darlene superville is with the associated press, a white house report >> the u.s. house is in session today. members are taking a break ght now, though, before they return at 2:00 p.m. eesh. they'll recess shortly after a then be speeches and back again at 4:30 for debate on the six bills on the calendar. dealing with smuggling of the drug fent nil and the other bill concerning security of cuba's international airports. later this week the house the 2018 take up budget resolution and tax reform efforts. more live house coverage when return right here on c-span again at 2:00 p.m. eastern. president trump will host a of honor ceremony smuggling of the drug fent nil and later today in the east room of the white house. of l have live coverage that for you when it gets under way starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> tonight on the ommunicators, russia's involvement in the 2016 lection with senior reporter

julia eng lynn. >> facebook has said they earned a bunch of ads placed the election were placed by russian outfit under anonymous accounts. were politically divisive ads. not necessarily it seems like aimed at one candidate or in -- aimed just at charged topics. the communicators tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as service by america's cable television companies. and brought to you today by cable or satellite rovider. >> navy flyer john mccain was down over north vietnam during his 23rd mission on ctober 26, 1967.

he ejected from his sky hawk bomber into a lake. beaten, and held in fifthy conditions with poor medical care despite life hreatening injuries. two of the more than five years he has pelled at p.o.w. as in solitary confinement. he talked to us about those reflected on the war's legacy and empact on america. his is about 25 minutes. >> senator mccain when you ooked back 50 years ago when your plane -- wept down there through the last 50 years, what today in your opinion are the legacies of bad?am, good and senator mccain:00 the legacies before we get into a conflict and a er have a strategy capability to win. of these one gradual drip, drip, drip involvements. with a thing called the gulf of tonkin resolution

supposedly, as still not clear today, confrontation between ships se ship and -- and american ships. which then led to a resolution by lyndon johnson of focus and lack strategy on how to bring it to a close. and i'm very sympathetic because the one thing that -- overrode most of lyndon johnson's thinking, ppropriately, was china. that we certainly didn't want and ve a confrontation conflageration that would lead o a real conflict there. it cautioned all of our actions it was a very gradual not only which then didn't harm the enemy, but it trengthened their resolve. and that led, of course, to all implications and

repercussions. of drugs, the use demonstrations. right out here on this mall a million people or however many it was that it a lly split our society in . y that we sometimes forget demonstrations, chicago that can look back and see .n c-span it was a tumultuous time and most of it was bred by the onflict. one aspect of the conflict, by the way, that i will never, is that we ance rafted the lowest income level of america and the highest income level found a doctor a would say that they had bone spur. that is wrong. that is wrong. ask every ing to american to serve, every american should serve.

the war we went to lottery system which was -- but r years and years it was the lowest income americans which means a lot of minorities that forced to go and fight. that's a black mark on the history of this country. asking those with the lowest to do the fighting for us. while the wealthiest stayed home. brian: when you were in your a-4 taking off from forest tall, the carrier, how apprehensive were you when you were flying into a place like northern vietnam that you get shot down? enator mccain: i was onboard the the u.s. forestal where we had a horrific fire and was hit by a missile, all of that, my plane was. on the flight deck. and then i transferred over to the u.s.s. for us. while the wealthiest stayed home. ian: when you ariscany when is shot down. what was i thinking? i was a young fighter pilot.

were you? old senator mccain: 28, something like that. listen, that's what i wanted to do with my life. combat. to go to i wanted to go against the enemy. it wasn't so much they were the that's what i was trying to do all those years. i wanted to do it. if i was on -- don't want to fly this combat mission. it was that i'm ready to go. my contemporaries and squadron way. were the same we took a lot of losses. about the great things being a fighter pilot is you're sure that everybody else is shot down but not you. brian: when that happened, how many vietnamese were around you in the water in shot down but n you. that lake? when i first story, but s a long i was barely able to get back to the surface. but then a bunch of them jumped and there's a picture which

i'm sure you'll show of them lake. me out of the you can see my arm is broken and up high. once they pulled me out, they weren't very happy to see me. because i just finished bombing the place. so we got pretty rough. broke my shoulder. urt my knee again. look, i don't blame them. i don't blame them. e're in a war. i don't -- didn't like it. when the same time you're in a war and you're enemy, you he . n't expect to have tea so they pulled me -- long story short. pulled me out of the lake, put a truck. beat me up a little, or a lot, famous went to the now

hanoi hilton prison, which was just a short drive away. and then it's a very long story found out who my father was and they decided to two me treatment and wonderful americans. they moved me into, finally, thought they would move me in to die, and they took care to e and nursed me back health. and after they saw me in better put me into solitary confinement. grudge don't hold a against the north vietnamese. them.like there are some i would never want to see again. but at the same time i was part conflict. some of the y were meanest people i ever met in my life. i never want to see again. were ere were some that

good people. and that were kind to me. that's why it was much easier for me to support along with president clinton and others relations ation of our two countries. brian: when you got back from war, how much did you and your about it? senator mccain: a lot. dad very hard on my particularly since i knew what was happening to me, and he didn't. everybody that would come hawaii in his command would want to talk about me. did the right thing. please just don't talk about admiral mccain's son then that up the whole conversation. four years as for he would fly all wait up to the dividing line between north and south vietnam d have christmas dinner with the marines and then, of

these and remember that marines and soldiers, they were draftees. hey weren't there because they volunteered. 18, 19-year-old kids. i have seen those pictures. beautiful.st he would come back very happy d restored from that xperience. so it was very -- was very the ant of the fact that -- vietnamese were value my presence. and as you know, there's so many stories we could tell, but they offered me a chance to be of ased, but our code conduct says, injured and by order of capture. were offering me release. if my name had been smith it saying no was -- wasn't the easiest thing to

say. i don't mean to bounce around. afterwards, rs after i had reduce fused on i was s eve, in hanoi, in solitary confinement, every it, ad a loud speaker in they were playing christmas music. i still remember one of the ngs was, "i'll be home for christmas." sung by dinah shore. . at was a bit nostalgic but the same guy who was the ader of all the camps came into my cell. to make a very long story ort, he told me about an that ho chi minh used to love to go to, which many years later i demanded a visit to and but most importantly at the end of the evening, he was purely social. it's the only time.

es and iving cigarett telling me about it. and how his father had been vie-s that ho chi minh nim. there's an island that ho chi inh uses to rest, replaques, refresh. it's on the tonkin gulf. out id my father was going there with ho chi minh but no about t i said really? years later, normization of relations. the prime minister of vietnam comes to washington. i have him to lunch in the senate dining room. he says, whatever you want, want, we will do because you are our friend. i said ok. want to go to ho chi minh's island. he said, what? island. nh's no one knows about that. i said i know. and i island. r mark no and ndy go and get on a boat and

spent the night looking at the sunset from the balcony of ho hi minh's bedroom. amazing story. brian: how big an identify lan it? senator mccain: little big. not small. -- you words i'd say could probably walk from end to it in half-hour. night there. he came to washington and he has since passed away. the interpreter for come -- excuse me -- in paris? senator mccain: paris peace

talks. wall in the office there is a cable that was sent -- back to the state secret.nt classified, tea t says on it, at the duc was the negotiator. he said that the vietnamese had release the admiral mccain's son but he had refused. that was part of the documents declassified because for a while there everybody was believing that we left mericans behind. of the -- such long tories, but senator mitchell and senator dole set up this select committee headed by me . d john kerry

part of the deal was that the conspiracy theory people said, documents ays secret that are out there that will americans behind. so part of the -- our report is we said that everyone -- one was more than interesting. brian: we're going through -- mccain: sorry for the long answers. brian: we're going through a of d where we see a lot hate speech. i want to ask you, this may be want to ask you, you came out of the vietnam bitter. say i'm not i didn't have nightmares. got over it. elate that to what our

president said about you. hen he said you are no war hero. what did that feel like? here's a guy that had five eferments? how do you process that? i think you n: just ignore it. i really do. i watch what the president does not what he says. important thing about that statement, though, was not about me. not that long ago ter he said that because occasionally people come to us, in a war ive served and didn't get the medals that they earned. we do their research and -- anyway. 92-year-old man from cottsdale, arizona, prisoner 110 research and in germany,d pounds when he was finally -- finally ermans

stopped fighting. medals. ve him his it was wonderful. at a retirement home. all of them were there. very moving. and i was talking to him before it. tell d, senator mccain, me why is it that donald trump doesn't like me? sir, he does. so do all americans. he said about at me, because i'm in the arena, that t he said like 92-year-old man who came out of 110 pounds, hing that's what i take exception o. brian: how much this hate speech we see in the society, the drugs, you mentioned this came out of a period , you were shot down, where the government truth.telling us the senator mccain: the government

telling us the truth. , e whole mcnamara apparatus they had this idea about quote-unquote, graduated scalation. that if we just stepped up the bombing a little bit, it would drive them to the negotiating would come to a peaceful end. well, what actually was appening was that it was pumping up the morale of the north vietnamese because they hought they were beating us. look, we were able to fight back from the aggressors. whole concept was fatally flawed. to prove that point was paris had lks in broken down so finally richard and wipe them in out. and t in with b-52's other aircraft and just took out all resistance. guess what? hey agreed to negotiate.

, i think, had a lot belief that somehow you can convince the to compromise, when the enemy does not think they are being beaten. the at the time offensive and so much we could -- the at the -- tet offensive and so there would talk about, was so much morale boost, and the chinese and russians were iving them everything they wanted. still the most heavily defended place in the history of the rld was hanoi with the russian surface to air missiles. most people aren't going to believe this. russian ship would show off the harbor, be loaded, the missiles off loaded on to a vehicle, taken up, put in place, and while we watched it. we watched it. off

and then those missiles were fired at american aircraft. than just -- it's worse ridiculous. the first target i had when i in combat had already been bombed 12 times. it was a rubble. a pile of runl. went in and bombed the rubble again. not far away from it was a didn't -- wasn't on the quote, approved list. that's not the way to fight a war. brian: was watching a tape of vietnamese form head of a prison who said you eren't tortured. senator mccain: i was treated like a king. the featherbed had some lumps in it. tortured. weren't we have told people we have not tortured. i know you have been against he idea. why is it so hard for governments to at the time truth? it's the ain: classic communist -- what do say hink that they would yes, we beat him up. we broke his arm again.

do it, either. we don't tell the truth in that. senator mccain: no. that's one of the problems i had for a long time now is what our treatment of detainees, particularly in the of waterboarding, that -- that's one of the more embarrassing chapters in my view of american istory is the way we treated there's a story that k.s.m. colleague sheik muhammad was -- being water boarded and sent a message back to c.i.a. saying get anything out of him. and the answer was water board him some more. waterboarding was deemed a war officers japanese were shot and executed because boarded people. it is clearly a war crime. by the way the c.i.a. has gotten away it. destroyed the film. they destroyed a lot of the

information. black mark on a the history of this country hat we did that. frankly, i'll never forgive the .i.a. for what they did. brian: go back to -- comparison on something. about your torture. what has been harder for you? the torture or living through the cancer? ll, living in: we through cancer is a challenge i have. living through torture is you never know what's going to happen the next morning. they are going to come around and open your cell door and say come on out. at least with this fight that enemy and i the know what we have to do. we take the consequences. let me also say, brian, that i -- we're now talking about 50 years. i am the most fortunate person

the thousands that you have interviewed that you will ever know. had the best and full life that anybody could have.ly so i look at this challenge as with happiness, and with gratitude. i have had the opportunity to serve this country a little bit. have you noticed any change in the way people are approaching you since you dealt this latest? senator mccain: more sympathetic. of them are some lad i'm going. i have been greeted with -- look, people have told me when gave the speech the other night and 100 senators were in their seats, that's the first happened.s ever there has been an incredible of friendship. unbelievable.

moves me to tears. brian: what is your treatment now? senator mccain: i receive chemo.on and i have had it done twice. d now i'm waiting for an m.r.i. i want to tell you that nobody the energy o have level. i don't have any problems sleeping. have any problem eating. the i am exercising all the ime. i'm in fine shape. let's see what happens. fooled them before. brian: one last question about he vietnam legacy thing. what was the impact on the our military up to this time? enator mccain: the impact on our military of the vietnam war was a devastating blow. blow, but a devastating blow. after the war was over, the staff of the united states army came to the armed rvices committee and said,

senators, you have a hollow army. military was eroded drugs, because of anti-war, because of the inequities of the draft. bad shape. i may unately then, if be a bit cloak whichial, ronald reagan came along with a to rebuild our military and we did. it's good now. there are a lot of problems now, but the fact is, issue.t the morale we had marine company officers that were discharging half because they performing. we gave thement authority just throw them out. f they are not any good. there was a fame dwrouse -- marine general who said

-- the media guy came up to him, you have all these guys all these wing out guys. what's going to be left? you see that guy over there? he's my driver. nly two i are the o left in the marine corps, if that's what it takes, i'm going to fix the marine corps. , was a very big problem challenge to rebuild our military after what happened the vietnam conflict. brian: senator mccain, thank you for your time. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> legislative work will get under way at 4:30 eastern today. calendar.on the including one dealing with the smuggling of the drug, fents nil -- fentanyl. the security of cuba's airports. al thursday we do expect the house to work on the 2018 republican budget resolution and tax