tom harkin of iowa talks. this is about two hours and 15 minutes. >> today's hearing is on autism intervention and research. the center for disease control says that one out of every 150 children born this year will be diagnosed with autism. among boys, the rate is even higher. we do not know what causes this disorder. most researchers agree that every discovery seems to raise more questions even though autism has not just one of

chris dodd, tom harkin, you k w know, brown and the countless people that will carry on and, you know, do their best to try to -- y know, the cause endures. the fight goes on. >> i want to bring in chris dodd, another close friend and can colleague. senator dodd, iant to ask you about something that was so poignant that came out of the funeral yesterday from his son. he said my dad taught me how to like republicans because he said they are just the kind of patriots, they love this country as much as i do, and they're out there fighting the same kind of fight. yet, your colleague and friend lamented in recent years that it became harder to wor across the aisle, that bipartisanship was something that was fading away. what happened? >> it's not about bipartisanship. i think that had its moments and its peaks and valleys. it's stability in the process more than anything else.

and also, the reverend derek harkin, with 19th street baptist church in washington, he's here as welltually in cleveland this morning. good morning to you both. now, this new initiative here, let's be clear, are y'all ba backing -- i'll start with you, reverend harkin, are you backing the president's particular plan, or are you just pushing for some kind of a health care reform plan? >> thanks for being able to be with you, t.j. it's important to know there is not a complete body of legislation in place yet. and what's important to know that the conversation needs to continue. it needs to continue civilly and productively so we can have a piece of legislation that leads us to health care reform. so when it comes to backing a particular plan, well, that's in process, but we want to make sure millions of people of faith want to make sure that health care reform moves forward. >> well, rabbi pezna, i took a shot at it with reverend harkins, he kind of got around it a little bit. i want to ask you as well, i think it's five different committees working up there on capitol hill. there's no

senator harkin hosted a town hall meeting punctuated by loud outburst. unlike other meetings he was not drowned out but did get an earful of opponents of the legislation. >>> a lot of people angry. when when they hear what we're going to do, how this washes ut, i'm not saying 100% of the american people but a vast number will see this as a good thing to change the situation. >>> one man arrested at the meeting. >>> several inmates have not been injured in a prison riot. violence broke out at the institution for men in encino. one hunt that houses up to 200 inmates was set on fire. inmates self-evacuated into a yard. still wasn't clear whether all of them made it out of the building. >> i sonia sotomayer -- >>> i, sonia sotomayer, did solemnly swear -- >> and with those words, sonia sotomayer became the first latina supreme court justice. she took the judicial oath from chief justice john roberts yesterday. sources close to her say that she's already reading up on cases. legal analyst from our sister cnn says that's to be expected. >> there is a great des

several months ago, we were in this room, i have deep respect for senator harkin. the date and tobacco, the fda was the only agency in the world that could regulate tobacco, the only ones who had the expertise. the cdc wasn't good enough, there was no other agency. the fda was the only gold standard, they had the only braintrust that could run through a complicated process, and a month ago, debating health care reform. in that health care reform debate, we talked about. we needed better outcomes. more outcomes of the american people. now we are here because of the results of an 8-1 supreme court nomination. thirty-three years later, this is the single most important thing we have on our plate. twice as long as i have -- let me read from your testimony. judges and juries throughout the country, inconsistent with the terminations. the result would be revelatory chaos. regulatory chaos, you have no investment. no venture-capital at the table to drive the next device, you therefore have no innovation. you decrease the outcome. the new england journal of medicine stated

harkin, is very hard to come by.the autism society of america currently estimates that the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism is 3.5-inch to $5 million. taking those numbers, we are looking at facing almost a 90 billion annual cost in autism. the question that we have to ask this committee and this whole senate body is can we afford not to put the money into research and treatment if these are the numbers that we are looking at. i am glad you are sitting beside me. the combating autism bill brings great hope for parents, and we appreciate your work in passing that. however, we've got to move quicker. we've got to see the interagency coordinating committee look at all aspects and possible causes of autism. we've also got to see that committee quickly make some identifiers and look at populations of these children to find out what are the general pictures that we see of these children's parents, their family members. what are some health indicators that we see. and it's got to be done quicker than we usual

tom harkin of iowa was interrupted several times saturday in des moines by people in the audience. >> this is not health reform. this is control. control over our lives. >> senator harkin calls the outburst scare tactics that are part of a nationally coordinated effort to disrupt the meetings. the republican party says it is not behind those efforts but some conservatives groups have encouraged people to show up at the meetings. hundreds gathered in memphis, tennessee to voice their concerns to democratic representative steve cohen. the congressman planned to address social security and veterans benefits but that town hall quickly switched topics, then it turned into a raucous debate over health care reform. in new york state, congressman scott murphy got an earful from all sides. hundreds gathered at a parking lot to express their positions on health yar overhaul. >>> new this hour, the senate minority leader weighing in at those outbursts. republican senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky says he thinks neither side should try to engage in disrupting the town halls. he's defending the

democratic senator harkin of iowa was interrupted several times by people in the audience. >> this is not health reform. this is control. control over our lives. >> senator harkin calls the outbursts scare tactics part of a nationally coordinated effort to disrupt the meetings. the republican party says it is not behind the efforts but some conservative groups encouraged people to show up at the meetings. hundreds gathered in memphis, tennessee, as well, to voice their concerns to democratic representative steve cohen. the congressman planned to address social security and veterans benefits. that turned into a rauraucous e debate over health care reform. >>> president obama's week includes pushing health care reform. on tuesday he will attend a town hall meeting in new hampshire. let's go live to be inning's mike viquera. >> reporter: the president holds the town halls, he was in raleigh, north carolina, and on the same day went to bristol, tennessee. he's been around the country for several of these over the last six months, somehow they always end up being in blue states or swing di

. >> thank you, senator harkin. we appreciate the leadership you provide and miss our friend, senator kennedy. we welcome all of you witnesses here today. this is a very important hearing and this is a very important subject or should i say, set of subjects. mr. chairman, i want to start off by discussing the context in which we are holding today's hearing. as everyone in this room knows, congress is in the middle of debating and drafting legislation aimed at overhauling our nation's health care delivery system. obviously, we are somewhat divided over what is the best approach in this effort but i think we all want to see something done to reduce the health care costs in this country. as we all know, the medical device amendments of 1976, the mda we call it, established rigorous system of federal oversight of medical devices. under this system, devices carrying the greatest health risks are subject to premarket approval by the fda. during this process, fda officials spend a tremendous amount of labor intensive time

. >>> seriously, i spoke to senator tom harkin, the senator of the chairman of the health committee. and he told me he had people come up to him at town hall meetings and ask, why is nancy pelosi and harry reid trying to kill them? folks, these people are over the top. and they're not grasping the situation. they are easily led. and it's scary. they're being fed lies by right-wing radio. they're being fed lies by right-wing talkers on television and they're playing the fear card big-time. and they're basically depending on these people to go out and do their dirty work. now this is all about a massive misinformation campaign. and the president spoke to it this weekend. >> so let me explain what reform will mean for you. and let me start by dispelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia or cut medicaid or bring about a government takeover of health care. that's simply not true. >> here's where it's coming from. sarah palin. she's playing around with her facebook account on friday and put this garbage up on her site. the america i know and love is not the one whic

she called senator kennedy's office and she called senator harkin's office and she had some ideas about what she wanted in the bill and they found their way into the bill that got marked up in senator kennedy's committee, so i was impressed with her passion, i was impressed with how seriously people took her input. she clearly was viewed as a health-policy expert by senator harkin's office and senator kennedy's office and that was one of the many things she was an expert in. >> woodruff: you know this field so well. what was it like for people with intellectual disabilities before eunice shriver came along? >> well, if you look back at the clip that you just showed, in the 1960's, we had a lot of peopledu)ud intellectual disabilities who were stuck in institutions from the moment they were born. children would be born, the professionals would tell the parents they have homes where you can send these children, they'll be taken care of for the rest of their lives and it was basically warehousing human beings, and i think she -- she saw that there was value in creating opportunities for yo

well, it was standing room only for harkin at a des moines medical center and reform opponents were not the only ones in the crowd they were loudest. >> harkin repeated the democrats line on this disruption they are coordinated efforts. conservatives enkoujed people to come out but the republican party denies any responsibility. many in the crowd will tell you they want their voices heard. >> i think we heard there's a lot of people out here angry that congress proposes bills, doesn't read them and then when the people out here read them, congress gets angry that we're reading the bills. >> i think when people get the right information and they know what we're trying to do and how this will all wash out, i'm not saying 100% of the american people will be for it but the vast majority of the people will see this as a good thing to change the system that we have. >> for the most part town halls are going smoother for republicans but democrats who think they can skip these scenes may find protesters waiting for them in other spots. >> why there may be no escaping the health care debate. >>

it was a packed meeting for iowa democratic senator tom harkin yesterday. reform opponents weren't the only ones in the crowd, but they may have been the loudest. harkin repeated the democrats' line that these disruptions are a coordinated effort by reform opponents. conservatives have encouraged people to come out. the republican party, though, denies any responsibility. in fact, many in these crowds will tell you they just want their voices heard. >> i think he heard that there's a lot of people out here angry that congress proposes bills, doesn't read them, and then when the people out here read them, congress gets angry that we're reading the bills. >> i think when people get the right information and they know what we're trying to do and how this is going to all wash out, i'm not saying 100% the american people before it, but the vast majority of the american people will see this as a good thing to change the system that we have. >> well, the health care reform debate also has fuelled highly organized efforts to lobby lawmakers. cnn photo journalist ha

. >> senator tom harkin: it's a betting game, folks; it's a betting game. >> kroft: congress now seemsshocked and outraged by the consequences of its decision eight years ago to effectively deregulate swaps and derivatives. >> harkin: this is casino capitalism, that's what it is. it's casino capitalism. >> kroft: and various members of the house and senate have all been the usual suspects to accept or share the blame. >> congressman henry waxman: were you wrong? >> alan greenspan: credit default swaps have some serious problems. >> kroft: it appears to be the first step in a long process of restoring at least some of the regulations and safeguards that might have prevented, or at least mitigated, this disaster, after the damage has already been done. where do we go from here? >> goldschmid: we need the most dramatic rethinking of the regulatory scheme for financial markets since the new deal. if anything has demonstrated that imperative, it's the economy right now and the tragic circumstances we're in. >> kroft: how much danger is still out there, do you think? >> goldschmid: we don't

senator harkin of iowa was interrupted several times saturday in des moines by people in the audience. >> this is not health reform! this is control! control over our lives! >> senator harkin calls those outbursts scare tactics that are part of a nationally coordinated effort to disrupt the meetings. the republican party says it's not behind the efforts but some conservative groups encouraged people to show up at the meetings. hundreds gathered in memphis, tennessee, to voice their concerns to democratic representative steve cohen. he planned to address social security and veterans benefits but the town hall turned into a raucous debate over health care reform. >>> congressman murphy got positions from all sides on health care overhaul. >>> president obama's week ahead includes pushing health care reform opinion on tuesday he will attend a town hall meeting in new hampshire. let's go to be inning mike viqueira at the white house. are we expecting a more controlled situation? >> reporter: one can always shop this isn't going to be the uhmer of shove when it comes to the town hall meeti

represented that mentality that was sort of part of -- >> it is a new version of that because it wasn't harkinning back to a very -- a very new version with the young people that were -- >> had did say, obama said i'm not going to get into the baby boomer battles, where 9 counterculture and main culture. i'm beyond that. the yucker supporters felt that too. those are not my wars or battles. >> that's why he was able to beat hillary. that's what it came down to, he really engaged the younger people. >> i think they are -- they were not eavent establishment, and in the dropouts. the spirit of obama nation, was engaged. much more in the spirit. the people behind kennedy. chris: those people that won the caucus states were the 60's people before. the same people. >> the spiritual inheriters. chris: they were the professors of pol chris: welcome back. trish, tell me something i don't know. >> there's consensus on wall street that the economy is beginning to recover. two big issues, unemployment and housing. there was a recent study by deutsche bank that said nearly half of all homeoers that have a mort

i thought senator tom harkin was the model. this week. his staff got nervous. he wanted to close down the meeting. harkin said, no. these are americans. they have a right to talk. they engage. people are very, very upset. they're upset because th stimulus was passed unread. they're upset because at 3:00 in the morning, pelosi introduced a 300-page amendment on energy tax increase and voted on it before the next afternoon. they have a sense of a machine running over them. there is substantiation in way the people are generally upset. the american way is to let them hang out, talk to them. let the members go back home. hold as many town hall meetings as you have to. let people get it out of their system, by september, we could have a genuine dialogue in this country. >> i know your allies, governor dean, said people are paid for. people recruited by lobbyists here in washington. but you can't create -- you can't force people to go out to a town meeting. you can't manufacture that kind of anger, can you? >> well, there is actually a lot of orchestration which tell

we have what happened to john dingell this weekend, let's watch a little bit of that, also tom harkin in iowa. these are angry people. now, you're going to new hampshire tomorrow. the president is doing a town hall meeting. what do you think is going to happen in portsmouth, new hampshire? >> i've got my hands on one conservative new hampshire group that is recruiting volunteers to show up. they've been using facebook and other news groups to do that and they're trying to get people there. look, new hampshire, arguably, you know, new england invented the town hall meeting or the modern day town hall meeting. these folks now how to do it. so you have this feeling, i wouldn't be surprised if we see a mob scene on the outside, but i wouldn't be surprised if the white house almost hopes they get a confrontation. the president almost wants to insert himself in a way in this debate to be able to say, hey, we need to take this down a notch. i thought what was interesting there, don't let go on notice what the president just said. he almost pushed back. nancy pelosi and steny hoyer did not to

listen to this, this is tom harkin in iowa and reaction what he says. >> they resort to scare tactics, information on obstruction. there was a nasty coordinated meeting to interrupt meetings like that, i don't expect that to happen here. we don't do that kind of stuff. >> how dare you claim that i'm part of a conspiracy. >> they turned into a phone meetings after a death threat to his office on friday. >> how are lawmakers reacting? >> most republicans are staying out of the way. some enjoying their opponents getting screamed at but mitch mcconnell has an issue with democrats that conservative groups. the people showing up at these things, are worried about medicare. >> and congress lashed out at a constituent that asked him about health care reform. >> you are talking about david 2009. he was at a meeting about a highway project. at the end of the meeting they said okay you can ask questions. congressman scott said the people in the audience were trying to hijack the event. here he is. >> not a single one of you had the decency to call my office and set up for a meetings. okay? then

this one hosted by iowa democrat senator tom harkin. >> this is not health reform. this is control. >> reporter: as members of congress returned home to answer questions about the health care overhaul in their districts, in washington former republican house speaker newt gingrich continued a controversial line of attack alleging that provisions in democratic health care bills could lead to euthanasia. >> you're asking us to trust turning power over to the government when there clearly are ople in america who believe in establishing knute nay sha. >> reporter: the controversy is over a provision that would allow medicare to offer voluntary end of life counseling to seniors. critics like former alaska governor sarah palin think it's a slippery slope. on facebook show wrote, the america i know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with down's syndrome will have to stand in front of obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide whether they are worthy of health care. such a system is downright evil. at town halls recently, the presidenhas had to calm wo

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harkin bill continues to gather strength to the caribbean -- hurricane bill continues to gather strength in the caribbean. a 42 year-old man was stopped by police for allegedly speeding. when he tried to get his license out of his back pocket, officers tackled him. other officers arrived and beganhe was tasered three times. he had bruises, cuts, and suffered permanent damage to his thumb. >> attorneys for the late michael jackson's say she may sue his personal physician. authorities are still looking to see if the doctor illegally provided drugs that caused his death. joe jackson says he plans to bury his son on michael's 51st birthday. >> three men are in custody in possibly the largest identity that scheme ever prosecuted in the u.s. one man allegedly stole more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers. prosecutors say the scheme took place from 8 suspect -- from 2006-2008. the winning bid for this farrago came over $5 million. -- ferrari came over $5 million. thus did the latest from all straight. investors hope of homebuilders will help them recover from some of the losses from

harkin. but it would set up a question of who would take over that panel. the names as far as seniority are like this. pat laey of vermont. and fox bocus. chairman of the finance committee. it would seem unlikely that any those three might want to give up their post to take over the ago panel position. that would take us next in line to senator lincoln of arkansas who won a lot of praise during the 2008 farm bill. that could have a major impact on the committee as it would put two southerners up top the panel because the ranking republican is saxby champ bliss from georgia. whether or not there will be an agriculture impact will depend squarely on what senator today does. >> that's it for news. now time for the forecast from meteorologist mike hoffman. >> we have seen this pattern a lot this summer. that is a trough in the great lakes and the east bringing chilly area all the way down into parts of dixie here. you're not as hot as you have been earlier in the sum fresh kansas to texas. that's good news for you folks. but there's still a ridge there and so i

harkin: mr.esident, i ask consent that liz dunn and eric peterson of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays -- mr. kohl: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any other senators wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 27, the nays are 70. and the amendment is not agreed to. a senator: yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. the time is yielded back on the mccain amendment number 2030. the question is on the amendment. all those in favor aaye. -- say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. m

first of the specter-harkin when i was chairman, and then harkin- schechter when he was chairman andboth times it was vetoed. i took the lead again with tom harkin, harkinnih funding -- increasing nih funding. those are pretty progressive moves. >> you mentioned the town hall. let us return to health care. president clinton was on the stage last night saying he supports the public option, that we got to get the conversation back about helping people that has been sidelined by a lot of misinformation. really the country's eyes was on your town hall meetings. what can you do, what are you doing to deal with allies better coming out of talk radio and coming out a lot of your former allies and colleagues in both the republican party and a larger conservative movement, and specifically, do you think you can help president obama get any of these republican senators that he says he needs to pass this legislation? who would they be and what would they do about it? am i think i would be helpful to him with senator grassley, very close, came in at the same time. " full with senator collins. yo

harkin. mr. hatch. no. mrs. hutchinson. mr. inhoff. mr. knowway. i. mr. isaacson. no. mr. johan. no. mr. johnson. >> i. >> mr. johnson. i. mr. kaufman. mr. kaufman. i. mr. kennedy. mr. kerry. mr. kerry. i. mrs. klobuchar. >> the one that might be used in campaign commercials a year from now might be when senator john mccain, who has a hispanic population of almost 30%, to vote no. that will excite democrats, but again, a fascinating process we're seeing unfolding. again, it's so rare for us to see all senators sitting there quietly, one at a time going through this audible role call. >> there's no way that anyone should minimize this historic moment on the senate floor that we are watching as the full chamber, as you pointed out, voting on the nomination of judge sotomayor. again, judge sotomayor is on her way to becoming the first hispanic on the nation's top court. joining us to talk about the significance not only as a female, but as what many have called a moderate judge on this panel. dan abrams as well as dr. juan andrade, with us. thank you for joining us. dr. andrade, i'l

. >> that was a reaction to a townhall meeting held by iowa senator harkin. crowd so big it was in the hall way. they asked those against it to bring solutions to the table and fewer complaints. opponents say the legislation could lead to socialism. >> tempers flaring in florida. when tampa representative cathy caster tried to hold a townhall meeting on health care reform. >> get off of me. >> everybody back up. >> get away from me. >> the townhall meeting there eventually turned violent and congress woman caster had to be escorted out of the room. >> in a crowd in michigan told representative john ding gel what they want to be done with health care reform. >> one man repeated interrupted ding gel claiming his adult son would not get health care reform under the proposal considered and dared the cops to arrest him, but he was not arrested. >> and back here in maryland. more than 1000 protestors with signs lined the streets outside of towson university tonight. they cannot get into the townhall meeting but they wanted to be heard. melinda roeder has more on th

. >> iowa senator tom harkin wanted income limits. john mccain didn't like adding to the deficit. >> we're spending $3 billion to subsidize car purchases from some of them from automotive companies that we own. >> and new hampshire republican judd gregg protested the use of money intended for energy efficiency. >> this is the ultimate bait and switch. >> but michigan democrat debbie stabenow wasn't buying any of it. >> my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are constantly bashing the recovery package for not delivering immediate results should be jumping for joy. >> stabenow noted that any of the amendments would force a suspension of the clunkers program since it would mean the senate had passed a different version of the bill than the house and the house has adjourned for the month, it is a safe bet that sometime later this evening, the senate will do the same and the clunkers money will keep flowing. chris: wendell goler reporting from the white house, thank you. the white house tried to get out ahead of and soften the bl

. >> tom harkin got an earful from opponents. there was a rowdy overflow crowd outside. inside, people bumped lawmakers from the spotlight. >> you have no ideas. you're typical, man. >> they got wind of the project through the 9-12 project, conserve commentateor -- commentator glenn beck's web site. they say the concern is genuine. >> of course many americans are upset. >> democrats say the complaints are manufactured. facing anti-stimulus bill rallies, they gave it a name. >> we call it "astro-turf." it is not really grass-roots. >> president obama hit back. >> let me start by disspelling the rumors that reform will promote euthenasia or bring about government takeover -- take-over of health care. >> liberal groups are also organizing supporters. he plans to conduct his own event tomorrow in new hampshire to correct what he calls misleading information. brooke hart, wbal-tv 11 news. >> we've seen naming rights for baseball stadiums, but a mother to be is hoping to receive money for giving up the naming rights to her unborn child. she says the idea is to raise money for

harkin: mr.ident, i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask consent that becky moyland and michelle habid of my staff be granted floor privileges tore the duration of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: mr. president, the senate ag appropriations bill creates $4.9 million to help public television stations meet the federal mandate to provide over-the-air digital signals to rural areas. similar to last year's funding level. rural public television stations throughout the country are at an extreme disadvantage when faced with the task of converting their stations and vast network of translators from analog to digital transmission. why? because they're spread over a larger geographic area than private and -- than some of the network stations, they have a much smaller population base to draw upon when funding system improvements than what the u

chris dodd tom harkin, you kn know, brown and the cntle people that will carry on and, u know, do theirory to -- you know, the cause endus. e fight goes on. >> want to bringn chris dodd, another close friend and ca coeague. senator dodd, i want tosk you about sothing that s so poignant that ce out of the funeral yeerday from hisson. he saidy da taught me how to li republicansecause he said they are just theind of patriotsey love thi country asuch as i do, a there out there fiting the same kind fight. yet, your cleaguend fend lamented inecent years thatt became harde t work across the aisl that bipartisanship w something that was fading away. what happened? >> it's not about partisanship. i think that had its momts and it peaks and valleys. it's stability in the pross more thannythinelse there's appeareen bipartisanship. it's wre you know where y are and wch bod you serve. as john just so eloquently said he understood the rhythms of the place. wesed toase, david,ith nemembers, are we going t te o friysr not? i would y, listen, you fd t what ted knedy is doing on thursday night. if he is

take a look at how democrat tom harkin reacted to a very tough question. >> it was advertised as a public meeting. i'm here as a member of the public. >> who sent me here? i sent myself. how dare you. how dare you claim that i'm part of a conspiracy. how dare you. >> now, believe it or not, that wasn't the most appalling response from the democratic corner. house leaders nancy pelosi and steny hoyer tried to explain why you, the american people, are so angry, and they wrote in "usa today" that "these disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views, but of the facts themselves. drowning out opposing views is simply, they say, un-american." the white house later today tried to quickly distance themselves from these comments. but at this point the democrats have compared those of us who oppose health care, they've compared us to nazis, they've called us brownshirts, crazed mobsters that are manufactured by the r.n.c. and now they're accusing people of being un-american, all in an effort to shut down dissent. so they steam rolled this bill through congress.

. >> tom harkin, the democratic senator from iowa is also the chairman of the senate agricultural committees on record of saying if the senate is to tackle a climate bill, he wants an opt out clause so if the u.s. is going through the pain of limiting its emissions an china and india aren't, that they can opt out of the legislation. bret. bret: steve brown live in des moines. thanks. a civilian employee from fort louis army base in washington is at the center of a case over constitutional rights of speech and free assembly over over the government's concern over a group that engamed in civil disobedience. correspondent dan springer picked up the story r >> as anti-war groups tried to block this shipment of military equipment from ports in washington state to iraq and afghanistan, they had no idea a spy had infiltrated the ranks. now they are building a case against the man they knew as peace activist john cake could be, who is, in fact, john towery, a civilian army employee assigned to protection division at port arthur, washington. >> i sense a sense of betrayal. i felt like i lost a frien

is it tom harkin? what do you think?d, i look back at a conversation i had with him in iowa at that first caucus, and he's always been one of those right next to ted kennedy. but the real problem is i don't think the republicans have any interest at all in compromising. we can start with the stimulus package, not one member of the house voted for that. and then most of them turned around and abused that stimulus money. look at the health care question, i don't think they have everybody had an interest in compromising. we look at what mccain has been talking about, you mentioned specifically orrin hatch, and they did compromise on schip, if you look at who's driving the republicans now it's the wing nuts and the tea bagger we have had in the past. not the people we expect to compromise. so to expect them to come to the table now is probably naive. >> we now see the john f. kennedy library, where senator ted kennedy lies in repose, people began lining up early this morning waiting hours to pay their financial respects, we

. >> thank you, senator harkin. we appreciate the leadership you provide and miss our friend, senator kennedy. we welcome all of you witnesses here today. this is a very important hearing and this is a very important subject or should i say, set of subjects. mr. chairman, i want to start off by discussing the context in which we are holding today's hearing. as everyone in this room knows, congress is in the middle of debating and drafting legislation aimed at overhauling our nation's health care delivery system. obviously, we are somewhat divided over what is the best approach in this effort but i think we all want to see something done to reduce the health care costs in this country. as we all know, the medical device amendments of 1976, the mda we call it, established rigorous system of federal oversight of medical devices. under this system, devices carrying the greatest health risks are subject to premarket approval by the fda. during this process, fda officials spend a tremendous amount of labor intensive time

first of the specter-harkin when i was chairman, and then harkin- schechter when he was chairman and both times it was vetoed. i took the lead again with tom harkin, harkinnih funding -- increasing nih funding. those are pretty progressive moves. >> you mentioned the town hall. let us return to health care. president clinton was on the stage last night saying he supports the public option, that we got to get the conversation back about helping people that has been sidelined by a lot of misinformation. really the country's eyes was on your town hall meetings. what can you do, what are you doing to deal with allies better coming out of talk radio and coming out a lot of your former allies and colleagues in both the republican party and a larger conservative movement, and specifically, do you think you can help president obama get any of these republican senators that he says he needs to pass this legislation? who would they be and what would they do about it? am i think i would be helpful to him with senator grassley, very close, came in at the same time. " full with senator collins. y

struggled and iowa her husband never campaigned there when he ran in 1992 there were irrelevant because harkin was running and i had no network she began with a iowa skeptical of her, they did not feel they knew per, iowa was always the most troubling state for the campaign had the race started and new hampshire we may have a different outcome that is where the clintons became the comeback kid is what revived her after iowa in this campaign if that was reversed we may see a different outcome. if obama won the south carolina primary by only nine points rather than 29 points we may have a different race. south carolina was a supercharged battle that involved bill clinton, the issue of race became injected into the campaign that people felt was destructive at the time. nobody in the clinton high command wanted to compete hard in south carolina they knew they had to debate the basically wanted senator clinton to spend no time there and make it clear she did not regard that as crucial. bill clinton insisted that they compete there and insisted he spend time there it was his view would not without s

and i hear republicans complaining on the senate floor tonight, dodd and harkin were talking about theublic option. on the other side republicans were trying to scare senior citizens about medicare and about the health care system and the government takeover. and it's clear that government can't do everything but government does some things very, very well. medicare, cash for clunkers, the list is pretty long. and bring them on. let's have the debate and the discussion. >> senator sherrod brown of ohio, thanks very much for your time tonight, sir. >> thank you, rachel. >> so it turns out that when nevada senator john ensign put a teenager on the republican party payroll as a policy consultant republican party staffers knew at the time that ensign was sleeping with that kid's mom. classy. also classy? the republican party still not explaining whether it had an official role in covering up ensign's affair or in paying off his mistress's family. even classier than that? senator ensign still planning to run for re-election. stay with us. 3... 2... 1. ever wonder how cheez-it bakes... so mu

. >> in fact, kelly, it does harkin back to when congress was a different place with a different tonend there was a different way to get things done. particularly in the senate, called on senator kennedy's ability to forge those relationships and define early on he had to have republican support to get things done. >> one of the things we have learned about ted kennedy, we talk about him being the youngest joseph and rose's children. people say that the youngest in his family, he learned how to be referential to those above him. look at all the ambition that was put upon his older brothers. for a long time, ted was in that shad develop so, they say that deference, that ability to work with some different expectations actually served him very well in the senate, because when he came here as a very young man this is a place where seniority rules and many big egos, he was able to navigate that and win confidence and friendships and he did so many personal things, he would give someone a painting that he had done. he was an artist. or he would write a special note. or he would be in conta

in des moines, iowa senator tom harkin was interrupted several times yesterday by people in the crowd. some in the audience even began shouting at one another. >> we ain't going to do anything. >> why don't you go home. >> how dare you! how dare you! how dare you! >> joining me live from seattle, republican congressman dave reichert of washington. he sits on the ways and means committee. >> good morning. >> let's get an assessment of the anger at these town halls. how much is legitimate and how much do you think is manufactured by special interest groups looking to kill the bill? >> well, i think it's legitimate. i have been out talking to my constituents across my district and what i'm hearing is that this isn't really an effort by people to come to town halls to learn more. however, i think some people might be doing that. it really is these -- the people across the country have read the bill or read portions of the bill and are upset with those portions of the bill and see too much government control. they want their voices heard. i really see it as a grassroots movement, here espe

. >> i came to washington to work for senator harkin in the ddle health care reform under the clinton administration ad i remember eice calling the office and wanting to kw what was ithe bll for pople of intellectual disabilies. she wavery focused. she lled senator nnedy's office d she called senator hark's office and she had me ideas about what sh wanted in the bill and they found their way into the bill thatgot marked upin senator kennedy's commite, so i was pressed with her ssion, i was impressed with how seriously people took her input. she clearly was viewed as a health-licy expert by senator harn's office and senator kennedy's office andhat was one of the many things e was an expert in. >>oodruff: you know this fie sowell. at was it like for people with intellectuadisabilities befo nice shriver came along? >> well, if you look backt the clip that youjust showed, in the 1960's, we ha lot of peopledu)ud tellectual disabilities who were suck in nstitutions from the moment they were born. children wod be born, the professionals woul tell the parents they have homes where y can send