At the radio and Television Correspondents association dinner. This is an hour and 25 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the podium, tonights chair, john parkinson. [applause] having spent the last 12 years at abc news, many colleagues become like family. We spend long hours together, we travel around the world together, we spend friday nights together on stakeouts outside of the speakers office, we even work holidays together. When life events bring reason to celebrate, were often celebrating together. But when a member of our broadcast familiesen taken away our industry also grieves together. Since our last dinner last month, several colleagues who have dedicated their professional careers to broadcasted journalism have passed away. Tonight with pay tribute to them. Im morely safer. Ive led a charmed life. A lot of blood, sweat, toil, tears and a lot of it is pure luck and ive been a very lucky guy. Community members and Business Leaders are vined to come out and discuss some ideas they have to celebrate. Allison parker. [applause] the david bloom award celebrates exceptional enterprise, investigative reporting from the past year. With a particular eye toward journalism that is fresh, daring, or undertaken in difficult circumstances. Here to present tonights award are davids daughters, kristine and nicole bloom. [applause] good evening. Its such pleasure to be here tonight. We really love coming to this event every area. Our little sister, ava, is 16 now and couldnt be here because she is at summer camp. Very cute. Its really special to be here every year and to remember our dad in this way. Its hard to believe we lost him 13 years ago. We knew him as the dad who sang somewhere over the rainbow but you now his am the hard driving journalist him had sump a passion for what he did and tonight we honor an equally passionate journalists. Columbia is the world residents largest producer of cocaine and has been on the front line in the global war on drugs for the past 30 years flint. No 201515 ian pin knell went deep inside the drug war, speaking to the actor yo fuel and it traveling with special force trying to stop the distribution in cocaine. In a package, pin knell put a face to the war on drugs by focusing on one of the most violent cities in south america, this piece served as a reminder that the war against cocaine still has not ended and may be impossible to end. The enterprising, fresh, courageous, and daring reporting, exemplifies the work and legacy of david bloom and what this award is all about. Congratulations. [applause] one of the most violent cities in south america. Britains travel advice, dont come here. Its notorious for chop houses where gangs dismember their rivals and body parts float in the water. Also where much of the cocaine that reaches britain comes from. The trade that shatters the community and forces children into a world of violence and abuse. So much blood has been spilled in a war thats gone on for so long that few realize it has not ended. We traveled with elite jungle forces in search of the crop that spawn this billion dollar industry. And despite huge changes here, colombia is again the worlds leading producer of cocaine. Americans involvement here is well known. Now for the first time british officers have agreed to emerge from the shadows and talk to the bbc about their role in the war on drugs. [applause] thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much to the rtca, to nbc news, to david and his family. It is a huge honor to receive this award. Id also like to thank kathy kay for the work they do on bbc world news america. Continuing to take foreign news seriously, disapproving the bite size theory that people arent interested and dont have the attention span. Id like to thank my beautiful wife, lou, who is here tonight. And my three boys for putting up with my long absences and restlessness. I can only think its because generally im a pain in the ass and theyre glad to see me get oust the door, but irrespective, thank you very much. Cant do it without you. Like so many of you here tonight thoughts with the victims and families and friends in the horrific shooting in orlando we watched the story unfold with familiarity. Breaking news, sirenses, s. W. A. T. Teams, rise of casualty figures, the mourning, the candles and the tears. We now know the person but that doesnt stop us taking notice and reporting on these terrible matters. However form, nor should it. I guess what we try to do in colombia was to focus on another wellknown story but in this case one that has perhaps become so familiar that many of us have stopped paying attention and reporting it. People say, afghanistan is americas longest war. Well, it isnt. The war on drugs is. A trillion dollar mission, 45 years old, and at best with a dubious record of success. Colombia is once again the world residents top producer of cocaine. Its also growing more and more opium as is mexico. Today more Young Americans are dying from narcotics both legal and illegal, than president nixon could have imagined 45 years ago. Drugs kill more people in the u. S. Than car accidents, terrorism, or even gun crime. So we felt this is one familiar story worthy of a second look, which makes this award even more special. So on behalf of my best mates and genius cameraman, dc, who is at a wedding in ireland. My producer at campbell, thank you so much. Huge, huge honor. Thank you. [applause] john, thank you very much. John, thank you very much. You know, ive done this for a long time because bob sheaveert and i are the only people in the bureau who knew joan, and this awardhonors the memory of a woman who started as researcher just before watergate remember watergate . Youve heard about it became executive producer of face the nation just six years later, then she was cut down by cancer at the age of 38. This award celebrates what joan did so brilliantly, excellence in washington, dcbased reporting on National Affairs and public policy. She accomplished this as a woman, more than three decades ago, when this business was still pretty hustle to the double x chromosome. She was a colleague and a friend. Its been a long time so its hard this long after to make her real to you. But think of someone smart and tough and funny, funny as hell. The kind of person you would have enjoyed being with at your table this evening. That was joan. In short, for the judges to say that the work of tonights winner equals the quality of joans work is high praise indeed. So, it is with great pleasure that the Radio TelevisionCorrespondents Association announces the winner of this years award, Jonathan Carl of abc. [applause] secretary clinton came before the committee, she accused of being on a partisan witchhunt with huge crowds lining the hallways from the start the republican chairman was defensive. Madam secretary, i understand there are people frankly in both parties who have suggestled this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not, and let me assure you why it is not. This investigation is about four people who were killed representing our country on foreign soil. The top democrat on the attack. Republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail secretary clintons president ial campaign. Republicans released a never seen before email mrs. Clinton wrote on the very night of the deadly attack at benghazi. Addressed to diane reynolds, the name she used for emails sent to her daughter chelsea. Two of our officers were killed in benghazi by an Al Qaeda Linked group. That quite different than what the Obama Administration said in the days of the attack that killed four americans, including ambassador chris stevens, it was protest over a video that grew violent. Tell the American People one thing, tell your family an entirely different story. John boehner, speaker of the house, couldnt hold back his tears as pope francis came too capitol hill. This morning he seemed like a new man. My, oh, my what a wonderful day. And stunned the capitol by announcing he is stepping down. Last night i started thinking about this, and is the morning i woke up and said my prayers, as i always do, and i decided, you know, today is the day im going to do this. Let me tell you, before we get john here, what the judges had to say about his work this. Correspondents reporting, they said, on the house hearing of benghazi was a perfect distillation of the days sounds in three minutes compiled and reported by the abc team as the hearing was ongoing. The story on downboehners John Boehners sudden resignation captured the essence of the more so clearly visible on the outgoing house speakers face and audible in his visit. His voice. It was broadcasted story telling under deadline pressure at its best. Congratulations. [applause] thank you. Phil, you mentioned a key word there, which is team. I am so blessed to work with one of the best teams in journalism, so i want to try to just thank people responsible for that work. Its far more than me. Devin dui, leader of the pennsylvania avenue unit. Cover everything, and we have a Phenomenal Team and gary west, im truly blessed so the thank you for this award and thank you for honoring their work thank you to the folks at action that make it possible. Our bureau chief, jonathan greenberger, the leadership team, James Goldsten in new york and i want to thank people at the table pack here, my family. My wife, maria, who has put up with so much over all these years. Anna, emily. My dad who wanted to be here, her with me and my mom as well. And thank you so much. And i wanted to do one last thing. I see olga here, i see mike. You guys have bailed me out of so many jams in congress when ive gotten in trouble. Governor kashich, josh ernest. I want to thank the people who we cover, who understand that when we ask hard questions, when we try hold them accountable, that we are doing our jobs, and it is [applause] and lord knows both of you, governor kashich, josh, many people in this room, you have tangled with, we have had tense moments and asked hard questions and you have never tried to cut off our access, revoke credentials, never tried to deny us the ability to do our jobs, so i appreciate it. Thank you very much. [applause] here to present the Jerry Thompson award, the 2011 chairman of the rtca, cfn ns cnns senior photojournalist, jay mcmichael. [applause] i knew john carl when he started at cnn, and he was our generation x reporter. [laughter] so i take partial credit for that award he just got. Im here to present the Jerry Thompson award. The Jerry Thompson memorial award was created five years ago by the rtca to honor a camera person, photo journalist engineer, or other behind the scenes broadcasted employee that embodied the unforgettable qualities of our friend and colleague, Jerry Thompson, who we lost six years ago from brain cancer. Jerry was a photo journalist for cnn for more than two decades. A guy that every producer and reporter would request, because he was by far the most talent photographer we had. But they also asked for him for other reasons the main reason is was that jerry was just a great guy. Everyone wanted to work with him. Jerry always did what was right. The was kind, thoughtful, insightful, and a prepared person. He solved things in a way that the rest of us couldnt and he knew how to capture them visually simply because he was quiet observer of the world and the people around him. He was a devoted family man, guy we could all look at as an example and say, wow, that guy really loves his life, or, hey, man, did you hear that jerry said no to that assignment and it was a big assignment, because he had something to do with his kids. I can without hesitation say that i never heard jerry cuss. In this city, thats an accomplishment on its own. In this business thats an accomplishment of its own. But thats true. He never spoke badly about other people. And he never missed an opportunity to help his colleagues, be it journalists from other networks or camera guys from other networks, always willing to help, always willing to do what needed to be done to get the job done. He even saved wounded animals. Thats what a great person jerry was. He saved a wounded bird. A long story. Wont get into it here. Anyway, the winner of this years Jerry Thompson award, while not a photojournalist, elm bodies the same great qualities jerry do and he follows in now what is become ang impressive list of individuals honored before him. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present the 2016 Jerry Thompson memorial award to a man ive known for a very long time, Peter Daugherty of abc. [applause] not only been a witness to history, he has brought that history to viewers and listeners in this country and around the world. You can send Peter Daugherty anywhere in the city and he will get you on the air. The architect of probably every live location in this town and all of the outlying locations, the white house, pentagon, state department, justice department, without him, there would be a lot fewer of those live locations. He has produced coverage of every major event that has occurred near washington. Inaugurations, state funerals, papal visits. Mr. Speaker. The pope of the holy see. [applause] you name it, peter has done it. You good to him and say, can we do this live . He never said, i dont think so. He always said, lets see if it will work. This must have started with the first toy telephone set you received as a child. If you had a problem you called peter, get its solved and not surprisingly because he is wired and set up everything we use. He is one of the best colleagues anybody could ever hope to work with. Congratulations on this wonderful award and for all you have done to improve our industry. I just want to say, congratulations on the award. I think you oh, well, maybe you shouldnt get the award after all. We have another problem here. Can you get these lights fixed for us, please . Congratulations. [applause] when youre at a moment like this, a lot of thoughts flood through your mind, especially after seeing that wonderful, wonderful tribute. All of the people who throughout my career have helped me, have worked with me, have become good friends in addition to great colleagues. No one person can do this alone, and there are just so many names, you saw a lot of them in that video and there are hundreds more in this room and not with us tonight. The one thing that has always struck me about every piece of this is how quickly your colleagues come together with you and solve problems. It really is truly remarkable to see what this industry does, especially in the background, when things have to get done. It doesnt really matter what the situation is. It could be something as sudden as the announcement about Osama Bin Laden that had one of our crew members show up in his capitals jersey from watching the game, and shot the headon camera of the president , assisted by his colleague from fox who just got there as the second person on scene and made it all work. To the great cooperation we have had from the leadership of congress, and especially the staffs of the senate and house galleries. Mike and olga and their people have been absolutely terrific over the years. [applause] its also been astonishing to see some of the things ive seen over the years. And seeing the video of the pop remind me of two images in particular that have stuck with me in recent years. One was the courage of the pope standing in front of that audience, and delivering a speech that he had rehearsed for weeks and weeks and weeks, knowing how hard he struggled to speak english. And at that same event, we had been tipped off that he was going to discuss certain themes and one of them was the work of dr. King. And thanks again to the wonderful colleagues ive had a privilege to work with, we had a shot of representative lewis, and when the pope got to that point a tear crossed his eyes and another member hugged him, and i will never forget that, especially when you think that when i was a kid growing up, there he was, out in the streets, being arrested, water being hosed at him, dogs, the whole nine yards, and there he was, on that historic day, a member of congress, a distinguished member, and it just reminded me of how far we have come and how much of that was because of the work that your predecessors and all of you did and continue to do every day, and i would echo the words of just about everything else. Its important work that we have to keep going. Shouldnt matter to a candidate who says it. The facts are the facts, and thats what we deal with. And the work that i do along with all of the hundreds of people that have helped me and guided me and gotten me through this, really transcend that to say, its not about the politics. Its about the truth. And thats what our jobs are. [applause] so thank you very much. [applause] ive been blessed with a wonderful family and wonderful colleagues. My wife couldnt be here tonight, and my sons, one is on the west coast and the other one is out working. But they are, as everybody has said, an important part of your life, and the sacrifices theyve made for all the late nights and all of the saturdays and weekends and times we have to do what we do all of you in this room have gone through this so to all of our families, thank you. Couldnt do it without you ask thank you for this honor. [applause] the career Achievement Award was established to celebrate the distinguished career of a journalist whose vision and leadership has achieved a body of journalistic work that overtime demonstrated a deep respect for the institution of congress. The award recognizes rare, exceptional careers and signifies the admiration of the many broadcasters who follow behind and benefit from the work of the recipient. To present tonights career Achievement Award, abc news Vice President robin sprout. [applause] it is my great honor tonight to present the award to Dennis Dunn Leavy of abc news dennis unleavy of abc news. [applause] dennis has had his hand on abc news content for four decades. He sat across the desk from Peter Jennings for many years jousting with him ove