for good and ill, how would history be different today if tv images had not made michael dukakis the object of ridicule and if chase had not lamb popped ford as a klutz. and teddy, truics watched him, gradually got to know him. his fears and his real concerns for others. what i discovered about the inner world of the last kennedy. i'm chris matthews. welcome. >> michele norris hosts "all things considered. bill plant from the "cbs news." and andrea mitchell covers foreign affairs for abc and howard fineman is with us. television now nonstop is a vehicle that gives us the news of the day and in many ways, it is what makes leaders and demolishes and defines the losers. television has changed history because turning points have been played and replayed and now on the internet. let's look at how things have changed in the last 60 years. communism was at one time the number one fear. tv fed that fear but also destroyed the fear amongerer. it brought live hearings into the living room. here's what the lucky few that had tv, joseph mccarthy painting someone as a communist and the response f

and then there was michael dukakis. but greek americans know how much that meant to greek americans? today we asked somebody who should know. >> there was something that trumps the partisanship. i knew a lot of republican greeks who were supporting a democrat for first time because he was one of them. >> then of course the biggest jackie robinson moment of them all. election night 2008. some african-american students watching the returns and then it happened. and though it came 62 years after that break into the major leagues, this moment also says something about america. >> so help you god. >> so help me god. >> that he could not have made it without millions of white americans voting for him. justice kennedy couldn't without the votes of non-catholics and just as sotomayor today wouldn't have been confirmed but for the decision of the senate chamber filled with mostly older, caucasian men. it was a latino moment, but yes, an american one too. i'm john donvan for "nightline" in washington. >> congratulations to her. o

mentioned is this possible temporary senator is the former governor and presidential candidate michael dukakisand george reports a more permanent replacement could be kennedy's nephew, joe. he is the eldest son of robert kennedy and a former congressman who still has money left over from his last campaign. >> a senate replacement could help democrats fight for health care reform on capitol hill. some hope the issue kennedy called the cause of his life will get a boost from his passing. but as jonathan karl reports, the opposition has not let up. >> reporter: could senator kennedy's death inspire new-found unity on health care reform? >> no compromises, senator. nuke it now. >> reporter: the answer seems to be no. but many prominent democrats are hoping to turn an outpouring of goodwill into political magic. >> ask themselves what would teddy do. health secretary kathleen made the pitch. >> the best possible legacy is to pass health reform this year. >> reporter: the most senior senator, robert byrd, said my heart and soul weeps at the loss of senator kennedy and called for name being the healt

special election is coming forward now and that name appears to be former massachusetts governor michael dukakis. as you know, he was a 1984 democratic national candidate for president. >> all right, we'll watch it closely. tom fitzgerald live in the newsroom g. to www.myfoxdc.com for complete coverage of the funeral arrangements and check out worldwide reaction. a photo gallery of senator kennedy's life and the memorial in his honor. >>> thage in edge tracking trouble. --age in edge tracking -- news edge tracking trouble. boxes and boxes of things lik computer -- computer, hardway and tools. the second time in a month the the police have raided the pawnshop. as beth parker shows us, this time they were not alone. this has been a problem. >> reporter: and now it might be a problem for -- in blazensberg. the tools made by dewalt. >> these are husbands of items brand-new. this is what brought us here. the items are obviously sold. >> they expensive item when is you buy in retail. they sold to pawnshops on the dollar. >> reporter: police had help. the retailers safeway sent employers and trucks. it

mentioned is this possible temporary senator is the former gogovernor a presidential candidate, michael dukakis. >> george adds that kennedy's nephew, joe, is being considered r a replacement for kennedy. he has plenty of money left over from his last campaign. >>> among those with fd memories of teddy kenny, are massachusetts families devastated by the 9/11 attacks. here's a abc's sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: a day after the 9/11 attacks, cindy mcginty thought she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. her husband, mike, had been killed inside the trade center. she was home in massachusetts, with the couple's boys, ages 7 and 8. >> my phone rang. and there was this big, booming voice on it. >> reporter: it was senator kennedy, calling to express his condolences. >> given his own history, he had lost his own brothers to very tragic events. he lost many members of his own family. i just thought, it must ve brought back memories for him. >> reporter: it was a difficult call kennedy would make 176 more times. calling to offer his help to each of the massachusetts families. >> and i needed his he

names being mentioned as a temporary senator is the former governor and presidential candidate, michael dukakis. >> that would be the interim senator, if indeed this law were passed. how about speculation to who might run in the election five, six months from now? >> reporter: vicki kennedy has taken herself out, but joe kennedy, bobby's eldest son, a former congressman is still looking at the race. he has some money left over in his campaign chest. and there's a host of other members of congress and other sta statewide officials. there's a lot of pent up ambition in massachusetts. there hasn't been an open senate seat since john kerry first ran in 1984, 25 years ago. >> all right, george stephanopoulos reporting, thanks. >>> even though he was away from the senate for much of the last year, until just days ago, the senator was actively involved in the health care reform debate, on the phone with colleagues. some of his allies in congress harbor hopes that his death might generate a change of heart among opponents. if that is to be the case, there are few signs of it yet. here's jon karl. >> re

interim replacements two names are teddy's widow victoria and democratic presidential mom knee michael dukakis. t.j. winick, abc 2 news, washington. >>> it has been a cooler than normal day across the region. right now from the storm center weather net, at fort meade, how y'all doing down there? 72 degrees. wind from the north at 8 miles an hour. again, live data only available here on abc 2. here is your forecast for the next couple of hours. temperatures hanging in the low 70s with partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures. the cool air continues. for how long? we'll have the answer coming up in a couple minutes. >>> devastation. had the boat for 20 years, and it's just tough to see it resting on its side in the middle of the pavement. >> people in new york state are still trying to untangle their boats after a 50-wide-yard tornado with winds of 90 miles an hour ripped through that area. people at the yacht club say some of them can't be saved, and other boats will take up to a year to fix. the storm also caused a mess on land, tearing through homes and uprooting trees. >>> tonight police in ge

you're going to find someone who won't want to have the long-rm seat like former governor michael dukakisbunch of people looking at the long-term seat including perhaps former congressman joe kennedy, the eldest son of bobby kennedy. >> i have to say one minute after the funeral was over yesterday i got something in my in box about health care from the dnc, the democrats. how much do you think the death of senator kennedy will now impact the health care reform debate? >> well, there is an immediate impact in that the democrats will have one fewer -- one less senator right now. harder to get to 60. that's number one. they can't get there on their own. so that's number one. number two, i don't think -- i think it might change the tone of the debate a little bit. might lower the temperature a little bit but i don't think it changes the fundamental dynamic of what's going on here. the president's plans, democrats' plans facing significant obstacles. doesn't rule out the possibility of a compromise down the road, but it's probably going to take a significant adjustment for the democrats to get

michael dukakis was actually quite good in the last couple of weeks. and that kind of happens here.said o i'm going to be myself, but he still got nailed a lot throughout, and he was considered by carter's people and i think most people would say look at, a bad loser. normally, once you -- they first thought he was going to get out after illinois when he had a near zero chance of doing it. then he stayed in throughout the end of the campaign and then he wouldn't quit and he took his fight to the conventional on an idea that he would get a rules vote through thatould allow all of the delegates who have been pledged to other candidates to be free to vote for him. it was absolutely absurd from the beginning and it forced jimmy carter to spend a tremendous amount of time and pony on him that he could have devoted to ronald reagan. >> i think that also, we could say that in the second half of the complain, when he had proved, it wasn't just, you know, do you -- as you so eloquently put it, people are at their beds with they're lose, i think about that time, rald reagan had pretty much se

michael dukakis. he is one of those senior statesman who could be counted on to keep the seat warm until the party could get its act together and have a proper election in january. there are a lot of names out there even if you look on the republican side. massachusetts is not a very republican state. there is talk about mitt romney. he once came closer than most to defeating senator kennedy in a senate race and that state. who knows? there is a lot of political intrigue, but you are not allowed to talk about it if you are one of the people who wants the secret trace: i think i heard about a former white house's chief of staff. on the other side, you talk about barney frank's name being talked around. he said, i do not want it. he took his name out of consideration. even though the white house says that president obama -- he might not be thinking about this at all, but other certainly are. there is jockeying going on about the laws and what the next move is with health care. do we start putting the le

the name of michael dukakis, the former governor here, has certainly been mentioned.wait and see. >> when the election does roll around to fill the seat, do you think we will see another kennedy in there? is that possible? >> well, there's a lot of speculation. senator kennedy's widow vicki reggie kennedy comes from a large political family. she's obviously somebody who's up to speed on the issues. during this period she understandably has said nothing about the race. there's no indication that she will run. that hasn't stopped people from speculating. and also the senator's nephew joe kennedy, a former congressman, has sometimes been mentioned. it remains to be seen, but there might be a kennedy running. >> what about the next generation of kennedys? i know that bobby kennedy has two grandsons who are not old enough to run for the seat, but who we could see in the future? >> they're both in public spirited professions. matthew and joe kennedy iv. they're 28 years old. matthew works in the obama administration. and joe has graduated from law school and is going to be

and should that happen, one name that's being talked about is michael dukakis, former massachusetts governorate. natalie? >> kelly o'donnell in boston, thank you so much, kelly. >>> two u.s. soldiers died today after a roadside bombing in baghdad. at least 4,337 american troops have been killed in iraq since the war began more than six years ago. >>> law enforcement officials in south carolina are investigating a police beating caught on tape. the video shows a police officer hitting a teenage suspect with a flashlight after teens on an all-terrain vehicle refused to pull over. the officer was later fired. >>> and call them discerning females. three gorillas at london zoo were given a large photo of a male suter, so to speak, soon to join them, but it appears they weren't too impressed with them, because the female gorilla snatched the picture, ripped it up and then ate it. 8:05 right now. funny story. back outside now to matt and ann and a huge crowd. >> all right, thanks a lot, natalie. >> so, we want to ask our crowd members when the concert starts to put their umbrellas down no >> corpor

people talk about michael dukakis, people who clearly do not want the position for the future but senior> chairman -- >> something that gets to the position and reality of it, we just want somebody in the seat. >> until we hold the election. >> jonathan, thanks for the reporting particularly on that one. contessa, what else is going on prfr breaking news from south carolina. the governor is inviting reporters to have a chat with him in about an hour. we're told mark sanford will address ethics investigation into air travel. he's under fire for flying business class when state law requires flying the most economical way. they released travel records from 1984. they show one governor using supersonic jet to use friends. other officials fly first class. house speaker pro tem spoke out on "morning meeting." >> we have record unemployment in south carolina. we have some of the worst unemployment in the country, and it's affecting our ability to talk about that. so therefore, i think he should resign. >> south carolina's lieutenant governor is also calling on sanford to resign, which would all

michael dukakis was pretty good the last couple of weeks and that happens the time. [laughter] and i think that happened here. he said i'm going to be myself but he still got nailed a lot and he was considered by congress people and most people if they loo at a bad loser. normally the first thought he was going to get down illinois then he stayed through the end of the campaign than he wouldn't quit and he took his fight to the convention on a diaphanous idea he would get eight roel vote through that would allow all of the delegates who had been pledged to other candidates to be free to vote for him. it was observed from the beginning and it forced jimmy carter to spend a tremendous amount of time andoney on him that he couldave devoted to ronald reagan. >> i think also we could say in the second half of the campaign when he proved it wasn't just as you eloquently put it people are at their best when they are losing. i also think by that time ronald reagan pretty much suck up the republan nominatinn so you had this charismatic republican figure running on the total d

michael dukakis announced his selection of his running mate back in 1988 at faneuil hall. it is in the center of the city, a thriving marketplace, a hotel district. it is steps from the north end, steps from the financial district, steps from the government offices in boston. it is literally dead center city, a place where tourists come but also a place where longtime residents of the city know they can go and take a great walk and see the historic sites, whether it be the old north church a few steps away, the freedom trail running right through the faneuil hall marketplace area where so many critical events in the birth of the united states of america took place. of course, the kennedy family, because of its rich political history and, again, rose kennedy's dad was the mayor of boston at one point, he wanted very much to go right into the heart of the city that for so many re-elections in his 47 years as a senator from this state were the central parts of the city, the highest democratic turnout right here in the center of the city of boston. >> and we're seeing the live