You can get somebody to drive. Special report coming up . It is. Special report coming up. Happy thanksgiving, everybody. Live from americas news headquarters in washington, i d ferguson are giving thanks for a relyatively quiet day following the grand jurys decision not to indict the white Police Officer in the death of an africanamerican man. And more than a thousand miles away, at least 145 demonstrate tors were arrested in los angeles. And six arrests were reported today at the macys thanksgiving day parade in morning. D six arr today at the macys thanksgiving day parade in morning. There is progress in developing a vaccine for ebola. A study in the new england journal of medicine says some of the first 20 volunteers to test it developed antibodies within four week of getting the shots. Those with high are dose ages produced more. No serious side effects were reported. The current outbreak in west africa has killed more than 5600 people. Thousands of peoples in the northeast are celebrating thanksgiving in the dark. The first major winter storm brought a sloppy mixture of rain, sleet and snow for the region and with it plenty of power outages. 200,000 customers are without power in new hampshire, 100,000 in maine, 50,000 in new york state and about 16,000 in new jersey. The weather prompted hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. And with so many people traveling this week, 24r is new concern over near misses involving drones. A lot of the reported sightings are happening near major arts along the east coast including new Yorks Laguardia and jfk and washingtons dulles and reagan national. The faa said today it is in the
process of executing a plan for safe and staged integration of Unmanned Aircraft into the National Air Space system. Finally, American Armed forces around the world celebrated thanksgiving away from home. More than 2. 5 tons of turkey were served aboard the uss carl vinson in the arabian gulf. Ill be back in 30 minutes. Hi. I want to say i love you and i miss you to jason, kelly and addison in norma, illinois and wish you all a happy thanksgiving. I love you. This hour, when he talks, washington listens. Hammer, his uniquely american story. His journey from md to the Pulitzer Prize. How he overcame a devastating accident with the determination
to leave. Hello, im bret baier. I hope you enjoy watching this reporting special as much as we enjoyed making it. Fox viewers know where Charles Krauthammer sits on the panel and probably know his position on most issues. We bet theres a lot you dont know about the allstar panelist, syndicated columnist, harvard trained psychiatrist and even occasional baseball analyst. We think you should, even if the doctor has a different opinion. You were a little reticent when we started the project. What is your thought about this . I dont like it. Full disclosure, i have been trying to convince Charles Krauthammer to sit for an interview for some time. Not one where he shares his thoughts on the news of thday. I suspect theres going to be another twist here. One where he pulls back the
curtain, and reveals the life of an intensely private man. Look, when i say i dont like it, im not adverse to the spotlight. 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 kiss and tell. Its a collection of newspaper and magazines from the Pulitzer Prize columnist. Maybe its more than that. Are you decoding my book . I am. Its all written in hieroglyphics. Lets start with part one. It is titled personal. In there, the first column is an incredibly moving piece about your brother. He died of cancer, he was 59. Charles writes this about his older brother. Quote, he taught me most everything i ever learned about every sport i ever played. He taught me how to throw a football, hit a back hand, grip a nineiron, field a grounder, dock a sailboat in the tailing wind and how we played. It was paradise. Tell me about that. It was a good childhood. My brother and i were inseparable. Thats why it is a priceless gift. He always insisted i be included. I got used to being around the big boys, 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. He made me an american. That long story, short. Krauthammers mother is from belgium. His father was a Real Estate Developer from a province of ukraine, both jews who left world war ii europe. They moved to rio and eventually new york city where charles was born in 1950. When he was 5, the krauthammers moved to montreal, but spent summers in long beach, new york. Charles spent every day with his brother on the field, on the court or in the water. I dont think i owned a shirt until i was 21. All the pictures of family movies, my father is shirtless, my brother is shirtless. I read on the beach. Thats where i got my knowledge, reading. Of course there was reading and studying. He carried his sons stellar second grade report card in his coat pocket. His motto for us was, i want you to know everything and learn everything. You dont have to do everything, but you need to know everything. That life did not include a tv, says the cable news pundit. My father wouldnt allow it. Once a week, sunday night we would go to the neighbors to watch the ed sullivan show. Inspired by uncles who were doctors, marcel went to medical school. It was assumed charles would follow. As a 19yearold senior at university, he was bitten by a different bug. Political journalism. Campus intrigue. The editorship of the newspaper
was controlled by the student council. I had been elected student council. The paper was unreadable. So, we engineered it. Then we sort of realized, well, what do we do now . We have to find an editor. They looked around and decided its going to be me. Wait, i have never worked on a paper. Ah, a detail. He loved thinking and writing about all things political. He applied to medical school to please his family and got accepted to harvard. He got into oxford as well to study political theory. Would he choose a life of science or letters . He had enviable options. He hadnt decided what mattered to him. He put off harvard and enrolled in oxford. He met a fellow student from australia. Attractive and brilliant, too. A clerk to the chief justice of
her home state supreme court. 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 learned a lot. I began to feel i was spinning at the university. I called the registrar at Harvard Medical School and said i would like to come in. I remember her saying one guy dropped out. We have a spot. If you are here monday, its yours. I grabbed a toothbrush and i didnt pack. I got on a plane and left. Thats how i decided to become a doctor. Why did you choose psychiatry . I was looking for something halfway between the reality of
medicine and the elegance, if you like, of philosophy. Psychiatry was the obvious thing. That was my intention from the first day. I was lucky because it was probably the easiest branch of medicine for me to do once i was hurt. Hurt. That doesnt begin to describe it. When did you realize the accident was life altering . The second it happened. After the break. The second it happened. After the break. You got the bargain kind . You would need like a bunch of those to clean this mess. Then ill use a bunch of them. What are you doing . Dish issues . Get cascade complete. One pac cleans better than six pacs of the bargain brand combined. Cascade. Now thats clean. And i quit smoking with chantix. People who know me, they say i never thought you would quit. but chantix helped me do it. Along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. It gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke. Some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. Some people had seizures while taking chantix. If you have any of these,
stop chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. Don take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. Tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. Im a nonsmoker, that feels amazing. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Welcome back. Fox news reporting. So far, you have met the young Charles Krauthammer, harvard medicine, class of 75. His life seemed to be going according to plan. 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, my first year of medical school. I went with friends to bermuda. That was the last picture taken of me standing. I didnt know at the time. I saw one of my friends with a camera. At the top of the dune, i stood there for a picture, thought nothing of it until i discovered it years later laying in a box and remembering it was a fateful picture. Fateful because of what happened at harvard that summer. You were 22 years old. Tell me about that day. I went out. It was the end of my first year of medical school. We were doing neurology, studying the spinal cord, of all things. My classmate and i decide to skip the morning session. A beautiful july day. We played tennis, instead. After the game, they head back to class for the afternoon session. Along the way, they stop at a pool on campus, set down their books and pull off their sneakers. Very sweaty and hot. We go for a swim, take a few dives and i hit my head on the bottom of the pool. A freak accident he says. The amazing thing is, it was not even a cut on my head. It hit at precisely the angle where all the force was transmitted to one spot, that is the cervical vertebra that served the spinal cord. When did you realize it was life altering . I knew when it happened, why i wasnt able to move and what it meant. At the bottom of the pool i wasnt getting out. I knew. He was paralyzed, unable to move his arms or legs. His friends thought he was clowning around and hesitated before diving down to save him. Was there ever a moment 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. Interestingly enough, talk about near death experiences, there was no panic. There was no great emotion. I didnt feel light. My life was not flashed before me. You sort of get to a place where you are ready and then you
suddenly are brought back to the world. No cosmic revelation as he was rushed to the hospital. He 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 manage the fate. Quite a choice. I didnt know what was coming, but it fit very well. Coming up, his fate lay in the balance. What he did next astounded his professors and classmates. And our big idaho potato truck is still missing. So my buddy here is going to help me find it. Here we go. Woo who, woah, woah, woah. Its out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart associations go red for women campaign. If you see it i hope youll let us know. Always look for the grown in idaho seal. Twhat do i do . You need to catch the 4 10 huh . The Equipment Tracking system will get you to the loading dock. There should be a truck leaving now. I got it. Now jump off the bridge. What . In 3. 2. 1. Are you kidding me . Go. Right on time. Right now, over 20,000 trains are running reliably. We call that predictable. Thrillingly predictable. I am an electric crew foreman out of the cupertino service center. I was born and raised in the cupertino area. Its a fantastic area to work. The new technology that we are installing out in the field is important for the customers because system reliability i believe is number one. Pg e is always trying to plan for the future and we are always trying to build something stronger and bigger and more reliable. I love living here and i love the community i serve. Nobody wants to be without power. I dont want my family to be without power. Its much more personal to me for that reason. I dont think theres any place i really would rather be. Now with the you can watch live tv anytime. Its never been easier with so Many Networks all in one place. Get live tv whenever you want. The xfinity tv go app. Now with live tv on the go. Enjoy over wifi or on Verizon Wireless 4g lte. Plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new Verizon Wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. Visit comcast. Com wireless to learn more. They skipped class, a fateful dive, a terrible injury. 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 going to allow it to alter my life, except in ways which are sort of having to do with gravity. Im not going to defy gravity. Im not going to walk or water ski again, thats fine. That, you know. On the big things in life, the direction of my life, what i was going to do, that wouldnt change at all. He says he never entertained the notion that one day, whether through his own effort or some medical miracle, he would regain full use of his arms and legs. He resigned himself to the cold reality wherever he went in life, he would 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 the memory. It seems very short. It was long, but seemed short. His teachers and classmates certainly thought he was rushing his decision to resume studies immediately. You never thought of taking a year off or a couple years off . I knew that would be fatal. It was not a question. While nobody had heard of somebody with his injury standing up to the rigors of a med school curriculum, he convinced harvard to let him try. Amazingly, mere weeks after the 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 on the ceiling. I asked the medical school to let me stay with my class. You read by laying on your back . One resident hooked up a plexiglas plate above my bed. 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. They would only have to come half the time. With such force of will, he graduated on time in 1975 and near the top of his class. Along the way, he got the girl, too, and married robin. 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 you are supposed to go to a weekly Group Therapy session and you didnt want to go. There were 12 of us. There was a Group Therapy once a week. I didnt go. I thought it was a pointless exercise. I was called into the Chiefs Office after seven weeks of nonappearance. He said to me, why arent you going to therapy. Itched i came to i said i came to give therapy, not receive it. He said to me, you are in denial. I said of course im in denial. Denial is the greatest of all defense mechanisms. I can be a professor of denial. Im an expert. I was going on and on. He wasnt amused. He gave him an ultimatum, go to Group Therapy or leave the program. I went the next 21 weeks or whatever it was. I didnt say a word. So, whatever people would notice that, why arent you talking . I said because im in denial. 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. Im not a touchy or feely guy. Thats probably why i quit psychiatry. So, in 1978, he took a government job in washington at what would become the National Institute of Mental Health. It wasnt what he really wanted, but put him in the right neighborhood. I thought once im in washington, isnt that where they do politics . One thing would lead to another. His folks worried about their son tossing away a doctors livelihood, but didnt discourage him. His wife became a painter and sculptor urged him to follow his dream. She encouraged me to follow my heart. With her wit, humor, generosity and spirit has coauthored my life. In a moment, his coauthor helps him answer a higher calling. Later, he finds himself moving left to right. After the break. Right. After the break. Now that the elections are finally over, its time to get to work fixing our longterm National Debt to help build a stronger economy. With a solid fiscal foundation, we can create more jobs, invest more in innovation and infrastructure, and make america more competitive, giving our kids a better future. A bipartisan solution to our longterm debt means more growth today, more opportunity tomorrow. And the time to start is now. You pay your Auto Insurance premium every month on the dot. Youre like the poster child for paying on time. And