Jonathan Karl: Strom Thurmond turns 99

Jonathan Karl is a White House correspondent for CNN. He joined the CNN.com chat room from Washington, DC.

CNN: Strom Thurmond turned 99 today. How did the Senate mark that event?

KARL: Well, Strom was greeted yesterday with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" by all the other 48 Republican Senators. And today, on the floor of the Senate, received warm words from both Senators Lott and Daschle. In an entertaining moment, Strom slowly stood up from his desk on the Senate floor, and said how much he likes all his colleagues, especially, he said, the women.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Isn't Thurmond currently living at Walter Reed hospital?

KARL: Yes, he is spending his nights there, and has been doing so because of his failing health.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How is Strom's health? What is the extent of his illness?

KARL: Well, he moves incredibly slowly. He hardly speaks much anymore. But he shows up for almost every single Senate vote, and over these last few years, there are only a handful of Senators who have a better voting attendance record. He had a scare a few weeks ago, when he seemed to collapse at his desk, and the medics at first could not find a heartbeat. Some of his colleagues thought he had died. So, his health is not good, unless you take into account the fact that he is 99 years old.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Is Strom the oldest living Senator in history?

KARL: He is both the oldest Senator in history, and the longest-serving Senator in history. That second part is remarkable, because Strom Thurmond didn't get elected to the Senate until he was 52-years-old. So, he was already among the older Senators when he was a freshman, back in 1954.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Is there somewhere we could go via e mail to wish him a happy 99th birthday?

KARL: Certainly! Visit his Web site, at http://www.senate.gov/~thurmond

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Is Strom's state going to do something for his birthday?

KARL: Well, this is a huge event for South Carolina, but Strom, unfortunately, won't be able to go back to the state for any of the events commemorating his birthday. In fact, he hasn't been to South Carolina since Christmas almost a year ago.

CNN: Lawmakers are expected to work through the weekend to complete an economic stimulus package that George W. Bush could sign as early as next week. How likely is it House and Senate can reach this goal by next week?

KARL: Personally, based on what I'm seeing and hearing, I would say it's quite unlikely. The differences are significant, the arguments quite bitter at this point, and I just don't see them doing this by next week. That said, both sides say they want to get it done, so maybe I'm wrong.

CNN: Is Homeland Security the major sticking point, or tax cuts?

KARL: Well, both. But really as far as the stimulus plan goes, it comes down to a difference of opinion on tax cuts, and aid for the unemployed. The Homeland Security question is now a separate question, but an equally significant problem. But you can guarantee that Strom Thurmond will be with the Republicans on both those questions!

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What are they discussing in the Homeland Security question?

KARL: It's really a question of whether or not the President needs the money right now to do things like prepare for possible bio-terrorism, beef up security at the borders, provide assistance to state and local law enforcement, secure nuclear power plants, and similar measures. The President says he doesn't need the money yet. He wants to wait for Homeland Security Czar Tom Ridge to prepare a plan and a budget. Senate Democrats say the money is needed now. By the way, don't forget Congress already, in the days immediately after September 11, passed a bill providing for 40 billion dollars in emergency spending. Much of it was for Homeland Security.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Any news on how the Congress is going to react to the actions taken against Palestine?

KARL: Both houses will pass a resolution condemning the action, and calling on the United States to sever ties with the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Yasser Arafat, unless Arafat takes concrete steps to crack down on terrorists. It's a joint resolution, but it's also a non-binding resolution, so it will express the will of Congress, but doesn't actually force the President to do anything.

CNN: Meanwhile, what can you tell us about the FBI investigation of the letter sent to Senator Patrick Leahy?

KARL: Well, the most recent development is the FBI is reportedly finally going to open the letter, to take a closer look at the contents. But that investigation, unfortunately, appears to be at somewhat of a standstill. They just haven't come up with any promising leads yet.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How did Leahy know how much anthrax was in this letter before-the FBI have opened it?

KARL: You know, he really didn't. He had repeated what he had heard in news reports, when he talked about how much anthrax was in his letter. Those reports were based more on educated speculation than hard fact. He's never actually seen his letter.

CNN: Do you have any closing comments to share with us?

KARL: Strom Thurmond has made it clear over the years that he would like to spend his 100th birthday in the U.S. Senate, and now he's a lot closer than a lot of people ever thought he would be, to pulling that off. He now says he would like to live to be 110, but he's near the end of the road in this kind of career. He is obviously not running for re-election, and will step down when his term is up in about 13 months.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today.

KARL: Sure! Take care!

Jonathan Karl joined the chat room via telephone from Washington, DC and CNN.com provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Wednesday, December 05, 2001 at 2 p.m. EDT.