. >> in 1964, when he was almost killed in a small plane crash, it was his senate colleague birch bayh of indiana who pulled him from the wreckage. >> the saying is when to going get tough, the tough get going and ted kennedy was made out of tough material. he didn't let it get him down. he was determined to be a better person for it. >> a man who has worked closely with senator kennedy and knows his record well. >> here is senator birch bayh of indiana. >> we have become close personal friends and i had a chance to learn firsthand of his great compassion and concern for the problems facing you the people of his state. >> he was one of those who followed the biblical admonition do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. i don't think it was an act. i think it was genuine. >> senator orrin hatch from utah was one of kennedy's closest colleagues. >> i remember one time i was unjustly accused and he would call on a regular basis to say, don't worry about it, everybody knows you're honest, everybody knows you didn't do anything wrong. he was the only senator who did, by the way. i ne

. >> we're not sure whether the senator birch bayh was with him or not. two senators stayed in washington to vote on the civil rights bill this afternoon. >> i felt this tremendous impact of the crash. i was conscious of sort of sliding along the ground very briefly. and then there was complete silence. and senator bayh called my name a few times but i couldn't really couldn't respond. >> i went back and yelled at him again and this time he sort of mumbled and i got ahold of him. >> he pulled me out of the plane and my legs fell to the ground. >> doctors said today he's probably not paralyzed and will probably make a complete recovery. two other men senator's aide and ed moss died after the crash. >> i always remember the loss of my great friend, ed moss and i always remember birch bayh really saved my life, dragged me out of that plane, risked going back because it could have caught on fire. >> mr. president. >> my friend, i'm sure glad to hear your voice. >> thank you so much. >> you got a bad break. but my mother used to tell me that things like that d

. >> here is senator birch bayh of indiana. >> we have become close personal friends and i had a chance to learn firsthand of his great compassion and concern for the problems facing you the people of his state. >> he was one of those who followed the biblical admonition do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. i don't think it was an act. i think it was genuine. >> senator orrin hatch from utah was one of kennedy's closest colleagues. >> i remember one time i was unjustly accused and he would call on a regular basis to say, don't worry about it, everybody knows you're honest, everybody knows you didn't do anything wrong. he was the only senator who did, by the way. i never forgot it. >> but it wasn't just senators who felt that way. his extended family of course. at 36, he became the father figure for 13 of his dead brothers' children and plus his hers.hree kids around there were >> this was by far my darkest hour. >> our abc news colleague, jon karl, was driving in california in 2002 with -- and were in a terrible crash, but hospitalized and shaken. >> the very first call i go

died in without that assistance more than four decades alge, birch bayh will be here as well.rown of the united kingdom, prime minister of ireland, and all four living former four presidents of the united states have committed to attend the funeral on saturday. >> at the catholic church, at the mass service, right, john? >> reporter: that's right. at the catholic church. it's called the mission church, the basilica of our lady. the mission hill neighborhood. they call it the mission church. senator kennedy handpicked that church of the many catholic churches here in his beloved state of massachusetts because he would go there almost daily to pray when his daughter was battling cancer years ago. he'll say his final farewell before he goes to his final resting place near you jute side the nation's capital at arlington national cemetery. >> that funeral mass 10:30 a.m. saturday morning to 12:30 p.m. we'll have live coverage of all these memorial services. we're going to continue our coverage of what's going on right now at the presidential library. some other news we're following

for coming in. >> sorry it's under these circumstances, but i appreciate the interest. >> senator birch bayh, thank you very much. >>> ted kennedy has been called the most influential senator in history because of his ability to work with democrats and republicans, the unique way he worked both sides of the political aisle. we'll talk about that coming up. >>> plus, how senator kennedy used his considerable power to help shape the supreme court. our special coverage of the death of edward m. kennedy continues. >>> we're going to be having a lot more coverage of the death of senator edward m. kennedy including moments from special interviews i conducted with him over these many, many years. stick around. you're going to want to hear from senator kennedy himself. first sh let's check in with fredricka whitfield monitoring other important stories coming into "the situation room" right now. >> reporter: hello, everyone. standing up to the pressure. south carolina governor mark sanford says he's not going anywhere, this after the lieutenant governor today accused sanford of, quote, serious miscon