CNN Aaron Brown - Transcript

CNN

SHOW: CNN NEWSNIGHT AARON BROWN 22:00

HEADLINE: Donkey Carts Used in Rocket Attack; U.S. Officials: Al Qaeda Ready to Strike U.S. Interests; Bloomberg Will Not Turn Over 9/11 Tapes

GUESTS: Walter Cronkite, Edward Kennedy

BYLINE: Aaron Brown, Walter Rodgers, David Ensor, Jason Carroll, Kelly Wallace, Jonathan Karl

HIGHLIGHT:
Donkey carts used in latest missile attacks in Baghdad. Then, heightened alert as terrorist chatter increases. Finally, New York Mayor Bloomberg refuses to release 911 tapes to 9/11 commission.

BODY:
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Kennedy's devotion to his brothers has never faded. He almost never talks about their deaths, though. The subject is simply too painful.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I think about my brothers every day. I mean, they're members of the family we lost every day and obviously this time of the year is of special importance and consequence.

It's in the time of November 20, my brother Bob's birthday, and we try to celebrate that, his life and commitment to the kinds of causes that he was concerned on, human rights, making progress in poverty.

And we had the anniversary of President Kennedy. So, which is a different time, although we obviously have tried to give the focus and attention to President Kennedy's birthday in the spring. And that is what our family wants to give focus to and that's the-that's what we give attention to. And we hope all the members of the family and the people that care the most about their memory would give focus to.

KARL: President Kennedy projected an image of youthful vigor. He was celebrated as a war hero for his valor in World War II.

But in recent years, newly unsealed medical records reveal the extent of his health problems and near constant pain.

KENNEDY: I remember back, you know, from after the war for the times that he had to go in and he was operated on.

I mean, he'd come home on a Friday afternoon, go into his room and he'd read and write, and he wouldn't-He'd to bed early and be exhausted.

I'd come out on Saturday morning for an hour, go back in and nap in the afternoon, because his back was bothering him.

So that would be one weekend. Another weekend, he'd come down. He'd play, you know, go out and play golf and do all kinds of things. So this was a constant kind of wearing part.

I think it wore on him as pain does on any individual, but I think he had an inner constitution of steel. And I think-and he was enormously determined when he made up his mind, and he was determined to deal with the physical ailments.

KARL (on camera): Did you have a sense that he was in a hurry, like he wanted to get a lot done quickly?

KENNEDY: Well, there was a lot going on then. There was a lot going on then.

I mean, as you point out, there's one, an incredible-the series of challenges. I mean, you had the economy. You had the whole issues on the-on race and whether they were going to make the progress, discrimination. You had the Berlin wall going up. You had Checkpoint Charlie. You had the Cuban Missile Crisis. You had Oxford, Mississippi, and people getting shot and killed in terms of the race issue.

You had the determination to go to the moon and start the Peace Corps.

So there was a lot going on at that time. I mean, he enjoyed the challenge. He got a lot out of it, and he worked hard at it, and I think he made a big difference.

KARL (voice-over): The Cuban Missile Crisis would be President Kennedy's finest hour. After a tense standoff that put the United States on the brink of nuclear war, the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba.

At the time, Ted Kennedy was in the thick of his first campaign.

KENNEDY: I had a debate in the final night of the Cuban Missile Crisis with my opponent, George Lodge, and the issue was American foreign policy. And they said, "Before we start the debate tonight, can we pause while President Kennedy goes on?

And he announces the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And I said, "That's my foreign policy. What's yours, George?"

And that sort of ended the evening.

KARL (on camera): You, of course, came and took over his Senate seat here. And you had the time...

KENNEDY: We don't use the word take over. You know, we have a process by which we have elections in Massachusetts, and I was greatly honored to win that. So-And honored to follow in a tradition, and I'm still deeply honored. I never take it for granted.

KARL: If you were to sum up shortly what is the legacy of President Kennedy?

KENNEDY: Well, it's-I think really to-he believed very deeply that public service was a noble profession. And was really, I think, probably the most enduring and lasting part of his legacy.

And the fact that people could get a sense of satisfaction and making a difference in other people's lives, and that that ought to be, really, the test of the civilization. I mean, and not just being looked at in terms of money and greed.

He understood that, and I think that sort of represented his best spirit, and I think that has a resonance and an echo still out there today. It certainly does for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Senator Edward Kennedy, and we thank him for his willingness to do what we know is quite difficult, to sit down and talk about all of this.