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CNN Today

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Expected Senate Candidacy in Question After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Aired April 27, 2000 - 2:04 p.m. ET

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

LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced today he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and said it may effect his entry into a much-anticipated Senate race for him. Up until now, Giuliani has been the presumed Republican opponent of Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. But today, Giuliani said he'll consider treatment options instead of New York's Senate race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI (R), NEW YORK: In fairness to me, to the Senate race, to the Republican Party, all the parties and everybody else, you need some time to think about it and I really need to know what the course of treatment is going to be before I can evaluate it. So, the answer is, I guess, the same answer about the Senate race that I would have about the course of the treatment. I don't know the answer to that yet. I hope that I'd be able to run, but the choice that I'm going to make about treatment is going to be contingent upon the treatment that gives me the best opportunity to have a full and complete cure. And then after I determine that, then I will figure out, does it make sense to run this year or doesn't it or whatever?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATERS: Mayor Giuliani said the cancer was diagnosed yesterday and is still at an early stage. Mrs. Clinton said today she wishes Giuliani a full and speedy recovery. The White House said the Clintons' thoughts and prayers are with the mayor and his family.

For more on the impact of Giuliani's announcement, we're joined by our CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider in Washington.

Bill, when you heard the announcement, what was the first thing you thought?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, of course I was very sad to hear what had happened to the mayor and that this is a very traumatic experience, and we all hope he can get through this. And many people have survived this kind of cancer and we hope he's one of them.

WATERS: If his consultation with doctors eliminates him from running for the Senate from New York State on the Republican side, what do the Republicans do? SCHNEIDER: Well, there are -- there is at least one other candidate who's expressed some interest in running in the past, a congressman name Rick Lazio, although I hasten to add that we're informed by the mayor's campaign spokesman that their campaign plans are full-speed ahead. The mayor has not canceled any campaign events. Even the town hall that he's planning for Wednesday night will go forth as planned. So there's every indication here that the mayor -- the expectation is that the mayor will continue to be a candidate.

If he doesn't, Rick Lazio, congressman from Long Island, has in the past expressed some interest. He's much less well-known, lacks the statute of a mayor of New York City. On the other hand, he's far less polarizing and controversial. So it's not clear how he would be -- materially affect the race, what kind of difference it would make for him to be the candidate.

WATERS: As you point out, the prostate cancer treatment is so far along compared to what it was about 10 years ago that there -- it is conceivable that Giuliani still could run. But in the minds of voters -- as with Bill Bradley during primary campaign, is there something in a voter's mind about a candidate with a medical problem?

SCHNEIDER: For president, yes. For a senator it's a different story. A president's got his finger on the button. A senator is one of 100 senators. He votes. A senator can be replaced if he's disabled -- or she. There are procedures to go ahead and do that. It's a far less traumatic experience, although the voters of New York will want to know, if he is the candidate, will he be able to campaign, will he be able to -- is he likely to be able to serve his full 6-year term without significant interruptions for treatment. So they'll want to know what the probabilities are that will be involved.

I suppose, if he is the candidate, the most direct way it'll effect the race is that Democrats will have to be a little bit cautious in their aggressiveness in attacking the mayor because he is going to be, and he already is, the figure of some sympathy on the part of New Yorkers.

WATERS: Since we haven't heard anything for a while about the presidential race, I'd like your analysis of what's happening. Bush, as you know, said last night that he promises a new civility towards Democrats, and then he said, Al Gore, you're negative.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, well, Bush is trying to position himself as the candidate of the center and the candidate who reaches beyond partisanship. He appeared with several Texas Democrats this week, and he made those statements about the new civility to a very highly partisan audience of Republican fund-raisers. Now, that's significant because they were expecting red meat. These people give money and they want to see some fight in their candidate and bush didn't give it to them.

Basically, he was signaling that he intends to be a, well, a kinder, gentler candidate, a different kind of Republican and not go for the jugular unless he's really pushed by a negative campaign on the part of Al Gore. Both candidates are really reaching for the center in this race as fast as they can, but Bush appears to be more determined to show his party that he is not going to be a tough, negative, nasty kind of candidate.

WATERS: And we will see.

Bill Schneider in Washington.

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