Complete text of Vice President Dick Cheney's Wednesday interview

Transcript of Vice President Dick Cheney's interview Wednesday with Brit Hume of Fox News Channel, as released by the White House. Cheney addresses his shooting Saturday of a hunting companion, 78-year-old Harry Whittington of Austin, Texas, at a ranch owned by Katharine Armstrong about 60 miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas:

Question: Mr. Vice President, how is Mr. Whittington?

Answer: Well, the good news is he's doing very well today. I talked to him yesterday after they discovered the heart problem, but it appears now to have been pretty well resolved and the reporting today is very good.

Question: How did you feel when you heard about that?

Answer: Well, it's a great relief. But I won't be, obviously, totally at ease until he's home. He's going to be in the hospital, apparently, for a few more days, and the problem, obviously, is that there's always the possibility of complications in somebody who is 78-79 years old. But he's a great man, he's in great shape, good friend, and our thoughts and prayers go out to he and his family.

Question: How long have you known him?

Answer: I first met him in Vail, Colorado, when I worked for Jerry Ford about 30 years ago, and it was the first time I'd ever hunted with him.

Question: Would you describe him as a close friend, friendly acquaintance, what?

Answer: No, an acquaintance.

Question: Tell me what happened?

Answer: Well, basically, we were hunting quail late in the day ...

Question: Describe the setting.

Answer: It's in south Texas, wide open spaces, a lot of brush cover, fairly shallow. But it's wild quail. It's some of the best quail hunting anyplace in the country. I've gone there, to the Armstrong ranch, for years. The Armstrongs have been friends for over 30 years. And a group of us had hunted all day on Saturday ...

Question: How many?

Answer: Oh, probably 10 people. We weren't all together, but about 10 guests at the ranch. There were three of us who had gotten out of the vehicle and walked up on a covey of quail that had been pointed by the dogs. The covey is flushed, we've shot, and each of us got a bird. Harry couldn't find his. It had gone down in some deep cover and so he went off to look for it. The other hunter and I then turned and walked about a hundred yards in another direction ...

Question: Away from him?