On ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, co-host Ge
orge
Stephanopoulos fretted over congressional hearings on the radicalization
of American Muslims being "potentially explosive" and that "Critics are
already calling this a witch hunt." The headline on screen throughout
the segment read: "Hearings on Islamic Radicals: Witch Hunt or Reality
Check?"
ABC was not alone in touting the "witch hunt" accusation. On CBS's
Early Show, correspondent Nancy Cordes described how "already foes [of
the hearings] are calling them discriminatory and a witch-hunt." On
NBC's Today, co-host Meredith Vieira introduced a report on the hearings
by noting how "critics say it amounts to a witch hunt."
In
addition, reports on all three network morning shows cited a
spokesperson from the left-wing Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) to bolster accusations of discrimination against the hearings
being conducted by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman,
Republican Congressman Peter King.
ABC and CBS both used sound bites from Ibrahim Hooper. On Good Morning
America, Hooper warned the hearings "have the potential to demonize
Islam." On the Early Show, Hooper slammed King as someone who "has a
past history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. He has a past history of promoting
anti-Muslim sentiment." NBC's Today cited fellow CAIR member Nihad
Awad, who proclaimed: "Our community is bracing against generalization
and fear-mongering because our community has suffered. It is very sad
that we have not learned lessons from history."
Interviews with Congressman King on all three shows amounted to
interrogations. Good Morning America and Today were particularly bad in
that both compared King to Joseph McCarthy. ABC's Stephanopoulos
declared: "You've been accused of modern-day McCarthyism, fueling
bigots." NBC's Vieira observed: "...the hearing hasn't even started yet
and already you are being compared to Joe McCarthy, hell bent, on a
witch hunt. What is your mission?"
On CBS, co-host Chris Wragge cited a recent study in an attempt to
undermine King's argument for holding the hearings: "In a study
conducted by Duke University and the University of North Carolina, since
9/11, in the 120 terror plots the public knows of, 48 have been
thwarted by the Muslim community. So you say the community's not really
doing enough but the numbers show that, you know what, they're not doing
badly. So why do you say they're not doing enough?"
In response, King pointed out the numerous flaws in the data:
I don't accept those numbers....they left out a number of cases
involving terrorist financing, which they did not include in
there....they include cases in there, for instance, there's the Zazi
case in New York, the subway bombing plot, when actually in that case
the imam tipped off the defendant that police were coming after him. The
imam almost disrupted that case. How they can give him credit for that I
don't know. They also give credit for the Muslim vendor in Times Square
who saw a car on fire and reported it to the police. Now why seeing a
car on fire would indicate a Muslim attack or a terrorist attack is
beyond me. So I think that - that - that report was skewed.
Stephanopoulos cited the same study in his interview with King.
Unlike ABC and NBC, CBS interviewed King alongside Democratic
Congressman Keith Ellison, the only Muslim member of Congress. Wragge
actually did challenge Ellison's criticism of the hearings: "...many of
the recent attacks and attempted attacks have come from within the
Muslim community. So, what is wrong with questioning Muslim leaders as
to what is actually going on inside their communities?"
Ellison argued: "...if you take a hearing like this, and use a
congressional investigative hearing to investigate a community with the
allegation - before we've even had any testimony, the allegation that
there's no cooperation, I think what you're doing is you're setting the
tone of blame and collective guilt, and you're thwarting the very thing
you say you want to achieve, which is greater public safety."
In a sound bite for the ABC report, Ellison claimed: "These hearings,
as presently organized, won't do any good and they may well do a lot of
damage." On NBC, Vieira asked King about Ellison's concerns: "...he is
very concerned that this hearing is gonna backfire. That it's gonna play
into the hands of terrorist recruiters who are gonna use it to say,
'See America is at war with Islam.'"
Here is a full transcript of Stephanopoulos' March 9 interview with King on Good Morning America:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And we are joined, now, by the chair of the
House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Peter King. Good morning,
Congressman.
REP PETER KING (R-NY): Good morning, George. Good to be with you.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, boy, you are stirring up a hornet's nest here.
You've been accused of modern-day McCarthyism, fueling bigots. I
understand your purpose. But why not beat back the critics by broadening
out the hearings to contain all sources of domestic terrorism, rather
than zeroing in on a single religion?
KING: Because, George, this is where the threat is coming from. And,
you know, this isn't just me saying this. Just on Sunday, when Denis
McDonough, the President's deputy National Security Adviser, when he
gave his speech at the mosque in Virginia, he said that al Qaeda has
changed its tactics. It is now making a determined effort to recruit and
radicalize within the Muslim American community. He didn't mention any
other community. He gave the speech to Muslims, saying that is what is
al Qaeda is attempting to do. To me, it might be politically correct,
but it makes no sense at all to talk about other types of so-called
extremism, when the major threat to the United States today is coming
from al Qaeda and al Qaeda is attempting to recruit in this country. And
as Eric Holder said, I believe in the last two years alone, there have
been 50 homegrown terrorists arrested in this country. He said that he
can't sleep at night, or says he's awake at night, because of the threat
of domestic radicalization. Janet Napolitano said the threat level has
never been higher. So, to me, might be politically correct, but it would
diffuse and water down the hearing, it would serve no purpose. If you
investigate everybody, you investigate nobody.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, as you know, the Attorney General did not single
out Muslims in that statement. And there's an awful lot of evidence that
the Muslim community is taking on this threat. In fact, the greatest
source, according to a Duke University study, of tips turning in
potential radicals is the Muslim community itself.
KING: Yeah. That's actually a very misleading report. They include
cases in there, for instance, the Azazi case in New York, the subway
bomber. They give an imam credit for turning him in. Actually, the imam
tipped him off and the case was almost broken. They give credit to the
vender in Times Square who saw a car on fire and he reported it and that
was- the Times Square bomber- How did he know that involved a terrorist
attack? That report was skewed. And I go back to what Eric Holder said.
You look at the numbers. No matter how you look at it, that is the
Muslim-American community he's talking about, the overwhelming
percentage. For instance, in the last two years, there's been no terror
indictments of neo-Nazis or skinheads or environmental extremists. So,
the fact is, and when Denis McDonagh spoke on Sunday, what he was
talking about, he said the Muslim-American community is being targeted
by al Qaeda. That's the reality.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, do you any have law enforcement officials
testifying at your hearing who will say the Muslim community has not
been cooperating in trying to turn in the radicals when they find
them?
KING: Better than that, George, I will have people from the Muslim
community who will say how when they went to law enforcement, how imams
attempted to stop them. How they were threatened when they did want to
report. When the FBI began investigations, how the imams in the mosques
told them not to cooperate. These are people on the ground. The main
witnesses are going to be Muslim, people in the community. Showing how
they're intimidated. Showing how imams and other leaders and groups such
as CAIR are working against them. So, to me, that's much more effective
evidence, rather than a law enforcement person talk about statistics,
I'm going to have a person on the ground. I can tell you from my
experience, every law enforcement person I've spoken to in New York,
have told me they don't get the cooperation. I give examples of mosques
on Long Island.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Are they going to be testifying?
KING: No, because I get so many witnesses. And I have people on the
ground that have these Muslim-Americans who are themselves are
victimized by their own community, to me, is much more effective.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you're not concerned this is going to backfire,
that by focusing on the Muslim community, you'll actually cause that
community to turn in on itself?
KING: No. I don't- in a democracy, the idea is to get the facts out
there and let the people decide. And, again, you're saying focusing on
the Muslim-American community. Isn't that what the President's National
Security Adviser did on Sunday when he said al Qaeda is trying to
radicalize the Muslim-American community?
Here is a full transcript of Vieira's March 9 interview with King on Today:
MEREDITH
VIEIRA: New York Republican Congressman Peter King is chairman of the
House Homeland Security committee. Good morning to you, Mr. Congressman.
REP. PETER KING: Good morning, Meredith.
VIEIRA: Let me ask you, starting out, the, the hearing hasn't even
started yet and already you are being compared to Joe McCarthy, hell
bent, on a witch hunt. What is your mission?
KING: My mission quite frankly and really quite simply is to show the
extent of radicalization within the Muslim-American community being
carried out by al Qaeda. This is the same message the President's
national, deputy national security adviser gave the other night when he
said al Qaeda has changed its strategy and it is now attempting to
recruit and radicalize the Muslim-American community. That's where the
threat is coming from. Now I have said over and over again the
overwhelming majority of Muslim-Americans are outstanding Americans but
al Qaeda is recruiting in there and they've had results. We saw Azazi,
the attempted subway bomber in New York. We saw Shahzad, the Times
Square bomber. We saw Major Hassan at Ft. Hood. The attorney general has
said that he stays awake at night. He can't sleep at night, being so
concerned about the radicalization going on in this country. You have
the clip from Secretary Napolitano. So I'm carrying this to its logical
conclusion of having a public hearing. And the hysteria and all this
yelling and screaming that's going on, that's been caused by my
opponents. I put out very basic direct statements, on this, saying what
the purpose of the hearing is. I would hope they would have embraced the
hearing. You know the leaders such as CAIR in the Muslim community,
even radical leaders.
VIEIRA: But, but I think the problem is a lot of people, a lot of
people are not embracing the hearing. There are a lot of
Muslim-Americans who are concerned about it. They're, they're gonna feel
alienated because of it. They are fearful of it. They're fearful of
Islamophobia, more Islamophobia in this country. How do you avoid that?
Or do you care if that's a by product?
KING: Well I would run a good hearing. I will run an honest and fair
hearing. Again, the hysteria that is being created is by my opponents.
Groups such as CAIR, radical Muslim organizations. I would hope that
rank and file Muslims will come forward. But the main purpose of this
hearing, also, is to protect the Muslim community. I will have Muslims
testifying tomorrow, showing how they were intimidated in their own
communities. How al Qaeda is radicalizing. And when they go to their
leaders in the community, the leaders tell them to keep quiet. The
leaders attempt to obstruct investigations. They will talk about what's
happened to their family. One man, his, his nephew was murdered in
Somalia and yet the local imams wanted to cover that up. And they
harassed him when he went public with it. Another man, his son was a
Muslim convert, who was over in Yemen and kept acting, committed
horrible crimes. He talks about the radicalization process. I want to
protect the people in the Muslim community. I want to protect the
broader American community as well. Because we're all one nation.
VIEIRA: But one of those Muslims who will be testifying tomorrow is
Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. And he
is very concerned that this hearing is gonna backfire. That it's gonna
play into the hands of terrorist recruiters who are gonna use it to say,
"See America is at war with Islam."
KING: Well they would only say that if they believe what radical Muslim
leaders such as CAIR are trying to say. Again, as an example of my good
faith, back in December, this is almost three months ago, I invited
Congressman Ellison. He and I disagree on this issue, but I invited him
to testify at the hearing, to give his side of it. So he could say why
he takes the positions he does. If I were trying to somehow ram the
hearing through. I certainly wouldn't have invited Keith Ellison, who is
the most prominent Muslim-American in the Congress today. The first
Muslim-American ever elect. That, to me, shows the fairness on my side.
So, again, I think if there is gonna be any outgrowth from this. If
there is gonna be animosity, I would blame it on my opponents. I have
conducted this, from day one, in an orderly and professional way. The
hysteria, the yelling in the rain, in Times Square and all that. That
was all generated by my opponents.
VIEIRA: Alright, Congressman Peter King. Thank you very much.
KING: Meredith, thank you.
Here is a full transcript of Wragge's March 9 interview with King and Ellison on the Early Show:
CHRIS
WRAGGE: Now joining us from Capitol Hill are Republican Congressman
Peter King and Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim
elected to Congress. And he'll be a witness at the hearings. Gentlemen,
good morning to the both of you.
PETER KING: Good Morning.
KEITH ELLISON [REP. D-MI]: Good Morning.
WRAGGE: Congressman King, I'm going to start with you. In a study
conducted by Duke University and the University of North Carolina, since
9/11, in the 120 terror plots the public knows of, 48 have been
thwarted by the Muslim community. So you say the community's not really
doing enough but the numbers show that, you know what, they're not doing
badly. So why do you say they're not doing enough?
KING: Well actually, I don't accept those numbers. For instance, the
percentage is made much higher because they left out a number of cases
involving terrorist financing, which they did not include in there.
Secondly, a number of those cases also involve family members coming
forward - which I agree there have been family members coming forward -
it's many times the leadership that doesn't.
And also, they include cases in there, for instance, there's the Zazi
case in New York, the subway bombing plot, when actually in that case
the imam tipped off the defendant that police were coming after him. The
imam almost disrupted that case. How they can give him credit for that I
don't know. They also give credit for the Muslim vendor in Times Square
who saw a car on fire and reported it to the police. Now why seeing a
car on fire would indicate a Muslim attack or a terrorist attack is
beyond me.
So I think that - that - that report was skewed. In fact, in that
report they also say that the terror threat in the United States is
going down. And Eric Holder says it's going up. And Napolitano says it's
going up. And the President's own national security adviser Dennis
McDonough says it's going up. So I would say that is a biased report.
But having said that, family members have cooperated. We will have
family members testifying tomorrow at the hearings to show how they did
cooperate, but they did not receive support from the leadership in the
community.
WRAGGE: Yeah. Congressman Ellison, let me ask you here, many of the
recent attacks and attempted attacks have come from within the Muslim
community. So, what is wrong with questioning Muslim leaders as to what
is actually going on inside their communities?
KEITH ELLISON: Because what we want to do is build cooperation and
trust and open lines of communication so that we can have a very, very
fertile, and a good exchange between law enforcement and the community. I
mean, if you take a hearing like this, and use a congressional
investigative hearing to investigate a community with the allegation -
before we've even had any testimony, the allegation that there's no
cooperation, I think what you're doing is you're setting the tone of
blame and collective guilt, and you're thwarting the very thing you say
you want to achieve, which is greater public safety.
So I think that the hearings are ill-placed. One of the interesting
things about this hearing is that there's only one law enforcement
official. Only Lee Baca, who's L.A. county sheriff, is going to be
testifying. I'll be testifying, but I'm not a law enforcement official.
This is basically a group of witnesses who were designed to offer their
views, but in terms of expert opinions, this hearing is sorely lacking.
So I think that's another real fatal flaw in what's going to be taking
place on Thursday.
WRAGGE: Congressman King, I have to ask you this, on the front page of
The New York Times today, an article details your ties and support to
the IRA back in the '80s. Regardless of where the acts took place, isn't
terrorism terrorism and just morally wrong?
KING: First of all, the story in The New York Times is entirely
distorted. I will tell you that just in the last week, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair has defended my actions in Northern Ireland in being
very responsible for bringing about the Irish peace process. President
Bill Clinton has stood by me and President Barack Obama offered me the
position of ambassador to Ireland. So if they thought in any way that
any of my actions were wrong I doubt the President of the United States
would have offered me to become ambassador to Ireland.
What I did was take an active role. I was one of those who saw the
elements within the IRA who wanted to go to the peace table. I worked
with Bill Clinton to bring them to the peace table. And I was absolutely
essential in bringing about that peace process, there are hundreds,
maybe thousands of people alive today in Northern Ireland because of my
efforts. So The New York Times story - by the way, three months ago - or
two months ago - The New York Times did an editorial, actually praised
me for my efforts in Northern Ireland. That's when they were trying to
prove another point.
So obviously terrorism is terrorism. I would be happy to discuss and
debate this issue at any time. I would compare the IRA, the people in
the IRA that I thought were willing to go to the peace table - which
were - who, by the way, are sitting in government in Northern Ireland
alongside protestant leaders and work on a regular basis with the
British government - are the people that I said during the 1980s, 199Os,
would bring peace, they did. I've been proven right. The Times is doing
this as a last-minute attempt to take a shot at me.
If I could make one other point, the reason the hearings are focusing
on the Muslim community, the President's own national security adviser
said Al Qaeda is attempting to radicalize the Muslim American community.
I have said over and over again, 99%, more than that maybe, of Muslims
in this country are outstanding Americans, but their community is being
targeted. That's why the investigation is there. If another community
was being targeted by Al Qaeda or foreign organizations, we would
obviously investigate that also.
WRAGGE: Alright, Congressman Peter King, thank you very much for taking
the time. Congressman Ellison, thank you, much, as well.
ELLISON: Thank you.
WRAGGE: Alright, and we will, of course, have plenty more to report on those hearings as they take place.
ERICA HILL: Yes, there will be much to say from a lot of people on that.
- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
