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Rumsfeld to Speak at Kansas State University a Day After Resigning as Defense Secretary; Virginia Senate Race; The Evangelical Vote; '60 Minutes' Correspondent Ed Bradley Dies of Leukemia

Aired November 09, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We are back for one more hour in the NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Lots happening today.

I'm Carol Lin.

And this hour we expect to hear from departing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. A live picture at Kansas State University, where he is going to be speaking.

HARRIS: Also slated to kick of this hour, it could be an interesting White House briefing today with Tony Snow taking reporters' questions. We will bring that to you.

LIN: Well, out of a job one day, and at the podium the next. Donald Rumsfeld is due to speak at any moment just one day after resigning as defense secretary.

Rumsfeld is at Kansas State University, where he's honoring an earlier commitment to speak. Given his resignation, his comments will draw a much larger audience, including CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, do you expect him to address specifically the news that he made yesterday?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, all the indications we have from his prepared remarks that we were given a few moments ago is he will make some reference to his service as defense secretary. He will thank the troops.

We should probably explain that, of course, although the secretary is stepping down, he is remaining as secretary of defense in office and will be here, we expect, until Mr. Gates is confirmed as the next secretary of defense.

The secretary's speech will be vintage Rumsfeld. He will talk a lot about his views about the world security situation, about the war on terror. There's a couple of interesting points we do expect him to make.

He's going to talk about the fact that he believes in the war on terror, you can't rely on the Defense Department to do everything, that other parts of the government need to be involved. He will talk about the fact that he does not -- he believes that they can no longer afford to have all these different departments going their own way in the war on terror -- the State Department, the Defense Department, the CIA, Homeland Security, Treasury, and Justice. That all these agencies have to work much more closely together.

And the other part of vintage Rumsfeld we expect in this speech is his views on the news media and what he believes al Qaeda's manipulation of the media. He will talk about the fact that the enemy, in his words, engages in what he calls headline-grabbing attacks, doctoring of photographs, lying to the media, and terrorists being trained to allege torture, in his words, and manipulating the world free press.

That is something that the secretary has long felt is a big challenge for the United States in the war on terror. Challenging al Qaeda's use of the news media -- Carol.

LIN: Barbara -- and specifically, I mean, there was some insurgent video that CNN aired that was controversial with the administration. But I'm wondering if the words "bitter" or "on the defensive" apply to the speech that he is going to make today.

STARR: From the prepared remarks we see, we don't see that. I wouldn't say bitter. And we will -- it remains to be seen if there are questions from the audience that he agrees to answer, how he will do that.

But I think the secretary, at this point, is probably very aware of his own legacy, of his place in history. Pretty much keeping some of those personal feelings to himself, at least so far. We haven't really seen him do that.

What he has spoken about yesterday at the White House, and what we expect him to talk about today, is his views of the troops he's visited over the years, the people he's met, and his views about how he thinks the troops are doing, which is something he feels very strongly about.

LIN: OK. Thanks very much, Barbara.

I know you are monitoring the speech at the Pentagon. We are monitoring it here, right here in the NEWSROOM. And as soon as he starts talking, we're going to be taking some of his remarks live.

HARRIS: Well, across the nation today Republicans and Democrats alike are focusing on Virginia. Democrat Jim Webb's lead over incumbent Republican Senator George Allen appears to be holding after a canvassing of the votes. A Webb victory would give Democrats control of the Senate, and he has an announcement planned later today. That would come after his opponent speaks.

Senator Allen has the 3:00 p.m. Eastern news conference. And CNN will bring that to you live.

Lots to cover here.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us now from Jim Webb's Alexandria office.

And Jeanne, there's a news conference and then there's another. We're not -- why don't you explain it? It is definitely a fluid situation.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is, but it may all be finally drawing to a definitive close after a very contentious and competitive race, as you've mentioned.

Republican Senator George Allen has scheduled a press conference for 3:00 Eastern in Alexandria, Virginia. James Webb, the Democrat, will be holding a press event shortly after that.

The question, of course, is whether Allen will concede this race or not. There have been indicators that he may do so.

People close to him have said that he has no desire to drag this out, but that he wanted to look at the result of the ongoing canvass of votes here in Virginia. That canvass is still going on. But to this point, the votes that have shifted, have shifted in the direction of James Webb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN JENSEN, VIRGINIA STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS: If you get on the Web site, that's -- you can see the changes as they are being made. And Mr. Webb has picked up about 181 votes since noon yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: And that would give Webb a lead in this race of 7,484 votes. That's within the margin that would allow Allen to ask for a recount in this race.

The question is whether or not he will do that. A lot of analysts think it's unlikely. One, because this canvass hasn't shown up any major irregularities in the vote. Second, because Virginia's election system is considered reliable. There have been a couple of recounts in other races in recent years, and they have not changed the results of the race.

And finally, this is a question of George Allen and his political future. A lot of analysts saying it would benefit him to appear as a statesman here and not to alienate the voters of Virginia in case he has future political ambitions.

In this critical case, in this instance, as Virginia goes, so goes the Senate.

Tony, back to you.

HARRIS: And Jeanne, if you would, stay with me for a moment and help me bottom-line this for the folks at home.

This seems to be such a long shot for George Allen. Help me here. He would in essence need to pick up 7,485 votes with no new votes for Webb, correct?

MESERVE: Excuse me. That is the number he would have to pick up in order to claim a victory here at this point in time.

HARRIS: Yes.

MESERVE: But the canvass isn't complete. It's still ongoing, although the candidates have said it's moving very quickly. A conversation with the secretary of the State Board of Elections says it's going at the usual pace and it might not actually be concluded until Tuesday. But certainly the indicators are at this point in time that there's no significant shift in the votes, and the small change there has been, has been to the Webb column.

HARRIS: OK. Jeanne Meserve for us in Arlington, Virginia.

Jeanne, thank you.

LIN: So we are going to be hearing from George Allen in the 3:00 Eastern hour. But his staff up in Washington heard from him earlier today on a conference call.

Our Andrea Koppel is covering this story from Capitol Hill.

So, Andrea, being our congressional correspondent, you've got your sources there. What was the mood like? What was he saying to his staff?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Carol, the conference call never went through. I just got off the phone with a senior Allen staffer who said that there were a number of campaign staff who have been holding on a conference call for 30 minutes. They've been told that Senator Allen was going to speak with them, and then they were cut off from this conference call and they haven't been able to get back in.

The conference call actually never happened.

We do know that Senator Allen did have a conference call with his Senate staff and with his regional staff yesterday afternoon in which he basically thanked them for all of the hard work that they've done and was starting to prepare them both psychologically and emotionally for the prospect and the likelihood that he would not be continuing as the senator of Virginia.

What he said to them specifically was that he -- he basically said he wanted to make sure that every vote was counted in this recount. And he wasn't sure whether this was going to wrap up either today or whether it would be next week. The senior staffer who was on the phone call told me that the senator sounded measured and that he didn't concede, but that he was clearly not emboldened to fight this. Behind the scenes, Carol, I can tell you that Allen staffers are really preparing themselves. They have been told that the should be at this event at 3:00, this Allen speech. And I've also been told by a GOP leadership aide that he was told that Senator Allen was going to have an announcement.

So the implications, Carol, all the arrows are pointing in the direction that Senator Allen is going to make a concession. We haven't been able to confirm that, but that's certainly all of the indications that we've been getting.

LIN: All right. We'll see what happens at 3:00.

Andrea Koppel, reporting live from Capitol Hill.

HARRIS: And just moments ago -- live pictures now. Let's take you to Kansas State University. We're anticipating hearing from the secretary -- former chairman of the Joint Chiefs there.

We're expecting to hear from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in just a few moments. We saw him earlier being welcomed by the auditorium and the crowd in the auditorium. He seemed very upbeat.

Rumsfeld taking part in the Alfred London Lecture Series there at Kansas State University, the series honoring the former Kansas governor, a political powerhouse there in Kansas. When the secretary of defense begins his remarks, we will bring those to you live here in the NEWSROOM.

And the White House. Once again, we are also anticipating a briefing. The White House -- the daily White House briefing with Tony Snow to begin some time in this hour. That Q&A session should be very interesting given all that is on the table to discuss today.

When that begins, we will dip in, bring it to you live as well.

The evangelical vote key to past GOP victories, but what happened this time around?

CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One of every four voters was a white evangelical. And exit polls showed two-thirds of them still believe in the Iraq war. But in too many other areas, religious leader says Republicans let down their faithful followers.

RICHARD LAND, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: I think that they felt that particularly, the Republican leadership in the Congress had not kept their promises. A seven-fold increase in earmarks in pork barrel spending since 1998 is not why they sent Republicans to Washington. Nearly 50 percent increase in government spending since 2001 is not why they sent them to Washington.

FOREMAN: The Republicans lost many people of faith who are politically moderate and who overwhelmingly dislike the war.

Look at Pennsylvania. Staunch Christian Conservative Rick Santorum kept his evangelical base.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Karen and I and the kids just want to thank God.

FOREMAN: But the Democrats mopped the floor with him because huge numbers of moderate Christians flocked to their party. Democratic leaders made the switch easier by talking up their faith recently.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives.

FOREMAN: Christian groups have warned for months that scandals and a sense of a lost moral compass could hurt the GOP. But did the Republicans listen?

RICHARD LAND, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: Not enough. They didn't listen enough.

FOREMAN: Christian Leader Tony Perkins issued this statement about the election. "This should be a clear message to both parties that values voters vote values, not party."

(on camera): Religion did matter. Seven states approved laws against same-sex marriages. And religious groups launched several efforts to restrict abortion rights in various states. They lost, but waged respectable fights.

(voice-over): So the president tipped his hat even in defeat.

BUSH: The faith and community based initiative is a vital part of helping solve intractable problems here in America and I would hope that I could work with Congress to make sure this program which has been invigorated, remains invigorated.

FOREMAN: Likely it will. More than 75 percent of Americans consider themselves religious and they will be deciding again in two years which party most values their vote.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, the speaker-to-be comes calling at the White House. President Bush is meeting with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi over lunch this hour.

The president also called on the Republican-led Congress to finish key legislation in its final weeks. He made the appeal last hour, flanked by members of his cabinet.

Mr. Bush urged lawmakers to pass a bill that would authorize the warrantless surveillance program. The president met with outgoing GOP leaders over breakfast this morning.

All right. Now that the ballots are cast, what do you think? What do you think?

HARRIS: Well...

LIN: What do you expect from the new Congress?

HARRIS: That's a good question. It is our question of the day, in fact.

If you would like to, send us your thoughts. The e-mail address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon will read some of your responses in the NEWSROOM. That's coming up at the top of the hour.

LIN: Also, any moment we are waiting to hear the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned yesterday. He is making a speech at Kansas State University as we watch Peter Pace -- General Peter Pace make his remarks.

As soon as the secretary of defense starts, we're going to bring those remarks to you live.

And the Virginia Senate race, it is a cliffhanger. We are going to be taking the remarks of Senator George Allen, who so far will not concede.

HARRIS: Won't concede.

LIN: Not concede. He needs what, 7,400 more votes.

HARRIS: Exactly. Exactly. Without any additional votes for Jim Webb.

And also, we are standing by for the start of the White House briefing with Tony Snow. When that happens, we will bring it to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, as we join you now on a day there is so much breaking news happening in Washington and Kansas, and all over the country, we have just been informed, we have just learned and CNN can confirm that long-time CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley has died. Just learning that in the last two or three minutes here at CNN.

Ed Bradley, just a -- just a stalwart not only in the profession, but certainly a man who built such a distinguished broadcast career. So well recognized. One of the -- one of the definable faces on that broadcast, "60 Minutes," the most popular news magazine show ever. Twenty-five years of service on that show.

LIN: It would have been his 25th season, exactly. This season. And Ed Bradley, we had learned, was suffering from leukemia. He had had a history of heart problems, but passed away ultimately of leukemia at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.

Ed Bradley has a long-time companion who is a specialist in the -- in the art world. A lovely young woman. Had wanted to marry her for a long time. They'd been close companions for quite some time.

And Ed Bradley, though, such a dedicated journalist. He started his career in radio, made a name for himself in Vietnam. As so many, this early generation of journalists, really has won a lifetime achievement Emmy. Did a report for "60 Minutes" on brain cancer patients called "A New Lease on Life". He did another hour on "60 Minutes II" about the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

There was not a story that Ed Bradley would not pursue with -- with the desire to gain more knowledge, to be more illuminating. And his line of questioning was always so thoughtful.

He was not an in-your-face guy. Right?

HARRIS: Yes.

LIN: He picked at the information until it revealed itself. And I think it was really his genteel nature that was one of his greatest strengths on the air.

HARRIS: He was called by folks in the business "Easy Ed". That's how they referred to him, "Easy Ed Bradley," because of that point you make -- his style, his delivery.

This is a man when I think of him, well, boy, where do I start? First of all, incredible role model for an African-American male in this business.

I think about Ed Bradley and his love of music.

LIN: Oh yes.

HARRIS: How about the times he shared the stage with the Neville Brothers.

And in so many ways, just an inspirational figure in this business. You think about over the year, Timothy McVeigh, that interview comes to find.

Just the consummate journalist. Boy, and as I think back over the years and all of the reports and all of the years in this business, it's just hard to -- there are certain kind of distinguishable qualities in journalists that make them unforgettable. And so many for Ed Bradley, the different looks through the years, the afro for so many years.

And then wearing it close-cropped here. And just such a -- well, such a recognizable face. And we will all certainly miss him.

Ed Bradley, the news coming into CNN just in the last few minutes, has died, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, of leukemia.

So much more to tell you about -- about this story. We are right now at the moment working to bring our friends and colleagues from CBS. People who knew him, worked with him for years.

Just trying to reach out to them right now so that we can get some thoughts and some reflection on this pillar in broadcast news.

LIN: You know, David Fitzpatrick, one of our folks at special events right here at CNN, had the experience and honor and privilege to work with Ed Bradley.

David, what are some of your memories of Ed?

DAVID FITZPATRICK, FMR. CBS PRODUCER: Yes. Good morning.

It's a very sad day at CBS News, there's no question about that.

A former colleague of mine -- and I worked at CBS News for 26 years -- telephoned me this morning and said that there were tears in the halls at the "60 Minutes" staff offices, which are across the street from the main CBS building in New York on West 57th Street.

I first met Ed when he was a White House correspondent. He covered the Jimmy Carter campaign. And then he was named a White House correspondent after President Carter won the election.

He was energetic, funny, smart, immensely talented. These were the days when we were just making the transition from film to videotape. And it was a complicated transition.

Ed was always a master at the very end of a deadline. And he was tireless in his reporting.

I also had the opportunity to work with him, near him, actually, at "60 Minutes". I was a producer there as well. And he was a consummate journalist. And there's no question that it is a very, very sad day at CBS News.

LIN: Yes. What do you think -- what do you think drove Ed?

FITZPATRICK: He was -- he was a man of many parts. He loved the news business, but he had many interests outside the business.

He was a huge jazz fan. You may know this, Carol.

He spent lent a lot of time in New Orleans, he spent a lot of time in Colorado. He had a great many interests outside of the news business.

And he and I once talked. And he said that's one of the things that kept him sane. As you know, this can be a very tough business and -- at times. And he had a lot of outside interests. He was true to himself, and he attended those interests just as diligently as he did his work for "60 Minutes". LIN: And was very quiet about the mentoring that he would do with young journalists coming up in the business. He would always make time to meet with kids who were interested in journalism. Never put on airs. That just wasn't his style.

FITZPATRICK: He was gracious, in my memory. He would always have a smile whenever I met him.

I met him about a year ago here at the Time Warner Center in New York in the corridors, and he smiled. He recognized me. He called me Fitz. He said it was great to see me.

He was terrific in his attitude, as you said, towards young people.

It's hard to get to these "60 Minutes" correspondents. It's not easy to strike up a conversation.

He was always gracious. And I didn't know him that well. I knew him reasonably well, and I certainly will miss him.

LIN: David -- David Fitzpatrick, who's with our CNN special events, sharing some of his memories of Ed Bradley, who clearly was just a class act.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

And CNN's John Roberts -- as many of you know, before joining CNN, John Roberts, correspondent, anchor for CBS News in New York. And was a colleague of Ed Bradley's. And John is on an embed right now in Baghdad.

And John, I believe we've just shared the news with you.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. When I got the telephone call, that was the first I'd heard of it. I'd been out with a military unit, a Stryker unit all afternoon.

Tony, it's just tremendously sad news for the nation because Ed Bradley really was one of those rare treasures in America, as a gentleman and particularly as a journalist. He was one of those people that as a young person coming into business, and even growing up in the business, and even now, you can look to and say, you know, that's the way that I want to do it.

Ed Bradley just had such a tremendous personal way during his interview of extracting information for people and giving them a sense of what they were all about. And that was really his talent, was being able to draw people out in an interview.

And I think probably the classic example of that was the interview that he did some years ago with Muhammad Ali. I remember at an awards dinner sitting down with Ed and talking to him about it. And he said, Ali was almost playing a game with him.

He said he didn't want to talk. And "Maybe today, maybe not today, I don't know." And he sat down with Ali, and he said to him, "Do you want to talk today?" And Ali said "Well, I don't know."

But Bradley told me -- he said, "Ali had this twinkle in his eye that said, yes, I really do want to talk to you. I just want to do it on my own time." And I think for Ed, that was probably one of the most memorable interviews that he's ever done as well. Just an extraordinary human being and a great loss for the country today.

HARRIS: John, you know, he always appeared accessible. But I wonder if he was.

I mean, look, these were -- if you're talking about the correspondents for "60 Minutes," these are huge stars in this business. And I wonder what kind of a man he was away from the cameras, away from the lights, as a colleague in the halls of CBS News.

ROBERTS: Any time I had an opportunity to engage with him -- and I did so a number of times during the course of my tenure at CBS -- Ed was always very engaging, very forthcoming about what he was doing. A great conversationalist.

He -- you know, there was no end to the depth of stories that he could tell based upon his experience. Obviously when you get into the stratosphere that Ed and Mike and others at "60 Minutes" were operating in, they have to remain somewhat guarded. They don't want to let all of themselves out.

But Ed was always -- always a person you could sit down with. And he'd just keep you intrigued for hours at a time with all the stories that he could tell.

HARRIS: Hey, John, did you know he was, in any way, before joining us, did you know that he was in any way in even failing health at all?

ROBERTS: The only thing that I knew about Ed was that he had had a bad heart. A couple or three years ago he had bypass surgery. And I know that that took a lot out of him.

He was looking very frail for a while, but then he seemed to get his vigor back a couple of seasons ago. And it seemed to be back to the old Ed Bradley. The heart problems, while they may have slowed him down a little bit, certainly hadn't stopped him. But this leukemia diagnosis was something that I had not heard about. It would seem that it was something he was holding very close to the vest. When you get into a position like his, if you've got a disease that's not acute, like heart disease that lands you in the hospital and you have a major operation, it's something that perhaps you keep to yourself, and you don't want the world to know about it. And it would seem that that's what Ed was doing.

HARRIS: Hey, I wonder, when you start to call and start to receive some of the calls and you finally get back stateside, who are some of the people over at CBS, your former colleagues that you'll be maybe reaching out to, meeting at a watering hole somewhere and sharing Ed Bradley stories with? ROBERTS: Well, unfortunately, a lot of the colleagues that I dealt with that would have been close to him are people who are up in New York. And it's difficult these days with the workload and everything together with those people. But even if I don't sit together with them and share Ed Bradley stories, I think privately I'll remember what a terrific individual he was, what a great human being he was, and what an absolutely first-rate journalist Ed Bradley was.

HARRIS: John Roberts for us in Baghdad.

John, we appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

LIN: All right, Tony, just as you were talking with John, we had gotten some sound in from the White House. The White House spokesperson Tony Snow commenting on the passing of Ed Bradley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Bill Plante just passed on some sad news. We know the passing of Ed Bradley who died earlier today. So our thoughts and prayers not only with Ed's family, but all of his colleagues at CBS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Ed Bradley, who died at the age of 55 from complications from leukemia, died at New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Howard Kurtz, over at "The Washington Post," you've known Ed for quite some time.

HOWARD KURTZ, "THE WASHINGTON POST": And I just saw him a month ago. And he did look frail, and people at CBS did know that he was not well, but I didn't know, and I think most people didn't know, that he was close to death. You know, there's a tendency when a prominent journalist passes away for other journalists to overpraise that person, but Ed Bradley was really just a trail blazer. Just looking over some of the highlights of his career. I mean he has won just a slew of awards, both for his work on "60 Minutes," for primetime documentaries. He covered political conventions. He filled in on for the CBS Evening News.

But more importantly perhaps, is that while it's much more common today to have African-Americans in prominent positions on the airways, when he started at 60 minutes in 1981, there were relatively few. So he really was a trailblazer in a number of different ways.

LIN: What do you think his true talent was?

KURTZ: I guess to talk to people of any kind and any situation. I mean, he was a guy who could interview celebrities, Bill Cosby and people like that. At the same time, he could go and cover parents who lost loved ones at the columbine massacre. He did a series on brain cancer. He once did a remarkable hour on discrimination in juries, and talking to people who had served on juries and that sort of thing. The range of this guy was really remarkable.

He also the first major media figure that I ever saw wear an earring on television.

LIN: That's right, he had a pierced ear. Which surprised a lot of people. You look at "60 Minutes." It's the pillar of journalism, and then there's Ed Bradley with a gold stud.

KURTZ: No one ever accused Ed of being a stuffed suit. You know, I just talked a while ago to Bob Schieffer, the chief Washington correspondent at CBS and a longtime friend of Ed Bradley, and he said -- he described him as a gentle giant and said that he had done -- Bradley had done so much over the years for young African-American kids and was just a terrific role model. It's hard to pick out any one thing, because in the decade that he has been a force in television news, he really has accomplished a lot.

And you know, he could be controversial. And he could be difficult, as television starts tend to be. And he could be confrontational when he needed to be. But what a body of work.

LIN: It is remarkable. And that's what I ask you what you thought his talent was. Because define that kind of range today. Really, you know, from one minute playing the saxophone. The next minute sitting down with Timothy McVeigh. Having covered the White House, the Vietnam War. The depth and breadth of his career is really stunning and may never really be seen again on the scale that Ed Bradley lived.

KURTZ: Well, may never be seen in terms of the range. Because it is true that journalism tends to be much more specialized today. And there are relatively few people that get a chance to go from hard news stories or covering a war to anchoring a evening news on a fill- in basis, to doing these, you know, rich, textured magazine pieces, which are the life blood of a program like "60 Minutes."

But it's also true that the audiences for all television, including broadcast television, are not as large as they once were. So when Ed Bradley was first coming up at "60 Minutes" in the '80s, I mean, that was a time before cable had really taken hold, when most people watched ABC, CBS or NBC. And so you see it's kind of like a throwback to the Cronkite era, the Huntley Brinkley era. He was seen by much larger audiences than even "60 Minutes," which remains a very popular program, gets today.

So I think that's one of the reasons why some people who never met the guy felt like they knew Ed Bradley, and that he had been a presence in their living rooms for so many years.

LIN: And so many young people, you know, they aspire to be anchors, right, the more prominent position on camera? That was not Ed. When it was bandied about he might be the first African-American commercial broadcast evening news anchor, that was not something he wanted.

KURTZ: No, he clearly was a field reporter. H"e clearly was somebody who didn't like being chained to a desk. He liked out there doing a story, whether it was with Vietnam, as you say, or whether it was doing the investigative in New York, or you know, bringing alive the plight of families who were dealing with illnesses and violence, or you know, just this whole panoply of issues that he covers. And that, you know, was something that I really admired about him, because as he got to be older, and more established and more famous, it would have been easy to just kind of do the celebrity interviews and not take on these tough, more difficult subject, which is a lot of work to do a 12 or 15 minute magazine-style piece for television.

But I never got the sense, although, you know, he obviously looked frail for a time, never got the sense that he had lost his hunger for the business. I mean, the 65 years old and he was still showing up. I mean, I know he's a spring chicken compared to Mike Wallace. But the consistency, and the depth and the range of what this man did on television, really quite remarkable.

HARRIS: And, Howard, I have to ask you, I mean, when you talk about CBS now, and what CBS has gone through recently, you know, Mike Wallace has stepped down essentially, and the loss of Ed Bradley, Dan Rather has moved on, Katie Couric is now the anchor of the evening news -- a lot of recognizable names at that network have moved on, and in Ed's case, passed on now.

KURTZ: Well, as I predicted, Mike Wallace said he was stepping down, but then there he was a few weeks ago interviewing the president of Iraq, so I think he'll still be a presence on a part- time basis on that program.

But clearly we're seeing the changing of the generational guard here. The Dan Rather era is over. It ended sadly for Dan, with the notorious National Guard story. Now he's going to do a high- definition program, which actually debuts next week.

Katie Couric coming in, does kind of symbolize a youth movement there. And I think that she also is reporting stories for "60 Minutes." So it was inevitable, even though, you know, the remarkable longevity of people like Andy Rooney, and Don Hewitt, and Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley, it was inevitable that some century, some decade, we were going to move on to a younger generation. But I think because on this very sad death and because of some other things that have happened, CBS now finding itself in a position of having to make that transition maybe a little bit sooner than the network had originally planned.

HARRIS: You know what, Howard, just one final thought. And I don't know if you know this, but I wonder, it just seems to me for someone, for an African-American to have risen to these ranks, to have even gotten a start in the business back when Ed broke through as a trailblazer, as you mentioned, there need to be a champion. And I'm just wondering, who was -- who might have been the champion at CBS when Ed Bradley came along and said, you know what, I'm ready and I can do this.

KURTZ: Look, the answer has got to be Don Hewitt, the longtime producer of "60 Minutes," who stepped down from that job just a couple of years ago at the age of about 80. You know, he ruled that show with a pretty iron fist. Nobody got on unless Don Hewitt thought it was a good idea. So I think he gets the credit for both recognizing Ed's talent and for breaking the mold a little bit. I mean, I was trying to think -- you know Bernard Shaw at CNN and Carol Simpson at ABC, we talk about people who were there. Relative handful of African-Americans. Ed Bradley clearly among the most prominent there.

LIN: You bet. Howard Kurtz, we appreciate it. Thank you very much, Howard.

HARRIS: Howard Kurtz, we appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

LIN: All right. Our very own Larry King on the telephone with us right now. Larry, how did you hear the news?

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: My publicist, Bridget Leininger, just called, and told me about it. I was really shocked. I was with Ed a couple of months ago, and he wasn't looking good, and he told me he had pretty much licked it and recovered, but if you saw him, you had grave doubts because people were saying that, you know, he looked like someone close to buying it, and it felt so terrible to be around him, because he was such a vibrant -- Ed Bradley, you know, if you sum it up in a couple of words, he was a good guy. He was just a good guy. Not only a terrific reporter, I remember him at WCBS Radio in New York, which is where he got his start. And he was a prominent anchor there. And then he did local television in New York and that's when Don hired him for "60 Minutes." And, I think we're going to do a whole tribute to him tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." He's been on our show so many times. But he was a superb guy -- how old was Ed?

LIN: 65, young. I'm going to say, young.

HARRIS: It is.

LIN: That's young, Larry

HARRIS: It is.

KING: 65 is today's 50.

LIN: Absolutely. And he lived large. I mean he, not only along with his all-encompassing career at "60 Minutes," he married, you know, he loved his music.

HARRIS: Sure did.

LIN; And many of his closest friends, he kept all through the years. Even though they were not in the broadcast news business. But this was the man who was defined by people who were there with him as he was growing through the ranks.

KING: He kept his friends. He loved his jazz music. He was also really laid back. You couldn't see Ed jumping up and screaming.

LIN: No. HARRIS: Hey Larry, just a quick thought. You spent some time with him. And I'm assuming you count him as having been a friend. What was it like for so many of us we saw the easy, that was his nickname, Easy Ed. We saw the ease with which he went about his work. What was he like away from the cameras and in your company?

KING: Same way. He was easy to be with. He was genuinely relaxed. I could never picture him raising his voice -- if he did, he never did it in mixed company that I was around. And he approached things very low-key, and while he was competitive, that is, he was he was out to get the good get. He scored many a coup on that show, he was also never competitive about it. He was never strained. He never acted like, I'm going to beat you to get this guest. Or that I would do anything to get this guest. He was never that way. He was a great journalist too, and a great field journalist. He was great when he went to cover war. He was great and at ease sitting in the company of famous people and asking them questions. He was well-rounded. But Tony, you asked about his personality. You know, they say the real good ones are the same on as off. He was a real good one. And he was the same on the air as off.

HARRIS: Larry, thank you so much for your time. And we can't wait for the special tribute tonight to Ed Bradley.

KING: Thank you.

HARRIS: CNN's Larry King with us.

LIN: All right. Ed Bradley, passing on at the age of 65 due to complications from leukemia. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We thank you again for joining us everyone for this special edition of the CNN NEWSROOM. We have been talking to friends and former colleagues, current colleagues, of CBS's Ed Bradley. The news coming just within the last 40 minutes or so that the veteran CBS newsman and "60 Minutes" correspondent has died. he died of leukemia at Mt. Sinai Hospital at the age of 65 years old. We are still reaching out to his friends and his colleagues. As we get reaction to the death of Ed Bradley and we'll continue to follow this story of course throughout the day and bring you more in the minutes ahead.

LIN: Those who knew him were just stunned at the news. So many people didn't even know he was that sick.

In the meantime, it has been a busy day in the news. We've been following the remarks as you're watching here of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld answering students' questions at Kansas State University. After making the remarks there, in fact, a short time ago, this is what he had to say:

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I, would start on a personal note -- my time as secretary of defense, I've come away truly inspired by the professionalism, the dedication, the dignity, of the men and women in uniform. And the folks at the Department of Defense, who work everyday to help keep the American people safe.

When I was in Afghanistan not long ago, a young soldier told me, he said, I really can't believe we are allowed to do something this important. You know, I feel the same way. I'm so honored to have had the opportunity to be part of something so important, so vital to the future of our country. And so the cause of human freedom. It has been the finest honor of my life to serve our country and to work so closely with our outstanding troops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And that epitaph in essence of the ending his career as secretary of defense. And remarks he's making to students there at Kansas State University -- the Landon Speakers series. So many famous people before Donald Rumsfeld.

HARRIS: Presidents.

LIN: President Carter, President Nixon, addressing this group of students. But he was taking questions from students and he was smiling and laughing.

HARRIS: Well, it was something to see when he entered the auditorium this morning and received that ovation. And that's what it was. It was an ovation from the audience assembled there. And he was all smiles. All smiles today. And after the events of yesterday, you know, it has to be tough, and it has to tug at him just a bit as we saw in that good-bye yesterday. He seemed at least at one moment to sort of be caught up in the moment and thanking the troops and acknowledging the troops for their bravery in support of this effort in the war on terrorism.

LIN: You bet.

HARRIS: We are going to take a quick break here.

LIN: We are and we are going to have more on the passing of Ed Bradley of "60 Minutes."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hi, and welcome back, everyone, to this special edition of the CNN NEWSROOM, reporting the death of long-time "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley. Ed Bradley dying today at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York from leukemia. He was 65 years old.

Bradley spending much of his career at CBS News. We heard from Larry King just a moment ago, that Larry remembers his days at WCBS Radio in New York, but he joined the "60 Minutes" show in the '81/'82 season. LIN: The consummate journalist, a reporter at heart, never wanted to sit in the spotlight behind an anchor desk. Wanted to get out, dig, get the stories. Some of his friends we've spoken to just in the last half hour didn't even know that he was this sick.

I mean, Larry said that he saw him a couple of months ago and had no idea, though, he saw that Ed Bradley was very frail. And -- but just, you know, hearing people talk about what a consummate journalist and gentleman -- he said his nickname was "Easy Ed."

HARRIS: "Easy Ed." I mean...

LIN: Easy going.

HARRIS: ... yes, I just -- look, I'm an African-American male in this business, and I count Ed Bradley as one of my heroes. Absolute heroes. I think of Ed Bradley, I think of long-time Washington, D.C. anchor Jim Vance, someone who I've watched for years. I think of Max Robinson, absolutely.

LIN: So really growing up, seeing Ed Bradley up there meant something.

HARRIS: Oh, let me be very clear about it. To see Ed Bradley on television growing up in Baltimore, Maryland meant that that was something that I could aspire to, that I could do that conceivably.

You know, a lot has to happen and the breaks have to be there, of course but to see Ed, and to see Max Robinson, evening anchor at "ABC World News Tonight," to see Jim Vance in Washington, D.C. said to me, spoke to me very specifically that this was something that I could aspire to in my own personal career.

So, you know, it certainly hurts for everyone, but it means something in particular, I think, to African-American males in this business and African-Americans in general who saw great skill in Ed Bradley. Great, great, great skill.

Great -- well, you've mentioned it. Larry mentioned it. John Roberts mentioned it, grace in one of the most difficult professions of all. You know, people work at tougher jobs than what we have, but certainly to do this and to be one of the best and recognized by your peers as one of the best in this business is really saying something.

LIN: It really is. And Ed Bradley -- I only know him because my -- he was dear friends with my husband and part of their family, and I only saw him on social occasions and he was just an amazing guy.

You know, complained about the car service not arriving or the taxi being late, or, you know, chasing Will's dogs through the streets of Paris when they were -- you know, just a lot of personal memories of a man who is a legend, but just knowing the more personal side to him and how giving he was.

HARRIS: Well, we want to tell you as we say good-bye and turn things over to Don and Kyra, that you can watch continuing coverage of this story and hear from friends and colleagues of Ed Bradley throughout the afternoon here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LIN: Right, and we'll have a special on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight, 9:00.

HARRIS: Tonight, so we'll say good-bye and turn things over to Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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