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Remembering the Legacy of Ted Kennedy; Swine Flu Spreading; Hurricane Might be Heading for East Coast; Gauging Family Interest in Kennedy's Senate Seat; Sen. Kennedy to be Buried at Arlington; Helmet Sensors Warn of Heatstroke; Search Still On for Maskless Bank Robber
Aired August 26, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And as we bring in my colleague, Kyra Phillips, we can't forget to remember...
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Our troops.
HARRIS: ... the troops.
PHILLIPS: Right on. And as you were reading in that, you were just saying something, and I was thinking the same thing. We're losing our men and women overseas...
HARRIS: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: ... in Iraq and Afghanistan every single day. So these are, you know, tremendous leaders in our country. But boy, we've got some real leaders overseas, fighting for our freedom every day and dying for us, as well.
HARRIS: The next two hours are yours, lady. We're pushing forward NOW with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with this lady, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Tony.
We're talking about a legacy of pushing forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The work begins anew. The hope rises again! And the dream lives on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: By looking to the future, Ted Kennedy changed American history, but the cause of his life has outlived him, and the future of health-care reform is just as uncertain as ever.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, we knew this day was coming, says President Obama, and we awaited it with dread. The death of Edward Kennedy ends not only a momentous career in politics, but a chapter of U.S. history no novelist could have ever imagined. True to our mission, we're pushing forward on the chapter that starts today, the next generation of the first family of Democratic politics and the fate of what might have been Kennedy's crowning achievement: health care for all.
The 47-year Senate veteran died late last night at the family compound in Hyannis Port, some 15 months after learning he had a malignant brain tumor. His family calls him "the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we love so deeply. The joyous light in our lives."
We haven't yet heard about services, but we know that he'll be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, just like his brothers Jack and Bobby.
President Obama interrupted his week on Martha's Vineyard to salute Kennedy's courage, his ideas, his ideals. But if you were with us this morning, you saw and heard heartbreak in the face and words of Vice President Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Don't you find it remarkable that one of the most partisan liberal men in the last century, serving in the Senate, so many of his foes embrace him. Because they know he made them bigger. He made them more graceful by the way in which he conducted himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Only two senators in U.S. history served longer than Edward Moore Kennedy, who took over the Massachusetts seat that his brother left when he was elected president. Replacing Teddy, as his family, friends and colleagues know him, will take a special election about five months from now.
Health care reform, it was the late senator's cause to the end. And it's now up to his colleagues in Congress to push it forward. Here's a look at some of the health-care town halls going on today as this make-or-break month winds down. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, California, and Florida.
The one in Apalachicola gets under way this hour, and Democratic Congressman Allen Boyd is the host. He'd planned to have about 14 meetings this month in his panhandle district. We'll monitor the one today.
Well, politicians work on health policy, doctors and nurses in the trenches fight a virus that seems to get more ominous every day: H1N1, swine flu. By the hour, by the minute, we're hearing of more cases. And as the school year begins, prevention takes on a renewed urgency.
At one university, they're treating sick students as if they do have swine flu, erring on the side of caution. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here, and she's actually starting to hear about suspected new cases daily. So, really, we're talking about the spread, bottom line, not necessarily the number of cases, but how it's spreading.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And not surprising when students gather together at college campuses, once again, you're going to see more spread of this disease. Anytime you get lots of people in one place, that's what's going to happen.
So, let's just -- I'm going to throw out a couple of the numbers that we've been hearing today. At the University of Kansas, cases of 180 students with flu-like symptoms. Right there, you see their isolation room where they're putting some rooms who are sick.
At the University of Georgia, 58 folks confirmed with influenza type A. They don't know if it's H1N1. And at Georgia tech, they see -- here in Atlanta, they're seeing about 100 cases of suspected flu.
Now, in most of these cases, they have not confirmed that it's H1N1. But as Kyra said, many times they treat it as if it were.
PHILLIPS: So, what do you do if your child's going off to college? Let's start there. Because that's happening actually last week and this week, as we speak.
COHEN: Right. The first thing you want to do is not panic. Because in the vast majority of cases when people get swine flu, they're OK. They have the flu for a couple of days. I think, you know, many of us have been through that. It's not pleasant, but they're not going to become severely or disastrously ill. So that's the first rule.
But you should talk to your child and say, "You know, there's a chance, and not a small chance, but there is a chance that you could get sick and that you might be isolated in your dorm room. Your roommate will have to leave." People should be prepared for that.
Now, if your child has any underlying health conditions such, for example, like asthma, then you really want to talk to your doctor now, about what to do. Because when someone who's already chronically ill gets swine flu, it's a different ball game. They're more vulnerable to complications.
PHILLIPS: Which leads us to our next question, the state of the vaccine. Where does that stand?
COHEN: Right now, the National Institutes of Health says that they expect to have some vaccine ready by the middle of October. It may not be enough for everyone who wants it, but it will at least be a start with about 50 million doses.
The swine flu vaccine is actually two injections. You get one. Three weeks later you get another one, and then it takes about two weeks after that for it to kick in. More doses will be available as the fall continues. PHILLIPS: OK. And this might be a stupid question, but then...
COHEN: Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: Right, because seriously, there's a lot of folks that are sick on the team right now. And we're sort of joking saying, "Oh, you have swine flu," but really how do you know a regular cold or regular flu from the swine flu?
COHEN: Well, you know what? If you have flu-like symptoms, if you have a fever and body aches and a cough and all that, you really have no way of knowing whether you have swine flu or if you have regular flu. Really, it is very difficult to tell.
And in some ways it may not be that important exactly what kind of flu you have. The most important thing to do is to talk to your doctor, to see what you ought to be doing. And do you know what? I'll be honest. There is a good chance that your doctor might say, "We're not going to test you. We don't really care whether it's swine flu or not. The point is, you have the flu, and you need to take care of it." So some people may never know if they had swine flu or not.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, we'll keep talking about it, I'm sure, Elizabeth, thank you so much.
Well, for as long as most of us can remember, the Kennedys have been America's royal family. Ted became patriarch at a very young age. But there is no heir apparent.
Joining me now to push forward on family succession is CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who definitely knows the Kennedys well.
And, you know, maybe we can talk about that in a second, Christiane, but I think what is -- really caught my attention this morning, we were talking about, you know, who can we bring in to talk about pushing forward with the Kennedy legacy. He did so much overseas. He had quite a global impact. And you have traveled, probably, to every country where he did make an impact.
What stands out to you?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he did. Although he was a lion in the U.S. Senate and was so instrumental so much of the reform for the people of this country, he also did have a huge impact overseas, and tributes are pouring in from all over the world.
Remember back in 1985, he introduced a bill for sanctions against then-Apartheid South Africa. And that sort of launched the real tidal wave of momentum that then brought down Apartheid several years later. So there's long tributes coming in from South Africa at the moment.
And another area that's very close to America's heart. That is Ireland, his heritage. He was very instrumental in bringing the two sides together in the northern alliance peace process. He'd been involved in it since the '70s. But back in 1994 he urged President Clinton to allow a visa to be granted to Jerry Adams who was president of the Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA.
And that, in turn, led to the many years of negotiations that finally led to devolved government to shared government in Northern Ireland, and he was there at every step of the way.
Never apologizing for IRA violence, but always standing up for the right of the national cause in Northern Ireland. And it wasn't just Northern Ireland that praised him. It was Britain, as well, which has praised him for his part in the peace there.
He was instrumental in many of the negotiations, or at least some of the key ones, with the Soviet Union. Me met then Soviet chairman Leonid Brezhnev. He met with the successor several years later, Mikhail Gorbachev. He was instrumental in relaying messages, for instance, that Gorbachev promised that they would not station nuclear missiles or anything in Europe.
And so, his reach overseas was quite long and quite powerful.
But beyond that, President Kennedy, way back in the '60s, the Kennedy name is all over the world. It's represented everything good about America in the '60s and beyond. Even in Iran, where I grew up, there was a Kennedy Boulevard. And all over Africa and parts of the rest of the world, the Kennedy name and legacy stood for all the promise of the United States: reform, democracy, and the kind of things that people around the world look to the U.S. for.
PHILLIPS: Christiane, you talk about reform and democracy and peace accords that he's been involved with. I remember 20 years ago covering a press conference on the Hill. And it was the young, strapping Ted Kennedy and the young, strapping John Kerry. And they were talking about human rights in El Salvador.
And you talk about just the legacy of the family, his brother creating the Peace Corps. That definitely folded into this family and what they did for human rights around the world.
AMANPOUR: That's exactly right. For instance, in Chile during the period of fascism in Chile, he was instrumental, again, in trying to distance the U.S. from that.
So, yes, on many of those sort of standout issues that convulsed the world and the United States: for instance, Vietnam; for instance, the second Gulf War, the Iraq war in 2002. He was one of the early holdouts against that, the opponents of that war.
So, there's -- there's -- there's a lot of influence that not just the family, the President Kennedy had, but also Ted Kennedy had, as well.
And obviously, from all over the world today, huge tributes are coming -- coming in, as they would.
He's had a legendary career. It has not been unmarked by controversy, going all the way back to Chappaquiddick. People around the world are mindful of that. And, yet, for many people, they saw what he did after Chappaquiddick as perhaps his way of trying to make up for that, atone for that, and be a real positive influence on -- in global affairs, not just in U.S. affairs.
PHILLIPS: Stay with me, for a second, Christiane. I understand on the phone with us now, and we talk about global influence. Lawrence Leamer is actually in Nepal. He's calling in from there. We know him as a best-selling author. His books include "The Kennedy Men," "The Kennedy Women" and "Songs of Camelot."
Lawrence, I was just talking with Christiane about the Peace Corps and how ironic that you're there. That's where you served time in the Peace Corps.
LAWRENCE LEAMER, KENNEDY BIOGRAPHER (via telephone): That's right.
PHILLIPS: And so, when we start thinking just about the involvement that Kennedy had worldwide, what would stand out to you? Is it -- is it his fight for human rights, as you're there in Nepal thinking about the history here and the family and the Peace Corps? Or would it be something else?
LEAMER: Well, listening to Christiane, just -- I was eavesdropping on this while I was waiting, and I'm thinking, what area of world affairs did he not touch? Whether it's Ireland, whether it's Iraq. He just was everywhere.
And that's why he will go down in history, in all probability, as the greatest Senator in the last 100 years. And it's entirely possible that, when we look at the history of the Kennedys, that he will be -- he will be considered for having done more and encompassed more and changed more than either of his older brothers, as unlikely as that would have seemed 30 years ago.
PHILLIPS: So, who are you paying attention to now, the next big Kennedy? Who picks up the torch from here, Lawrence?
LEAMER: Well, I think the torch has burned itself down. I don't -- I'm not sure there is a next Kennedy to take over. And I hope that isn't the way this is seen, that this is seen as a kind of Kennedy seat. Because I think that one of the problems of the Kennedys, what was once called the young generation -- and the young generation is now late middle-aged -- has a sense of entitlement.
And there's no longer inevitability about Kennedys winning electoral politics. Catherine Kennedy Townsend lost in Maryland when she was way ahead. Mark Shriver lost in the primary when he was running for Congress.
So I'm not sure. The Kennedys -- the Kennedys have done many good things. The Shrivers, all three -- all those young men and Maria, all of them are doing great things. And so many of the Kennedys are doing useful things in the world, but that doesn't mean they're going to be the next Senator from Massachusetts.
PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour, you want to button it up? Your thoughts about the next big Kennedy?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, it's hard to tell. We've seen so many, as Lawrence said, of the second generation, who have gone into politics, gone into public service, some with great success, others not. And I think that this is an ongoing story. It's really hard to put a pinpoint on that.
I mean, in California, as Lawrence mentioned, Maria Shriver, first lady there, niece of Senator Kennedy and the president, has really made great strides, particularly in her outreach with women and her mobilization of women there.
Bobby Kennedy has done enormous things in the environmental movement. There are many, even in office right now. So -- and Caroline Kennedy, of course, the daughter of President Kennedy, who tried but didn't go through with the -- with the Senate bid.
Nonetheless, they're still big figures by virtue of the way America looks at them. So, there is perhaps not an inevitability, but definitely a possibility of another generation.
PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour and Lawrence Leamer, thank you both so much.
LEAMER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Our coverage doesn't stop here. We're going to keep pushing forward on the impact of Edward Kennedy in life and in death. We'll also going to bring you all the latest information on funeral plans, Senate succession and, of course, the cause of the late Senator's life: health care.
The East Coast isn't getting much of a break from bad weather. Just days after Hurricane Bill threatened that region, there's something new in the tropics to worry about. And Chad Myers is working on that for us. We'll talk to him in just a sec.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: His presence over the last year has had great value. His spirit has been there during all of these debates, and while he wasn't there to cast votes, believe me, his presence was felt during these discussions, as they will be in the coming days.
So, for me, it's just a great loss of a great friend and a great, great advocate for people. So, I'm saddened by it deeply. It's like losing a brother. I lost my sister about a month ago, and I feel this pain almost as much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Senator Chris Dodd speaking about a half hour ago, mourning his friend and colleague, Edward Kennedy. You're looking at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, right now, center of the Kennedy universe, the place where the family has come together many times to seek comfort in the shadow of loss, and we're going to continue to follow developments in the death of the family's patriarch, Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
The story now that could impact the East Coast this weekend. Tropical Storm Danny forming east of the Bahamas. Chad Myers is tracking it for us in the CNN weather center.
What do you think, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm not impressed yet today, because the circulation center of Danny, Kyra, is away from the convection. All that said, it sounds like some kind of -- something in the "New York Times" crossword puzzle.
What -- basically what it is, is that we want to see -- if you want a hurricane, you want all the convection to be very close to the center. Hard to even find the center, but it's well west of what all that is. So, not very organized. That's what it means. It's not growing, that's what it means.
But it's in some very warm water. It certainly has the potential to grow, and that is the forecast, for to it go from what is now a 45- to a 50-mile-per-hour storm. There is the East Coast of the U.S. And then making a run, a possible run, at the north Carolina coast.
You have to look at the cone. And, North Carolina, you are still in it. Look at the cone. Cape Cod, you are still in it. You are right in the middle of the cone here as a Category 1 possible hurricane for the middle of the weekend.
But what do we have for today? We have some rain showers over parts of Florida. We also have some much-needed rainfall into a drought-stricken Houston, in Beaumont, all the way down here. Severe thunderstorm watch for you. Could be some wind and some hail with that cell later on today.
Other than that, we aren't looking at too much there in the way of Texas rainfall, where we really need more of it, back out here to the west, as well.
We will keep watching the hurricane tracks, Kyra, because the computers are still running. They aren't all that together yet for now as we get up farther towards the northeast part of the United States. You see one actually takes it not that far from Delaware. The other missing the United States altogether. It's going to take a couple of days for things to work theirselves out here in these computer models. We'll see, though, if it does become the next hurricane.
PHILLIPS: OK. Thanks, Chad.
You've got to think a prosecutor has seen his share of the nightmarish crime scenes in 20 years. But the one where a pastor was found dead in her church? The worst, the most horrific, the D.A. says, he's ever seen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And you're looking at a live picture now of Capitol Hill, where flags are flying at half-staff in honor of Senator Ted Kennedy. President Obama ordered the same at the White House and all federal buildings.
We push forward now on our coverage of the death of Senator Kennedy, who died last night after a long battle with brain cancer. We've learned that he'll be buried at Arlington National Cemetery not far from his brothers, John and Robert.
Key question right now: How will Ted Kennedy's successor to the Senate be selected? Massachusetts law requires a special election five months after an opening.
Last week Kennedy asked state lawmakers to change the law to allow the governor to appoint an interim successor as long as that person pledges not to run for the seat. The governor says he supports changing the law, but although the state is dominated by Democrats, there's no guarantee the law will be changed.
Also, any change couldn't happen until lawmakers return to former sessions -- formal sessions, rather, sometime after Labor Day.
Now, so for the past time -- or so, for the first time, actually, in more than 50 years, we have a United States Senate without a Kennedy. And that got us thinking about the Kennedy dynasty and who, if anyone, in the family might replace him as a political leader.
So, we're bringing in our CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
And, Wolf, what we've done is we've put together sort of the line of Ted Kennedy himself. So, let's go ahead and take a look, starting off with Edward Kennedy here. And the fact that his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, a lawyer. And there's reports today in "The Boston Globe" that she might run for her husband's Senate seat.
You know, there's his children, Patrick Kennedy, also being talked about in the Associated Press articles as a possible contender for Kennedy's seat. He's the only one of Ted Kennedy's children in politics. He's a congressman from Rhode Island. He worked alongside his father, Ted, to enact a milestone mental health bill.
And then, of course, there's Edward Kennedy Jr. He's being talked about as a replacement. He lost a leg to cancer as a child. He worked as a lawyer specializing in disability issues, and then founded a Wall Street investment firm.
And then you've got Kara Kennedy, diagnosed with lung cancer, now cancer free. Worked for an arts nonprofit group that promotes access to the arts for the disabled.
So, Wolf, your thoughts before we move onto his older brother, Robert Kennedy, and his kids. What do you think? Any players here to fill the spot?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there will be some pressure on Vicki Kennedy to change her mind over the past couple weeks, when there was this letter that was revealed that Senator Kennedy wrote, asking for a change, for an interim appointment until an election within five months. She basically ruled herself out. And all sorts of sources close to the Kennedy family said she was absolutely, positively not interested.
It might have been unseemly if she would have expressed an interest even while her husband was alive. But now that he's said, I suspect there will be some pressure. We'll see how much pressure there is and see if she really is interested.
Patrick Kennedy's a congressman, as you know, Democratic congressman, from neighboring Rhode Island. I suspect he's not going to move to Massachusetts. And Kara and Teddy Jr., they've never shown a whole lot of interest in going into politics, per se.
So, unless Vicki changes her mind, I suspect there isn't going to be one of those Kennedys in the state of Massachusetts in the Senate seat.
PHILLIPS: OK. So, then, let's go ahead and let's bring up now Robert Kennedy and take a look here at -- at his -- the fact -- he was assassinated, obviously, in 1968 during his campaign for president.
But taking a look at his kids, Joseph Kennedy II, "Boston Globe" is actually reporting that he could possibly run for his uncle's seat. Currently a congressman Massachusetts.
And then you've got Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Served as lieutenant governor of Maryland and then ran unsuccessfully for governor in 200. Currently a professor at Georgetown University.
Then you've got Robert Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, author and radio host.
And then finally Rory Kennedy, a respected documentary filmmaker.
Any of your thoughts on these four?
BLITZER: Well, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was the lieutenant governor of Maryland. She wanted to be governor, did not win. I suspect she's not going to move to Massachusetts to try to do this.
Rory Kennedy, as you say, is a filmmaker. I don't think she's going to be interested in running for the Senate seat.
Joe Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr., you know, they're both politicians to a certain degree. They might be interested, if the pressure is there. There is going to be pressure from within the Kennedy family and outside of the Kennedy family for a Kennedy to be in the Senate, and those would potentially be two candidates who would have to move back to Massachusetts and get into the swing of things. But, you know, we'll see what happens on that front. It's been 50 years, as you point out, that there's always been a Kennedy in the United States Senate. First Senator John F. Kennedy before he became president and then Teddy Kennedy. And so we'll see what happens. But Massachusetts without a Kennedy in the Senate, it's going to be different.
PHILLIPS: Well, John F. Kennedy, you know, we've got to bring up this connection. Thirty-fifth president of the United States, assassinated in 1963. His daughter, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, struggled politically, as we know, Wolf, during her brief interest in Senator Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in New York but withdrew in January. She's an attorney, writer, editor and, of course, on the board of several nonprofits.
What do you think? I mean, could she possibly go for it again? That was sort of a tough moment, I guess, you could say, among the Kennedy family and for her when she thought about, you know, taking Hillary Clinton's seat and then -- and then backing out.
BLITZER: She's a very talented woman in her own right, Caroline Kennedy, and she seriously thought about -- she -- I think was ready to accept that New York state Senate seat that Hillary Clinton was giving up to become secretary of state.
But she's not a natural-born politician, has often been said, and in the end, it didn't really work out.
She did play a very important role in setting the stage for her uncle to endorse Senator -- then-Senator Obama for the Democrat presidential nomination over Hillary Clinton. She wrote that op-ed in "The New York Times" a day or two before Senator Kennedy went ahead and made the endorsement.
So she is -- she is a political figure in that right, but she has been living in New York state all these years. She'd have to move to Michigan -- to Massachusetts. And it's unlikely, in my opinion, that she's going to want to throw her hat back into this political ring. It wasn't a good fit for her in New York state, and I believe it won't be a political -- a very good fit for her in Massachusetts.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, when you just look at the family line here, and you see all of the players, with JFK and then Bobby Kennedy and then Teddy Kennedy, it's pretty amazing, all the individuals and how they're all tied together, and how they've gone into service.
Wolf, thanks. Appreciate it.
BLITZER: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We're going to continue our coverage of Senator Ted Kennedy's death, including funeral plans and other developments.
Also, he robs banks, and he doesn't wear a mask. Who is he? And does he work alone? We're taking a look at what the FBI is doing to get the guy behind bars. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Other stories making news today. The Taliban says "it wasn't us," denying that they were behind yesterday's bombing in southern Afghanistan that killed some 40 people. In a message to the Associated Press, a Taliban spokesperson condemns the attack, saying innocent civilians were killed.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford gets a call to quit from his second in command. Last hour, Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer asked Sanford to resign. Bauer also promises to stay out of the upcoming governor's race if Sanford steps down. Pressure has been mounting on the embattled gov since he admitted to an affair.
An Oklahoma prosecutor says it's the most horrific crime scene he's ever seen, a 61-year-old preacher murdered in her own church. Now the prosecutor is meeting with other pastors in the town to talk about the case. An autopsy says that Carol Daniels died of, quote, "multiple sharp-force injuries."
As we mentioned, Senator Kennedy will be buried near his brothers at Arlington National Cemetery, and CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with more on that -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, 46 years after President Kennedy was buried, 41 years after the late Senator Robert Kennedy was buried, Washington, D.C., Arlington Cemetery and the country getting ready for another Kennedy funeral at Arlington Cemetery.
Earlier today, U.S. military officials confirmed that the family has made the plan and accepted the plan for Senator Kennedy's final resting place to be close to his brothers at Arlington. You see Arlington there on your screen. Senator Kennedy will be laid to rest about 90 feet, we are told, from the grave of his brother Robert Kennedy at the bottom of the hill where the eternal flame for the late president is, where Senator Kennedy is buried and other members of President Kennedy's family.
What we've learned is, it was a few weeks ago when officials at Arlington Cemetery made with Kennedy staffers, laid the plan out to them as they saw it. The plan went back to the Kennedy family. It was accepted. Arrangements now being made, and we expect the forthcoming announcement of course about the actual date of the funeral -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let us know when you hear. Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
And how will Senator Kennedy's death impact cancer research, as well as health reform? CNN's medical chief -- or correspondent, rather, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us next hour in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ted Kennedy was born on the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth, February 22nd, 1932. And unlike the nation's first president, Kennedy never realized the family dream that he would one day move into the White House. As we know, his was a life of deep tragedy mixed with soaring achievement.
Here's CNN's Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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 goodbye to Jack. Five years later, in 1968, another assassination, another goodbye. Bobby this time.
Often invoking his brothers, Ted Kennedy turned to make his mark in the Senate in the '60s and '70s, a 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.
SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I regard as indefensible 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.
KENNEDY: Si se puede!
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I 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 goodbye 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 frequent fodder for tabloids. But he remarried, carried on, added to his policy accomplishments.
GEORGE W. BUSH, THEN-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 hearkening 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.
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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PHILLIPS: Well, we all know football's a fall sport, but practice starts in the heat of summer. At least 39 football players have reportedly died from heat-related causes since 1995, but a new technology could keep them safer, and it's all in their heads.
Gary Tuchman has today's "Edge of Discovery."
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High school football is back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!
TUCHMAN: A big concern for players and coaches this time of year? Sweltering temperatures, which can increase the risk of heatstroke and, in some cases, death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting toasty. If we get that cloud cover, we'll be all right.
TUCHMAN: To beat the heat, a Georgia company has developed these dime-sized sensors, worn inside players' helmets.
JAY BUCKALEW, HOTHEAD TECHNOLOGIES: What we're trying to do is just give that early-warning alert system that that athlete is getting dangerously close to heatstroke.
TUCHMAN: The sensors constantly monitor the body temperature of a player on the field. Every ten seconds, updates are sent to a small device carried by coaches or trainers. And if a player exceeds 102.5 degrees for more than 30 seconds, an alert sounds.
PRESTON BAZEMORE, ATHLETIC TRAINER, BLESSED TRINITY: We want to prevent the injury before it happens. This is just another tool in our little back pocket that we can use to make sure these kids are participating safely.
TUCHMAN: A few high schools and colleges are using the system this season. It costs about $100 per player. The technology could also be used by firefighters and military personnel. For these players, it's safety first, then Friday night lights.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Deb Feyerick coming to us live from Hyannis Port. Apparently some new information with regard to Ted Kennedy and lying in repose.
Deb, what do you know?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, well, we're getting a couple more details on how this is all going to happen over the next couple of days. Here's what we can tell you right now, that in fact, Senator Kennedy will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston before his funeral in a city church. Kennedy, as you know, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his slain brothers.
This is according to a source with knowledge of the information. Obviously, nobody wanting to tell too much, simply because it's all very sensitive right now, and they really do want to respect the privacy of the family.
In addition, there will be a funeral Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, known as the Mission Church in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. And Kennedy prayed there daily with his daughter, Kara, when she successfully battled her own cancer. So, again, those are some of the details. That's going to happen over the next couple of days.
We are then told that he will be brought to Washington, D.C. after all these arrangements take place. It's with a heavy heart that we see family members coming in and out of this compound, which is just behind me. And a lot of activity, a lot of young kids, Kennedy relatives who have been spending the summer here with various relatives.
A number of people going into Ethel Kennedy's house, actually. We did see Patrick Kennedy, the senator's son, come out of here a short while ago. And again, he sort of glanced over, looked at all the cameras, and then he put his head down, looking quite somber. He was with his father when he died. But he also said that he was able to spend a lot of good time with his father over these last couple of months.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Deb Feyerick, thanks so much.
Now, to a mystery man about -- all the feds really want to know more about him. He's armed, he's daring and he's very dangerous. He's the man who robs banks without a mask.
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PHILLIPS: Well, if he keeps it up, he might end up in the history books along with John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd. He's got the feds stumped and amazed at his boldness. He is a bank robber who doesn't even wear a mask.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Ten banks robbed across four southeastern states. Brazen heists, police say, by this man, caught on surveillance cameras. Authorities think it all started with a robbery in Louisville, Kentucky last May.
The string continued into North Carolina, South Carolina and then two robberies in Tennessee just last week. What FBI agents say they find surprising is the blatant disregard for hiding his identity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really uncommon just to go into a bank and show his face like he has.
PHILLIPS: In this surveillance video, the alleged robber can be seen apparently casing a bank in Fletcher, North Carolina, the second known bank to be robbed. If you look closely, you can see him speaking into a walkie-talkie. Later, he calmly walks out of the bank with a bag of money.
They think he also used a wireless phone headset in the third heist, in Forest Acres, South Carolina. A law enforcement source says those two robberies have prompted them to explore the possibility of an accomplice.
FBI Stephen Emmett says bank robberies are not as lucrative as the public tends to believe. Usually, robbers stealing to feed a drug habit.
STEPHEN EMMETT, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: You have an individual going into a bank with a gun in a reckless manner. And now, he might actually be on drugs and strung out on drugs. So, that makes this even more imperative to get this individual off the street before anybody gets hurt.
PHILLIPS: In an attempt to get this robber off the street, the FBI has placed digital bill board ads across eight southern states.
EMMETT: We try to reserve the billboards for the more mobile, more egregious, violent offenders.
PHILLIPS: The billboards have led to the arrests of more than 20 fugitives since the FBI started using them last year. But some of the more important clues are not on the billboard.
EMMETT: What it's not showing is the handgun in his right hand pointed directly at the victim teller. It's also not showing the very distinctive tattoos all up and down both forearms.
PHILLIPS: Tattoos that can be easily recognized by friends, family or even people associated with possible past crimes.
EMMETT: In addition to a family member or friend, somebody's going to recognize this individual, maybe a probation officer, maybe a former cellmate.
PHILLIPS: While there have been no injuries from the robberies, the FBI considers this man extremely dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has put the gun in the faces of tellers, threatened to use the gun against them and threatened violence against the banks themselves. So, certainly, we need to get this guy in custody before he does harm someone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And the FBI tells us that the electronic billboard exposure and the coverage on CNN and CNN.com have actually led to calls and tips, which they're now checking out. If you know anything about this suspect, call the FBI hotline number at 423-282-8090.