NBC Today - Transcript

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SHOW: Today (7:00 AM ET) - NBC

HEADLINE: Senator Charles Schumer, New York, and Bill O'Reilly, "The O'Reilly Factor," discuss ways to honor President Reagan

BODY:
KATIE COURIC, co-host (Washington, DC):

As the nation mourns the loss of President Reagan new ideas are pouring in on how best to honor him. Some are suggesting renaming the Pentagon and putting his image on the 10 or, perhaps, $20 bill or even other currencies. US Senator Charles Schumer is a Democrat from New York, Bill O'Reilly is a popular TV anchor and the author of two books, "Who's Looking Out For You?" and "Those Who Trespass."

Gentlemen, good morning to both of you.

Mr. BILL O'REILLY ("The O'Reilly Factor"): Morning.

Senator CHARLES SCHUMER (Democrat, New York): Morning.

COURIC: Bill and-Bill and Senator Schumer, before we talk about these-the-the move afoot to name things after President Reagan or change our currency, let me just ask you briefly, Senator, about your thoughts as you watch these huge lines behind us. Apparently 80,000 have already filed through.

Sen. SCHUMER: Right.

COURIC: There's a-a line of 30,000 and, perhaps, that will even grow. A four-hour wait. What are your thoughts as we witness this?

Sen. SCHUMER: It's an amazing sight. It's an all-American sight. My guess is people on that line are of every different philosophy and every different party and every different part of the country, but they are paying tribute to Ronald Reagan, what he stood for, and paying tribute to America.

COURIC: Bill O'Reilly, what do you think about this remarkable outpouring of sympathy and support?

Mr. O'REILLY: Well, people want to feel good about their country, Katie, and they did in the '80s, particularly in the mid-'80s when Ronald Reagan was at his apex and the country was cooking economically, and then after he left office when the Berlin Wall came down and America was perceived to be the liberator of hundreds of thousands of people. And all of those things are remembered. And now we're in a kind of a difficult time with the war on terrorism and a lot of polarization inside the United States. So any kind of nostalgia just 16 years ago is going to have a tremendous appeal for people, and that's what I think you're seeing here.

COURIC: In fact, Bill, I was going to say, it seems like people are so happy to set aside their differences, albeit temporarily...

Mr. O'REILLY: Oh...

COURIC: ...and to kind of forget the divisiveness which seems to characterize this country right now and say, as Senator Schumer said, 'No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, this man made enormous contributions and we want to celebrate his leadership qualities.'

Mr. O'REILLY: That's the attitude of the regular folks. The folks are tired of Abu Ghraib, they're tired of being weighed down in a-a war in Iraq that a lot of people don't understand. But I'll tell you what, Katie, the press has not given it a break. I mean, maybe today and tomorrow they will, but the ideological press has still been out there with their fangs bared. But the folks are saying, 'Look, let's just have a week where we respect a man who we do respect and we feel good about our country.'

COURIC: This is an election year, though, and many people are wondering what kind of impact-what are the-the political ramifications, frankly, of President-President Reagan's death occurring at this point in time. Any thoughts on that, Senator?

Sen. SCHUMER: You know, it's-it's so hard to predict these things. Every time you think it will go one way, it goes another. I agree with Bill. People want to feel good, they want to come together. If there's one legacy that could occur from this for the election is that there be an honest debate on the issues, but maybe without some of the nastiness that seems to have enveloped our politics.

COURIC: Bill, let me ask you about the-the-the efforts to honor President Reagan in a variety of ways. You know Senator Majority liber-Leader Bill Frisk has-has suggested re-naming the Pentagon, which is named after its architecture-its five-sided architecture, to the Ronald Reagan Defense Building, or something along those lines. What do you think of that suggestion?

Mr. O'REILLY: I-I think that's pretty good. Listen, Reagan has an airport, he has a lot of boulevards in cities. I think you'll see that more. And the Pentagon, I mean, that would be great. Honor any president as much as you can without hurting anybody else. I feel sorry for Alexander Hamilton if he were taken off the 10. I mean, he was no slouch. I don't think we should boot him out of there.

Sen. SCHUMER: Right.

Mr. O'REILLY: But certainly putting Ronald Reagan's name on a government building is appropriate and should happen as quickly as possible.

COURIC: Well, do you think that it should happen as quickly as possible? The New York Times editorial suggests that maybe some time should pass before these things actually take place. And as Bill mentioned, and I mentioned in the introduction, some on Capitol Hill would like to replace Alexander Hamilton...

Sen. SCHUMER: Yeah.

COURIC: ...on the $10 bill, or Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. I had to re-check my 20 to make sure it was on that bill. But-but what do you think of all these suggestions?

Sen. SCHUMER: Well, to honor Ronald Reagan, great. And an idea of letting some time pass till you figure out the best way to do it, that's terrific, too. But, yeah, I agree. To take-Alexander Hamilton was a towering historical figure. He's a New Yorker, so I'm personally involved.

COURIC: Some people have said it's Thomas Jefferson's revenge.

Sen. SCHUMER: Well, yeah. They fought, but the two of them probably were the pinnacles of the two ideas that are embodied in our Constitution. In a sense, Ronald Reagan stands on Hamilton's shoulders, so I'll fight that in the Congress. But, you know, if they want to do it on currency, maybe the one person you might want to do it to is Ulysses Grant. I don't know how he ended up on the 50. He was-his-his presidency was not a very good one. He was a good general, but not the greatest of generals. And if they want to find that-don't-but don't do Hamilton or Jackson or Roosevelt. These are towering historical figures, and we should remember our history. Ronald Reagan would be the first to say, 'Don't take it away from somebody else, and remember our history.'

COURIC: And, in fact, Bill, I think there was a-an effort a few months ago to put President Reagan's face on the dime and replace Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that is something that Nancy Reagan put the cabosh on.

Mr. O'REILLY: Yeah. I mean, that's never going to happen.

COURIC: In terms of currency, any thoughts on-on currency Bill, in general?

Mr. O'REILLY: I, you know, currency...

Sen. SCHUMER: He likes it.

Mr. O'REILLY: You know, I-I just want to keep it the way it is. I'm a great believer in the traditions of America. I don't think we need to change anything like that. I think Ronald Reagan can be honored in ways that don't infringe on anyone else, even General Grant, who I disagree with the Senator. I think he was a good general. And I just want to see Americans be happy about a former president. And I-you know, I think that any kind of divisiveness in-in, 'Well, should we put on this currency or that?' We don't need that. Let's just take some time, think about the best way to honor him, and execute it so nobody's mad.

COURIC: And very quickly, Bill, how do you see the president's passing having an impact on the next few months as we lead up to this election?

Mr. O'REILLY: Well, it has a positive influence on President Bush, that's for sure, because Bush and Reagan are ideological soulmates. And the Republicans will use this to try to position Bush as a-accolyte of President Reagan. That will infuriate the left, which is really, really vehemently opposed to anything President Bush does. So you will have-unfortunately, Katie, this time next week they'll be back slugging it out, and President Reagan will be, I think, evoked by the Republicans throughout the campaign.

COURIC: Well Senator Charles Schumer and Bill O'Reilly. Gentlemen, thank you both for talking with us this morning. We appreciate it.