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Senator chuck schumer. great to see you. >> great to be here. >> a little "this is your life." >> i remember that well. one interesting thought. so d'amato came out and it was reported he called me this name, putz-head. he said "i never would, i don't lie." and his slogan against me "too liberal for too long." we came back at one with him which we used the whole campaign "too many lies for too long." and he denies it and guess who pulls out the rug from under him? ed koch who was totally on d'amato's side. he was mad at me because when he ran against dinkins i didn't support him because i thou...

Has been everywhere. he has done everything. he has spoken to everyone. and tonight, turns out, it is newly newsworthy to remember the moment in gabe pressman's long, long career when he was moderating a debate in a particularly pungent, particularly consequential election. and in so doing, in being the moderator of that debate, that meant he had to explain, during the debate, on live television, the meaning of the word "putz." and he did it expertly and nobody laughed. there was one little laugh. >> the latest issue that you brought up, congressman, involves a yiddish slang word that you, sen...

>> the latest issue that you brought up, congressman, involves a yiddish slang word that you, senator d'amato, used to describe congressman schumer in a private meeting. we all agree on that, right? the specific charge is that you called him a putz-head and for those not familiar with yiddish, i read an excerpt from the dictionary of yiddish, putz he says is, one, a term of contempt for a ass, fool, or jerk, or two a term for a simplen the or yokel. an easy mark. it literally means the male sex organ but it that's rarely used. so it gets down to one simple issue. did you use the word to descri...

>> he did lie about it. that was the issue. 1998, the incumbent senator from new york was a republican, he'd already been elected three times, he was running for a fourth term and along came this feisty democrat challenging him for his seat and that democrat was so aggressive, he raised so much money, he went after senator al d'amato so relentlessly that it drove the senator to distraction. he's a three-term senator that everyone thought was so tough but he lost it. he calmed his opponent a putz-head at a public meeting and he did lie and his democratic challenger got it on the record, nailed ...

It doesn't bother me. that's not the issue. >> have you ever called anyone a putz yourself? >> i may have, but i tell you something, i wouldn't lie about it. >> that was 1998. >> he lied about it. >> he did lie about it. that was the issue. 1998, the incumbent senator from new york was a republican, he'd already been elected three times, he was running for a fourth term and along came this feisty democrat challenging him for his seat and that democrat was so aggressive, he raised so much money, he went after senator al d'amato so relentlessly that it drove the senator to distraction. he's a th...