for this country as anybody who has ever been in the senate. and i could not be prouder of him. he did an unbelievable job on a whole bunch of really tough issues, saving this country from a depression, making sure millions of people had health care, making sure that young people were able to go to college. and he has been one of my best partners and best friends. and i m really honored to have served him. harry is unique. he s got that curmudgeonly charm that is, you know, hard to replace. i m going to miss him. i don t know anybody who understands more his roots, where he came from, what it means to not have anything when you re born and to scramble and scrape and work to get something. and he has never forgotten the
that curmudgeonly charm. it s hard to replace. i m going to miss him but the good thing is i m going to get to leave this place with him at the same time. minutes ago, the man that reid endorsed to replace him, chuck schumer, senator from new york formally declared his bid to be the next democratic leader. that didn t take long. continuing now our lead story, the deliberate crash of the commercial flight into the french alps. that s what officials now say happened. an exclusive interview with cnn s frederick pleitgen lufthansa s ceo said these are the company s darkest hours and showing respect and compassion for the families is his top priority. it is such a difficult discussion but there is this. how much is a life worth financially to an airline? we could find out soon as potentially millions of dollars in compensation claims come in. cnn s christina alessi following that story. reporter: if you want the big