ABC's Stephanopoulos to be moderator for today's forum

George Stephanopoulos is the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News and anchor of ABC's Sunday morning program, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

However, this week, he comes to Nevada's capital city to serve as moderator in the first forum for Democratic presidential contenders in the 2008 race.

The forum sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union begins at noon today in the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St. An overflow site to view a live broadcast has been set up at the Nevada Appeal, 580 Mallory Way. Doors open at the Appeal at 10 a.m. for ticket holders.

Stephanopoulos will ask each candidate two questions of his own and one from the union. Candidates will have two minutes for an opening statement, three minutes to answer each question and a minute for closing remarks.

Live broadcasts of the forum will appear online on ABC News Now, www.abcnews.go.com and on C-SPAN and Charter Cable Channel 19.

Stephanopoulos oversees the network's coverage of Congress and reports on political and policy stories for "World News Tonight," "Nightline," "Good Morning America," ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.

He regularly interviews newsmakers from both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as prominent political leaders on the state and local levels, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Stephanopoulos also has interviewed numerous foreign leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and King Abdullah of Jordan.

In spring 2005, he covered the death of Pope John Paul II from Rome, and was one of the first reporters on the scene at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001.

Stephanopoulos was named chief Washington correspondent in December 2005 and began anchoring "This Week" in September 2002. Previously, he was an ABC News correspondent. Stephanopoulos joined ABC News in 1997 as a news analyst.

Stephanopoulos served in the Clinton administration as the senior adviser to the president for policy and strategy. He is the author of "All Too Human," a No. 1 New York Times best-seller about President Clinton's first term and the 1992 and 1996 Clinton/Gore campaigns.

Stephanopoulos received his master's degree in theology at Balliol College at Oxford University, England, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude in political science.

Stephanopoulos and his wife, Alexandra Wentworth, live in Washington, D.C., with their daughters Elliott and Harper.

- Source ABCnews.com