‘This Week’ Transcript: Rep. Michael McCaul on ISIS Threat
August 24, 2014— -- Below is the rush transcript of "This Week" on August 24th, 2014. It may contain errors.
ANNOUNCER: Today on This Week, imminent ISIS threat -- American families fearing for kidnapped loved ones, urgent warnings to police about a threat to the homeland and the U.S. considering a massive military escalation, including airstrikes in Syria. This morning, breaking details and full analysis of the ferocious fight against the deadly terror group.
On edge, after weeks of clashes, a community starts to rebuild. Pierre Thomas on how we prevent another Ferguson.
Plus, a celebration four decades in the making. Why the White House won't be the same.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back to you, gentleman up in the booth.
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos begins now.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: And we come on the air this morning to some breaking news, an earthquake measuring 6.0 near San Francisco, the largest tremor there since 1989. ABC's Ryan Owens is tracking the damage from California. Good morning, Ryan.
RYAN OWEN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, George.
Yes, this was a sizable quake. And boy did it jolt people right out of bed at 3:30 this morning. The epicenter in Napa, California, that's wine country north of the San Francisco Bay area. No reports of deaths or serious injuries at this point, but there is plenty of damage.
Witnesses report a whole lot of broken glass, they say, in downtown Napa. You see some of that video there. A lot store fronts broken, things like that.
Among the most significant damage we've heard about is a fire at a mobile home park. The quake, we understand, caused a water main break, so firefighters do not have the water they need to battle that blaze.
About 15,000 people right now without power. And as you mentioned, this is the strongest quake to hit the Bay Area since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. And that one, George, killed 63 and injured almost 4,000 people.
One last note, this event is not over yet. There have been almost two dozens aftershocks, most of them minor. But, George, these things have a way of keep coming.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And we know you'll be tracking it all. OK, Ryan, thanks very much.
Now to the battle against ISIS. President Obama returns to Washington tonight, the White House winning a dramatic expansion of air strikes using the ominous words imminent threat.
We analyze all the angles this morning. And we begin with the latest on the hunt for the killers of American James Foley. Here's ABC's chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN ROSS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: A gruesome, heartbreaking videotape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His last words were, I wish I had more time to see my family.
ROSS: A failed hostage rescue attempt inside Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It turned out that hostages were no longer at that location.
ROSS: And a worldwide wakeup call about an Islamist terror group said to be more extreme and dangerous than al Qaeda.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day.
ROSS: And in one week's time, the threat from the terror group called ISIS no longer seems limited to far away Iraq and Syria.
In a bulletin Friday, Homeland security said ISIS supporters are calling for attacks inside the U.S., although there are no credible threats at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, yes, they are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else.
ROSS: The hooded ISIS killer who beheaded 40-year-old American journalist James Foley is believed to be a British citizen. And the FBI is now using a database of known British jihadists to look for a match with his eyes, his hands and his voice with its distinctive London accent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Éyou have plotted against us and gone far out of your way to find reasons to interfere in our affairs.
ROSS: And this morning, there is growing fear about a second American hostage, 31-year-old journalist Steven Sotloff. The U.S. has said it will not negotiate nor pay ransom for any of the American hostages held by ISIS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do note provide ransom or any funding for terrorist organizations.
ROSS: Former FBI agent Jack Cloonan helped to negotiate the ransom and release of one European journalist from ISIS. And he says the U.S. policy needs to be reexamined.
JACK CLOONAN, FRM. FBI AGENT: Any of us in a position of the Foleys or others would say I want the opportunity to save my loved one.
ROSS: But in the case of James Foley, the ransom demand was an absurd $130 million, which Cloonan says means ISIS is using the American hostages for something other than money.
CLOONAN: This is a game of revenge, and revenge is sweet to them.
ROSS: In his final moments, Jim Foley faced death with the dignity and courage that marked his journalistic career.
Brian Ross, ABC News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks to Brian for that.
We're going to turn to the military options. The U.S. has already hit ISIS with nearly 100 airstrikes in Iraq. The big question now, should the U.S. strike inside Syria?
ABC's Alex Marquardt is on the ground in northern Iraq with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The front line in the fight against ISIS. On one bank, this narrow canal, Kurdish fighters, on the other ISIS militants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see the building over there?
MARQUARDT: Yeah. The small structure right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are (inaudible) over there.
MARQUARDT: They're watching us right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see the hole.
MARQUARDT: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's standing there and watching you. Do you see the head?
MARQUARDT: These Kurds tell us they're the best hope of pushing back and defeating ISIS, but need more American weapons and airstrikes.
The U.S. has carried out almost 100 airstrikes in support of Kurdish and Iraqi forces. As a result, ISIS has lost some ground, including the prized Mosul dam.
But ISIS still controls an enormous swath of land, about the size of Indiana, stretching from western Iraq into eastern Syria. They have hundreds of millions of dollars, heavy weaponry, and their ranks are only growing by the day, now estimated at about 10,000 fighters, including around 100 Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is beyond anything that we've seen. So, we must prepare for everything. And the only way you do that is you take a cold steely-hard look at it and get ready.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: Getting ready now means possibly expanding U.S. operations for the first time into Syria where ISIS has its headquarters. The next step in what U.S. officials warn will be a very long fight against ISIS -- George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Alex, thanks very much.
Let's dig into this now with ABC's chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, our counterterrorism expert Richard Clark who directed these efforts at the highest levels for several presidential administrations, and from Washington General John Allen, retired four star marine general who spent many years in Iraq and commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
And General Allen, let me begin with you. You are really sounding the alarm here. You call ISIS a clear and present danger, say we must act now to destroy it. The big question how?
GEN. JOHN ALLEN, U.S. MARINES (RET.): Well, George, it's going to require a comprehensive approach. It's got to be more than simple pinpoint attacks on key ISIS locations that are just security locations in and around dams, or some supporting fires, theoretically, for the Kurdish fighters. It requires a comprehensive approach.
It's got to be a regional approach. It's got to be a coalition approach. And while some aspect of the coalition can be focused on the humanitarian relief of the populations that have been put to foot and caused to ultimately to evacuate those areas where they have lived there for centuries and so on, it's going to require a comprehensive approach to strike ISIS throughout the entire network of its organization and some of that is in Iraq, but a lot of that, and particularly the support areas, are in Syria.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So that means hitting inside Syria, I imagine. And you say it's going to take a coalition. Should that coalition include some kind of cooperation and coordination with the government of Syria, the regime -- the Assad regime, and the government of Iran?
ALLEN: I think that the actions that we take may, in fact, be not in coordination, necessarily, but provide an opportunity for a coordinated effort. But we don't share any values with the Iranian regime, and we don't share any values with the Syrian regime. The Syrians, in fact, are one of the principle reasons that ISIS has had the opportunity to incubate to this point to the level that it is, to the threat that it has become. The Assad regime, in fact, has turned a blind eye to the development of ISIS and permitted ISIS ultimately to attack that element that we have been and ought to be supporting in Syria, the free Syrian movement.
So the free Syrian movement, so the free Syrian movement has been caught between two very, very tough regime efforts and ISIS efforts to eliminate its existence.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Some Analysts have said the comprehensive effort you're talking about, Max Boot for one, will take up to 10,000 new advisers and special operation forces on the ground. Is that what it's going to take?
ALLEN: Well, it's going to take more than what we're doing right now, George. There's just no question of this. You know, we need to give the American pubic more clarity in terms of our commitment solely using the terms boots on the ground.
You know, I think we've been very clear that we don't want to put American maneuver forces necessarily, conventional maneuver forces back on the ground, but we have really significant capabilities to provide special operators into these formations, both at the tribal level, some of the more recently emerging Sunni conventional forces that are appearing in northwest Iraq, the Free Syrian Army, and Sunni tribes in Syria.
And it doesn't have to be solely an American approach to this, George, there are plenty of special operations capabilities that we've built up over the last 13 years in Afghanistan that permit us the capability with allies and partners both internationally and in the region, to provide significant special operations advice, support and capabilities to these wide ranging elements that we can bring to bear to be the foot soldiers, ultimately, in this campaign where American firepower with American advice can be brought to bear to attack this network across its entire breadth, not just in Iraq, but across the entire breadth regionally.
This is a regional problem. It's not an Iraqi problem. It's not a Syrian problem, it is a regional problem, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, General Allen, thanks very much for your time this morning.
I just want you to let me bring that to Martha Raddatz -- I know you've been reporting on what the White House and the administration is considering.
Are they going in the direction General Allen advocates?
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it -- it doesn't seem like they're going in that direction. I think they are going in the direction that they might do more air strikes in Syria.
But -- but what General Allen just said, it makes me think back to what the Obama administration originally wanted. They wanted 10,000 troops to remain in Iraq, not combat troops, but military advisers, Special Operations Forces, to watch the counterterrorism efforts.
So perhaps they'd go that way, but it would be a tough one.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And -- and Richard Clarke, you saw General Allen when I asked him about cooperation with Iran and Syria almost -- almost gulp right there. In this case, he doesn't want to say the enemy of our enemy is our friend.
But we are going to have to work with them, aren't we?
CLARKE: George, we're going to have to make a choice. If we want to eliminate this ISIS, we're going to have to deal with people we don't like. You know, the president said we wanted Assad out. Well, we're going to have to say something to the Syrian government if we're going to start bombing in Syria.
And if we're going to get rid of ISIS, we're going to have to start bombing in Syria.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, I want you all to stand by here.
Right now, let's bring Congressman Michael McCaul, the chair of the House Homeland Security.
Chair -- Mr. Chairman, thank you for joining us this morning.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thanks, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've seen the intelligence.
Do you believe that ISIS poses the kind of threat that General Allen just talked about?
And do you support what he's calling for?
MCCAUL: Well, I do think they present the greatest threat we've seen since 9/11. This has been festering for the last year and now it's culminating with the killing and the beheading of an American journalist, which I think is a turning point. The American people -- it has sort of opened their eyes to what ISIS really is, the true character of ISIS, how savage they really are and -- and their intent to harm Americans.
And -- and not just in my words, but their words, "We'll drown Americans in their own blood. We'll raise the black flag of al Qaeda over the White House."
So they are very intent on not only establishing the caliphate in Syria and Iraq, but expanding that to external operations not only in Europe, but they would love more than nothing else to hit the United States of America.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And, Congressman, if -- if you get the kind of expansion you and General Allen then are talking about, won't that require a new authorization from Congress?
The 2001 authorization targeted al Qaeda, not ISIS. It would be a real stretch to put this under the Iraq authorization of 2002.
So won't Congress have to act here?
MCCAUL: We believe that the administration should be in consultation with Congress. So far, they have, under The War Powers Act. But once that period of time expires, we believe it's necessary to come back to the Congress to get additional authorities and to update, if you will, the authored use of military force.
With respect to General Allen's comments on regional strategy, I -- I whole-heartedly agree. I believe that America, the United States shouldn't bear this burden alone. We have regional allies, both Muslim allies and European allies, that can bring a lot of pressure on ISIS. And I don't think you're going to -- you're going to win this with a containment policy alone. This administration thus far has only dealt with containment. We need to expand these air strikes so that we can ultimately defeat and eliminate ISIS, because I would far prefer to eliminate them over here than have to deal with them...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, that...
MCCAUL: -- in the United States.
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- that's the question. how serious a threat do they actually pose to the homeland right now?
MCCAUL: Their focus right now is establishing the caliphate. But don't kid yourself for a second, they aren't intent on hitting the West. And there are external operations, I believe, underway. And the biggest threat, George, is this. You look Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is very accessible. We have tens of thousands of foreign fighters from all over the world pouring into this safe haven that's now been established, including hundreds of Americans with Western passports and legal travel documents, which would enable them not only to travel to Western Europe, but to the United States.
And then you couple that with their now newly formed alliance, announced a couple of days ago, with AQAP in Yemen, which is the premier al Qaeda bomb maker, now you have a threat to airplanes blowing up and also the traditional sort of Times Square bomber that we saw in New York.
So I believe the threat is very real. I think the FBI and Homeland Security officials believe it's real. That's why they went out a be on the lookout to state and locals for suspicious activity...
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK...
MCCAUL: -- and particularly on social media, which they're very adept at doing.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Chairman, thanks very much for your time this morning.
I want to bring that right to Richard Clarke.
You say the United States has to act right now, as if it's already been hit.
CLARKE: I think we have to imagine ourselves a month from now, six months from now, with an attack in New York. And then we say to ourselves, boy, I wish we had done something back then.
So why aren't we doing it now?
Why wait for it to happen?
There's no evidence of a plot right now. There's no evidence of people having come back from that theater.
But we might not know. Our system is good. It's much better than it was in 2001, but it's not 100 percent. And we won't know, perhaps, until something goes off.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And there does seem to be some debate inside the administration, Martha, over how serious this threat is to us right now.
RADDATZ: Well, you -- you heard Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel say it was an imminent threat to everywhere, anywhere.
I'm not sure that everyone agrees with that. This is a -- more of a conventional army with -- with ISIS. They've got equipment. They're trying to take territory, which is very different from al Qaeda. And they want to establish a caliphate, as we've said again and again, over there.
If we get in the way, if America gets in the way, if -- if Western powers get in the way, then they'll go after us, I think. But in terms of imminent to this country, even the FBI says not right now.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Of course, we were all struck this week by those horrific pictures of James Foley, which has led to the question of whether or not the United States should be paying ransom for hostages.
I want to bring that to Rukmini Callimachi from the "New York Times."
He's done some real ground-breaking reporting on this issue for the "New York Times."
And you had a -- a story just a couple of weeks ago where you talked about Europe bankrolling al Qaeda terror. And you said -- you wrote -- "Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid just last year. The United States says it does not pay ransom. The European governments deny it, as well, but it does appear that Europeans have paid ransom in some fashion."
RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, "NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, absolutely.
It's very clear from my reporting that Europeans governments are paying ransoms. But they're doing it through a system of proxies.
So for instance, in North Africa, they were able to hide the ransom payments as a humanitarian aid payment to the country where -- where the hostages are being held. And the money is then transferred to the terrorists by -- by the host country.
It is -- it is a growing problem. And as colleagues have said, I think it needs to come out of the shadows. I think that Europe needs to own up to what they're doing and -- and we need to have a frank discussion about this, because what's happening now is that if an American citizen or a British citizen, which is another country that does not pay, if they are taken alongside Europeans, they are the most likely to be killed...
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you...
CALLIMACHI: -- because we don't pay.
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- you talk about this being a hidden debate. I think that's exactly right.
Do you see any sense right now that the Europeans are rethinking their policy?
CALLIMACHI: Not really. I mean we've just had -- we've just had more than a dozen European hostages released from ISIS custody. And the reporting I've done has shown that they've paid between 1.5 and 2 million euros apiece to have them be released.
There's two young Italian women who have recently been -- been kidnapped and we're already hearing stories about Italian officials on the border with Turkey and Syria looking for a go-between to be able to get the ransom money across.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Rukmini Callimachi, thanks very much.
I know you have more reporting coming.
And -- and Richard Clarke, let me bring this to you.
Her -- her point about the bankrolling of terror so significant. ISIS has become such a well-financed group.
CLARKE: Well, George, it's been well-financed in part because it's taken over territory that had banks in it. So it actually is probably the best financed terrorist group we've ever faced.
But this issue of paying for hostages is a very tough one. No one wants their loved one to be killed. They want to do everything when it's them.
But if any American or any Brit, anyone from Europe pays, then we're all at risk. Then we all become targets, those of us who travel in the Middle East.
We can't pay.
STEPHANOPOULOS: No rethinking on the part of the administration?
RADDATZ: I -- I don't think there's any rethinking at all. It -- it certainly is something that should be debated and looked at, but it -- but it's a very complicated issue. And it's true, if you -- if you start paying, they'll probably take more.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK.
Martha Raddatz, Richard Clarke, thanks very much.
We're back in just two minutes with the fallout from Ferguson.
Should America's police wear less SWAT gear and more cameras?
Plus, was it one round too many for President Obama this week?
The roundtable weighs in on that and all the week's politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: The streets of Ferguson are quiet now, but this month's riots have communities all across the country asking if the police have gone too far. Questions about military tactics, lack of diversity, lost trust.
So what lessons can be learned, what changes are coming? Here's ABC's senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas with our closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Ferguson, Missouri, images of anger, tension as a minority community faces off with a police department it clearly does not trust, a showdown with officers looking like soldiers.
Black residents say the protests over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown was the culmination of frustrations that have been building like a ticking time bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been getting harassed so much that we're tired of it. And this is our breaking point.
THOMAS: Some stark numbers hinted at what many could see coming. Ferguson's population 67% African-American. As for the police force, of its 53 officers, only three are black.
Last year, black citizens accounted for 86 percent of vehicles stops and nearly 93 percent of arrests in Ferguson. The imagery, white cops locking up black folks.
Questions of race and policing so intense the feds had no choice but to step in.
The White House ordering a review of programs that provide military grade equipment to police, and the attorney general taking the rare step of coming to Ferguson at a moment of crisis, promising an independent investigation.
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The national outcry we have seen speaks to a sense of mistrust and mutual suspicion.
THOMAS: In this case, mistrust over a shooting where the facts still aren't clear. Was Brown shot six times by a policeman because he was attacking the officer, or was it an execution, excessive force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You promised an aggressive and independent investigation, but you can't guarantee that the facts will lead to a prosecution.
HOLDER: We will try to do this as expeditiously as we can.
On the other hand, at the end of the day it's most important that we get it right.
THOMAS: We've been here before. The images out of Ferguson are haunting and familiar -- Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Oakland, cities consumed by racial turmoil after charges of police brutality against blacks. Have any lessons been learned?
After riots in Cincinnati in 2001 following the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by police, use of force policies were rewritten and police partnered with community groups.
Activist Iris Roley (ph).
IRIS ROLEY (ph), ACTIVIST: We've come a long way from where we were in 2001. Change doesn't come easy. If anyone is attempting to try to reform police department without their community, it's not going to work.
THOMAS: Cincinnati has also tried new technology, officers wearing body cameras as part of their uniforms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get on the ground. Get on the ground.
THOMAS: Roley (ph) thinks such tools could help other cities.
ROLEY (ph): The body cameras will definitely help to have the checks and balances and the accountability that citizens are screaming to have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
THOMAS: And Pierre joins us now, along with New York's former police commissioner Ray Kelly, now an ABC news consultant; and from St. Louis this morning, Congressman William Lacy Clay.
And Congressman, let me begin with you. We've had a couple of days of quiet now in Ferguson. What are you hearing on the ground today? And what's the most important thing for Ferguson going forward?
REP. WILLIAM LACY CLAY, (D) MISSOURI: Well, first of all, George, tomorrow we will bury Michael Brown and I think this past week with the presence of Attorney General Holder, he brought a calming force here to St. Louis to Ferguson and it kind of reinforced people's trust that at least on one track there will be an above board, thorough investigation on the part of the federal government, especially with the FBI here as well as the U.S. Department of Justice.
THOMAS: You know, the front page of your hometown paper this morning, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, really points out one of the big problems here. It's called out of balance. And it shows the disparity between the populations and the number of minorities on the police force. And pretty stunning numbers right there in some of the communities, 70 percent disparity.
How do you fix that?
CLAY: Well, first of all, let's -- we need to have a conversation about how the system has failed a -- a predominately African-American population. When you look at a city like Ferguson, it tells us that we need to have a more diverse police force, and that the police that do police the African-American community have to be sensitive and understand the culture and we have to treat people different, with respect.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, congressman.
Finally, you've been critical of the military tactics of the police, yet just two months ago you voted against legislation that would have prevented the military from distributing those heavy weapons and equipment. So why?
CLAY: Well, the program was intended to provide weapons to fight well armed drug cartels and to respond to any future terrorist attack in a community. And over 350 members of the House voted against the Grayson amendment.
But after seeing the optics in Ferguson, well-armed police forces pointing guns at my constituents who were assembled peacefully, George, I knew that it was time for a review. And I want to thank the president for announcing that review after Congressman Cleaver and I met with Secretary Hagel this week.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, congressman, thanks very much.
I want to bring that question to Ray Kelly right now. The White House now announcing a review of this military program that the dispatch of military equipment to these local police forces, but just several years ago after 9/11, these local police forces clamoring for it.
How do we deal with this tension?
RAY KELLY, FRM. NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, first of all, I think the grant from the Justice Department and Homeland Security have been very positive for law enforcement post 9/11 world, grants for communications equipment, training, cameras, that sort of thing. A major grant to help us defend New York City with the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative.
I think the military equipment, the distribution of excess military equipment, has to be examined. The optics, as the congressman said, are not good. People get uneasy when they see Humvees, military vehicles, heavy weapons.
I think the fundamental question is what is the need? Do we need that equipment? And does it make people feel like the police are an occupying on me?
So as far as the military distribution of equipment, I think it deserves examination. Perhaps, this equipment is stored on the state level and distributed when there is a major emergency.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Only in case of a major crisis.
Meanwhile, this question of cameras, Pierre. In places where it's been tried, you do see incidents of misconduct go down.
THOMAS: Well, one of the things that it gives a clear understanding of exactly what happened. And when you have mistrust in the African-American community to the police department, it allows a calming effect.
In Cincinnati, for example, when there would be a controversial incident, what they would do is roll out the tape. And people could see precisely what happened and that had a calming effect.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And commissioner, this whole question of whether the police departments reflect the communities they serve, here in New York you've had to deal with that and put in a concerted effort to make sure you do have a diverse force.
KELLY: Right. New York City, the police office in rank is majority minority. We have police officers born in 106 countries. So, it's so important to have a police force that reflects, or at least better reflects the community that you serve. I think you need an aggressive pro-active recruiting campaign.
I think you have to also look at consolidation in St. Louis County. There are 60 police departments in St. Louis County. So they can do joint recruiting and obviously there's potential for saving money if you consolidate some of those departments.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Anything the federal government can do here on that front?
THOMAS: Well, I think money, providing money to fund some of those diversity programs is key. But I would just say training, training, training.
The indisputable fact is that African-American males do commit a large amount of the crime, but you have to have the training to apply your resources and your investigations to the specific case and not see skin color.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Pierre Thomas, Ray Kelly, thanks very much.
Roundtable is next. President Obama taking some heat for what some call a tepid response to riots in Ferguson. Is there a right way for him to talk about race.
And as Rick Perry's indictment actually boosting his presidential hopes. That's in two minutes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The streets of Ferguson are quiet now, but this month's riots have communities all across the country asking if the police have gone too far. Questions about military tactics, lack of diversity, lost trust.
So what lessons can be learned, what changes are coming? Here's ABC's senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas with our closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Ferguson, Missouri, images of anger, tension as a minority community faces off with a police department it clearly does not trust, a showdown with officers looking like soldiers.
Black residents say the protests over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown was the culmination of frustrations that have been building like a ticking time bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been getting harassed so much that we're tired of it. And this is our breaking point.
THOMAS: Some stark numbers hinted at what many could see coming. Ferguson's population 67% African-American. As for the police force, of its 53 officers, only three are black.
Last year, black citizens accounted for 86 percent of vehicles stops and nearly 93 percent of arrests in Ferguson. The imagery, white cops locking up black folks.
Questions of race and policing so intense the feds had no choice but to step in.
The White House ordering a review of programs that provide military grade equipment to police, and the attorney general taking the rare step of coming to Ferguson at a moment of crisis, promising an independent investigation.
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The national outcry we have seen speaks to a sense of mistrust and mutual suspicion.
THOMAS: In this case, mistrust over a shooting where the facts still aren't clear. Was Brown shot six times by a policeman because he was attacking the officer, or was it an execution, excessive force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You promised an aggressive and independent investigation, but you can't guarantee that the facts will lead to a prosecution.
HOLDER: We will try to do this as expeditiously as we can.
On the other hand, at the end of the day it's most important that we get it right.
THOMAS: We've been here before. The images out of Ferguson are haunting and familiar -- Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Oakland, cities consumed by racial turmoil after charges of police brutality against blacks. Have any lessons been learned?
After riots in Cincinnati in 2001 following the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by police, use of force policies were rewritten and police partnered with community groups.
Activist Iris Roley (ph).
IRIS ROLEY (ph), ACTIVIST: We've come a long way from where we were in 2001. Change doesn't come easy. If anyone is attempting to try to reform police department without their community, it's not going to work.
THOMAS: Cincinnati has also tried new technology, officers wearing body cameras as part of their uniforms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get on the ground. Get on the ground.
THOMAS: Roley (ph) thinks such tools could help other cities.
ROLEY (ph): The body cameras will definitely help to have the checks and balances and the accountability that citizens are screaming to have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Pierre joins us now, along with New York's former police commissioner Ray Kelly, now an ABC news consultant; and from St. Louis this morning, Congressman William Lacy Clay.
And Congressman, let me begin with you. We've had a couple of days of quiet now in Ferguson. What are you hearing on the ground today? And what's the most important thing for Ferguson going forward?
REP. WILLIAM LACY CLAY, (D) MISSOURI: Well, first of all, George, tomorrow we will bury Michael Brown and I think this past week with the presence of Attorney General Holder, he brought a calming force here to St. Louis to Ferguson and it kind of reinforced people's trust that at least on one track there will be an above board, thorough investigation on the part of the federal government, especially with the FBI here as well as the U.S. Department of Justice.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, the front page of your hometown paper this morning, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, really points out one of the big problems here. It's called out of balance. And it shows the disparity between the populations and the number of minorities on the police force. And pretty stunning numbers right there in some of the communities, 70 percent disparity.
How do you fix that?
CLAY: Well, first of all, let's -- we need to have a conversation about how the system has failed a -- a predominately African-American population. When you look at a city like Ferguson, it tells us that we need to have a more diverse police force, and that the police that do police the African-American community have to be sensitive and understand the culture and we have to treat people different, with respect.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, congressman.
Finally, you've been critical of the military tactics of the police, yet just two months ago you voted against legislation that would have prevented the military from distributing those heavy weapons and equipment. So why?
CLAY: Well, the program was intended to provide weapons to fight well armed drug cartels and to respond to any future terrorist attack in a community. And over 350 members of the House voted against the Grayson amendment.
But after seeing the optics in Ferguson, well-armed police forces pointing guns at my constituents who were assembled peacefully, George, I knew that it was time for a review. And I want to thank the president for announcing that review after Congressman Cleaver and I met with Secretary Hagel this week.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, congressman, thanks very much.
I want to bring that question to Ray Kelly right now. The White House now announcing a review of this military program that the dispatch of military equipment to these local police forces, but just several years ago after 9/11, these local police forces clamoring for it.
How do we deal with this tension?
RAY KELLY, FRM. NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, first of all, I think the grant from the Justice Department and Homeland Security have been very positive for law enforcement post 9/11 world, grants for communications equipment, training, cameras, that sort of thing. A major grant to help us defend New York City with the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative.
I think the military equipment, the distribution of excess military equipment, has to be examined. The optics, as the congressman said, are not good. People get uneasy when they see Humvees, military vehicles, heavy weapons.
I think the fundamental question is what is the need? Do we need that equipment? And does it make people feel like the police are an occupying on me?
So as far as the military distribution of equipment, I think it deserves examination. Perhaps, this equipment is stored on the state level and distributed when there is a major emergency.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Only in case of a major crisis.
Meanwhile, this question of cameras, Pierre. In places where it's been tried, you do see incidents of misconduct go down.
THOMAS: Well, one of the things that it gives a clear understanding of exactly what happened. And when you have mistrust in the African-American community to the police department, it allows a calming effect.
In Cincinnati, for example, when there would be a controversial incident, what they would do is roll out the tape. And people could see precisely what happened and that had a calming effect.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And commissioner, this whole question of whether the police departments reflect the communities they serve, here in New York you've had to deal with that and put in a concerted effort to make sure you do have a diverse force.
KELLY: Right. New York City, the police office in rank is majority minority. We have police officers born in 106 countries. So, it's so important to have a police force that reflects, or at least better reflects the community that you serve. I think you need an aggressive pro-active recruiting campaign.
I think you have to also look at consolidation in St. Louis County. There are 60 police departments in St. Louis County. So they can do joint recruiting and obviously there's potential for saving money if you consolidate some of those departments.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Anything the federal government can do here on that front?
THOMAS: Well, I think money, providing money to fund some of those diversity programs is key. But I would just say training, training, training.
The indisputable fact is that African-American males do commit a large amount of the crime, but you have to have the training to apply your resources and your investigations to the specific case and not see skin color.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Pierre Thomas, Ray Kelly, thanks very much.
Roundtable is next. President Obama taking some heat for what some call a tepid response to riots in Ferguson. Is there a right way for him to talk about race.
And as Rick Perry's indictment actually boosting his presidential hopes. That's in two minutes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: First, there are big winners of the week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, George's pick. Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol are George's big winners of the week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were tough words from the Bush administration today in response to Iraq's latest moves. Mr. Bush was trying to enjoy his Maine vacation as best he could under difficult circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Clinton and his family head off to Martha's Vineyard today. Mr. Clinton leaves behind independent counsel Kenneth Starr and his grand jury.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers.
Thank you.
Now watch this drive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to Martha's Vineyard now, where the president is on vacation with his family.
And some Republicans are criticizing the president for hitting the links while our military is striking these targets in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: It happens every August.
With us now with the roundtable, Bill Kristol, editor of "The Weekly Standard," Democratic Congresswoman Donna Edwards from Maryland, David Plouffe, President Obama's former campaign manager and White House strategist and Peggy Noonan from "The Wall Street Journal."
And I want to show some of these headlines from this week.
Right now, we saw the president taking some real heat right there, including in your magazine, Bill Kristol.
You called -- "The Weekly Standard" calls this "appalling. The only timeless value the president seems willing to stand for is golf."
BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Well, I think we call this policies (INAUDIBLE). If he were pursuing good process, if I had left 10,000 troops in Iraq and we're bombing the heck out of ISIS, I would say go ahead and play golf, Mr. President.
The problem is his policies. It's not just vacation.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So he did -- but -- but -- but there was a lot of criticism, David Plouffe, of the vacation. I was surprised. I mean no one begrudges the president a vacation.
But it was the juxtaposition of that statement about James Foley with a -- a round of golf just an hour later.
It's a mistake, right?
DAVID PLOUFFE, WHITE HOUSE STRATEGIST: I don't think so. I mean I think that it was a very powerful statement. And you showed some clips before we joined you.
This is a -- a political tradition, uh, when Peggy's boss would go to California, deep criticism when President -- both President Bushes went away, President Clinton.
So when you're the president of the United States, you're never really on vacation. You're on, as you know, on 24-7.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes. PLOUFFE: And I think this whole discussion of optics is something that fascinates Washington, but it really doesn't fascinate the American people. They're interested in, you know, what he had to say that day and also in what we're going to do to confront the threat.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Peggy?
PEGGY NOONAN, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": I think what your old boss is doing here is very dangerous for him and in an optics way. It has to do with making real -- making into a metaphor something that people already think. There's already a sense out there from Democrats and Republicans that the president seems a little bit disengaged from the process and a little detached from what's going on.
For him repeatedly to be -- to be showing, for many months now, that vacation and golf and all of these things are so terribly important to him, underscores the original charge of a certain detachment and disengagement.
Nobody begrudges a president going away, but people are impressed when a David Cameron, during a crisis like this moment with ISIS, comes back from his first day of vacation to do his job.
And they're impressed when the French, I think, foreign minister says to Mr. Obama, sometimes you have to stop having fun, you have to be doing the job.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Congresswoman, there was the president -- and he is going to be coming back to Washington tonight. And we heard from Chairman McCaul. He says that Congress should be coming up with a new authorization once troops War Powers authority runs out.
There's going to be some resistance that I would imagine inside the Democratic ranks of the House.
REP. DONNA EDWARDS (D), MARYLAND: Well, I think this is a -- I mean but we need to have the debate. I think that's really important. I don't think the president can continue beyond the War Powers authorization without an authorization from -- from Congress if that is what Congress chooses -- chooses to do.
So I'm looking forward to the -- to the debate. And I have to tell you, this -- filling (ph) around the president golfing is ridiculous. This president has taken 200 fewer days of vacation than President Bush. And, you know, the American people know that the president is president 24-7.
STEPHANOPOULOS: On the bigger questions, Bill Kristol, you know, it struck me how quickly this has all moved, you know, from ISIS being, you know, a minor threat, the president talking about it several months ago as the junior varsity, to now the -- "an imminent threat," the words of Chuck Hagel, to the United States.
And -- and I guess I wonder, is there a danger here of overreacting?
KRISTOL: I wish there were, but I think this remains -- the fundamental danger remains under-reaction. Back in January, when the president said to David Remnick, we've decimated al Qaeda, Core Al Qaeda, as they like to say, it's just the JV now, the ambassador -- our ambassador to Iraq, appointed by President Obama, Robert Beecroft, was telling Martha Raddatz -- she reported this on -- on your show and here on ABC, that we have a huge problem. There's this group ISIS that has taken over Fallujah and Ramadi and has ambitions to go north.
Someone asked the ambassador, I believe, in private, well, what is the -- well, what is the White House doing about this?
And he kind of shrugged.
So I think the president -- I would like a little overreaction by the president now. I don't think when -- he's coming back from his vacation. He should go to Congress right away to get authorization.
But meanwhile, he's acted under The War Powers Act and he shouldn't wait.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And...
KRISTOL: He shouldn't wait. There's a huge amount of bombing and damage that could be done to ISIS tomorrow if the president orders it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And given the president's rhetoric on Thursday, "a cancer on the country."..
EDWARDS: Yes, Thursday.
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- "on -- on the world," they're going to see a dramatic escalation of action, as well, to match that rhetoric.
NOONAN: Yes. I -- I -- what was very interesting the past week was the comments of Chuck Hagel, not a -- a burly pro-war figure, someone who's been skeptical in the past, saying this is the biggest and the worst thing we've seen in a long time. The comments of General Dempsey, saying essentially the same thing, something big and bad is happening here.
It's part of the reason the president was so criticized for not saying what, in fact, I think Hagel and Dempsey said, do you know what I mean?
They were making presidential-type statements.
EDWARDS: But I think the question -- I mean the question here is really the -- part -- in part, the reluctance because there's not been the political movement that we need to have happen in Iraq to consolidate the Iraqi factions, because otherwise, all the bombing in the world then doesn't stop ISIS from continuing to, you know, to grow and to fester, given the political situation in Iraq. And I think that's what the president is trying to balance.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And, David...
(CROSSTALK)
PLOUFFE: Well, sure. But I think the -- I don't -- I think even his deepest critics would support the notion that when it comes to going after terrorist threats, whether it's in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, this president and the administration have been very, very aggressive. And, obviously, there were strong statements this week about what may be to come.
But I do think there is a conventional wisdom in Washington which is to every problem, let's use our military first and ask other questions later. And it's a real problem. I mean when this president took office, there was 180,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're going to be down under 10,000 once we draw down in Afghanistan.
So I think we have to ask these hard questions, because we've seen what happens when you use the military first and really don't have a strategy afterwards.
KRISTOL: The president has been president for almost six years. You can talk about asking the hard questions and having the debate.
You know what?
All the military power in the world would degrade ISIS an awful lot. We can worry about the Iraqi government, we can worry about what's happening elsewhere. If we bomb ISIS command and control, training camps, etc. In Iraq and Syria, we can do a lot of damage.
EDWARDS: Well, the reality is that the political situation that's been created that allows ISIS to fester now in Iraq was actually created by an administration, the Bush administration, that actually didn't ask the hard questions and didn't tell the truth when we got in in the first place. And now this president has to clean up that mess.
STEPHANOPOULOS: We've got to take a quick break.
Before we go to that break, our Powerhouse Puzzler, inspired by tomorrow night Emmy Awards. It turns out the award was supposed to have a different name, but the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences rejected the proposal because it resembled this presidential nickname.
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STEPHANOPOULOS: OK. The Emmy was almost called this presidential nickname, let's see who got it right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The "Ike."
STEPHANOPOULOS: The "Ike," that's right. I could barely understand the question, the "Dwighty."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The "Dwighty."
STEPHANOPOULOS: "Ike," that's right. You need to watch more TV, or not. It was Eisenhower because Ike was short for TV's iconoscopic tube. But it was scrapped because it was also the nickname of an American war hero, General Dwight Eisenhower.
And like our current president, Eisenhower took some heat, good-natured and not, for his love of golf. We'll be back with more "Roundtable" after this.
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STEPHANOPOULOS: There is Attorney General Eric Holder in Ferguson, Missouri, this week. As we've said, it has calmed down right now. But big questions ahead, not only for that community, but for the country. Attorney General Eric Holder working on that.
We're back now on the "Roundtable." And, Congresswoman Edwards, let me bring this to you. This has become a very tricky issue for the president, talking about race, talking about civil rights in the wake of Ferguson.
They don't want to pre-judge the investigation, but they want to show action, show engagement.
EDWARDS: Yes, and I think the right thing to do, of course, was to send the attorney general and to have the Justice Department, frankly, engaged in this investigation since two days after the incident.
And I think that that shows the commitment of the president to make sure that we get to the truth and get justice.
And I have to tell you, as a -- you know, I think I'm the only one around the table who is a mother of a young black man. And this is something that could have happened in any community across this country.
And I think that's the thing that has so startled both the nation but not surprised many African-Americans.
KRISTOL: I don't think he should have sent Eric Holder there. I think the Justice Department should investigate, as it investigates many cases, I suppose. Or maybe it doesn't investigate many cases when police officers use force, perhaps excessive force, we don't know, I guess a young man, in this case, unfortunately, killed him.
But having Eric Holder personally go, I think, makes it more of a national issue than it really is. It's an issue of local law enforcement. And makes it more of a racial issue than we -- than it may be really be.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The problem is, Peggy Noonan, none of us really knows yet what actually happened in those 20 seconds in Ferguson...
(CROSSTALK)
NOONAN: But we've had a lot of talk, a lot of shouting, pushing and yelling, and a lot of pain. But the fact is -- and all levels of government I think failed to distinguish themselves in Ferguson.
But what we have a deficit of is real information. We actually don't know exactly what happened when that young man was shot. We don't know what happened afterwards to the policeman.
So, so much is unknown. The worst thing officials on the ground there could do now is not do the most thorough, fair-minded, substantive investigation, and then communication of what they have found.
Put all the proof out there, everything. It would be terrible if they don't do that. I can't believe they would be that stupid. So I expect they will report what happened.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And, David, this could take some time. I think the prosecutors are saying it could take until October. And clearly the civil rights investigation would have to wait until that was completed.
PLOUFFE: I would think so. Yes. And I think the point is there are two investigations going on right now. I agree with Peggy, it's not just that things are thorough, there has to be more transparency.
There was little transparency in the days after, and I think that added to the tumult down there. So things have settled down now, but I think everyone ought to just step back now and wait for the facts and law enforcement to do their job.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK. I want to turn to another issue this week, and that has some legal and political implications. Texas Governor Rick Perry, of course, facing that indictment, was arraigned this week, went straight from that to New Hampshire.
And there still seemed to be, Bill Kristol, I know you spoke with him as well this week, some sense now, and open to debate, that this might actually be helping his potential run for president, getting indicted.
KRISTOL: Well, the indictment seems ridiculous, the two statutes under which he is -- (INAUDIBLE) indicted were really for -- to go after bribery of public officials. This is nothing like this. This is a threat to veto an appropriation for a part of Texas government that he thought was being run badly.
And it's a standard thing that governors do. And it sure -- he went ahead and vetoed this particular appropriation, as Texas governors and other governors have vetoed a million different appropriations.
So I think it's a ridiculous legal proceeding. I saw him Thursday in Washington. He seemed cheerful. And he gave a very good speech, actually, in which he really discussed foreign policy, in my view, intelligently and forcefully.
And then he went up to New Hampshire Friday. I think he will be a real candidate this time.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Agree?
NOONAN: I think, yes, it was local Democratic overreach. It's just a dumb case. I don't think it should have been brought. Naturally he looks like someone who is...
STEPHANOPOULOS: But the prosecutor is a former Republican, I think.
NOONAN: That may be. But when you look at this case, it just looks crazy. Everything that Perry is accused of doing, he apparently did publicly. He said, oh, my gosh, this woman should step down.
She -- you know, she was in an embarrassing escapade. She won't step down. He says, I'm going to veto the appropriation. This is not backroom dirty, nasty dealing. This is politics as it is normally played.
EDWARDS: Well, I don't know, I guess we're going to let this play out. But apparently there are actually two other instances where there have been prosecutors who have misbehaved in the same kind of way, and Rick Perry didn't use the same authority against them.
And, as you've said, I mean, it's a Republican prosecutor who is pursuing this case. I guess we'll just let the legal process play out. And Rick Perry will run for president.
PLOUFFE: Right. We just talked in the previous discussion about letting investigations and legal process (INAUDIBLE) play out. I do think, you know, he's utilizing this, I think, smartly politically.
I mean, I think this will help him become more of a darling for the Republican primary voter. And, you know, he has had a good few months. So who would have thought after '12 you would say, he's a credible GOP nominee?
But at this point, he's as credible as anybody.
(CROSSTALK)
NOONAN: The glasses.
(LAUGHTER)
STEPHANOPOULOS: We heard from Hillary Clinton this week. She is heading to Iowa for the Steak Fry for -- Tom Harkin's Steak Fry next month. But I was most struck by someone else in Iowa this week, Jim Webb, the former senator from Virginia in Iowa talking on their Iowa press program.
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JIM WEBB, FORMER SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA: I think we ought to have more Democrats coming out here. We need to stimulate the debate about where the country is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: I don't know if he could win, David Plouffe, but he could be the most -- potentially the most dangerous challenger to Hillary Clinton in this.
PLOUFFE: Well, she would -- if she runs, and she's got to make that decision, she'll be the strongest nonincumbent candidate we've ever seen in history of American politics, certainly in the modern primary system.
So, I think there's very little room. But, you know, there were will be one or two people emerge. And it's smart to go to Iowa. I think it's Tom Harkins last steak fry, former boss. You've got to go there. And I was not only the first contest in the primary, it's a battleground state. And, you know, my guess is whoever wins Iowa has a 75, 80 percent chance to be the next president.
STEPHANOPOULOS: As President Obama showed.
KRISTOL: I like Jim Webb. I mean, I voted against him in 2006 in Virginia as a Republican, but he wrote a cover story for the Weekly Standard in 1997. It would be great to have a Weekly Standard contributor running in November. It would help him a lot in the Democrat -- no, but he is an impressive guy. And you know what, if -- to the degree that foreign policy and military policy is front and center, which I think it will be in 2016, and to the degree to which secretary of State Clinton can be heard by having been part of that administration for four years that's gotten us into this mess, I think Jim Webb would be an interesting candidate.
NOONAN: I think he'd have a lot of appeal potentially for the reasons Bill mentioned, but also because his experience is very broad, very interesting, has some Republican, some Democrat, it's really an interesting thing. He is accomplished and yet inarguably clean. That can be powerful.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Your Governor Martin O'Malley also taking a look at it. Put you in a difficult spot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, it doesn't put me in a difficult spot at all.
Let me talk about Jim Webb. I mean, I think Jim Webb has a really strong sense of social justice and that, in addition to his military experience, and he was one of the first to raise this issue of increased sentencing and he was one of the first to raise this issue of increased sentencing and disproportionate sentencing, I think, in the Senate. And I think it would be interesting to hear from him during this debate.
But, you know, I'm probably for the other woman in the race.
(LAUGHTER)
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, we'll see what happens.
With that, thank you all very much.
Up next, our friend Ann Compton in our Sunday spotlight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Our Sunday spotlight shines today on Ann Compton, our friend and colleague seen there with President Obama, and granddaughter Olivia, one of so many special White House moments for Ann, about to retire after a path breaking 41 years at ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANN COMPTON, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Ann Compton.
Ann Compton.
Ann Compton, ABC News, the White House.
I was 27 years old when I first came up this driveway. I still feel the sense of kind of privilege and responsibility for being here.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And for over four decades, Ann has done it all with skill, grace and good humor.
COMPTON: Here we go.
I have outlived some of the trees on the lawn.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Covering every presidential campaign since 1976.
COMPTON: --income tax, isn't the phrase no new taxes misleading the voters?
STEPHANOPOULOS: At the White House with seven presidents.
COMPTON: Would you answer a subpoena? Would Mrs. Clinton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Annie (ph), can you hear me?
COMPTON: Yes, Peter, I can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing in Nebraska?
COMPTON: President Bush is here at the home of the strategic command.
STEPHANOPOULOS: On September 11, she was the only broadcast reporter with the president on Air Force One.
COMPTON: I think the White House could have thrown us out, could have thrown the press off the plane. I think they did the right thing to make sure the press had to be there to tell not only the American people, but the world what the president was doing and that the U.S. government was sound.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Ann witnessed history every day just doing her job.
COMPTON: The core of it, it's exactly what it's always been. We have to have somebody here all the time, the specialists who know everything about the president, what he's promised to do on taxes, whether he'll eat broccoli.
OBAMA: I just want to say publicly Ann we're going to miss you. We hope you're not a stranger around here.
COMPTON: I'm often asked, do you have a favorite moment with the president and I remember being stunned, President George Herbert Walker Bush was about to send a half million American soldiers into the desert for combat. And he comes to the -- back to the White House and he makes a statement on the South Lawn, and I asked him a question. And he kind of barked at me.
The next day, I get an apology note. At the bottom, he signed it, his initials G.B. and a smiley face wearing a frown. I thought that was a remarkable moment for a president to take time to do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Pretty remarkable. And I cannot imagine anyone barking at Ann Compton, she never misses a beat, always has a smile on her face, and has done such tremendous work. Congratulations, Ann.
We want to go back now, out to California where Ryan Owens is tracking this earthquake hitting northern California this morning. What's the latest, Ryan?
OWENS: George, good morning, a 6.0 quake -- and the latest is we have some new reports of injuries, a hospital in Napa Valley, which of course is north of the San Francisco Bay Area. This morning he's reporting they have 70 -- 7-0 -- patients with mostly minor injuries. Still no reports of any serious injuries.
Now that the sun is up, we're getting a better picture of some of the damage, a lot of it in downtown Napa.
In addition, the highway patrol there is reporting that there are some cracks in some area roadways.
The best we can tell, the most significant damage is what you were just seeing that fire at a mobile home park, the problem there being that firefighters did not have any water to battle the blaze because of a water main break.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you're still dealing with some aftershocks, correct Ryan?
OWENS: That's right, at least two dozen of them, most of them minor, but one about 3.6. So that's something that some people may well have felt.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And there could be some for several days. I know you're going to stay on top of it. Ryan Owens, thank you very much.
Now, we are going to honor our fellow Americans who serve and sacrifice.
This week, the Pentagon released the name of one soldier killed in Afghanistan.
And that is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out World News with David Muir tonight. And I'll see you tomorrow on GMA.