senator byrd said he would no longer seek the position privately and two of my colleagues, senator inouyend senator johnston announced they were going to run. the thought did cross my mind but didn't do anything about it until backus and bill bradley urged me to run. i then went and talked to john glenn, someone i respected. its if he laughed at me i shouldn't do it but he encouraged me and said he thought i could go do the job. then i ran for it and won. charlie: and it put new position to be the patrol protagonist of president george bush. george: we worked together the first two years. muskie has -- had a clean air act but needed improvement. we tried hard when president reagan was in office but he was adamantly opposed to both the clean air and clean water act. in clean air, when president george h. bush took office, he reversed the reagan position and announced affirmatively that he was for the legislation, which made enactment of the law possible. after he said that the debate was what will be in the clean air bill? we ultimately got a good, strong bill, which wouldn't have happened

very tempting because the white house press corps will ask you every day hillary clinton said this inouye said this and then it was mccain and all this. i was pretty disciplined. i always imagine if the president were watching me would he be proud. and if the answer was no, and i didn't say it. i just thought it. [laughter] just kidding. ira member where i was at the middle school i could see it right now asking me a question about something hillary clinton had said. >> can you tell us the reporter's name? >> no. >> can i guess? >> know, somebody that keeps a lot of statistics. >> senator nelson. >> inside joke. >> 30 minutes later the campaign had a big fund raising appeals using my words against the president and i thought shoot i'm in trouble. so i knew it feels good for just one second and then you have to suffer the consequences. so i get a phone call and it's from the president at the ranch and he says again i know what you are trying to do for any but you have to let it go because the best thing you can do for john mccain is stay out of it and if he's going to push at me and that's

. >> endless bag of tricks there with mike inouye. >> when he talks regular, it stunning.ajor changes coming to how u.s. handles hostage situations with terrorists. >> heart stopping video, motorcyclist colliding with oncoming fire truck and survives. his word of advice. >> he's so lucky he lived to tale the tale. big board right now, dow jones down about 45 points we'll talk with scott mcgrew what this means today. ==kris/anim== happening today: ==kris/cu== the obama administration is set to announce major changes to how the country deals >>> 6:39 now. today the obama administration is set to announce major changes on how the country deals with u.s. hostages taken overseas by terrorist groups, like isis. among those changes government will no longer threaten to punish family whose choose to pay ransoms to terrorists in hopes of getting their loved ones home safely. the white house will announce creation of the so-called hostage recovery fusion cell. it's a new u.s. government unit designed to coordinate tracking and rescue efforts. >>> 6:40, another republican candidate c

but we should be held accountable i look forward to where we have been and where we are going and inouye to a want to say we have problems. we do. we own them under stepping up the mud for two your support for you can help to work with us to reduce the stigma it is a huge problem. also the you are supporting for veterans one of the challenges a lot of young people are not choosing to go into these fields which is the ultimate recruitment problem. we have terrific incentives of debt reduction thing to the veterans choice act and those are great tools but someone has to make the decision to go down that path. >> i want to stress again the failure to do to turn over those documents makes our job difficult. >> dr. clancy thank you for addressing the al tasso issue to be sure the your monitoring those veterans who will be coming off of opiates but the feedback stands as they hear it directly that apparently that is not happening in el paso. for every veteran who takes the time to come down to the town hall meeting despite what they go through to tell the congress and they're having this probl

who massacred our brothers and sisters in charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag and inouye is to reflect the people in our state the respect and in many ways ways, revere it. south carolinian is reviewed as a symbol of respect and integrity and duty also as a memorial a way to honor ancestors who came to this service of their state and during the time of conflict. that is not hate nor racism. at the same time for many others the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of beverly a person's past -- a overly oppressive past but as the state we could still be home to both viewpoints we do not need to declare a winner or loser. we respect freedom of expression and for those who wish to show their respect to their flag on their private property nobody will stand in your way but at the state house is different. and the events of this past we call upon us to look at this a different way. 15 years ago after a contentious debate south carolina came together to move the flag from atop the capitol dome. today we are here in a moment of unity without ill will to say this time to move the fla

the congressional medal of honor winner danny inouye and the u.s. army flier pilot ted stevens. both combat-decorated world war ii veterans who decided ike both as a general and as president, should be nationally memorialized. they decided and convinced the congress that the general and president eisenhower should be nationally celebrated, and the day it all began was d-day. senator inouye from hawaii and senator stevens from alaska knew that ike represented more than kansas, more than america but the entire world as well. and then he spoke to the world. his identity was simple and basic and convincing. in paying homage in 1945 to the british fathers and mothers of soldiers sailors and airmen who had died under his command he also said i am not a native of this land. i come from the very heart of america. it is a paradox of unfortunate irony, mr. president that those members of the greatest generation who come on honor flights from all across our great nation to the world war ii memorial cannot visit reflect and pay homage to a memorial to the general who led them to victory. to

right now, we'll get a look at your roadways with mike inouye. the bayshore freeway?s the merge point, a little slower there. but overall, things are pretty good. recovering at palo alto around university. an easy drive through oakland northbound and westbound. for 580 and 880. and the metering lights are on at the toll plaza. the golden gate bridge, very clear view now. back to you. >> thank you very much mike. we'll be back in 25 minutes. back to the "today" show. >>> last week fallen gave a hand. tonight, larry, david and jason alexander. edie falco as well. that's nbc tonight. >>> 8:30 now on a monday morning, the 8th of june 2015. a great loud crowd on the plaza. we have lego dinosaurs and is that the american pharoah winning team? the zayat family. >> what do they call them in the business connections? are they the connections? they are famous now. >> no question about it. >> not often that the owners of horses become big celebrities. they have. our congratulations to them on a job well done. >> all right. coming up, the reason for the amazing lego dinosaurs. ch

. >>> let's get a look at your traffic with mike inouye. >> look over here toward the slower drive, westl pattern. slow south 101. the earlier crash looks like it's on the shoulder. out of the lanes in mountain view. the approach to the bray bridge, not bad. back to you. >> the holiday is in sight. thank you, mike. we're back in 25 minutes. >>> 8:30 now on this monday morning, the 29th of june 2015. this is a short work week for a lot of folks. got the july 4th holiday this weekend. it is a beautiful day out here on our plaza. a very happy crowd. >> girl scouts are back there. >>> if you're looking for something to do this fourth of july week we have a couple of great concerts right here. throwback thursday boy george! yes. boy george will be here to pore perform some of his biggest hits. and on friday flo rida hits the summer concert stage. >>> also coming up sandra bullock. dylan, she's going to open up about her new role her son, minions, and more. >>> plus dr. oz says there's never a vacation when it comes to your health. he's here to test us all with a special secret quiz. >>> and,

mike inouye has a look at how this is impacting the commute. >> yeah the trains running on that lineon the peninsula there are some delays. keep that in mind. think about the peak of the commute around the bay, northbound 101 slow all the way up into palo alto around university. back to you. >> we have more local news coming up for you in a half hour. we'll keep you updated on that b.a.r.t. situation as well. ♪ >>> 8:30 now on a sunny, happy wednesday morning, the 24th of june. already 2015. nice summer day. >> wrangler wednesday. right. >> coming up amanda seyfried is here to talk about what it's like to act with a fake raunchy teddy bear and about pulling pranks or having them pulled on you on the set of "ted 2". >> is havehave you heard? in a moment we are starting an era with siri pinter, your better half making a one-pot meal we are going to love. >> looks good already. in 20 years, since "clueless" came out as a movie. it made alicia silverstone a star. she's here to talk about that, her stage show "motherhood" and more. we look forward to talking to alicia in a little bit. >>