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Remembering "The Lion of the Senate"
Aired August 26, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The "Lion of the Senate," the heart of his family. Senator Ted Kennedy is dead at the age of 77.
This hour, his fight for the rights of others and his personal battles. Reaction from those who shared his political vision and those who did not. What voters back home are saying.
COLLINS: Plus, a look at the cancer that took his life. Special coverage all morning long. It is Wednesday, August 26th. I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN center in Atlanta.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Washington and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Senator Ted Kennedy. His death marks the end of the era both politically and emotionally. For more than 40 years, he served as the torchbearer of the Camelot legacy and the last surviving brother of the Kennedy political dynasty.
In 1962, he was elected to the Senate seat vacated by his brother, the president, and quickly became a powerful voice for social causes. Dubbed the liberal lion, he was among the last of the power brokers who sought compromise over partisan stalemate, yet he remained a face of his beloved Democratic Party.
Last year, he delivered a critical endorsement of presidential candidate, Barack Obama, and one year ago today he seemed to pass the mantle at the Democratic National Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Senator Ted Kennedy in his own words.
I'm joined now by Wolf Blitzer from Washington, D.C. this morning. Wolf, you have made a career of following politics, obviously. This is a very, very big day and one that many people will be certainly very sad about.
BLITZER: It's one day, Heidi, that all of us were bracing for over the past year since he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. We knew it would come and we knew it would come relatively quickly, given the state of that cancer.
He did go to Duke University for medical treatment, for surgery, but the end was obvious to all who studied what was going on, and we knew this day would come. A very sad day indeed for all of us.
President Obama is reacting to the news this morning of Senator Kennedy's death. Our White House correspondent Dan Lothian -- he's in Martha's Vineyard where the Obamas are vacationing this week.
Clearly, Dan, the president is upset given not only the stature and the history of Senator Kennedy, but the personal role that he played in helping Barack Obama become president of the United States.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You're so right, Wolf. And in fact, the president talked about that in a statement this morning that he put out, talking about how he impacted his life in every way -- first as a senator, really helping him walk through the halls of Congress and understand how everything worked there.
As a candidate endorsing him, many people thought that perhaps the -- that he would be endorsing Senator Clinton who had all of the political backing and certainly all of the money but he ended up endorsing Barack Obama.
And then as president, he has been a counselor to him in particular with health care reform, being there, giving him guidance along the way. The president spelling this out in a statement this morning, and in addition to that he said, quote, "For five decades virtually every major piece of legislation to advance civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts."
The president again paying tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy this morning. And by the way, Wolf, the president is expected to come out and make some public comments in about a half hour or so, a short -- a short statement we are told but we'll be coming to the cameras.
And then just to back up a little bit to give you a timeline of how the president first found out about Senator Ted Kennedy's passing. We are told that at 2:00 this morning he was alerted by Marvin Nicholson, he is his special assistant, also Trip Planner who we've seen often with the president out on the golf course.
He went in and woke the president, told him about the news, and 25 minutes later at 2:25 the president made a call to Mrs. Kennedy. We are told by senior administration officials that no additional calls were made.
So, again, we are waiting for the president to make his public remarks, first public on-camera remarks so far today, Wolf.
BLITZER: There's no doubt, Dan, that this does mar the president's vacation. He's been trying to vacation, as you know. He did interrupt his vacation to re-nominate the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. Now he has to do this. But this is so much more painful, clearly, given the personal relationship that was established not only when he was a senator but when he became a presidential candidate for the president of the United States.
LOTHIAN: Definitely. You know, it's amazing because when you look back just a few days ago when the president was on his way here to Martha's Vineyard he pointed out that he would not be making any news and little did he know that it would be this kind of news that he would have to be reacting to but, certainly, the president losing a friend and a confidante and someone, Wolf, as we've been talking about all morning, who has played a key role behind the scenes in advising the president on health care reform.
And there are a lot of questions about -- right now about whether or not the fate of health care reform would have taken a different path had Senator Ted Kennedy been in good health and had been sort of front and center on this issue.
No doubt he is someone who has been able to reach across the aisle to get something done up on Capitol Hill and he could have been a key in helping not only reach across the aisle to Republicans but helping within the Democratic Party.
We've the fracture between conservative Democrats and the more liberal Democrats over the issues of health care reform and perhaps he could have been someone had he been deeply involved, had he had his health, and could have moved the process along much quicker than it is where it is now, Wolf.
BLITZER: It's one of those what ifs, what if Senator Kennedy had been really active in this health care debate? And none of us will ever really be able to know for sure.
Dan, I want you to stand by. We're going to be coming back to you as soon as we see President Obama come to the microphones and make his statement. We'll bring it to our viewers in the United States and around the world live.
Senator Kennedy's family was with him when he died at the family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. That's where our Deborah Feyerick is standing by this morning. We have a live picture there of that compound which is so familiar to so many of our viewers.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Wolf, I just turned a moment ago because there was a woman on a bicycle riding by and you could see she was visibly shaken by this. Her face in a grimace almost as if she was about to cry, the word of the senator's passing.
You know he had not been on Capitol Hill since April but, still, he was such a large presence there. He had spent spring and summer here at his home in Hyannis Port with his family.
His son Patrick, a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, gave a very moving interview to the "Cape Cod Times" and in it he said that, you know, this last year effectively was like a gift for the entire family, that, quote, "It gave them a chance to bond, a chance to be together, a chance for all of them to tell Ted Kennedy just how much they loved him, and a chance for them to listen to all his stories gathered over a very rich and full lifetime."
His son Patrick says that for his dad, Ted Kennedy, it was really like a victory lap. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom just two weeks ago. Now we are told that there was a priest with him up until the very end, and here's what the priest had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. PATRICK TARRANT, WITH SEN. KENNEDY WHEN HE DIED: I don't know when he got a turn for the worse. I think just probably late last evening, maybe around 9-- between 9:00 and 10:00 he took a turn, a serious turn. And that's when I was called, and so I was there until he died. But he died around 11:30-ish. And the doctor was there all the time, of course, and all the family were there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now the community here very visibly moved because the Kennedys are such a big part of this community and it seems that everybody knows each other. Everybody takes part in the football games. Everybody sort of connects and has stories about the family and about all of their ties. We spoke to one woman earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA GRISWOLD, KENNEDY NEIGHBOR: It's a thank-you note. It's not a condolence card, it's a thank-you note thanking Ted for everything he's done for us over the years. We should celebrate his life, not, you know, be sad about it.
But he did a lot of things and I think a lot of -- because he was around for so long I don't think people really remember everything he's done so in the next few days as we go through his resume of things and changes that he helped make people are going to realize how it touched their lives even if they didn't meet him.
Maybe there was more cancer research because of him or, you know, I voted when I was 18 because the voting age was changed from 21 to 18 and he was instrumental in that. He affected everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, Wolf, Heidi, we've seen a lot of cars coming in and out of this road. It appears there's one car that seems to be shuttling family members inside to the home that belongs to Ethel Kennedy, that may be the gathering place right now as the family comes together just to honor Ted Kennedy, to celebrate his life, to mourn his passing. Wolf, Heidi?
BLITZER: Deb, quickly, have they suggested any indication yet when the funeral will take place? FEYERICK: No. We have not gotten word on when the funeral will take place. We have been told that there have been arrangements made. We are also told by one of our producers who was here on scene that in fact there was a van that appeared to be either from the medical examiner's office or from the funeral home that was here for a couple of hours overnight, so we should be getting word of what the plans are within the day. Wolf?
BLITZER: We see that flag flying at half staff there in Hyannis Port. All right, Deb, we'll get back to you. Stand by.
Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst is here, Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent, both of whom knew Senator Kennedy very well, covered him for many years.
You spent a lot of quality time with him over the years as well, Gloria.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I did. I've actually been inside that house in Hyannis when I was doing a piece on him and it's a testament to the Kennedy family and to the senator himself. It's the place he really loved to spend most of his time and it's no surprise that when he was very ill he was back in Hyannis being taken out on the sail boat as much as they possibly could.
BLITZER: He loved the Atlantic Ocean, Dana, and it's only fitting that he spent his remaining time there.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I was told that, you know, he spent a lot of time basically just sitting on the balcony, sitting on the porch looking at the ocean when he couldn't go out sailing.
And that is -- absolutely how he spent most of or many of the remaining days that he had. And you know what's interesting about the ocean is that he so missed the ocean that when he was ill and not able to be in Washington, in the winter months he went to Florida and not only did he go to Florida, he had them bring his boat down to Florida so he could be by the water at any, you know, at every moment that he possibly could.
BORGER: You know and after his brother Robert Kennedy was shot, he went back to Hyannis and spent about 10 weeks just sailing and brooding and trying to decide what to do next with his own life because at that point he was thinking about potentially quitting politics.
Of course, he didn't do that and he became what everybody now calls the lion of the Senate, the master of the Senate.
BLITZER: You know, the notion, Gloria, that this is the last of the Kennedy brothers -- there was Joe Kennedy who died in combat during World War II, and John F. Kennedy the president, Bobby Kennedy, and now Ted Kennedy. He survived all of them for so many more years.
BORGER: The baby. The baby of the family. BLITZER: The baby brother of all of them.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: But the legacy that he left is incredible.
BORGER: You know, it's interesting because this is the first time we've really gotten to watch a Kennedy brother age. The rest were all taken very early in their lives and so, you know, this is the only Kennedy we have seen as an older man.
And the question is, we know what his legacy is going to be. We know the legislative legacy that he has, the historic legacy that he has. And I think the question is, what happens now in the next generation?
John Jr. was the senator's great hope in politics. And he also died in a plane crash.
BLITZER: So many tragic losses in that family. I want both of you to stand by. We have much to discuss and assess as we continue our special coverage. In the meantime let's go back to Heidi. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, Wolf. Thank you. I just want to remind everybody that tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern CNN is going to be airing HBO's acclaimed documentary "Teddy in His Own Words." It chronicles Senator Kennedy's life from his childhood through his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
It includes rarely seen archival footage as well. That's HBO's "Teddy in His Own Words." You can see it tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
The Democratic lion of the U.S. Senate, dead at 77. Stay with CNN for complete coverage of the life and legacy of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY: For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And the dream shall never die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Here's what fellow veteran senator Orrin Hatch of Utah had this to say this morning about his friend, Edward Kennedy.
"Ted Kennedy's name will always be remembered as someone who lived and breathed the United States Senate and the work completed within its chamber." Hatch went on to say, "Kennedy with all his ideological verbosity and idealism was a rare person who, at times, could put aside differences and look for common solutions." Ted Kennedy was certainly an icon among his fellow Democrats and a symbol of liberal excess among his critics. In fact, Kennedy embraced the liberal tag long after many Democrats shunned it.
Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is here. Dana, he felt he had a calling.
BASH: Absolutely. And you know, what's interesting is that he knew he had a calling because of his family. He was the only one of the four Kennedy brothers to actually die of natural causes, not die tragically, and he is the only one we saw grow old.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): We first met him as the kid brother to Jack and Bobby and yet Edward, Teddy, was the survivor. The one we watched grow old, evolve into the patriarch, and struggle with the challenge and burden of carrying the Kennedy torch.
Edward Moore Kennedy was born February 22nd, 1932, the last of Joe and Rose Kennedy's nine children. His first prominent role in the family business of politics came at age 30. JFK was elected president and Teddy kept his Senate seat in the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States is dead.
BASH: He was 31 when he said good-bye to Jack. Five years later in 1968 another assassination, another good-bye, Bobby this time.
Often invoking his brothers, Ted Kennedy turned to make his mark in the Senate in the '60s and '70s, proud liberal, champion of voting rights and civil rights. In 1980 he set his sights on the White House but perhaps the most haunting of his personal demons, Chappaquiddick 11 years earlier would block his path.
KENNEDY: I regard as indispensable the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately.
BASH: In 1969, Kennedy drove his car off the Chappaquiddick Bridge. Mary Jo Kopechne, a former aide to brother, Robert, drowned. Ted Kennedy fled the scene. It was a character stain he could not overcome. He would lose his bid to beat President Carter but he promised to carry on in one of his most famous speeches.
KENNEDY: The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And the dream shall never die.
BASH: He would not be president but he would master the Senate and make his mark on government policy.
KENNEDY: If we really care about work, about families, about children, and the future, we will vote for an increase in the minimum wage for all workers.
BASH: Fighting for workers' rights, leading on education and health care reform. KENNEDY: It is morally right. It's what this nation is all about.
BASH: And immigration reform.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'd describe Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate. Held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results.
BASH: To get those results liberal Kennedy learned the art of compromise, sometimes angering fellow Democrats by partnering with ardent conservatives.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Even though we fight each other most of the time and those are knock-down, drag-out battles, I have to say there are very few people in my lifetime that I've had more respect and now reverence for than Senator Kennedy.
BASH: All too often it fell to Uncle Teddy, the patriarch, to steer the family through trials and tragedy. The death of Jackie Onassis, a more painful good-bye to JFK Jr., and the dreams of Camelot. His hunch and shuffle, the legacy of a brush with death in the 1960s, a plane crash that broke his back and caused constant pain.
He brought some pain on himself. Dogged by too much drinking, a messy divorce, Kennedy was a frequent fodder for tabloids. But he remarried, carried on, added to his policy accomplishments.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I've come to admire him. He's a smart, capable senator. You want him on your side. I can tell you that.
BASH: And he stepped once again into presidential politics, bypassing Hillary Clinton and harkening back to brother Jack's call for a new generation of leadership.
KENNEDY: I'm proud to stand with him here today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
BASH: Just five months later, he had a seizure. Followed by a grim diagnosis. A malignant brain tumor.
Still, with great drama he made it to the Democratic convention to pass the torch.
KENNEDY: The hope rises again and the dream lives on.
BASH: He ignored his doctors and when needed came back to his beloved Senate.
KENNEDY: I look forward to being a part of the team.
BASH: And made a dramatic appearance at a White House summit on health care reform.
KENNEDY: I'm looking forward to being a foot soldier in this undertaking and this time we will not fail.
BASH: He never stopped looking forward and never lost that trademark smile. To the end, the survivor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Dana, still here with us. Dana, you know, there are so many legislative accomplishments over his four decades plus in the Senate, whether education, immigration, civil rights, but health care was really the closest to his heart.
BASH: Right. It's something that he actually called the cause of his life and that is why it has been so hard for everybody in the Senate and obviously the hardest for him that he has not been involved. And the reality is, Wolf, that he really hasn't been involved.
You saw the few pieces there of him coming back for some big events. That was really in the early spring and he hasn't -- not only has he not been back in the Senate since I think about April, he really hasn't been involved in terms of phone calls and in terms of really trying to guide the process from afar for sometime.
And, you know, you hear Republicans all over the Capitol for the past several months saying that they really miss him because he is somebody who knew how to reach across the aisle. But the other issue is Democrats, and the problems within the Democratic Party that perhaps he could have help alleviate and you know, brought everybody together in a way that other people really aren't able to do.
BLITZER: Yes. And with all due respect to Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut who, himself, is now suffering from prostate cancer, and I'm sure Chris Dodd would agree he's no Ted Kennedy when it comes to these matters. It probably would have emerged a little bit differently.
BASH: And one thing that's interesting that we're seeing already with statements from the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just saw a statement from one of the unions that he was very involved with, the SEIU, talking about the fact that they hope that his death will be a rallying cry for the Democrats to really try to get unified and figure out a way to push the health care through.
BLITZER: Because Senator Kennedy had delegated so much of the responsibilities on that committee, on that health committee to Senator Dodd of Connecticut.
I want you to stand by. Gloria, please stand by as well.
We're awaiting the president of the United States. He's going to be speaking in about 15, 20 minutes from his vacation in Martha's Vineyard. We'll go there live once it begins. In the meantime let's go back to Heidi. Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely, Wolf, we'll bring that to everybody just as soon as it happens. Thank you. I want to talk a little bit more now, obviously, about Senator Kennedy and the legacy that he will be leaving behind. I want to get more insight on those political implications from someone you have seen many times before right here on our air.
Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor, Paul Begala. Paul, good morning to you. Thanks for being with us today. Why don't you tell us first a little bit about your relationship and how much time you spent with Senator Kennedy?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He was a remarkable guy. The family statement, I think, says it best. For the huge and extended family that Senator Kennedy sort of adopted, they called him the irreplaceable center of our family. And it was true.
I never worked for him. You know, I was -- he was never one of my clients or bosses, and yet he was remarkable in a way he would reach out, he'd get to know you, he -- and he wrote a book about his dog Splash. He knows I have a bunch of kids. A bunch of young boys. He sent the boys a copy of the book with a note inscribed in it.
And then when it got really serious, about five years ago, my father was diagnosed with a very kind of nasty kind of cancer. He's fighting it off, he's still in remission, he's a tough old bird, but Senator Kennedy heard about that and he called me at home and he said, "Get out your pen." There were no pleasantries. You know, none of the usual...
COLLINS: Right.
BEGALA: ... kind of political -- he said get out your pen and write down this name. He gave me the name of one of the world's foremost experts in cancer treatment. He said he's expecting your call. I just talked to him. And he helped pave the way to get my father the treatment that, frankly, saved his life.
Now this is a guy -- I never worked for him, I never gave him a nickel.
COLLINS: Yes.
BEGALA: And that story is repeated thousands of times over, Heidi, all across Washington, all across Massachusetts, all across America. And it's that decency, the human side of Teddy as his friends called him...
COLLINS: Yes, and you know what?
BEGALA: ... that I think I'm going to miss the most.
COLLINS: Yes, and Paul, I want to take a moment to bring in James Carville, too, right now, who is also able to join us today. I know you know him well, "Crossfire" revisited here.
James, Paul brings up an interesting point in this... JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right.
COLLINS: ... sort of human side of Senator Kennedy. Is that something that you experienced as well? Because he was a fierce fighter when you were talking about politics and God love you if you were on the other side of the aisle.
CARVILLE: Well, yes. I mean, I experienced it after Katrina. He told me, he and Mrs. Kennedy called and wondered what they could do and he was very sort of upset about everything and called a bunch of times.
There are stories about him showing up at funerals of people who were killed in the Iraq war and helping families. These are sort of legendary things and Paul is right, the number of individual, not just -- he touched gazillion of lives through legislation and policy and everything else but the number of lives that Senator Kennedy touched in a very personal, direct way, no way that we would ever be able to count those.
And one of the interesting things in the coming days, as we think back on his life, is going to be the number of people he took time out like he did with Paul in the instance of his father, or he did with being in the essence of Katrina, to call people and inquire about them personally and see what he could do to help them.
COLLINS: Yes.
CARVILLE: These individual stories are going to be monumental.
COLLINS: Yes. And there will be people listening to us today who say, well, unfortunately there were definitely some down moments for Senator Kennedy and certainly the incident in 1969 at Chappaquiddick where there was a woman who died.
Everyone knows the bridge at Chappaquiddick and what happened there. How was he able to get through that, certainly politically? Because there were obviously two very different sides to this. The political side of those implications and then also the personal side of which we're talking about right now. Paul?
BEGALA: Well, first politically, after the accident and the terrible tragedy he owned up to it and we've shown the tape on CNN today where he said that he considered his own actions in leaving the scene of that accident to be indefensible.
And then politically, you know, he left it in the hands of the citizens of Massachusetts and the bay state voters re-elected him overwhelmingly for many more times. Personally, it seems to me from an outsider the turn-around was in 1992 when he married Vicki.
No couple in Washington was more in love, more visible, more active, and I think most of his friends, and I was not a close friend, but most of his friends will probably tell you that that wonderful partnership really shaped and reinvigorated and energized Senator Kennedy's last 17 years now. COLLINS: James, have you ever heard the senator speak about what that incident and what that death, Mary Jo Kopechne, did to him personally?
CARVILLE: No, I didn't. But I completely agree with Paul. As I said earlier, I'm delighted that Louisiana could make a (INAUDIBLE) of Senator Kennedy's life. I do. Look, I think there's no doubt that anybody would say that after he got married he became personally fulfilled in a way that probably he wasn't before.
And you have to look at the sort of totality of his life and his public career is distinguished and I think his personal life was much happier after he found Vicki Reggie I really do.
COLLINS: Well, we have a lot more to talk about here, obviously. We're talking about a senator who served eight terms, very, very long public service from Senator Ted Kennedy so we would love to talk with you guys a little bit longer. For now, though, we have to say goodbye.
James Carville and Paul Begala, thanks so much, joining us from Washington and New Orleans today.
CARVILLE: Thanks, guys.
COLLINS: Senator Kennedy coped with many family and personal tragedies, including a terrible plane crash that left him with a broken back. We're looking back at the media coverage of 1964.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Back to our coverage of Senator Ted Kennedy now, though he had many glowing political moments Kennedy also endured several personal tragedies, including a plane crash in 1964 that left him with a broken back.
Let's listen to how it was reported then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Misfortune strikes the Kennedy family once again. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was seriously injured when his private plane crashed in the woods near Southhampton, Massachusetts. The senator was on his way to the state Democratic convention, where he was renominated, when the plane crashed in a heavy fog. However, despite a broken back, doctors expect Mr. Kennedy to achieve complete recovery within eight to ten months.
His family, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy, quickly gathered at his bedside and specialists were flown from Walter Reed Hospital. It was announced that a new canvas frame would be used to speed the senator's recovery, eliminating the need for a plaster cast. Doctors say that it was a miracle that Mr. Kennedy survived the crash.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Kennedy did suffer back pain for decades after that crash. And Senator Edward Kennedy's death now being marked today at a Global Cancer Summit in Dublin, Ireland.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at that summit. He is joining us live to talk about Kennedy's battle with cancer.
So, yes, Sanjay, as we look back over the life of Senator Kennedy, there have been many health issues if you would and this one, this brain cancer, was one that he was not expected to be able to beat.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is, it is a grim diagnosis. As we've been talking about for sometime now, Heidi, as you mentioned, we're here in Ireland which is, you know, it's also -- he is Irish American, and this is the place of his ancestry and also the Global Cancer Summit where as you might imagine, Heidi, he has had tremendous impact on cancer in the United States, but also around the world. So a lot of the meetings today and the discussions surrounded Ted Kennedy.
But you and I, Heidi, started obviously talking about his most recent diagnosis in May of last year, 15 months ago. I wanted to sort of give you an idea of how things have progressed since then.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Ted Kennedy learned his diagnosis in May 2008, a brain tumor called a malignant glioma.
It's a deadly cancer that strikes about 10,000 Americans a year. It's a cancer with a survival rate often measured in months, not years.
June 2, 2008, the then 76-year-old senator traveled to Duke University Medical Center, where he underwent brain surgery. He was awake during the operation. Afterwards, the surgeon's statement was read on the Senate floor.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: I am pleased to report that Senator Kennedy's surgery was successful and accomplished our goals.
GUPTA: Kennedy returned to Boston for proton-beam radiation and recuperation near the water he loved.
Kennedy returned to the Capitol in July, receiving a standing ovation before casting a decisive vote on stalled Medicare legislation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did your doctors think about when you said I want to down there.
KENNEDY: Well, that's another story for another time. GUPTA: The senator emerged again a month later, in his words, "defying his illness" to deliver a speech at the Democratic National Convention.
KENNEDY: Nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?
KENNEDY: I feel well. Once in a while, gets a little tired, but we're doing well.
GUPTA: Kennedy was in the midst of what he later described as many rounds of chemotherapy.
January 20, 2009, the senator suffered a seizure during his post- inauguration lunch honoring President Barack Obama.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I went down to where he was taken and was with him up until the time they put him in the ambulance. And he apparently -- I'm not a doctor, so I hate to characterize it. But it looked like a seizure. And it was painful to him.
KENNEDY: I'm doing well.
GUPTA: Kennedy was back at work less than three weeks later, just long enough to cast a single vote on the economic stimulus bill. And arrived to a standing ovation in March at the president's summit on health care reform, which Kennedy called the "cause of my life."
CROWD: Happy birthday to you.
GUPTA: Days later, a 77th birthday party at the Kennedy Center.
In April of this year, almost a year after his diagnosis, Kennedy threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Boston Red Sox seasonal opener against Tampa Bay.
Senator Ted Kennedy marked the anniversary of his diagnosis out of the public eye.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Edward M. Kennedy.
GUPTA: On August 12, President Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a civilian can receive in the U.S. government, but the senator could not attend because of his health. Kennedy's daughter accepted the award on his behalf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And what was just described there, Heidi, is a pretty typical course for someone who has this diagnosis, again, of malignant glioma, Heidi. You've heard about the operation, the therapy such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy. These are difficult therapies to endure, but that's sort of a little glimpse of what the last 15 months have been like, Heidi. COLLINS: Yes. And that's what I was wondering. This has been a very tough battle, 15 months is a long time, specifically with this diagnosis. The quality of life, though, Sanjay, that the senator had during that time was like what?
GUPTA: You know, there's a couple of things worth pointing out. One is that, you know, the first time we learned about this and, really, he learned about this was after a seizure. Seizures are something that are sort of one of the symptoms that are associated with these tumors so you have the seizures, you take medications. Those medications can be very sedating. That's one thing that, you know, I think he and the doctors were thinking about and concerned about.
Also, the location of this tumor, Heidi. You remember he had an awake brain operation down at Duke last spring. And the reason was because the tumor was located so close to the speech areas and areas that controls the right side of his body. So those were things that probably were starting to get affected over the last couple of months.
The therapy alone, though, Heidi, you know, as a neurosurgeon, I've seen patients go through this. It's tiring. It's exhausting. Every time I saw him appear in public I looked closely for those sorts of things. You might imagine it's a tough toll.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. Well, we sure do appreciate you being there for us ironically at the Global Cancer Summit in Dublin, Ireland going on right now. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Thanks, Sanjay.
And our coverage on the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy continues now with Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Hi, there, Wolf.
BLITZER: Heidi, thanks very much.
I want to go right back to Martha's Vineyard right now, where the president is vacationing, but he is about to interrupt his vacation and make a statement to the nation, indeed to the world, about the passing of his friend Senator Kennedy.
Dan Lothian, our White House correspondent is on the scene for us.
Dan, this is supposed to happen momentarily. Is that right?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is. We are told that it should happen within five minutes or so, but the time has been sliding. The initial start time was to be at 8:30, so now it's been moved to 9:45. Expecting that based on the movements that we're hearing about, expecting that to take place again in the next five minutes or so.
We are being told that the president will make his remarks on the property of the blue heron farm, that's the 28-1/2 acre farm where they are spending their vacation and it would be near a guest house. So we expect to hear from the president echoing what we heard from his statement that he released early this morning praising Mr. Kennedy for everything that he had done for him, first as a senator, as a candidate, and then as president as well.
And in addition to the statement and the remarks that the president will be making to honor Mr. Kennedy, the president has ordered that all flags in federal buildings and at the White House as well be flown at half staff - Wolf.
BLITZER: So we'll stand by and go to the president as soon as he comes to the microphone.
Dan, stand by with us. Much more of our special coverage of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: I want to give you an idea of some of the other stories that we are watching today aside from the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. There has been a bloody attack in southern Afghanistan. At least 43 people are dead after a tanker truck filled with explosives blew up in Kandahar. Rescuers are still trying to reach people trapped in the rubble. You can see the video there for yourself. The Taliban reportedly denied any responsibility.
Buyouts for about 30,000 workers. The postal service makes a deal with two of its unions to pay those employees who want to resign or retire early. Most of them process mail. They do not deliver it. The postal service hopes this will save $500 million.
Five years probation, six months community labor. That's what singer Chris Brown faces for beating his former girlfriend Rihanna earlier this year. Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault in June. He was sentenced yesterday in a Los Angeles court.
We are waiting at this moment for President Barack Obama to be making a statement regarding the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. That will be happening there where you see Martha's Vineyard, where he is on vacation. We, of course, will bring that event to you when it happens, live, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY: This November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to Senator Kennedy's niece, Maria Shriver, released this statement saying in part, "Maria and I are immensely saddened by the passing of Uncle Teddy. He was known to the world as the lion of the Senate, a champion of social justice, and a political icon. Most importantly, he was the rock of our family, a loving husband, father, brother and uncle. He was a man of great faith and character."
We're awaiting the president of the United States. He's getting ready to make a statement to the news media covering him over at Martha's Vineyard where he's on vacation. He'll walk up to that microphone momentarily. We'll bring it to you live as soon as he is there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
We're awaiting the president of the United States. He's getting ready to speak at Martha's Vineyard where he is on vacation with his family. He is getting ready to talk about Senator Ted Kennedy, his friend and colleague for several years in the Senate.
Let's talk a little bit about Senator Kennedy's life and legacy as we await the president joining us. Once again, our senior political analyst Gloria Borger and from Boston, the presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning Doris Kearnes Goodwin.
Doris, a sad day, indeed. You got to know him quite well over these many years.
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Oh, I did, indeed. He was at our wedding. My husband had worked for him. He was a great friend of his. So, we've seen him through a lot his strengths and difficulties.
You know, it reminds me there's a great quote by Ernest Hemingway, who said everyone is broken by life, but afterwards some are stronger in the broken places.
And I think he certainly proved that by coming back after not only the deaths of his brothers, but about the difficulties he himself produced in his life to becoming a senator that I think will be the greatest senator in our modern times.
BLITZER: And he managed to overcome not only the personal tragedies, the loss of three brothers and so many other personal tragedies, but Chappaquiddick was a huge setback in his life, something he lived to deeply regret his entire life.
GOODWIN: No question about it. And it probably did prevent him from becoming president. But in a peculiar way, he may have been more temperamentally suited for the Senate.
You know, when Jack Kennedy saw an article in "Time" magazine when Teddy was first put into the Senate, it said Teddy smiled sardonically, and Jack said, he doesn't smile sardonically, Bobby does, I do, not Teddy. He's too good-natured. And in a certain way that was true of him. He was the most approachable, much more suited to be a legislator than either one of his brothers were, much more sensitive to people on different sides of the aisle, as we've talked about again and again.
It was deeply rooted, I think, in his personality from the time he was a little kid. Sent to boarding schools from the time he was four or five, six, seven, eight. Having to make friends over and over again. So that open personality became a part of his legacy.
And when you think about the 20th century, those senators are the ones we remember. We'll remember him now even more than some of the presidents certainly from the past.
BLITZER: And we're less than a minute away from the president of the United States getting ready to speak about Senator Kennedy.
Just speculate briefly, Doris, how sad would he be knowing there is no Kennedy in the United States Senate right now?
GOODWIN: There's no question that I think he depended on Kennedy, Obama did for helping to get that health legislation through, for making people on different sides of the aisle recognize this is a moment for them as senators where they can be remembered in history for having done something really important.
Without that voice there, it's even been troubling in the last couple months, maybe even more so now. Unless there is some feeling of, you know, empathy toward trying to do something to make good what Teddy wanted, which was this passage of the bill. That happened after Jack Kennedy's death. Maybe it will in good spirit after Teddy's
BLITZER: All right. The president is about to speak to the nation, indeed, to the world about his friend Senator Ted Kennedy. He's at Martha's Vineyard. He's getting ready to walk up to that microphone and speak from his heart. This is a man who was very close to him and arguably was instrumental. Here's the president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wanted to say a few words this morning about the passing of an extraordinary leader -- Senator Edward Kennedy.
Over the past several years, I've had the honor to call Teddy a colleague, a counselor and a friend. And even though we have known this day was coming for some time now, we awaited it with no small amount of dread.
Since Teddy's diagnosis last year, we've seen the courage with which he battled his illness. And all these months have no doubt been difficult for him. They've also let him here from people in every corner of our nation and from around the world just how much he meant to all of us. Despite, has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us. The blessing of time to say thank you and goodbye.
The outpouring of love, gratitude and fond memories to which we've all born witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives.
His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives. The seniors who know new dignity and families that know new opportunity and children who know education's promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just, including myself.
The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party, and at times Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection for members of both sides of the aisle.
The seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer. He compassionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines.
And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.
His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. An extraordinary of good that he did lives on.
For his family, he was a guardian. For America, he was defender of a dream.
I spoke earlier this morning to Senator Kennedy's beloved wife, Vicki, who was to the end such a wonderful source of encouragement and strength. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, his children Kara, Edward and Patrick, his stepchildren, Curran and Caroline, the entire Kennedy family, decades worth of his staff, the people of Massachusetts and all Americans who, like us, loved Ted Kennedy.
