Transcripts For WPVI This Week With George Stephanopoulos 20150426

Bucket list. I have something that rhymes with bucket list. Announcer from abc news, this week with George Stephanopoulos begins now. And we have so much to cover. This morning we begin with breaking news. New aftershocks in nepal across south asia after that massive 7. 8 earthquake that has killed thousands already. The pictures of the devastation just incredible. That is an avalanche that was sparked by the quake. Its hit climbers near mt. Everest. Lets get right to abcs Alex Marquardt on the phone from delhi, india the staging air what for the aid effort. Good morning, alex. Reporter good morning, george. We got word from nepal just a short time ago theres been another huge aftershock this morning. Our Abc News Team was in the air over the capital of kathmandu when it struck. We returned back to india because it was so powerful that the airport was closed. The latest death toll so far from saturdays massive quake is now more than 2100 people. It was a 7. 8 on the Richter Scale and felt as far away as china, india and bangladesh. Teams in nepal are frantically digging through the rubble looking for any survivor, many across the country spending the night outside fearful that more tremors would bring down their homes. Now, we know that at least two americans were killed, both on mt. Everest, when the base camp was hit by a huge avalanche triggered when the earthquake struck. One of them was google executive dan fredinburg. At least 16 others on the mountain also died. The situation still very fluid this morning, george. Rescuers and resources desperately trying to get into nepal amid fears that the death toll will only continue to grow. George. Thank you, alex. The u. S. Ramping up its aid effort, as well. Were going to turn now to the fallout from that tragic drone strike revealed by president obama this week. Two innocent hostages including american Warren Weinstein killed by mistake and as president obama has called for a fullscale review of americas drone policy, abcs chief investigative correspondent brian ross is here with an exclusive report on how americas policy for ransom on hostages may be changing too. Good morning, george. The u. S. Has been steadfast in its policy it will not pay ransom to terror groups for american hostages or allow others to either but one part may be changing. Three senior u. S. Officials tell abc news that a white house review of hostage policy will recommend the u. S. Look the other way if families on their own try to raise money to buy their loved ones freedom. Officials say the change comes in the wake of what happened in the case of hostage james foley and others. While isis was threatening him with death, his parents say a white house official was threatening them with prosecution if they tried to raise a ransom for his freedom. We were told very clearly three times that it was illegal for us to try to ransom our son out and that we had the possibility of being prosecuted. Reporter its not clear that any ransom could have saved foley, but it left his parents outraged at the white house which would not comment on the allegations but asked us not to use the name of the official the foleys say made the threat. These folks talking to us had no idea what it was like to be the family of a kidnapped american. Reporter since august, six americans held hostage have been killed. The family of the most recent victim, Warren Weinstein, did make an unsuccessful ransom payment of 250,000 according to people familiar with the arrangement, but the families of other victims say they too were threatened with prosecution if they paid ransom. I think it was a horrible thing to do to the families. I think it was a mistake. Reporter now three u. S. Officials say that mistake will not be repeated under recommendations contained in an ongoing white house review of u. S. Hostage policy. There will be absolutely zero chance, said one official, of any Family Member of an american held hostage overseas ever facing jail themselves or even the threat of prosecution for trying to free their loved ones. This is a good thing. We often hear the phrase all options on the table. Ransom is no different. Reporter former fbi agent jack cloonan now helps negotiate for the release of hostages and says some of the u. S. Hostages might still be alive if ransom had been permitted. Not allowing that discussion about ransom to go forward was a mistake. You can reach an agreement even with a group as despicable as isis is. To be clear, the u. S. Government policy that it will not pay ransom or make concessions would not change in the belief that it could lead to more americans being taken hostage, but if president obama approves these recommendations, families or employers who try to raise or pay ransom will no longer be threated with prosecution. All right, brian. Quite a change. To dick clark, should the president accept this recommendation . I wouldnt. The president has to try to make it unattractive to go after americans as hostages. And the way you do that is by saying there are only two things going to happen. Either were going to go in and rescue, or youre going to have that hostage forever. If you say well pay, then there will be many more hostages. Even if its a private payment. Congressman john delaney here, as well. I know you, worked closely with Warren Weinsteins family during this ordeal. You cant give the details of this 250,000 payment but do you know if they received any threats of prosecution from the government. Im not aware of them receiving any or the details around the alleged payments but im certainly not aware of them receiving any threats. What do you make of this possible change . Listen, i think it could make sense. Id like to see the data that suggests that families being put in a position where they can actually pay to get their loved ones home actually changes the outcomes in terms of how many people are taken hostage. I totally support the u. S. Governments policy. We should absolutely not negotiate for hostages, but to put families like the foleys in the situation they were in, i think is really tough. Let me turn to chief Global Affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz because the drone policy also under review, as well after the president gave that apology this week. He said he is going to do a fullscale review of how we use these drones, as well. Several looks at what went wrong, and when you look back at this, these were called signature strikes. They not only did not know the hostages were there, they didnt know one of the leaders of al qaeda in india was there. So they clearly didnt have a lot of information about this. Theres a golden standard, a Gold Standard that they could possibly use in the future. Thats you have signals intelligence meaning you picked up cell phone conversations or Something Like that. You have constant overhead. And you have human intelligence and that is often the key to knowing exactly what is going on in places like this. But its so difficult to get the human intelligence so difficult to its incredibly difficult. I honestly cant see them going that far because this drone policy has worked. Well, its worked. Its been dramatically ramped up under president obama but hes also tried to put some restrictions on it in the wake of these revelations about more civilian casualties. Exactly, and the standard now is that you have to have near certainty that there are no civilians there. So i think what they look at is how do you define near certainty. Dick clarke, you were there at the beginning of the ramping of this policy under george w. Martha has said its been effective at knocking out core al qaeda but starting to create blowback, as well. When you do these signature strikes meaning by definition you dont know who youre killing, you just know the facility looks like an al qaeda facility, when you do signature strikes, thats very risky, and president obama said he was going to stop them and clearly he didnt. What kind of changes are you calling for . Well, what were calling for is the creation of effectively a hostage czar which deals with a slightly different issue, finding the hostages because in my experience with warrens case we do not do as good of a job or as effective of a job as we could as a country in locating these hostages and warren was held as a hostage for over three years. And the coordination between the different parts of our government and the individuals in those different parts work really hard on these matters but we just didnt see the kind of coordination and effectiveness and leveraging some of our partners in the region to actually identify where these hostages were. And brian, that is something that we could be seeing more coordination under this government. Absolutely have the fbi involved, the state department and theyre not always talking. They dont always agree and dont always use their resources the best they could and someone that could control that at the center point is important. Well turn to clinton cash, the Controversial Book hasnt even been released and its already creating another campaign firestorm for hillary, Hillary Clinton. We asked the Clinton Campaign to appear. This morning they chose not to but author Peter Schweizer is standing by live to lay out his case after this report from abcs cecilia vega. Reporter for Hillary Clinton, the hits just keep on coming. A firestorm as questions mount about cash donations. Reporter a president ial Campaign Just two weeks old dogged by report after report questioning millions in foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. Many of those claims laid out in a new book, clinton cash. Author Peter Schweizer making this bold charge, my Research Team and i have uncovered a repeated pattern of Financial Transactions coinciding with official actions favorable to clinton contributors. One of his examples, the state department, one of several agencies, signing off on the 2010 sale of one of americas largest Uranium Mines to russia. The book claims the companys canadian chairman used his Family Charity to donate more than 2 million to the Clinton Foundation. Reporter and though clinton promised the white house the foundation would disclose donors there is not an inherent conflict of interest. Reporter the book claims it didnt always do that. And this, abc news has learned that while clinton was secretary of state, her husbands speaking fees in many cases doubled, even tripled. Thank you. Reporter bill clinton raking in millions, some of that with groups with interests pending before the state Department Although abc found no evidence that Hillary Clinton took action based on these contributions. On the campaign trail we asked clinton about the controversy. Did foreign entities receive any special treatment for making any kind of donations to the foundation or your husband . The republicans seem to be talking only about me. I dont know what theyd talk about if i werent in the race. Reporter her camp calling the claims of undue influence partisanfueled fiction. On that uranium deal, they say the essential fact is that Hillary Clinton was not involved in the state departments review of the sale to russians. Republicans see it differently. The notion that somehow official u. S. Policy was influenced by donations, thats a troubling allegation. If proven to be true i think is a disqualifier. Reporter allegations that dont hit store shelves until may 5th. For this week, cecilia vega, abc news, new york. And the author of clinton cash, Peter Schweizer joins us now. Thank you for joining us, peter. You know i was looking at the book jacket right here, and you say that here in the book jacket that your reporting raises serious and alarming questions about judgment of possible indebtedness to an array of foreign interests and ultimately a fitness for high public office. So, how does your reporting show that Hillary Clinton may be unfit for the presidency . Well, i think the real question, george, is when you ever have an issue of the flow of funds to political candidates whether thats to their campaigns, whether thats to private foundations, whether thats to their spouse, is there evidence of a pattern of favorable decisions being made for those individuals, and i think the point that we make in the book is that there is a troubling pattern. There are dozens of examples of that occurring. Some people, i think particularly the clinton camp, would say these are all coincidence. I dont think when youre talking about 12 instances, youre talking coincidence, i think youre talking trend. You take it far and write the pattern is troubling enough to warrant further investigation by Law Enforcement officers. Correct. Do you have any evidence that a crime may have been committed . Well, i think if you look at a couple of recent examples, for example, governor mcconnell down in virginia or you look at senator menendez, in these cases you didnt have evidence of a quid pro quo. What you had was funds flowing to elected officials, some of them gifts, some of them Campaign Contributions and actions that were being taken by those Public Officials that seem to benefit the contributors. Certainly i think it warrants investigation. What that investigation but a criminal investigation . Well, well see. I mean, thats what governor mcconnell has faced and thats what menendez has faced and the evidence is far more widespread in terms of repeated action than there were in those two instances. As you know the Clinton Campaign says you havent produced a shred of evidence that the secretary supported the interest of donors. We did an investigation and found no proof of any kind of direct action and an independent government ethics expert bill alison wrote from the sunlight foundation. Theres no smoking gun. Theres no evidence that the changed policy based on donation of the foundation. No smoking gun. Its a little like Insider Trading. I wrote a book on congressional Insider Trading a couple of years ago and talked with prosecutors. Most people that engage in criminal Insider Trading dont send an email that says ive got inside information, buy this stock. The way they look at it, they look at a pattern of stock trades. If the person has access to that information and they do a series of welltimed trades, that warrants investigation. I think the same thing applies here. By the way, whats important to note is it was confirmed on thursday both by the New York Times and the wall street journal that there are multimillion dollar nondisclosed donations that were made to the Clinton Foundation that were never disclosed by the clinton, and this is a direct breach of an agreement they signed with the white house . That is an issue for them but its not criminal. Nothing that would wouldnt a criminal investigation. So lets look at some of the specifics behind your pattern. A lot of focus on the sale of a Company Uranium one to a russian company. Of course, Frank Giustra who had committed, what 130 million pledged to the Clinton Foundation back in 2006 had had an interest in this company but he actually sold it. Well, he sold hit stock, but his firm endeavor financial, continued to do finance deals well after that and the individuals involved in the book as you probably read there are nine, count them, nine major contributors to the Clinton Foundation who were involved in that nuclear deal. The two individuals who were the Financial Advisers on the deal of the sale to the russians are both major Clinton Foundation supporters. The chairman of that foundation, ian telfer whose donations were not disclosed sorry, Clinton Foundation contributor and there are others so this is not just about Frank Giustra. This is about multiple layers. You did disclose in your book that he sold the interest. Beyond that deal was approved by a board of the government called the cfius board that is actually chaired by the secretary of treasury. Eight other agencies on board, the secretary of state, homeland security, defense, commerce, energy, the Nuclear Regulatory commission signed off on it. And even though the state department was one of nine agencies to sign off on it, there is no evidence at all that Hillary Clinton got directly involved in this decision. Well, i think it warrants further investigation and theres a couple things that need to be clarified. Number one, she was one vote or the state department was one vote on cfius, but any agency has veto power, so it needs to be unanimous so they had to support this agreement. The second thing i would say is that in the midst of all of this, Hillary Clinton was in charge of the russian reset. She was in charge of of the a123 Nuclear Agreements with the russians. She was the one that was meeting with lavrov. There were four senior congressmen on National Security issues that raised concerns about this. But, wait a second. There are nine different agencies would approved it. Sure. Doesnt that suggest that that was because there was no National Security concern, not because of some nefarious influence by Hillary Clinton. But look at the nine individuals that were on the cfius committee, the nine agencies represented. Who was by far the most hawkish on cfius issues in the past . Hillary clinton. She was big on rejecting the dubai ports deal. She was big on other issues and she sponsored legislation when she was in the senate to strengthen cfius. This was a signature issue for her and this is totally out of character. But the assistant secretary who sat since secretary fof state who sat on the Committee Said she never intervened on any cfius issue at all. Well, i think that deserves further scrutiny. I would question that. To argue based on what . Based on what . I think based on do you have any evidence she actually intervened in this issue . No, we dont have direct evidence, but it warrants further investigation because, again, george, this is part of a broader pattern. You either have to come to the conclusion that these are all coincidences or Something Else is afoot. And that is the clintons do say its coincidence and as they say you havent produced direct evidence and you just said you have no evidence she intervened here. Its been reported you briefed several republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee including the chairman bob corker. Did you offer any briefings to democrats . No, but id be glad to give them before the book is released. This was a friend that asked me and thought it was a good idea to talk to these individuals, the committee that confirmed her and i was glad to meet them. They did not get copies of the book and a verbal briefing. Id be glad to brief any democrats the democrats have said this is indication of your partisan interest and say you used to work for president bush as a speech writer. You are funded by the koch brothers. How do you respond to that . Well george, what did i do when this book was completed . I went to the Investigative Unit at the New York Times, the Investigative Unit here at abc. I went to the Investigative Unit of the Washington Post and i shared them with my findings. These are not cupcakes. These are serious researchers and investigators and they are confirming what ive reported so people can look at the facts they havent confirmed any evidence of any crime. Well, but thats not up to an author to prove crime. I mean, do you think that when people first started looking at governor mcconnell or they started looking at menendez that they immediately had evidence. You need subpoena power. You need access to records and information. You need access to emails. Theres all sorts of things you can do. You cant leave it up to an author to say that an author has to prove a criminal case. Finally, Bloomberg News is reporting that youre going to be looking into jeb bushs business dealings, as well. Is that true . What have you found . Where and when will you publish . Weve been work ging on it for about four months. Weve been looking at land deals and looking at an airport deal and some Financial Transactions involving hedge funds based out of the uk. We have already reached out to several Media Outlets and were going to adopt the similar model we have here which is to share that information with investigative journalists and established news outlets and share that information. I think people will find it very, very interesting and compelling. Peter schweizer, thanks very much. Thanks for having me, george. Up next, the round table on this hillary book. Plus, samesex marriage coming to the Supreme Court this week. Bruce jenners big announcement puts transgender issues in the spotlight. We debate the next frontier in civil rights and back in just two minutes. Two minutes. Surprised . In fact, america is now the worlds number one natural gas producer. And we could soon become number one in oil. Because Hydraulic Fracturing Technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. 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Our relationship will be better in the next Administration Just as soon as israel makes a generous donation to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary clinton, a target last night at the white house Correspondents Dinner. Lets talk about that in this new book clinton cash on our round table joined by donna brazille, our democratic strategist former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich and Mark Halperin and john heilemann. Welcome to you all. Donna, i got to talk to you first. I know youre close to the clinton team. They didnt want to put anybody out to talk about this book today even though we asked. You just saw Peter Schweizer there. What do you make of his allegations, generally but also the specific allegation he makes that there are undisclosed donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign charities. Well, first of all, george, i havent read the full book. Im sure its still being rewritten somewhere because the newspapers and other publicly indications are already disputing some of the facts he claims in his book. Look, there are more drippings in this book than juice or sauce and what the Campaign Needs to do and they did it last week is to just go ahead and respond to these allegations, theyre scurrilous, were going to see more as the Campaign Goes along but respond to them and continue to reach out to voters and ignore all of this background noise. Thats what they need to do. Mr. Speaker, i read that you thought these allegations are starting to reach some kind of Critical Mass around the foundation that could even force her out of the race. Look, this isnt a political problem. This is a historic problem. The constitution of the United States says you cannot take money from foreign governments without explicit permission of the congress. They wrote that in there because they knew the danger of corrupting our system by foreign money is enormous. You had a sitting secretary of state whose husband radically increased his speech fees, you have a whole series of dots on the wall now where people gave millions of dollars, oh, by the way, they happen to have gotten taken care of by the state department. You raised a good standard. Having been on the watergate committee, she knew exactly what to do. She eliminate edd 33,000 email. Richard nixon only erased 18 minutes. So youre going to have a prima facie case that any jury would look at. You think a jury would look at i think it would look at the totality and say its clearly against the constitution and against u. S. Law. Dod and hhs both has rules that say you cant take more than 315. Its a Global Foundation and they released all of their donors, something that many not all of them. Some of them but in the aggregate they didnt but 50s the funding they skipped three years. They skipped three years. Look, they are amending those documents and theres no legal requirement to do so but amending it and they are a foundation controlled by your husband is the same as money to you. It is clear in federal law. This if it wasnt Hillary Clinton, this would clearly the only reason we are having this conversation is because theyre transparent and released a list of donors. Something we dont get any from the republican super pacs or foundations. Mark halperin, how serious is this . The Clinton Foundation does great work. Some of the charges against her are overstated. Thats on one side of the ledger. On the other side its extraordinarily serious. Imagine if an assistant secretary of state had done what Hillary Clinton, we know that she did. Theyd be out of the state department. Which things . Commingling. Family foundation. Donations from foreign governments, increased speech fees and government actions. We dont know about theres no evidence of government action. Well, there were government actions taken. What we dont know and this goes to the deleted emails is what kind of communication did Hillary Clinton have on her private email account regarding her husbands speeches and regarding the Foundation Activities that involve foreign donations . If they hadnt been so careless at the foundation and if she hadnt deleted the emails and they put somebody on the show to answer the questions, i think a lot of this could be put to rest but none of those things are true. That specific question that arises which is, did are emails that you that were revolved around these issues around your husbands foundation work, did those fall under what you considered private emails, personal emails and so therefore were flushed down the drain or were they part of the Public Record . That is the question that has not been addressed and she must answer that question i think because it goes to the core of whether there is at least the appearance of an obstruction of justice kind of activity on her part of getting rid of that email server. No, this is just more trying to look under the curtain to see if theres any there there. Again, i mean, look, i think theyve been very forthcoming in listing donors and sure in the aggregate amount and as mark said doing good work but this is more there there. Is there some connection of course, george. I think responding to the allegations in the book, they put the information out and theyll put out more information but the more you put out, the more you detract from the message and you give republicans fodder. Thats all they want to do. The republicans just want to talk about Hillary Clinton and bill clinton. They dont want to talk about issues. I think theres a very simple case here. The constitution says you cant take this stuff. We have federal laws that say you cant take this stuff. If this was any person but Hillary Clinton, theyd be under indictment right now for a clearly straightforward problem. They took money from it wouldnt have been allowed in the first place. Right. My point is, they took money from foreign governments while she was secretary of state that is clearly illegal. This is not about politics. Its illegal and its dangerous to america to have foreign governments get in the habit of bribing people who happen to be the husband of the secretary of state or the next president of the United States. Heres why you know this is serious, because any democrat, almost any democrat who is not on the clintons payroll will tell reporters and others privately that these are serious issues, not forget the politics. These are serious issues. The question for me right now is all these donors who gave and all the people who paid president clinton to give speeches, what kind of communication did they have with people in the government . That may not be a quid pro quo but Everybody Knows that a lot of those donations were for people who wanted access to the clintons. Last word . We all have examples of where the administration, Barack Obamas administration knew this was a potential problem and thats why they set up agreement that they had with the family with Hillary Clinton and bill clinton when she took the job as secretary of state. There are now several that we know of at this moment several documented instances where whether or not its illegal where they broke their agreement with the administration and when you think about the president having set a standard of being the most transparent and open administration in history and what the clintons have done here clearly is not the most transparent and open and i think theyve whether its illegal or not, they violated the spirit of president obamas up next well take on the republican field as marco rubio is the new frontrunner and all the highlights from the white house Correspondents Dinner. Gives you the power to help make temptation shrink away light and fit greek. With irresistible flavors like strawberry cheesecake never have 80 calories tasted so satisfying light and fit greek. Taste the power of satisfaction. Dannon theres some facts about seaworld wed like you to know. We dont collect killer whales from the wild. And havent for 35 years. 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Marriage is a decision that should be defined by our state governments, not at the federal level. We need leaders who will stand unapologetically in defense of marriage and life. The United States of america did not create religious liberty. Religious liberty created the United States of america and is the reason were here today. [ cheers and applause ] nine potential republican candidates at the faith and Freedom Coalition forum in iowa last night, nine of who knows how many eventual candidates in this race. Lets talk about that again with our roundtable and, mr. Speaker, we were just talking just before we came on the air. This field could continue to grow and grow and grow. This is now maybe the most open field in republican history and they used to say the most open since 1940 but theyve blown past that. I think we may have 25 candidates. 25 candidates and we saw dan balz, the dean of political reporters for the Washington Post. His column today saying is anyone afraid of jeb . One of the things were seeing is that no one is deterred from getting into the race and every week this week its marco rubio someone else climbing up into the top tier. Rubios rise and many people call him the frontrunner most symbolizes what dan is talking about, the wide openness and jeb bushs vulnerability. Rubio is someone who the conventional wisdom wouldnt even run if jeb bush ended up in the race. So close to him in sharing a florida base. I think right now you still have a top tier of bush, walker and rubio pending john kasich maybe entering the race but if jeb bush falters at all and if he has to fight for in nomination youve got up to ten people who could be the nominee and speaker said we never had a situation like this. John heilemann, jeb bush says he knows he has to fight for this. He has to fight for it but the most amazing thing is the conventional wisdom if you talk to people who work for other republican potential or current candidates is they all say the same thing to you and believe this and say, i dont know who jeb bushs voters are in the Republican Party. I dont know who is for him. Now apart from the donor class we cant find the constituents in iowa, new hampshire, South Carolina that will be for him and that creates the perception there is no risk in going after him. If he doesnt have any voters out there why not me. Good for democrats or bad. Good for democrats. We saw that in 2012 because, you know, when youre in the primary season and youre trying to rally the socalled faithful and go so far to the right that you perhaps, you know, get off the field, it helps democrats to continue to focus on whats important to the American People, the economy. And you know what, the republicans are on a shopping spree. And thats a good thing. One of the reasons we talk about Hillary Clinton is because theres no democratic opponent yet to Hillary Clinton so the media seems to want to fill in that, you know, that particular void. But on the republican side, very interesting to see these candidates compete over the weekend. And as they compete as the lead shifts off every single week, it does remind me of the dynamic in 2012 when romney comes in as the frontrunner but every week you have someone different at the top of the field. Several weeks at the top of the field. I liked those weeks. No, look, i think whats going to make this fascinating, first of all, there is a generational shift. Youve got a 43yearold marco rubio, Hillary Clinton. Look at ted cruz, Hillary Clinton. I mean, theres a whole generation for that matter scott walker i think is 46. Hillary clinton. I mean, you have a Younger Generation of new ideas, new approaches and their speeches actually all direct towards some kind of vision of the future. They spend much more time talking about how you got america growing again, et cetera than they do about Hillary Clinton. Say four things about jeb bush that we shouldnt overlook. Hell raise the most money maybe by a lot. Hes the most president ial in demeanor and i think hes clearly the most ready to be president and i still believe hes the one the clintons fear the most. Those are four big things. The republican nomination process goes by the traditional rules will make him the next donna brazile, on that point one of the things jeb bush is doing by pushing back on issues like immigration, on common core trying to preserve some sense of holding the center if he gets the nomination. If he gets the nomination because, again, these activists are looking not just for somebody who is electable who can win in the fall but somebody who Will Champion their issues and jeb bush is still trying to become that champion. You know, you mention age. Its not the age of the candidate, it is the age of the ideas and the ideas that many of these republican candidates are out there promoting are ideas that are out of sync with the American People and the population on inclusiveness and diversity, Marriage Equality which george is going to talk about so i wouldnt worry about Hillary Clintons age but worry about the ideas of these candidates who want to take us back to another bygone history. John kasich had 86 out of 88 counties. In ohio. You have a scott walker who got reelected despite an enormous effort to defeat him. I mean youve got some people out there who understand how to be positive, how to occupy the center in terms of fights and who i think would be very formidable opponents. On john kasich, he is making more noise to make it look like hes going to get in. Yeah. Fascinating guy who the speaker knows well. He would like to run. Hes the classic person thinking about this because he looks at the field and says if these are the people who might be our nominee why not me because his record in ohio not just electorally but in terms of governance, one of the thing he is showing is a mccain, vintage mccain 2000 openness to saying whatever is on his mind. Hes always been like this. There is an authenticity there. It will create controversy for him if he runs, but he is setting the standard as much as anybody else and saying counterpoised to Hillary Clinton im going to speak what i really believe the country needs. Its effective with a lot of constituencies. I mean, and look, you downplayed a second ago the electoral element of it. The fact that he won for tan a quarter of the africanamerican vote in ohio is kind of an astonishing thing and gives him the capacity to be a great candidate. Earlier point what is the Republican Party today . Do the old rules still apply where the establishment is the establishment frontrunner wins or do you have to now because the other wing of the party has gotten stronger, do you have to straddle those two wings . I think thats why marco rubio and scott walker are both strong candidates because they can play with the establishment and grass roots and kind of a problem for kasich and bush. They dont play on the other side as well as they play strictly final question for the speaker. You said right at the top you could have 25 candidates in the end. Were about, you know, what, the first will be next january. How is the field going to sort itself out . The American People will sort it out with remarkable speed once it starts, but as david broder once reminded us, all of us will talk from now until the first iowa caucus and nothing will have happened. We will all have to fill the space and then the American People start to work and i suspect by april well have a pretty clear nominee. Okay. Mr. Speaker, thank you all very much. And now our powerhouse puzzler. At the white house Correspondents Dinner last night, Cecily Strong became the fourth female comedian to perform. The first one was more than 20 years ago so heres the question, can you name the first female comedian to perform solo. Bonus points, can you name the two others . Right back with the answer. Announcer the powerhouse puzzler brought to you by voya financial. Im one. Im one. Im one. I am one of the ones who discovered always discreet underwear for sensitive bladders. It makes me feel secure, confident and i feel protected. I mean i feel comfortable to move in them they move with me. I love always discreet underwear because of the fit. The fabric is very soft. I can wear whatever i want to wear. Always discreet made me a very happy woman. Join over 500,000 women whove discovered always discreet underwear. For more stories and your free sample go to alwaysdiscreet. 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More than you think. Very little. [doorbell rings] whats this . Swiffer sweeper. I came in under the assumption that it was clean. Ive been living in a fools paradise. Okay, who is the first female comedian to perform at the white house Correspondents Dinner . Can you name the other two. Mark halperin. Wanda sykes, ellen degeneres. Bruce jenner. I needed a third name. You used bruce. Wanda sykes. Mine is totally stupid. Bette midler. Wanda sykes did do it back in 2009 but the first was actually Paula Poundstone in 1992. Elayne boosler in 1993 and wanda sykes in 2009. For the record were going to talk about bruce jenner when we come back, that big interview friday night. Thank you very much. Also, the debate over samesex marriage coming to court this week. Well be right back. Ack. Hing it felt like we were flushing money away. Mom thats why we switched to charmin ultra mega roll. Its charmin quality and long lasting. With more gos per roll, it pays to use charmin ultra mega roll. 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I would do that, yeah, in a heartbeat. Why not, and i think theyd be very receptive to it. Bruce jenner, republican, just one of his revelations with his remarkable interview with diane sawyer friday night and instantly became the most famous transgender person in the world. Now will his public journey change the way we look at transgender issues . Chris connelly on that. For all intents and purposes i am a woman. Reporter bruce jenner going public with feelings harbored since childhood hoping this revelation makes a difference. What im doing is going to do some good, and were going to change the world. I really firmly believe that. Reporter jenners announcement comes at a time thats been called a Tipping Point for the transgender community. Two critically Acclaimed Television shows feature transgender characters. And in january, the word transgender made into it the state of the union. A president ial first. Thats why we defend free speech and condemn the persecution of women or religious minorities or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Reporter an estimated 700,000 americans identify as transgender. And while awareness of gender identity issues is growing, advocates say there are still big hurdles to clear. 32 states have no laws protecting transgender people from job discrimination. The military bans them from serving openly. And as jenner told diane sawyer, transgender men and women often face lifethreatening struggles. The suicide rates, murder rates, the difficulty for especially black female trans women reporter jenner hopes opening this up will spark change. For this week, chris connelly. Jenners revelation spotlighting these just as the Supreme Courts preparing to take on the future of samesex marriage. All arguments tuesday at a time of remarkable change with 37 states now permitting samesex marriage. Abcs jon karl is covering this landmark case. Reporter the case that could spark an historic Supreme Court ruling imposing samesex marriage on all 50 states started out with a simple request from a couple in ohio. Jims husband was dying of lou gehrigs disease. Jim was told he couldnt be listed as a surviving spouse because ohio wouldnt recognize their maryland marriage. Being able to marry john was the happiest moment of my life. It made a difference having that legal document that recognized us as a couple. Reporter now it all comes down to how these nine men and women read the 14th amendments guarantee of due process and equal protection under the law. Did those words give gays and lesbians the right to marry and if not, did they at least require states to recognize marriages like Jim Obergefells from other states. Its an issue where views have changed sharply in an incredibly short time. And the president seven years ago marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Reporter to three years ago. I think samesex couples should be able to get married. Reporter and the public has shifted dramatically too. On thursday an abc news Washington Post poll with a new record. 61 of americans say gays should be allowed to marry, a total flip from 2004 when a nearly identical percentage opposed samesex marriage. But Sherif Girgis who wrote a brief supporting it says this is not about discrimination. Its not about limiting anyones personal liberty and controlling anyones love life but upholding a particular ideal to give kids the best shot at being reared by their own mom and dad. This is exactly the kind of issue the courts should leave to the people. To the state. Reporter most conservatives will be closely watching Justice Anthony kennedy, a reagan appointee who two years ago was the key vote knocking down the federal ban on samesex marriage. Will he be the deciding vote again, this time making Marriage Equality a constitutional right . For this week, jonathan karl, abc news, washington. Thanks to jon for that. Lets talk about it with Ryan Anderson from the Heritage Foundation and chad griffin. And, ryan, let me begin with you. What is the argument you believe is going to convince Justice Kennedy to leave this to the states . I think Justice Kennedy will rule consistently with what he said two years ago and he needs to say that the states have to decide it for themselves. Two years ago when he struck down the federal definition of marriage, he said it was because the federal government was deviating from deference to state authority over marriage. This time around i think he has to say that theres nothing in the u. S. Constitution that tells us what marriage is. There are good arguments on both sides. Some people have good argue manies in favor of gay marriage good arguments against gay marriage, good arguments to retain the traditional understanding. Equality alone doesnt settle that because all of us are in favor of Marriage Equality and wants the law to treat all marriages equally. The question is which vision of marriage is the truth. And nine unelected justices dont have any greater access on that than you me and chad so Justice Kennedy will want to say people and their elected representatives working through the state should make marriage policy. Do you agree . I dont think you do. No question, george, Justice Scalia wrote in his dissent that the decision in windsor would lead to Marriage Equality across this country and thats exactly what i believe is going to happen and i believe justy kennedy will offer that opinion. The other thing that justice do you think hell go all the way and say theres a constitutional right. I do, george, 70 of americans already live in states where we have Marriage Equality. But the other thing that Justice Kennedy asked in oral arguments but also in his decision, what about those thousands of children that today are already being raised by samesex couples . More than 200,000 children are in this country a day are being raised by samesex parents. They deserve the same rights, protections as everyone else. That did seem to tug at Justice Kennedy. Sure, and i think weve seen this time around voices from children of gays and lesbians on both sides of this debate. There are three different amicus briefs filed by the children of gay and lesbian couples saying we love our two moms or our two dads. It wasnt the same thing as having a mom and dad and were the children of gays and lesbians who are against gay marriage and weve also seen gay and lesbian voices themselves and saying im gay but im against gay marriage. Its not as if the Lbgt Community speaks in one voice on this issue and i think Justice Kennedy will want to look at how redefining marriage impacts everyone and i dont think he has a crystal ball to know whether or not itll produce good outcomes or bad outcomes so we leave it to the democratic process. Theres no question, all of the science, dozens of independent Peer Reviewed studies says there is no difference whether a child is raised by opposite or samesex parents. A child deserves loving parents and according to the American Academy of pediatrics there is no difference. What happens i want to move on to Something Else quickly here because there does seem to be most Supreme Court watchers do believe the kennedy is likely to find some right of gay marriage although none of us can be sure. If that happens, where does the movement go next . Sure. I mean i think if that happens, it will be repeating the mistake of roe v. Wade. 42 years ago they tried to settle the abortion issue and for the past 40 years weve been having a culture war. Nothing is more divisive in our Politics Today than abortion because we cant make commonsense compromises through the democratic process. Look at europe. They dont have the march for life every year like we do. They dont have the divisive abortion politics because their courts didnt remove the issue from popular democracy. Thats what needs to happen here. If it doesnt happen i fear 46 there will be a backlash. There will be a culture war like theres been on the abortion issue. I want to move on to one other issue. We did see that interview with bruce jenner on friday night. Chad griffin, what do you think the impact is of this and now that Bruce Jenners instantly become the most famous transgender person in the world, is that good for the movement for those who want to support transgender rights . It was monumental. Look, any time someone is willing to stand up and come out and to share their story and to live their truth, its a massive victory but especially when that person is an american hero, a superstar like bruce jenner, thats what changes hearts and mights all across this country, but what i hope it will also do is open americans eyes as to how we treat transgender people in this country today and i hope it will move policymakers. Democrats and republicans to bring about the needed protections that are so needed all across this country today. Your reaction . I think the very end of the jenner interview was real interesting. He said if his father was still alive he would want him to know he loved him and have to keep open hearts and open minds. And i think thats exactly right. Going forward we need to hear voices like Bruce Jenners. We also need to hear voices like walt hire, a man who went through and had the sex reassignment surgery and it didnt solve his problems. We need to hear voices like dr. Paul mccue from john hopkins hospital the chair of psychiatry at john hopkins where they decided to stop doing sex reassignment surgery. He came to the conclusion it wasnt helping those patients. So i think the science is very unsettled on this. We need to welcome all voices to this debate and listen the debate has begun. Thank you both very much. Well be back with the white house Correspondents Dinner. Big night in washington last night, the 89th annual white house Correspondents Dinner. A lot of people there. We were all there, a pack of celebrities and the press. But we had t. J. Holmes work the room. Heres what he found. Reporter in washington hollywoods in town. I love this. This is amazing. Reporter our favorite celebs hitting the red carpet at the white house Correspondents Dinner. Its chaos here. Reporter for the stars of abcs blackish a first. Landing copters on the white house lawn. You got any security concerns about this evening. I always park myself next to the exit just in case something goes down. Im from compton. This is my first. Reporter my first, as well. Exciting. The bucket list situation. Reporter the perfect segue for the star of the night, the commander in chief. Now, as to the midterm elections my advisers asked me, mr. President , do you have a bucket list, and i said, well, i have something that rhymes with bucket list. Take executive action on immigration. Bucket. Reporter the president was hobnobbing with washingtons press corps and the president even employing comedy centrals obama anger translator. Traditions like the white house Correspondents Dinner are important. I mean, really. Why . And why am i required to talk to it . Reporter and as always a few shots at republicans. Rick santorum announced he would not attend the samesex wedding of a friend or a loved one to which gays and lesbians around the country responded, thats not going to be a problem. Reporter democrats too. Hillary kicks things off by going completely unrecognized at a chipotle. Not to be outdone, Martin Omalley kicked things off by going completely unrecognized at a Martin Omalley campaign event. Reporter comedian Cecily Strong giving her own advice to the press. I want all the media to put their hands up and swear something this election season, okay. I solemnly swear all i solemnly swear not to talk about hillarys appearance. All not to talk about hillarys experience. Because that is not journalism. [ cheers and applause ] reporter but the nights top mission, roasting the president. After six years in office, your Approval Rating is at 48 , not only that, your gray hair is at 85 . Your hair is so white now, it can talk back to the police. [ laughter ] that was a pretty good one. T. J. , you were like a Foreign Correspondent here. Your first one. George, you did not adequately prepare me for this thing. This was a hollywood event that just happened to be in d. C. When Madeleine Albright is ignored by cameras for ation for a better life. Before we go a clarification about last weeks piece on fallout from the 2009 bp oil spill. A federal judge found that bp was grossly nents before the spill and make clear the same judge ruled that their cleanup efforts have not been grossly negligent. Thats all for us today. Check out world news tonight with david muir and see you tomorrow on gma. Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke is our newsmaker this morning. Lets get the inside story. Good morning, and welcome to inside story. Im tamala edwards. And good morning to Darrell Clarke, head of city council. A lot to talk about. I know youre focused on the budget, doing hearings right now. Big issue education funding. The mayors asked for 103 million. Will he get it . Well, its the annual schooldistrict crisis. The reality is the mayor wants 103 million, the School District needs 300 million in total. Were working with the state to determine whether or not theres gonna be an appropriate split. Weve obviously, over the last several years, put more than 375 million into schools. Its for a good cause. There could potentially be a combination of revenue streams. Because the challenge with this particular budget, that we wont know what the state does until after we have to pass our budget. So were looking at various options