most of all, despite their human frailties, they called us to a higher and, yes, nobler cause. >> all three men, wherever they may live, are citizens of berlin, and, therefore, as a free man i take pride in the words -- everyone here will ultimately be judged, will ultimately judge himself on the efforts he has contributed to building a new world society. >> it is the glory and the greatness of our tradition to speak for those who have no voice, to remember those who are forgotten. >> the four kennedy brothers all died in the service of our country. joe in world war ii, jack as president, bobby fighting to end a war, and teddy fighting for national health care. we'll remember them by how they made politics, government, and

our national life itself so much grander, so much more exciting, more vital. yet they were tough, and, yes, they made a difference. and for the longest time, they took our breath away. >> ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. >> for msnbc, i'm chris matthews. thanks for watching.

incredible impact. i noticed everyone around. he constantly renewed my faith and optimism in the possible. i never once saw your father with a defeatist attitude. i never saw him petty. i never saw him act in a small way. as a consequence, he made us all bigger. both his friends and his allies and his foes. >> welcome to a special edition of "morning joe." remembering ted kennedy. mika, great to have you here on this morning. listening to joe biden last night talking about his friends and foes, i think about what we have seen this past week. a week that comes at the end of a very long hot, ugly political summer. ted kennedy, the liberal lion of

the senate that's actually brought republicans and democrats together this week. whether they agreed with him or not politically, talking about a man who could work across party lines and even while fighting john mccain talked about last night. even while fighting you, loving you. >> absolutely. john mccain and orrin hatch both had beautiful things to say about their relationship with ted kennedy that had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with politics. >> and there were -- jon meacham is with us. "newsweek" put out a special commemorative edition. an absolutely beautiful edition. you guys turned it around in 10, 15 hours. it tells the remarkable story of this man, these brothers, this family. >> heroic family in the greek sense of the word. biden pointed out last night, it goes on, there was a particularly dramatic chapter and it is remarkable that the

last brother did become the first as, you mo, president kennedy gave senator kennedy -- not senator kennedy then, a cigarette box that would was inscribed, the last shall be first. >> inauguration day 1961 and here we are in 2009. look back. many are saying that in fact happened. last night several people said jfk inspired america. bobby challenged america. teddy changed america. one of ted kennedy's good friends, mike barnicle, had this to subway the senator earlier this week. and i love this. i want to read it. he carried his cross through all of the decades. carried it with honor and nobility. he heard every slur, each slander. lost only his quest for the oval office and emerged from defeat with a deeper knowledge of who he was and what he was meant to be.

a life lived in the united states senate and negotiate, deal, and fight for laws that simply changed how we live. now the house fight is seen a place once filled with high hopes. and even higher ambitions is quiet. last night's dusk arrived with a brutally truth. this man who came through the fire of life, scarred but hole, is silent forever. while the fog of memory, seven decades deep, becomes legend on the summer limb. let's go to our lady of perpetual help basilica the man that wrote those beautiful words, mike barnicle is with us. next to him, a man not so eloquent, a man incapable of stringing together a couple of words, i speak, of course, of my dear friend from the judiciary committee, democratic representative from

massachusetts, congressman. don't worry, congressman hunt will get back at me as soon as he opens his mouth and he is a -- actually a pallbearer at today's funeral mass. let's raise it to a high level before we talk to him. let's tuck to mike barnicle instead. set the stage for us up there. >> well, joe, the funeral mass is going to be held behind us, normally called around here mission church. lady of perpetual help basilica. a church clearly given its height and huge spire built by immigrants 100 years ago, statesmen that we are here, we have arrived. the irish, the germans who largely populated this area. senator kennedy will be brought here because when his daughter kara was being treateded for lung cancer, this is in the middle of the medical district, incidentally. this particular neighborhood. the middle of the medical district. we are within a stone's throw.

brigham & women's hospital, dana-farber cancer clinic, and have you the world famous boston children's hospital. kara kennedy was being treated for lung cancer and during her treatment, ted kennedy and vicki kennedy would come over here to the chapel alongside the main church behind us and he was so taken with the beauty of the church and the richness of the neighborhood that clearly the decision to be buried from here was made by vicki kennedy because of the impact this church, this neighborhood, this entire neighborhood, including the medical facilities here have had on his life and impact he had on those areas in his life. >> bill, i was going to say one of my best friends from congress, since i only had one friend in congress, i guess that makes you my best friend in congress. but, bill, ted kennedy was always a great friend of yours. you always told me about him. told great stories about how he

was constantly counseling you and sailing with you, joking with you. tell us about ted kennedy, what made him so special, that made you feel like he was actually your brother. >> you know, joe, i guess -- i forget who it was last night but one of the speakers said that it was never about him. it was always about you and teddy. i think what made him effective as a senator was everybody liked him. whether -- from wherever on the political spectrum. he was a caring individual. he had a sense of knowing when you needed a pat on the back and he was always there. i thought joe kennedy last night was particularly eloquent when he talked about in the aftermath of his father's assassination.

ethel and the bobby kennedy family needed someone to hang on. teddy was always there. it was than just limited to the immediate family. i think all of us felt that we are proud of his family. he was always the one that was looking out over everybody. regardless of the status in life. that's what really made him special. that's what sets them apart from most people that you encounter in life. he was that special. >> he always looked out after you, too, bill, didn't he? he would call you up with advice, ask you how you were doing. sometimes leave a funny message or two on the answer phone. always there thinking about you and others. >> he was always doing that. and he would often leave messages telling me what i was doing wrong. that's why he would call twice a

day, joe. but seriously, he -- he was -- i had a -- the first call i received was from ted kennedy. i just became a grandfather for the first time back in mid june. who called me? it was ted kennedy to say i'm so happy for you. it wasn't just me. like i said, he's the guy who had thousands, tens of thousands of best friends and tens of thousands of brothers. >> joe, you want to know how close senator kennedy was with congressman delahunt, 10 or 11 years ago, a particularly beautiful afternoon i was bringing my wife down to her little boat which is in hyannis boat harbor. pit bumped into senator kennedy. he said have you seen delahunt today? i said no. he's probably in his office, downtown hyannis. he has an office in downtown hyannis? yeah, it is called bobby byrnes

public. >> that's why i love delahunt so much. what we heard last night and heard all week, mike barnicle, is how unselfish this guy was. here you had john kennedy talking about a hdan john kerry got hip surgery, chris dodd, gets out surgery, first call he gets, again, ted kennedy. orrin hatch. everybody, everybody has a story about how ted kennedy, even as he was dying, even in his final months, was always thinking of others. that's a remarkable trait and a trait we don't see enough in washington, boston or new york. right? >> absolutely, joe. you know, i was -- with maureen orth last night after the ceremony at the library, john f. kennedy library.

and i was recalling with her that the day after tim russert -- maureen orth's husband -- was buried, the next morning, i received a phone call quite early in the morning. and it was from senator kennedy wanting to know how i was doing in the aftermath of tim's death. that's who he was, joe. large part. this was largely hidden, i think, from a lot of people in the media. he knew what it was to be hurt, to be wound, to suffer losses, and he had such empathy and could clearly so identify with people who had suffered losses of all sorts. >> you know what was significant, joe, someone once said that care act the is what you do when no one is looking. and, you know, as this week has unfolded, story after story after story where there wasn't a

tv camera, you know, there wasn't a photographer, there was no reporters around. like mike just indicated. it went unnoticed and unobserved. and the outpouring in the past several days is one common theme. he cared. he loved us all. in many ways, he was than just a good shepherd for the kennedy family. he's a good shepherd. so many people. particularly here in boston and massachusetts. >> congressman delahundred and mick barn , stand by if could you. it is great to have you on our special coverage this morning. and to touch on that, joe, about character and how he was kind to people, often more often when no one was looking. i think that 1 a true test of character because politics in washington is often about sucking up to people who are useful to you. >> you know washington and i know washington. >> i do. >> we have been there for a long time. worked there for a long time.

for those that haven't spent much time in washington, i think that the best description of it comes -- heard somebody talking about how they hated going to receptions there because everybody who was always looking over your shoulder. waiting for the next person to come into the room who was a little more powerful than you. they would leave you and -- that happened time and time again. but you don't hear these type of stories. you don't hear the type of stories that we are hearing about ted kennedy. i can tell you i was there for seven, eight years. this just didn't happen very much. there weren't a lot of people doing this. ted kennedy did do it. and that's what sets them apart. >> your stronger connection with him developed when you left congress. politically perhaps you were not useful to him. >> i was not useful to anybody, actually. i was 38 years old. i had to go home. i had to be with my boys for a

variety of reasons. one of those reasons had to do with andrew being diagnosed recently with diabetes. my younger son. and also aspergers. there were a lot of republicans i raise ad lot of money for and i fought with. side by side. i left town and i received few phone calls. few letters, few notes. almost none from my own side. i got home to pensacola and it was a tough time. it was a really tough time. i loved that job. i hated leaving. but there was a package, big package. in that package was a huge picture of bobby kennedy. bobby was my hero, political hero. signed a note and said bobby would have loved working with you. i did, too. and then he said in a letter, if andrew ever needs anything, anything at all, call me up and

let me know. we will take care of him. we will take care of your family. this, again, i was of no -- in fact, jon meacham, what made this more remarkable i used teddy kennedy like all good republicans a punch line in my fund-raisering. he helped me a lot more than other republican politicians. that didn't matter to him. somebody was in need. in this case, my son. that's remarkable. >> it is remarkable grace. it is the great legislative virtue and human virtue of believing to much is given much is expected which he was -- driven into him by his mother and she also understood, i think, on a practical level this morning's foe might be this afternoon's ally. and so there was human grace and kind of calculation to it. >> we are going to be following the events this morning live as they happen in boston. there's going to be senate delegation going to visit the

jfk library in boston. kennedy family will be waiting there. that will happen in the next half hour. at 9:30 eastern time this morning, senator kennedy's body will depart the library and be taken to our lady of perpetual help basilica in boston. there will be a funeral mass. we will be covering that. you are watching a special edition of morning. >> he is on a schooner now. lee's sailing. jack, joe, bobby on the foredeck. rosemary, eunice, kathleen, pat, trading stories with their parents. teddy at the helm steering his steady course. sail on, my friend. sail on. >> i looked up and there was this one star hanging low in the sky. there was just bigger than all the ris and brighter than all the rest.

a twinkle and a sparkle louder than all the others. i know it was jupiter but it was acting a lot like teddy. vo: why spend $5 per person at the drive-thru, vo: when you can serve your family breakfast from walmart,

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the truth is he and i didn't agree on much. we didn't agree on a lot of things. we sat next to each other in the committee for the better part of two decades. some may not remember this but there was a time when smoking was allowed during the committee meetings and hearings. and during this time, you can always tell when teddy and i were in an argument or we were fighting by the amount of cigar smoke that he blew my way as a nonsmoking mormon. >> that's a live shot of orrin hatch's dedication to ted kennedy. >> it was lovely. >> still going on 12 hours

later. that was -- there was some -- moving speeches last night. >> absolutely. >> and long speech zbles yes, but they were rich in color and texture. my gosh, was it his roommate that went sailing with him? telling the story about the hellish expedition at sea where ted kennedy would not give up and wanted to sail that day. even though it was too dangerous and basically risked everyone's lives to make it happen. >> right. it is very -- fashionable now in the circles to call funerals a celebration of life. i have been to a lot of these. you tragically have been to a lot of them. that was truly a celebration of life. >> let's go to tom brokaw who is standing by the at the ready in boston covering the events there outside of our lady of perpetual help basilica in boston.

tom, it is wonderful to have you on our special coverage this morning. at last night's memorial service, vice president joe biden talked about senator kennedy, sort of taking him under his wing. tell us about their relationship and how it developed over the years. >> it was not just with joe biden but any other number of senators who came on to that floor and senator kennedy was there not just to shake your hand but to show them the way. and to help them through the thickest not just of getting legislation passed but to deal with washington and in a social sense joe biden gave a memorable account last night of going to a dinner and when he was asked a question he would pick up an object off the coffee table, threw it back in his forth in his hands. on his way out, joe said put that egg down, that's a fabrege egg and it is worth more than your house. that was so characteristic of senator kennedy.

the great thing about this memorial last night was not just what you heard from the podium and there were wonderful tributes from the conservatives on the right and from the liberals on the left. in the hall there were people who had gone to the campaign experience with him and they were all had their stories as well. as a reporter that covered him for almost 40 years, one of my favorite store bees senator kennedy and john kerry mid reference to last night, senator kennedy came out to help john kerry in ohio when it looked like howard dean would get the nomination and kennedy helped get him across the line there. it was a big evening in iowa. we ended up at a steakhouse in downtown des moines and senator kennedy came in with his entourage and had his coat off and pretty soon in the steakhouse he was leading senator chuck grassley of iowa around the steakhouse and introducing him to iowans. that was a manifestation really of his love of the process and

politics. senator grassley just followed along meekly and shook hands with his own constituents. >> i love that story last night when ted kennedy went out to iowa to help john kerry. you voted for my brother. you voted for my other brother. but you didn't vote for me! but now you can make it all right by voting for john kerry. >> joe biden faberge egg, very joe biden as well. i can totally see him doing that. for some reason it just makes a lot of sense. tom, talk about, if you could, senator kennedy's place in history when you look at the crowds that have come out to say good-bye. we are saying good-bye to a leader. there is a presidential quality to what we are seeing unfold before our eyes. >> of course we are here in the mother lode of the kennedy --

boston. the first family of boston. his grandfather, his father cut a very wide swath in boston, politically, culturally, economically. one brother was elected president of the united states and the other one became a martyr when he ran for president similar hello in 1968. they were people of the irish catholic faith. that was very important to them and we will see that represented this morning. this is a true homecoming for senator kennedy. when he returns to boston, they have lost a favorite son. somebody who has been at the center of their lives for more than a half a century now. so there is a real tribute to him from those who loved him and voted for him and election cycle after election cycle. you may remember last night that senator dodd also said that when he was in a tough re-election campaign in '94 against mitt

romney, senator dodd counciled his friend, don't talk so fast. the irish have an inclination to do that. when she was asked his first question in a debate with mitt romney, senator kennedy was asked you served the state so long, why is this race so close? and senator dodd said it took ted kennedy several seconds to begin his response. and he thought he had slowed way down too much so he said to him later, ted, why did you take so long to answer that question? and senator kennedy looked at dodd and he said well, i was thinking, that's a damned good question. that kind of candor and that feel for the boston street, if you will, that he had almost pitch perfect tone when it came to understanding what to say it was ball. as a reporter, you can be at a big cocktail party or at a convention someplace or at a

gathering. there would be a lot of drinks and good times being had. if you went over to senator kennedy and asked him about a specific piece of legislation or about somebody who had just arrived in the senate and tried to get his assessment, he changed his tone and his demeanor and he would cut right to the chase. he could give you the best read on what the prospects were for getting complicated legislation through or what the soft points were to his opponent or strengths were in his opponent. he had a high regard for people who loved the process as much as he did. whatever their ideology. >> you know, tom, we have pat buchanan with us. jon meacham is with us and has a question for you. then we will get to pat. >> a classic brokaw question. tom, have you written about the greatest generation and you have written about the boomer generation. ted kennedy seems to be one unto himself. and having been born in 1932. where would you put him in the story of the country in terms of generational history from did 20th century and as we move

forward? >> jon, you are putting on me on the spot. the bad generation i represented in a way, i was born in 1940. so my earliest memories are of the war. i was not a boomer. but i came to understand the boomers and the cultural unhappiness with the way the things were in the country. at the same time, i was a beneficiary of the greatest generation. i think that senator kennedy probably felt that way as well. he was raised, in effect, as a shadow of his brothers, both of whom served in the service. bobby at the end of world war ii but his brother was heroic and lost a brother in world war ii. so that was always with him. but then he became a candidate, if you will, of the boomers and of the counter culture. i remember so much so well in 1968, pat buchanan was there but

a different role. he was there as a lookout for president nixon. and pat, you will remember the big, big issue of that democratic convention was will teddy come and pick out the fallen apple of his brother. that was part of the tension there for several days. and he chose not to do that at that time. >> pat buchanan, take us back to 1968. he -- teddy kennedy much like ronald reagan was a guy whose name came up and in his own party's conventions, every four years. people kept expecting him to assume the mantle. from '68 to 1980 when ted kennedy finally ran. we are hearing kennedy's loss, disastrous campaign in 1980, was with eventually liberated him to be one of the great senators of our time. of all time. >> 1968 campaign and tom covered and i was in with richard nixon from all the way the first day in new hampshire, all the way through november, really -- tom

has written about this. one of the most dramatic years in american history since the civil war, i can recall when gene mccarthy -- 42% of the vote against reagan and lyndon johnson jolted johnson and four days later, bobby kennedy came into the race. i can recall it very well. there was a lot of anger about bobby kennedy and said it was opportunism. he got into the race and did well in indiana and i was there in the room, joe. when he came into the hotel. i went to where he was going to give his concession speech. he had the dog with him. teddy got out of the car with him. my wife -- wants my wife then. shelley saw him get out. extraordinarily gracious. one week later, he is shot and we get the word back in new york at 3:00 in the morning our time. i called nixon. that was -- an enormously extra mattic period.

i think that for senator kennedy -- a traumatic experience. his beloved brother bobby had been shot to death. and then -- tom is exactly right. everybody was sort of pushing. teddy has to come in and pick up the pieces of the broken party. and i think that was the beginning of that enormous constant pressure for which teddy kennedy was unprepared at 37 years old. he was somehow to take up the mantle and become president of the united states as his one brother was. and his other wanted to be. and i think that pressure was finally lifted, joe, as you said. in 1980 when you saw teddy kennedy run in that campaign and when he was losing and lost it, you saw a liberated candidate who was full of fun and enjoying himself. started out clearly was not. >> all right, pat. stay with us. thanks very much. tom brokaw, our special thanks to you. we appreciate your joining us.

this is a special edition of "morning joe." remembering ted kennedy. >> when we come back, we will be going back up to the church and talking to mike barnicle. also bill delahunt who is going to be a pallbearer this morning. ted kennedy's funeral service. >> there we were two weeks before the caucus and his voice boomed out in this room. you voted for my brother. you voted for my other brother. you didn't vote for me. and as the crowd roared with laughter, ted belowed, but we are back here for john kerry and if you vote for john kerry, i'll forgive you. pollen.

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it is great to see his friends, senator orrin hatch and john mccain here this evening.

it is to their credit that they so often supported teddy's efforts. and i say in some jest it is to teddy's great credit that he rarely supported theirs. >> our special coverage "remembering senator ted kennedy" continues. with us now from outside the jfk presidential library museum in boston, nbc's peter alexander. peter, i take it the congressional delegation is arriving now. give us a sense of what's happening. >> yes. that's the case. good morning to you and joe as well. we have seen the congressional delegation. past and present. senate members. we have seen the entire kennedy clan come out, giant buses. three of them. i saw them with a police escort coming down ahead of them. first to arrive was the late senator's wife, vickie. she arrived here holding hands with one of her daughters. her daughter, caroline. her son as well is expected to be here. they arrived, as you see there,

a short time ago. caroline kennedy schlossberg, last tonight's private irish wake, spoke as well. what will happen inside when they gather, one more chance for the members of the senate and congressional delegate to pay respects. a short private service before they head across town to our lady of perpetual help basilica. i had a chance yesterday to visit with some of the family members. i spoke to patrick kennedy. he is the youngest son of the late senator. he said, you know, when you saw the lines, 50,000 people, you remember we are out here just wred. he said this is breathtaking. hay said to me, he thought only his father could bringing together -- only individual in america that could bring together so many people for a tribute like this. that the people of the state of massachusetts have given him. it was a remarkable scene. finally, we got to meet ted kennedy iii as well. that's the grandson of the late senator who said to me today i feel like a celebrity. everybody loved my grandpa. >> nbc's peter alexander at the

jfk library. thank you very much. you know, it is amazing the people. read stories i was preparing last night, people traveling for five hours, never knew him but wanted to watch his body, casket, go by on the street. it truly is as -- a great leader has passed. and in many ways, you know, failed run for presidency are nothing do with people are remembering today. they are remembering their leader in massachusetts and a senator that served for 46 years and did so much. >> it is not about -- it is not about a brief moment in the sun. >> right. >> it is not about camelot. it is about what jon meacham has written about in this commemorative issue, "newsweek," just put out. beautiful, beautiful cover. let's put it up if we can. you talk about ted kennedy, jon, as the survivor. this is a man -- you remember

andrew johnson quote after lincoln was assassinated. as he was being impeached and dealing with -- the problems of reconstruction. trying to bring the country together. and johnson bitterly said of lincoln, heroes know when to die. well, ted kennedy was a survivor. he had to live through the ugliness in the 1970s. conservative swings of the 1980s. his personal problems in the early '90s. he survived. in fact, he was enlarged by all of the challenges he went through. >> a lot of people would say andrew johnson didn't know when to die -- >> okay. >> given the way things went. >> all right. >> by the way, that's just -- 17th president that we -- >> one to another. >> yes. >> what's so wrong about that, what's so wrong what andrew johnson said, heroes -- come in

every form. there are the bright, brilliant meteors. then there is -- this is what we are celebrating the last couple of days and today. there's the man who showed up. there's the man who persevered. he was given the gift of years and he used them. he used a gift his brothers were not given. which is the ability to work in the trenches, work in the vineyard, to stay in that theme. for decade after decade after decade. and he understood that the world was a tragic place. bills fail. cancer strikes. assassins kill. he knew the world was not going to always conform to our wishes. so what did he do? instead of being cynical and walking away, he remained passionate and stayed in the fight. and he stayed in the fight and he stayed in the fight. and he stayed in the fight. >> and he became a hero. he became a legend by staying in

the fight, staying in a arena and by being what you call in your article this commemorative issues of "newsweek," a survivor. let's go right now to "new york times" mike leibovic. mark, what are your thoughts today as we remember ted kennedy? a man that you wrote a wonderful proceed fill on just a few days ago. >> thanks, joe. it is an amazing scene around here. i mean, oushl we knew it was going to be momentous. but i'm struck by how the kennedys' common touch, with royalty. a doughnut shop down the street, mike's doughnuts. a family apeering out the window saying thank you, teddy. on the roof overhead, secret service snipers, snipers that -- you know, keeping watch over all these leaders coming in today. it is rainy. it's actually -- kind of feels somber. but in a weird way it feels correct. there are people lined up on the

streets, left and right. and sort of a colorful kaleidoscope of umbrellas. you see people of all ethnic groups and really, again, you get -- cynical over the years in this profession but it is quite a scene. and it is really a great testament to hum and his family and the city that he loved. >> pat buchanan. >> you know, joe, i heard you talking earlier with mike barnicle about the grace notes of this man and the things he did and brought to mind a story i haven't told and i had forgotten almost. back in 1971, we had a fellow who was assistant secretary of the treasury for public relations brumley. married to jane brumley. "newsweek" correspondent up there in boston during our campaign in '68. he dropped dead. and you will all of the folks, we went over to james' house, over there near georgetown, and it was a very sad occasion, obviously. he was still a young man. in walks teddy kennedy.

and i will tell you, everybody was stunned there. we were all sort of conservatives, nixonites. teddy was not a controversial figure at that time. he had -- as he later became. but people were stunned that he was there first off almost and later on he was constantly calling her. so i think these stories we hear from everybody in de wd.c. wh who touched him personally. whatever you say about ted kennedy, he is a nice guy. all these gestures over 40 years, i think that's why you see so many people coming out especially in this community here which is a polarized bitter community in washington, and coming out to say that, you know, i disagreed with him but ted kennedy was a nice guy. >> mike barnicle, that was through everything. through the assassinations, through chappaquiddick, through

the failed campaign. through the personal challenges of the '80s. this is a guy that never stops to pity himself. we hear it from pat buchanan, 1960s. we hear it as mark leibovic was talking about in his profile this week, the ted kennedy of the '60s was the ted kennedy of 2009. even in his final days. mike, that's just remarkable. >> you know, joe, life at the root is fairly simple. understanding teddy kennedy's appeal to many people is to separate yourself from the ey ideological divisions he created because of the positions he espoused. at its root, life at its basic root, is very simple and it is this. if you met teddy kennedy, if you knew teddy kennedy, if you encountered teddy kennedy, at wake or doughnut shop, mike's doughnut shop on tremont street in boston, you would like the man. if you like the man, it is

pretty easy to get along from that point on. >> you know, this morning in "the new york times," they -- they have an article, bill delahunt, about how the big irish families are going the way of the kennedys. they are no more. certainly not as many as there used to be. i wonder, though, what we are hearing about ted kennedy and what i love so much about you. is this an irish politician? is this something that is in the dna? is this something that you learned growing up in boston? >> you know, joe, as i said earlier, you know, the -- the kennedy extended family went far beyond kinship. there are so many people that i have encountered in the past several days that have told the different anecdotes. they felt really -- kennedy was

their father. a surrogate father. i mean, this is not hyperbole. it is not exaggeration. he just had a capacity and an ability to touch everybody and to bring them into the family. you know bob is going -- boston is family. it is a small town. but it is a town with a huge heart. and teddy kennedy symbolized what above and massachusetts and cape cod are all about. >> mark leibovic, there is certainly a lot of joy to celebrate in terms of ted kennedy's entire life and career. you wrote about his final days in some of the choices he made and in terms of how to live them out. tell us about that. >> what was really striking to me, i wasn't aware of this until i reported the story was he seemed to have a very, very joyous end. except for maybe the last few days when he took a bad turn. he made a point of every morning having his coffee and having his

papers -- scratching the bellies of his dogs on the same porch he has been doing this for years. every night there were dinner parties that vickie organized, immediate family. he had his same bowl of mocha chip ice cream mixed together with butter crunch because he liked it. that's how he was going to go out. what was amazing to me -- after i wrote this article, usually hard-bitten cynical political people, you hear from both sides, this and that. i heard from more people that had, you know, similar end-of-life experience was their own relatives or not similar end-of-life experiences and he really as someone in the family told me the other day when he literally had two days to live, he taught us all how to live and i think he is teaching a lot of us how to die also. i was struck by that. >> mark leibovic, thank you very much. we are looking at live pictures now of ted kennedy's casket and

just saw the congressional delegation still arriving. we will be following the events throughout the morning. "remembering senator ted kennedy." >> more thoughts from "newsweek" editor jon meacham on the passing of a man he calls the survivor. as we have been hearing bill delahunt and others, a man so many others called friend. ted kennedy, the last lion, the last brother. woman: (thinking) so, i stick this bounce bar inside my dryer and for about four months, it'll freshen my clothes automatically? wow, let's see you in action. hmm, i wish all my chores took care of themselves automatically. ( ♪ ) (dryer buzzing) ( sniffing ) enjoy automatic freshness

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all right. you are looking at live pictures coming up now at the kennedy library in boston. our coverage continues. "remembering senator ted kennedy." congressman delahunt, pat buchanan and mike barnicle. when you are seeing is members of the kennedy family being greeted by a massive congressional delegation streaming into the library. vicki kennedy greeting each member personally and other members of the family as well as they walk by senator kennedy's casket. of course, later this morning, the body at the library, 9:30 eastern time, a funeral mass at our lady of perpetual help basilica in boston for senator

ted kennedy. >> we have seen pictures of congressional leaders lining up there to go in and pay their respects to vicki kennedy, steny hoyer who was just in the picture. max baucus getting off the bus. a man who is going to be a central figure, remain a central figure, in determining how the health care debate plays out in the coming months. we have also, of course, seen speaker nancy pelosi, also claire mccaskill, key players in this health care debate. and the direction this country is going to go for some time. they are all going to ted kennedy's funeral. you know, jon meacham, jackie kennedy talked about the ceremony that catholics go through, that she had to go through with her husband, a brother she loved and so many other people. she said of the catholic c