WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.670 align:start ANNOUNCER: This is the Washington Week Webcast Extra. 00:07.670 --> 00:09.900 align:start GWEN IFILL: Hello, I'm Gwen Ifill. 00:09.900 --> 00:14.310 align:start Welcome to our Webcast Extra, where we pick up online where we left off on the air. 00:14.310 --> 00:18.510 align:start I'm joined by Jeff Zeleny of CNN, Laura Meckler of The Wall Street Journal, Pete 00:18.510 --> 00:21.940 align:start Williams of NBC News, and Pierre Thomas of ABC News. 00:21.940 --> 00:25.820 align:start It turns out our government is very worried about the potential for terrorism that lurks 00:25.820 --> 00:27.250 align:start within. 00:27.250 --> 00:31.190 align:start In Garland, Texas this week, the two men shot dead by police after trying to stage an 00:31.190 --> 00:36.330 align:start attack at an anti-Muslim event appear to have attempted to establish ties to ISIS. 00:36.330 --> 00:41.200 align:start And at the Justice Department this week, the FBI outlined the ways ISIS is using social 00:41.200 --> 00:45.500 align:start media to do its recruiting, using tactics straight out of Madison Avenue. 00:45.500 --> 00:47.840 align:start Pete and Pierre have been all over this story. 00:47.840 --> 00:51.010 align:start Pierre, why don't you start by telling us about some of the tactics which the Justice 00:51.010 --> 00:52.880 align:start Department - the FBI has been telling us about? 00:52.880 --> 00:57.690 align:start PIERRE THOMAS: We've actually been doing a deep dive, looking at precisely how ISIS has 00:57.690 --> 01:00.460 align:start been using social media. 01:00.460 --> 01:08.270 align:start They have developed a system and a strategy where they're pushing out images, videos and 01:08.270 --> 01:10.400 align:start communications on a daily basis. 01:10.400 --> 01:13.940 align:start We interviewed an official who said 90,000 times a day they're posting something. 01:13.940 --> 01:16.160 align:start And - 01:16.160 --> 01:17.680 align:start GWEN IFILL: Ninety thousand times a day? 01:17.680 --> 01:19.330 align:start PIERRE THOMAS: A day. 01:19.330 --> 01:22.150 align:start And it's a variety of things, and let me give you three examples. 01:22.150 --> 01:24.680 align:start One, there's video. 01:24.680 --> 01:30.080 align:start Picture high-definition video, beautifully shot of beautiful children running toward a 01:30.080 --> 01:34.590 align:start bunch of fighters, and the fighters have ice cream and cotton candy. 01:34.590 --> 01:38.750 align:start And they hand out the ice cream and cotton candy, and then the video ends with the ISIS 01:38.750 --> 01:41.460 align:start fighter looking at the camera and smiling. 01:41.460 --> 01:44.340 align:start And then a sign comes up, Mujatweets. 01:44.340 --> 01:46.600 align:start Another video. 01:46.600 --> 01:53.470 align:start They have commandeered - a video similar to "Grand Theft Auto" in which they say, you 01:53.470 --> 01:57.350 align:start play the game, but you can come live the game, basically, with them. 01:57.350 --> 01:59.850 align:start Another video to soften their image. 01:59.850 --> 02:04.850 align:start They have a very handsome ISIS fighter who goes to a hospital and he's visiting his 02:04.850 --> 02:07.490 align:start wounded comrades. 02:07.490 --> 02:12.390 align:start So they're operating on all different levels, enticing people to pay attention to them. 02:12.390 --> 02:19.400 align:start And the concern is somebody who's getting those images will identify with ISIS and maybe 02:19.400 --> 02:24.570 align:start not go to join them in Iraq or Syria, but actually play out and do something here in the 02:24.570 --> 02:25.800 align:start U.S. 02:25.800 --> 02:27.510 align:start GWEN IFILL: Well, which brings us to Garland, Texas. 02:27.510 --> 02:29.140 align:start I don't know, does it bring us to Garland, Texas? 02:29.140 --> 02:31.010 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Yes, very much so. 02:31.010 --> 02:34.320 align:start GWEN IFILL: Where we see two individuals who decided - and telegraphed - that they were 02:34.320 --> 02:41.350 align:start going to attack this anti-Muslim event, which was showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons, and 02:41.350 --> 02:44.560 align:start seemed to have at least - at the very least been inspired by ISIS. 02:44.560 --> 02:47.450 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Well, clearly one of them was, and that's Elton Simpson. 02:47.450 --> 02:53.930 align:start He was obviously, now we know, in touch with several people who were either ISIS members 02:53.930 --> 02:59.710 align:start or ISIS sympathizers who - one of whom had said, hey, what about this event in Texas, 02:59.710 --> 03:01.580 align:start somebody ought to do something about that. 03:01.580 --> 03:05.710 align:start And as Pierre said, they're not just saying, you know, hooray for our side; they're 03:05.710 --> 03:11.450 align:start saying, you know - just today the ISIS in - somebody sent out a tweet saying, hey, 03:11.450 --> 03:15.830 align:start there's this Jewish person in Australia and he's doing things that we don't like, 03:15.830 --> 03:17.690 align:start somebody ought to go kill him. 03:17.690 --> 03:20.060 align:start And so that is exactly what they're doing. 03:20.060 --> 03:24.100 align:start They're not merely sending a propaganda message about how great they are. 03:24.100 --> 03:27.740 align:start They're appealing to people and saying, you know, look, if you can't get over here, kill 03:27.740 --> 03:29.270 align:start somebody right where you live. 03:29.270 --> 03:30.290 align:start That's the big danger. 03:30.290 --> 03:31.400 align:start GWEN IFILL: And threats against U.S. 03:31.400 --> 03:32.810 align:start military bases we see today. 03:32.810 --> 03:34.550 align:start PIERRE THOMAS: Right. 03:34.550 --> 03:37.380 align:start Essentially, they're leveraging Western values and marketing to get someone to do 03:37.380 --> 03:38.880 align:start something. 03:38.880 --> 03:42.040 align:start It's like, we'll throw it out there and maybe someone will do something. 03:42.040 --> 03:47.760 align:start The FBI director talked about a distinction between ISIS and al-Qaida. 03:47.760 --> 03:53.730 align:start He said ISIS would never think of sending one to do an attack without vetting them. 03:53.730 --> 03:55.060 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: Yeah. 03:55.060 --> 03:56.330 align:start PIERRE THOMAS: ISIS doesn't care. 03:56.330 --> 03:57.660 align:start They just want you to do it. 03:57.660 --> 03:59.670 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: And the other - excuse me - and the other difference, and what makes it 03:59.670 --> 04:02.140 align:start so hard for the government, is, in the olden days of about a year and a half ago - 04:02.140 --> 04:06.210 align:start (chuckles) - the way you got a propaganda message was to put up a website, and then the 04:06.210 --> 04:09.410 align:start FBI could sort of lurk around the edges and see who was coming. 04:09.410 --> 04:14.240 align:start Now it's being pushed out to - he said there were probably hundreds of people in the 04:14.240 --> 04:15.610 align:start U.S. 04:15.610 --> 04:17.490 align:start who are consuming these messages, perhaps thousands. 04:17.490 --> 04:19.180 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Wow. 04:19.180 --> 04:20.990 align:start GWEN IFILL: OK, let's move to something more lighthearted, like politics. 04:20.990 --> 04:22.420 align:start (Laughter.) 04:22.420 --> 04:23.880 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Seriously. 04:23.880 --> 04:26.090 align:start GWEN IFILL: We got through a lot of people who are in this crowded race now, Jeff, 04:26.090 --> 04:29.700 align:start during the main broadcast, but there are a lot of people who are keeping a much closer 04:29.700 --> 04:32.460 align:start eye on. 04:32.460 --> 04:34.600 align:start They're not the longshots. 04:34.600 --> 04:36.970 align:start They're the Marco Rubios and the Jeb Bushes and the Chris Christies. 04:36.970 --> 04:38.870 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Right. 04:38.870 --> 04:40.350 align:start And Chris Christie suddenly reappeared this week back on the campaign trail. 04:40.350 --> 04:41.610 align:start We haven't seen a lot of him. 04:41.610 --> 04:43.310 align:start He was in New Hampshire for a couple days. 04:43.310 --> 04:44.950 align:start He is not out of this yet. 04:44.950 --> 04:46.080 align:start He has a few problems, a few challenges - 04:46.080 --> 04:47.190 align:start GWEN IFILL: A few problems. 04:47.190 --> 04:48.320 align:start JEFF ZELENY: - at home back in New Jersey. 04:48.320 --> 04:50.820 align:start I mean, fiscal problems for one, but also the Bridgegate - 04:50.820 --> 04:52.150 align:start PIERRE THOMAS: A few bridges to cross? 04:52.150 --> 04:53.280 align:start (Laughter.) 04:53.280 --> 04:54.230 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Exactly. 04:54.230 --> 04:56.010 align:start A situation that's still going on. 04:56.010 --> 05:02.060 align:start But he is still eyeing probably a June time frame of jumping in. 05:02.060 --> 05:05.230 align:start His advisers are insisting he's still running. 05:05.230 --> 05:06.430 align:start We'll see. 05:06.430 --> 05:09.760 align:start I mean, I think it's a little early to rule him out entirely, but his moment may have 05:09.760 --> 05:11.280 align:start passed a bit. 05:11.280 --> 05:15.270 align:start But Marco Rubio I would say, if you're judging all the rollouts so far, I think he's had 05:15.270 --> 05:19.750 align:start the best one and has had the biggest rise. 05:19.750 --> 05:24.150 align:start He is in poll after poll after poll - which we have to take with a grain of salt at this 05:24.150 --> 05:31.090 align:start point - but one consistency: he is viewed more positively, more favorably as second 05:31.090 --> 05:37.560 align:start choice or as, you know - Republicans don't dislike him, I guess, as much as some of the 05:37.560 --> 05:38.860 align:start others. 05:38.860 --> 05:39.930 align:start LAURA MECKLER: An acceptable choice, sort of. 05:39.930 --> 05:40.770 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Acceptable choice, right. 05:40.770 --> 05:41.830 align:start Thank you. 05:41.830 --> 05:42.470 align:start Thank you for translating that. 05:42.470 --> 05:43.410 align:start LAURA MECKLER: He is like an acceptable choice to a larger number of people. 05:43.410 --> 05:44.470 align:start GWEN IFILL: People don't know him very well yet, though. 05:44.470 --> 05:46.170 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Because Jeb Bush, though - 05:46.170 --> 05:47.570 align:start GWEN IFILL: This is what happens. 05:47.570 --> 05:49.230 align:start JEFF ZELENY: It's a possibility, but Jeb Bush, though, he has high negatives and high 05:49.230 --> 05:50.540 align:start numbers. 05:50.540 --> 05:52.150 align:start But Jeb Bush, I think, is still out there. 05:52.150 --> 05:56.140 align:start He is raising so much money, and doing something that we never seen before. 05:56.140 --> 06:00.250 align:start He's filling up the coffers of his super PAC, and then he's going to jump in and run for 06:00.250 --> 06:01.960 align:start president later. 06:01.960 --> 06:04.900 align:start And this is the - you know, it's an unusual dynamic. 06:04.900 --> 06:09.230 align:start But the super PACs in 2016, in this cycle, are going to be much different and much more 06:09.230 --> 06:10.630 align:start robust than ever before. 06:10.630 --> 06:12.000 align:start So - 06:12.000 --> 06:14.130 align:start GWEN IFILL: I wouldn't pooh-pooh the polls completely, except that they do - they do 06:14.130 --> 06:16.230 align:start measure at this stage how well do you know somebody. 06:16.230 --> 06:19.510 align:start And that's why, if your name is Bush, they know you pretty well. 06:19.510 --> 06:21.480 align:start They've formed an opinion, no matter who you are. 06:21.480 --> 06:23.480 align:start If your name is Rubio, it's like, what's the story? 06:23.480 --> 06:25.610 align:start So maybe that may be a little bit of what we're seeing. 06:25.610 --> 06:27.960 align:start JEFF ZELENY: And the story is what people are latching onto. 06:27.960 --> 06:30.520 align:start He goes around and he tells the story of his upbringing, and people like inspirational 06:30.520 --> 06:32.280 align:start stories. 06:32.280 --> 06:39.860 align:start People - you know, and so he is - he's getting attention because of his persona and who 06:39.860 --> 06:42.000 align:start he is, so he's not running away from his family - 06:42.000 --> 06:46.260 align:start GWEN IFILL: Laura, I want to ask you about Hillary because we - speaking of well-known, 06:46.260 --> 06:51.900 align:start speaking of very - resonating in polls one way or the other, she is also raising money 06:51.900 --> 06:54.180 align:start hand over fist now as well. 06:54.180 --> 06:55.250 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Yeah. 06:55.250 --> 06:56.510 align:start I mean, we don't know if - 06:56.510 --> 06:58.000 align:start GWEN IFILL: Well, we don't know if it's hand over fist. 06:58.000 --> 07:00.220 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Probably has a way - has a way to go to catch up with Jeb. 07:00.220 --> 07:01.870 align:start But yes, she is out there. 07:01.870 --> 07:05.020 align:start I mean, in fact, we're only seeing a very little bit of her sort of in public. 07:05.020 --> 07:07.990 align:start You know, once a week she'll do a day's worth of events. 07:07.990 --> 07:12.320 align:start In Nevada this last week we saw her once, I mean, for less than an hour, I would say, in 07:12.320 --> 07:13.630 align:start public. 07:13.630 --> 07:15.960 align:start But she did do a lot of fundraising on the West Coast. 07:15.960 --> 07:18.530 align:start So she is fundraising for her own campaign. 07:18.530 --> 07:22.040 align:start And that is, by today's standards, you know, relatively small dollars. 07:22.040 --> 07:24.980 align:start We're talking $2,700 per person. 07:24.980 --> 07:29.540 align:start That might not seem like small dollars to everybody who - out there, but that is small 07:29.540 --> 07:30.640 align:start in a - 07:30.640 --> 07:32.050 align:start GWEN IFILL: In a billion-dollar campaign it is. 07:32.050 --> 07:33.680 align:start LAURA MECKLER: - in a billion-dollar campaign, exactly. 07:33.680 --> 07:37.080 align:start It is - she also this week started having her first meetings to support her own super 07:37.080 --> 07:38.520 align:start PAC. 07:38.520 --> 07:41.260 align:start Now, she - there are some lines that she won't be able to cross. 07:41.260 --> 07:45.430 align:start She can't, you know, coordinate with her super PAC, and she cannot directly ask for 07:45.430 --> 07:47.130 align:start large sums of money. 07:47.130 --> 07:52.630 align:start But she can have conversations with people about what they're up to and what she - hoping 07:52.630 --> 07:57.000 align:start that - essentially getting to know her and therefore hoping that they will support the - 07:57.000 --> 07:58.940 align:start support Priorities USA. 07:58.940 --> 08:03.410 align:start It is pretty amazing when you contrast that with what's happening with Jeb. 08:03.410 --> 08:07.940 align:start He is not a candidate as far as the law is concerned today, so he can go and ask for 08:07.940 --> 08:10.950 align:start anything he wants and coordinate all he wants. 08:10.950 --> 08:14.630 align:start So I'm not really sure, as a practical matter, there's all that much difference of what 08:14.630 --> 08:19.260 align:start he's doing and what Hillary's doing, but she cannot - at least she can't make the ask. 08:19.260 --> 08:21.520 align:start But she is - she is out there having the meetings. 08:21.520 --> 08:24.790 align:start GWEN IFILL: I have to say the rules are so confusing to me still: who can meet, who 08:24.790 --> 08:26.630 align:start can't meet, where they're supposed to - 08:26.630 --> 08:28.900 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Well, I think the bottom line is people can pretty much do whatever they 08:28.900 --> 08:30.470 align:start want these days. 08:30.470 --> 08:33.940 align:start I mean, there are some technical lines, but they are - I mean, I even heard this week - 08:33.940 --> 08:37.950 align:start you would know this better than I would - that there's some talk of Jeb having his super 08:37.950 --> 08:40.810 align:start PAC run his TV ads, his main TV ads. 08:40.810 --> 08:42.550 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Yeah, that's exactly what they're - what they're doing, they're 08:42.550 --> 08:43.920 align:start outsourcing them. 08:43.920 --> 08:45.280 align:start And the whole problem it goes to - 08:45.280 --> 08:46.820 align:start LAURA MECKLER: Which is - how do they do that without anyone coordinating? 08:46.820 --> 08:48.660 align:start JEFF ZELENY: If anyone at home is interested in commissions, the Federal Election 08:48.660 --> 08:51.590 align:start Commission, which polices all this, has basically thrown its hands up and said we - 08:51.590 --> 08:53.430 align:start PETE WILLIAMS: We give up? 08:53.430 --> 08:55.860 align:start JEFF ZELENY: We give up, we are hopelessly deadlocked. 08:55.860 --> 08:58.460 align:start So that - as John McCain always says, all this money is going to create a scandal 08:58.460 --> 09:00.330 align:start problem. 09:00.330 --> 09:02.100 align:start He might be right about this. 09:02.100 --> 09:04.170 align:start GWEN IFILL: Yeah, well, they're hoping that the problem doesn't get caught up until 09:04.170 --> 09:05.310 align:start after the election is over. 09:05.310 --> 09:06.570 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Right, of course. 09:06.570 --> 09:09.080 align:start GWEN IFILL: Thank you all very much, and thank you all for watching online. 09:09.080 --> 09:13.290 align:start While you're here, check out my take this week on what's right and wrong about being 09:13.290 --> 09:15.610 align:start politically correct. 09:15.610 --> 09:29.340 align:start And we'll see you next time on the Washington Week Webcast Extra.