"for whom the bell tolls." and then "moments that made the man." it's been a weekend of reflection. thank you to all of you who shared their stories of an amazing man and to you at home for spending part of your weekend with us. the cnn premiere of "john mccain for whom the bell toll" starts now.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i have lived an honorable life and i'm proud of my life. i think all of us think about death, but i think more about life. there's so many days in my life that are more than coincidental that it has made me believe that i am here for a reason.

i've been tested by a number of occasions. i haven't always done the right thing. and i think i understand given my family's history and given my experiences, the important thing is not to look back and figure out all the things i should have done, and there's lots of those, but to look back with gratitude, you will never talk to anyone that is as fortunate as john mccain. you ready? or not. you ready? one, two.

[ laughter ] >> so great. i love that. >> look at her. come on, earn knrnie. come on. that's a girl. come on. come on. >> bring the ball. >> come on, berma. come on, honey. >> i got a phone call from my mom that said jack, you're going to see some stuff in the news. your father has brain cancer. i'm with him right now. he knows his diagnosis and he's the same as he's always been. he said all right, let's push forward. >> you know, these doctors keep talking to me about people who if you tell them the truth then they just give up and die, that you really want to -- and i keep saying to them, just tell me. just tell me. that's all i want to know.

you know? some say well, it's not good and others say well, you know, it's just bull and it really drives me crazy but then i talk to other doctor friends of mine and say most people that's not what they want to hear. why wouldn't they want to hear? you know? why wouldn't they want to spend a few more days here, you know? yes, honey, i'll throw the ball in a minute. >> he's better in arizona, i think, health-wise but we sort of collectively made the decision if he doesn't work that he would, he would probably get sick faster because work feeds him and it's so much of a part of who he is so i'm very supportive of him being in d.c. >> all right, guys. good morning, good morning. good morning. good morning. good morning. back, back. come on. come on. you can -- good morning.

how are you, my friend from tmz? >> did you watch the football game last night? >> yes, i did. that's why i'm in such a bad mood this morning. >> i hope things get better. >> thank you. >> he's authentic. he can't help himself. sometimes his augthenticness isa problem. none of us want to be unpopular in a workplace. i've seen mccain be unpopular time and time again. sometimes for great reasons and sometimes for not so great reasons. we don't always agree. i've got a job to do, he's got a job to do but i never doubt his motivation as to why he's doing it. >> you're not going to bet against the united states of america. you know? >> he tries to study an issue. he tries to come to a conclusion that's in keeping with his

values but also, you know, rooted in reality. >> he knows this is not a straight line in life. there's going to be curves and corners and that's the way it goes. nobody is perfect. you're going to make mistakes. the question is, how do you handle those mistakes? >> what's going on in syria. good morning. how are you? good morning. >> i wouldn't bet against him. he faces his mortality now with the same kind of fearlessness that has characterized his life. >> we're going to keep people waiting here. >> if you want to really know him, his favorite book is "for whom the bell tolls" and the protagonist in that, robert jordan goes to fight the spanish civil war and he knows that it's a hopeless cause and yet, he gives his life for it. >> senator mccain? army nominee secretary, are we

going to get a hearing soon? >> that's very mccain of himself in the world. the harder the cause, everyone lost, the better the cause. >> senator, on health care -- >> i got to go. when i was 12 years old, i found a four-leaf clover. i want to my father's library to put the four-leaf clover in a book. i started reading that book and i was mess moo memorized and i stop reading until i was finished. it's still the load stone, the guide i have and it's called "for whom the bell tolls." robert jordan is my hero then when i was at that age and robert jordan is my hero today. nothing is better than the story of someone who sacrifices for causes greater than themselves, and robert jordan was that. ♪ ♪

>> i was born on the 29th of august 1936 at a naval base in the panama canal zone. my family goes back military all the way to the revolutionary war. and my life seemed to be charted out for me. i did feel pressure from the time i was very small to do well. as a young man going to the naval accused me, i was follade in the footsteps of my father and my grandfather. yes, i was once one of you, six decades ago in the age of sail. i was -- [ laughter ] >> i was non-distinguished member of the class of 1958.

my superiors didn't hold me in very high esteem in those days, their disapproval was measured in the hundreds of miles of extra duty i marched in my time here. but i realized a little later in life that i hadn't fully appreciated all that the academy was trying to teach me. lessons about sacrificing for something more important than yourself, lessons about courage and humility. god only knows how i graduated from the naval academy. i didn't enjoy studying. i just knew what i had to do to get by. there is no doubt that i was a rebel and always breaking the rules. everybody knew who my father was and so i thumbed my nose at him

but at the same time, i didn't want to embarrass my family. >> his father emanated power and strength. one day his father came down on a saturday to take us to lunch and for some reason, they got into a bit of an argument. john was walking at a fast pace swinging his left arm and i remember his father was walking the same way, swinging his left arm. i said these guys are so much alike, they are combatants with a pension of leadership. there is just a natural ability. you can't teach that kind of leadership. you have to be born with that. >> admiral mccain, what would you say about the importance in the navy. >> leadership is the single most important factor with achievement, success and the completion of a job to be done and further more, you have got to have a tolerance for the failings of individuals because all of us have them. >> my father was a submarine

commander in world war ii in the pacific. my grandfather was in the air carriers but i always knew i would be a naval aviator. i would fly down airplanes and shoot down. >> so far in 1967, the number of u.s. troops killed in vietnam has nearly doubled. air power is the one thing we most conspicuously have and the enemy has not. >> during that period of time, they decided to escalate the air war over north vietnam. we started striking targets inside which we had never done before. i got over the target and rolled in, and just as i released my bombs, a missile took their wing

off the airplane. so i ejected when i hit the air stream, it broke my arms and also my leg. strangely enough, i landed in a lake in the center of the city of hanoi. someone took the picture of the vietnamese pulling me out of the water and they were not happy. one of them stabbed me and another one smashed my shoulder. and then some north vietnamese army came and took me to the prison camp we called the hanoi hilton. >> yesterday, over hanoi, three american planes were shot down and two of their pilots captured. one was lieutenant john mccain, the son of the u.s. naval

commander in europe. >> i came in from school one day and my mother was sitting at the kitchen table crying and i said what's the matter? she said well, your father has been shot down. and that's all i know right now but i expect to hear more from your grand dad pretty soon. >> when i first found out, i didn't understand at all myself. i was dumb and happy. i didn't understand what it was really all about and it never occurred to me anything would happen to him. he was always kind of invincible in my mind. >> i got a call in the middle of the night and my father and mother were both on the phone, which is unusual. usually one would call me, not both. they told me john was shot down and i remember pausing and saying what do we do now?

my father said we just pray for the boy. >> it's hard to describe the military heritage of my family. yes, my dad was worried about me, but the fact is, he knew that mccains were doing what mccains were bred to do, and if it takes you into harm's way, that is our profession. the injuries that i experienced were severe, and they said we'll give you medical help if you give us information. i said, i can't. a few hours later, an int

interrogation said your father is a big father? >> his name is admiral john mccain. >> his dad kept telling me this could be it. i didn't believe that. but he told me it could. [crying] >> if i don't get well, i love

her and hope to see her soon. and i appreciate if you tell her. >> room with two other americans. they wanted me to die there rather than in the hospital. and those two literally nursed me back to health and the love and affection both of those guys gave me i will never forget. as soon as the vietnamese found i could walk, the next day i found myself in a cell. i was about two and a half years in solitary confinement. solitary confinement's great strength is it makes the person feel alone.

when you're alone, then you don't have the encouragement, the comradery, the strength. there is a reason why throughout history they have used solitary confinement. then one day i was taken up from interrogation. there was a guy there that spoke perfect french, perfect english. sat down and there was cigarettes and tea and finally he said, well, you know, everybody wants you to go home because the doctors say that you can't live. and i said our code of conduct says that we go by order of capture. he said except for sick and injured. i said but i'm not that sick and injured. i'm getting better. i can get around and i know what this is. i know it's for propaganda and he kicked over the chair behind him and he said they taught you too well. and walked out and slammed the

door leaving me and one of the investigators in dead silence for two minutes and he said, things will be very bad for you now mccain. and the fun began. we call it either the bar and strap or the bar and ropes treatment and that has to do with putting my hands with my wrists opposed. they took the strap and tied it to the handcuffs. each time he laced that strap, he pulled and pulled and pulled until my arms are virtually parallel to one another and touchi touching. >> they were really, really rough. i mean, to the point where they rebroke my arm. they did all kinds of stuff. they were so bad that i thought

i was going to die and so i wrote a confession, war crimes confession and i will be ashamed and embarrassed about that for my whole life. i was aware that they were going to use it for property began p purposes and i thought about the honor of my family. >> i knew his father. his father was specific. all the military action we ordered in vietnam was carried out by him. but i never heard admiral mccain talk to the president about his son. it would be against the code of honor of the mccains. >> my dad never talked about john, especially never asked anybody to do anything for him or about it. but dad made a practice every year that he was commander in

chief on christmas, he would helicopter to the dmz where the north and south vietnamese were divided and he would walk away from those escorting and just look across that border trying to somehow feel john or send a message to him. >> i want you to understand that for those of you and there are many in this command who will spend this christmas away from home and your loved ones that what you have done and the sacrifices that you have made in the pursuit of your individual dutys will more than make up for this separation.ies will more t for this separation. >> i was a year and a month when i was shot down. my recollection of him was next to zero. it was my mom and my brothers for a really long time. those memories i have. >> mrs. mccain has received

several letters from her captured husband but none in six months. >> the most recent one i have was written last june. it says dear carol, i hope you can still think of the really great times we had together. it is time for our fifth anniversary this year and i am hoping i will see you soon. >> how does he sound? >> he sounds kind of depressed to me. when he says i hope you can still think of the really good times we had together, it sounds like, you know, he's worried that i might forget or something. that bothers me and makes me feel very badly. there isn't anyway i could possibly forget. >> you know, you don't really know but in your heart you're like of course he's coming back. he told me he's coming back. >> how long do you think the vietnamese will keep your daddy prisoner? how long will that be? >> probably until summer.

>> to me, nothing else mattered materially other than i was told my dad is still alive. >> do you think it will be over sooner? >> i want it to be over sooner. >> because? >> i just want him back. >> after about four years, they changed the treatment and put us into large rooms with, say, 20 or 25 in each cell. the beatings stopped and there was clearly a change in policy towards the prisoners. all of a sudden on the 18th of december, the whole sky just lit up with explosions and from then around the clock bombing. >> the christmas bombing was the use of b 52s against tactical

targets in hanoi. president nixon decided and i agreed that we had reason to pour a shocking event to show we were absolutely determined to bring the war to a conclusion. >> we applauded and cheered and sang the star spangled banner and the north vietnamese were panicked. they were panicked. >> when that bombing was over, there was very strange silence and then the announcement on the radio that they were going to sign an agreement to end the war. >> a few days later, all the prisoners were called out and the commanding officer of the camp read off the provisions of the settlement and one part of the settlement is prisoners will be returned by order of capture.

while we were waiting, they said mccain, come in, we need to talk to you and there was about eight vietnamese in this room, officers and had a tape recorder and said mccain, you're going to be leaving now and we saved your life as you know. don't you want to have a parting message of thanks for the doctors who took such good care of you? and i looked at them and i said you want me to thank the doctors? they say yeah. well, first of all, i'd like to say why the [ bleep ] have you been the last five years? can i say that? going home was something that we looked forward to for so many years. i hate to tell you but i was ana anticlematic. in someways, it was hard to

believe we were going to do it. >> nobody cheered until the airplane lifted off the ground and the landing gear was retracted. >> i remember really clearly him stepping off that plane at clark air field and i'll tell ya, when he appeared in the hatch way, it was hard. >> commander john s. mccain, iii, united states navy. his wife carol, sons douglas and andrew and daughter sydney live in orange park, florida. >> i just remember he was really skinny. he was just kind of all bones in his face, and he was limping quite noticeably. one of his arms he couldn't lift any higher than about this. but i just remember the smile was the same and the humor was the same, there was still a twinkle in his eye. it was like right out of the movies. >> i don't think i really understood what was going on.

i was really like who is this guy? is he doing here? did not understand the whole concept of his return from vietna vietnam. >> john was not angry. he was just happy to be home. he told me every single thing that he could remember, and i wanted him to. i wanted him to just talk and talk and talk and not keep that stuff locked up. >> when we came home, i wanted to know what happened during all those years. think of yourself going five and a half years with only information provided to you by your communist captors. i wanted to know how the anti war movement began. >> the committee come to order. the committee continuing the hearing over the ending of the war in southeast asia. >> john and i were on different

paths with respect to the war in vietnam. my war was down in the delta mostly and seeing the war on a ground level we believe on an exoticer land and wait on me that made me a very vocal and determined anti war activists after i came back. >> each day the facilitate the process by which the united states washes her hands of vietnam. someone has to give up his life so that the united states doesn't have to admit something that the entire world already knows so we cannot say we've made a mistake. >> it didn't change my mind but what was very revealing how was it handled and how there was never a strategy for victory. >> someone has to die so

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though, it hardly seems possible, it's been more than five years since the 600 american p.o.w.s came home. they gathered for a celebration this weekend. >> we've been treated very, very well and been a few times embarrassed by the attention we've received because we don't feel that we did anything that any other american wouldn't do under the same circumstances but as far as adjustments, studies indicate we've done well. >> the period of adjustment was not as hard as you might think.

i went back to a squadron, which is what i wanted to do. >> it was important for him to fly again so he did aggressive physical therapy to get his body back in shape and he was the liaison for the senate and got a real bug for politics there. >> i ended up in the united states senate in 1973. john came shortly thereafter as a navy liaison. when you travel abroad, you have a military escort with you and every time i traveled, i tried to make sure i had john and i think john did the same thing and we traveled all over the world together. >> i went everywhere. that's where i really became familiar with the senate and how it works. i learned one heck of a lot. >> as dad progressed, he was gone a lot. he was doing a lot of be

international travel and it was stressing the marriage. >> i talked to a shrink when i ca came home. he told me about the fact he was getting a divorce. >> i was a teacher of special education at the time in arizona and it was spring break and we were invited to a reception being held for a group of united states senators on their way through hawaii to china. he introduced himself to me and i just didn't know what to expect and what i saw was this incredible human being that's a lot of fun to be around. >> this is about the time our marriage was falling apart. he was looking for a way to be young again and that was the end of that. i didn't know anything about it. i had no idea what was going on. i was pretty much blind sided and it broke my heart. >> i think it was the last thing

she was expecting. we were all shocked and heart broken. it caused quite a rift in the family. >> it left a bad taste in my mouth because i knew it's not what my mother wanted but by the same token, you know some things are beyond your control. i think the divorce rates among the p.o.w.s were extraordinary high. so in hindsight, it's probably not unexpected. >> i really didn't think that he would propose. you know, he was older. i knew he cared very deeply for me. i did know that. >> cindy, i think, she was very young, too. and you can't help who you fall in love with. i truly believe my dad is very much in love with cindy and i think she's very much in love with him and i think there is

something beautiful about that. at the time, it was really awfu awful. >> i got a telephone call from the navy. they wanted to know did i know where john was. and i said yes, i did know where he was. he was now remarried. i had the phone number and i called him and he knew by my voice something was wrong. he said what is it? i said your father died. >> we hadn't even been married a year. no one ever wants this kind of insight into family but what i observed was a family of great strength, great honor, great dignity, the importance of legacy and tradition was never more apparent to me than that

day. >> there's not an exaggeration when we say navy family. there is a lot to the navy family. my grandma father was commander of the carriers in the pacific during world war ii. the day of the peace signing, my father and grandfather were together. my grandfather flew home the next day, had a heart attack and died. my father was a very dedicated naval officer. i never got as close to my father as perhaps i would have under normal circumstances but i was so proud of what he and my grandfather were doing. >> john had retired from the navy just during that week, and so finished the retirement process during the days of the funeral, and we left the next

day to go home. that's a lot to absorb. >> i was unable to maintain flight status. that puts a ceiling and i had a make a tough decision and i decided since i was not going to be able to reach all the heights that i wanted to, that i would get out of the navy and that we would go to arizona. >> i felt he had some political ambitions, but we hadn't really outwardly said it, but i knew he was good at what he does and he was engaged in washington, and he was a smart thinker. >> i think if he had his choice, he would have gone on and become an admiral and there would have been that symmetry with his father and grandfather. >> whether he likes it or not, that would have been something, okay? but that wasn't possible.

however, he was going to serve his country in some way. >> i'm announcing today my decision to become a candidate for the republican nomination. >> he was running for john rhodes seat and a gentleman at a rotary club said you're not from arizona. what do you know about arizona? you're not a native arizonaen. >> he threw a line on them in the first debate that ended the carpet bagger controversy. he said well, you know, sorry but the longest i've ever lived anywhere in my life is in hanoi and that was the end of that discussion, frankly. the idea was to get him in front of as many people as you could. so he every day was out knocking on doors, door to door to door to door to door. all summer long. he would just engage and talk with them. now, if someone was rude, john being john, you know, he'd walk

and turn around and say thank you very much and turn around and go what an [ bleep ] that guy. that happened 100 times but that's john. if he had the energy of a regular candidate, than he would have lost but we won so that was awesome. but our goal from day one was for john to be in the senate, not to be in the house. >> it became known that berry gold water was going to retire some two years, three years later and so right then i started positioning myself for running for berry's seat in the senate. i didn't make a lot of bones about it. i was always looking the next step down the road. >> when he came to the senate, he was a well-known commodity. he was already respected. i don't think john missed a beat coming over to the senate.

>> when john was first elected and we started having children, it was a conscious decision by both of us to raise our children in arizona. >> can i speak to deb? good. jimmy, let he see your phone. where did you get that phone, huh? how are you doing? the kids are getting ready to go for their swimming party for the last day of school. >> we knew there would be a huge sacrifice, mainly for him because he's the one that had to commute. the way i portrayed it to the kids as a deployed manner. he's serving his country. he's away, he has to be away but you'll see him on the weekends. with that said, he never missed a weekend. >> yes, it's the first time i had done that, and i -- i

promise you the cat will come out if you leave her alone. >> i know people think it's an unorthodox way to grow up having your parents divided but they made such an attempt to make sure we had family time and travel together but when it's your normal, you don't think of anything different. >> when my dad was in d.c., it was mostly my mom. she has a very kind demeanor generally, but when the mom needs to come out, she will. but depending on how much we had bi misbehav misbehaved, it was always the threat you want me to call your father? he as the ability to out argue or out think any member of our family which is frustrating when you're young. >> this man is a united states senator and you are about to hear him say something that very few senators have ever said

before. >> it was a very serious mistake on my part. >> john mccain is talking about the role he played in 1987 to secure senate protection against the federal government taking over his lincoln savings loan. >> charles keating was a very big builder. he was probably the biggest in arizona. he also was very patriotic and took a liking to me and helped me with my campaigns. >> he was a big arizona player. he would support candidates and get behind candidates and raise a lot of money. then he bought some savings and loans and that's where it went south on him. >> examiners from the federal ho home loan bank found a ticking time bomb, the examiners also uncovered evidence of improper bookkeeping and possible fraud and the federal examiners were summed for an extraordinary meeting with five senators.

each senator got large campaign donations from keating, his family and their associates. >> in the most explosive testimony yet, edwin gray, the former chief regulator of savings and loan industry told henry gonzalez four u.s. senators asked him to ease regulatory pressure on troubled lincoln savings and loan. >> john tells me when he walked in the door for the meeting arranged for this he knew this would be a problem. >> i'm doing everything i can to try and set the record straight. again, admitting that i made mistakes and serious ones. but i did not abuse my office and i think that's the key to this issue here. >> you told me this was the political crisis of your life. >> absolutely. >> tell me why it is. >> because my reputation is at stake here. i never had high ethics or conduct questioned. >> think you'll survive it? >> i hope so. >> hearings begin this week into what has already been called a

major congressional scandal. >> never before have five senators been accused of intervening with federal regulators to help a campaign contributor. >> this raises questions about money, power and political influence in washington. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm glad to have the opportunity to account with my relationship with charles keating. >> the hearings took place day in and day out and watching my husband being dressed down by people in my opinion that couldn't hold a candle to him killed me. i mean, it broke my heart. >> mr. mccain and his family took several flights on acc corporate aircraft and charted aircraft. two, prompt rei reimbursement w made for only one flight. >> he's his own worst critic.

he tries his hardest to be the best and do the most honorable thing and that was just a mess. >> to me, that statement does not show in evidence of intent to reimburse for family members. once again, i have nothing to gain personally -- >> it was not a good time for any of us. i became ill. i was medicating myself. i mean, it was all -- it did a number on both of us. >> let's talk a little bit about -- >> the proper time we take a brief recess. >> yes. >> john would come over to my office and we would sit and talk and i'd say john, look, you've just got to -- everybody is going to understand and just tough it out here. tough it out. but it killed john. >> first and foremost, it was a matter of honor. the second thing it challenged was his restlessness and his impatience. it just dragged on.

he needed to get to a place where he could put it in his rearview mirror like he put every bad thing. >> the committee concludes senator mccain exercised poor judgment. senator mccain violated no law of the united states or specific rule of the united states senate therefore the committee concludes no further action is warranted and respect mccain on the matters investigated during the inquiry. >> i was found guilty of bad judgment. that will always be a black mark on my record, even if it was only using quote bad judgment. it was wrong. >> until we abolish soft money, americans will never have a government that works as hard for them as it does for special interests. that is a sad but undeniable fact of contemporary politics. >> i think campaign finance reform was a result of what

happened. he saw a system that was really corrupt and really needed to be reformed. >> the process must begin, campaign finance reform is contributed to the level of criticism that is prevalent in the american citizens today. >> he stepped out, he stepped away from most members of his party. he formed a bipartisan coalition with others and he fought like hell for it. >> i think we're toidoing the rt thing because i think it's the only way campaign finance reform can occur. >> the basic john mccain public image is the tough guy, the maveri maverick, the fighter, the necessary in your face occasionally showing temper. but visions of him as the stubborn, immovable mccain don't allow for the reality that he's at a very productive career as a

u.s. senator because he's not been stubborn and immovable. >> teddy loved working with john mccain. he said they can go at it and come back and be friends and i think that was the essence of being able to do a deal. i think that's why they worked so well together. they were all moving towards something that was good for the country and they might have a different way of getting there but if they talked it out and worked it out, they could find that common ground to move things forward. >> around the mid '90s john and i would sit on the floor together when there is a debate. i would sit next to john at the december and can he would sit next to me and some senator said why are you sitting with mccain? i said he's my friend. well, it doesn't look good. i mean, my god, he was always open to doing something people didn't expect him to do like support campaign finance reform.

and mccain i think both for noble motives and out of practical experience was always willing to break the mold he was in if it was clearly the right thing to do. and that's . >> campaign finance reform made him very unpopular in the conservative movement. i really don't think he cared. he was driven by a sense that something dishonorable was going on. he was really a missile that aimed itself at anything dishonorable. and wherever he saw a stain, he was driven to go after it. >> within 60 days all americans held prisoners of war will be released. all of those missing in action, i would like to say a word to the families of our prisoners of war and the missing in action, nothing means more to me at this moment than the fact that your

long vigil is coming to an end. >> we're here because almost 19 years after the formal termination of the war in vietnam, the pow/mia issue still haunts america. this task of this committee, therefore, over the next year, is clear. it is to prove to all concerned that we will leave no stone unturned, no question unasked, no effort unexplored in order to try to resolve this issue. some might ask, what will -- >> john kerry and i were in strong disagreement concerning his activities against the war, but i also respect the fact that john kerry served. >> john, in his spirit of trying to reach out and put history in its proper place became friendly with a lot of people who had opposed the war and we began a conversation, which ultimately led the two of us to the same conclusion, which was the war still raged in too many hearts

in our country. we were not at peace with ourselves. and both of us saw a strategic value in trying to move to a different place with respect to the relationship with vietnam. >> we agreed to work to get a full accounting of those who were missing in action and normalized relations between our two countries. >> there are too many families who, for whatever reasons, are not getting the answers that they deserve to have, not being treated the way that they deserve to be treated. and that has to change. >> john and i understood that whatever strategic interests we might have had in moving to a different relationship with vietnam would never be possible unless those questions were put to rest. >> tonight, the u.s. government has new information from vietnam that could help determine what became of many of these americans. >> the promise to come clean was made over the weekend in hanoi

to retire vessy and mccain. they were carrying an inventory of documents and photos hidden way in the vietnamese archives. >> they provided us with a lot of photographs, kind enough to give me several that i had not seen before, which i'd like to show you i'm much better looking in those days than i am today. and i want to stress what general vessy said, just again, this is a beginning, a beginning. >> there was this theory that the vietnamese were holding thousands of americans still prisoner, which mccain intellectually understood, informed by experience, was highly implausible. >> may i say, mr. chairman, that mrs.alphon's remarks in her written statement are far stronger than he recently alleged. quote, the recent photograph

fiasco is yet another example of committee duplicity. tell that to some of the families who finally have had this nightmare ended. >> i've been speaking to them, sir. >> no, i've been talking to them, and they are grateful, and they are happy. and this is a -- this is in the view of most experts a significant breakthrough. now, when you call it -- >> what we did was put together the single most exhaustive, most transparent accounting for missing in war ever performed by any country in the world. >> is there any evidence that there are anymore alive missing? >> there's still no evidence that they've proven there's americans alive, they're getting down to a whole lot of cases that are still unresolved. we continue to get cooperation from the vietnamese. senator kerry and i are going to

meet with the president next week and we'll give him a report and he'll have to make up his mind from there. >> senator, come over and talk to us. >> in the last meeting about the normalization of relations with vietnam, they still hadn't convinced clinton to do it. kerry made the informed, logical, compelling case for it, and then clinton turned to make cane, and i'll always remember it, he just said, mr. president, i'm tired of looking back at vietnam, and i'm tired of my country looking bag. it's time to move forward. and if you normalize relations, i will defend you every step of the way. >> today i am announcing the normalization of diplomatic relationships with vietnam. i realize, because i hadn't served in the military, and because i had openly opposed the vietnam war, i had to have the support of american veterans.

if mccain hadn't been there and been willing to step up, i don't think any of it would have happened. >> let this moment in the words of scripture be a time to heal and a time to build. thank you all. and god bless america. so, how's it going? well...

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my dad called me and told me i'm going to run for president, i i wanted to give you the heads up, and i was like, great, and inside i'm like oh, no. it's -- i was very happy for him. and i think you could kind of see it coming that that was going to be his calling. >> america doesn't owe me anything. i am the son and grandsons of

navy admirals, and i was born into america's service. it wasn't until i was deprived of her company that i fell in love with america and it has been my honor to serve her and her great cause, freedom. it is because i owe america more than she has ever owed me that i am a candidate for president of the united states. >> in the runup of the 2000 campaign, there were lots of candidates. the one person that sort of stood over top of that entire field, you know, was george w. bush. >> we started out, a decided underdog. we thought that the best way to campaign was to have total access to the media. that's what the straight talk express was all about. >> he wanted to do politics a

different way. we had modeled the campaign on being completely transparent. and every day, 18 hours a day, john mccain would be surrounded by the press corps that was covering him in the back of that bus, holding forth on every issue that was on the table. >> i'm against gun registration. >> why? >> because i don't think it's necessary in america. but obviously, as i've said before, we'd be glad to examine it. >> the bus was this free wheeling exercise in public discourse. >> let's do a lightning round. >> okay. >> your favorite book? >> for whom the bell tolls. >> favorite movie. >> charlton hesston? >> marlon brando. >> close enough. >> how do you reconcile the fact that you were one of the most vocal critics of politics, but yet while you were chairman of the congress committee, that committee set a record for unauthorized appropriations.

>> i was just kidding. no, i don't even know what that means. >> in 2000 presidential campaign was the most fun i've ever had as a political journalist. everything was transparent so we got to see absolutely everything. >> now, what secret plan number is he? 27. >> the way to get mccain talking was to find somebody he didn't like, and just remind him of it. and so you get like 6:00 in the morning, senator, did you see what rick santorum said, oh, [ bleep ] asshole. his mouth would just go and he'd talk and talk and talk, who he didn't like, who he did like, and it was great. >> yes, he says the odds are long. but to someone who survived years of torture in solitary confinement, nothing seems impossible. >> some people have asked why i'm running for president of the united states. my wife says it's because i receive several sharp blows to

the head while i was in prison. >> is there a whispering campaign against john make cane, absolutely not say the senators accused of spreading rumors that he returned from captivity in vietnam too unstable to be trusted with the presidency. but mccain's friend, democrat john kerry said he's heard the whispers. >> tacky, tawdry, petty. >> it was very important for us to stand up for the truth, for the reality of what was being done here. >> i picked up the phone and called him, i said, john, where do you want me? where do you want me? i will testify to your character before anyone in the country. you just tell me. and he started laughing. well you'd hurt me more than you'd help, joe, by testifying. >> well i was short tempered, i am in some ways, a perfectionist, and i want people around me to be that way so when they're not i get angry about it. >> why would you say something that stupid? why would you ask something that dumb?

>> i remember one time going into his office and walking in and he was screaming at someone and i was like, oh, my god, dad talks like that? >> you can be asshole one minute and your dearest friend the next, but the thing about him, you know he loves you. >> mccain thinks the release of his medical records have put to rest speculation that the years in prison camp made him unstable. some voters like hearing about his explosive temper. >> i'd rather have a man at the commander in chief with a temper than a wuss in office. >> i was kind of the presumptive heir to the nomination. i never ran scared i was going to lose. but i knew john would be a tough competitor. >> nobody was supposed to beat george w. bush. but if you could actually beat him in a primary, it could create enormous momentum. so the whole idea was just win in new hampshire, and start the campaign basically from there.

>> he had these town halls everywhere, where he took any questions, and they let him go for as long as people wanted to ask him questions. >> i do as we have been doing all over the state of new hampshire, and that is to respond to your questions, comments and occasional insults that you might have. >> new hampshire's all about retail politics. they want to see you. not just once, but two or three times. they want to touch you. they want to ask you questions. and john's really good at that. and he likes it. he loves it. >> i'd like to introduce our four children, megan, jack, jimmy and bridget mccain who are here. >> i was a freshman in high school, and i just remember that all the sudden he was super famous. >> we were getting a lot of coverage and that was drawing crowds to the town halls and they were getting bigger and bigger and bigger and spilling out into the streets and you could just sense something was happening.

>> last one we did was in bedford, new hampshire and i went upstairs and gave him the exit polls and he was in the bedroom rehearsing the speech. he said, what are they? i said you're going to win? he said, yeah, how much? you're going to clobber him. well, that has implications. i said, yeah, like, you could be president, it has that implication. >> i remember just the hotel going crazy, just people everywhere, crying and screaming on this elation. you can whip george bush's ass. >> my friends, in the weeks and months ahead i may say things you want to hear and i may say things you don't want to hear. but you will always -- you will

always hear the truth from me, no matter what. >> well, first of all, i was surprised. i thought i was going to whip him. of course, he thought he was going to whip me. it was a turning point for me because, he outworked me and he had a better message for new hampshire. and so i told my team, look, let's view this as a blessing, not a defeat. and for that i'm thankful. because i needed to show people i could get off the mat. >> wait a minute, michael, i will be glad to examine that proposal. but i also hope -- >> everybody knew in the bush campaign and the mccain campaign that whoever came out of south carolina was likely to be the nominee of the party. >> i'm glad to be back down here. i want you to know, loud and clear, we're going into battle. >> new hampshire's campaign was basically void of a lot of negative campaigning. by the time we got to south carolina, it was bare knuckle politics. >> this is george bush's ad

promising america he'd run a positive campaign. >> we were running negative ads against george bush, george bush was running negative ads against john mccain. >> the tax plan isn't true and mccain knows it. >> it was the fight of the century. >> the war of words between george w. bush and john mccain is heating up even further as they battle for votes in south carolina. mccain is accusing the bush campaign of making misleading phone calls to voters. >> governor george w. bush still denies anyone in his campaign is making negative phone calls. but mccain's supporters are pointing to a conversation videotaped on saturday between governor bush and a supporter in south carolina. they claim it shows the governor promising more negative attacks on mccain. >> you all haven't even hit his soft spot? somebody needs to. >> the phone calls went out all over south carolina, do you know the mccains have a black baby? >> john and cindy had adopted

from one of mother teresa's orphanages a baby daughter, a person of color, and people were getting calls that they were saying she was his illegitimate daughter with an african-american prostitute. >> i just remember it getting really dark really fast. last time it was truly innocent in politics was before that happened. >> in south carolina, proof that negative campaigning works. mccain's supporters dropped ten points in less than two weeks. the mccain town hall meeting on thursday. -- described her son -- answered a phone call, allegedly, for a bush pollster. >> he was so upset when he came upstairs and he said, mom, someone told me that senator mccain is a cheat and a liar and a fraud. and he was almost in tears. >> are you saying that governor

bush was responsible for that call? >> i don't know who was responsible for it, but i know that the attacks go on. >> he accused me of dirty campaigning, and i pulled out some flier and it said paid for by john mccain. this is an attack piece. >> this is not by my campaign. >> it says paid for by john mccain. >> that is not my campaign. >> somebody is putting stuff out. >> it was getting bad. and he says, look, i want to take off all the negative campaign ads, i want to go positive. and i said, well, what do you mean? take off the negative campaign ads, we're in a slug fest of our lives, battle to the death. and he said, nope, i want to run a campaign that my daughter will be proud of. i'd rather lose an honorable campaign than win a dishonorable one. >> senator mccain and governor bush are running neck and neck in south carolina with the primary there only eight days away. the most divisive issue in south

carolina, the confederate flag. calculated ambiguity. >> when you roll into a state like south carolina, you're going to get asked every single day by state reporters, what do you think about the issue of taking down the confederate flag? and so we worked out some wording. we said, well, it's a state issue, it's not what we want to get into. it was a symbol of heritage. when we sat down and talked to john mccain about it, he's like, you know, that's bull shit. >> he argued with it, was angry about it, he crumpled it up at one point. >> can you clarify it? >> can you tell me what it is? >> yes, i'll give you the piece of paper. >> i understand both sides, some view it as a symbol of slavery, others view it as a symbol of heritage, personally i see the

battle flag as a symbol of heritage. >> it was one of the very few instances where we didn't follow our instincts, rather than following the polling data. the only bad period of the campaign is when we did something out of political expediency rather than just telling the truth. and we lost. >> john mccain, the maverick who brought the republican establishment with dramatic wins in new hampshire and michigan, today chose an equally dramatic setting to halt his campaign. >> i am no longer an active candidate for my party's nomination for president. mccain says he will now go back to the senate. his presidential bus ride over, but he vows his crusade will go on. >> i would say he's one of the few politicians i've ever covered who has an authentic inner voice. even when he does things that are not great, embracing the confederate flag when running in south carolina, he knows he's

not doing something great. most politicians i cover, they rationalize it to themselves so there's no honest interior voice there. mccain has never been able to lie to himself very well. when he compromises for political reasons, he knows he's compromising some piece of himself. there's some piece of himself that feels pretty bad about it. >> i promised to tell the truth always about my intentions and my beliefs. i fell short of that standard in south carolina, and i want to tell the people of south carolina and all americans that i sincerely regret breaking my promise to always tell you the truth. i was asked during the course of my campaign how i personally felt about the confederate battle flag that flies above your state capital. i answered that it was an issue that the people of south carolina could decide for

themselves. i did not answer the question i was asked, how did i personally feel about the flag? my ancestors fought for the consed fed asy, and i am sure that many if not all of them fought with courage with the faith that -- i don't believe their service, however distinguished, needs to be commemorated in a way that offends, that deeply hurts people whose ancestors were once denied their freedom by my ancestors. that, my friends, is how i personally feel about the confederate battle flag. i should have done this earlier. i did not do so for one reason alone. i feared that if i answered honestly, i could not win the south carolina primary. so i chose to compromise my principles. i broke my promise to always tell the truth. i'm not so naive to believe that

politics must never involve compromise. but i was raised to know that i should never sacrifice a principle for personal ambition. >> he grew up with a moral code, and it was a code that preached honor and glory, sacrifice for country, we all have the one virtue we aspire to most. for mccain it's courage, courage comes in many forms, the one he displayed in vietnam, but also moral courage, and moral courage in politics. >> even though we lost in 2000, he was able to go back to the united states senate, a much more powerful individual than when he started that campaign. >> the best cure for losing is get to work, get busy.

that's the only way to get over this. >> yeah, we had some fun. how you doing? >> so i redoubled my efforts and my energies -- >> the battle over campaign finance reform was poised to play out on the senate floor this week, but it's also shaping up to be a fight against george bush and his rival senator john mccain. >> two years ago, no one gave us a chance. >> every special interest in this town that uses money in order to buy access and influence is app -- >> a major victory tonight for senator john mccain and his crusade to clean up campaign financing. >> the yays are 59, the nays are 41 and the bill as amended is passed. >> when you work on the senate staff and you had a big accomplishment or something,

then the next day it's done. you know, what else? what else is what he's always saying to you, what else? tell me something else. he's wired differently from other people that way. >> he is the perpetual motion machine, and traveling with him requires you to keep up with him. when he said i want to go and study climate change, i want to see for myself what i'm reading about, i jumped on board. and when we were on these trips together, he really zeroed in. well, how did this happen? tell me a specific story. what did that mean to you? and he listened to people. >> you read in the paper, 500 protesters killed in blank stand. john says, let's go. and we met with dissidents, and john spoke up on their behalf, and thank god we got out of there. >> he believes that human rights are the birthright of all and we ought to speak up for people that are being deprived. i have a daughter in the peace

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u.s. senator john mccain has returned to the infamous prison known as the hanoi hilton. >> loud speakers in your cell. >> mccain was accompanied by his john son jack. he was diplomatic about what he's seen. >> it hasn't upset me. my dad hasn't ever said anything negative towards this thing. >> do you think you could have stayed there like he did? >> i don't think so. he's a lot stronger of a person than i am. >> oh, that's good, okay.

>> if you ask him about his experiences, he will tell you, but it's a short, frank, okay, well, what was it like? well, it wasn't great. what did they feed you? well, they fed me cabbage soup. >> it's nice to be back. i've been here -- again, on many occasions. it's always nice to check on the condition of my statue. it's the only one i've got. >> it was important for john to show jack what had happened. because there were several lessons in that, not just what happened to him, but what happened as a result of this occasionally mismanaged war. >> not everything i base my views on is about vietnam. but one heck of a lot of it is. with the experience of vietnam, i always have a template which to judge whether we have a

strategy for success. in both iraq and afghanistan, the strategy was, don't lose. if the strategy is don't lose, then you don't win. >> he is a passionate believer in an exceptional america that embodies its ideals, protects him at home, and advances them abroad. that, he thinks, is the greatest cause anyone can serve. >> american leadership in the world, john, i think, recognizes, is not just a matter of us having the biggest air force, or the mightiest ships or the latest weaponry, it has to do with people thinking we're more likely than not to do the right thing. >> this is a picture of an iraqi prisoner of war. and according to the u.s. army, americans did this to him.

the army confiscated many pictures of iraqi prisoners being mistreated. >> i'm greatly concerned that many americans who have the same impulses i did when i saw these pictures and that's turning away from them. we risk losing public support for this conflict. as americans turned away from the vietnam war, they may turn away from this one unless this issue is quickly resolved with full disclosure so that we can be assured and comforted that something that we never believed could happen will never happen again. >> the bush administration's judgment about what constituted appropriate treatment of a prisoner of war drove john over the edge. >> what were the instructions to the guards? >> that is what the investigation that i've indicated has been undertaken.

>> secretary, that's a very simple, straightforward question. >> well, the -- as chief of staff of the army can tell you, the guards are -- >> the thing john understands better than anyone else is it's not only wrong, it also is damaging. it goes to the essence of what it is to be an american. we are a product of our values. >> he was just beside himself with anger and frustration. and with the excuses being given by military and civilian leaders, he wants names and he wants people to be held accountable because he wants to send a signal this is not only unacceptable for what happened in iraq, this is always unacceptable. and he was not shy about linking that kind of outrageous dehumanizing behavior with the collapse and the repudiation of

american values. >> my friends, we face formidable challenges. i'm not afraid of them. i'm prepared for them. i'm not the youngest candidate, but i am the most experienced. i know how to fight, and i know how to make peace. i know who i am, and what i want to do. >> he was, i think, legitimately the right man at the right time to lead a nation in a post-9/11 environment. 9/11 had a profound impact not only on the country and security and the subsequent wars in afghanistan and roirk, but also on the american electorate. now, that was at a wonderful opportunity for senator mccain who had always been steeped in national security, foreign policy. and i think the early polling demonstrated that. he was significantly in the lead. and, of course, at this time it was john mccain and hillary clinton.

that was the narrative of the 2008 campaign. little did we know that narrative would be turned upside down. >> i think john had great appeal among independents. john obviously had the extraordinary biography. he looked the part and had the experience of not just 18 years in the senate, but having run for president before. >> because you decided the change must come to washington, because you believe that this year must be different than all the rest, because -- >> but we weren't really running against john mccain, we were running for a new direction for the country. >> it's been my honor to welcome my friend, john mccain, as the nominee of the republican party. i wish you all the best.

i'm glad to be your friend. >> john mccain's running for president, the iraq war is about as popular as a tooth ache, and john said, no, we can't leave, we've got to win. and he stood behind president bush, the surge, adding more troops at a time when everybody wanted to get out. >> if the 2000 campaign was known as free wheeling, easy access to the media, the 2008 campaign was completely the opposite. >> okay, guys, we're having fun now. >> i wanted to bring the media back on the bus. i wanted them to be there and have the same dialogue we had before. but they get on the bus and then it would be a challenge as who can ask the worst gotcha question. i remember i got on the bus one time and one of the questions was, what do you think about the economy? and i said, well, you know, i'm working hard on the economy, because that hasn't always been

my top priority, armed services, et cetera, et cetera, the next day in the "new york times," mccain said he's not familiar with the economy. >> well, you know it, so i don't even know why you ask. >> well, i asked -- >> no, you do know it. >> i just -- >> i don't know what you -- i don't know the circumstances. >> our coverage is annoying. we're trying to tell the truth as we see it, never quite the campaign sees it. it's just always going to be annoying. i think if you react to it with hostility, you end up making it worse. >> it's well-known that i had the conversation, it was as a result well-known by everyone. do you have a question on another issue? >> i think in 2008, the environment was much more toxic than it was in 2000. >> we were out there doing everything we could to sort of show, hey, this is a different kind of republican. but it was a change election. the country was deeply unhappy,

and barack obama was the biggest change on offer, on the face of it, on the face of it. >> i have known and been friends with john mccain for almost 22 years. to those who still believe in the myth of a maverick, instead of the reality of a politician, i say let's compare senator mccain to candidate mccain. candidate mccain says he would vote against the immigration bill that senator mccain wrote. are you kidding me, folks? the stakes could not be higher because we do know what a bush -- what a mccain administration would look like. there's a slip. >> george bush was the single least popular sitting president in history. his approval rating was 25%.

and we were the third term of the bush administration. >> just this morning, senator mccain said that actually he and president bush share a common philosophy. that's right, colorado, i guess that was john mccain finally giving us a little straight talk. >> senator obama wants to run against george bush, he should have run for president four years ago. >> one of the things that was the key to us was to be able to regain the mantle of the maverick. and one of the most critical decisions that john mccain had to make was who was going to be his running mate. and we had a lot of good options, at least we thought we did. >> when rick davis called me and said john wanted to put me on the short list for vp, honestly my reaction was, are you kidding?

i think john felt there would be a big message in this, which is this is going to be a bipartisan ticket, unprecedented. >> you may ask, what's a democrat doing here supporting a republican for president? >> john wanted to take joe lieberman. sitting around the abstract. that's sort of interesting. but i said, okay, here's like time-out, time-out. has anyone in this room actually read the republican national convention rules? we're going to have a blood bath on the convention floor just to nominate him. >> he was unhappy with that point of view and resisted it and argued against it and kept maintaining it. but, hey, you can't start off with a general campaign with -- how are you going to win in

november? >> i should have said, look, we've got a hell of a campaign anyway, joe lieberman is my best friend, let's take im. i was persuaded by my political advisers that it would be harmful. that was another mistake that i made. >> my friends and fellow americans, i am very pleased, very privileged to introduce to you the next vice president of the united states, governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. >> she was not chosen because of her position on any particular issue. she had gotten into politics as a reformer. >> it was rightly noted in denver this week that hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling

in america. but it turns out the women of america aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all. >> i understand the choice. it was a gamble. and my dad is a gambler. he always rolled the dice. i think they understood they had to fight change with change. >> that friday we had erased a 20 point margin. and for two weeks we had a campaign that was winning the presidential election. >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> politics is about serving. and you can't serve if you don't win. and he was behind. it was a long shot. so he could justify the pick by saying i had to hail mary pass. i had to try something. and i don't think he could have known this at the time, but in

picking sarah palin, he basically took a disease that was running through the republican party, not palin herself, she's a normal human being, but a disease that i'll call anti-intellectualism, disrespect for facts, and she was a chapter in the rise of a cheap kind of populism. >> i've got to ask you a question. i do not believe in -- i can't trust obama. i have read about him, and he's not -- he's an arab. he is not -- >> no, ma'am, no, ma'am, he's a decent, family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. that's what this campaign is all about. he's not. thank you. thank you. >> the environment in which he was already headed in an uphill

battle where the energy of the party was being captured by his vice presidential come knee sarah palin and it was a much more red meat, populist angry tone. for john in the middle of that to say, you know, hold on a second, we don't demonize each other, we're all americans, we're all on the same team, i thought was an indication of who john fundamentally was. >> first of all, i want to be president of the united states. and obviously i do not want senator obama to be. but i have to tell you, i have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the united states. now, i just -- now, i just -- now, look, if i didn't think i wouldn't be one heck of a lot better president, i wouldn't be running. okay? and that's the point. that's the point.

>> on september 16th, the entire campaign changed. that was the day the economy collapsed. people were being thrown out of their jobs. we were going through a global upheaval and we were running a presidential campaign right in the middle of it. >> it was a terrible, toxic environment for anybody that had an "r" next to their name. >> john was carrying an 800-pound rock up the hill. talk about good year, bad year, it was a bad year. >> my friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. the american people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. a little while ago i had the honor of calling senator barack obama to congratulate him -- please. to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. >> he could not have been more

gracious, he could not have been more generous about wishing my administration well. >> it's natural tonight to feel some disappointment. but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. >> it was gracious, it was futuristic, it was about the country. he was saying, come on now, come on, everybody get in here, man, help this man. i'm going to help him. i'm here. i'm here. >> and i call on all americans, as i have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe always in the promise and greatness of america because nothing is inevitable here. americans never quit. we never surrender. we never hide from history. we make history. thank you and god bless you and god bless america. thank you all very much.

>> my dad's calling is to make america a better place. and my father's very conservative. i am not. i'm very liberal. but we still manage to meet on some issues that are important to both of us. his heart is to make a better country. his heart is what he believes in. he's not doing this to be self-serving, he's doing it because he truly believes the country needs him. >> a lot of people tried to get me to say bad things about him during that time, and i was like, are you crazy? i would never do that. you don't know me or you wouldn't ask me. i mean, i would never do anything to harm him in any way. i'm very sad that he's going to be leaving us in the next year. it's heartbreaking, it's not fair. who would have thought, who would have guessed? an energy company helping cars emit less. making cars lighter, it's a good place to start,

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that said, people of a fighting attitude such as senator mccain tend to do better. >> i suspected something because there were just little things that were telling me things something wasn't right with him. >> well, at least in the minds of this member, there's a whole lot of questions remaining. >> he was complaining of being very tired. and he'd gotten wrapped around the axle on a question to fbi director comey in a hearing. >> you're going to have to help me out here. we were to complete the investigation of anything that former secretary clinton had to do with the campaign is over. >> i'm a little confused, senator, with respect to -- >> he had a physical coming up and we made sure the schedule was such it couldn't be pushed. we thought, he needs to be looked at.

>> i'm in the middle of lunch and i get a call from senator mccain. he was in the car driving to sedona. and in a very nonchalant way, he says, you know, i had my checkup today, and he said they just called me and told me to turn my car around and come back. >> 80-year-old senator john mccain is resting comfortably at home after surgeons successfully removed a small blood clot above his left eye yesterday at the mayo clinic hospital in phoenix. now senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says the senate will defer a vote on the health care bill until senator mccain returns. >> he walked out of the hospital the day after brain surgery. but he felt fine. now, did he feel fine or did he convince you that he felt fine? here's a guy who's gone through enormous physical challenges

early in his life. his knees are all busted up, but he outwalks everybody who ever tries to do a campaign event with him. his shoulders don't function properly. he can't comb his own hair but he gets by through the day looking just fine. >> he called me, and he goes, look, i want to give this speech, you know, about the health care vote that's coming up. i said, okay, have they got the results back? yeah, i've got -- yeah, it's not great. >> the measure of the man is how he responds under significant adversity. and look at john, look at him, i mean, he's a -- he's a good friend.

>> listen, i have to go back to the health care bill. and i said what could possibly happen if he gets on a plane? and the doctor said that he could like hemorrhage and it can be dangerous if he still has air in his brain and all this crazy stuff. so i freaked out, and i screamed at everyone that he couldn't get on the plane and that i didn't agree with it. and my dad snapped at me and said it's my life and it's my choice. >> i stand here today looking a little worse for wear, and i'm sure -- i've been a member of the united states senate for 30 years. my service here is the most important job i've had in my life. >> his public service has been so deeply entwined with friendships. and a lot of the friendships

have been with democrats, ted kennedy, joe biden. out of that sense of friendship came a belief that party was not everything, and out of that came a direct experience with crafting compromised legislation. >> let's trust each other. let's return to regular order. we've been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. mandating legislation from the top down without any support prom t from the other side with all the parliamentary maneuvers it requires. we're getting nothing done, my friends. we're getting nothing done. >> he decries the partisanship, the ideological, the refusal to work together and get something done for the people who were good enough to send members of congress to congress. >> we tried to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed

doors and consultation with the administration and springing it on skeptical members trying to convince them that it's better than nothing, that it's better than nothing? >> i think the vast majority of republicans and democrats know better. they got to start to stand up. and john would say get back to regular order. >> all regular order means is you introduce a bill, have hearings and let the public understand what is going on and have witnesses and amendments and make up your mind. that's how democracy is supposed to work. >> i will not vote for this bill as it is today. [ applause ] >> i think the republican the felt that he had marshalled all his physical strength to come back after the surgery and that naturally, he would vote with the republican party. but they totally misread john. he came back for a different

reason. he came back to do the right thing and to send a message to his colleagues and to the count country. >> i'll be here for a few days. after that, i'm going home for awhile to treat my illness. i have every intention of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me. and i hope to impress on you again that it is an honor to serve the american people in your company. thank you, fellow senators. mr. president, i yield the floor. [ applause ] >> it's hard not to be proud of john mccain, right? he takes chances that nobody else takes. both with his health, you know,

to get on a plane and go to washington to have an impact. he takes chances with his message, you know, to tell people what they probably need to hear but don't ever want to hear, and he does it all because of his desire to have an impact for the positive. that's hard not to be respectful of that guy. ♪ ♪ >> i saw things that i didn't agree with that i thought was wrong. >> the american people don't hold washington and the people who work there in very high esteem. we need to make sure that we give the american people what they deserve and right now, they are not getting it. >> i know that this was a very

vicious disease. i greet every day with gratitude, and i will continue to do everything that i can, but i'm also very aware that none of us live forever. i'm confident and i'm happy and i'm very grateful for the life i've been able to lead, and i greet the future with joy. my grandfather loved his life and he loved the fact that he had to leave. my father, the same way. i am the same way. i love life and i want to stay around forever, but i also believe that there is great

honor that you can die with. by the way, i reread hemingway and robert jordan is still my hero and robert jordan's last thoughts were it's been a great life and well worth fighting fo for. >> a hero is somebody who does the right thing no matter what, and i think john throughout his life has been heroic so many times. so we shouldn't be surprised that as he faces this at the end of his life that he's still heroic and that if he showed us how to live, he's also --

[crying] >> he's also showing us how to di die. >> i've had the good fortune to spent 60 years in service to this wonderous land. it's not been perfect service to be sure and there were property times the country might have benefitted a little less of my help. but i tried to deserve the privilege of best i can and i've been repaid 1,000 times over with adventures, with good company, with the satisfaction of serving something more important than myself. of being a big player in the extraordinary story of america and i am so grateful to fear the world we have organized and led the three quarters of a century to abandon the ideals we have

advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to retain the last best hope of earth for the sake of some half baked nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems. [ applause ] is as unpatriotic dogma people can assign. with all it's suffering and danger, the world still looks to the example and leadership of america to become another better place. what greater cause could anyone ever serve?

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nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause rarger than yourself we cannot always choose the moment s often they arrive unbidden. senator john mccain coming back for a crucial health care vote. >> july 25th, 2017 for a 40-year

senate veteran returning to washington to vote is standard stuff but this day was anything but standard. >> tonight washington and the country united in prayers and well wishes for senator john mccain. >> it's an aggressive brain cancer. if you look at numbers alone, the average survival is around 14 months. >> two weeks later, john mccain was diagnosed with brain cancer. >> it's crushing. crushing. >> confident brooke buchanan. >> i was so shocked when he told me he was flying back to d.c. i was like no, stop, you can't. you -- like you have to rest. and he's like i feel fine. i'm going back. going back. >> mccain's dramatic entrance was straight out of one of the romantic h