Sen. Edwards: ‘Families are right on the edge’

In the second part of a “Today” interview, host Katie Couric talks to Sen. John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth about the Senate report on intelligence failures in Iraq, the economy and legal reform.

Sen. Edwards: “The bottom line is, the intelligence community, when we went into Iraq, was in about the same condition it was on September the 11th.  There was very little in the way of change.  And that's the responsibility of the president and the administration. I think this goes to a core issue. The reality is all of us learned after September 11th [that] there were serious problems within our intelligence operation that needed to be changed.               

Americans are on the edge
Couric: “Let's talk about the economy. The mantra of the Clinton campaign, as you remember, was ‘it's the economy, stupid.’ But it seems like the economy is actually improving.  Are you concerned that if the economy does get better, people will have fewer reasons to vote for you and John Kerry?”

Sen. Edwards: “No. I want the economy to get better. I love this country. I hope our economy gets better. The problem is, that most people are facing right now there Katie, is it's not just a matter of, you know, are some of the millions of jobs that President Bush has lost, are some of those jobs being replaced? That alone doesn't answer the question.  What [is] the quality of the jobs? What [is] the income and salary with those jobs?  I think on an average [is] about $9,000 a year or less in incomes of the jobs they're replacing. Most families in this country, they struggle to pay their bills. Their health care costs are going up if they have health care coverage. They want to send their kids to college – tuition costs are going through the roof. And we're having a terrible time making ends meet. The truth is, 20 years ago, most of our families in this country were saving money and had financial security. And it's all changed. Today, these same families are right on the edge. If something goes wrong [they’re] going off the cliff.  And people are struggling. They're being squeezed. The good news is, we can make this better.”

Couric: “How?”

Sen. Edwards: “A whole group of things: by having a job plan that creates the kind of quality jobs that we ought to have in this country, strengthening the middle class, helping them pay – and John Kerry has a plan for this, helping them pay for their kids' college tuition – making the public school system work in a way that all families get a chance to get the kind of education that they're entitled to [and] helping people be able to save. I've not heard any health care plan from the administration.  They've been in office for four years and we have a health care system in crisis in this country.  We need a serious plan to provide health care for those who don't have it, and to bring down health care costs.” 

What about legal reform?
Couric: “Since you're both lawyers, let me ask you about the whole trial lawyer issue.  There's been a lot made of the fact that you've made a lot of money in personal injury lawsuits. And trial lawyers sort of have become a dirty word, or two dirty words, in some circles. Why is that?” 

Sen. Edwards: “I don't know the answer to that question.  I myself am proud of what I spent a lot of my life doing.  You know fighting for kids and families who were in a bad place and who were against powerful opponents. I'm actually proud of having done that."

Voting problems, how voting systems work, contacting state election officials

Couric: “But shouldn't the system be reformed in some way, though, Sen. Edwards?  Because I know that, for example, there are doctors who can't practice in some states because their medical malpractice insurance has skyrocketed.”

Sen. Edwards: “Sure … and it's real."

Couric: “And they have to either move or they have to switch professions.”

Sen. Edwards: “Sure.”

Couric: “I mean isn't something wrong with this picture?”

Sen. Edwards: “Yeah, there's something wrong with the picture. You have the …”

Couric: “Well, is it because these big, huge massive lawsuits?”

Sen. Edwards:  “I think that, first of all, let's start with basics.”

Couric: “Okay.”

Sen. Edwards: “Because most…”

Mrs. Edwards: “Because the answer is no. Sorry.”  (Laughter)

Sen. Edwards: “You want to go first or …”

Mrs. Edwards: “No, no, no.”  (Laughter)

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Sen. Edwards:  “The truth is that we have the best legal system in the world. We are the envy of most of the world in terms of our legal system. But it's not perfect. And what doctors are facing is very real.  What you're describing with doctors who face rising malpractice premiums.  And actually it's even worse than that because on the other side they're having trouble getting reimbursed for their services in many cases.  You know by the government or by insurance companies and HMOs. My view is that the solution to that is to keep cases out of the system that don't belong there. Which means we need to put a system in place – I would put the responsibility on the lawyers themselves. Because I think they have a responsibility.”

Couric: “Isn't that like the fox guarding the hen house?”

Sen. Edwards: “No.  Not if they do what I'm saying should be done.  Now … I would require the lawyers to have the cases reviewed and certified by a group by independent experts – people who are not associated with the case, the people or the court system. And who determines if it's a neurology case, for example, that the case is serious [and] that is has merit.”

Mrs. Edwards: “Or that …”

Sen. Edwards: “And that it should be …”

Mrs. Edwards: "… it's frivolous.”

Sen.  Edwards: “In most of the cases that I looked at as a lawyer, the vast majority were cases that should never have been in the legal system.  And if that's the determination, they shouldn't be filed. But I'd put the responsibility on the lawyer to certify that all of that's been done.  And then if for some reason they don't meet that responsibility. I'd hold the lawyer responsible [and] accountable for that.”

Couric: “Why do you think there's so much animus against lawyers?”

Mrs. Edwards: “I mean I think they've just been made a target.  And it's a problem that we need to solve. But … the problem doesn't reside in one place.  But it makes an easy target. I think that lawyers – particularly lawyers who specialize in personal injury – are also the same kinds of people who generally are empathetic with the underdog [and] want to make certain that everybody's protected, regardless of their power in the system.”

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