Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Fox News Reporting 20171225

You were a little reticent when we started this project. Whats your thought about all this . I dont like it. [ laughs ] full disclosure ive been trying to convince Charles Krauthammer to sit for an interview for some time. Secretary kerry on the hill today talking about. Not one where he simply shares his thoughts on the news of the day. I suspect theres gonna be another twist here. But one where he pulls back the curtain and reveals beyond the extraordinary writer and influential thinker, the life of an intensely private man. Look, when i say i dont like it, im not averse to the spotlight. Im not gonna pretend somebodys on Television Every Night doesnt enjoy it. But when it comes to interior life, its not something thats very interesting to me. More disclosure Charles Krauthammer is a colleague and friend. But he only agreed to cooperate on a fox news reporting profile reluctantly as part of the Publicity Campaign for, yes, a new book. Things that matter is not a confessional memoir or scandalous kissandtell. Its a collection of newspaper and magazine pieces from the pulitzer prizewinning columnist. Or maybe its more than that. Are you decoding my book . I am decoding it right now. Like its entirely about me. [ laughs ] but its all written in hieroglyphics. Well, its not quite as impenetrable as hieroglyphics. Lets start with part one of your book, and it is titled personal. And in there, the first column is really an incredibly moving piece about your brother. Marcel krauthammer died of cancer. He was 59. Charles writes this about his older brother. He taught me most everything i ever learned about every sport i ever played. He taught me how to throw a football, hit a backhand, grip a nine iron, field a grounder, dock a sailboat in the tailing wind. And how we played. It was paradise. Tell me about that. It was a paradisiacal childhood. My brother and i were inseparable. He was four years older, which is why this was a priceless gift. He always insisted i be included, so i got used to being around the big boys and taking the slings and arrows, and thats how you get toughened up. My parents were from europe. He was american, my brother. Born in brazil, but thats a long story. But american, and he made me an american. That long story short krauthammers mother, thea, is from belgium. His father, schlum, was a Real Estate Developer from what is now a province of ukraine, both jews whod left world war ii europe. They met in havana, moved to rio, and eventually new york city, where charles was born in 1950. When he was 5, the krauthammers moved to montreal. But they spent summers at the Family Cottage in long beach, new york. Charles recalls spending every day with his brother on the field, on the court, or in the water. I dont think i owned a shirt till i was 21. All the pictures, the family movies, my father is shirtless, my brothers shirtless, i am. Were outside in the sun. I read on the beach. Thats where i got all my knowledge was reading. Of course, there was reading and studying. Schlum krauthammer, who spoke nine languages, even carried his sons stellar second grade report card around in his coat pocket. His motto for us was, i want you to know everything. I want you to learn everything. You dont have to do everything, but you got to know everything. He thought that was part of life. That life did not include a tv, says the cable news pundit. My father wouldnt allow it. Once a week, sunday night, wed go to the neighbors to watch the ed sullivan show. That was the one concession, the television. Inspired by uncles who were doctors, Marcel Krauthammer went to medical school. It was assumed charles would follow. But as a 19yearold senior at mcgill, the internationally renowned canadian university, he was bitten by a different bug political journalism. Well, that was a little bit of campus intrigue. The editorship of the newspaper at mcgill was controlled by the student council. Id been elected to the student council, and the paper was becoming unreadable. It was run by marxists, maoists. I mean, it was just it looked like it came out of the soviet union. You just couldnt read it. So we engineered a coup to fire the editor, and then we sort of realized, well, what do we do now . We have to find an editor. So they looked around and they decided it was gonna be me. So i said, wait, ive never worked on a paper. Said, eh, a detail. A polisci and economics major, he loved thinking and writing about all things political. He applied to medical school to please his family and got accepted to harvard, but he got into oxford, as well, to study political theory. Would krauthammer choose a life of science or a life of letters . The brilliant graduate had enviable options, but he hadnt figured out what mattered most to him, so he split the difference. He put off harvard, enrolled at oxford, and while studying historys great political philosophers, he met a fellow student from australia, robyn trethewey, attractive and brilliant, too, a clerk to the chief justice of her home states supreme court. But so much would change in the three years between when they met and married, beginning with his sudden decision to leave england. I had this little epiphany of sorts. I started in political theory. It was getting more and more abstract. I learned a lot, but i began to feel that i was very sort of spinning out into a universe that didnt have anything to do with the real world. I called the registrar at Harvard Medical School and said, id like to come in the coming class, and i remember her saying, well, one guy dropped out. We got a spot. If youre here on monday, its yours. So i grabbed a toothbrush and i didnt pack. I got on a plane and i left. And thats how i decided to become a doctor. Now, when i woke up in boston the next day, i thought to myself, oh, my god, what have i done . [ chuckles ] but there was no going back. Why did you choose psychiatry . I was looking for something halfway between the reality of medicine and the elegance, if you like, of philosophy. So psychiatry was the obvious thing. That was my intention from the first day, and i was lucky because it was probably the easiest branch of medicine for me to do once i was hurt. Hurt. That doesnt even begin to describe it. When did you realize that the accident was lifealtering . The second it happened. After the break. Its all popculture trivia, but it gets pretty intense. Ahh. The new guy. Whoa, he looks he looks exactly like me. No. Separated at birth much . We should switch name tags, and no one would know who was who. Jamie, you seriously think you look like him . Uh, im pretty good with comparisons. Like how progressive helps people save money by comparing rates, even if were not the lowest. Even if were not the lowest. Whoa wow. I mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. Look at us. Wow. I mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. You wont see these folks they have businesses to run. They have passions to pursue. How do they avoid trips to the post office . Stamps. Com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. Get a 4 week trial, plus 100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. Go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again. Welcome back to fox news reporting. So far, youve met the young Charles Krauthammer, harvard medicine, class of 75. His life seemed to be going according to plan, but then no life ever really does. This snapshot was taken in may 1972. It shows a strapping 61 Charles Krauthammer standing on the beach. Its the confident smile of a young man well on his way to making it smart, athletic, handsome, driven, the future all his. That was spring break in my first year in medical school. I went with a bunch of friends to bermuda. That actually is the last picture of me taken standing. Of course, i didnt know at the time. And i was coming out of the water carrying my sandals. I saw one of my friends with a camera, and then when i got to the top of the dune, i just stood there for a picture. Thought nothing of it until i discovered it years later lying around in a box. And remembering it, of course, it was a fateful picture. Fateful because of what would happen back at harvard that summer. You were 22 years old. Tell me about that day. I went out. We had it was it was the end of my first year in medical school. Were doing neurology. Were studying the spinal cord, of all things. My classmate and i decide to skip the morning session. Beautiful july day. Were gonna and we played tennis instead. After their game, they head back to class for the afternoon session, but along the way, they stop at a pool on campus, set down their books, and pull off their sneakers. Were very sweaty. Its very hot, so we go for a swim. We take a few dives, and i hit my head on the bottom of the pool. A freak accident, says krauthammer. The amazing thing is, there was no not even a cut on my head. It just hit at precisely the angle where all the force was transmitted to one spot, and that is the cervical vertebrae, which severed the spinal cord. When did you realize that the accident was lifealtering . The second it happened. You knew . I knew exactly what happened. I knew why i wasnt able to move. And i knew what that meant. At the bottom of the pool. I wasnt getting out. I knew, yeah. He was paralyzed, unable to move his arms or legs. His friend thought he was clowning around and hesitated before diving down to save him. Was there ever a moment that you thought this is the end . Well, when i knew what happened and i knew i was at the bottom of the pool and i knew i wouldnt be able to swim, i was sure that was the end. Do you think back to that day often . Not really. It doesnt i kind of have a distance from it. I see it like as if it happened in a film. Um. And interestingly enough, for people talk about neardeath experiences, there was no panic, there was no great emotion. I didnt see a light. My life did not flash before me. You sort of get to a place where youre ready and then youre suddenly brought back to the world. So no cosmic revelation as he was rushed to the hospital, though krauthammer notes the irony of what he left behind. There were two books on the side of the pool when they picked up my effects. One was the anatomy of the spinal cord and the other ones mans fate by andre malraux. Quite a choice. I didnt know what was coming, but it fit very well. Coming up, krauthammers fate lay in the balance. What he did next astounded his professors and classmates. I knew that would be fatal. It was not a question. A skipped class, a fateful dive, a terrible injury. And there Charles Krauthammer lay in a hospital bed paralyzed, nothing to do but think. I made one promise to myself on day one. I was not gonna allow it to alter my life, except in ways which are sort of having to do with gravity. Im not gonna defy gravity. And im not gonna walk, im not gonna water ski again. Thats fine. So that you know. But on the big things in life, the direction of my life, what i was gonna do, that wouldnt change at all. Krauthammer says he never entertained the notion that one day, whether through his own effort or even some medical miracle, hed regain full use of his arms and legs. He resigned himself to the cold reality that wherever he went in life, hed go in a wheelchair. Was it hard . I think the physical part was hard, getting learning to do everything again. I have a great capacity for erasing memories. [ chuckles ] so it seems very short. It was long, but it would seem very short. His teachers and classmates certainly thought he was rushing his decision to resume his studies immediately. You never thought about taking a year off or taking a couple years off . No. I knew that would be fatal. It was not a question. cause you just couldnt survive. Yeah, i mean, life would be over. Its a little early for life to be over. So while nobody had heard of someone with krauthammers injury standing up to the rigors of a med school curriculum, krauthammer convinced harvard to let him try. Amazingly, mere weeks after his accident, he resumed classes while still in his hospital bed. I was lying on my back, couldnt move. The professors would come in, repeat their lectures and project slides on the ceiling, cause i had asked the medical school to let me stay with my class. And you read by laying on your back. One of the cardiac residents hooked up a plexiglas plate above my head that he hung from the posters of the bed, and the nurses would put a book on it face down. Now, you dont want to call them every minute and a half to turn the page, so i put two books up at once so theyd only have to come half the time. But you got to remember where you were. [ chuckles ] its a bit of a challenge. It keeps you busy. There wasnt a lot else to do. With such force of will, krauthammer graduated on time in 1975 and near the top of his class. Along the way, he got the girl, too, and married robyn. But as he began his threeyear residency at massachusetts general hospital, there were indications from the beginning that charles and psychiatry might not be the perfect fit. Part of the residency is that youre supposed to go to this weekly Group Therapy session, and you didnt want to go. There were 12 of us residents at mass general, and there was a Group Therapy once a week. And i didnt go. I thought its a pointless exercise. So i was called into the Chiefs Office after about seven weeks of nonappearance, and he said to me, why arent you going to therapy . And i said, sir, i came here to give therapy, not to receive it. And he said to me, youre in denial. [ chuckles ] and i said, of course im in denial. Denial is the greatest of all defense mechanisms. I could be a professor of denial. I mean, im an expert at well, i was going on and on. He wasnt very amused. He gave krauthammer an ultimatum go to Group Therapy or leave the program. So i went to the next 21 weeks of sessions or whatever it was, but i didnt really say a word. So whenever people would notice that, theyd say, why arent you talking . And i said, cause im in denial. [ laughs ] im not a big therapy guy. Was it because you didnt want somebody looking around your head . Yes. I dont like to talk about myself, except with you, i guess. [ laughs ] im not a touchy, im not a feely guy. And thats probably why i quit psychiatry. [ chuckles ] if youre not into feelings and emotions and all the backstory, then you ought to be doing something else. So in 1978, krauthammer took a government job in washington at what would become the National Institute of mental health. It wasnt what he really wanted, but it put him in the right neighborhood. I thought, once im in washington, isnt that where they do politics . One thing will lead to another. His folks worried about their son tossing away a doctors livelihood but didnt discourage him. His wife, robyn, who would leave her career in law to become a painter and sculptor, urged him to follow his dream. She was the one who, 35 years ago, encouraged me to follow my heart and, with her wit and humor and generosity of spirit, has coauthored my life. In a moment, charles coauthor helps him answer a higher calling. And later, he finds himself moving left to right, after the break. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. Looking for a hotel that fits. Whoooo. Your budget . Tripadvisor now searches over. 200 sites to find you the. Hotel you want at the lowest price. Grazi, gino find a price that fits. Tripadvisor. What mahearthealthyle salad the california walnuts. Ver . The best simple veggie dish ever . California walnuts. The best simple dinner ever . Great tasting, hearthealthy california walnuts. So simple, so good. Get the recipes at walnuts. Org. Directv has been rated number one in Customer Satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. But some people still like cable. Just like some people like preshaken sodas. Having their seat kicked on an airplane. Being rammed by a shopping cart. Sitting in gum. And walking into a glass door. But for everyone else, theres directv. For 1 rated Customer Satisfaction over cable, switch to directv and for a limited time get a 100 reward card. Call 1800directv. light musical cords one and trump and millenia are attending a Christmas Eve event at the Episcopal Church of bethesda by the sea in florida. Its the same church they got married in 2005 and near the Florida State where they will be staying for the holiday. The president of what amount saying the country will also move its embassy to jerusalem. This comes after president trumps decision to do the same and recognize jerusalem as israels capital. It caused days of riots in the west bank. They were one of nine nations to vote with the u. S. When the un voted in favor denouncing the decision. More news in a a bit. Charles disagreed. He picked churchill, the indispensable statesman who led the fight against hitler and sounded the alarm over communism. Politics trumping science. That might explain why krauthammer traded a bigtime medical career for a oneway ticket to washington and why, once here, his eyes locked on to a help wanted ad in the political opinion magazine the new republic. I showed it to my wife, and she said, why dont you apply . Said, well, how can i apply . Ive never written anything, dont know anybody. She said, you write it, ill handdeliver it. I was intrigued, so i called him. Michael kinsley was looking for a managing editor for the leftleaning magazine. Was there something in his application, something during that phone call that made you want to bring him down . It was mainly the fact that he was a psychiatrist, because he had no writing samples. Well, what did you see in him, though . You know, i just enjoy talking to him so much. I had this feeling he must be able to write this down. Krauthammer gave it a shot. As the saying goes, he wrote about what he knew. His first article, the expanding shrink, protested how psychoanalysis was creeping into political discourse. For example, president carters famous malaise speech that blamed the horrible economy on americans crisis of confidence. They liked it and they published it, and i got lucky again. It was republished on the oped page of the washington post. It was the first time any article in the new republic had been picked up by the post. Krauthammer wrote a few more pieces for the magazine and might have joined the staff, except he got an even more intriguing offer as a speech writer for Vice President walter mondale. That lasted six months. And when we got totally crushed in the general election, i got a call from the new republic, and they said, we think youre unemployed now. Would you like to come work for us . I said yes right away and started on the day reagan was sworn in. Thats the first day i started at the new republic as a writer. So help me god. The new president was promising big changes, even starting the world anew. Reagans inaugural truly signaled a great clash of ideas. In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem. And the new republic was right in the midst of it. Well, it was overwhelmingly liberal. The writers were the best of that era. I was still a democrat at the time, a traditional liberal democrat, a Great Society liberal, but i was pretty hard lined on the soviets. Its hard for people to believe now, but the Democratic Party had a very powerful wing that was very antisoviet. But those democrats were a dying breed, and krauthammer found himself agreeing more with president reagan than with his liberal readers. I ended up supporting just about every element of the reagan Foreign Policy, and boy, did we get reaction from our liberal readership. I wrote one editorial excoriating the Nuclear Freeze that caused the largest number of canceled subscriptions in the history of the magazine, which i was very proud of. [ chuckles ] what was his writing like . Its always been extremely step by step logical. If you can read a column by charles about something and you can still disagree with him after youre through with it, then you know you must have a pretty good argument. [ chuckles ] those arguments had conservative columnists like william f. Buckley wondering why krauthammer and the new republic were not supporting reagans reelection in 1984. What buckley was writing was, why dont you give up on the democrats, and i was still one of those who wanted to sort of save the soul of the Democratic Party and maintain this conservative element of which the magazine really was. Krauthammer fired off a letter to buckley, writing, reagan still had a lot to answer for on Foreign Policy, and his domestic policy was far worse. The catalogue of sins we believe the president has committed is too long to recapitulate here. But krauthammer tells me he privately wanted reagan to beat his old boss, walter mondale. But i had worked for mondale in 1980. I liked him and had respect for him. And as a personal matter, theres a kind of a matter of honor. I didnt want to vote against a man for whom i had respect and affection. So you have a vote reagan or mondale. Thats the only president ial election where i left that line blank. Left it blank . But if i had been, you know, the swing vote, i would have obviously have voted for reagan. It was a turning point in krauthammers transition from the political left to the political right. And just a few months after the election, i wrote something called the reagan doctrine. It was a Time Magazine column, and it was provocative. For awhile krauthammer had praised reagan on a number of Foreign Policy issues. He was now crediting him with a breakthrough insight that changed the calculus of the cold war. I realized that what reagan had done without a grand master plan was to challenge what, at the time, was called the brezhnev doctrine, and that was whenever we take over a country, it becomes a communist, its ours. And all of a sudden, what reagan had done is to challenge that and to say, no, you dont get to keep what you got. Were gonna challenge your possessions wherever they are. And i thought, this is a really good idea. And im gonna give it a name. He invented the reagan doctrine, not reagan, and now everyone has got to have a doctrine. [ chuckles ] yeah. Charles has made it mandatory to come up with a doctrine for every president. But even after reagans 49state landslide, krauthammer was still not sure what to make of reagan the man, who he met at the white house in 1986. He invited me to lunch. I tried to engage him, like, on the contras. What are you gonna do . And all of a sudden, what im hearing from him is this story about how when he and nancy were in the guest house of president marcos of the philippines, there was a giant spider on the ceiling, and the question was how to get him off without scaring nancy. And im thinking, i dont get it. This is the most successful president in my lifetime. He seems to be out to lunch. Whats going on . He says it was only later that he realized what eluded him about reagan. He had no need ever to show how smart he was. He knew exactly what i was asking. He didnt want to talk about it. And if you thought he was a dunce, he didnt care, cause he knew that he wasnt. It would also be some time before krauthammer embraced a conservative domestic policy, taxes, welfare, small government, and other reaganesque sins. It took me about a decade. I was skeptical of tax cuts. I was skeptical of Smaller Government at the beginning. And then by the end of the 80s, i had begun to change. What happened . Empirical evidence. As a doctor, id been trained in empirical evidence. I mean, if the treatment is killing your patients, you stop the treatment. And i began to look and to read and to think about whether the view i had of a social Democratic Society like they had in europe was the right way, and i sort of i moved gradually to the idea of a more limited society, Smaller Government. By that time, krauthammers world was really falling into place. In 1985, his son daniel was born. Two years later, krauthammer won the biggest honor in print journalism, the pulitzer prize. Not bad for someone who started in the business less than a decade earlier without even a writing sample. He went straight from the ceremony to see his father, whod once worried about his sons jump from medicine to journalism. Schlum krauthammer was 84 and gravely ill. I went to the hospital where he was, and i said, dad, i have something i want to give you. And i gave him the medal. And he beamed and he showed it to all the nurses. It turned out to be krauthammers final visit with his dad. So, the last time i saw him was a time when this whole circle was closed, and he could feel that the choice had been redeemed in some way. It was a very comforting thing to remember about the last time you see your parent. [ cheers and applause ] krauthammer called the 1990s a holiday from history. The cold war was won. The era of Big Government declared over. [ siren wails ] and 9 11 brought a new urgency to his commentary. People understand there is a nexus between these weapons, these states, and the terrorists, and we have to attack them where they are. Krauthammer began appearing on special reports allstar panel and was soon an audience favorite. Youve been a fixture on special report for a long time, and even still a lot of people dont know that youre in a wheelchair. They dont know the extent of your paralysis. I am sitting behind a table. And it is true. I say half the people i meet are absolutely surprised to see me in a wheelchair. And one of the more amusing of those incidents happened about, oh, about eight, nine years ago. And i remember i was sitting in Madison Square garden in the fox box. I think it was a convention. And then sean hannity stands up and walks up the stairs. He looks at me and he goes, what happened . I just you know, i told him i was hurt as a medical student, it was no big deal. But it just told me that even somebody i had been on the air with wouldnt know. What is apparent is that krauthammer has the attention of people in high places. Just one example krauthammers opposition to white House Counsel Harriet Miers not only helped block her nomination to the supreme court. A comment on the panel apparently gave president bush a way out. I remember thinking, how do they get out of this . And it came to me while on the set of special report. I think what the administration ought to do is to say, look. His facesaving solution basically went like this. Because miers legal writings were covered by executive privilege, the senate couldnt vet her, so she had to withdraw. And three days later, thats what they did. Are you surprised by the amount of influence that you have with your column, with special report, that you hear or see things that happen as a result of a column or a statement . Do you ever think about it . I think about it, and i find it worrisome. [ chuckles ] the reason is that when i was totally unknown, i could say anything i damn well pleased. Coming up, power players and power hitters. From the allstar panel to the ballpark in eight minutes flat. Guess what i just got . Hello again. Hi. Get up to 400 towards a galaxy note8 or s8 with qualifying tradein. Only on samsung. Com welcome back to fox news reporting. Charles krauthammer set out to write a book about the things that matter most, and he didnt mean politics. The palm on 19th street, one of washingtons legendary power scenes. And you know youre lunching with one of d. C. s power players if his caricatures on the wall. I got one other scenario for you. And today Charles Krauthammer is Holding Forth on the nuances of power. Oh, i cant wait to hear this. I know where this is going. Not the political power of the white house 10 blocks away. Hes talking about the Washington Nationals and whether they can power a lateseason playoff run. The nats finish 142, one game ahead of cincinnati. Right. And werth is the mvp. I was wondering where he was going. Harper, desmond. But werth. I think charles and i are both people who write about politics to support our baseball habits. Noted conservative columnist and newly minted Fox News Contributor george will has written two books on baseball. Do you remember when you first met charles . I think it was 1982 because he was then with the new republic and wrote a cover story on me. So i said, interesting guy. Bring him to lunch. And thats how we met. So, how long did it take before you were friends . I think it was instantaneous. Five years later, i bought a new house, and the first thing i did was build a wheelchair ramp in the garage so charles could get in. He told us that when you get together, you first talk baseball. And then when youve dealt with all the important issues, you go to politics. If theres time left over, yes. [ laughs ] tim kurkjian, a Senior Writer for espn magazine, has lunch with will and krauthammer a couple of times a year to talk baseball. To say theyre fans is an understatement. To say they love the game is an understatement. I grew up playing the game. I love to play the game. And as a kid, my brother and i would go around on our schwinns on the streets of long island with transistor radios hanging from the handlebars listening to mel allen and phil rizzuto doing the yankee games. This was our lives. Since the nationals came to washington in 2005, theyve had no bigger fan than Charles Krauthammer. When i started to do your show every night, you know, it ends at 7 00, the game starts at 7 10. The garage at fox is seven minutes if the wind is fair in the third street tunnel. [ chuckles ] from the garage at nat stadium. So i get there in the bottom of the first. I mean, how can i resist . He makes that trip in a special vehicle designed just for him that lets krauthammer accelerate and brake with his left hand and steer with his right. Everybody comes in here the first time is terrified. [ chuckles ] and i dont blame them. In fact, when i went for my driving test, the tester didnt want to get in. [ laughs ] i told him he had to. Its the law. I think he passed me because he survived. He was so happy to be alive when it was over. The first time i saw you go into the parking lot, i waved to you, and then the next day you said to me, you really shouldnt wave. Its a little dangerous. [ laughs ] yeah, the wave is a little bit hard. When somebody lets me in in traffic, im tempted to take one hand and to say the thank you wave. [ chuckles ] but then, of course, i wouldnt have a hand on the steering wheel. It actually took us eight minutes to get to the stadium. When we took our seats, the nats were beating the braves 10. Krauthammer went into analyst mode right away, as though he was breaking down a procedural move harry reid might use to thwart a ted cruz filibuster. On a 10 count, you want to steal on a breaking ball cause its slower. And does he like you to throw a breaking ball . No. So hes unlikely to try to steal right now. Strike one. Now he might go for a breaking ball. Turns out, nine innings with Charles Krauthammer is not just a day at the park. Its essentially grad school for baseball. Okay, this is unfortunate matchup. The only reason solano is in there hes the backup catcher who doesnt hit very well. Get through. Come on. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Awww. Hes a catcher. He cant run. From time to time, charles writes about baseball, typically in a way that transcends the sport. Take his column about rick ankiel, a 21yearold pitching phenom who, back in 2000, fell apart when he was picked to start a playoff game. With a Huge National tv audience watching, he suddenly couldnt throw a strike. He never pitched the same again. But instead of quitting, ankiel went back down to the minors, learned a new position, and returned to the majors as a hitter. The column is reprinted in krauthammers book, things that matter. Its in the personal section just a few pages after the piece about his brother, marcel. I was thinking about this column. This is not really about you. But then your last line, the catastrophe that awaits everyone from a single false move, wrong turn, fatal encounter, every life has such a moment. What distinguishes us is whether and how we ever come back. Thats why the rick ankiel story resonated so much with me. I mean, i had my fatal encounter, as did rick ankiel. Theres an element about everybodys story, their low point. Do you want it enough, and are you lucky enough . Thats a part of it, too. While krauthammers injury has kept him off the playing fields and courts, hes pursued another competitive outlet chess. Which lights you up more . Baseball or chess when youre in the game . Theres no comparison. Its chess. Do you still play chess . No, i gave it up. Its an addiction. Completely . Its a poison. [ laughs ] i mean, its you know, you reach a point when youre on the internet, you know, middle of the night and youre playing speed chess or you realize youre in a motel room and youre drinking aqua velva. [ laughs ] your book was supposed to be a collection of essays on things other than politics, but it didnt turn out that way. Why . In the end, everything, all the beautiful, elegant things in life, depend ultimately on getting politics right. You say science, art, poetry, baseball must ultimately bow to politics. I have a column in the book where i write about the fermi paradox. Fermi was a great physicist who posed a simple question. We know that there are millions of habitable worlds out there. So there have to be thousands, millions of civilizations. Why have we never heard from any of them . The most plausible explanation is that every time a civilization achieves consciousness and the kind of science that would allow you to transmit a signal, they destroy themselves. And the question is, can we regulate our politics in a way that will allow the human species to flourish and produce all the beautiful stuff . And thats a question that only can be answered by politics. Coming up, battering the president and ticking off the tea party. Have you seen this mail . My assistant reads most of my mail, and hes now in therapy. [ laughs ] fox news reporting continues after the break. Whoooo. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. Tripadvisor helps you book a. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. Group Conversation wooooo oo waa ahhh its a beautiful mornin thank you ahhh, ah ahhh each bird it was january 2009, 30 years after Charles Krauthammer began his journalism career here in washington. A new president was about to be sworn in, but krauthammer wasnt sure what to make of barack obama. He got the chance to size him up at a small dinner party hosted by his friend george will. It was a week before inauguration day. I remember, before the president elect arrived, saying, you know, i havent been able to figure this guy out. Is he a centrist who occasionally will throw a bone to the left . Or is he a lefty who occasionally will throw a bone to the right . Nobody had any ideas. Well, that was part of mr. Obamas great strength. He was a National Rorschach test. So we spent three hours with this new man. He leaves, and were staying behind a little bit, and i say the same question. Is he a centrist . Is he a lefty . Nobody knew. You think youve figured him out . I figured him out after that first state of the union speech. We will invest 15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power. We can no longer afford to put healthcare reform on hold. It will be the goal of this administration to ensure. I was so astonished that i wrote five columns in a row on what kind of unusual Political Animal he was in giving an agenda as radical as any since fdr. He basically said, im not here to tinker. Ive come here to transform america. Youve been pretty tough on this administration, this president. Well, i think hes done just about everything wrong. [ chuckles ] but just as he was willing to offend his fellow liberals back in the 80s, he is equally willing to take on conservatives he believes are wrong. Have you seen this mail from some of the things youve said about ted cruz . I mean, i get the emails. Oh, i know you get the emails. Ive seen the tweets. My assistant reads most of my mail, and hes now in therapy. [ laughs ] just kidding. The krauthammer on fox did not appreciate what cruz did. If he listened to talk radio, it might really send his assistant over the edge. Dr. Charles krauthammer, in the 1980s, he was working for walter mondale. Its my job to call a folly a folly. If youre gonna leave the medical profession because you think you have something to say, youre betraying your whole life if you dont say what you think and you dont say it honestly and bluntly. Do you think youll ever stop writing . No, i intend to die at my desk. Really . I would like to. Im not sure i can arrange it. [ laughs ] my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldnt spend time with my grandson. Now depend fitflex has their fastest absorbing material inside, so it keeps me dry and protected. Go to depend. Com get a coupon and try them for yourself. Americas Small Business owners. And heres to the heroes behind the heroes, who use their expertise to keep those businesses covered. And heres to the heroes behind the heroes behind the heroes, who brought us delicious gyros. Actually, the gyro hero owns veros gyros, so he should have been with those first heroes. Ha ha thats better. So, to recap Small Business owners are heroes, and our heroes help heroes be heroes when theyre not eating gyros delivered by ah, you know what i mean. I just finished months of chemo. But i dont want to talk about months. I want to talk about years. Treatments have gotten better, so. Im hoping for good years ahead. Thats thanks to Research Funded by the american cancer society. The same folks giving me free rides to treatments, insurance advice, and a place to stay during chemo. I need that stuff like you dont know. And now that you do, please give at cancer. Org. Im the one clocking in when youre clocking out. Sensing and automatically adjusting to your every move. Does your bed do that . Im the new sleep number 360 smart bed. Lets meet at a sleep number store. December 17. Andrew jackson, here under fire, starts now