NEW YORK _ Rep. Jerry Nadler was taken to a hospital after a brief health scare Friday morning, when he nearly fainted during a Manhattan news conference with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Doctors rushed to his side when Nadler, D-N.Y., became pale and abruptly dropped his head into his hands while de Blasio was taking questions from reporters during an event at a gym inside P.S. 199 on the Upper West Side.
"Here, I got something. Jerry, take a drink," the mayor told Nadler, offering the stricken congressman a drink from his own water bottle, containing red Gatorade. "You want to take a drink? How you feel, man?"
The 71-year-old House Judiciary Committee chairman, who's spearheading an investigation into President Donald Trump's role in the Russia hacking scandal, was seated next to de Blasio during a news conference announcing an expansion of the city's speed camera program when he appeared to doze off and became visibly unwell.
De Blasio reached over to comfort Nadler and someone shouted for a doctor. Several white-coated physicians already present for the event rushed to the congressman, who was seated behind a sign reading Speed Cameras Save Lives.
At first de Blasio thought Nadler was taking a "little nap."
"I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, 'Jerry, you OK?' And he didn't respond right away," de Blasio told reporters outside the school after Nadler was taken to the hospital. "And I kind of shook him just a little. ... I said, 'Jerry, are you OK? Are you OK?' And then he started to respond slowly but it wasn't his normal self, obviously."
Doctors and members of the mayor's NYPD detail surrounded de Blasio and Nadler, giving the Manhattan rep water, juice and a pieces of an orange. The school intercom announced that a "code blue" was in progress in the gym, though Nadler didn't appear to lose consciousness.
De Blasio said Nadler was joking with him about the incident and answering questions posed by the doctors within minutes.
"I said, 'Hey, Jerry, you're in good hands, look at all these doctors around here,'" de Blasio said. "He was joking about it. He had an amazing sense of humor and he was very self effacing about the whole thing. You could see immediately his full personality was there ... so that made me very reassured."
As de Blasio and doctors tended to Nadler, members of the press and traffic safety advocates were shuffled out of the second-floor gym and to the sidewalk outside. About 50 minutes later, Nadler was taken away in an ambulance to NYU Langone.
"Appreciate everyone's concern," Nadler wrote on Twitter shortly after he was taken to the hospital. "Was very warm in the room this morning, was obviously dehydrated and felt a bit ill. Glad to receive fluids and am feeling much better."
Aides said Nadler never lost consciousness and was suffering from dehydration. The mayor told reporters he didn't feel hot in the gym himself, but was relieved to see how quickly Nadler recovered.
"Congressman Nadler is doing much better," de Blasio said. "It was very comforting to see that after a few minutes he seemed to be his old self again. We're very hopeful he'll make a speedy, speedy recovery."
Dr. Ted Long of the city Health and Hospitals Corp., who was one of a handful of doctors present for the event, said Nadler responded well to the scare.
"By the time we got there, which was a matter of seconds, he was able to answer all of our questions," Long said.
The doctor said personnel at the hospital would be able to identify the exact cause of the incident and take any measures to prevent a recurrence.
"Whenever anybody looks like they're asleep, we worry about things like dehydration," Long said.
"He's in safe hands now," Long added.
Nadler has long battled weight problems but has no other major health scares in public.
As chair of the Judiciary Committee, Nadler has played a key role in investigations surrounding Trump. He would be in charge of impeachment hearings if Democrats decide to launch an inquiry.
"This entire country is depending on him right now," de Blasio said. "We obviously want to make sure he is well cared for and makes a full recovery. The American people need him."
