edgar hoover -- ted kennedy and j. edgar hoover. ted kennedy wanted him to testify in front of a committee, in one memo written by j. edgar hoover calling kennedy a dishonest man who can't be trusted. there are many, many more examples of a schizophrenic relationship. very cordial letters between kennedy and j. edgar hoover because at the same time we know that the fbi is tracking him when he is traveling to central and south america, accusing him of meeting with leftists, of gathering intelligence the same time the fbi director is apparently his best friend. host: how does this process work, the fbi releasing files? does every public official had a file? guest: not every public official necessarily. but many of them do. basically the process worked where the boston globe -- and that understand a lot of other media outlets requested kennedy's file after his death under the freedom of information act. basically over the last six or eight months, the fbi has been reviewing the file, blacking out anything that might impinge on someone'

there is that familiarity, and last year you had the departure of some icons like joseph biden, ted kennedy, who had dominated the hearings of the past, it was that sense. senator leahy was with kagan you do have some people with real continuity. i think the most interesting person to watch or one of the most interesting people to watch could be arlen specter. he has lost his primary. he voted against kagan for solicitor general, and it will be interesting to see if he will come off as the prosecutor. does he tell the party line? that should be interesting to watch. >> she said -- he suspects she will say it is settled law. you think that is the big issue that will be controversial in these hearings? >> i did not know if it is the big issue. it is always a big issue whenever you have a supreme court nomination, i think along with other issues that could come up that would be hot button, such as campaign finance and free speech, the place of religion and separation of church and state. i think those are all issues, but you heard him say he thought she would say it settled law. that is close

familiarity and last year you had the departure of some icons like biden who is now the vice president, ted kennedy who had dominated the hearings of the past. so it was sort of a new era. senator leahy is with kayen if she is confirmed to have sat through the h

for leader and he beat ted kennedy for senate leader in the early 1970's and that put him on a different path. host: two things you report in your story that are pretty well known. at least one of them, he would carry a u.s. constitution, a pocket competition. guest: it might seem a quaint to those of us who are on twitter and facebook and on the internet all day, but he carried a pocket constitution and to he would " from it. he said, you know what, this is all i will need iff-- this is all i need. but he was much more intellectual. he could go to the senate floor and in a speech, and he would " caribbean is from the bible, and sorrow for philosophy, and madison from the federalist papers -- he would quote corinthians from the bible and thoreau from philosophy. host: here is another quote -- guest: doesn't that seem quite? -- quaint. host: he served in the u.s. senate since 1954. we want to get your reaction to the passing of senator robert byrd. marjorie from pratte, west virginia. guest: good morning. i can't begin to tell you what a loss i feel this morning. i just absolutely adore h

he was not anywhere near as good a campaigner as ted kennedy.e could stay in the white house and say i care more about the american people. it is a good reason why ted kennedy lost. host: the story is "obama and the chaos perception." take a cautionary tale of jimmy carter. in fact, inflation was probably at the core of carter's troubles, but those other misfortunes contributed, too. you have to factor in the meltdown of three mile island, soviet tanks in afghanistan, and skylab. in other words, an era of chaos and a belief that the president had too little control over larger forces in the universe. this explains the appeal of ronald reagan, whose cinematic percent suggested that he would of lassoed the satellite and hurled it back into space." guest: it emphasizes how chance plays a role. no one would claim that three mile island was jimmy carter's fault, but the president is not -- the presidency is not fair. you are responsible for what happens on your watch. the clock is ticking on obama. he avoided katrina-scale blame so far. if we are in

brown laek this had january to fill the seat of one of this body's most beloved members, senator ted kennedy who was actually the longest serving of either party on the senate judiciary of comit committee in the history of the senate. senator browns serves on the senate armed services, the committee on veterans affairs and the homeland security and governmental affairs committee. prior to his election to the u.s. senate, he served in the massachusetts state senate where he advocated for children's and victims' rights and worked to promote environmental and good government initiatives. he's a 30-year member of the massachusetts army national guard. is that correcting? he was awarded the army commendation metal for meritorious service and homeland security. following the terrorist attacks in september 11th, 2001. and i know from my conversation i had with you the end of last week that you had to move a number of things around tore get here this afternoon. and i want you to nope the committee appreciates that and please go aheaa, senator brown. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the thanks is to you f

to establish a lasting and true friendship with senator ted kennedy from massachusetts, as we all know, who passed shortly before senator byrd and for whom senator byrd had nothing but the utmost and kindest words of praise and truly defined a friendship that perhaps has not been in american politics for sometime. this was a defining quality and a well-spring of immeasurable joy for senator byrd. for setting records and breaking his own was the inevitable result, but ultimately we are the ones who reaped the greatest benefit. in his later years when anyone questioned age as somehow detrimental to service, senator byrd reveled in picking off the names and ages of the ancients in the old testament and their continued service to the lord. moses was 120, senator byrd would say. noah was 960. he would call out, while i am but a spry 85. at 92, senator byrd work the longest record of service in congress well established, senator byrd enjoyed public service so much it's possible he also had the longest happy life on record. if only we could have captured the energies produced by his immense j

for leader and he beat ted kennedy for senate leader in the early 1970's and that put him on a differentpath. host: two things you report in your story that are pretty well known. at least one of them, he would carry a u.s. constitution, a pocket competition. guest: it might seem a quaint to those of us who are on twitter and facebook and on the internet all day, but he carried a pocket constitution and to he would " from it. he said, you know what, this is all i will need iff-- this is all i need. but he was much more intellectual. he could go to the senate floor and in a speech, and he would " caribbean is from the bibleand sorrow for philosophy, and madison from the federalist pape -- he would quote corinthianfrom the bible and thoreau from philosophy. host: here is another quote -- guest: doesn't that seem quite? -- quaint. host: he served in the u.s. senate since 1954. we want to get your reaction to the passing of senator robert byrd. marjorie from pratte, west virginia. guest: good morning. i can't begin to tell you what a loss i feel this morning. i just absolutely ado him. our s

thlegislation, of course, epard by the late setor ted kennedy d ouiend and collea h son, k kennedy. but foso my s, wdid not have menta healthparity. think if you ignore the service memberwho ve beeimpacte wel many americans el isolatedith mental heal ncernd not bng ablto acce alth care. thisill turncoe mental health care and i wa say to the american hat ical llnessas position to be raised upup over mental health condition and there should should be no stigmand have accesso as good a ca for phsical aient, a broken arm, an upsetoach, iaetes, nesease, but you suld equay haveccs hlth care. this bl allows at to happen d tht a step forward for it's god to note tt fams o vr raed chdren whoare no enteringork wrld nd oking for work and cong out of colge used toe an us burdehow i c for child wellno we have the oppornity for them to remain e surance until theyare 26. this is importanfor the congss to do and in the slation, tre are several siprovions in the bill. fact ouown congressiona black caus working w congsswoedwards and otrs were very insistent onaking suhat the raising of costs d not in

requiring one hand and the two of them played that in the caucus room now named after our late senator ted kennedy but i heard him play that in the happy times, in the enjoyable times when he would try to bring senators of both parties together to just act like human beings. but i also sat here with him when he reminded senators of what the constitution stood for, what our role was in the constitution when he spoke about against -- against going to work in iraq without reason and without a declaration of war. it was one of the most powerful speeches i have heard him give in over 36 years of serving with him i heard many, many speeches. others can speak of his record for time served in the senate and congress, the number of votes he cast, i think, madam president, him more as a mentor and a friend. i recall in the fall of 1974 having been -- having become the senator-elect and coming down here to talk to senators and meeting with senator byrd and senator mansfield. senator mansfield being the leader and senator byrd the deputy leader. i recall one of the things he told me -- both of them did -- alw

former senate majority leader, special and viccoria kennedy, the widow of ted kennedy, are expected to be named cochairs of the $125 million campaign. you can read more about this at politico.com the prison will be holding a town hall meetings with senior citizens in maryland to discuss the new health care bill. you can see live coverage tomorrow at 11:40 eastern on c- span. president obama will be holding eight health care town hall meetings with senior citizens in maryland tomorrow. >> no candidates in this race has given to voters in new hampshire or america more opportunities to ask questions and to see what he is made up. >> visit faces to see every day. if see some of their early television performances of over 160,000 hours of video. it is 25 years of political history where you can search for way by several different criteria, all available free online. >> joining us from our studios in new york, andrew mccarthy who is a senior editor with the national review. book, "the grand jihad: how islam and the left sabotage america." andrew mccarthy, you had written previously in your p