its little league team is the new little league world series champions. chula vista beat the chinese taipei 6-3. it's the united states fifth straight little league championship. congratulations to them. i'm done lemon in new york. stay with cnn for the latest on the california wildfire situation as well as the hurricane jimena storm. our jacqui jeras and meteorologists will update you on that. i'll see you next weekend. i'm john king and this is "state of the union." the lion of the senate is laid to rest. thousands of mourners turn out to pay their respects to senator edward kennedy. a man who fought passionately and pragmatically in the senate for nearly half a century. >> john fitzgerald kennedy inspired our america. robert kennedy challenged our america. and our teddy changed america. >> people called teddy and me the odd couple, which was certainly true. >> two of senator kennedy's closest friends, orrin hatch of utah and christopher dodd of connecticut share their personal memories. plus senator maria cantwell of washington on the post-kennedy health care debate in the congress. and my exclusive interview with the late senator's nephew robert f. kennedy jr. and in our american dispatch, the kennedy connection to boston's sports dynasty. i talk to the president and ceo of the red sox. four years now since hurricane katrina devastated the gulf coast. louisiana senator mary landrieu gets the last word. "the state of the union" report for sunday august 30th. a champion for those who had none. a man who never stopped trying to right wrongs. someone who wasn't perfect but believed in redemption. just a few of the sentiments expressed at the funeral yesterday. president obama led the nation in saying good-bye to the 77-year-old senator who was laid to rest near his brothers john and robert at arlington national cemetery. here with their reflections on the senator's life and his work, two of his closest colleagues. republican senator orrin hatch of utah and democratic senator christopher dodd of connecticut who joins us by telephone. senator dodd, let me begin by you. you and senator hatch had the great privilege of eulogizing our friend at the memorial service friday night. you waved as you pulled up. i saw you were still scribbling notes on your speech. talk about the moment. you have given so many speeches in your life. what made this one unique? >> well, john, first of all, thanks for doing this. what makes it difficult is it's so personal. these are -- how do you express in eight or ten minutes, i tried to keep it brief, how do you capture 30 years of friendship in eight minutes particularly with somebody who the relationship goes far beyond just the personal. obviously i sat next to him for almost 25 years in that health, education, labor committee. we were partners in policy. great friends personally. got to know his family, his children. try be to capture all of that in a sense is one of the hardest things you ever have to do. >> so senator hatch, as you put this together, what did you have to leave out that you wanted to say about your friend? >> well, there were a lot of things that i left out because you only had so much time, but it was a privilege to be able to be there and be with vicki and the family. i was there when, you know, he called me out in california to tell me that he was going to marry vicki, and one reason he called me then, i asked him why are you doing this because i was in the middle of a great big speech, he said, well, her young daughter was in grade school and was bragged to the teach er her mother was going to marry ted kennedy, and her mother was married to a reporter and he wanted to tell me about it was in the post. he were called the odd couple. i'm a conservative, he was the leading liberal in the senate. we used to get in some tremendous rows. in the send we put together some of the most important bills in history. >> if you read the op-ed pages and have conversations with people involved in politics, the word soul comes up a lot. people say the democratic party has lost its soul. do you agree with that assessment and if that is the case, sir, how does one replace its soul? >> well, no, you don't lose your soul. teddy would be the first to say so. as he said in that incredible eulogy for his brother bobby, you don't enlarge someone in death as he was in life. he was pragmatic and practical. he believed in the fundamental principles of the democratic party. he also had a strong pragmatic sense you move forward and obviously we've lost a great champion in all of this, but he would take umbrage, he'd be annoyed if he thought democrats were somehow going to retreat here as the party of his choice back because he was no longer with us. he'd expect us to get up this morning, get battling, decide what we needed to do, sit down with our friends on the other side like orrin and i have over the years on many issues together and try to work things out respecting each other. we don't have the luxury here of sitting back and engaging and wallowing in our own grief. people liked teddy, but also it was his ability to overcome adversity. >> as we look to see what comes next, when i was up there seeing old friends in massachusetts politics, they say it's increasingly likely the legislature will change the law and allow the governor to make an interim appointment. if there is that opportunity for an interim appointment three or four months, the opportunity for a temporary senator, vicki has said, no, she's not interested. if that moment opened, would you call her up and ask her to be considered? >> she's a brilliant lawyer. she's a solid individual. she's certainly made a difference in ted's life, let me tell you, and i have nothing but great respect for her. you know, it's interesting to be on with senator dodd who was, i think, senator kennedy's greatest democrat friend. i consider myself his best republican friend. and chris and i, we have been able to work together as teddy and i used to work together. but it's going to take a lot of work because, you know, many of the so-called progressives in the democratic party are insisting on this public or washington government-run plan, and the vast majority of people out there in the public, they don't want that. they're scared to death knowing that medicare is $38 trillion in unfunded liability as we sit here and in order to get that public plan and pay for it, they're going to take $400 million to $500 million out of medicare. that's crazy. >> we'll talk more about the policy of health care as we move on, but on the question of vicki kennedy, you know her very well, you were one of the few people who saw the senator in the final weeks. if the interim appointment becomes a reality, that possibility, would you call her up and say reconsider. you could come and cast your husband's final votes? >> well, we talked frequently and whenever vicki wants to do it, i'm in her corner and she knows that. and she's expressed to me her own sort of reluctance to do that but she could change her mind. i think she'd be great. i think orrin is right. she would bring talent and ability to it. i think it's something people of massachusetts would welcome. >> senator dodd you're on the ballot at this point. it looks like you may have a tough race on your hands. among your ally sincerely now your late friend senator edward mmpl kenne m. kennedy. he was part of an ad for your campaign. >> quality health care is a fundamental right for all americans has been the cause of my life. and chris dodd has been my closest ally in this fight. today more than ever we have a real opportunity to bring health care reform to connecticut and all across america, and i believe that with chris dodd's leadership our families will finally have accessible, affordable health care. i'm chris dodd and i approve this message. >> it's striking to watch that in the context of the events the past few days but it's a powerful appeal. will you continue to run that ad? >> i don't know, john. thanks for running it. i hnd heaadn't heard it in a wh. there's a time to talk about teddy, remember him, his contribution and what we need to do to get back on track. i'll leave politics to next year. >> christopher dodd, thank you for being with us. senator kennedy called health care the cause of his life. we'll talk it over. senator orrin hatch is staying with us and we'll be joined by senator maria cantwell of washington state. next. you like your health coverage, but worry what happens... if you get sick, or change jobs. eight ways reform matters to you. a cap on deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. no annual or lifetime limits on coverage. preventive care. covered. pre-existing conditions. covered. no higher rates due to genlér. extended coverage for young adults. no more coverage denied if you get sick. and guaranteed renewal, even if you do. learn more today. need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪ i knew the subaru legacy was the smart choice... what i didn't expect... was the fun. the all-new subaru legacy. feel the love. kelly saunder's nature valley. ♪ the place that inspires her to go faster... ♪ and slower. ♪ elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 100% natural nature valley granola bars. the taste nature intended. he said, orrin, what else did i agree to last night? i start telling these things and my eyes start to water and it's just a mess, i tell you. >> we're back with republican senator orrin hatch. joining us a democratic senator maria cantwell of washington state. senator hatch part of your tribute to senator kennedy talking about a deal you cut with him late one night after he perhaps had an extra drink or two. came through the next day wanting to check his notes against your notes. you came to washington, you said, send me to washington to fight teddy kennedy. when was it, when was the moment when you said this guy isn't exactly what i thought. >> we both lived up to it. we both fought all the time. he was willing to compromise. he was willing to come to the center times and many times it was center right. but you know there were certain things he wouldn't compromise on no matter what you did. we fought knock down, drag out battles. it was a privilege to serve with him. he was a great senator. the leading democrat. leading liberal in the congress. and probably over the last 50 years, leading liberal in the congress. and i had to take that into consideration. had to take into consideration my conservative politics as well. >> if you look senator cantwell, a more junior member of the senate. if you look at your entry, it says this. as a child, cantwell observed politics firsthand as her father dispensed advice to the unimembers who stopped by to talk politics. she woke one morning to the laughter of ted kennedy downstairs. take us back. >> that's right. during the -- his brother's presidential campaign, ted kennedy came to my house as a young girl, to thank everybody who ha been participating and campaigning on behalf of his brother. and literally i didn't believe that he was in our house. and went to school the next day. and everybody at the catholic school that i went to was talking about how ted kennedy had come to the cantwell home. it was a great honor. >> his voice has been missing this past year and past few months from the issue he care most about. debate about health care reform. we heard in eulogies and reflections could it be different now he passed? will there be a new mood of bipartisan? the president's point person, the health and human services secretary, she put it this way. >> the best possible legacy is to pass health reform this year and have a bill that president obama can sign. hopefully every step along the way they will ask themselves what would teddy do? >> what would teddy do? >> that was the magic of senator kennedy. because he had the faith of the party loyalists and they knew that he would always fight for them. and so when he went across the aisle to cut a deal with orrin hatch as he did on the children's health care initiative or other policy, people knew that that was the best deal that could be cut. but i think right now we need to have this debate about the high cost of health care. and what everybody in america wants to know is what are we going to do to control the costs? we can talk about the uninsured. but those who have insurance want to know what both democrats and republicans are going to do to keep health care costs down. prems are going up 120% again in the next ten years is just unsustainable. >> is there any chance despite the passing of your friend, is there any chance that a bill with a public option is going to pass the united states senate? >> i really don't think so. let me tell you -- you know, you are talking about, 1/6 of the american economy. and a lot of people don't seem to realize that. and you are talking about having the federal government take control of health care when medicare is $38 trillion in unfunded liability. and going higher. where you are going to triple, you are going to triple the the budget deficit in ten years. double it in five years or even less. you know when they talk about $1 trillion, most of this doesn't even trigger into the democrats' plans until after the next election in 2013. the only way fair to do it is take it ten years from there and it's always $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion on top of the $2 trillion national budget for health care now. that's what they don't tell you. then you add the public plan on to that, or what i call the washington controlled government plan, that's what's got people all over the country concerned. they know once they do that you are going to get into all kind of other problems including rationing that democrats hate to talk about but that is what is going to happen. and our senior citizens are scared to death. >> independent joe lieberman, who caucuses with the democrats was here last week, and he said, not the way he would prefer it, but he believes given the political climate, the deficit numbers, everyone should call a time-out and do this incrementally. pass a bill that deals with biggest problems. prove the democratic party, prove we are bending the health care cost curve. now you can trust us when we come back to do the other things, like universal coverage and public option. is that the way to go? >> you are not going to get an argument about bending the cost curve from me. my state almost subsidizes the rest of the system because we are so efficient and the rest of the country delivers inefficient care. the bottom line is that health care costs, which right now are about a third of our federal budget, are going to double if we do nothing. so doing nothing and thinking that we are going to get out of this expense is not really an option. so coming to the table and saying how can we deliver lower cost health care is critical to the equation. and so i think getting true competition into the system and giving consumers choice is what the democrats and republicans should be joining ranks on. >> senator kandwell and and i have worked on very important legislation together. i intend to work with her a lot further in the future. but the best way to get the costs down seems to me, and you made the point that you have a pretty darn good state as far as health care is concerned. utah is one of the exemplarily states. i believe we ought to have 50 state laboratories testing all these various health care plans and pick and choose from the 50 states. >> i'll call a quick time-out. when we come back, we'll continue our conversations with senators hatch and cantwell including discussing the attorney general's controversial decision to appoint a special prosecutor to discuss bush a era interrogations. i talked to stephen breyer exclusively at the memorial service in boston. >> i'm grateful because he helped me give something good that i have to give. me found that in me and let me help him help other people. but there are millions and millions of people all over the country whom he tried to help and whom he did help. and when they see the ceremony, that will remind them that they're grateful, too, and that's why you're seeing thousands of people. and unlock the freshness of the outdoors... for your indoor cat... fueling an exhilarating adventure. each entrée is bursting with high-quality protein plus wholesome grain and garden greens. specially formulated to promote hairball control ...and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. now turn treat time into party time with friskies party mix cat treats. get the party started! from names like danskin now and starter. select eyeglass frames are just $9 at walmart - and they have a 12-month guarantee. juniors' tops from op are $9, too. $9. considering what you get, that's a really great price. back to school costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake, raspberry cheesecake... ... yeah, every night is something different. oh, yeah yeah... ... she always keeps them in the house. no, no, no. i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. babe... umm, i gotta go. 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"the boston herald" here, he's gone home now. a touching memory of senator kennedy. we've talked about what he might do, how he would negotiate. many say that if this is to be done, it was going to take the president to step up and do more. senator kennedy talked at your convention last year about the torch being passed to barack obama. has the president failed the leadership test? or at least does he need to lead better now? >> no, i think the president timed it perfectly. coming in, in a new administration, he wanted to show he was going to work with congress. he said this is a priority. and the president i think has basically held the discussion for members to come together to discuss what they would like to see in legislation. i know he has been on the phone a lot. when we return in session, he is going a play a very key role in all of this discussion. >> you have been around for many presidents. he allowed the house to write the stimulus bill. he's allowing congress to write the health care bill. is that a mistake in your view if he wants it done? >> i don't think it is a mistake. but sooner or later the president has to weigh in and carry the ball. frankly i think he left too much up to rahm emanuel and axelrod and other people. they're brilliant people and i have a lot of regard for them. he is going to have to weigh in. let me tell you he is going to have to realize you are not going to get this big, broad, democratic, big spending bill. you are not going to get republican support for it. if you do get republican support you can do some really, really important things that will go down in history as a legacy for him. >> let's move on. last week although the president said back in january he didn't want to look back, the attorney general decided to appoint a special investigation to look into the bush era cia interrogation, the tactics. you were among eight republicans who signed onto a letter to the attorney general saying that you were deeply concerned that this investigation could come. so said such an investigation could have a number of serious consequences not just for the honorable members of the new jersey committee but also for the security of all americans. does this decision put americans more at risk? >> i sure think so. i am the longest serving person on the senate intelligence committee. i have been through an awful lot in that committee. i know one thing they're making it so the people at cia are afraid to do anything. and we don't want that situation. because when we get into another potential 9/11, and they're happening all the time, that's as much as i am going to say about it, we want the toughest people we can have to handle the situation. we don't want them thinking twice they're going to get indicted or have to go through unpleasant experiences in congress or that they're going to be mistreated. and especially those who give legal opinions. legal opinions differ. sometimes, you know conservatives will give stronger legal opinions than most liberals. now liberals sometimes give stronger ones from the liberal standpoint than most conservatives. you know what, you want them always tested and checked. but you also don't want to say, well, these people were rotten in writing this opinion just because they were conservative or it was a conservative opinion. frankly, it's gone way too far. >> do you agree it would make cia agents who have very important work to do to keep the country safe, will it make them more timid? >> i look at this differently. i look at the threat that we face from terrorism, i look at it as an asymmetrical threat, and it means we have to have the cooperation of the entire world community to help us. >> that means this investigation is necessary? >> i'm saying this investigation is very appropriate. no one is above the law. and this is not a political process. this is a legal process. it's a legal process to find out whether the law was broken. and what we want to communicate to all our partners in the war on terror is that the united states is going to be for the rule of law. but in following that rule of law we also want their help in fighting terrorism and finding terrorist suspects and working in a cooperative fashion. >> the former vice president of the united states in an interview airing this morning, dick cheney, says, senator hatch, this is playing politics. this is playing politics. do you think it is a bad decision or agree and go so far to say they're playing politics? >> a bad decision and some politics are involved. hate to think of that of the attorney general. i strongly supported him. let me tell you something. i have traveled all over the world. let me just use france. france will say things publicly that look like they're against us. behind the scenes their intelligence people they work very closely with us. they know what we are doing. they know how important it is. if our people are too timid to got out there and do the things that have to be done because we have -- and i believe in oversight. that's what the intelligence committee should be all about. but if we're too timid we are not going to be able to protect this country. i have to tell you, talk to the head of the cia. he's a liberal democrat who i know and trust and believe in, and i have got to tell you, he's very upset about what's going on here. and he knows it is going to be detrimental to the work that the cia has to do every day, day in and day out. >> we are out of time. the last word. >> this is not about being timid. this is about being effective. if we want to be effective in the war on terrorism we have to communicate to everyone that we are going to follow the law and we want their help in bringing about justice for the american people and to make them secure. so, this is a legal process. and i applaud the attorney general, because i'm sure it is a tenuous issue to be the chief law enforcement officer of this country. >> feisty debate that will continue. we'll continue to check in. senator cantwell, senator hatch. thank you for your time this morning. now that ted kennedy is gone, who will lead the family? his nephew, robert f. kennedy, jr. weighs in next. - hello! - ha! why don't you try a home cooked meal... with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada! fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what would you guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan... one tasty meal! back playing in the afternoon. excedrin back and body has two ingredients to block and relieve the pain. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin. what ache? in addition to his own children and stepchildren, senator kennedy was a surrogate father to the children of his slain brothers. i caught up with the late senator's nephew robert kennedy, jr. who shared his memories of his uncle. >> my uncle is really obsessed with history. every summer he used to take all of the grandchildren to -- he was a surrogate father to 29 of us. he used to load us all up on a bus and take to us the gra eat battlefields in american history, manassas, or bunker hill and to see the beaver where the boston tea party was and he loved history, and he really thought that his mission was to help america live up to its ideals to perfect the union, to make us an exemplarily nation that he really believed that we ought to be and that our history dictated to a paradigm of democracy and justice and to persuade americans that we all have to be heroic. that we have to resist this s seduction that we can advance ourselves as a people by leaving our poor brothers and sisters behind, that everybody has to be included. he did that with our family, you know -- we, i called teddy maybe once a week. and he always called me back. or i was always called back by his office within 20 minutes with a time he was going to talk to me that day. he did that for 29 grandchildren. and there is 80, great-grandchildren to whom he was a surrogate grandfather. he called us always on our birthdays. never missed a birthday. never missed an anniversary. called us on christmas. sent us presents. he was just a very, very attentive. a full-time job for the huge family that we had. but he was also doing this, all these other things for so many other people. and he really led an exemplary life in so many ways. and you know, he had his -- his faults and weaknesses, which, you know, people are conscious of. but he was really -- he was such a noble, heroic figure to all of us. >> so people ask now, this generational passing in some ways, who picks up the torch in the family? people say, who leads the kennedy family now? >> well, you know what? i have virtually every one of my cousins is involved in public service of some kind, and all of them are leaders in their field whether it's helping people with intellectual disabilities or whether it's doing environmental work or housing or all of these other issues. i think everybody is, you know -- i have had a lot of opportunity this summer to spend time with all my cousins because of eunice's illness and dad and teddy's illness, and we spent most of the time together at the cape this summer. every moment i spend with him, makes me prouder of the way they lived their lives and tried to live up to the ideals set by that generation, teddy's generation, my father's generation. so i think all of them are going to continue to make a difference. >> sometimes in massachusetts people say if there is a temporary senator would it be vicki or joe or would one run for the seat? >> i have no clue. i guess a week before he died, he was out on his boat and he was very sick by then. he was losing some of his ability to find words. and he was still very cognizant and very, you know he was able to steer his boat and to reason and to understand all the conversations. but it was sometimes during some parts of the day difficult for him to find the words that he was looking for. and i had a boat load full of kids. i went by his boat, the maya, by his sailboat. we all waved to each other and he started yodeling which he used to do all the time. he climbed the matterhorn when he was younger and he learned to yodel over there. he would sometimes sing yodeling songs to the grandchildren. i saw him back on the dock later on that day. and he grabbed my arm. and he just looked at me very intensely in the eye. he just started yod he willing, and he said i'm sorry, it's all i got left. >> did you ever think this day would come? the only one of the brothers we saw grow old. >> i think teddy ultimately had a wonderful life. and he was just a naturally buoyant happy person. he felt a pain. he was engaged in his life. even, you know, this year, i talked to him once about uncle joe, his brother, who was killed in world war ii. and he wept. and when he -- he really almost couldn't talk about my father or about president kennedy without his eyes welling up with tears. so he had that kind of irish signed to him where he was, you know, passionate and emotional about life. but he also just embraced life. and he loved the sea. he loved the wind. he loved -- somebody said to me this morning, the weather was to perfect. he said this is a perfect day for teddy. i was thinking to myself, every day was a perfect day for teddy. he loved it when it was blustery. he loved it when there was a gale blowing, he would be on his boat, small craft warning flags were flying and rain beating against your face. he just loved it. and he loved life. and he loved our country. and he loved people. he was not a politician who was looking at america from 30,000 feet. you know? he loved talking with the individual people and sitting down. it was hard getting him out of a room. and so he had all of those sides. he had a tempest going on inside of him at all times. and so much of it was driven by passion, by love for humanity and by love for our country. >> the day the nation bid farewell to ted kennedy was also the fourth anniversary of hurricane katrina. democratic senator mary landrieu of louisiana gets the last word next. rd, no matter what. if you get side-lined from work. insuring your family's ifs can be confusing. so metlife removed the guesswork. combining two essential insurances... term life and disability... in one affordable package. creating aersonal fety net that's bursting with guarantees. for the if in life, find out how to start protecting your family today. visit the term life and disability tool at metlife.com. ♪ kelly saunder's nature valley. ♪ the place that inspires her to go faster... ♪ and slower. ♪ elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 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(announcer) we understand. you want to grow internationally. fedex express and we all have doubt. but when the moment comes... what's going to win? here's to confidence. gillette helps you look, feel, be your best. gillette. the best a man can get. 16 newsmakers, analysts, and reporters were on the sunday talk shows today but only one gets the last word. that honor to the democratic senator from louisiana. mary landrieu. welcome. >> thank you, john. >> want to spend most of our time on four years after katrina but i want to start with the pressing policy debate in washington, health care reform. your colleague, senator cantwell was on earlier and she voiced strong support for the public option. she believes the public insurance option is critical to controlling costs. if you talk to the leaders' office, they will say mary landrieu is one of the not so sure on that issue. will you support a bill that has a robust public option like in the house? >> i would tend not to. but i do agree with maria on this, we have got to keep working to find solutions. as i said when i was home this really isn't about the president, this debate is not about congress. this debate is about the people of the united states and the fact that, yes, there is some portions of our health care system that are working but it is all too expensive. expensive for our government, causing record deficits, one of the causes of record deficits. it's too expensive for small businesses. 68% of small businesses 15 years ago offered it to their employees. today down to 38% and falling. and it is expensive to individuals. we've got to bend that cost curve which i heard senator cantwell say and she's right. >> without a public option? >> i think we can do it without a public option. i supported actually, a proposal by the only bipartisan proposal by senator widen and senator bennett, the only bipartisan proposal. seven democrats, seven republicans, that focuses on bending that cost curve and providing insurance through the free marketplace with the right regulations and safeguards. hopefully we can keep working. that's what ted kennedy would want us to do. >> big issues are cost, bending the cost curve, as you know in august at the town halls there have been some issues that many lawmakers consider distractions, secondary, big debate about death panels, when you were home in louisiana one of the issues at one of your town halls was the very dicey issue of abortion. let's listen. >> i do not support taxpayer funded abortions. wait, wait. i do support people's choice under the constitution -- >> it is a tough issue. in your conservative state. can you support a health care reform bill that would allow in it taxpayer funded abortions? >> i think it would be very difficult. we do have to realize that in general insurance policies now, general insurance policies subsidized by the government right now through the tax code allows women to make those choices. again within the confines of the constitution. but, john, it is my great hope that we, even though that issue is very important, and i don't mean to underestimate it at all, the bigger issue is getting the cost of this system under control. if we want to recover in our nation from the recession that we're in, that recovery is going to be led by small business, no the big business and not government. by small business. right now, as the chair of the small business committee, i can tell you our small businesses are in a world of hurt. they want to offer insurance because it helps them attract the best talent. they then need to build jobs for america. and if we don't give them some options, so i agree with senator cantwell, who by the way is an extraordinary leader on this issue, we may not have the same view about public option, but we do have the same view about choice and freedom and letting the free market infuse the competition necessary to keep prices low. >> let's close on the state of your state. four years after the devastation of katrina. an editorial across the front page of the times pick union frizz. saying we are counting on you, mr. president. you have sent the president a letter. want to quote. as our nation approaches the fourth anniversary of the worst disaster in the united states history -- i ask for your leadership. some would say if you are asking for it, it is not already there. has the president been remiss in helping? >> no, the president has been there, obviously he has been distracted by many issues, whether it's the war in iraq, afghanistan, health care. he has been personally as focused as he can be under the circumstances. i will say this, almost every member of his cabinet has been down. sean donovan has been particularly extraordinary. >> housing secretary. >> i was at a meeting with him. housing secretary. every single one of his assistant secretaries, the first that i have ever seen in my lifetime, were there at one of the events. secretary napolitano put something into place i insisted and passed the arbitration panel to clear up the backlog. the president's heart is there. i know that. >> you say his heart is there. our friend of the program, your friend james carville was here a bit earlier. he mentioned secretary napolitano. he said as a citizen of new orleans, he's a little miffed is the way he put it that the president himself hasn't come to give it a moral boost. he said he will come this year. >> both of us are a little concerned about that, but the president, i believe, just this week promised he'd be there before the end of the year, and i think that's important. people want to see him. we love having his cabinet secretaries, we're appreciative of the break through we're trying to get on flood control and flood restoration and wetlands restoration. we're pleased that our schools that wouldn't have happened without ted kennedy's support, the first senator to call me after that disaster. so we're looking forward to seeing the president before the end of the year, but the people's appointed are smart and terrific and passionate and they're working hard on our behalf. i thank the people of the united states, please let me, and internationally for what they have done to help us. we are so grateful for everyone's support, but we still have a long way to go. >> just a few seconds left. what's the one thing, the biggest need? >> the biggest need is to make sure that this flood never, never happens again. when the netherlands flooded in 1963, 60% of their country was destroyed. they said never again. we must restore wetlands. many of our coastal places around the country will not have any economic future j thank you for coming here. we give you our word we will keep visiting new orleans to see how things play out. senator kennedy was a man of many passions. the boston red sox among them. memories of the long relationship of two famous massachusetts brands, the kennedys and fenway. we'll get them from the red sox ceo. ( sighs ) ( music throughout ) hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... studies show that people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains... and 110 calories per lightly sweetened serving. more grains. less you. multigrain cheerios. the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body. excedrin. what ache? most weeks we plan our journeys outside the beltway. sometimes breaking news dictates them. this week was a bittersweet trip back home to boston. to cover the death of senator edward m. kennedy. to know him was to see his passion for politics and for policy but also for competition and sports. he kept close track of the celtics, the bruins, and the patriots. when he knew he was in a race with cancer, he might prolong but ultimately lose, he wanted to walk one last time in the shadow of the green monster. we stretch out here into the city of boston. right here you see along the massachusetts turnpike, this is fenway park. when senator kennedy knew he was ill, he wanted to come here to do this. you see his infectious smile throwing out the first pitch. opening day, fenway park, april 7th. the manager of the red sox, hall of famer jim rice. the smile of senator kennedy, despite his illness, in a place he loved so much. he wanted to be there in fenway park in the shadow of the green monster. in this week's american dispatch, we decided to go there too, to trace the history of two storied brands. the red sox and the kennedys. >> you worked in washington as a younger man. >> i did. >> involved in politics and the big debates of our time. when you were there, you ran into senator kennedy or knew of him? >> i certainly knew of him and got to know him as i got to know the shriver family quite well during my time there. i got to see him in a personal context. i got to see him as the -- certainly as one of the senators, if not the senator of the kennedy/shriver extended family. i saw how close he was to so many of his nieces, nephews. was always impressed by the priority that he assigned to that. >> so now you're here. you're the president of the storied franchise. and as you know, some -- all politicians say they're fans. all politicians say i'm a fan, then you start asking them and you realize two or three questions in, they're not really a fan. was teddy kennedy a fan? >> he was a fan. his entire family were fans. again, the sons and daughters, nieces, nephews, there was an intensity about their connection to boston and new england no matter where they lived. the red sox were a reflection of that connection. and yet ted was a fan. they are, as you well know, intensely competitive people. the red sox were an outlet for that competition as well as a tangible connection to boston and to new england. >> and go back in time to when this place was built and the family lineage goes on. >> that's true. the fenway park is the oldest and smallest ballpark in all of baseball. it was built in 1912. the first pitch at the very first game at fenway park was thrown out by honey fitz, the mayor. and, of course, teddy's grandfather. so his connection goes back that far. this is a -- a picture of teddy and bobby and the patriarch joe at a baseball game. sitting in the stands, way back when. we're probably talking about the mid '60s here. and i just reinforces the notion that the kennedy family and the red sox and massachusetts, they all go together. ted kennedy went to baseball games here at fenway park for parts of eight decades. born in 1932. parts of eight decades. he knew the players. he knew the ballpark. he had a special relationship with the red sox and we're very, very proud of that. indeed, when we -- on opening day this year, we had senator kennedy here throwing out the first pitch and it was on the 97th anniversary. and we had an invitation out to him that we would like him to throw out the -- would have liked for him to throw out the first pitch in april of 2012. he joked that he's already had it on his calendar and he was saving that date. i'm certainly glad that we got him here on opening day this year. because he was in fine spirits. he was very happy. he enjoyed himself immensely. it was great to see him here in that setting. >> even when he knew of his sickness, he sent you a note saying he would try to be here? >> yes, that's exactly right. we had formally invited him a couple years ago to join in the 100th anniversary of fenway park in 2012. this is in about 2007 or 2008. we wrote to him. after he was diagnosed he sent a letter back saying, i told you i'd be there in 2012, and i will be there in 2012. so his spirit remains strong to the very end. and inspirational. >> you mentioned the competitiveness. this is great city, a place that's defined by its brands. the boston red sox are one of the brands of boston and massachusetts. the kennedy name has been a brand for some time, for more than a half century there was a senator kennedy from massachusetts. now that there isn't what does that mean? >> certainly means, i think, as lots of people have noted, that an era has ended. many of us came into political awareness with the kennedy family, and their ascendancy. so it means the end of a political era. it means the end of a social or generational thing. on a more immediate level with respect to the red sox, it means the loss of a great fan and a great supporter. he was an american icon to be sure. but he was always a boston and a massachusetts guy. constituent services were always very important to him. if we had an issue, players had a problem, if there were charitable things we needed from the senator or the government, he was a go-to guy for us. we were fortunate to have his -- the kind of passion and loyalty that he showed to every constituent given to the red sox as well. we will miss him. we'll miss his -- the joy he brings. you know, when he walked into a room, he was larger than life. a big laugh. a big smile. a lot of joking. a lot of teasing. it's just that whole kennedy mystique was real. you saw it when you saw him. >> we'll be here again next sunday and every sunday at 9:00 a.m. eas