Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview with Wife Of Senator John Edwards

Aired January 26, 2004 - 09:06   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, while the polls show John Kerry and Howard Dean are fighting it out for first and second place in New Hampshire, Senator John Edwards is hoping big crowds at recent rallies will mean voters there are responding to his message. With him in New Hampshire has been his wife Elizabeth.
And Elizabeth Edwards joins us live from Manchester this morning.

Nice to see you, Mrs. Edwards.

Thanks for being with us.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's take a minute to talk a little bit about the past. In Iowa, people very surprised by your husband's very good showing there.

What was it like the next morning when you saw just how well he had done? How did it feel?

EDWARDS: It felt great, although by the next morning we were already in New Hampshire. We arrived here at 3:00 a.m. on what was then early Tuesday morning to a great rally meeting us at the airport, which was fantastic.

O'BRIEN: So the work never stops, does it?

EDWARDS: No, it doesn't.

O'BRIEN: How do you keep up with it? I mean you've got two, you know -- I've got two young children, you've got two young children then an older child, as well, off in college.

Do you enjoy the juggling that this must be?

EDWARDS: Well, it's, I mean it's not as bad as it sounds. We -- the children, the younger children have been joining us on weekends. Kate, our older daughter, actually had exams during the Ohio -- during the Iowa caucuses, and is now with us on the campaign trail here, which is fantastic. It's, you know, it's a little more juggling than some of the other candidates have to do. It's not as much juggling as perhaps troops in Iraq have to do and their families back home, doing it for months and months on end. We're just doing it, you know, during the week days. It's not -- so I don't have any complaints.

O'BRIEN: Do you enjoy going out there and meeting the voting public and doing the rallies? Is it fun for you?

EDWARDS: I actually love it and it's great. I spend time with people who I really enjoy, people who are energized and excited, interested in the issues, particularly here in New Hampshire, very well informed people. So you get, you get tough but great questions that really give you a lot of confidence in the American voter.

O'BRIEN: Some of the folks you work with describe you as outspoken and direct.

Do you ever worry about...

EDWARDS: Yes, I know.

O'BRIEN: ... which I always think sound like good things.

Do you ever worry about striking the right balance, that, is that people frankly may not appreciate outspoken and direct when they're talking about a first lady?

EDWARDS: I think every candidate and candidate's spouse all have to be exactly who they are. If you try to pretend you're something else, be something else, you're going to be uncomfortable with that and voters are going to sense it.

So I don't know whether outspoken and direct are the right description of me. I do know that I try to speak with people openly and honestly and if it doesn't work, that's who I am, and I wouldn't change it.

O'BRIEN: What do you think your role would be if, indeed, you become the first lady of the United States? What would you like to do in that role? What would you carve out?

EDWARDS: Well, of course, the first thing, because I have very young children, is I'd be a mother. I think that's probably a good thing, to have someone caring for young children and addressing the issues of young children, as, in that role. But the issues that I care about, and I care about them deeply, I would continue what I've done in my private life, which is to work for after school programs. John and I actually started, or helped start with a lot of concerned and generous people in North Carolina, two after school programs that provide tutoring, computers, enrichment programs for young people; and balance the educational playing field for children who don't have those kinds of resources at home.

O'BRIEN: You are, arguably, the person who knows your husband best.

Tell me something about John Edwards that you'd like voters and viewers to know that so far we haven't seen yet as he campaigns and makes his way and does public appearances and things like that.

EDWARDS: Sometimes I think people see him as so nice, the easy smile, the sort of open way that he has with people and they think that he's just maybe too nice, that he's maybe -- that he might even be a pushover because he has this positive attitude and way of speaking. And that's not the case. he is the farthest thing from a pushover, having been in, you know, whatever little family arguments you have with him for 26 years, I promise he can stand up for himself.

But more than that, he stood up in really tough situations. He stood up for families and children in North Carolina for 20 years fighting against enormous odds, sometimes, you know, legions of the best paid and fabulous lawyers on the other side. He has fought in courtrooms in North Carolina and, frankly, won over and over again.

I don't have to use very many fingers to count the number of times he lost. And that's because he's unbelievably tenacious. He has great fight in him. He just doesn't, he just doesn't have to raise his voice to fight and to win in these cases.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Edwards...

EDWARDS: And he's done it, frankly, as a senator, as well.

O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning, Elizabeth Edwards.

It must be fun to have two lawyers in the family arguing.

EDWARDS: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That would be interesting to see.

Mrs. Edwards...

EDWARDS: You see, he's very practiced.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us this morning, Mrs. Edwards.

We appreciate it.

We should also mention that you should watch CNN tomorrow night for live up to the minute coverage from New Hampshire, "America Votes 2004: The New Hampshire Primary," a CNN prime time event. Coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, 4:00 p.m. Pacific.

Bill Hemmer will be in New Hampshire tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING for us.

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 January 26, 2004 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, while the polls show John Kerry and Howard Dean are fighting it out for first and second place in New Hampshire, Senator John Edwards is hoping big crowds at recent rallies will mean voters there are responding to his message. With him in New Hampshire has been his wife Elizabeth.
And Elizabeth Edwards joins us live from Manchester this morning.

Nice to see you, Mrs. Edwards.

Thanks for being with us.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's take a minute to talk a little bit about the past. In Iowa, people very surprised by your husband's very good showing there.

What was it like the next morning when you saw just how well he had done? How did it feel?

EDWARDS: It felt great, although by the next morning we were already in New Hampshire. We arrived here at 3:00 a.m. on what was then early Tuesday morning to a great rally meeting us at the airport, which was fantastic.

O'BRIEN: So the work never stops, does it?

EDWARDS: No, it doesn't.

O'BRIEN: How do you keep up with it? I mean you've got two, you know -- I've got two young children, you've got two young children then an older child, as well, off in college.

Do you enjoy the juggling that this must be?

EDWARDS: Well, it's, I mean it's not as bad as it sounds. We -- the children, the younger children have been joining us on weekends. Kate, our older daughter, actually had exams during the Ohio -- during the Iowa caucuses, and is now with us on the campaign trail here, which is fantastic. It's, you know, it's a little more juggling than some of the other candidates have to do. It's not as much juggling as perhaps troops in Iraq have to do and their families back home, doing it for months and months on end. We're just doing it, you know, during the week days. It's not -- so I don't have any complaints.

O'BRIEN: Do you enjoy going out there and meeting the voting public and doing the rallies? Is it fun for you?

EDWARDS: I actually love it and it's great. I spend time with people who I really enjoy, people who are energized and excited, interested in the issues, particularly here in New Hampshire, very well informed people. So you get, you get tough but great questions that really give you a lot of confidence in the American voter.

O'BRIEN: Some of the folks you work with describe you as outspoken and direct.

Do you ever worry about...

EDWARDS: Yes, I know.

O'BRIEN: ... which I always think sound like good things.

Do you ever worry about striking the right balance, that, is that people frankly may not appreciate outspoken and direct when they're talking about a first lady?

EDWARDS: I think every candidate and candidate's spouse all have to be exactly who they are. If you try to pretend you're something else, be something else, you're going to be uncomfortable with that and voters are going to sense it.

So I don't know whether outspoken and direct are the right description of me. I do know that I try to speak with people openly and honestly and if it doesn't work, that's who I am, and I wouldn't change it.

O'BRIEN: What do you think your role would be if, indeed, you become the first lady of the United States? What would you like to do in that role? What would you carve out?

EDWARDS: Well, of course, the first thing, because I have very young children, is I'd be a mother. I think that's probably a good thing, to have someone caring for young children and addressing the issues of young children, as, in that role. But the issues that I care about, and I care about them deeply, I would continue what I've done in my private life, which is to work for after school programs. John and I actually started, or helped start with a lot of concerned and generous people in North Carolina, two after school programs that provide tutoring, computers, enrichment programs for young people; and balance the educational playing field for children who don't have those kinds of resources at home.

O'BRIEN: You are, arguably, the person who knows your husband best.

Tell me something about John Edwards that you'd like voters and viewers to know that so far we haven't seen yet as he campaigns and makes his way and does public appearances and things like that.

EDWARDS: Sometimes I think people see him as so nice, the easy smile, the sort of open way that he has with people and they think that he's just maybe too nice, that he's maybe -- that he might even be a pushover because he has this positive attitude and way of speaking. And that's not the case. he is the farthest thing from a pushover, having been in, you know, whatever little family arguments you have with him for 26 years, I promise he can stand up for himself.

But more than that, he stood up in really tough situations. He stood up for families and children in North Carolina for 20 years fighting against enormous odds, sometimes, you know, legions of the best paid and fabulous lawyers on the other side. He has fought in courtrooms in North Carolina and, frankly, won over and over again.

I don't have to use very many fingers to count the number of times he lost. And that's because he's unbelievably tenacious. He has great fight in him. He just doesn't, he just doesn't have to raise his voice to fight and to win in these cases.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Edwards...

EDWARDS: And he's done it, frankly, as a senator, as well.

O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning, Elizabeth Edwards.

It must be fun to have two lawyers in the family arguing.

EDWARDS: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That would be interesting to see.

Mrs. Edwards...

EDWARDS: You see, he's very practiced.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us this morning, Mrs. Edwards.

We appreciate it.

We should also mention that you should watch CNN tomorrow night for live up to the minute coverage from New Hampshire, "America Votes 2004: The New Hampshire Primary," a CNN prime time event. Coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, 4:00 p.m. Pacific.

Bill Hemmer will be in New Hampshire tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING for us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com