irresistible ties in history, work of our own hands matched reason and principle that will determine our destiny and that there is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also the man called the lion of the senate, ted kennedy of massachusetts, the brother of president kennedy, the last surviving son of the political dynasty is dead tonight at the surviving son of the political dynasty is dead tonight at the age of 77. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good evening from hyannisport, massacsetts, the home of the legendary kennedy family compound.

it i a quiet collection of homes tonight because it was here last night that a american political era came to an end. senator ted kennedy was the last of the kennedy men and the only one of the four kennedy bthers to die of natural causes. he died here late last night of incurable brain cancer. he was 77 years old. ted kennedy was a lend in american politics and for that matter in this part of the country. he was a lot of things -- a liberal who often reached out to the right, a man of great flaws who became a family leader. he was a towering legislator and president obama tod said he was not only one of t greatest senators of our time but one of the all-time great americans. >> few words this morning -- >> his ideas and ideals are stamped on scoresf laws and flected in milons of lives. in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new

opportunity, in children who know education's promise, and in allho can pursue their dream in an america that is more equal and more just. including myself. >> reaction to the late night news from here spilled out from east to west across this country. it was visible today on flagpoles, lowered to half staff, the condolence book at the nearby kennedy library, and now the process of remembering begins. it's likely no two americans are goin to remember ted kennedy quite the same way. tonight we begin here by remembering a colossal american life. from the looks of things it was a wonderful life. he was the son of the american ambassador to great britain, the youngest of nine. he was the toast of the town in london at the age of 6. >> today the official opening performed by 6-year-old teddy kennedy. >> he was a lucky young man then

his luck began to change. his cldhood hero was his dashg older brother joe killed in a pne crash in world war ii. his older sister, kathleen, also died in a plane crash soon after the war. his brother ja, the 35th present of the united states, killed by an assassin. so was his brother bobby. his sister rosemary was left incapacitated by a lobotomy, his sister eunic died this summer. it wasn't enough that the surviving brotr ted had to watch it all and endure it, but it was all public. we watched him throughll o it. >> sator edward kennedy, mrs. kennedy, robert kennedy >> and no one watching the achingly sad coverage of president kennedy's funeral in november of '63 would ever have dreamed that the kenny, the next two america generations would come to know best, would be ted. as the son of parents who moved

around a lot, ted kennedy attended ten different schools by the time he was 11. he went to pre school, then harvard. he was good at football, but bad behavior got him thrown out. after two years in the army, he got back in. thenent toaw school. then the family business. he r his brother's presidential campaign in the western states before it wasis turn. if you are talking about too many kennedys, you should have talked to my mother and father at the time when they were getting started. >> at the age of 30, edward kennedy ran for his brother jack's old senate seat where he won despite being called out by his opponent on his qualifications. >> if his name was edward moore, with h qualificions, with your qualificatis if it was edward moore, your candidacy would be a joke. but nobody is laughing. >> early on in his senate career

s life almost came to an end. >> misfortune strikes the kennedy family once again. >> flying to a democratic party event in massachusetts in bad weather his small plane crashed. two passengers di. kennedy survived wit a broken back. he was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator bye and was laid up f eight months. he won re-election while recuperating but remained in chronic pain for the rest of his life. th came the public pain of his brother bobby's assassination. >> those of us who lovedim and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us, wh he wished for others, will someday come to ps for all the world. as he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him, "some men see things as they are and say why?

i dream things that never were and say why not?" >> if his younger years were marked by tragedy, his later years would be marked by disction. chiefly, chappaquiddick, an island in massachusetts that became shorthand for the unreported death of a young woman. campaign aide mary jo kopechne, he was found guilty only of leaving the scene of an acdent. he went on national television to explain himself. >> all kind of scrambled thoughts, all of them confused, some of them irrational, many of them which i cannotecall and me of which i would not have seriously entertained under normal circumstances went through my mind during this period. >> in the years that followed in the senate, ted kennedy made a decision to bear down and do the work. he concentrated on running the decidedly unsexy labor and

puic wfare committee. it had a clunky name and yet it did the biness that reached deep into amerin life and kennedy hired a world class staff. health care reform was always his long-term goal and his stemwinder of a speech to the party in 1978. today sounds like a preview of 2009. >> as long as i have a voice in the united state senate it's going to be for that democratic platform plank that provides decent quality health care nth and south, east and west, for all americans as a matter of right annot a privilege! >> his last hope for the presidency for himself died on the stage at theemocratic nvention in 1980. he had challenged the incumbent president, jimmy carter, a lost. he went down swinging. henubbed the president with a cursory handshake. carter later lost to reagan a

kennedy gave the speech of his life. >> the work goes on, the cause endures,he hope still lives, and the dream shall never die. >> again returning to his work in the sena, kennedy led the successful fightears later against robert bourke, president reagan's choice for the supreme court. with high drama and hyperbole, kennedy attacked mercilessly. >> robert bourke's america is a land in which women would be foed into back alley abortions. >> years later with americans fighting and dying in iraq, donald rumsfeld got the same treaent. >> in baseball, it's three strikes and you're out. what is it fhe secretary of defense? >> the mano often called "the lion of the senate" and he was, was also a whale of a fund raiser for both rties. democrats craved kenneds endorsement and for the republicans he was often the perfect target. >> voted with kennedy 85% of the

time. >> kennedy's home life was laced with sadness as ll. his first wife, joan, years ago, acknowledged her battle with alcoholism his son, ted jr. lost a leg to caer. his daughter kara underwent surgery for lung cancer. his son patrick, a congressman has battled substance abuse. kennedy's modern day, low point came in 1991, a late night outing with his son and his nephew willi kennedy smith. it resulted in disaster. smith was cleared of raping a local woman after a spectacular and protracted courttrial. "time" magazine published a story about the senator's "grotesque image as a boozer." and the event forced an eventual change in his life. he connted with family friend, vicki, a divorced mher of two, the new marriage and new mate settled the senator.

it reformed him in a way. he found i easier to talk about his own failings. >> i recognize my own short comings. the fallsn the conduct of my private life. >> the irrepressible irishman could never be totally contained. he seemed to attack life his image as the life of the party was richly deserved. and ted kennedy never met a song he didn't at least try to couer. thout much success. ♪ >> sometimes even when children were present. ♪ itsy-bitsy spider climbs up the water spout ♪ >> late in life ted kennedy took on the role of family patriah. when his niece got maied, when his nephew's plane was lost, ted was team leader and crisis manager. >> thank you, thank you. >> h proved at the '08

democratic convention he had one last hooray left in him. >> this november, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of americans. the work begins anew. the hope rises again. and the dream lives on! >> he was happiest in the senate and on the water. and when his giant heart stopped beating, a giant life came to an en and an arican era ended. he was the last of the kennedy men and the last prominent post fdrunreconstructed oversized liberal in national politics. the senate produces few lions and the lastf theodern era is now gone. funeral arrangements for ted kennedy are as the say, still being finalized tonight. here is what we know.

tomorrow morning, the senator's body will be taken fm here by motorcade to the kennedy lrary in boston where it will lie in repose, prior to a memorial service friday evening. a funeral mass will be held saturday morning in boston after which senator kennedy will be brought to arlington national cemetery where he will be buried not far from brothers robert and john. f t mass on the way wl oersn o this nbc station. when "nightly news" continues in a moment, more on thextraordinary life of edward m. kendy including a conversation with some long-time friends. ♪ rsepower-generating, ecoboost™ engine in the all-new ford taurus sho that has the thirst of a v6 with the thrust of a v8. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the l-new taurus sho from ford. drive one.

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and doris kearns goodwin, the book "the fits jarldz and the kennedys" brought this family to life for so manyeaders and americans. doir we'll begin with you. very simple question. when people ask you what is ted kennedy like, did you answer? >> i think what i remembered most was this incredible ability to bring work and play together. we used to g vacationing with him in the caribbean. we'd be up having tpical drinks at night. bellowing with stories, and hd be singing my wild irish rose and go to bed and i would be up sleepily in the morning. he would be out on the deck piles of senateocuments in front of him starting to talk we have to talk about immigration rerm, we hav got to talk about the minimum wage. he was able to conne the two parts of his life amazingly. >> mike, connectim to the neighborhood. growing up as the kid, i remember the black-and-white "life" magazine photos of a strange breed of people i had never seen them before. they wore their polo shirt collars up and wore these tweed jackets. ton of hair, ton of teeth.

they drove around in convertible, seemed to be living the life. how is he a part of that and this town? >> well, it is an oddity. growing up, you are right. these were creatures with great hair, and straight white teeth and they went to parochial school many of them and went to sund mass and yet they lived here i this very small community, you could fit the community into an envelope. largely republican, largely conservative publican. and yet this was ted kennedy's home. this was the family home. and politics stopped at the end of scudder avenue, see it behind us. he was a neighbor here. ted kenny, resident hyannisport here. ch more so than heas a liberal, united states senator. >> doris, we said at the top o the broadcast. is it an accurate, an era in american politics ended last night when his heart stopped beating? >> i think there is no question about that. certainly there may be kennedy children that will stay in

public life. but that fami, joe kennedy sr.'s family, rose kennedy's family this is gone. the brothers are gone. think about it. joe kennedy jr. dies in world war ii then the responsibility goes on to jack's head. jack dies it goes on to bobby. bobby goes on to teddy. teddy carried it in a way, the caboose of the family, used to call him the little guy, he became the engine of is family, the patriarch of not only the senate but of his mily. you know when he was born, jack at 14 wanted to call him george washington because he was born on washington's birthday. think about how much of his life though, washington will be remembering. he is one of the great senators of all time. >> and they're missing quite simply, their neighbor here in hyannisport re tonight. my thanks to you both for coming by. doris kearns goodwin and mike barnacle as they say in this part of the country. when nbc "nightly news" continues here in just a moment. more on the death of senator ted kennedy and a look at some of this day any other news. the beauty of nature. sharing what i see.

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we wt now to cover some of the othe news of this day. starting with news on the economy tonight. new home sales jumped 9.6% in july. spurred on by lower prices and a rush to lock in that $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers before the deal expires. and this is a b move. new home sales have z sen four months in a row. 70% below their peak in '05. wall street was little changed on this trading day. e dow up over 4 points. we have new numbers on how successful t cash for clunkers trade inrogram was in t end.

the government counts 69000 clunkers taken off the road, almost $3 billion worth of vouchers submitted by car dealers. on the list of t top five brands of cars that people actually purchased -- the only americ based car brand was the ford focus. it has been another bad day for american forces in afghistan. two more u.s. troops killed today as we have been reporting. augu is now on track to be the single deadliest month of the afghan war. at least for u.s. military forces inhe region. we also have a consumer recall to report. 5.5 million window blinds and roman shades are being recalled. 5.5 million of them. because three children have been strangled by the cords. the blinds were sold under various names at ikea, pottery barn, target. national chain stor. wel put more on our website tonight. we sadly have to report that another prominent american has

died, the well known writer dominique dunn. tevision viewers may remember his rise to prominence while covering the oj simpson trial. but his readers knew him as an accomplished and prolific writer and journalist. he wrote almost a dozen books in his lifetime. and until recently, when he decided to focus on a new novel, he wrote a monthly featuren "vanity fair" gazine zone. he covered often the rich and famous, among others, the kennedy family. wn "nightlnews" continues tonight. more on our top story here this evening, the death of senator ted kennedy and why for this family, this is the st they retued to agaiand again for strength. is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit.

it was very interesting that you could smoke on e first week. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes n my purse and then i think i opened my purse and realized it was still there. and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, yore not mcrutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk toour doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you some people have had chges in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. you notice itation, stility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away.

talk to your doctor about any history of depressio or other mental health problems, which can get worse while tang chantix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix d see your dtor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix ding may be different if you hav kidney problem the most common side effect is nausea. patients also report trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution wh driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. itnds woer l.er 'itndwoerl. he best thing that evehappened. the st thing i vever done besides my husband, and dogs, and family. with the chantix and with the support system, it worked. it worked for me.

(announcer) talk to your doctor d to ouin if prescription chantix is right for you.ctor d to we're back here in hyannis port, massachusetts, on a le summer evening. earlier today the wind was up to 20 knots out of the west. tonight it is hot and humid. it is getting still. neighbors are coming out. it avenue the kind of night when you used to see ted kennedy on the street on the dock on his sailboat. he was aer all a citizen of this town. known by all, if not loved by

all, and so the people here today were rememberi him. our report tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: hyannisport, the kennedy touch stone for eight decades. the family would travel the world but they always came back to this hamlet by the sea. the kennedy legend forged in touch football games on the manicured lawn. their vitality and come pet nifness on vivid display. it was here they waitedhrough the long election night in 1960 when john the secon son won the presidency. >> so now my wife and i prepare for a newdmistration and for a new baby. thanyou. >> reporter: three years later, senator ted kennedy would come here to tell his father the president had been shot. the draw in hyannis port, the water, at every stage of life, the kennedys sailed. on nantucket sound they found adventure testing their boats and themselves. none more so than ted kennedy.

this man crewed for him in races and fun. >> he loved racing. ñ out on that boat for two, three hours and it would just iigorate him. >> reporter: as the second generation of kennedys grew up, the family's familia rhythm of great joy and great sorrow would continue at the cape. senator kennedy walked caroline down the aisle, here with the pride that neither he nor jackie could contain. a decade later, anguish as he ceived the body of john jr., who crashed his plane into the waters off martha's vineyard. aftethe senator's cancer diagnosis, the sea would once again be his refuge. taking long sails on his beloved boat "maya" tonight she stands in silent salute to her captain who now has embarked on what he once called "the next great voyage." anne thompson, nbc news, hyannis port. and depending on where

you're watching this broadcast tonight, for a lot of you we'll be back right after a short break. or after your local programming, for more of our special coverage tonight of the death of senator ted kennedy. if it wasn't air on your nbc stion, where you are, it will be on our website. nightly.msnbc.com. for now from hyannis port, massachusetts, i'm brian