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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview with Dave McConnell
Aired December 05, 2002 - 06:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Strom Thurmond's birthday, because he is 100 years old today. The retiring South Carolina senator is not only the oldest and longest serving senator in U.S. history, he has now become the only senator to turn 100 while still in office.
For more on the birthday boy, we're joined on the phone by Dave McConnell of WTOP Radio News in Washington.
Good morning, Dave.
DAVE MCCONNELL, WTOP RADIO SHOW HOST: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: So nice to hear from you.
MCCONNELL: It's good to be here.
COSTELLO: So, how is Strom going to celebrate this day?
MCCONNELL: Well, I think it's going to be a fairly quiet celebration for the senator. He is back in South Carolina, as far as we know. In his final days in the Senate, he comes into his office when he's in town and when the Senate was in session, and he would go home at night to Walter Reed Hospital. He wanted to be attended by Army physicians. He's an old Army veteran. And because of his age and his increasing frailty, he has to be assisted around.
It's pretty quiet for him and that's pretty much the way his day ends.
COSTELLO: Yes. And even in South Carolina, I understand he's going to retire to some sort of assisted living facility.
MCCONNELL: That's correct. For a vigorous person who was always on the go, who did, could do a hundred pushups in office and probably still can do a few, that's kind of a, it's tough to take, but that's the way it has to be.
COSTELLO: Through his long years in the Senate, he has been such a charming man. I mean just a couple of months ago he stood up and gave a speech before his fellow senators and he said, "I love all of you, especially your wives."
MCCONNELL: That's right. And Strom Thurmond can say things like that and people will chuckle between he's Strom Thurmond. Of course, as charming as he is, over the years he's held some positions that have offended a number of people. He was a strong segregationist, ran on the Dixiecrat ticket back in 1948, got a number of votes for that. He became a -- left the Democratic Party, became a Republican Party, mellowed an awful lot, won the affection of an awful lot of African- Americans and their support and has changed his stands on some issues over the years, too.
COSTELLO: Yes, he was one of the first senators to hire black staffers.
MCCONNELL: Correct. That is correct. He made that move. He saw that African-Americans were gaining access to the vote. He was a seasoned politician. He knew that he needed their votes and he was able to change. And there are some, there's a number, there's some who feel that he changed inside, too, that he took a different attitude over the years.
COSTELLO: Oh, we hope so. I'm sure he did.
Thank you very much, Dave McConnell, for filling us in on Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday.
And, of course, CNN will have a lot more on this throughout the day.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 5, 2002 - 06:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Strom Thurmond's birthday, because he is 100 years old today. The retiring South Carolina senator is not only the oldest and longest serving senator in U.S. history, he has now become the only senator to turn 100 while still in office.
For more on the birthday boy, we're joined on the phone by Dave McConnell of WTOP Radio News in Washington.
Good morning, Dave.
DAVE MCCONNELL, WTOP RADIO SHOW HOST: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: So nice to hear from you.
MCCONNELL: It's good to be here.
COSTELLO: So, how is Strom going to celebrate this day?
MCCONNELL: Well, I think it's going to be a fairly quiet celebration for the senator. He is back in South Carolina, as far as we know. In his final days in the Senate, he comes into his office when he's in town and when the Senate was in session, and he would go home at night to Walter Reed Hospital. He wanted to be attended by Army physicians. He's an old Army veteran. And because of his age and his increasing frailty, he has to be assisted around.
It's pretty quiet for him and that's pretty much the way his day ends.
COSTELLO: Yes. And even in South Carolina, I understand he's going to retire to some sort of assisted living facility.
MCCONNELL: That's correct. For a vigorous person who was always on the go, who did, could do a hundred pushups in office and probably still can do a few, that's kind of a, it's tough to take, but that's the way it has to be.
COSTELLO: Through his long years in the Senate, he has been such a charming man. I mean just a couple of months ago he stood up and gave a speech before his fellow senators and he said, "I love all of you, especially your wives."
MCCONNELL: That's right. And Strom Thurmond can say things like that and people will chuckle between he's Strom Thurmond. Of course, as charming as he is, over the years he's held some positions that have offended a number of people. He was a strong segregationist, ran on the Dixiecrat ticket back in 1948, got a number of votes for that. He became a -- left the Democratic Party, became a Republican Party, mellowed an awful lot, won the affection of an awful lot of African- Americans and their support and has changed his stands on some issues over the years, too.
COSTELLO: Yes, he was one of the first senators to hire black staffers.
MCCONNELL: Correct. That is correct. He made that move. He saw that African-Americans were gaining access to the vote. He was a seasoned politician. He knew that he needed their votes and he was able to change. And there are some, there's a number, there's some who feel that he changed inside, too, that he took a different attitude over the years.
COSTELLO: Oh, we hope so. I'm sure he did.
Thank you very much, Dave McConnell, for filling us in on Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday.
And, of course, CNN will have a lot more on this throughout the day.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
