Kennedys praise senator

Caroline Kennedy, who set the stage for Senator Edward M. Kennedy's dramatic entrance Monday night into the Democratic National Convention, said today that her uncle's surprise appearance took a mammoth effort.

"What it took for him to get here was something I never thought I'd see in my life," she said on "The Early Show" on CBS.

"He's so inspiring," she added. "To watch him up there was just so great."

In her introduction, Caroline Kennedy paid tribute to her uncle, who is battling brain cancer, but also to Democratic nominee Barack Obama, who she said is inspiring Americans like her father, President John F. Kennedy.

Senator Kennedy's son Patrick said he is "enormously resilient" and will return to the US Senate next year to see through universal healthcare under an Obama administration.

In an interview aired this morning on "The Today Show" on NBC, Patrick Kennedy said serving in Congress with his father has been the "greatest joy and honor of my life."