Newt Gingrich & Jack Welch Remember Russert

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: And welcome to a special edition of HANNITY & COLMES on a very sad day for all of us in the news business.

Our respected colleague, our friend Tim Russert, the moderator of "Meet the Press," the Washington bureau chief of NBC News, has sadly passed away at the age of 58.

Now we all watched with heavy hearts as Tom Brokaw made that sad announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: It is my sad duty to report this afternoon that my friend and colleague Tim Russert, the moderator of "Meet the Press" and NBC's Washington bureau chief, collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work at the NBC News bureau in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, tonight, we share with you some of our memories of the man who meant so much to the world of news and the world of politics.

We're also going to play you a portion of his last appearance right here right here on HANNITY & COLMES. Now sadly this was exactly one year ago today, June 13, 2007.

Kirsten Powers is in for Alan Colmes tonight.

Kirsten, good to see you.

And we begin with former speaker of the House and FOX News contributor Newt Gingrich who appeared on "Meet the Press" many, many times with Tim Russert. He also moderated that Cooper Union debate with you and Mario Cuomo well.

You knew him well. One of the smartest, brightest, best prepared guys in this entire industry, Newt.

NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think that everybody who knew Tim Russert knew that he loved life, he loved what he was doing. He loved the process of public policy, he loved his family.

And his book about his father is just a remarkable book. It's particularly poignant going into Father's Day weekend to have lost Tim. I think everybody who knew him is in a state of shock because he was so vital, so energetic, so full of life that it's hard to imagine that he has passed on.

HANNITY: I've got to tell you, he also moderated in the last two months a debate that I had with James Carville. I got to tell you I spent a lot of time with him, and he's been on this program, I have an autographed copy of his book. I'll read the inscription a little bit later on the show tonight, but -- I mean he was always laughing. He was always having fun. He was always prepared.

I think he was -- you know, frankly, one of the best I'd ever seen in the news business today, and he actually became a pretty good friend over the course of time that I got to know him. And I know how much he loved his wife, his father, his son, Luke, and he goes into this. These are two of the best books I've read about family in my life.

GINGRICH: You know the thing, I think, people need to realize is that you had in Tim Russert somebody who had enormous passion for freedom, who believed deeply in the news media and in the process of interrogating politicians, who loved the process of government and politics.

I don't know of anybody who was tougher. When you went on his show, you had better be fully prepared because he was going to be fully prepared, and he was prepared to stand right there and ask you tough questions, and if you slipped, he's prepared to come right after you.

So I had the greatest professional respect for him and enormous personal affection for him, and I think I joined, I think, millions of people across America for whom being with Tim Russert was a part of their week.

HANNITY: You know it's funny -- and we're going to show this later on the program on one of the appearances when he was here on HANNITY & COLMES, and I also interviewed him many times on radio. I would kid him all the time and say, Tim, I'm never going on that show of yours because I know what's going to happen.

You're going to find a quote of me when I started my -- radio career, and you're going to say, in 1987, Hannity, you were saying this, and now you're saying this today.

I mean that's how thorough he was.

Was there anybody tougher and more prepared than Tim Russert that interviewed you in all the years you've been in politics?

GINGRICH: I really don't think there was. I don't know of anybody who, in terms of -- it wasn't -- there were people a lot nastier. There were people who were meaner, but in terms of professionally doing his home work, having a great research team, and coming in totally prepared to grill you, and as you said, to put up on the screen exactly what your words were, sometimes to show a video clip of you.

HANNITY: Yes.

GINGRICH: . I don't know of anybody who did a better job of making you earn your appearance by having to stay with him.

HANNITY: Yes.

GINGRICH: . and having to pay very careful attention.

HANNITY: It's funny. When I first interviewed him on his "New York Times" best-seller, "Big Russ and Me," I said to him, "Tim, you're describing my dad." And he talked about the love of his father who was a garbage man who talked about, you know, protecting the glass so that the guys wouldn't get cut.

And I said those were the -- that was my father. So many -- similarities, and it resulted in this second book of his, "Wisdom of Our Fathers." So many people would write him and say, I want to tell you about Big John or, in my case, Big Hugh, my father.

And he wrote me this note he's inscribed it to me, and it says, "To Sean," says it right here in this book, "who learned these lessons from his dad and is now teaching them to, my children, "Patrick and Mary Kelly. Best of wishes always, Tim Russert."

I found these books two of the most inspiring, heart-warming books that touched literally the heart and soul of who this man was, this love for his family, and I know his family is suffering tonight.

GINGRICH: You know part of what made him so wonderful -- remember Calista and I visited with her father, Ollie, and her mother, and the immediate bonding, as Tim Russert saw Calista's father as being exactly like Big Russ, and the two of them -- they got to know each other in about nine seconds, and Tim gave him an NBC hat which he put on, and they got a picture that they treasure deeply.

And Calista's father passed away two years ago, and we'd often talked about what it meant to her mom and dad to go there, to be on the set to meet Tim, and to have him accept them and really -- bring them into his family and talk about his family.

I would say this that Russert may have moved to Washington, but he never left Buffalo. There was a part of him, there was a part of his heart.

KIRSTEN POWERS, GUEST HOST: Yes.

GINGRICH: . that's in Buffalo tonight.

POWERS: Yes. Hi, it's Kirsten Powers, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for being with us.

GINGRICH: Hi, Kirsten.

POWERS: I think (INAUDIBLE) that always struck me about him is that he -- they would say he never forget his roots, that he's somebody who was always sort of thinking of the regular person, the regular guy, and that's something that, frankly, I think is missing a lot in journalism these days.

I mean -- what do you think about that?

GINGRICH: Well, and part of it is that he was -- came out of a group of people who had done a lot of other things. He'd worked for arguably the smartest senator of his generation, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He worked for arguably the smartest governor of his generation, Mario Cuomo.

He came out of a pedicure of practical hard-nosed politics, and he understood the business. And I think that was an important part of it.

With Russert, you had somebody who understood it well. It's both idealistic and practical at the same moment. It's both cynical and glorious at the same moment. And he had this wonderful knack of loving life enough that he could embrace all of it and live with all of it, and try to make sense out of it.

And I think at the same time he never, for a minute, forgot his father, forgot his and roots in Buffalo and forgot the kind of folks who have made America so wonderful for these last 400 years.

POWERS: Right. And it's interesting, you bringing up who he worked for. He worked for, you know, liberal people in the past, and yet he still managed to earn the respect of people like you and to play it pretty straight.

I mean how do you think that he did that?

GINGRICH: Well, partly because the people he worked for were so darned smart. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was both a liberal and maybe the first neoconservative. And he's -- he was a very iconoclastic, very thoughtful, and a very -- he allowed ideas and facts to lead him. He didn't distort them.

Mario Cuomo, as the person who first invented work fair as a practical measure in New York State building on what Ronald Reagan had done in California. So these are a complex people. He didn't work just for hacks or for people who were not smart.

Tim Russert managed to always be involved, and of course, he did end up working for Jack Welch at General Electric, and it's Welch who figured out that maybe Cuomo, I mean, Russert ought to be on the air because he knew a lot more about Washington than the most of the guys that he was watching on the news.

HANNITY: All right, Mr. Speaker. We got to take a break here. We're going to show you segments of our last interview of Tim Russert's last appearance on this program which was one year ago today.

I also have a personal story I want to share with people about Tim Russert's generosity towards the children of slain soldiers that have given up their life, and that's all coming up as our look back on the life and the legacy of Tim Russert continues with former chairman of General -- Electric Jack Welch.

Plus more with Speaker Gingrich coming up and much, much more straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM RUSSERT, NBC NEWS HOST: I was a stutter, and every time I started to stutter my dad would put his arm around me and squeeze my hand and I'd stop stuttering or I'd build a little box and -- I'd sit with my daughter and say put your worries in this box, and two weeks from now we'll come look at them, and they wouldn't matter anymore.

Dads teach lessons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tim Russert was at the top of his profession. He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard but he was always fair. We miss him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Somebody who, over time, I came to consider not only a journalist, but a friend. There wasn't a better interviewer in television. Not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics. And he was also one of the finest men I knew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That was the two presumptive presidential candidates remembering Tim Russert, and we now continue with former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

I want to tell you, Mr. Speaker, one story about him. While he was in my radio studio, when I was interviewing him for one of his two best-selling books, it was the day that I launched our fundraising that we do annually - - we've been doing it for the last six years for the Freedom Alliance -- scholarship fund for the children of slain soldiers so we can send them to college.

And he's sitting there, you know, we were just introducing him and he asked me during the break to tell him a little bit more about the scholarship fund, what it was about. And then all of a sudden, he takes out a check. And he writes me a check for $10,000. And he hands it to me -- and this is the type of guy that I got to know with Tim Russert -- hands it to me, and I -- and he says, "You don't -- just don't say it publicly."

You know, because he was that humble, he didn't want, you know, people to know that he's doing it, and then he donated more money later.

I mean did you see that side of him?

GINGRICH: Yes, on a regular basis. We did several charitable events for children together usually with him as the host, and with me doing some of the speaking, particularly back when I was speaker, and he cared deeply about children. He cared deeply about the community, both in Washington and Buffalo around the country.

And I think there was something in his heart that was tugged by people who were willing to be committed to helping other people. I think it just is a part of his background and that it came out of his religious upbringing and his sense of faith and also what his parents had taught him.

HANNITY: Yes.

GINGRICH: And I think everybody who knew him knew that he had this side to his personality of genuine caring, particularly for children. He really, really was into children.

HANNITY: You know it's funny you say that because I think one of the best stories -- and we're going to show this later because it was one year ago today that we had our final interview with him -- but he tells a story of his son, Luke.

Now it's funny, I ran into Tim in New Hampshire, and when I ran into him, he said, Hannity, boy, you're really giving it to them lately. And that was the way he'd always meet you, with a warm greeting. And then he says, here, say hi to my son, Luke, who he's talking to on the phone and they talk all the time.

But he told a story in the book about -- and we'll show it later, how he tells it himself --how Luke came home with a tattoo, and his mother caught it and said, Tim, get up here, your son has a tattoo. And then his son explained the tattoo with the letters TJR, the initials for Tim, Luke, and his granddad.

And you know, he basically says that's it, I -- you know, I melted down. I mean I never heard a more heart-warming story of love between a grandfather, a father, and a son in my life.

GINGRICH: Well, and that's why I think for all of our listeners tonight, having a little extra prayer this weekend for the Russert family and for the people at NBC News who work so closely with Tim, and who I know tonight in the Washington bureau, are just devastated by this loss of somebody who they loved and they respected.

I think all of us ought to remember this weekend that this will be a little bit of a hard weekend for all of them.

HANNITY: Absolutely.

POWERS: Yes. And another thing that you hear about him all the time is how important his faith was to him, how important it was to him to be a Catholic.

What did you know about that side of him?

GINGRICH: Just that it was deep and it was real and it was personal.

Tim represented that kind of classic American Catholicism where he was surrounded by it. It was his being. He didn't think about it. It wasn't some abstract thing. It was the core of his life. And I think that his sense of the church, his sense of the visit by the Pope, all of these things for him were part of the majestic beauty of the Catholic Church and part of what made him a unique person.

POWERS: And Mr. Speaker, you've been on all of these shows. You know, what -- is there anybody else that's like him? Is there anybody else that's going to be like him?

GINGRICH: Well, I think a lot of people will study him.

Tim would have said -- I think he wouldn't want us to be too overly somber about this. I think Tim would say, look, you know, things go on. He worked for Moynihan who, after all, passed away. He understood that life goes on. And I think Tim would say a lot of bright young people coming along. One of those folks are going to come in here and sit in this chair someday.

But in my personal experience, there was no interview that was more difficult, more demanding, more professionally challenging, or where, on a good day if you really got it all right, and you -- little bit like dancing. If you and Russert could dance through an hour of "Meet the Press," at the end of it you felt pretty darned good and you felt like that had been a good morning's work.

HANNITY: I'm glad I never had to -- meet that challenge. And I would tell him that many times.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for being with us tonight.

GINGRICH: Thank you. Thank you.

HANNITY: . on a sad night, and you're right, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Russert family, his wife Maureen, and his son Luke.

Thank you for being with us.

And we're going to show segments of that final interview one year ago today. Also former chairman of General Electric and Russert's mentor, Jack Welch. She's going to join us next to share his memories of this news icon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And joining us now is Tim Russert's mentor and former chairman and CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch is with us.

Jack, welcome back to the program. Thank you for being with us.

JACK WELCH, FMR. CHAIRMAN OF GENERAL ELECTRIC: Thank you so much for having me, Sean, on this night.

HANNITY: On a very, very tough night. Tell us about your relationship with this incredibly passionate family man, loved his dad, loved his son, wife, had a strong faith, and this terrific journalist that you knew for so long.

WELCH: You know he was the most warm, loving, authentic, real person that one would know. I loved him from my head to my toes, and who would have thought when Michael Gardner came to me wanting to push him into the job at "Meet the Press" Michael Gardner was convinced that this non-movie star looking guy could go from the office to the television.

And Michael Gardner who had a short reign at NBC really gets the credit for pushing Tim, and from that day forward, Tim just grew like a mushroom.

HANNITY: You know what's amazing, I'd watch "Meet the Press" every weekend. I mean he was the gold standard. I mean what I loved, Jack, about him is he was fair, but relentless, and he always asked the tough questions. He was a model of awful us to work in this industry in any capacity.

WELCH: No question. When we'd go out at night, and the conversations would go on until 1:00 in the morning.

HANNITY: Yes.

WELCH: . he never could stop talking about it. And I'll tell you something else, Sean. I think the thing that people aren't talking about is how much we're going to miss him.

HANNITY: Yes.

WELCH: In this election, appointment TV was Sunday morning when people were fresh, they had some rest, they wanted to sift through the issues.

What about this Obama guy? What about McCain? This guy helps us think through the issues by challenging those candidates and any candidates, but we are going to miss the hell out of him even more in the next four months than this crushing moment tonight.

HANNITY: I totally and completely agree with you. And it's such a shock to everybody.

You know I had the honor to be with him on a number of occasions when I interviewed him about his book, and we're going to show some of that in a little bit. And it was only -- I'm trying to remember -- about seven weeks ago, there's pictures from, I guess, seven or eight weeks ago, the Long Island Association -- Business association, and there's Mac Cross and James Carville and Sean Hannity. And he moderated the debate.

But is this the guy that you saw? Behind the scene he was shaking everybody's hands, he was telling jokes, just as warm as I ever saw anybody in the public to everybody that was around him, every person that came up to him.

WELCH: Every.

HANNITY: Is that the person you knew?

WELCH: There are hundreds of thousands of people. And gee, I've never gotten more e-mails today than I got today or more phone calls. I got one from Roger Ails, for example, who was totally and emotionally wrecked over this.

I mean this has touched factory floor to the newsroom to corporate offices. This guy, everybody thought of him as their best friend. And he was real. It wasn't BS. It was real.

HANNITY: Yes.

POWERS: Right.

WELCH: Could I give you a story, one little story?

HANNITY: Sure.

WELCH: I had a charity about three months ago, and the charity was a month ago for the homeless people in Boston, and I called Tim, and we asked him if he'd come to this event. He didn't say let me look at my calendar, my - - let me see if I'm busy. He said where and when? And I'm retired. I couldn't do a thing for him. So bang. He was there.

Now let me tell you how he came there. He drove his -- a truck from Washington in the morning all day to Boston to give Luke a truck so he could pack his goods and out to BC. And then he came and he didn't nail in a speech about the homeless. He came and gave a 45-minute speech that night with everyone in the crowd crying to bits, getting a standing ovation, and everyone in that room thought he was their best friend.

My cardiologist couldn't let go of him, and he couldn't let go of him ironically, and then at the end it was raining, and he was going back, and Mike (INAUDIBLE) and I tried to get him to stay. He said he's got a meeting in the morning at 8:00. I got to go back now. It was 10:30 at night.

That showed Tim and everyone of us respects family, bringing the truck, giving back with a full presentation from the heart, and the passion for getting back to work.

HANNITY: Yes.

WELCH: This is a guy like no other guy.

HANNITY: I just told the story he wrote a $10,000 check when he was sitting in my studio. I was doing a book reading, and he goes by the way here, it's the charity for the children of soldiers.

But Jack, if you can, stay with us one more segment.

We'll continue more with Jack Welch coming up right after the break here as we continue our coverage of the loss of a great father, great journalist, a great colleague and a friend Tim Russert.

Plus we will replay our final interview with him which was one year ago this very day. Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

TIM RUSSERT, HOST, NBC's "MEET THE PRESS": I want to know what everyone is thinking and why. I have a simple goal. I want to know as much about an issue as my guest, and because when they start talking I want to be able to go down that road with them and ask follow-ups.

I always like to anticipate their answers and say, "Senator, I know you have said this, but let me ask you this." If you take away that boiler plate, then you're much closer getting to what they really, truly believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That was one year ago today, and we're going to show more of that interview as "Hannity & Colmes" continues tonight.

We continue with former CEO and chairman of General Electric and friend of Tim Russert's. Jack Welch is with us.

You know, Tim [SIC], if you really want to know the heart of Tim Russert, at the very end of his second book, another No. 1 New York Times best seller, he tells a story that every father would love to tell. That he had written a note to his son, Luke, and that he dropped him off at college. He dreaded the day. And then he didn't hand him the note, but then he walked back and gave it to Luke. It said, "Read this when I'm gone."

And his son, Luke, said he wants to, you know, read it right now, and he read it. And I think this really captured the heart of who he is.

And he said, "Dear Luke, off you go. New school, new city, new friends, new challenges. You are more than ready. Whether it was New York or Washington or the different schools you've been to, you've connected with people that made your mark. I've so enjoyed watching you and helping you grow. We've had an amazing 19 years together. I hope we have at least another 19. I will always be here for you. We are bonded by blood. Call any time, any day, with good news or bad. I am on your side. Keep an open mind to new ideas and people with different views. Study hard. Laugh often. Keep your honor. With admiration, respect, and deep love, dad, a.k.a. The Big Guy."

Doesn't that say it all?

JACK WELCH, FORMER GE CEO: Oh, boy. It says it all. And by the way, the one thing I know is that in the four years that Luke was at BC, he honored that in every single way, and so did Tim.

POWERS: Hi, it's Kirsten Powers. Thanks for being with us.

You were talking about how much we're all going to miss him. I mean, in addition to how much, obviously, you're going to miss him personally. But for people who don't know him, like me, he was such a strong voice in journalism. And, you know, when he said the race for the Democratic primary was over, it was over.

And you know, is there anybody else like him?

WELCH: Well, you know, I can't think of anybody now who -- who really played it down the middle with such passion as he did. No offense to anybody on this show or any other show.

I think this guy made us all think that hour on Sunday morning about who they were talking to, was this guy a fraud, wasn't he, was this woman a fraud, were they real, did they sweat, did they feel it? And he could get in their skin to a way and portray it for you. He'd ask the questions you wanted to ask.

POWERS: Right.

WELCH: And it was something unique, I think. I mean, think of the replacement for that position over the next several months before this election. It's one...

POWERS: You would not want to be the person filling those shoes. That's for sure.

You -- you knew him so well. What -- what went into his thinking of how he -- how he wanted that show to be?

WELCH: He just loved his work. He loved politics. You know, I say this to you as sort of a sacrilegious thing. Tim is one of the only people we ever had at NBC that did not have an agent. All he wanted to do was get a good paycheck and have a great job.

When -- one of our last conversations when we were at work -- we talked over the last several years -- but when we were working as colleagues, I was making a deal with him. I wanted him to stay. And he said, "Look, all I want are three more -- three more campaigns for sure."

So we made a 12-year deal with no agent, and all we tried to do was load him up, because we wanted to make an example of a guy who never asked for anything, never wanted anything. Just give me that show, let me think, let me help America think it through. He loved what he did. And the pay came secondary. But we did -- but we tried to load him up.

HANNITY: Jack Welch, thank you for being with us tonight and thank you for sharing your insight in this story, this great human being, this great guy and one of the greatest journalists ever. Thank you for being with us.

WELCH: Thank you, Sean, and thank you, Kirsten.

HANNITY: And thank -- and joining us now on the phone, on our newsmaker line, is Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

Governor Rendell, thank you for being with us.

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Sean. It's a real honor to follow Jack Welch. A great American.

HANNITY: I'll tell you, one of the greats. I agree with you. We love Jack.

And you knew Tim Russert. You've been on his program. You knew he was one of the best that there's ever been.

RENDELL: No question. And what amazed me constantly about Tim Russert is the level of his preparation.

HANNITY: Yes.

RENDELL: When I was running for governor in 2002, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce had him come in to moderate a debate between me and my Republican opponent, Mike Fisher, and I couldn't believe the level of preparation he undertook for that debate. He knew the Pennsylvania issues as well as he knew the national issues.

And he only did that by just working hard. He just worked it and worked it. And I heard Jack say he loved politics, and he did.

And I think the major loss to all of us is that he was someone, because of who he was, and because he made it so interesting, and because he brought that passion for politics to the air, he made people get interested in politics. He made people get interested in government. He made them see that it was important. It wasn't just a game.

And he would pin your ears back if you went on that show, particularly if you didn't know what you were talking about or if you double spoke. He would nail you. But he had a zest for politics, and he brought a lot of people into the system that weren't there before. And he made politics fun, too. Difficult but fun.

HANNITY: Newt said this. Boy, if you went on that program, you'd better be prepared, because he was going to do his homework, and that became an inside joke between the two of us.

And the number of times I had the honor of interviewing him, I'd say, "Russert, I'm never going on your program because you're going to nail me for what I said the first year I was on radio in 1987," and he'd laugh about it. Because he knew that that was his unique style. But that's what I respected the most about him.

RENDELL: And he would have nailed you, too, Sean.

HANNITY: Oh, no, no, he would have. I was dead -- I was dead, and I'd tell him that. I was smart enough, you know, never to want to put myself in that situation.

Did he ever -- did he ever really, really go at you hard?

RENDELL: Sure, when I was DNC chair in 2000. He went at me hard about fundraising and the abuses of the Democratic Party. And, you know, he was tough.

And he could be mean, in a way, because he was a search and destroy a guy on "Meet the Press." And he would set you up and show you the things you said in the past and say explain them.

And he was tough. But the thing that was good about him, if he was tough and could be mean at times, he was tough and mean to everybody, to everybody.

HANNITY: He had a good heart. But remember, Governor, I've never been tough on you, but it's an inside joke we have. Thank you.

RENDELL: Only because Alan's around.

HANNITY: Well, that's true. Then we have Kirsten tonight. But Governor, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

RENDELL: Big loss to all of us who care about government and politics and know how important it is, like you guys. So a big loss for all of us tonight.

HANNITY: Absolutely. Thank you, Governor.

We're going to continue our coverage of the shocking death of Tim Russert, only 58 years old. A man of great faith, great integrity in our business. He will truly be missed. More on his life from those who worked with him, coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And joining us now are two of Tim Russert's friends and colleagues, former ABC correspondent Bob Zelnick and our very own Geraldo Rivera, who worked with Tim Russert at NBC News.

Boy, was anybody more fun to be around? Or funny?

GERALDO RIVERA, HOST, "AT LARGE": He was -- you know, he was -- I have a personal take on it, because when Jack Welch and Roger Ailes, our current boss, hired me over at NBC in 1994, I got a very frosty reception from the guys at NBC News, generally speaking, except for Tim Russert. He was so open to me and so friendly and so gracious and so welcoming, it's something I'll never forget.

And, you know, my sincere condolences to his family, to wife, to his parents, his son. It's just awful.

HANNITY: His dad is...

RIVERA: I literally gasped when I heard the news.

HANNITY: Yes, I did, too.

RIVERA: So stunning.

HANNITY: And Big Russ, who he wrote this book -- Big Russ is alive. You know, his father who he wrote this incredible book to.

RIVERA: It's not supposed to go that way.

HANNITY: No.

RIVERA: It really isn't.

HANNITY: And the story about his son, Luke, and the tattoo, and it had the initials of him and his grandfather and Tim. I think is one of the most touching stories I think, you know, a father would ever want to hear from a son.

RIVERA: You know, in this business so much is based -- yes, it's competitive. Yes, we all want the big story. Yes, it's one network against the other, even inside a network, intramurally.

HANNITY: Yes.

RIVERA: There's a big fight for the story. But he was such a gentleman. And that's what I remember. I remember the personal aspect of him. He just could not have been more a more genial, intelligent role model, and I'm telling you, he was the best thing about NBC News during the seven years that I was there.

HANNITY: I would agree with you.

Bob, Zelnick your memories of this great journalist?

BOB ZELNICK, FORMER ABC CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of them. First of all, I think there were two things that strike me about his years on the interview programs.

First of all, he had an intuitive sense of what was needed to advance a story. Better than almost any journalist that I've encountered in 37 years in the business. I think Ted Koppel had that same sense. I think Sam Donaldson, but not too many. Geraldo in many of his broadcasts has shown that.

But the other thing was he was tough. He was a very tough guy, but who also had a feeling of compassion. We awarded him at Boston University here -- we awarded him a lifetime achievement award three years ago, and he came up to accept it.

And while we were at dinner, he told me a story about his father. He said his dad told him you can't have any control over where you come from. You can't have any control over how much money your family has. But one thing you can control is how much hard work you do. And Tim said, "As long as I'm alive, I will never lose a story because I was outworked on it."

POWERS: Yes. Geraldo, I heard a story earlier about him with his father, that he would call every day and get five or six people to stop by to see his father. And his father thought the people were just showing up on his own, when in fact he was orchestrating all this behind the scenes. I mean, he just loved his family so much.

RIVERA: I remember covering the Lackawanna terrorists story up there in the Buffalo neighborhood, and the Buffalo mayor took me around on the tour. They were so proud of Tim Russert in Buffalo. It was just as if he was the founding father.

It was a post-industrial town, a bit hard on its luck, and he was a shining star, big Buffalo Bills fan. And to go up there, to be up in his town, I'm telling you, the mayor treated him as if he were one of the faces on Mt. Rushmore.

It is common for us, when someone is gone, to extol all their virtues and minimize, you know, the negatives about them, but this guy really was a superb newsman, and you know, I never had a beef with any of his coverage.

I thought he was a little premature in writing Hillary Clinton's obit, but that was just a matter of, you know, a personal disagreement, because he certainly had the facts, and he turned out to be right, and I was wrong.

But you know, to me I keep coming back to that. This was a gentleman in the business where there are sharp elbows oftentimes and where, you know, knives in the back are not uncommon. This was a total gentleman.

And I appreciate, you know, every time I met him, every time I saw him during those years at NBC, and even before that, because I met him when he worked for Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, the governor here, and Senator Moynihan, the senator who passed. And he was a great guy.

HANNITY: All right, Geraldo, thanks for your memories with us.

Bob, thank you for being with us.

And coming up, we're going to take a look back at Tim Russert's last appearance on this program. Now sadly, it was just one year ago this very day, and that's coming up next, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Our friend Tim Russert's last appearance on this very show was exactly one year ago today. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: I'm a big fan of both of your books, and, obviously, a lot of people are, as well. Two No. 1 best-sellers. It started with "Big Russ and Me"...

RUSSERT: Right.

HANNITY: ... about your dad. And...

RUSSERT: Right. My dad left high school in tenth grade, joined the war, and got terribly hurt when his B-24 Liberator (ph) crashed, spent six months in the hospital. And then he came home and met my mom, and started a second mission, and that was to raise and educate his four kids. And he did it by working two full-time jobs: as a truck driver and a sanitation man for 32 years.

He never complained. And when I wrote that, Sean, I thought Irish Catholics from south Buffalo would say, "That's my Dad." People all across the country -- liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans -- said, "Now you're talking about my dad."

HANNITY: And I told you at the time when I first interviewed you about the book, "That's my dad, that's my family."

They are the greatest generation. And as a result of that, this book came out of it because of all the letters that people would send you about their dad, their Big Russes.

RUSSERT: Sixty thousand letters and e-mails. And all of them had a similar theme. Nothing about material goods. It was "My dad didn't preach a sermon; he lived one." And he let me watch his life.

And I didn't fully appreciate the effort that he gave us, the sacrifice, the quiet eloquence of his hard work. In this paperback, "The Wisdom of Our Fathers," there's an amazing fellow named Dutch Theonke (ph) from Minnesota. He had eight kids. And it was his 75th birthday.

And they said, you know, "What can we give Dad? He doesn't need another tie."

HANNITY: right.

RUSSERT: They all sat down and wrote 75 reasons why they loved their dad. And on his death bed, that's all he wanted to hear, those reasons.

HANNITY: One of the good -- one of the great things you did in this book is you left the back page open...

RUSSERT: Right.

HANNITY: ... so that you can give it as a gift, and Father's Day is this Sunday. It would be a perfect time to give it.

RUSSERT: Right.

HANNITY: And then somebody can write a note to their dad.

RUSSERT: It says, "About Dad," and I want sons and daughters to give their dad the book with a note. Father's now Xerox that page to me and send it to me.

HANNITY: The next book, is that...

RUSSERT: Men 50, 60 years old, saying, "I never knew this is the way my child felt."

This book is really a roadmap to a father, how to get it right. Because it tells you what really affects kids, and bottom line, time. It's all about time, the most priceless commodity. Once you give it, you can never get it back, but that's what kids want from their dads. They want you to invest time.

HANNITY: As my kids get older, I see it's the main thing.

One of the things about your dad -- I keep bringing this up every time I've interviewed you -- because it tells so much about the heart and soul of the guy. He's a sanitation worker.

RUSSERT: Yes.

HANNITY: And when he would wrap up broken glass at your house.

RUSSERT: Yes.

HANNITY: "We got to protect the guys."

RUSSERT: The guys. He would wrap it with masking tape, put it in a cardboard shoe box, more masking tape, because so many times he would dump a can with open glass and see his guys get cut.

COLMES: It's really amazing, too. It's not the -- you touched on this a moment ago. It's not the material goods, not the big gift. Your father wouldn't even accept a car...

RUSSERT: Right.

COLMES: ... that you wanted to give him. It's the touch, the thought; it's the moment.

RUSSERT: He wanted -- I mean, he got a Crown Victoria.

COLMES: A cop car, right?

RUSSERT: You're right, Alan. And it's -- and it's the spontaneous moments. It's not the big, expensive planned vacations. Sitting at the bed reading a story or walking through a ballpark, and suddenly your son or daughter asked you about a certain star or about a tree or "Dad, what were you like when you were little?" Those are the things that connect.

Or they watch you working hard. That discipline, preparation, accountability. Those values...

COLMES: Work hard, laugh often.

RUSSERT: Work hard, laugh often and keep your honor. That's the secret to life.

COLMES: That's what you learned from your dad. Did you become a different father or a better father as a result of the process of having these books? And did it change your fathering?

RUSSERT: These books changed my life. It's a journey I never expected or anticipated. My dad is now much more demonstrative and outgoing and affectionate to me. He actually uttered the words, "I love you."

And I said, "What did you say?"

"You heard me." I got it once. That was it.

But my own son, I have such a good relationship with him. And you should see my son with his grandpa, my dad.

COLMES: Different relationship than the father-son relationship.

RUSSERT: We're bonded by blood, and we know it now, and it's deep. It's so deep. And we're not afraid to tell each other.

COLMES: Do you have a mom that says, "What about me? Where's my book?"

RUSSERT: Well, I lost my mom two years ago. But -- and I write about her in "The Wisdom of our Fathers" in a very extensive -- she loved the book, because there's a phrase in there that Father Donovan, our parish priest, used to say: the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

My mom would have us at the table at 4:45 every day. While she made supper, we did our homework. She signed our homework every night. But for her I would never have gone -- been the first person to come to college, law school. Mom did it.

COLMES: There's something about an Aqua Velva man.

RUSSERT: Is that true?

COLMES: We've got about 30 seconds. See what you can do.

RUSSERT: Andrea Fusco up in Massachusetts, her father died. She went to clip the hedges. She got the clippers out. His gloves fell down. His goggles fell down. There was a little note saying, "Sweet Brown Eyes, please always protect yourself," and she could smell his Aqua Velva from those gloves, 10 years later. Even in death, Dad was protecting Dad's little girl (ph).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: As we continue this very sad day for the NBC family and for all of us in journalism, and our thoughts and prayers remain with the family of Tim Russert, his wife Maureen, his son Luke. Which I -- Kirsten, when I saw him in New Hampshire, he was on the phone with his son.

And he was always -- whenever I'd meet him, he'd always say, "Hannity, good to see you. By the way, you're really pushing the envelope lately." And he was so nice to me.

And then he'd say, "Say hi to my son Luke," who hosts a show on Sirius Radio with James Carville.

But I tell you, he was one of the best I've ever seen.

POWERS: Yes.

HANNITY: Greatest interviewers, best prepared. These two books that he wrote, he wrote this book here, and I showed everybody earlier. And I have an inscription in here: "To Sean -- learned these lessons from his dad and is now teaching them to my two children, Patrick and Mary Kelly -- best always, Tim Russert." That shows he had -- that was a heart of gold.

And I was last with him, he moderated that debate between me and James Carville. And behind the scenes and during the whole thing, he was funny and fun.

POWERS: That's what everybody said about him. That's what was so amazing. He had such an amazing career, and yet he managed to be such a great father, a great husband, great son, managed to have it all.

HANNITY: Yes, and 58 is far too young, and he will be sorely missed. And our thoughts and prayers are with the Russert family.

Thank you for being with us for "Hannity & Colmes" tonight, and we'll have the very latest throughout the evening more on the FOX News Channel.