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Remembering Ted Kennedy; Mark Sanford Under Fire; Tropical Storm Danny Following Same Path as Bill Thus Far

Aired August 26, 2009 - 14:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Presidents come and go. One was his own brother. But Edward Moore Kennedy, Teddy, influenced American politics for more than 45 years. What drove him? His life in pictures and archival footage you'd likely never seen before. The good moments and the bad. An American icon passes on.

And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. By now, you have probably had your fill of people talking - key word here is "talking" - by the way, about Senator Ted Kennedy. If you want more of that, you may need to go elsewhere.

We are going to dedicate much of this hour, much of this show, to Senator Kennedy. But we're going to do it by letting you experience the history that was his life, the moments that shaped him and in many ways shaped our national conversation.

We're going to do it not with talking heads, but with historic videos, historic films, historic stills and photos.

First, though, I want to tell you about something else going on. There is some developing news going on right now coming to us out of South Carolina that may spell the end or it may spell a real serious showdown for Governor Mark Sanford.

Sanford, as you know, is embroiled in an ugly sex scandal that may involve -- may involve his using state money while having a relationship with an Argentine mistress.

And just moments ago, South Carolina's lieutenant governor came forward and essentially said to the governor -- this is his lieutenant governor holding a news conference and saying, resign or else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. ANDRE BAUER (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: It is of my opinion that the best interests of the people of South Carolina can no longer be served by the current administration.

The serious misconduct that has already been revealed along with lingering questions and continuing distractions make it virtually impossible for our state to solve the critical problems we are facing without a change in leadership.

That is why I now must call upon Governor Sanford in the interest of our state to resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Bauer goes on to say, by the way, that he fears that efforts to impeach the governor will then dominate the next session of the state legislature, and then that would prevent other issues from gaining attention. Governor Sanford's term ends 2011.

Now the pictures I was just talking about and, man, I mean pictures. Much of what you will see this hour will reveal Senator Kennedy as a part of American history that was captured on newsreels and stills and film and video, because he had a camera following him everywhere he went.

Here is some of that video we have put together for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another Kennedy has thrown his hat into the national political arena. Edward M. or Ted officially announces his campaign for the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by his brother, the president.

The youngest of the three brothers, he will face Edward J. McCormack Jr., nephew of the speaker of the House, in the Democratic primary. There are hot times brewing on the Massachusetts political scene.

At the state Democratic convention, Edward J. McCormack, 38-year- old nephew of House Speaker McCormack seeks the party nomination for senator in a contest with Edward Ted Kennedy, youngest brother of the president. Two men both aim at the seat vacated by Senator John F. Kennedy when he assumed the office of president.

It is a convention of noisy demonstration that has the rafters ringing in Springfield.

Thirty-year-old Ted Kennedy wins the convention endorsement by nearly 2-1. National attention is focused on a senatorial contest in Massachusetts. While the president took no active part in the campaign, he left in the middle of one of the America's Cup races to vote at Boston's Joy Street police station. He had no comment on his brother's victory, but political observers were quick to point out that the younger Kennedy's race in November will be more than a local issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A man who cares, Edward M. Kennedy, endorsed Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.

EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Too many of our senior citizens are being forced to choose between neglecting their ailments or being pauperized by them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote for Edward M. Kennedy, the endorsed Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 88th Congress convenes in Washington for a busy session. There are some new faces on Capitol Hill. And among them are 12 new senators. Most interest, however, centers around Edward Ted Kennedy, the third brother to achieve success in the national political arena.

WALTER CRONKITE, CBS NEWS: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making a final stop on his tour of Ireland, Senator Edward Kennedy finds 100,000 people in the streets of Limerick to give him a tumultuous send-off. It's 70 degrees in the shade, very warm for the Emerald Isle. But the temperature of Limerick's populace is at a new high to salute the brother of the martyred president.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was seriously injured when his private plane crashed in the woods near Southampton, 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 10 months. His family, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy, quickly gathered at his bedside and specialists were flown from Walter Reed Hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here from his hospital room, Senator Kennedy speaks to you now.

KENNEDY: Well, I'm coming along now. The doctors estimate that I will be out of the hospital around Christmastime. I'm planning on Thanksgiving. I haven't mentioned that to them yet, but I plan to in the next few days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well-wishers wait outside a Boston hospital to greet a man who made good a promise of six months ago to recover from a broken back in time for Christmas. Senator Edward M. Kennedy leaves New England Baptist Hospital for Palm Beach to spend the holidays with the Kennedy clan.

While his older brother Robert tours the Far East, Edward Kennedy stops in Greece for an unofficial visit. Mr. Kennedy expressed pleasure at the opportunity to visit this seat of Western culture and spent every moment he could spare at the shrines that mothered democracy.

From here, Mr. Kennedy went on to Warsaw to continue his private fact-finding tour.

It is the season for congressional junkets, as South Vietnam refugee camps are visited by a legislative party that includes Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The trip is officially described as a fact-finding mission on the part of the committee, who said they wish to see how civilian refugees were faring in the centers set up by the South Vietnamese government with aid from the United States.

The senator and his party expressed themselves as highly pleased with the efforts being made to help the South Vietnamese, the civilians, who always suffer the most when caught in the path of war. KENNEDY: On to Chicago and let's win this. Thank you very much.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

KENNEDY: Beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man. He saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: There is more, by the way, including raw footage of his brothers' funerals and the moment when Senator Kennedy stood all but alone and gave a speech opposing the Iraq war. Remember that?

Also, there is another potential hurricane to tell you about. This storm is growing in the Atlantic and most of you along the Eastern Seaboard will want to see this.

Also, remember the after-show. It comes on right at 4:00, CNN.com/live, as we continue this special tribute and all the day's news. I will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, I have got to fill you on some information that just came into us moments ago. There's developing news having to do with Rick Pitino, the very famous and very well-dressed coach from Kentucky.

Pitino admitted, as you know, two weeks ago to having a sexual encounter. This was back in 2003. It was in a restaurant with a woman who obviously was not his wife. He went on to say that that woman after calling authorities then tried to extort money from him.

Well, since that story and since that admission, the story obviously has taken hold there in Kentucky and in many parts of the country. So, just moments ago, Rick Pitino held a news conference and had quite a lot of say to about this, and then walked away, stormed away, you say. Let's let you watch that for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PITINO, LOUISVILLE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: I am saying something. It's a lie. It is a 100 percent lie. You have all known that it is a lie. You have all known it. You haven't printed. You haven't said it. You have know the background, but you haven't said it.

So, I am going to get on to basketball. I will tell you this. It hasn't hurt recruiting one bit. We will still bring in top 10 players. This program has been a top 10 program the last two years. It will continue to be a top 10 program. Our fans are the greatest in college basketball, my opinion. I work here. I'm sure there's great fans everywhere. We will continue to bring in great players. We will still run this program with great integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There was originally a lot of questions about whether or not he would resign or actually even be asked to resign. It sounds from the -- from listening to that news conference he gave just moments ago like that is not something that he is considering. We will stay on top of it for you.

OK. Here is what we know about Senator Kennedy's funeral and burial. Details have been released within the last couple of hours. Sources close to the family say that the funeral will be held Saturday morning at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Health in Boston. He will be buried Saturday afternoon as many of you might expect who have visited the site at Arlington National Cemetery next to the graves of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

Some call the Kennedys America's royal family. And an HBO documentary, it's called "Ted Kennedy." Talks about his own family and his own life. We want to show you now parts of that documentary that we have found. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: From my earliest beginnings, our house has been the scrapbook for our family. All of the really major times of joy and triumph and some of sadness and disappointment have been a part of these pictures.

I have grown up in a large family as the ninth member of that family. The relationship between brothers and sisters was extremely close. All during the 30s and 40s, my father was one that just would challenge all the members of the family. He could spot when you were not really measuring up, not giving your all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's just beginning of it, by the way. We're going to show you more of this after the break, including a look at Ted Kennedy as that pudgy-faced kid with his brothers and his mom and his dad. Unbelievable video.

And, also, something I have even never known or seen before, Ted Kennedy as a college football player actually making a touchdown catch for Harvard. This is an incredible film. You can see the entire HBO documentary film, "Teddy: In His Own Words." It's tonight at 7:00 right here at CNN. We will have more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I have just gotten some word from my producer that the LBJ Library has just released some audiotapes, conversations that maybe have never been heard before between the president then, LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Ted Kennedy. We are trying to turn that around for you. So, stick around, because, hopefully, within the next couple of minutes, we are going to be able to share that piece of audiotape with you, so you can hear this exclusive conversation for yourself, this historic conversation, I should say.

There is something else I want to tell you about, because I watched this today. And I was kind of touched by it. Today, we watched -- I watched as well as everybody else who was watching CNN at the time two grown men break down.

One is the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. He was extremely close to Ted Kennedy. The other was Senator Chris Dodd, who said today, "I lost my best friend."

As I share those words with you, I want to bring you into the next part of this HBO documentary that we are being allowed to share with you. Again, this is "Teddy: In His Own Words." That's what this is called. Now, this is interesting, because this is Ted Kennedy in the early years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: People have a lot of challenges, a lot of heartache during the course of their lives, and still try and reach out and help other people. And that is sort of a central kind of a theme in terms of our development.

From the days of high school, I always wanted to run for office. I would say, probably in college, I really became most interested in politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no stopping (INAUDIBLE), who clicked with a touchdown toss that's deflected to end Ted Kennedy, brother of Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy.

KENNEDY: All of us played sports. In our family, all the boys and girls were all really treated very equally. And then there was the strongest of the pecking order. I mean, people understood that, of course, being the youngest member of the family and being more conscious of that. (INAUDIBLE) the youngest anyway. They said that I didn't wait in line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There is so much to say as you watch some of this video and so many of you are having so much to say. So, I'm going to share that with the rest of the folks in our national conversation in just a moment.

Also, there is something else I want to share with you. There is trouble in the Atlantic. It could be serious trouble. It's another potential hurricane. And Chad Myers is going to be all over it as we move on ahead.

Stay with us. I'm going to be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

As we reported earlier, there will be a memorial service for Senator Kennedy on Friday. It's at the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. A private funeral we now understand will take place Saturday morning at our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica. That's in Boston.

The senator will be buried later Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery as you might expect next to the eternal flame, where his brother JFK and Bobby Kennedy are also buried.

All right, want to take a look now at some of the things that you have been saying, because obviously many of you seem to be enjoying this newscast that we are bringing you today, which is a combination of both the news and the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy.

Let's start at the very top there. It says, from JaneannDill: "I am deeply saddened by our loss of Teddy Kennedy. What a splendid example of a man who learned to walk an honorable path."

As we ton: "The last of three musketeers. All of the Kennedys were loyal to their country and made policy that will live forever. I am enjoying the show."

Thank you.

"Ted Kennedy did more for black people in America than Michael Jackson. Why aren't they in the streets crying today?"

Interesting question.

"I'm riveted. Once again, you revolutionize the way news is reported. Thank you."

No, thank you.

"My family and I are deeply saddened by the loss of Teddy Kennedy. He was the last of the great American dynasty."

And: "Thank you. Sick and tired of egotistical, tone-deaf cable commentators who make this about them. It is about Teddy."

It is. And we are going to continue to try and bring you some of the very latest videos and pictures that tell his life story with those stills and those films that many of us have never seen before.

We have more looks at Senator Kennedy's life coming up in just a little bit.

We are also going to be watching fires in California, by the way. That's important. There is a storm in the Atlantic as well. It's named Danny. How potentially is old Danny boy? Well, Chad is on it. And we are going to join him in just a little bit to let us know. So, stay with us. We're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Ask yourself how many Americans thought this? There is an interesting message that was just sent to me on MySpace a little while ago I want to real with you.

Johnny B. Goode or Orly (ph), either one of you, shoot that one right there at the very top. "When Ted ran for president, I remember my mother, who was a Democrat, saying that she would never vote for him because she was terrified that he would be assassinated, like his brothers. You will be so missed, Teddy."

Isn't that interesting? Interesting comment.

By the way, there's some news I have got to tell you about now. There is a new tropical storm that's popped out on the East Coast. It is so new that, this morning's editorial meeting, they hadn't even gotten a good projected track on it yet.

But Chad Myers has been following it for the better part of the day. And he's joining us now to let us know what is going on.

Danny boy, right?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Danny boy. It doesn't sound very ominous, does it?

SANCHEZ: No.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: You know, actually, in the same place that Bill was about a week ago. The only difference, Rick, is that when Bill was here, it was already a Category 2, Category 3 storm. And it was going to Category 4. This thing is disorganized as could be. It looks like there's a nice blob of convection there, but in fact the center is over here.

Now, to be a good tropical event, you can't have winds only on one side. It must wrap around and make an eye. This thing isn't even close to that yet. The only problem is, it is fairly close to the U.S. East Coast already. And it is forecast to get stronger. Why?

Because the water is warm here. You have heard of the Gulf Stream? That's the warm water right through here. Temperatures are in the middle 80s in the water right here. That warm water is the fuel to the fire. And if you will notice, there is the whole Cape Hatteras area right there.

SANCHEZ: I was just going to say, it's like that Cape Hatteras magnet you and I talk about all the time.

MYERS: You bet. And there is Cape Cod and there is Maine.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: So, here is the cone. We are right in it this time. We are not saying out here to the ocean, out here to the ocean, out here to the ocean.

Now, the difference, I think, a lot of the United States can take a minimal Category 1 hurricane. We can actually take some of the showers. There is going to be more showers on up the cape. That's why these things look like this, actually, because of the way the water is coming through. And if we do hit the cape or something like that, 60-, 70-mile-an-hour winds will take some beach away, but not make a catastrophic event.

This is in pretty warm water right now, Rick. This could get a lot bigger. We will have to watch it.

SANCHEZ: Hey, before you go, what's going on with the fires out there in California again, again?

MYERS: California. Let me set it up for you right here.

SANCHEZ: And I guess they could use some rain, couldn't they?

MYERS: Oh, yes, that's not going to happen. It never rains in Southern California, right? That's a song that I can sing over an over.

Here is Covina. And then we will take you right on up here to the Morris Dam area. There is the lake right through there. And, in fact, these -- these helicopters have been flying into this lake getting water all day, trying to put this fire out.

Let me grab it for you. Here is what it looked like in the overnight hours.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

MYERS: And it is still on fire now, 750 acres as of this morning. It's burned all day.

I'm sure we are over 1,000 -- 600 firefighters on the scene right now, helicopters in the air, Phos-Chek planes in the air, although it's just choking smoke, because we don't have any wind to get the smoke out of the way. Now, that's OK.

Watch what you ask for, right, because you don't want wind. Temperatures today though may range almost to 100 degrees and relative humidity, Rick, could be 6 percent. That's no help to the fire fighters at all.

SANCHEZ: Good stuff. And both stories you did involved songs. You sang "It never rains in Southern California" and I'll sing "Danny Boy" as a tribute to the late, great Senator Kennedy.

MYERS: There you go. SANCHEZ: Now back to the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, we are going to start by giving you one more look at that piece we showed you at the very beginning of this hour. We have gotten so much response from you on twitter, MySpace, Facebook, that we are going to give you a chance to see this once again. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another Kennedy has thrown his hat into the national political arena. Edward M. or ted officially announces his campaign for the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by his brother, the president.

The youngest of the three brothers, he will face Edward J. McCormick Jr. nephew of the Speaker of the House in the Democratic primary.

There are hot times brewing on the Massachusetts political scene. At the State Democratic Convention, Edward J. McCormick, 38-year-old nephew of House Speaker McCormick, seeks the party nomination for senator in a contest with Edward "Ted" Kennedy, the youngest brother of the president.

The two men both aim at the seats vacated by Senator John F. Kennedy when he assumed the office of president. It is a convention of noisy demonstrations that has the rafters ringing in Springfield.

Thirty-year-old Ted Kennedy wins the convention endorsement by nearly two-one.

National attention is focused on a senatorial contest in Massachusetts. While the president took no active part in the campaign, he left in the middle of one of the America's cup races to vote at Boston's Joy Street police station.

He had no comment on his brother's victory, but political observers were quick to point out that the younger Kennedy's race in November will be more than a local issue.

A man who cares -- Edward M. Kennedy endorsed Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.

KENNEDY: Too many of our senior citizens are being forced to choose between neglecting their ailments or being pauperized by them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote for Edward M. Kennedy, the endorsed Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 80th Congress convenes in Washington for a busy session. There are some new faces on Capitol Hill, and among them are 12 new senators. Most interest centers around Edward "Ted" Kennedy, the third brother to achieve success in the national political arena.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time, 2:00 eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making a final stop on his tour of Ireland, Senator Edward Kennedy finds 100,000 people in the streets of Limerick to give him a tumultuous sendoff.

It's 70 degrees in the shade, very warm for the Emerald Isle, but the temperature of Limerick's populace is at a new high to salute the brother of the martyred president.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was seriously injured when his private plane crashed in the woods near South Hampton, 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here from his hospital room, Senator Kennedy speaks to you now.

KENNEDY: Well, I'm coming along now. The doctors estimate that I'll be out of the hospital around Christmastime. I'm planning on Thanksgiving. I haven't mentioned that to them yet, but I plan to in the next few days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well-wishers wait outside a Boston hospital to greet a man who made good a promise of six months ago to recover from a broken back in time for Christmas.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy leaves New England Baptist hospital for Palm Beach to spend the holidays with the Kennedy clan.

While his older brother Robert tours the Far East, Edward Kennedy stops in Greece for an unofficial visit. Mr. Kennedy expressed pleasure at the opportunity to visit this seat of western culture and spent every moment at the shrines that mothered democracy.

From here, Mr. Kennedy went on to Warsaw to continue his private, fact-finding tour.

It's the season for congressional junkets. And South Vietnam refugee camps are visited by a legislative party that includes Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The trip is officially described as a fact-finding mission on the part of the committee who said they wish to see how civilian refugees were fairing in the centers set up by the South Vietnamese government with aid from the United States.

The senator and his party expressed themselves as highly pleased with the efforts being made to help the South Vietnamese, the civilians who always suffer the most when caught in the path of war.

ROBERT KENNEDY, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Let's go to Chicago, and let's win this. Thank you very much.

KENNEDY: Beyond what he was in life, he will be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who will take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: By the way, a full life is filled with as many ups as there are downs. Take it from me.

Ted Kennedy's downs were extremely low and highly visible, from Palm Beach to Chappaquiddick, and how what was captured as it happened, you will see. That's when we come back. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Let's try and bring you up to date now on some of the top stories that we've been following for you.

Reaction of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. President Obama is calling Kennedy the greatest senator of our time and a defender of the American dream. So are many others, by the way.

He has ordered all federal buildings to fly their flags at half staff.

Senator Kennedy will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy presidential library in Boston on Friday. There will be a memorial service there Friday evening, we understand.

And then there's a private funeral service Saturday morning. That's going to be at Boston's Our Lady of Perpetual Health Basilica.

And then Saturday afternoon -- you can sure see all of this on CNN, we'll be on full coverage -- Senator Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery right near the graves of his brothers, the eternal flame for John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

Under current law, Kennedy's Senate seat will remain vacant until there is a special election. Now, before he died, Kennedy asked the state legislature to pass a bill that would allow the appointment of a temporary replacement for him.

Governor Duval Patrick said today he will sign that law if it is passed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There is something going right now on we want to share with you. Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, as you heard, his lieutenant governor came out earlier today and he said that -- well, in so many wore, he seemed to be recommending that the governor resign, that it would be good for the state.

Now, Governor Sanford is expressing himself. Let's listen in to see what he has to say.

GOV. MARK SANFORD, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: With all due respect to some in the media, maybe some think it helps sell papers. There are a variety of different reasons as to why this thing has been chronicled as it has.

And I don't mean that meanly, but I mean, when you look at the fact that this state is going to run a $100 million deficit this year and the amount of coverage that has gotten versus some of these other things, it says, wait a minute, we do have some real big world issues that we've got to be talking about, and that is incumbent upon even folks in the media to be talking about some of those things.

So, I guess, to cut to the chase, what I say in this letter is that I'm not going to be railroaded out of this office by political opponents or folks that were never fans of mine in the first place.

Or put a different way, a lot of what is going on now is pure politics, plain and simple.

And so what I talk about in my letter is, me hanging up the spurs 16 months out, as comfortable as that would be, as much as I might like to that that on a personal basis, it is wrong, one, because as much as you might dislike somebody, it is not right to go out and try and rewrite history, because we have an incredible records when it comes to watching out for the taxpayer.

And there have been attempts to rewrite history on that front.

SANCHEZ: At least from what we are hearing, if this is his response to his lieutenant governor, it does not sound like the governor is going to acquiesce.

Earlier, as I mentioned, we heard the lieutenant governor say this he probably should think about stepping down. It doesn't sound like that's what Governor Mark Sanford is saying.

We're going to stay on top of that story, but we wanted you to hear at least some of his response, if nothing else, to be fair to him.

We know full well about Ted Kennedy's personal flaws that helped squash his presidential ambitions, the same ambitions that exposed Kennedy's failings for all the nation to see.

Let's remember two moments from the life of Ted Kennedy -- one, deeply familiar, and one you may have forgotten.

I want to take you back to the volatile summer of 1969. Young Senator Kennedy, attended a party off of Martha's Vineyards. He was married at the time.

Kennedy left with a woman. Her name was Mary Jo Kopechne. She drowned after Kennedy's car plunged off of a bridge. The senator said that he tried to save her, but, in fact, he waited for hours to call police, and only after talking with advisers. That, in a nutshell, was Chappaquiddick.

And certainly not for all, but for some Americans, some of which have been sending me messages today, it is the moment they believe defined Ted Kennedy. Perhaps you remember this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been no advanced text to the senator's remarks. In the absence of newsmen, there will be no questions.

We go to Hyannis Port and a statement by Senator Edward Kennedy.

KENNEDY: My fellow citizens, I have requested this opportunity to talk to the people of Massachusetts about the tragedy which happened last Friday evening.

This morning, I entered a plea of guilty to the charge of leaving a scene of the accident. No words on my part can possibly express the terrible pain and suffering I feel over this tragic incident.

This last week has been an agonizing one for me and for the members of my family, and the grief we feel over the loss of a wonderful friend will remain with us the rest of our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: My father has always said to me, son, it is not how you fall. It is how you get up. Well, that was Ted Kennedy's biggest fall. That was Ted Kennedy on Chappaquiddick.

His foes made sure it was a moment never forgotten, not even to this day. But a decade after that scandal, Kennedy felt ready to try to follow in his older brother's footsteps and run for the presidency.

Now, I want you to watch this moment when Kennedy was asked a simple question, and he seemed unable to answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Why do you want to be president?

KENNEDY: Well I -- were I to make the announcement to run, the reasons that I would run is because I have a great belief in this country, that it has more natural resources than any nation of the world, has the greatest educated population in the world, the greatest technology of any country in the world, the greatest capacity for innovation in the world, and the greatest political system in the world.

And yet, I see at the current time that most of the industrial nations of the world are exceeding us in terms of productivity, are doing better than us in terms of meeting the problems of inflation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And on it went, Kennedy's odd response to what was a pretty simple question -- why do you want to be president?

To some, the answer revealed Kennedy didn't know or just truly didn't want it, or as "Time" magazine's Joe Klein writes today in a column that he sent me that I really enjoyed reading, he never really seemed to feel like he deserved it, maybe compared to his brothers, or his dad.

The ultimate irony is that after his single failed bid for the White House, Ted Kennedy went on to accomplish more in the Senate than some men have gotten done in the White House.

Health care is his issue of today, but during the civil rights movement, no person in Congress did as much as Ted Kennedy. We're looking at that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. We told you a little while ago we'd be getting some historic audiotape in from the LBJ library. We have just received that.

This is -- let set this up for you. This is the president of the United States at the time, it's 1964, and he's calling Ted Kennedy right after Ted Kennedy's really horrible plane accident where a lot of people thought he would have lost his life. Kennedy was in the hospital for about ten months after that. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDON JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Ted?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Kennedy on line 0.

JOHNSON: Hello?

KENNEDY: Mr. President.

JOHNSON: My friend. I'm sure glad to hear your voice.

KENNEDY: Thank you so much. Listen, I wanted to call and tell you how much I appreciate it and we appreciate everything you've done.

JOHNSON: I haven't done anything. I haven't done anything, but I'm sure ready and willing.

KENNEDY: Well, no, you sent all those wonderful people up from the Army and the secretary, and they made a great deal of difference, and everyone's been so, so kind down here. And they take great care of me. (INAUDIBLE)

JOHNSON: Well, Ed, you got a bad break, but it'll -- my mother used to tell me that things like that develop character and make you stronger when you get older.

(LAUGHTER)

KENNEDY: Well, I don't know, Mr. President. You know, I'm ready to trade a little of that...

(LAUGHTER)

... anyway, that's what I keep reading all that mail and say after all that, (INAUDIBLE) suffering you'd be a better man. I guess I'll take my chances.

JOHNSON: Well, you're a great guy and you've got lots of guts. And stay in there and pitch. And anything we can do, we're ready.

KENNEDY: I appreciate it, Mr. President. And Joan wants to thank you for everything, that Johnson's called.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's amazing to be able to peer into a moment in history like that.

You know who's going to join me next? Roland Martin. It's called "R&R," but there is no rest and relaxation in this segment. Roland and I will be going around and around on civil rights, on health care, on the loss of Ted Kennedy, and much more. Stay with us, we're going to be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Roland Martin is joining us now. Roland, thanks for being with us.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Glad to be here.

SANCHEZ: It seems to me the president of the United States in many ways, not to mention his health care policy, lost its footing or lost his footing the day that we found out that Senator Edward Kennedy had developed brain cancer. You agree?

MARTIN: No. I think where it really hurt was when Tom Daschle had to withdraw as head of HHS. He had already been set up to run the entire show, to have somebody who was the leader of the Democrats in the Senate leading the effort.

But there's no doubt not having Senator Ted Kennedy there to be controlling the process on the floor of the Senate was absolutely vital.

So, you had two pillars. You had one person in Daschle who knew the system inside and out, people externally as well as internally. But then you had the forceful personality of Ted Kennedy, but also someone who has been championing universal health care for 40-plus years.

So, there's no doubt not having him there was a critical blow to the White House's effort to pass health care this year.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question. Tell me as an African- American man what the Kennedy family and Ted Kennedy means.

MARTIN: Well, first of all, I think you have to go back to several different things, and that is, when John F. Kennedy was running, he really achieved -- he really got a lot of the black vote by simply making one phone call, and that is when Dr. King was held in a Georgia jail, I believe, and they really didn't know where he was.

And he made a call to Greta Scott King simply inquiring about him. He received jut a significant amount of support from African- Americans on that particular effort.

Then, of course, as you go on through his administration, then you have even Robert F. Kennedy in terms of civil rights. And what people don't realize is that many civil rights leaders were very distrustful of the Kennedys, especially Robert Kennedy.

SANCHEZ: Why?

MARTIN: First of all, people remember that it was Robert Kennedy who approved the wiretaps on Dr. King that was being pushed by J. Edgar Hoover. Harry Belafonte has often talked about that in various documentaries that they were not initially looking at Robert F. Kennedy as a supporter.

But his trip to the Delta really changed his view of poverty in this country, and that really was a turning point.

So I think what Ted Kennedy did going to the Senate, he was able to carry that mantle, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. But also, keep in mind, it was Ted Kennedy who amended the Voting Rights Act to lower the voting age in the U.S. to 18 years old.

So, if you're an 18-year-old person right now who is voting in the United States in any election, you have to thank Ted Kennedy for that.

And so, again, this was somebody who had a tremendous impact in so many different areas.

SANCHEZ: It seemed to me that when Ted Kennedy spoke there was -- you know, politicians, you and I talk to them all the time. And many times you get a feeling that their words coming out of their mouth but there's nothing coming from the soul or the heart.

And that may have been true at times with Ted Kennedy and with everybody, including you and me at times, because there's just something else going on.

He really believed in the spirit of equality. It seemed to me that everything he said about that and the way he took in Barack Obama as a man and as a senator and eventually as a president seemed heartfelt. Am I wrong? MARTIN: Right. First of all, we heard that from Senator Christopher Dodd and others in terms of, even Vice President Joe Biden, which, frankly, he was amazing earlier today talking about Ted Kennedy. He talked about the passion that he had. So there's no doubt whenever Ted Kennedy spoke, you understood and you felt that passion.

But also he had gravitas. And that is, when he spoke, because he brought the Kennedy legacy to bear, because he brought the years of experience, because he was seen as the leader of the Democrats through -- during those lean years, frankly, when Ronald Reagan was there for eight years and even George H.W. Bush, he had been looked upon as the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party for so long.

SANCHEZ: Roland, I got to go to Wolf. You and I will stay and continue the discussion on CNN.com/live.

Wolf Blitzer standing by.