Transcripts For KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos 20130908

All that right here this sunday morning. Hello again. It wasnt on the agenda one month ago, but now the vote to use military force in syria has become the most critical test of the obama presidency. The stakes are high. Americas security and credibility on the line. So is the balance of power between the president and congress, and the rest of the agenda in the second term. Right now its a vote the president would lose. Abcs whip count in the house shows 229 members likely in the no camp, only 44 are likely to vote question are. And more on that from abc News White House correspondent john karl. The situation a bit better in the senate. This is an uphill battle for the white house, and they know it. Reporter thats right. Even white house officials acknowledge if the vote were today, the president would lose. But they are promising a massive effort to turn that around. This is the biggest congressional effort by the white house since the battle over health care in the first year as president. Its a visible effort. First the president doing six Network Television interviews, National Interviews tomorrow. Therell be a big address to the nation on tuesday. And, george, the most interesting thing, they have enlisted former members of the Bush Administration to make the case for republicans. Including bushs former National Security adviser Steven Hadley whos talking directly to republican members of congress. But the president is making a personal effort. Individual members to the white house and into the situation room to show classified evidence. One key thing that is not happening here, the president s grassroots army, organizing for america, 30 million twitter followers, they are on the sidelines. They will not be taking part. Not a lot of support from the president s base. But what if he cant turn this around . The white house is dancing over that question. Reporter thats the big question, especially with the vote count. I tried to ask that to the president , he told me point blank he would not give me a direct answer. But what i can say, some of his top advisers say they cannot conceive of him Going Forward if Congress Says no. On the other hand, weve had military officials tell us given where the planning is, they cant see pulling the plug either. Thanks very much. Right to the president s chief of staff, Denis Mcdonough. So many questions about the president and what he would do. If he cant succeed in the getting the votes in the next couple of weeks. As john pointed out, the president did not directly answer the question on friday. But he said his call to congress was not a political ploy or symbolism. And he went on to say this. I put it before congress because i could not honestly claim that the threat posed by assads use of chemical weapons posed an imminent, direct threat to the United States. With those words, hasnt the president effectively ruled out taking any action if the Congress Votes no . George, i think its important for us to before we jump to conclusions, i admire john karls reporting, but look, ive been talking to dozens of members of congress over the last week. Not a single one has rebut order refused the intelligence. Which is to say everybody agrees that on august 21st, assad used chemical weapons against his own people. So the question for congress this week is a very simple one. Should there be consequences for his having used gases, chemical weapons, to kill more than a thousand of his own people, including more than 400 children . The answer to that question will be followed closely in tehran. The answer will be followed closely in damascus, followed very closely by members of lebanese hezbollah. This is a big question and big week to address that for congress, the fundamental National Security issue. As the president said, we didnt go to congress because we thought this was an empty exercise. We are investing a lot of time and effort in this because we think congress should be a full partner in our National Security matters, and when they are, were stronger as a country. Members of Congress Need to understand that if they want to see assad held to account for this activity, they should vote yes on the resolution. I understand thats the argument, but members of congress arent buying in, at least not yet. And some have raised the specter of impeachment if the president goes forward in the absence of congressional approval. Heres duncan hunter, republican of california. I think hes breaking the law if he strikes without congressional approval and if he proceeds without congress providing that authority, it should be considered an Impeachable Offense. How will the president factor that into his final decision . The president is focused on right now, george, is the National Security implications of what is undeniably and unrebutted intelligence which suggests that the assad regime use chemical weapons against its own people, killing 400 children. Thats what hes focused on right now. We believe that we have the capability in place to do it. Congress should be the full partner in the effort. Thats what were focused on. Thats the question before congress this week. My hunch is you know washington better than anybody, george. Therell be all sorts of distractions and other things that try to knock us off our game. But thats the question before us and congress this week. I know youre not going to give a yes or no on answer on what the president would do if they dont vote for it. But what are the consequences. You have hinted at some of them. What are the consequences if the president and congress cant go forward after this . How much damage will that do to the presidency. Ross of the New York Times and many others have said this would finish off the president as a credible actor on the world stage. Do you agree . I really enjoy rosss reporting and writing, hes thoughtful. I have to say that right now politics, all those questions, are going to be debated and worked out by others. Were focused on the National Security question before us. Its a fundamental and important question. Will there be consequences . Now, what were trying to reinforce here and what our allies supported us, reinforcing at the g20 on friday is a prohibition that goes back a hundred years against chemical weapons. Why does that matter . In world war i, the troops were subject to chemical weapons attack regularly. Not since world war i has it seen the same kinds of attacks. Thats important, increases security, reduces the burden against our men and women in the armed forces, who are taking a lot of burdens, by the way. We to want underscore this and think congress should join us in doing it. Facing a lot of opposition. Moveon. Org, strong support of the president backed him up on the opposition to the iraq war. But this new ad exclusively they have given us this new ad theyre going to start running tomorrow. Take a look. He never set out to spend eight years at war in iraq, or to be mired from a decade of fighting in afghanistan. What should america expect if we rush into syria, alone, with no real plan for the consequences . We already know. It gets worse. Meanwhile, senator ted cruz, republican of texas, said they would be serving as alqaedas air force. Youre seeing opposition from both the left and the right, your response . Im outraged for somebody to suggest our people would be serving as allies to alqaeda. One. Two, on the question of what this is and isnt. What this is, george, very clear. Targeted, consequential, limited attack against assad forces. And assad capabilities so that he is deterred from carrying out these actions again. Here is what it is not. Its not boots on the ground, extended air campaign, not iraq, afghanistan, or libya. This is a very concerted, concentrated, limited effort that we can carry out and that can underscore and secure our interests. Finally, yes or no question, will the resolution pass . This resolution is going to pass after we work this this week. Members have been in the districts and states. We have been talking to many of them, dozens of them. When they see the intelligence, they dont rebut it. The bottom line is, they have to answer the question. Should there be consequences . And the answer will be followed closely in tehran, in damascus and elsewhere. Denis mcdonough, thank you very much. Lets go straight to republican senator ted cruz. You heard Denis Mcdonough say he was outraged by your suggestion that American Forces will be serving as alqaedas air force. Good to be with you. And i do agree theres a lot to be outraged about. Number one, all of us are outraged as assads conduct. Hes a brutal murderer, murdered over 100,000 of his citizens, gassed over 1400 people, including over 400 children, and he rightly should be condemned worldwide. But an attack . I think a military attack is a mistake. Why . For two reasons. One, because the administration is proceeding with the wrong objective, and two, because they have no viable plan for success. Theyre beginning from the wrong objective because this attack is not based on defending u. S. National security. It is not based on defending americans or our allies. Its framed by president obama, by secretary kerry, as a defense of what they Call International norms. And i dont think thats the job of our military to be defending amorphous international norms. There are other steps we can do to express strong disapproval to assads murderous conduct. But i dont think its the job of the military. Like what . What would you do . Several things. Number one, there are reports that iraq is allowing iran to fly over and resupply assad. I would right now cut off iraqs 500 million in aid unless they cut off air rights. Number two, we should force a vote in the u. N. Security council condemning the use of chemical weapons to murder his own citizens. We know you know, it would get vetoed. We know russia and china would veto it, they said that. But we should make them veto it on the world stage, and if they do veto it, we should respond by, with respect to russia, we should reinstate the antiballistic missile station that w that was cancelled to appease russia. And with respect to china, we should go through with selling the new f16s to taiwan that this administration that would hurt russia, but what to assad . Syria . We should unify International Opinion condemning him. But the second piece, and, you know, mr. Mcdonough was outraged as the suggestion it would help alqaeda, i agree. But just because assad is a murderous tyrant doesnt mean the opponents are better. In june, the intelligence showed that a benign major alqaeda benign major rebel forces in syria, at least seven appear to be significant ties to alqaeda. The problem is one of two things is possible, either the strike is really significant, it weakens assad and the result is the rebels are able to succeed. And if what happens there is alqaeda taking over, or al nusra taking over, and extremist terrorists getting access to the chemical weapons, that hurts the u. S. National your fellow republican john mccain zbrees. And adam kinzinger, an iraq war vet, also took exception to your comments. Heres what he said. They say if we go in and strike assad that we are acting as, quote, alqaedas air force. I believe thats a cheap line by some people to garner headlines. Cheap line to garner headlines. Well, look. I dont know mr. Kinzinger. I respect his service, hes entitled to his opinions. What i can tell you that was said by dennis kucinich. And where i saw it after that was a current naval sailor who tweeted and said, i didnt sign up to serve as alqaedas air force. The reason why were seeing and ill tell you, this past two weeks i have been traveling across texas, and everywhere in the state of texas, texans saying dont put us in the middle of a sectarian civil war, particularly when doing so would help alqaeda terrorists. Finally, do you think the president has the authority to go forward without congressional support or an Impeachable Offense . I dont think he does. Woe know that from two things. The Supreme Court said when Congress Rejects Congressional Authority which it would do if it votes down this resolution, president ial authority is at its lowest ebb. And the residual president ial ability to act in the declaration of war is based on an imminent threat to the United States. And president obama says there isnt. Would it be an Impeachable Offense . It would be contrary to the constitution. This is not the time for listen. Politics. Listen. This is a grave and serious moment. I would like to support our commander in chief. Focused on protecting u. S. National security. One of the problems with the focus on syria is its missing the ball from what we should be focused on, which is the grave threat from radical islamic terrorism. This is the oneyear attack on benghazi. In four benghazi, four americans were killed. It was the first ambassador killed since 1979. When it happened, the president promised to hunt them down, and yet a few months later, the issue has disappeared. You dont hear the president mention it. Its a phoney scandal. We should be defending u. S. National security and going after radical islamic terrorists. We will be talking with them in just a moment. Thank you very much. Thank you. Those interviews moments ago. Conn kinzinger, donna brazile, dan senor, a cofounder of the Foreign Policy initiative, katrina vanden huevel, and greta van susteren. Welcome to all of you. And let me begin with you, you are a republican congressman supporting the president on this. But you have a big intraparty battle in both parties. The president doesnt have the votes now. Can he get them . Is he making the right case . Its going to be difficult to get votes. It goes back not just to the issue itself, but you cant start to build a relationship with congress for the first time when you need their support on Something Like this. A week and a half ago, my Office Reached out to the white house and said we support the strike, we will help you round up support. I havent heard back from the white house. I havent heard back from anyone. I dont know who my white house liaison is who is creating the relationship. Now we have a situation where i think the president has made the decision, correctly, that the cost of using chemical weapons should far exceed the benefit that anybody gains from it, and hes trying to build a relationship with congress, and theres a trust deficit. Hes having trouble with his own party. Lots of democrats in the house especially saying we dont to want go along with the president. Can he turn it around . And what must he do to turn it around . The president has to give a forceful speech. The bible says, if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for battle . The president comes out and gives the American People the evidence he is seeing. If he is consistent in explaining why its in americas best interest, he may be able to move some of the democrats. But they dont want to hand a defeat like his enemies, his opponents. But they want to make sure they can go back and explain to their constituents this was a vote of conscious and a vote in favor of americas security. Many of the move on democrats are opposed to it. And theyre passionate about the opposition. Donna mentions the uncertain trumpet. Greta van susteren, thats part of the problem for the president. Why is anyone surprised that the president s having trouble . This happened august 21st. Hes been seen on the golf course. The house is not called back in session, the senate is not called back in session. And all these leaders want us to take them seriously this is very important. Where are they . Its not leadership. Im not surprised that the American People are distressed. The example they are setting this is so serious, yet they are showing by their actions showing its not particularly serious enough to come in and work and sell the story to the American People. You have seen a lot of republicans who have supported military action in the past just taking a pass here, saying no way theyre going to support the president. Two camps within the republican world right now. Republican universe. One is the rand paul camp, loosely defined, isolationist, doesnt want to be engaged in the world. No matter what, cant be moved. Theres another camp, which has been supportive of engagement, but they dont trust obama. They dont have confidence in him. They dont think hes competent. And the problem with that argument is it means theyre not going to be able to be for any type of military force anywhere for the next three years. President obama is the commander in chief for the next three year s. If they dont have confidence, what message does that send to tehran . We want to be presenting a credible threat of military no, sir force in order to stop the nuclear program. What do you think theyre seeing when the congress prevents the president. They are unlikely allies with a lot of progressives. They are. I want to step back. Ultimately any resolution of the human catastrophe in syria, the sectarian civil war is going to demand a political solution. And i think the president in this these next days is waging an intensive campaign to launch military strikes. Its a false choice. Its not bombs or nothing. Forceful diplomacy is more important than the threat of force. Dont you need the threat of force behind that . I think you need to deal with the human catastrophe in syria not by bombing, but by alleviating the misery of 2 million refugees, not surgical strikes which may lead to more civilian casualties, and not emboldening a resistance feeling america is on their side. And who knows who the rebels are. The most important thing is after americas been at war continuously since 2011. Iraq poisoned the well. Americans are deeply skeptical of military intervention if theres no imminent threat, and the president conceded that in the press conference in russia. That was a big point. Which is a very tricky thing to persuade a nation when gallup is saying support for military action is the lowest than at any time they have polled. How do you take him seriously, members of Congress Wont come back and this is so important but they wouldnt come back since august 21st. This is the most important decision they have to make about war. And this is war. If they dont come off the five week vacation lets will be clear, the president of the United States said, hey, im going to have Congress Come back on september 9th. I went back this week to have a hearing on this issue. You dont have to wait for him to call you back. Yeah, he went to the g20. Nothing is going to happen. What about the warweary americans . Were warweary, tired, but this is a moment in time where i think in ten, 20, 30 years, the history books are going to say this was a redefining moment in world history. And what was the United States doing . Did we find ourselves warweary, in a position where iraq was terrible, afghanistan was rough, were just going to disengage from the world. We tried that in the 20s and 30s and we saw what came as a result of that. This is a moment we have to step up. And i think the president is ready to make the case to the American People. Hes regime ready to put the links out there, the links that have been missing in terms of why this is important for americas interest. If they are in the hands of wrong people, hezbollah, others, this could impact the u. S. And our allies. Let me just look, we talk the opposition, we talk about this Rebel Movement thats fighting. Theyre going to see one of two things happen, either going to see u. S. Missiles taking out Syrian Military facilities or not. And assads regime will continue to use chemical weapons. The things theyre going to see hold on. Hold on, so the question is not whether or not we can have this highly parsed, highly nuanced overly interpreted debate. Its a buy their outcome. Either u. S. Engagement or not. Thats the threshold question. I want to step back. Im not an isolationist, and i think theres an opening here for the president who was right to call back congress and seek authorization. He should heed the decision of congress having made that decision. Has to, right . Its an opening. Theres the wisdom his credibility will be tarnished. If he loses the vote. But on the other hand you could argue it wont be because he came to become president by extricating the country from two wars a political solution. 100,000 people are dead, millions of refugees. The path to a political solution how does more military might contribute to the outcome it degrades assad donna then greta. All right. To dans point, he has to make the case. After we deter and degrade, assad will be in power. The atrocities the war will continue. But weaker. The atrocities will continue. The president has to tell a warweary america, but over a trillion dollars, what have we gotten but more hatred toward america . We just saw again yesterday, the pictures being presented to the senate and House Intelligence Committee right now. We have the evidence that people were gassed. Theres no question. Questions about command and control, whether assad ordered it. And doesnt the United States have to draw a line against the use of chemical weapons . I think the United States has to do something, but we have to be smart. We have a shortterm strategy, no longterm strategy. If we take out the military installations, hes got the gas, supplies, still in power. If we take him out, which is not the president s goal at this point, regime change, we have a problem, 26 rebel groups theyre not one good group where we want to work, all these groups. This is a mess. This is the problem, we waited a long time. The lodge longer we wait, the bigger the problem. And its a horrible mess. And the problem is we havent had leadership. Not just picking on the president , on everybody, every member of congress. Sorry, congressman. Its all right. This is something thats been going on for some time, and we have not have a seriousness of purpose about this. 100,000 people are dead and we know it. Congress is not the commander in chief. Theres one. Not 535. The point everybody is under the impression this is the first time a red line has been put out on chemical weapons. We havent faced that since world war i for a reason. In desert storm, george h. W. Bush sent a letter to Saddam Hussein basically saying if you use chemical weapons, were going to use anything at our disposal, including nuclear weapons. We created a northern and southern nofly zone over iraq for 12 years because of the absolute disdain for the use of chemical weapons. If we dont enforce the red line today, how to enforce it in the future . Whats the answer . This is a monstrous act, the use of chemical weapons. I think we need more evidence. By the way, there are people i talk to people in congress who seek evidence. Thecht they want the u. N. Inspectors what if you got the evidence . I would still argue that you draw a red line by bringing together the international community, not just the u. S. Unilateral punitive action and refer it to the International Criminal court, call saddam call Bashar Al Assad a war criminal. The military strikes, because the strategic centers in syria are very much clustered around civilian areas, our humanitarian could deepen and i would say and by the way, we should be cautious in condemning. Because we have been come police complicit in the use of chemical weapons as well. Ensure abiding by the chemical weapons convention. Senator manchin, interestingly, in the senate, has a piece of legislation which calls for Bashar Al Assad to join the chemical weapons convention. The president to assemble an International Coalition to destroy assads chemical weapons and to stop proliferation. The criminal court. You say you want a political solution. The administration will say, take assad to the International Criminal court were not a member. Do you think hes going to voluntarily leave power . Im going to leave power and go to the court. The one thing we have not tried, is to use military pressure on assad. I think we can force the norms nonmilitarily. Quick question for everybody. Yes or no, two yes or no questions. Number one, does this pass the congress . Does the president act if it doesnt . Passes the senate. I dont feel confident about the house. And i encourage the president to act regardless. I dont think he will. It may pass the senate. Will not pass the house. And i think as i said earlier, that the president was right in bringing the decision to congress and heed the decision, and his legacy will be stronger. Greta. I agree, pass the senate, not the house. The president said in 2007 to the boston globe that it was that he should go to congress when he was a candidate, and i agree he did the right thing. I dont think he can act. Its not imminent in light of what he has said. I dont think it passes the house. I would encourage all my colleagues on either side of the aisle to put politics aside. This is about team america. This is about moving together as one and doing the right thing. I agree with the congressman, but i dont believe it pass the house. Im a creature of that institution, and theyre not going to go with it. Theres hope that it passes, but the president cant act if it doesnt. Thank you very much. On the anniversary of the benghazi attacks, what happened . Americas top surviving diplomat on the ground in libya speaks out in his first interview. I grew up watching western movies. The cavalry always came. I just thought that they would come. Then the miracle baby born to a member of congress. Its our sunday spotlight. [ daughter ] my dad always talks about the deal he and mom made with me when i was ten. He said, you get the grades to go to college and well help out with the school of your choice. Well, i got the grades and, with dads planning and a lot of hard work, im graduating today with a degree in marine biology. Im so thankful and excited about the future. [ male announcer ] for strategies on how to help your family achieve financial success, visit pacificlife. Com. [ male announcer ] 1. 21 gigawatts. Today, thats easy. Ge is revolutionizing power. Supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. Using data predictively to help power entire cities. So the turbines of today. Will power us all. Into the future. And coming up, the abc news exclusive with the top diplomat in libya during the benghazi attack. His dramatic account of that tragic night is next. Attack. His dramatic account of that tragic night is next. Our Science Teacher helped us build it. Now im a geologist at chevron, and i get to help Science Teachers. It has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. Over the last three years weve put nearly 100 Million Dollars into american education. Thats thousands of kids learning to love science. Isnt that cool . And thats pretty cool. Isnt that cool . And thats pretty cool. Nascar is about excitement. But tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. Thats why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. Hps Technology Helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into realtime Business Insights that help nascar win with our fans. Were talking about people being killed by gas, and you want to go talk about benghazi. Absolutely want to talk about ben gas benghazi. Four americans lost their lives. We dont deserve to drag this into yet another benghazi discussion is whether or not the congress is going to stand up for international norms. One year later, the attack on the u. S. Consulate in benghazi is still a political football. For the americans on the ground, it was a story of heartbreak and the struggle to survive. Greg hicks was the diplomat in charge that night. The only officer who has spoken out about that harrowing night. An abc news exclusive. I have been perplexed and frustrated with the way its all played out. To me, this is a simple story. Ambassador stephens went to benghazi to do his job. To do what he knew secretary clinton wanted him to do. And he was attacked while he was there. And the american staff in benghazi and in tripoli responded as we have been trained to do in an amazing way to save the lives of our people in benghazi. Unfortunately we lost four people in the line of duty. Lets take a look back at the events of that night. Youre home in tripoli at 9 45. Yes, 9 45 tripoli time, 3 45 washington time. Regional Security Officer comes running into the house and says the consulates under attack. I immediately look at my telephone, and i see a missed call. I called back on that number, and i get the ambassador. And the ambassador says, greg, were under attack. Chris stephens. Chris stephens, and i say, okay. And the line is cut. Thats it. And thats all. Were under attack. Yes. You knew there were a lot of bad guys in country. We knew that. You were worried about the overall security situation and the amount of protection both the embassy and the consulate had. Yes. And the ambassador had been concerned about that. He had been concerned. He sent a cable in july requesting that our security personnel situation not change. You had a special Security Team in place. Right. Then it was reassigned. Exactly. On the night of the attack, there were five Diplomatic Security agents, they were with ambassador stephens and sean smith. There were at least 20 hostile attackers in the compound. Months earlier, the state Department Said in the event on an attack on the vulnerable benghazi mission, they would respond if the annex, run by the cia. I know you cant say, but we know of the cia facility, and we know that the cia facility was Getting Better protection and more security than the diplomatic facility. The numbers are clear. About twice as many. In terms of trained security providers. What did you tell washington . I called washington after i talked to the annex chief and told them the consulate was under attack, that the you used the word attack . I did use the word attack. That there were at least 20 armed intruders in the compound, and that help was on the way from the annex. Had you heard anything earlier in the day about protests, or worried about the reports because of the video . No, it was a nonevent, the video, in libya. And we had heard nothing about protests. The building had been set on fire by the attackers. And our Diplomatic Security agents there were heavily outnumbered. About an hour after the attack began, the heavily armed cia team arrived at the mission. They began trying to find the ambassador and sean smith who were unable to get out of the burning building. After tremendous efforts in exposing themselves to serious harm, they did find sean and pulled him out, unfortunately he was already dead. As this is happening with what are you saying to washington . Reporting back every 15 or 20 minutes. State department . State Department Operations center. Exactly. By this time, theres a send second wave of attackers and lootors coming to the compound. Many more dozens. Dozens, perhaps hundreds. No way the ten or 11 guys can hold that off. Evacuate, ram their way out, immediately brought under fire, including heavy machine gunfire. The entire group now heads back to the annex, but they have not found ambassador stephens. When they get back to the annex, they come under attack there. This is an ongoing battle. Did you ask for reinforcements . I had spoken to the defense attache, i canned for the defense, what help is coming . Fighters, but could be two or three hours. It was clear it was going to be a long time before help came. So i made sure people knew they were going to have to hold out. As the battle raged at the cia annex, a crowd overruns the now abandoned mission. Some libyans locate the ambassador clinging to life and rush him to a local hospital. In the meantime, reinforcements from tripoli, military and cia security has arrived at the benghazi airport. 3 00 a. M. , 9 00 p. M. Washington time, i get the call from the Prime Minister that ambassador stephens is dead. What did he tell you . He just says, im very sorry, greg, to tell you this, but our friend chris has passed on. I think those were his words. There was deep remorse in his voice when he said it. And you . For me it i think its the saddest, saddest moment in my career. Honestly. With the news of his death, the Security Team from tripoli heads to the annex. And soon after they get there, the attack on the annex is renewed. And then the mortars come in. Those are the rounds that killed ty and glenn. Since this happened, we have seen the top pentagon officials at the time, the top military officials said there was just no way to respond if time. Military assets could not get there. I dont know exactly what was available. I still dont quite understand why they couldnt fly aircraft over to benghazi. When i was a kid, i grew up watching western movies. And, you know, the cavalry always came. I just thought that they would come. Youve had, you know, quite a journey yourself in this last year. Decided to speak to congress back in may. Since then, it appears you have been in something of a career limbo inside the state department. Thats correct. Thats true. The state Department Said this was an assignment you requested, getting the same pay as before, but do you feel youre being punished for speaking out . Yes. I feel that i have been punished. I dont know why i was punished. I dont know why i was shunted aside, put in a closet, if you will. Does the state department know youre speaking out now . No. They dont know im here. Then why talk . Because the American People need to have the story, and ambassador chris stephens, sean smith, ty woods and glenn doughertys names should be remembered by every american. The sacrifices that they made. Could those four american heros have been saved . Sadly i think the ambassador and sean smith, maybe not. Ty and glenn of course were killed in the mortar attack that took place eight hours after the initial attack. Its possible they could have been saved i think. Whats the best way to honor the memory of the four diplomats and Security Professionals who lost their lives that night . We cant forget them. And we need to make sure that the people going out into the world on our behalf have the tools that they need, and the resources they need, to do the job that they have been asked to do for the people of the United States. Greg hicks right there. In response to his contention hes punished, the state department sent us a statement which reads in part, the state department has not punished mr. Hicks in any way. We appreciate his Exemplary Service on the evening of september 11 president. His departure from libya was entirely unrelated to his statements. You can read the full statement on abcnews. Com. And the threats top officials are tracking right now. Plus congresswoman Jaime Herrera beutler and her husband dan and their miracle baby abigail take the sunday spotlight. Every day is so exciting. And sorry. Full of so much joy because we didnt think wed ever be here. Like carpools. Polly wants to know if we can pick her up. Yeah, we can make room. Yeah. [ male announcer ]. Office space. Yes, were loving this communal seating. Its great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share . A data plan. At t mobile share for business. One bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. Now, everyones in the spirit of sharing. Hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend . No. [ male announcer ] share more. Save more. At t mobile share for business. [ male announcer ] 1. 21 gigawatts. Today, thats easy. Ge is revolutionizing power. Supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. Using data predictively to help power entire cities. So the turbines of today. Will power us all. Into the future. Into the future. The pursuit of a better tomorrow is something we all share. But who can help you find your own path . Who can build you a plan, not just a pie chart . Who can help keep your investments on course, whatever lies ahead . That someone is a Morgan Stanley financial advisor. And were ready to work for you. Outgoing Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano is warning about the possibility of major cyber attacks. Could they be sparked by a u. S. Strike on syria . Our experts are going to weigh in next. Next. Like carpools. Polly wants to know if we can pick her up. Yeah, we can make room. Yeah. [ male announcer ]. Office space. Yes, were loving this communal seating. Its great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share . A data plan. At t mobile share for business. One bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. Now, everyones in the spirit of sharing. Hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend . No. [ male announcer ] share more. Save more. At t mobile share for business. [ male announcer ] 1. 21 gigawatts. Today, thats easy. Ge is revolutionizing power. Supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. Using data predictively to help power entire cities. So the turbines of today. Will power us all. Into the future. And theres james comey being sworn in as the new director of fbi. He and other top Law Enforcement officials are tracking a steady stream of terror threats as we approach the anniversary of 9 11. We will analyze the latest. But first pierre thomas. Reporter an alqaeda plot to blow up a passenger plane. Lone wolf terrorists selfradicalized on the internet, striking without warning. And a cyber attack should we strike syria. It was chilling, the outgoing fbi director and the Homeland Security secretary said they are urgent in the final days in office. What keeps you up at night . A terrorist attack like the Boston Marathon. Threats to infrastructure via cyber and Cyber Networks and also threats to aviation which remains a target. Reporter what the in the final days worries you most . The possibility of a plane being taken down, and the possibility of a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist or terrorist group. Chemical, biological or cyber. The ability to impact the Financial Markets and energy sector. Reporter and those are viable threats right now . Yes. Yes. Reporter with the possibility of a strike on syria, cyber warfare has come to the forefront. The syrian electronic army, a group of hackers who support the assad regime claimed credit for attacking the New York Times website and another site connect to the u. S. Marines. And concerns are converging with this weeks upcoming anniversary of 9 11. The attack on benghazi happened on that very day. We always take the anniversary very seriously, even if we dont have something specific or credible. Reporter so many threats, so much to guard against. Napolitano has this advice for her successor. Buy the large bottle of advil. And pierre is here, with brian ross and ali stoufan, former fbi special agent who investigated the bombsful uss cole, and other attacks. The new yorker said no one came closer to presenting attacks than you. We heard the secretary say there, no specific credible threat about an attack related to 9 11, but they are as worried as they have ever been. Its a convergence with syria, the 9 11 anniversary, and officials are very concerned about what they dont know. Its a nervous moment. They are checking the intelligence up to 9 11. As you recall last year, no specific credible threat and then benghazi. Benghazi. Right now, brian ross, we have seen reports of hezbollah perhaps planning retaliation against u. S. Interests in iraq, lebanon. The embassy evacuated. And these threats combined with the threat of a cyber attack. Hezbollah is capable, they make alqaeda look like junior varsity. But in 25 year welcomes no record of going after u. S. Interests. And people we talk to you dont buy the new reports. I think more likely an attack on israel as opposed to the u. S. Interest. That would be a different kind of attack. Perhaps not just u. S. Embassies, hotels, airlines that appear to be american could be targeted. For the most part, hezbollah has no track record of that. The cyber attacks, the syrian electronic army, which appear to be about ten collegeage kids in syria backed by pretty sure theyre in syria. Thats what were told by u. S. Authorities, but theyre not sophisticated. Its been disruptive, denied us marine dowds columns, but not that sophisticated. More a nuisance. And you have come out with a report called countering violent extremism. And you write the achilles heel of american extremism is the failure to counter the narratives that inentire them like the Boston Marathon bombers. And 12 years after 9 11, if you look at alqaeda and the area, its not just pakistan and afghanistan, its in other areas, its south of yemen and syria and iraq. The narrative is spreading all over the muslim world from west africa to southeast asia. And what we need to include in our strategy in addition to the military, in addition to the Law Enforcement, in addition to the intelligence, we need to include countering the narrative of extremism. If groups like alqaeda and its affiliate the continue to recruit, retain members, continue to find new blood, this war is going to go for generations. You think it should be tailored to the localities. What do we need to do . We need to deal with the problem in its own region. For example, the economy is a huge thing in africa. The resources, the economic disparities between regions, nigeria, for example. Look at it, it is operating in northern nigeria, and theres historical and economic problems. If you look at the situation in syria, its mostly sectarian, or in iraq, its mostly sectarian. In yemen, it has the roots between the north and south of yemen. The regional issues like in syria, for example, we cannot allow them to happen and say its not going to come and haunt us down the road. Are officials absorbing the lessons . They absolutely are. But the wild card is the internet. You have people being radicalized on the internet. Boston, the fbi director said in the interview that he believed the people were radicalize on the internet, not from overseas. So theyre having to worry about that in addition to whats happening overseas. People sitting at the computer, getting radicalized, and having the wherewithal to get the training to do an attack on them. How would you rate the level of concern to previous 9 11 anniversaries . At this point, according to the fbi as of last week, there were about 100 people in this country under active surveillance by the fbi. The bulk u. S. Citizens who are possible threats. Not enough information to arrest them, but worthy of being watched on an almost round the clock basis. Thank you all very much. Lets hope we get through this anniversary. When we come back, the miracle baby born to a member of congress in our sunday spotlight. Congress in our sunday spotlight. Sunday spotlight. And we are and we are back now with the sunday spotlight. Shining today on the miracle baby born to a member of congress. Jaime Herrera Beutlers baby was born with a fatal disease. But thanks to an experimental treatment, shes made an incredible comeback thats left her doctors and parts in awe. David wright has the heartwarming story. Reporter Jaime Beutler is a member of congress with a constituency of one. Little abigail beutler, born three months premature with a birth defect thats normally fatal. Its welcoming to be parents. Every day is so exciting. And sorry. Full of so much joy. Because we didnt think wed ever be here. Reporter their world changed may 20th during what was supposed to be a routine pregnancy scan. I could tell there was something different. He just he kind of went ashen, the ultrasound tech. Reporter the technician couldnt see any kidneys. Dr. Steven alexander says its potters syndrome. Its really rare. One in 60,000, i think. The doctor, he just said, its he was like, gosh. He said, this is not compatible with life. She is not going to live. And as he was saying it, i could feel her moving. Reporter inside her, the baby was kicking, almost as if she disagreed with the doctor. There are a lot of parents who would hear that from a doctor, and make a choice to terminate. It was offered. We knew it was offered. Reporter but all three of them chose to fight for her life. Potters syndrome, caused by a critical lack of amniotic fluid meant the babys lungs and kidneys couldnt form properly. They found an expert at Johns Hopkins willing to experiment, to replace the amniotic fluid. It was cutting edge. Reporter it worked. She was born at 28 weeks with no kidneys, but lungs able to sustain life. A medical first. We expect a full and normal childhood for her. Reporter shell need a trance plant, and daily dialysis until she gets one and be spend her First Six Months here at the stanford hospital. Stanford, Johns Hopkins, it takes a village. A smart village. It does. Reporter the multimillion dollar treatment plan covered by medicare and the Congressional Health plan. Youre not getting much of a maternity leave. Youre going back to the syria vote . I am. Its important. Ill still be here though. Very jealous. Reporter a miracle for mom and dad, and especially for little abigail. For this week, david wright, abc news, palo alto. Love to see that little girl. And now we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. This week, the pentagon released the names of two Service Members killed in afghanistan. And that is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Diane will interview president obama on the crisis in syria, thats tomorrow on world news. And well have full coverage of the president s address to the nation tuesday night at 9 00 eastern. Ill see you tomorrow on gma. San jose marks their 36th homicide of the year after a woman was stabbed to death. What police are saying about the suspect. And fog has returned to the coast and parts of the bay. How it may bring heat relief to some,