack instead of the next one?
And you've been in government very recently. How do you red team that? How do you know what's going to happen, or try to know?
LEITER: It's a great question and that's very hard. We did do a better job I think after 9/11 bringing people in who weren't government officials, who weren't law enforcement officials. We worked with people from Hollywood and the gaming community to say you've got an imagination, what would you do as the next attack?
But inevitably, government is a big organization, a big bureaucracy, it tends to fight the previous war and the previous threat. And if you have to invest limited resources, you're going to do what the most likely attack and the biggest consequence attack is. And that means things like gyrocopters that could pose some threat, but maybe not the threat of a commercial airliner being hijacked, or weapons storming the Capitol. Get lower priority.
And again, limited resources, you have to make those choices.
RADDATZ: And when you make those choices, Steven, what you saw this week with that little helicopter, I had to think the next step is drones, because we've seen one go into the White House -- over the White House fence. How big a threat?
STEVE GANYARD, FRM. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Drones are part of what we would call emerging asymmetric threats where terrorists would attack our weaknesses. And I think we need to address that a little bit more.
Drones are one thing. We've seen cyber. We've seen the Sony hack this week, brought this company to its knees. What happens if tomorrow people wake up and there's zero in their bank account?
Drones themselves -- the gyrocopter is surely big. Drones are small. You can them online. We've seen ISIS flying them in Syria. So it's this -- attacking these weaknesses that we need to be prepared with these emerging threats.
RADDATZ: Quickly, Michael.
LEITER: Steve is exactly right. Terrorists will use what is cheap and easy that can have catastrophic consequences. Cyber, drones, this is their future.
RADDATZ: OK. Thank you very much to the both of you.
And that see something, say something didn't seem to work out so well this week. 80 miles of that gyrocopter. Thanks again.
Coming up, the troubling new questions raised by this shocking video. The reserve officer who mistakenly fired his gun instead of his Taser. How many police departments give guns to volunteers?
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITT MCHENRY, ESPN REPORTER: Lose some weight, baby girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: The roundtable takes on this reporter's caught on tape tirade. We're back in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: In today's Closer Look, more police videos making headlines. The latest leading to praise for an Ohio officer who exercised restraint when confronted by a suspected killer. That incident ending without bloodshed.
But after a reserve officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma killed the suspect when he mistakenly fired his gun instead of a Taser, many are asking whether volunteer officers should be armed in the first place.
ABC's Jim Avila has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM AVILA, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: In Tulsa, Oklahoma where a full-time insurance executive and political donor to the sheriff volunteered as a reserve deputy, then mistakenly pulled his .357 magnum instead of his Taser and shot a fleeing suspect to death, it's difficult to tell the difference between the real cops and those backing them up as a hobby.
That's what Tulsa reserve officer Robert Bates says on NBC's Today Show was his role as a reserve officer.
ROBERT BATES, TULSA RESERVE OFFICER: I do cleanup when they're done. I take notes. I take photographs. And that's my job.
AVILA: Bates, like the other reserves in Tulsa, carries a firearm on duty, explaining on national TV that he pulled the gun instead of his Taser.
BATES: You must believe me, it can happen to anyone.
AVILA: More than half the 18,000 police agencies nationwide use reserve officers. In New York City they have 4,000 auxiliary police backing up 34,000 full-fledged officers.
But there's one big difference between New York reserves and Tulsa's: in New York, reserves don't carry guns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My own view is that the volunteers should not be armed. There is a difference in the training between auxiliary officers and regular police officers.
AVILA: In Fairfax, Virginia their are 85 reserves carry Tasers, but not hand guns. They do have access to shotguns in their cars.
The reserves are trained by the same instructors as the full-time cops, but spend a lot less time at the academy, because they have full-time jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Robert Moseley. I'm a software engineer by trade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fred Sandbaun (ph). And I'm a aerospace consultant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm (inaudible) Ridgeway. I'm an IT specialist.
AVILA: But on weekends and nights, these men staff DUI checkpoints, provide security at events like funerals and fairs and back up their full-time partners.
Did you feel bad about not having a gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.
AVILA: There are no national standards for reserve police officers. Some carry no weapons, others carry Tasers and mace. And as we learned so tragically this week in Tulsa, some are allowed to carry lethal handguns.
For this week, Jim Avila, ABC News, Fairfax, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ: Our thanks to Jim.
Now, let's bring in John Cohen, former counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security, now professor at the school of criminal justice at Rutgers University, also a former police officer. And Laurie Robinson, co-chair of the presidential task force on 21st Century policing and a professor at George mason University. Welcome to you both.
And John, I want to start with you as a former police officer especially, the difference between a gun and a Taser. I've talked to people who say if you had the right training, the minute you touch that you're going to know which is which.
JOHN COHEN, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: Well, in my experience you know having used both a firearm and a Taser, it's difficult for me to figure out why one would be confused.
I think this incident, though, raises a number of questions. Why was a reserve officer on a buy bust operation. These are very unsettling, very, you know -- these are circumstances that aren't very controlled. It's somewhat odd to me that you would have a reserve officer in that situation. And secondly why does a reserve officer have a Taser?
I think one of the questions that comes from this circumstance that we'll have to look at is are too many officers provided Tasers? And are they carrying Tasers...
RADDATZ: And there's also been -- we looked up, there have been nine incidents confusing Tasers and weapons. You think they would change something or look at that. And that's a question to you, Laurie, do we have enough data on what's going on? Do we really know what's going on? We're inundated with these videos now. And obviously people are starting to carry these body cameras. But it seems like we just don't have a handle on what's going on.
LAURIE ROBINSON, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: Martha, one thing that our taskforce found was that there is insufficient national data on this and many other questions. So, what we'd need in fact is better data on this and many other issues.
RADDATZ: And John, how do we get that? I mean, it seems we talk week after week about this. What will change. What will it take to make a change?
COHEN: Well, we as a nation have to have a very serious dialogue about what's going on in this country as it relates to police community relationships. And my concern is right now is that the parties are just not willing to come to the table and have that discussion. We need to look at police hiring practices. We need to look at training. We need to look at how we establish physical and mental fitness of our officers.
RADDATZ: And obviously one of the things that's happening, too, Laurie, is suspects are running and it's a little bit what you're saying, John, the community is reacting to this. But why wouldn't they worry? Why wouldn't they worry and take off running?
ROBINSON: Well, one of the things that we need is better training, for police officers. And one thing that our task force found is that training is needed for both recruits and also for in-service, for veteran police officers not just about the technical aspects about how to shoot well, how to bring down suspects when you catch them, about how to drive cars fast, but about people skills.
One of the things that police officers do all day long is interact with people. And so, for example, how to deescalate encounters.
RADDATZ: And that -- quickly, John, just to (inaudible) that's judgment. How do you train judgment?
COHEN: It's judgment. It's experience. But a very important point here, Martha, is -- and you alluded to this -- is that nobody is entitled to violate the law. No one is entitled to resist a police officer. And if someone resists and police officer when they're carrying out their lawful responsibilities. That is going to turn into a situation that's going to be highly problematic.
We have to get our arms around this issue.
RADDATZ: Thanks very much to both of you. We certainly do.
And up next, Hillary Clinton's campaign kickoff, the roundtable gives their grade.
Plus, surprising new revelations about the Clintons and other first families while they were in the White House. We're back in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New poll, 57 percent of the people in the poll believe Hillary Clinton will be the next president. Yes. Now 43 percent of the people in that poll believe Hillary Clinton is already president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton is running around in a van that stopped at a Chipotle in Ohio. Gas station in Pennsylvania and a community college. And she's either running for president or selling pot, we're not sure.
(LAUGHTER)
RADDATZ: Late-night comics taking on Hillary Clinton's debut and on our Facebook sentimeter shows her Iowa trip seemed to pay off, Clinton leading the number of interactions on Facebook in Iowa and most of those interactions has been positive, 57 percent.
Let's bring in the roundtable now, LZ Granderson from CNN and ESPN; Republican strategist Ana Navarro, ABC political analyst Matthew Dowd and ABC's Cokie Roberts, author of the terrific new book, "Capital Dames."
And so we're going to start with you, our capital dame, and talk about Hillary Clinton, a lightning round if we can here --
(CROSSTALK)
COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Another dame.
(LAUGHTER)
RADDATZ: Did she meet expectations in Iowa?
ROBERTS: I think that she did what she needed to do in Iowa but she's got a big problem which is that she can't just go one-on-one because of the national press is all over her by the hundreds and so she can't just have a normal Iowa trip.
RADDATZ: This is clearly the lessons learned. We talked a lot about lessons learned today from 2008.
So why would they think this is the real Hillary Clinton, who did they have the last time?
MATTHEW DOWD, ABC NEWS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the whole trip has been a mistake because the authenticity is the premium thing that you have to focus on in this. And I think Hillary Clinton, who has spent the last 22 years going from private planes to black Suburbans to huge events, now shows up, drives up in whatever the Scooby-Doo machine --
RADDATZ: We don't even like to say --
DOWD: -- no, we don't even like to say it -- which is actually was called the Mystery Machine, which I think she was the best clarification of this trip.
I think her biggest problem in all this but she still has not confronted, which is how does she separate herself from President Obama because the hardest thing to do is win a third term in a row. And with 70 percent of the country think we're off on the wrong track, that's the difficult --
RADDATZ: And the Republican are going to hope she doesn't separate herself from Barack Obama, right, Ana?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN COMMENTATOR: (INAUDIBLE) he's doing by 2016. But listen, the PR with Hillary Clinton not being able to go one-on-one is not the national press. I was just in New Hampshire for two days and I can tell you the press was stampeding like wildebeests there, chasing down the candidates.
And yes, they were answering questions. The problem that Hillary Clinton has is that she doesn't want to answer questions from the press, so she's avoiding them. And what we are left with are actually comical scenes of press people running behind a dark --
RADDATZ: I'll go with that. That was a pretty comical scene.
How do you think she did, LZ?
LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think she did fine. I mean, the fact of the matter is she has been in the public eye for this long, there's very little she can say that we haven't heard before. There's very little she can do that we really haven't seen before.
This is just basically just keeping her out there --
RADDATZ: Just treading water?
GRANDERSON: Yes, pretty much. I mean, it's -- I mean, I don't want to be cynical about it but I mean, seriously, we've all seen the polls and the polls have been consistent since basically 2010. Democrats want Hillary. So it is what it is.
RADDATZ: OK, more, more, more in a minute.
But time for a break. First our Powerhouse Puzzler, inspired by that funny moment on Capitol Hill this week, when Senator Pat Roberts' cell phone went off during a hearing. His ringtone? "Let It Go" from "Frozen." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PAT ROBERTS: I'm on.
Just let it go, Mr. ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: We're not letting it go. Turns out it's just one of two ringtones on his phone; the other is a song with the lyrics, "I keep a close watch on this heart of mine."
So name the other ringtone on Roberts' cell phone -- right back with the winner.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
RADDATZ: So what is the other ringtone on Senator Roberts' cell phone? Let's see what you all came up with if I talked in a really low voice the lyrics you might all have gotten it.
ROBERTS: To be "because you're mine, I walk the line."
DOWD: Great singer.
(LAUGHTER)
RADDATZ: You got it.
Ana?
NAVARRO: "Twinkle, twinkle" --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Yes, indeed, "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- Senator Roberts' staff tells us it's one of his favorites.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: Republican contenders in New Hampshire this weekend and the roundtable is back with us to talk about those Republicans.
And, Ana, I want to start with you.
If what we are seeing from Hillary is learning from mistakes in 2008, what are we seeing the Republicans trying to change?
NAVARRO: I think what you're saying from the Republicans, my take on what -- after two days of being there, was a lot of calories, because first, it was politics and pie, then there was politics and eggs, then I did politics and scotch.
But, you know, you are seeing from the Republicans, an incredible diverse field shaping up, diversity of thought, diversity of positions, diversity of generations, diversity of ethnicity, of experiences, of backgrounds.
And so I think what you're going to see is a very competitive, rigorous, open field. There are no frontrunners. And it was, frankly, fun...
RADDATZ: Let me just...
NAVARRO: -- you know, going to New Hampshire...
RADDATZ: -- let me just go to the AP on that. Ties between Florida Senator Marco Rubio and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, political allies for more than a decade, are fraying, as the Republican presidential...
NAVARRO: Well, sure...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: There's definitely...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- definite melodrama, frankly. And I think that it's a narrative that's going to die down soon, because the bottom line is these two guys are lifelong friends...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: -- friendships do not last in these kind of things...
NAVARRO: Well, but not -- not yet, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: -- is possible. But -- but somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose between those two and then that will be that.
The big problem they have, even though there are 19 of them and they are diverse, as you say, is they don't appeal to diverse America. And so what you've got is a -- a Democratic candidate with -- with whatever problems she has, still getting the Hispanic vote, the African-American vote, the youth vote and now the white female vote, which most Democrats don't get.
So it's a big problem for the Republicans.
RADDATZ: But -- but, you know, going after the young voters, and you talk about that, being female, the voters don't seem to really care. I think only 12 percent say electing the first female president makes them more inclined to vote for Clinton.
ROBERTS: Well, I think...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean Hillary has her problems that she has, the most of which is it feels like yesterday. But I think the Republicans understand that this is probably the best opportunity they're going to have for a long time to capture the White House.
But I think there is no Republican right now that can coalesce the Republican Party right now. The Republican Party basically is divided almost equally into four parts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Establishment, Tea Party, Evangelical conservatives and libertarian. And there's nobody right now that can coalesce that. Which is why I think the next person that's going to get in this race, John Kasich is going to get in this race in the next three weeks.
Though, probably two more people that get in this race...
RADDATZ: And he said last night, he asked the party faithful to hold off on...
ROBERTS: Right.
RADDATZ: -- committing to a candidate while he seeks guidance from God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The difficulty in the whole thing, though...
ROBERTS: Because he'll soon know what God says.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- is everybody seems to be focused on tactics, including Hillary Clinton, and nobody has presented, in my view, Republican or Hillary Clinton, a vision for the future of what they want to see happen in America and the federal government. And until that happens, this thing is going to be totally fluid.
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: LZ, what did you learn watching the Republicans?
I mean there are -- if you can keep track, there were, what, 19 up there, Ana?
ROBERTS: Nineteen.
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Nineteen.
NAVARRO: And let me tell you something...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- there were so much fun. They were like, you know, like...
(CROSSTALK)
LZ GRANDERSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: No, it -- it did not look like a lot of fun. And I'm really happy to hear that Ana had a great time (INAUDIBLE)...
NAVARRO: I did.
GRANDERSON: She thought it was all (INAUDIBLE) there. But I'll tell you...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: She had scotch.
GRANDERSON: But -- she did have scotch. Maybe that's why she said what she said.
(CROSSTALK)
GRANDERSON: The truth of the matter is that for a lot of millennials, young people, diverse America, as you said, people haven't brought this issue up so far today, but the fact of the matter is that the Republican field still looks like an intolerant field.
ROBERTS: Right. That's...
GRANDERSON: And we saw that during what was going on with Indiana and the religious right bill that's really just an anti-gay bill.
Young Americans are going to walk into the polls, walk to the booth and ask themselves, are we -- am I going to vote for discrimination or am I now going to vote for discrimination?
And that is one of the reasons why the group continues to struggle to win the general election, because they keep holding on to this image and politics of discrimination and exclusion, and not inclusion.
ROBERTS: But particularly on immigration. And -- and that is an issue where, you know -- and I understand all of the arguments that Hispanics really should be Republicans because of values and all of that. But immigration is absolutely an entry level...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Well, let me...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- let me...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and I'll let Ana continue...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- because I don't want to be...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's got...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have said I think the face of the Republican Party has been problematic and I described them as a "Madmen" party...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in a "Modern Family" world. That's a huge problem.
But their -- I -- just, come on, there is an opportunity, in my view, you can't say Marco Rubio doesn't look like and doesn't talk like much of the face of the new America today. He's one of the youngest candidates in the field. He's Latino. He has a -- he's presenting a new generation argument.
They have a lot of problems on intolerance and they have a lot of problems on judging the rest of America that they need to solve.
But it's not any different, to my -- in my view, than what they're trying to be presented on the Democratic side.
Younger voters are disillusioned by the whole thing.
ROBERTS: Well, that's true. But that's...
(CROSSTALK)
GRANDERSON: Americans are disillusioned period. We have the...
(CROSSTALK)
GRANDERSON: -- lowest voter turnout of any large democratic nation on the planet.
NAVARRO: Well, and, in fact...
GRANDERSON: -- so the country is...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: OK, we...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- we're going to bring you in. You're...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- you say Hillary Clinton is an arranged marriage anyway.
NAVARRO: She is an...
RADDATZ: And you've got a...
NAVARRO: -- I mean look, Republicans are getting courted. They've got a lot to choose from. It's 31 flavors. And it's going to get crazy, it's going to get messy at times. But it's a lot better than just having plain old vanilla to choose from.
And, you know, I'm a pro-gay marriage, 100 percent pro-gay marriage, pro-immigration reform Republican, and I think a lot of folks are not just looking at one issue, but looking at the package deal that these candidates offer.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Let me just say this. There are -- it is -- I don't think it's fair to paint it all as black and white. There are people on this -- in this field that support immigration reform, that have plans, that have written books on plans on immigration reform, that have nuances on the gay marriage issue.
So I think there is progress made. And let's just remember that only a few years ago, Hillary Clinton and practically every other Democrat was against gay marriage, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, but now it's...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Guys, I want to...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- I want to wrap with one very quick thing. And I want to look at the ESPN reporter, Britt McHenry, just to change topics here and bring us back to being civil, just take a look at this, quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel good about your job?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I could be a college drop out and do the same thing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe if was looking for (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: OK, Cokie, I'm just going to go to you on this...
ROBERTS: Oh, it is simple as...
RADDATZ: -- quickly -- just very quickly.
ROBERTS: It's...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: -- it's so rude and -- and all of that. But the real thing is she thinks she's important because she's on TV.
Now that's pathetic.
RADDATZ: She did apologize.
Was the apology enough?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she should be fired.
RADDATZ: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a mean girl. She's cast as a mean girl. She should be fired.
The problem that it reflects is a culture. Her ego is way bigger. And that's the problem I think in our culture, that you think you can do and say anything.
GRANDERSON: I feel bad for her parents, you know, because as...
ROBERTS: Because they raised her wrong?
GRANDERSON: -- as a dad in -- if my son had done that...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel bad for...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: I would. Yes, yes. My two kids...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- struggle with that.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- be truthful here. There's a lot of mean people out there on TV. It's just that today, you know...
RADDATZ: None of them here.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: None of them here. She's not a Sacred Heart girl...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- let's make that clear.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: You know, it's just that social media today is capturing the warts...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: And surveillance cameras...
NAVARRO: That we didn't know about...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Exactly. Maybe that's a good...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: The lesson learned there...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- big brother is watching, be careful what you do and say.
RADDATZ: Also...
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: -- also on the lesson learned, that you shouldn't talk like that.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
RADDATZ: OK, coming up...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
RADDATZ: -- five years since the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. Is the coast bouncing back?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: Now, we mark the fifth anniversary of the BP oil spill, the accident that shook Louisiana's Gulf Coast.
So how is the region recovering?
We sent ABC's Matt Gutman to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT GUTMAN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The huge oil rig devoured by the ocean.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The race tonight to save the increasing numbers of birds and other animals threatened by the growing oil slick.
GUTMAN: An explosion at BP's Macondo well, 11 people killed. And for 87 days, millions of barrels of oil spilt into the Gulf.
This is Barataria Bay, critical marshland that was heavily oiled in 2010.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's this black ribbon of oil that's painted across these marshes.
GUTMAN: Today, in this spot, at least, no oil to be found.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five years ago, I'd have sunk my hand in here, probably would have pulled up a fistful of oil. Right now, just some fresh-smelling soil.
GUTMAN: It was an unprecedented and controversial cleanup response. Booms, burns and those chemical dispersants. BP paying nearly $28 billion for the cleanup and initial settlements.
Key industries have started to bounce back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We mobilized 100,000 people who spent 70 million man-hours over four years and there is no question that the combination of the response and the natural resilience of the Gulf greatly mitigated the potential impacts of the spill.
GUTMAN: Still, a cloud hangs over these waters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally I don't think it's getting better. The waters are sketchy. A few areas are dead zones.
GUTMAN: Levonid Brunei (ph) has spent the past four decades shrimping. And we've kept up with him since the spill. He's not just worried about the shrimp, deemed healthy to eat by the government and rebounding in population, but also his own health.
Problems, he says, like...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eye infections, headaches...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Memory loss...
GUTMAN: After-effects, he claims, from dispersants sprayed from the boat he was working on during the cleanup.
He's one of dozens with pending suits against BP for medical claims after opting out of an initial settlement he believes fell short.
But then there's the question of the oil itself.
We went out with scientists who've been studying these waters. You don't see oil-slicked diamonds, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see these little things, these tar mats that are being -- still being pulled out. You see tar balls that are washing up.
And what it points to is the fact that oil is still in the system and just because we can't always see it everywhere we go, it's still out there.
GUTMAN: We wondered if the oil was from BP and sent a sample to Louisiana State University for testing.
We picked up this oil right on Grand Pere (ph) Isle, this is nearly an exact match of Macondo well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The product that you have in your hand does not pose a threat to human or aquatic life. This --
GUTMAN: How do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- if it's Macondo oil, it's now five years old. And like weathered beyond the point of being a harmful --
GUTMAN: But some scientists disagree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- outside of this is weathered but it starts to break apart over time and the oil compounds, particularly those that are toxic to wildlife, fish and other organisms, it's still there.
GUTMAN: Many of the worst fears of five years ago about the environment impact of the spill never materialized. But the official report on the long-term environmental impacts of this spill has not yet been published.
BP continues to fight multiple cases. Last fall, a federal judge ruling BP was grossly negligent in its safety measures and response. It could be forced to pay billions of dollars in fines and Clean Water Act violations later this summer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The company disputes the fact that we were in any way grossly negligent. We respectfully disagree with the court's finding on that and are appealing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortcuts were taken, significant shortcuts. And that's why the judge ruled that BP was grossly negligent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We disagree with the court's finding and we respectfully do so, of course.
GUTMAN: In 2012, the company pleaded guilty to providing false and misleading information to Congress about the severity of the spill.
Back in Barataria, we asked Brunei (ph) how much the spill has cost him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope I don't have to tell you in years of my life. I'm telling you, though, I'm not the same man.
GUTMAN: And so the question persists: can the Gulf, all of its marshland and animals and people make a full recovery? For THIS WEEK, Matt Gutman, ABC News, Port Sulphur, Louisiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: Our thanks to Matt.
Next, our "Sunday Spotlight" after this from our ABC stations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: And now our "Sunday Spotlight," the author behind the residence topping "The New York Times" Best Seller list this morning, revealing to ABC's Jon Karl four decades of secrets at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
(VIDEO CLIP, "SCANDAL")
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In shows like "Scandal," life inside the White House is an edge-of-your-seat drama. But to get a better sense of the inner workings of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, there's another show you may want to check out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You'll find there's never a dull moment in this house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Incredible. I mean, it's like the real-life "Downton Abbey" that takes place at the White House --
(CROSSTALK)
KARL (voice-over): Kate Anderson Brower's new best seller, "The Residence," pulls back the curtain on the chefs, florists, maids, ushers and butlers who keep the White House running.
Like Skip Allen. He served in the White House as an usher from 1979 to 2004.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to say presidents come and go. It's the staff who stays. We're the permanent residents of the White House.
KARL (voice-over): And James Jeffries. He's been there since 1959, serving as a butler for every president since Dwight Eisenhower.
KARL: And you're still working part-time for the Obamas.
JAMES JEFFRIES, WHITE HOUSE BUTLER: Yes.
KARL: Have you figured out how to do the job yet?
(LAUGHTER)
KARL: When you first went to work at the White House in 1959, do you think you'd be working there and there would be an African American president?
JEFFRIES: No.
KARL: It must have been a little emotional to see that happen?
JEFFRIES: Oh, yes, yes. Made me feel good.
KARL: Brower spoke to more than 50 people who have worked in the White House residence, including the chief electrician, who ran into President Nixon moments after he gave his last presidential speech.
(VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the president said, "Bill, walk with me."
And the electrician said, "You did the best you could."
And the president said, "I wish a lot of people felt that way," and he had tears in his eyes.
KARL (voice-over): For a new first family can take some time to get used to the staff they inherit, the transition for the Clintons was particularly rough. In the book, Allen calls Bill and Hillary, quote, "about the most paranoid people I'd ever seen in my life."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They did 12 years of Republicans and all of a sudden this Democrat comes in and I'm sure that if you were in their position, they -- you would have felt the same way.
KARL (voice-over): Long before the controversy over Hillary Clinton's private email server, the Clintons were apparently worried about White House operators listening in on their telephone calls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came in and decided that that wasn't the kind of situation that they would be comfortable with. And so they had the whole White House rewired for telephones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reworked so nobody could listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure if that's exactly the point but, no, they couldn't.
KARL (voice-over): While many who worked in the White House told their stories for this book, they're not divulging everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and you and everybody on that White House staff probably has secrets that you will take to the grave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can count on it.
It's the code.
KARL (voice-over): For THIS WEEK, Jonathan Karl, ABC News, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ: And that's all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT." We'll see you back here next week. Have a great day.
CLARIFICATION: In this episode’s piece about the continuing disputes five years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we want to make clear that the court ruling referred to, in which a federal judge last fall found BP “grossly negligent,” applied to events leading up to the spill. The same judge ruled in February that BP’s clean up efforts after the spill have not been grossly negligent.