00:00:03.133,00:00:04.600 The President: John, how are you? 00:00:04.600,00:00:05.567 Mr. Walsh: Mr. President. 00:00:05.567,00:00:06.667 The President: Great to see you. 00:00:06.667,00:00:07.800 Mr. Walsh: Great to see you again. 00:00:07.800,00:00:08.834 The President: Thank you so much for being here. 00:00:08.834,00:00:10.867 Not your first visit to the White House and I'm sure not your last. 00:00:10.867,00:00:13.033 Mr. Walsh: And thank you for taking the time today to be with us. 00:00:13.033,00:00:14.000 The President: It's my honor. 00:00:14.000,00:00:14.900 Mr. Walsh: Much appreciated. 00:00:14.900,00:00:15.934 The President: Thank you very much. 00:00:15.934,00:00:16.900 Appreciate you. 00:00:16.900,00:00:19.066 Mr. Walsh: Mr. President, thank you for taking the time today, 00:00:19.066,00:00:22.467 and congratulations on all the work you've been doing since you 00:00:22.467,00:00:24.066 were President. 00:00:24.066,00:00:25.867 And it's nice to see you again. 00:00:25.867,00:00:27.433 The President: Well, John, it's great to see you. 00:00:27.433,00:00:32.200 And I just want to say congratulations to the show, 00:00:32.200,00:00:36.133 to what you've done -- when you think about not just a thousand 00:00:36.133,00:00:39.467 shows, but more importantly, over a thousand lives who've 00:00:39.467,00:00:42.367 been positively affected because of what you've done, 00:00:42.367,00:00:44.500 and probably even more because of the people who've been 00:00:44.500,00:00:47.100 apprehended, taking them off the streets. 00:00:47.100,00:00:52.033 It's a remarkable record, and I think all of America greatly 00:00:52.033,00:00:53.834 appreciates what you guys have done. 00:00:53.834,00:00:56.100 Mr. Walsh: Thank you so much for the kind words. 00:00:56.100,00:01:01.567 And I don't know if people are very familiar with the work 00:01:01.567,00:01:03.400 you've done with the Recovery Act. 00:01:03.400,00:01:06.633 Everybody talks about the economic stimulus package, 00:01:06.633,00:01:10.367 but I know firsthand from the rank and file cops on the street 00:01:10.367,00:01:13.000 what you've done for law enforcement on the local and 00:01:13.000,00:01:14.767 state level with the Recovery Act. 00:01:14.767,00:01:15.633 The President: Well, I appreciate this. 00:01:15.633,00:01:18.400 I think this has been sort of an untold story. 00:01:18.400,00:01:20.834 Last year when we came in, obviously you had a huge 00:01:20.834,00:01:22.000 economic crisis. 00:01:22.000,00:01:25.100 One of the things we were most worried about was how would this 00:01:25.100,00:01:26.667 affect law enforcement. 00:01:26.667,00:01:30.467 Because you started seeing state and local budgets hemorrhaging, 00:01:30.467,00:01:34.133 and there were the prospects of tens of thousands of cops on the 00:01:34.133,00:01:36.300 streets being laid off. 00:01:36.300,00:01:39.333 And so what we did was, working with state and local 00:01:39.333,00:01:45.867 governments, got $4 billion in additional funding so that we 00:01:45.867,00:01:48.734 kept those law enforcement officials doing the great work 00:01:48.734,00:01:50.233 that they do each and every day. 00:01:50.233,00:01:54.000 And I know that, John, there's nobody who admires more the 00:01:54.000,00:01:57.767 sacrifices that our law enforcement officers make at 00:01:57.767,00:01:59.233 every level. 00:01:59.233,00:02:02.266 We want to make sure they stay on the job and we're going to 00:02:02.266,00:02:06.000 keep on making sure that the federal budget process is 00:02:06.000,00:02:09.533 providing support to these local and state government officials 00:02:09.533,00:02:12.734 so that they can support the great work that is done at the 00:02:12.734,00:02:13.934 local level. 00:02:13.934,00:02:16.900 Mr. Walsh: Well, I know firsthand the law enforcement community respects 00:02:16.900,00:02:20.300 you and is appreciative of you getting that bill through in 00:02:20.300,00:02:25.200 these tough economic times, with everybody asking for a bailout 00:02:25.200,00:02:27.967 -- 140 cops were killed in the line of duty last year; 00:02:27.967,00:02:30.800 we need them more than ever with all the challenges that this 00:02:30.800,00:02:32.600 country faces. 00:02:32.600,00:02:35.400 I wanted to talk to you about the Adam Walsh Act. 00:02:35.400,00:02:37.467 I know that you're a supporter. 00:02:37.467,00:02:40.967 Joe Biden has been a friend of mine for 28 years, 00:02:40.967,00:02:46.600 and he was one of the co-authors of the Adam Walsh Act. 00:02:46.600,00:02:48.934 That bill passed Congress unanimously -- 00:02:48.934,00:02:50.333 the House and the Senate. 00:02:50.333,00:02:53.100 I had the great honor of, on the 25th anniversary of our 00:02:53.100,00:02:56.333 six-year-old son Adam's abduction, 00:02:56.333,00:02:59.233 turning a horrible day into a positive day. 00:02:59.233,00:03:01.533 My family was in the Rose Garden, 00:03:01.533,00:03:04.166 Elizabeth Smart was there, many parents of murdered children 00:03:04.166,00:03:06.400 when President Bush signed the bill. 00:03:06.400,00:03:08.767 But the problem, of course, I know you're so well aware, 00:03:08.767,00:03:11.667 and the problem that Vice President Biden and I face, 00:03:11.667,00:03:15.166 is focusing this Congress in on funding this act. 00:03:15.166,00:03:17.000 I know you just spoke to the attorney generals -- 00:03:17.000,00:03:19.233 I addressed them two weeks ago. 00:03:19.233,00:03:21.233 Every one of those state attorney generals, 00:03:21.233,00:03:24.300 all 50 of them, are looking for that money to create this 00:03:24.300,00:03:27.000 national sex offender registry. 00:03:27.000,00:03:32.400 No money of any consequence has been appropriated behind this act. 00:03:32.400,00:03:35.633 Yet we need this national sex offender registry. 00:03:35.633,00:03:38.867 Jaycee Dugard, the little girl who was in the backyard of 00:03:38.867,00:03:43.600 Phillip Garrido, horrible sex offender, rap sheet this long, 00:03:43.600,00:03:46.967 actually violated his parole while she was in the backyard, 00:03:46.967,00:03:50.166 served four months in jail and nobody went to see if he had 00:03:50.166,00:03:52.100 anybody at the house. 00:03:52.100,00:03:54.133 I know you know these problems. 00:03:54.133,00:03:58.333 The problem is that the states are not becoming compliant 00:03:58.333,00:04:02.200 because they're afraid that the federal money won't come down. 00:04:02.200,00:04:06.266 I know you want to try to help get that money. 00:04:06.266,00:04:12.133 The President: Well, first of all, John, I think that, as a father, 00:04:12.133,00:04:16.767 I can't thank you enough for what you did in memory of Adam. 00:04:16.767,00:04:20.400 And I think there are parents all across the country who 00:04:20.400,00:04:25.400 recognize what an important initiative this is. 00:04:25.400,00:04:29.166 There are a couple of things that we've tried to do right off 00:04:29.166,00:04:32.900 the bat, even in, as you said, tough economic times. 00:04:32.900,00:04:41.066 We have increased funding for the Adam Walsh Act by 23% in our 00:04:41.066,00:04:43.734 budget compared to where we were when we came in -- 00:04:43.734,00:04:48.533 so almost a quarter of additional money, 00:04:48.533,00:04:51.867 a quarter percent -- 25% of additional money. 00:04:51.867,00:04:55.100 And that can help states get compliant. 00:04:55.100,00:04:58.200 The second thing we've done is we've added an additional 00:04:58.200,00:05:01.934 hundred U.S. marshals to focus on this issue. 00:05:01.934,00:05:04.734 We went from 300 to 400. 00:05:04.734,00:05:10.767 Now, that represents a 25% increase in enforcement capability. 00:05:10.767,00:05:14.834 The problem, as you well know, is you've got 150,000 sex 00:05:14.834,00:05:19.300 offenders out there that these U.S. marshals have to chase down. 00:05:19.300,00:05:23.166 And so it's very important for us to continue to build up the 00:05:23.166,00:05:24.700 U.S. marshals' capacity. 00:05:24.700,00:05:28.033 That's something that we want to do in our federal budget. 00:05:28.033,00:05:29.900 The states, with respect to compliance, 00:05:29.900,00:05:33.867 I just met today with the U.S. attorneys -- 00:05:33.867,00:05:36.600 or the attorney generals in these respective states. 00:05:36.600,00:05:40.266 I want to work with them to find out how can we make sure that 00:05:40.266,00:05:41.633 they are compliant. 00:05:41.633,00:05:45.266 And the key here is making sure that the federal government is 00:05:45.266,00:05:46.533 supporting state efforts. 00:05:46.533,00:05:49.200 I think every state would like to be compliant. 00:05:49.200,00:05:51.500 If they've got to prioritize and make sure that we're going after 00:05:51.500,00:05:55.233 the Tier 3 guys, the violent, most vicious of these offenders 00:05:55.233,00:05:58.800 first, and work our way down the list, let's do that. 00:05:58.800,00:06:04.600 But let's not just stop and not do anything because we can't get 00:06:04.600,00:06:06.467 it done 100% right away. 00:06:06.467,00:06:08.867 Let's start building and moving. 00:06:08.867,00:06:11.433 We also want to provide some support for things like DNA 00:06:11.433,00:06:15.533 testing at the state levels -- a lot of these local law 00:06:15.533,00:06:17.700 enforcement officials are just strapped for some of the basic 00:06:17.700,00:06:20.867 resources -- getting the databases set up. 00:06:20.867,00:06:24.200 Those are all areas where I think we can provide a lot of help. 00:06:24.200,00:06:27.333 And my expectation is, is that we're going to get support, 00:06:27.333,00:06:29.700 bipartisan support from Congress on this issue, 00:06:29.700,00:06:32.867 because it's so important to every family across America and 00:06:32.867,00:06:36.867 there are just too many horror stories that remind us that 00:06:36.867,00:06:38.266 we're not doing enough. 00:06:38.266,00:06:42.667 Mr. Walsh: Well, I have always been impressed by your knowledge of 00:06:42.667,00:06:43.600 this problem. 00:06:43.600,00:06:45.066 You're absolutely right. 00:06:45.066,00:06:47.266 The marshals have done an outstanding job; 00:06:47.266,00:06:50.300 the FBI has done an outstanding job with the Internet crimes 00:06:50.300,00:06:55.300 portion of it with over 100,000 non-compliant Level 3 sex offenders. 00:06:55.300,00:06:58.300 We're not talking about the guy who peed at Mardi Gras, 00:06:58.300,00:07:00.900 the 18-year-old kid who had consensual sex with a 00:07:00.900,00:07:02.133 16-year-old girl -- 00:07:02.133,00:07:03.266 The President: Right, these are bad guys. 00:07:03.266,00:07:04.333 Mr. Walsh: These are the bad guys. 00:07:04.333,00:07:07.367 These are the guys that have torn off the ankle bracelet or 00:07:07.367,00:07:10.266 said, I'm not going to comply with parole or probation. 00:07:10.266,00:07:11.900 And they're the top priority. 00:07:11.900,00:07:14.066 And as you mentioned, the states are afraid that they're going to 00:07:14.066,00:07:17.500 be stuck with the bill if they become compliant. 00:07:17.500,00:07:20.533 The President: Here's my commitment, John: We are going to do everything in 00:07:20.533,00:07:23.867 our power, as long as I'm in the White House and as long as I'm 00:07:23.867,00:07:27.266 the father of two girls, to make sure that we're providing the 00:07:27.266,00:07:30.000 states the support that they need to make this happen. 00:07:30.000,00:07:33.200 Mr. Walsh: Well, I appreciate that, and I know how much you love your 00:07:33.200,00:07:37.333 girls and know that these are the people that these guys look for -- 00:07:37.333,00:07:38.233 The President: Absolutely. 00:07:38.233,00:07:39.500 Mr. Walsh: -- like your beautiful girls. 00:07:39.500,00:07:42.266 The DNA portion of it is something that I hope to see in 00:07:42.266,00:07:48.400 my lifetime, that every one of the states have DNA compliance. 00:07:48.400,00:07:52.367 And now we have 18 states who are taking DNA upon arrest. 00:07:52.367,00:07:54.834 England has done it for years. 00:07:54.834,00:07:58.667 It's no different than fingerprinting or a booking photo. 00:07:58.667,00:08:00.400 And those states that have been taking it -- 00:08:00.400,00:08:05.700 California last year took 100 -- I'm sorry, 1 million DNA samples 00:08:05.700,00:08:07.367 upon arrest. 00:08:07.367,00:08:09.133 Since those states have been doing it, 00:08:09.133,00:08:14.033 it has cleared 200 people that are innocent from jail. 00:08:14.033,00:08:17.233 I think that this is something this country has to deal with. 00:08:17.233,00:08:18.667 The President: It's the right thing to do. 00:08:18.667,00:08:21.033 And then, as you well know, John, 00:08:21.033,00:08:24.133 this is where the national registry becomes so important, 00:08:24.133,00:08:28.300 because what you have is individual states, 00:08:28.300,00:08:32.166 they may have a database, but if they're not sharing it with the 00:08:32.166,00:08:35.900 state next-door, you've got a guy from Illinois driving over 00:08:35.900,00:08:40.066 into Indiana and they're not talking to each other. 00:08:40.066,00:08:45.600 And so making sure that not only are we getting these DNA tests 00:08:45.600,00:08:48.900 done state by state, but then nationally, 00:08:48.900,00:08:50.533 everybody is talking to each other. 00:08:50.533,00:08:52.934 That's how we make sure that we continue to tighten the grip 00:08:52.934,00:08:56.266 around folks who have perpetrated these crimes. 00:08:56.266,00:08:58.200 Mr. Walsh: Many, many people have said over the years, 00:08:58.200,00:09:01.033 if this country could put a man on the moon, 00:09:01.033,00:09:03.834 if we could bomb the moon, which we did a couple years ago for 00:09:03.834,00:09:06.734 testing procedures, we could have a national DNA database 00:09:06.734,00:09:09.800 that would -- and DNA, I said it years ago, 00:09:09.800,00:09:11.667 is the fingerprint of the 21st century. 00:09:11.667,00:09:12.834 The President: Absolutely. 00:09:12.834,00:09:14.667 Mr. Walsh: It convicts the guilty; frees the innocent. 00:09:14.667,00:09:16.000 The President: -- frees the innocent. 00:09:16.000,00:09:18.400 Mr. Walsh: The first case that California solved with a DNA-upon- arrest 00:09:18.400,00:09:22.567 was a 30-year-old rape and murder where the guy had floated 00:09:22.567,00:09:23.934 through different states. 00:09:23.934,00:09:27.533 The top of the FBI, the guy I want to see caught the most in 00:09:27.533,00:09:30.600 the world, is Alexis Flores. 00:09:30.600,00:09:34.166 He is alleged to have murdered a little girl in Philadelphia in 00:09:34.166,00:09:37.367 2000, burned her body -- five-year-old girl. 00:09:37.367,00:09:40.266 The FBI is so backlogged -- Director Mueller and I have 00:09:40.266,00:09:43.800 talked many, many times about the need for money to catch up 00:09:43.800,00:09:45.467 with the DNA backlog. 00:09:45.467,00:09:49.433 It took two and a half years to get his DNA processed and now 00:09:49.433,00:09:51.734 he's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted. 00:09:51.734,00:09:54.633 Very difficult for me, in a country that has done so many 00:09:54.633,00:09:58.367 great things and so many things that we look up to, 00:09:58.367,00:10:02.233 the world looks up to us, that we don't have a DNA national database. 00:10:02.233,00:10:03.967 The President: It's not acceptable. 00:10:03.967,00:10:08.200 And as you said, this is something that should transcend party. 00:10:08.200,00:10:14.066 Whatever your attitudes about politics here in Congress, 00:10:14.066,00:10:15.667 Congress should be able to do this. 00:10:15.667,00:10:20.500 And we want to work with them steadily over the next several years. 00:10:20.500,00:10:22.800 We're not going to get a 100% of what we want right away, 00:10:22.800,00:10:26.100 but as I said, what my budget says is, let's increase it -- 00:10:26.100,00:10:31.200 5% last year, 18% next year, so now you've got 23% increase in 00:10:31.200,00:10:33.266 funding for the Adam Walsh Act. 00:10:33.266,00:10:35.533 Let's see if we can start building on that. 00:10:35.533,00:10:37.900 Five years down the road we can look back and say, 00:10:37.900,00:10:39.834 you know what, we got a lot of stuff done and we probably saved 00:10:39.834,00:10:44.166 a lot of lives of innocent people and innocent children 00:10:44.166,00:10:45.734 from these predators. 00:10:45.734,00:10:47.300 Mr. Walsh: Well, you've hit the nail on the head. 00:10:47.300,00:10:51.433 And I know that your partner, Joe Biden -- 00:10:51.433,00:10:54.033 his son, Beau, who is the Attorney General of Delaware, 00:10:54.033,00:10:57.033 is dealing with this terrible case of a pediatrician who is 00:10:57.033,00:10:59.900 now suspected of over -- molesting over a hundred 00:10:59.900,00:11:03.400 children while he was a pediatrician. 00:11:03.400,00:11:04.767 The President: It's not acceptable. 00:11:04.767,00:11:07.967 Mr. Walsh: So I know that that is very much on the top of your list, 00:11:07.967,00:11:13.367 and much appreciate your work and how much you care about this 00:11:13.367,00:11:16.233 bill and about changing things here in America, 00:11:16.233,00:11:20.000 particularly for children and making this a safer place. 00:11:20.000,00:11:22.400 And I know you're a very loud voice for victims, 00:11:22.400,00:11:24.900 which is much appreciated from the victim community. 00:11:24.900,00:11:31.433 The President: Well, if you think 30 years ago, when these terrible crimes 00:11:31.433,00:11:36.066 happened, the victims were left to just deal with this on their own. 00:11:36.066,00:11:38.433 And we've seen a cultural change, 00:11:38.433,00:11:40.700 which I think is enormously positive, 00:11:40.700,00:11:45.233 where people realize we've got to rally around victims. 00:11:45.233,00:11:46.934 We've got to make sure that they've got the support they 00:11:46.934,00:11:48.133 need, the medical care they need, 00:11:48.133,00:11:51.033 the counseling that they need; but most importantly, 00:11:51.033,00:11:54.500 that we recognize what's happened to them and we insist 00:11:54.500,00:11:55.934 on justice. 00:11:55.934,00:11:58.934 That's what people need more than anything, 00:11:58.934,00:12:01.934 so that they can stop feeling like victims and they feel like 00:12:01.934,00:12:03.266 they've got some power. 00:12:03.266,00:12:07.300 And I think your show helps people to do that. 00:12:07.300,00:12:09.533 And so we want to build on that. 00:12:09.533,00:12:13.500 Look, I think it's important for us to remind ourselves that we 00:12:13.500,00:12:18.066 have made progress since your show first came on the air. 00:12:18.066,00:12:23.233 We are now at the lowest levels of violent crime since the 1960s. 00:12:23.233,00:12:24.934 And that's a remarkable achievement. 00:12:24.934,00:12:29.033 It's a testimony to our cops out on the streets, 00:12:29.033,00:12:33.567 to great folks from the FBI, to the U.S. marshals, 00:12:33.567,00:12:37.567 the district attorneys and U.S. attorneys who are all doing 00:12:37.567,00:12:39.000 terrific work. 00:12:39.000,00:12:42.500 We've put resources into it, but there are still some gaps that 00:12:42.500,00:12:43.834 need to be closed. 00:12:43.834,00:12:49.567 And my job as President here in the White House is to provide 00:12:49.567,00:12:53.567 support to that outstanding work that's being done at the local 00:12:53.567,00:13:00.300 and state levels, and just to reaffirm that if we're not 00:13:00.300,00:13:05.767 vigilant, then things could easily reverse in the other direction. 00:13:05.767,00:13:09.834 And we just can't afford that -- our children can't afford it and 00:13:09.834,00:13:11.200 our families can't afford it. 00:13:11.200,00:13:15.300 And one last thing I think is important is when we think about 00:13:15.300,00:13:16.900 people being victimized by crimes, 00:13:16.900,00:13:20.700 obviously our biggest concern is violent crime. 00:13:20.700,00:13:22.834 That's our biggest focus. 00:13:22.834,00:13:25.767 But we also want to make sure that some of the crimes that 00:13:25.767,00:13:29.700 have been taking place of late, financial crimes -- 00:13:29.700,00:13:31.800 in the area of mortgage fraud, for example -- 00:13:31.800,00:13:33.967 I just talked to the attorney generals there -- 00:13:33.967,00:13:38.667 a lot of people have lost a lot of money because they were duped 00:13:38.667,00:13:41.767 or tricked by white-collar criminals. 00:13:41.767,00:13:45.467 And we're also putting additional resources into that. 00:13:45.467,00:13:49.166 And I think that you're going to -- 00:13:49.166,00:13:54.000 we've already seen a tripling of mortgage fraud cases over the 00:13:54.000,00:13:55.533 last several years. 00:13:55.533,00:13:58.000 We want to make sure that we're cracking down on those folks who 00:13:58.000,00:14:01.500 are abusing and victimizing or taking advantage of people in 00:14:01.500,00:14:03.300 the financial sector as well. 00:14:03.300,00:14:06.800 Obviously, it doesn't have the same profound impact as violent crime. 00:14:06.800,00:14:10.800 But in a society like ours, we want to make sure that everybody 00:14:10.800,00:14:13.567 is playing by the rules and when you break the law, 00:14:13.567,00:14:16.867 when you break the rules, that there is serious punishment. 00:14:16.867,00:14:18.700 Mr. Walsh: You're sending a very loud message. 00:14:18.700,00:14:22.000 We profile white-collar criminals on "America's Most Wanted." 00:14:22.000,00:14:24.734 And the reaction sometime is, stick to the child molesters, 00:14:24.734,00:14:27.367 stick to the rapists, stick to the serial killers. 00:14:27.367,00:14:29.800 Yes, you're right, violent crime is on the decrease because 00:14:29.800,00:14:31.100 people care. 00:14:31.100,00:14:34.300 And you set a very high bar, as a President, 00:14:34.300,00:14:37.266 to say these are important, because people need justice. 00:14:37.266,00:14:39.467 But, for example, in the Bernie Madoff case, 00:14:39.467,00:14:40.633 there were two suicides. 00:14:40.633,00:14:41.800 Lives were destroyed. 00:14:41.800,00:14:43.166 People lost everything. 00:14:43.166,00:14:46.533 There are consequences, and many times the penalties for these 00:14:46.533,00:14:49.600 people are not commensurate or equal to what -- 00:14:49.600,00:14:51.166 the damage they have caused. 00:14:51.166,00:14:53.500 And there are lives that are destroyed because of 00:14:53.500,00:14:54.767 white-collar criminals. 00:14:54.767,00:14:56.567 And I commend you for focusing on that, 00:14:56.567,00:14:58.300 because we do that on the show, too, 00:14:58.300,00:14:59.934 and say they don't need a pass. 00:14:59.934,00:15:02.600 They have destroyed lives, and there are huge consequences to 00:15:02.600,00:15:03.600 what they did. 00:15:03.600,00:15:04.734 The President: Absolutely. 00:15:04.734,00:15:06.400 Mr. Walsh: So I thank you for your time. 00:15:06.400,00:15:11.033 I thank you for helping to focus this Congress on the Adam Walsh Act. 00:15:11.033,00:15:12.600 I know your daughters are proud of you. 00:15:12.600,00:15:15.033 But you send a loud message. 00:15:15.033,00:15:16.533 And I feel the same way. 00:15:16.533,00:15:19.967 "America's Most Wanted" is the court of last resort. 00:15:19.967,00:15:23.633 It's not about Americans being vigilantes or any of that. 00:15:23.633,00:15:25.266 It's about saying we need justice. 00:15:25.266,00:15:27.633 We need these people caught, we need them off the streets, 00:15:27.633,00:15:32.266 and we need the highest level of politicians to focus in on our needs. 00:15:32.266,00:15:35.533 The President: Well, John, we couldn't be prouder of what you've done. 00:15:35.533,00:15:39.033 And I know Adam is looking down on us and saying, 00:15:39.033,00:15:42.066 my Dad has really done something incredible. 00:15:42.066,00:15:43.567 So, congratulations to you. 00:15:43.567,00:15:44.934 Mr. Walsh: Thank you. 00:15:44.934,00:15:46.033 Thank you so much, Mr. President. 00:15:46.033,00:15:47.200 Thank you for your time. 00:15:47.200,00:15:48.133 The President: Thank you.