Fox News - Transcript

Interview

Fox News - Transcript

MR. SMITH: Senator Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from the state of New York, is good enough to join us live now.

Senator Schumer, before we go on, I guess the first thing to talk about is Ted Kennedy. We're told that he is doing better and he has sent word back through Chris Dodd that he expects to be better; but it was difficult to see, I'm quite sure.

SEN. SCHUMER: Yeah. Well, I was on the other side of the room, and so I didn't see specifically what happened. All I can tell you is we're all hoping and praying for Ted's speedy recovery. He's a resilient man. I was talking to him on the platform for five, 10 minutes, and we were having a great conversation. So let's just hope and pray he's back soon.

MR. SMITH: Well, Senator, I've just gotten this announcement from my producers back in New York, that Senator Kennedy is up and awake and talking to doctors and doing much better.

And with that news, as good as it is --

SEN. SCHUMER: (Thank God ?).

MR. SMITH: -- we can move on to the events of the day.

Senator, I know you've been looking forward to this for a long time. And now that it's actually happened, how are you feeling?

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I think it was great. I think his speech was exactly right for the moment. He talked straight to the American people and talked about our problems; didn't shy away from them, didn't try to avoid them. And it was a serious speech, no sound bites or, you know, applause lines.

But he did give people confidence that there is a steady hand on the tiller; that if we work together, if there was shared sacrifice, and particularly we went back to the old-fashioned American values of working hard and producing a lot of goods, that we could overcome these problems.

So I think he's the right man at the right time. A, moderate -- not far right or far left; B, focused on the problems of the middle class; and C, rather bipartisan -- let's bring people together under his leadership. And he's an enormously talented person.

So this speech was just right. Some people said it was somber, well, these are somber times. But it also gave people a whole lot of confidence, and that's really the first thing we need.

MR. SMITH: Commentators have noted, Senator, here and elsewhere up and down the TV and radio dials, that there was an uncharacteristic lack of rhetorical flourish.

SEN. SCHUMER: I think Barack Obama, President Obama, did that on purpose. He didn't want this to be a fancy speech, a high-fallutin' speech. He wanted it to be a serious, direct but confidence-giving talk with the American people. And I think he achieved his goal.

I thought it was brilliant in its -- in its thought and execution because I think if he would've done too many soundbites or too much uplifting rhetoric, people might've said, you know, he's not really serious about solving the problems. Instead, it was a direct, serious talk right to the American people. And I thought it was just perfect.

MR. SMITH: He spoke to leaders in foreign lands and people in foreign lands as well, and said, if you will try, we will help you. But if you resist and you continue to --

SEN. SCHUMER: Yes.

MR. SMITH: -- fight against us, we will stop you.

SEN. SCHUMER: Hey, he showed in this speech -- I was sitting between two of the Republican leaders in the Senate, Senator Kyl and Senator Alexander -- and you could see them nodding their heads. Barack Obama is not going to be one of these people who avoids our responsibilities or the dangers that the world has around us. But I think he's going to work in a much more collegial way and try to work with people first. But if they don't, he's going to be just as tough as needed.

MR. SMITH: I said -- I was thinking of Senator Kennedy -- I said he is talking to doctors -- awake and talking to doctors. If I said walking, I was mistaken. I did not mean to --

Senator, you're the senior senator --

SEN. SCHUMER: No. I mean, I heard you say talking. And let's -- let's hope and pray --

MR. SMITH: -- from New York. You have no junior. Who would you like?

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I'm -- I've kept my counsel to Governor Paterson. I've talked to him fairly often on this issue. But I think out of respect for him, because it's his decision, I'm not making any public pronouncements here.

All I can tell you is we have a very strong bench in New York. We have a lot of good candidates, and I'd like to get another senator quickly because there's a lot of work to do. But I'm confident he'll pick a good one.

MR. SMITH: Governor Paterson's on it.

Senator Schumer, thank you, sir. Great to talk to you.

SEN. SCHUMER: Thank you. Nice to talk to you guys. Thanks. Have a nice rest of the day.

MR. SMITH: All right. Thanks very much.

SEN. SCHUMER: Thanks.

END.

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