But the reporter has the responsibility to determine, number one, whether that is true, and number two, to make a judgment as to whether it's in the public interest and whether or not it should be part of the debate.

S. He also noted a rare off-camera appearance in the Sunday comics. TACT!.

On October 13 2004 he was the moderator of the third presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry in Tempe Arizona. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments: the White House the Pentagon United States Department of State and United States Congress.