GREAT CATCHING UP WITH YOU,
DR. BOB LAHIDA ON ALL OF THAT.
STEVE FORBES, FORBES MEDIA CEO,
MUCH, MUCH MORE.
STEVE, I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE ON
WITH US TODAY BUT WE’VE SEEN A
NUMBER OF TIME IN THE PAST U.S.
PRESIDENTS, SOME OF THEM
VOLUNTEERED THEIR HEALTH, ALL
OPEN CASE, OTHERS HIDE A LOT OF
DETAILS.
IT IS VERY HARD THEE DAYS TO
PULL THAT OFF I GRANT BUT ARE
YOU CONFIDENT OF THE INFORMATION
WE’RE GETTING OUT OF THE
WHITE HOUSE IS ACCURATE THAT
THEY’RE NOT DOWNPLAYING THIS, IT
IS WHAT IT IS?
>> I THINK IN THIS CASE I THINK
WE’LL BE PRETTY MUCH ON TOP OF
IT.
IF THE MAN WAS IN SEVERE
CONDITION WE WOULD SEE WHAT
HAPPENED WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP
GOT IT, TAKE HIM IMMEDIATELY TO
THE HOSPITAL.
THEY’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY
CHANCES.
THE DAYS ARE LONG PAST YOU THINK
YOU CAN TREAT SOMETHING IN THE
WHITE HOUSE AS THEY TRIED TO DO
WITH WOODROW WILSON WHEN HE HAD
A STROKE, CATASTROPHIC.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, HIS
ILLNESSES, JOHN KENNEDY VARIOUS
ILLNESSES HE HAD HIDDEN FROM US.
IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE I’M NOT
WORRIED ABOUT INFORMATION.
WE HAVE TO SEE HOW BAD THE THING
IS, LOOKS LIKE IT WILL NOT BE
THAT BAD.
NEIL: IN THE MEANTIME IT WILL,
OBVIOUSLY DISRUPT HIS SCHEDULE.
TRIPS ARE OFF EVEN THOSE
SUPPOSED TO EXTEND NEXT WEEK, A
TRIP INTO ORLANDO, FLORIDA.
I WONDER HOW THAT CHANGES THINGS
RIGHT NOW?
EVERYONE WISHES PRESIDENT A
SPEEDY RECOVERY.
ANYONE THAT DEALS WITH IT THIS,
EVEN MOST MILD OF CASES IT IS
NOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF FUN.
I WONDER HOW THIS CHANGES
THINGS?
>> IN TERMS AFTER POLICY THERE
WILL BE NO CHANGE AT ALL.
THE QUESTION IS IF A CRISIS
ARISES, LET’S SAY YOU HAVE THE
JAPANESE YEN COLLAPSE OR SOME
OTHER CRISIS BLOW UP IN THE
WORLD THAT IS WHEN YOU WONDER,
OKAY, WILL HE HAVE THE ENERGY TO
DO IT?
I DON’T THINK IN TERMS OF CRISIS
I DO WORRY ABOUT BUT IN TERMS OF
A CURRENT POLICY I DON’T THINK
THAT WILL CHANGE AT ALL.
NEIL: YOU KNOW YOU’RE A GREAT
STUDENT OF HISTORY, STEPHEN.
YOU MENTIONED SOME FAMOUS CASE
OF WOODROW WILSON, THINGS WERE
SO BAD POST THE STROKE HIS WIFE
WAS TECHNICALLY KIND EVER
RUNNING THE COULDN’T TRICKS AS
HARD AS THAT MIGHT BE PEOPLE SEE
TODAY, JOHN KENNEDY BATTLE WITH
OTHER PHYSICAL ISSUES.
WE WERE NOT AWARE OF THE VERY
YOUNG PRESIDENT THE ISSUES HE
WAS DEALING.
THERE IS A SENSE WHEN WE EVEN GO
BACK TO FDR, WE KNEW WE HAD
POLIO, HE WAS PARALYZED, BUT WE
DIDN’T APPRECIATE THE DEGREE
WHICH THIS WAS REALLY PICKING UP
IN HIS LAST FEW YEARS IN OFFICE.
SO I GUESS WE’RE A LITTLE
GUN-SHY LOOKING AT THIS GETTING
A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, AT LEAST
IT IS OKAY HEALTH IN THE FACE OF
THIS BUT WE ALWAYS WONDER,
RIGHT?
>> WE DO.
YOU MENTIONED THE WOODROW WILSON
CASE.
MRS. WILSON IS REGARDED BY MANY
HISTORIANS EFFECTIVELY OUR FIRST
FEMALE PRESIDENT.
SHE WAS MAKING DECISIONS FOR A
CRITICAL YEAR WHEN THE COUNTRY
WAS FALLING APART, RAPID
INFLATION, RIOTS ALL AROUND THE
COUNTRY.
SO IT WAS A BAD TIME.
IN THE CASE OF JOHN KENNEDY EVEN
THOUGH HE HAD THESE ILLNESSES HE
DEMONSTRATED IN THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISIS THAT HE COULD
HANDLE THE PRESSURE, HE COULD
DEAL WITH THE SEVERE POTENTIALLY
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS.
AGAIN I THINK THE PUBLIC HAS TO
DEMAND WHAT THE HEALTH OF THE
PRESIDENT IS.
THEY GOT TO PUT OUT THE
INFORMATION AND FORTUNATELY IN
THE CASE OF A COVID IT IS SO OUT
THERE THAT THEY’RE NOT GOING TO
TAKE ANY CHANCE AGAIN OF A
PRESIDENT BEING HIDDEN IN THE
WHITE HOUSE, SUDDENLY YOU FIND
IF WE HAD TAKEN HIM TO THE
HOSPITAL WE MIGHT HAVE AVOIDED
SOMETHING VERY BAD.
NEIL: YEAH, NO MATTER HIS AGE OR
WHO HE IS THE FACT OF THE MATTER
YOU HAVE EASIER TIME FINDING
PEOPLE WHO NOT TESTED POSITIVE
FOR COVID THESE DAYS THAN WHO
HAD.
I WONDER IF THIS PUTS A RECENT
POLL, ISSUE NOTWITHSTANDING,
SOME PERSPECTIVE WHERE A
MAJORITY OF AMERICANS DON’T
THINK AN OLDER PERSON SHOULD BE
OR RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
A MAJORITY FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT
THIS PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP WHO
MIGHT WANT TO RETURN TO BEING
PRESIDENT.
WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF THAT, MAYBE
WHETHER APPLES AND ORANGES A
VERY UNIQUE SITUATION I GRANT
YOU THIS REINFORCE AS VIEW ABOUT
THAT, I DON’T KNOW IF I WANT
THAT, SOMEONE THAT OLD IN THE
WHITE HOUSE WHERE THIS IS A
RISK?
HAVING SAID WHAT WE SAID, THIS
IS A RISK FOR EVERY AGE GROUP
BUT YOUR THOUGHTS.
>> WELL AGAIN, THE KEY THING
HERE IS THE OCCUPANT HAVE THE
CAPACITY TO CARRY OUT THE
DUTIES?
GOING BACK IN HISTORY YOU
MENTIONED HISTORY, THE PREMIER
OF FRANCE CLOSING YEAR,
YEAR-AND-A-HALF OF WORLD WAR I
WAS ALMOST 80 YEARS OLD.
HE IS CALLED THE TIGER.
HE HAD ENORMOUS ENERGY, ENORMOUS
MENTAL CAPABILITIES.
NO ONE DOUBTED HIS CAPACITY TO
CARRY OUT THOSE BURDENSOME
DUTIES.
WINSTON CHURCHILL WHEN HE BECAME
PRIME MINISTER A SECOND TIME,
WAS ALMOST JOE BIDEN’S AGE, 77
YEARS, HE CARRIED OUT HIS DUTIES
EFFECTIVELY.
IT IS NOT JUST THE AGE, IT IS
CONDITION PHYSICALLY AND
MENTALLY AND THAT CAN VARY WITH
PEOPLE. YOU CAN HAVE SOMEBODY 60 WHO IS
YOU CAN HAVE SOMEBODY 60 WHO IS
NOT UP TO THE TASK.
SOMEBODY 80 LIKE CLEMSAU.
THAT IS WHERE VOTERS HAVE TO
MAKE THE CASE, DOES THIS PERSON