ted kennedy died two-and-a-half years ago. today john kerry said farewell to his senate home of a quarter century as he now becomes secretary of state. and for a time today during his farewell, he found it too tough to go on. >> standing here at this desk, that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy. i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. i'm reminded that this chamber is a living museum. a lasting memorial to the miracle of the american experiment. >> john kerry's emotional farewell to the senate today. his departure now means a new interim senator, the massachusetts governor today named long-time boston lawyer, mo cowan to the seat which will be filled by a special election in june. there are now two black u.s. senators. that's a first. the other, tim scott of south carolina, was also appointed to his seat. and senator kerry's departure means elizabeth warren, who was just sworn in, is now the

and the last person who couldn't lose was ted kennedy. ted kennedy could not be beaten in 1979. your thoughts. >> i still think she does. she's knocking on the door as the first woman president and she did so much work four years ago to lay that groundwork. and she knows what it looks like. chris: she'll run? >> i think there's a good possibility. chris: you think she'll run? >> i do. chris: thank you. let's get to the -- we discussed in that interview we played. joe biden didn't say no. he wasn't cagey in the run-up to his first try back in 198 when -- 1988 when can dats wanted a young candidate after the reagan years. afl-cio. a required stop for democrats. >> i've been intention r mentioned as a potential presidential candidate and i've been occasionally written up. and i began to think, well, my lord, it must be true. i must be really moving. i've got a blue suit and a redge mentalal stripe -- regimental stripe tie and launched out on this campaign to be president. chris: biden's candor pails in comparison to bill clinton when he first surfaced in that same year. clinton had

a precious few, including ted kennedy and hubert humphery came to where we were camped out.and that our political process works only when leaders are willing to listen. >> he left the floor to a standing ovation capping off nearly three decades of public service. and it set off a mad political scramble to his senate seat. today, massachusetts governor picked boston lawyer as an interim replacement. >> so who is mr. callan? and is scott brown gearing up for a comeback? >> joining me now is susan mil ler ligan and contributor to the last lion, the biography of the late senator ted kennedy. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> i was pretty moved by it. i never thought that i would see john kerry, of all people, almost break down in tears to the point where he had to drink a glass of water and it was genuine because he loves the institution of the senate and i think he's quite pained over how the institution has changed and still hopeful to be what it used to be where members had genuine friendships across the aisle. he loved the senate. i was very touched by his sp

only after the death of senator ted kennedy in 2009. >>> american officials say israeli warplanes struckyria yesterday targeting high-tech weapons which they believe were on their way to hezbollah militants in lebanon. it happened just outside of da mat cuss and marked the first attack by israel against syrian targets in some five years. the incident raised new concerns that syria's on going civil war threatens to spill over into a wider regional conflict. the syrian government condemned the attack and insisted the air strike hit a research site, not a weapons convoy. our correspondent joins us live from cairo. what is the reaction to the air strike today in the middle east? >> reporter: well, good morning, bill. there is strong condemnation from several parts starting in cairo with the arab league which said that israeli air strike is a violation of sovereignty but more importantly russia syria's strongest ally and the supplier of the alleged weapons that were actually being carried in that convoy which we believe to be according to western sources to be air defense missiles going to he

john mccain, the other is ted kennedy. ted kennedy was a thorn in jimmy carter's side. kept the party pretty divided in times in the late 1970s. john mccain and george w. bush, very bad relationship in that first term. made getting some things done on capitol hill very difficult. difficult at times for george w. bush to unite his party sometimes, but even unite independents, and what did obama not want? that same issue, and that's why he wanted hillary clinton in his cabinet, in his white house, so he didn't have that. it kept the party united. that's what he was thanking her for more than anything else, which was sort of thank you for keeping the party united and not going to senate, which would have been, you know, think about every moment in the obama first term and what life would have been like for him with a senator hillary clinton. >> and what about the -- the reaction to this whole drama, 2016, jose, already. i know it's way too soon, and we all vowed we wendt do it, but seeing the two of them together, that does get people talking. >> you know, andrea, i'm so s

someone i was convinced was a ted kennedy impersonator.i don't know if any of you grew up in new york or listened to don imus, but he had a ted kennedy impersonator and sounded just like this. so i listened to the message and then after listening to it, i decided it was the senator asking me to come to washington to talk to him about doing a biography of his father. i went to washington and the senator and i and his two dogs had lunch together on mondays. on mondays is dogs came to the senate with himmondays. on mondays is dogs came to the senate with him. it was a weird site, believe me. we were brought into a tiny conference room, the two dogs and the senator and me with a card table in the middle and the senator was always on a diet and he had the most interesting sliver of tuna fish that looked as old as he was. i had two pieces of bread and potato chips. and we talked for three or four hours. what i remember saying is that you don't want me to write this book. because i am a historian. and i'm going to find stuff. whatever i find, whe

it is no accident that ted kennedy and orrin hatch crafted a compromise is. they were both strong partisans but they had the spirit of compromise. that is our main prescription for compromise. >> but if you look at senator hatch, she was pretty well threatened by the team party in the primary and being ousted from office because some of his compromises. >> true, and the compromise is different, the government is becoming more and more difficult, however, if politicians -- where we remember orrin hatch we remember him for passing grade legislation to protect children's health care from ted kennedy. we are not going to remember politicians for their care cowardice we will remember them from the courage. we are calling our titian's to exercise leadership. we also talk about a set of reforms that would make it easier to compromise. reforming the filibuster, open primaries rather than closed primaries. limiting the amount of money. the problem is you can't get these reforms without compromise. so we have the favorite reform and the politicians need to mix the mind

here at this desk that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and ted kennedy. i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> kerry will be sworn in friday as the next secretary of state. white house spokesman jay carney said the president is praying for 15-year-old hadiya pendleton gunned down on tuesday. pendleton had performed with her high school band at last week's inauguration. a shocking revelation involving the notre dame football player manti te'o after talking to ronaiah sue soap poe was on the "today" show. >> was this a romantic relationship with you the answer was there. are you therefore gay, he said, well, if you put it that way, yes. >> dr. phil told him the hopester. >>> surfing a 100-foot wave off the coast of portugal. experts to looking to confirm the size of that wave. >>> the tug-of-war between bulls and bears. mastercard and u.p.s. could set the tone ahead of the first jobs report of tlirn. we'll see how facebook fares after news that mobile ad revenue climbed b

there is no accident that ted kennedy and orrin hatch crafted a compromise. they were both strong partisans but the heavy spirit of compromise in the mind set and that is the main prescription for compromise. >> but if you look at senator hatch, he was pretty well threatened by the tea party with the primary and potentially being ousted from office because of his compromises. >> troup, and a compromise is difficult, government has become more and more difficult. however, if politicians when we remember orrin hatch we remember him for passing grade legislation to protect children with health care with ted kennedy. we are not going to remember the politicians for their cowardice, we are going to remember them for the courage. we are not going to remember them positively but for their courage so we are calling on the politicians to exercise leadership and we also talk about a set of reforms that would make it easier to compromise reforming the filibuster, ( aires, the closed primary limiting the amount of money the problem is you can't get these reforms without

that is actually how ted kennedy got his seat, no, ted was not appointed to the senate when his brotherohn kennedy resigned to become president of the united states. because teddy was too young to be appointed then. so the kennedys got the governor to appoint john kennedy's harvard roommate to serve out the last two years of the kennedy term. the appointed senator, ben smith, promised not to run for the seat so teddy would have a shot at an open senate seat in 1962, as soon as he turned 30. and so once again, the hot political action in boston surrounds the question who will the governor appoint to the senate? there is no suspense about who will win the special election. not since i said this. >> i am hereby declaring ed markey the winner to be in the senate race. >> and of course, the very next day, the next day as if on cue, as if they were watching this program and taking notes, john kerry, vicki kennedy, and the head of the democratic senate campaign committee all came out in support of ed markey for john kerry's senate seat. an unprecedented closing of the ranks around ed markey be

i signed up as part of ted kennedy's team but it didn't happen. time passed and we still have a broken immigration system with 11 million people living in limbo. this statement of values that we give you today is a good solid starting point for making certain that we fix the system and that we come up with a long-term approach that is fair. it is the basics. the basics we insist on. strengthen border security with the best technology using enforcement resources for the most serious security threats. second, require employers to verify that all that their employers -- employees are legal and make sure there's -- is quick and accurate. third illegal immigrants already in the united states will be given their chance to earn their way to citizenship. it won't be see. it will take them some time and determination but were it not for that determination they wouldn't be here in the first place. monger requirements of course are the criminal background checks to make certain that they pay any fines that they establish. pay their taxes which is a critical

and if we do succeed, and i think we will, it will be a testimonial to ted kennedy's effort years ago that laid the groundwork for this agreement. you will find this agreement has very little different from that of the legislation that was led by senator kennedy some years ago. >> one other thing, the public's attitude has changed. four years ago they said fix the border. now they much prefer a comprehensive solution, including a path to citizenship, as well as fixing the border and doing the things we have talked about. what is interesting, when you look the polling data, it is democrats, independents, and republicans who agree with that, people in the north and east, south agree with that. the public is your new for real change now. -- the public is yearning for real change now. that will help as well, and of course, what senator mccain said. >> center, the president is set to speak tomorrow on this issue. why do this today, why one day early? >> we do not have much time and became to an agreement this -- and we came to an agreement this quickly. as i mentioned, senator durban and i

he linked the immigration reform bill to ted kennedy. it became totally off limits in republican primaries. and yes, you are now seeing a return to normalcy, a guy like john mccain, and graham, they still come out supporting it. i think it is an open question, when you look at the republican safe house districts is it still safe for these people to come out and say they support comprehensive reform? i still think it is an open question. >> victoria, take us through the elements of the plan, the democrats like to say tough but fair, they are suspected of being too soft on this. but it does include a path to citizenship and that phrase, "path to citizenship." that concept became absolutely forbidden in republican politics recently. >> you know, what we had been seeing up until this morning was the senate bill was only going to include legal status. so they went the whole nine yards and said we are going to include citizenship. but the toughness side of that fairness is beefed up border security. another interesting part here is getting tou

you were in the room in 2007 when senator ted kennedy was talking.it is time for action. 2007 is the year we must fix our broken system. we must strike while the iron is hot. i've been around here long enough to know that opportunities like this don't come very often. the american people are demanding a solution. the president is committed. senator reed has made this a priority. senators from both parties are now determined to solve this crisis. >> dana bash, he says striking while the iron is hot. why is the iron hotter now than it was five, six years ago? >> reporter: the november election. it is as simple as that. republicans knew immediately when they saw the election results. not only that, the overall electorate was much more latino, 16%. but that mitt romney did worse than any republican candidate had done in three or four presidential elections. it was just terrible news for republicans. and they understood that. that is why lindsey graham, one of the republican senators who we will see momentarily placed a call to democrat chuck schumer and

a long time to learn it, is that you can disagree with people and you can disagree, god knows, ted kennedy and i used to go at it, but as long as you don't get personal, as long as you doesn't attack someone's character and integrity then you can shake-- i had a huge fight one day with ted kennedy on the floor and we were yelling at each other and walked off and he looked at me and he said we did pretty good, didn't we? that was what it was like doing business and i learned a lot. >> greta: do you do that with president obama? >> i haven't had that much to do with president obama. i've been over the white house once in the last four years and the meeting we had was very pleasant and he said he was going to get back to me on a number of issues, and i never heard from him again. so it's not that we've had a bad relationship, we've just had no relationship. >> greta: senator, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> greta: coming up, what does golf star phil mickleson thinking of doing that tiger woods has done. does it spell pr trouble with the golfer great just like with tiger woods. and foot long

and ted kennedy called this new senator and he said, i just wanted to let you know i'm chairman of theigration subcommittee. i need you on there. we haven't looked at a serious immigration law for ten years. we'll get it done. i signed up to be part of the team but it didn't happen and another 16 years and we still have a broken immigration system. with 11 million people living in limbo. well, this statement of values we give you today is a good, solid starting point for making certain that we fix the system and that we come up with a long-term approach that's fair. it has the basics. basics we insist on. strengthened border security with the best technology using enforcement resources for the most serious security threats. second, require employers to verify that all their employees are legal. and make sure that there's a means of verification that's quick and accurate. third, illegal immigrants already in the united states will be given their chance to earn their way to citizenship. won't be easy. it will take them some time and determination but were it not for that determination th

at this desk that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy. i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> kerry will be sworn in friday as the next secretary of state. >>> white house spokesman jay carney said the president is praying for 15-year-old hadiya pendleton who was gunned down on tuesday in chicago. pendleton had performed with her high school band at last week's presidential inauguration in washington. >>> a shocking revelation in this scandal involved the moteer dame football player manti te'o. after talking to ronaiah tuiasosopo dr. phil mcgraw was on the "today" show. >> was this a romantic relationship with you? and he says yes. i said, are you then therefore gay? he said, well, if you put it that way, yes. >> dr. phil said the hoaxster told him manti t'eo was not involved in that scheme. >> surfer garrett macnamar claims he broke his record surfing a 100-foot wave off the coast portugal. experts are still looking to confirm the size of that wave. we

this is the place that refused to serve ted kennedy because his hair was too long. >> since then times have changed. >> i guess so. >> and i am behind the curve on that one. i will talk to you about it later then. >> okay no more questions from the commissioners, any public on comment on the report of the sound technician? >> okay. item number five, police department's comments and questions. anybody from the station want to review anything? just save it for your specific items? >> good evening, central station and i will keep it brief i know that we have a lot of activity on the agenda for today. new year's eve went pretty well and it was buzz busy in the district. we had two shootings and a stabbing but the clubs were relatively safe. i went around, vaj as well as the officer from the southern station and i was impressed at how the clubs were handling the crowds. i have been working with vaj which is 561 geary street and we have been getting noise xlaents and so we are trying to narrow it down and it is regarding swig and jones and i have asked vaj to do the sound checks with the nei

richard nixon and ted kennedy could compromise very easily. richard nixon wanted the government to get bigger and ted kennedy wanted it to get much bigger. they compromised every year somewhere between bigger and much bigger and each one said, see, i did the best i could. today, however, we have two parties that are no longer regional parties, north versus south but actually committed to principles. the democrats have an expansive view of the role of government. they want higher taxes in order to spend more money. the republicans want lower taxes and spending less money. if somebody wants to go east and somebody wants to go west, what would a compromise be? i'm in favor of compromising in the direction of liberty. we had a compromise in 2011. republicans wanted to cut spending $6 trillion, the ryan plan and we agreed to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts. that was a compromise. we wanted more spending, we got less because obama wouldn't support more spending reduction. so you can have compromise in the direction of liberty, but raises taxes and sp

it is no accident that ted kennedy and orrin hatch crafted compromises. they were both strong partisan, but at the spirit of compromise. that's our main prescription for compromise. >> host: if you look at senator hatch county was well threatened abc 30 and that the primary potentially being ousted from office because of some of his compromises. >> guest: true. compromise is difficult or governing has become more and more difficult. however, as politicians when we remember orrin hatch, is for passing legislation to protect children's health care. we're not going to remember politicians for their cowardice. we remember them for their courage. or we'll not remember positively, but for their courage. politicians to exercise leadership. we also talk about a set of reforms that would make it easier to compromise. reforming the filibuster, open primaries rather than closed primaries. limiting the amount of money. the problem is you can't get these reforms without compromise, so we all have our favorite reforms. politicians need to make some mindset family and t

at this desk that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy, i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> reporter: william mo cowen is appointed to fill kerry's vacant senate seat until a special election is held in june. >>> on severe weather watch tonight, a large storm system makes its way to our region and this is video of the tornado touching down in a daresville, georgia, outside of atlanta. the news crew captured -- captured the twister. sue palka is in the severe weather center now. what can we expect? >> i think it's going to be a long night. looking for heavy rain and strong winds. we're beginning to see thunderstorm warnings of our own and that is to our south. and let me start with sentinel radar. not much rain in the d.c. area and it's been to the north of us or to the west and it's continuing to move very rapidly from south to north and can you see what is going on around the region right now. i want to let you know we have a new flash flood warnings

ted kennedy is probably drafted all of them. latter two of whom were senior citizens volunteers who opened our mail for over a decade. not paid, they just did this out of their love of the country. we miss them all and thank for their selfless contribution. as i do, an entire staff of 561 incredible men and women in massachusetts and washington, that i have been privileged to work with through the twenty eight years. i think about the interns, 1,393 who have come in and out of our offices from washington to massachusetts, and i'm especially proud of those who started as interns and ended up as my chief of staff, legislative directer, senior policy staffers, or kerry intern who on to work not just for me but who have the last four years trip direct, speech writers. i'm proud of the internship program, and i'm grateful to the people who built it and sustain it. also i want to thank the incredible group of unsung heroes who literally make the senate work. people who work not for individual senates but work for all of us. in every r

richard nixon and ted kennedy could compromise very easily. richard nixon wanted the government to get birg and ted kennedy wanted it to get much bigger opinion a bigger. today they are committed to principle. the democrats wanted an expansive view of the role of government. the republicans want lower taxes and spending less money. if somebody wants to go east and somebody wants to go west, what would a compromise be? i'm in favor of compromising in favor of -- we had a come mieds in 2011. the republicans wanted to cut taxes $6 trillion and we agreed to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts. dhafs -- that was a compromise. you can have compromise in the direction of liberty but raises taxes and spending more money, which is what obama wants to do is moving away from liberty. >> but you're painting it in extraordinarily stark terms. >> that's two parties are extraordinarily want to go in two different ways. >> do you have see any room in the pentagon budget for cuts? >> absolutely. serious conservatives need to make it very clear that taxpayers, repub

the ideas i'm proposing have traditionally been supported by democrats like ted kennedy and republicans like president george w. bush. you don't get that matchup very often. so we know where the consensus should be. if congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, i will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away. >> the president's speech stopped short of backing a plan outlined the day before by influential senators. the gang of eight has proposed a pathway to citizenship. senator rubio did his best to sell it to right laush limbaugh idea. >> we have border security, we need workplace enforce m, we need a visa tracking system. all three of those have to happen. these are just principles. i agree this is going to be a challenge. in fact, this bill does not have real triggers. there's not language that guarantees that nothing else will happen unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place, i wouldn't support it. >> mike allen, good morning to you. on monday we heard from the gang of eight. yesterday, the president. any chance we hear from

at this desk that once belong ed -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedyi can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> kerry will be sworn in friday as the next secretary of state. a shocking revelation in the girlfriend scandal involving notre dame football player manti te'o. after talking to the mastermind of this fraud, dr. phil mcgraw was on the "today" show. >> was this a romantic relationship with you? and he says, yes. i said you are then, therefore, guy? and he said, well, when you put it that way, yes. >> dr. phil says the hoaxter said he was not involved in this scheme. >>> garrett mcnamara claims he broke his own world record by surfing a 100 foot wave off the coast of portugal. amazingly, he came out with no injuries and experts are still working to confirm the size of that wave. looks big. >>> the tug of war ben bulls and wears today on deck today. we have mastercard, dow chemical and ups. we'll see how facebook fares after income tumbled 79%. >>> after the bell, equ

it didn't happen when ted kennedy was trying to champion the bill.was one of the best lawmakers there was. when you switch out ted kennedy for the 8 that you have i don't know how that works. and i just i guess, i am a little bit gunshy to say anything will work out after living it through last congress. >> even with all of this political momentum and the white house and the senate you think it's possible? >> all right there was a lot of momentum in 2007 and george w. bush was on board for it in large part. >> you know what happened. we are going to take a little break until and talk sports with sinned cindy borin and meredith shiner when we come back. [ music ] commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hel

. >>> at this deafing that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy, i can't help but beded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> an emotional farewell from john kerry yesterday. he spent 28 years as massachusetts's senator and on friday he'll be sworn in as secretary of state replacing hillary clinton. william cohen will replace kerry until an election in june. that probably won't happen to chuck hagel. his confirmation hearing to replace defense secretary leon panetta begins today and his biggest critics will be his fellow republicans. susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest. susan, good morning. >> good morning, anne-marie. chuck hagel will not get the smooth ride that john kerry did. they even called him ents from anti-israel to anti-gay to anti-green. this is the first time he addresses those criticisms at a hearing that is critical to whether he becomes the next secretary of defense. chuck naegele, a former republican senator from nebraska should not expect a friendly reception on capitol hill this mo

democrats had ted kennedy and hubert humphrey. they also had john stennis. republicans had barry goldwater, but they also had jacob javits. history. we now have -- we need a much in manyical party, and ways, that is the party we have. you can see the result of the party system we have now. host: a caller. caller: i am concerned about how history is going to deal with the fact that the senator mitch mcconnell and the senate and house republicans all stood up and said, we're going to stop this presidency. failed presidency. with that? why has the press and the media serious issue? it is almost like it is unpatriotic, totally unethical for them to do this. guest: it reflects the evolution of the political culture. the republican leader in the 1960's used to say, i am a man of fixed and unbending principles. one of my principals is flexibility. it is a reflection of this political culture, which is described. "the washington post." term as the most visible publichis face has appeared on moreyour thoughts? guest: because it is an important point -- the first part