jeanine pirro. [♪] judge jeanine: breaking news. arizona senator, war hero and former presidential candidate, john mccain as diedt died. i'm jeanine pirro. mccain's death comes just a day after it was revealed he is no longer seeking treatment for brain cancer. he was diagnosed in july of last year. he was southern august 29, 1936, the son and grandson of four star admirals. he graduated from the naval academy in 1958 and later flight school in 1960.

in the start of the vietnam war he volunteered for combat duty and during a bombing run his plane was shot down. he was captured and held as a prisoner of war until 1973. for his service mccain earned the silver star, bronze star, purple heart and distinguished flying cross. after his release he served as republican congressman then later senator from the state of arizona. he ran for president for the first time in 2000 but lost the heated primary to former president george w. bush. he eventually secured the nomination in 2008, but lost the general election to former president barack obama. fox chief congressional correspondents mike emanuel takes a look back at the long and distinguished career of

senator jon mccain. reporter: he was born in 1936 at a naval air station in the panama canal zone. his father and grandfather were both four star generals. it was inevitable he would pursue a navy career and graduated from annapolis in 1958. when vietnam war broke out he volunteered for duty. he escaped serious injury when a rocket accidentally struck his plane. explosions and fire killed 134 people. >> i felt this tremendous blow to my airplane and saw the fire coming out. i probably reacted more quickly than some of the planes near me. some of the planes near me didn't survive. reporter: on an air mission in

1967 his plane was shot down, the north vietnamese captured him and moved him to the infamous hanoi hilton prison. >> fractured arms, broken knee, left arm was out of its socket. he had not been fed, and basically he was starving to death. reporter: his captors offered him early release because he was an admiral's son but he refused and endured torture for three years in solitairely confinement. he was steadfast, unconspiracy rational and toughest of. he was awarded silver and bronze stars. the purple heart. his wounds left him with

physical disabilities for the rest of his life. he retired from the navy in 1981. he got into politics and served two terms in the house of representatives. he was elected to the senate where he developed a reputation as a maverick. it became clear he was willing to buck republican leadership. his career hit a bump when he and four other senators were implicated in a savings and loan scandal and accused of corruption. an investigation found though he used poor judgment, he was not guilty of any wrongdoing. he says that experience inspired him to co-sponsor the campaign finance reform with russ feingold. he took on the tobacco triwith

legislation to increase tax on tobacco. he announced his candidacy for president, appealing to independents and traveling aboard the straight talk express. texas governor george w. bush gained momentum and mccain lost 8 of 10 primaries on super tuesday. the senator threw his support behind president bush and the iraq war but later criticized the president for not sending enough troops to iraq. he was the first senator to demand deck terry of defense rumsfeld's resignation. reporter: he continued to partner with his colleagues on the other side of the aisle. he and senator kennedy made a

push for comprehensive finance reform. >> i do so grateful for the privilege this country has already given me, mindful i must seek these responsibilities for reasons greater than my self-interest. reporter: he won the majority of delegatessen super tuesday and giving him the lead to secure the nomination. his vice presidential pick was alaska governor sara palin. obama gained momentum and ultimately defeated mccain in the general election. >> these are difficult time for our country and i pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to him him lead us through the many challenges we face. reporter: mccain remained active

on foreign policy and rallied for military action in libya and pushed for reforms in egypt and called for withholding aid to the egyptian army. he criticized the obama administration for its handling of the september 11, 2012 attack in benghazi that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. >> we are holding the president of the united states responsible. he has given contrasting versions of events to the american people. reporter: in 2015 he became chairman of the armed services committee. >> we need a strategy to win.

the strongest nation on earth. reporter: he campaigned for his own senate election, he pledged support the eventual republican nominee. he pulled his ma'am nation support of donald trump about hissing foreign policy and remarks about women. despite a poor cancer prognosis he remained a dominant voice in the senate, at times going against his own party's efforts to repeal and replace obamacare. some senate meps audibly gasped when he gave a no vote on the senate floor. he released a memoir in his that

days. he wrote, i'm not sure what to make of the rrms convictions, his reaction to unflattering news stories callingle them fake news whether they are credible or not is copied by autocrats who want to discredit and controlling a free press. the man who made public service his life passion. >> maybe i'll be gone before you read this. my predicament is unpredictable. but i'm prepared for either contingency, or at least i'm getting prepared. i have some work i would like to finish first and some people i need to see. i want to talk to my fellow americans a little more, if i may. reporter: jawrn john mccain is survived by his wife cindy and

his seven children. judge jeanine: we just received a tweet from cindy mccain. my heart is broken. i am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. senator john mccain, 1936-2018. joining me by phone, bret baier. good evening, bret. bret: hi, judge. judge jeanine: who have you heard from, and what were your initial thoughts when you heard senator mccain had died? >> obviously we knew this was coming. and when the family announced he was stopping medical treatment for brain cancer, that the days were numbered here. i think you are going to see an outpouring of support from both

sides of the aisle. you are starting to sight. president trump tweeted out his sympathies for the family. so has the first lady as well as congressional leaders. just in the past minute george w. bush sent out a statement, remember george w. bush ran against john mccain in the gop primary in 2000. and butted heads with him numerous times when i covered the bush white house. he said this some lives are so vivid it's difficult to imagine them ends. some voices so vibrant it's hard to think of them still. john mccain was a man of deep conviction and patriot of the highest order. he was a public servants in the finest traditions of our country. and to me he was a friend whom i will deeply miss. laura and i send our heartfelt

sympathies to cindy mccain and the entire mccain family. obviously president obama has put out at statement. joe biden. what you are seeing, judge, is reaction to the death of a man who was unique in washington. and, you know, i think there are going to be a lot of people who look back at his life and all he did for the country, serve the country, not himself. judge jeanine: ways so striking is all of the things, are all of the things he accomplished. there were 233 bombing missions -- there were 23 bombing missions he was on. his political life as well as writing a best seller. winning six senate elections. but i think probably what he would be remembered most of for was the fact that he was a maverick.

he was someone who wants as concerned about politics as he was about what he believed in. bret: that's right. just in the last second, sarah palin put out a statement. today we lost an american original. senator john mccain was a maverick and fighter. never afraid to stand for his beliefs. he never took the easy path in life and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than themselves. john mccain was my friend. i will remember the good times. that's sarah palin, his vice presidential nominee who obviously in years later said that he had doubts whether that was the right pick. but the fact -- you are seeing all kinds of statements from all kinds of ideologies. because he was kind of bigger

than washington. judge jeanine: let me interests rucht for one moment. what we are seeing now is a flag being lowered to half-mast at the state house in arizona. all of the people who areo of -- all of the people o -- referenci am packet had on their lives. not just the fighter pilot and a statesman. he was chairman of the armed services committee, who could comment on benghazi and iraq. and they would take him and what he was saying seriously when it came to the art of war, if you can call it that. bret: he was controversial at times. he fought for things and fought against things that went against not only his party, the other

party. he was adamant that the fight against al qaeda should be very strong. he was a big proponent of kind of big, strong military. he was not a proponent of any kind of torture. enhanced interrogation techniques. that was a pushback he made in the bush administration. he had a lot of push as chairman of the senate armed services committee. judge jeanine: also in addition to aggressively pushing for an expanded u.s. military presence in iraq and syria, he also i guess true to his personality caused a stir in 2013 when he ventured into syria to meet with

off significance leaders he hoped would topple bashar al-assad. bret: he did. some of those pictures were questioned about who was who, and why was mccain meeting with them. he would always push. felt that the obama administration dropped the ball as far as getting the opposition organized in syria. and was a big talker about the red line that no longer was a red line for president obama in syria. and he was critical about iraq and how that was being operated. and how the military was being handled. he, lindsey graham, joe lieberman, others, they had a number of different senators who stood with him on foreign policy issues particularly. judge jeanine: just following up

on the issue of the military. senator mccain opposed the repeal of the military ban on openly gay service members. but said he would work to seed the new policy was effectively implemented. your thoughts? bret: that was it, he was firm on his conservative beliefs in one way, and he was pushing again some elements of his party in another. that happened throughout his career in the senate. it happened when he ran for president. and, you know, i think people will look back at some of the stances he made and say this was a stance on principle. if you look at the last speech he makes in the well of the senate, that is his philosophy. that is john mccain. and it's worth -- i'll bet in the next day or two there will and lot of pointing back to that

speech. judge jeanine: i'm sure we'll probably pull it up very soon. last question to you. you were in washington. you had occasion to know the man, the senator. and i get the sense, he has been on this show justice a few times. i get the sense he was always a guy who was in a rush. he had a lot to do in was always a lot going on. tell us about the personal john mccain when you were not on camera with him and the back and forth you might have had with him. bret: he was a jokester. he loved giving you a little needle here or there. he loved popping in, just waving saying hi. we have an online show after special report on wednesday nights for a long time. and he was doing a launch with

greta van susteren at the studio next door. we were in the middle of talk and he just popped in in the middle of the online show, which was great it was the online show and we let things roll. we turned the camera and he sat there and talked to us. i took my microphone off and held it out. he was a free-wheeling spirit. he loved to joke with reporters. especially with the reports on capitol hill. i was there the night of the healthcare vote. he was teasing the reporters standing outside the senate about how he was going to vote. he had an impish grin when he would walk by you. judge jeanine: bret were thanks for giving us insight into the personal senator, john mccain.

senator mccain has passed this evening. right now we have the tweet from president donald j. trump. my deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of senator john mccain. our hearts and prayers are with you. senator mccain passing this evening. we have senator mike huckabee, we are going to go to him right now. i'm sorry, governor huckabee. john mccain. i assume you knew senator john mccain. >> you demoted me there for a minute, judge. many people may not remember. but i came in second to john mccain in the presidential nomination process in 2008. so i got to know him quite well. we shared the stage in many presidential debates. spent a lot of time with him.

he beat me for the nomination. but as soon as that happened, i was very happy to endorse him. i campaigned vigorously not only for him, but for him all over the country right up until the day the polls closed. i never had a regret about that. i found him to be incredibly gracious and grateful person for this country. and the truth is even though we were political opponents, we were never enemies. we never had a crossword in that entire process. but that's kind of the nature of john mccain. there are many great things i remember. at a campaign stop in little rock, he came to campaign and we were at a barbeque restaurant. and he did the obligatory land shakes. but what he wanted to do was get back in the kitchen and see how they were doing the barbecue, how they were smoking the meats.

because he is known as a very effective and quite the connoisseur of good barbeque. so he was always learning what the tricks of the trade were. so he spent more time in the kitchen with the owner of the restaurant asking all kinds of detailed questions about the temperature, lengths of time, preparation for the ribs and the pork butts, and you could tell he was totally absorbed. finally his aides had to say, senator, we have a presidential campaign we are going have to attend to. we'll have to leave this kich and this incredibly huge smoker. it was a poignant moment of a person who was not only a senator and presidential candidate, he was also a human being who loved to be able to cook for his friends and family, and gave a side of john mccain probably a lot of people never

had the chance to see. jeafn * w -- judge jeanine: we knew he was the pilot and politician but we didn't know about the cook part of it. i get the sense from what i know about nor mccain that he was a guy who was in a rush. he always had a lot to do. he was not a person who would suffer fools and certainly not a person who would waste time? is that accurate? >> that's a very accurate assessment. he was well studied. he understood the issues. he was very astute to what was happening. his passion was national security and the military. that makes sense having been a naval academy pilot. he was passionate to make sure america did not engage in

methods he believed were torture. he had bent subject of being tortured during his years captivity. nobody can take away from him the courage that he had when he was given a chance to get out of captivity early because of the status of his far it and grandfather as admirals, he refused. he said no i'm not going to go unless everybody gets to go. how many people would do that. a lot of people would have said i'll do everything i can to get you out, but i'm going to check out of here. but he didn't. he voluntarily stayed with the other pows. he didn't believe he should be treated differently because his far it and grandfather were admirals in the u.s. navy. i think that says a lot about his character and integrity. people said he was a maverick.

he could be a contrarian. he could go against his own party and his own vote in a previous piece of legislation. but there was a sense of which he was his own man. he was not a person controlled by lobbyists. he was not influenced by people waving money at him as is so often the case in politics. and whatever people say, you cannot take that away from him. it's one of the hall marks of his legislative career, whether you liked what he supported and what he maybe put forth in terms of legislation, whether you agreed with it. the point is, i don't think anybody can say he was a person who was unduly influenced by the normal pressures of political money. and that in itself is a great accomplishment. judge jeanine: governor mike huckabee. through for sharing your

thoughts with us on the passing of senator john mccain. joining me now is ed henry. ed, we have been talking, it's interesting. we all know senator mccain was a fighter pilot. graduate of the navy academy. did 23 bombing missions. price never war, author, politician, and certainly a maverick. his own man. and he just found out he was a cook, lofd to cook. -- loved to cook. >> i covered him in the service and the senate. his far it and grandfather, they were navy four star admirals. his grandfather was on board the

u.s.s. missouri when the gentleman these surrendered. -- when the japanese surrendered. i remember the senator in a quiet corridor. i asked are you going to retire? he said both his grandfather and father when they retired from the navy, they died very shortly thereafter. he said they no longer had a calling. he said i'm not going to be like that. i'll go out fighting. he was covering hillary clinton in the 2016 campaign. john mccain was on the flight. he said what are you doing? i said i am covering hillary. he was saying all these candidates are running around.

i have been there, done that. all he wanted to talk about was the arizona diamondbacks. here he was late into his 70s. he had this book on the flight, a big book on the history of the navy. when you want to understand how someone can keep going and fighting, he was always testing his mind. judge jeanine: he's a man who didn't waste time. ed: he lost a lot of time, 5 1/2 years in a prison camp in vietnam. one would imagine you value time a lot more than most of of us do. when you are going through such horrible abuse. a lot of people would ask him, how he had a positive attitude. you come out of a -- out of a

searing experience. he had his good days and bad days, and he had a temper. he would have petty fights. i have seen mitch mcconnell. people talk about how he and president trump didn't see eye to eye. he and mitch mcconnell didn't get along. john mccain had a stormy temper. he was a tough guy. navy guy. he was at the bottom of his class at annapolis. judge jeanine: i think he specifically said i'm number five from the bottom. but i also think he said he had a lot of demerits, too. it sounds like he was a partyer. ed: he talked about being in florida as a navy pilot getting

into trouble. and he talked about learning from his mistakes. for somebody who came out of that difficult experience in vietnam prison camp. he valued time and wanted to give back to his country. judge jeanine: it's 9:30 in the east. if you are just joining us were senator john mccain died this evening. the great senator john mccain, and we are right now about to go to al alicia acuna who is at the arizona statehouse. reporter: you were showing this as it happened at the statehouse. the flags moved to half-staff on the news senator john mccain left this earth. the first flag to go down is the

black florida, the pow flag. it sat there for quite some time on its own. then it was joined by the u.s. flag and the state flag of arizona. he was with his family in cornville, arizona. he was there with his wife cindy at his side. he's been there since december. he made his last vote in the u.s. senate in december. and i have to talk about barbeque. he loved to barbeque at his ranch. that's one of the things held with so much pride as ed was talking about, as governor huckabee was talking about. it's something he practiced here in arizona. ed the family ranch in northern arizona is considered his most of favorite place on earth. his wife cindy tweeted moments

after we learned that he had died that she said on twitter, my heart is broken. i'm so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. he passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved in the place he loved best. i spoke with former arizona senator jon kyl earlier today. as we were talking about the 18 years they served in the u.s. senate together. he said we got a lot done, they went a lot of places. this was earlier in the day. he said is there not much silver in this cloud. but if there is one little bit, it's that he's in a place he loves so much and with the people whom he loves. he has been receiving family and friends. the family had this entire week, and news crossed yesterday he decided to forego his cancer

treatments and go with the way nature was going to take him and the way this disease was going to take him. he was with the people he loved most of. one of the people he loved most of, his kids and his daughter meghan mccain put out a statement. tweeting first i love you forever, my beloved father. she put out this beautiful statement saying my father, united states senator depart this life today. i was with my father at his end as he was with me in my beginning. in the 33 years we shared. he comforted me and encouraged me and supported me in all things. he loved me and i loved him. he taught me how to live. his care and presence always failing took me from a girl to a woman and he showed me what it is to be a man.

judge jeanine: as you read those words of may can mccain, i can't help but as i am sitting here with ed henry, megyn worked with us at fox. i see a lot of the senator in her. a strong well spoken woman. tough, who loved to cook. ed: . i have got a story for you. judge jeanine: megyn is beautiful, she is articulate. she is quick. and she is haven't her father's daughter and totally devoted to the man. ed: you are absolutely right. i exchanged emails from megyn shortly after he announced his battle with cancer and she was kind in saying how much she loves everyone in the fox family. i'm reminded of lindsey graham

telling me about john mccain's mother who outlives john mccain. she is 106 years old. she is a remarkable woman. she lives in washington, d.c. she likes to travel and still gets around. here is the story that will blow you away. a few years ago, she was well into her 90s. john mccain the senator said mom, what are you doing. she was going on a european vacation. she goes to a rental car counter in one of these countries and said i want a car and i'm going to drive around europe. and the rental car people say you are too old, you can't rent a car. we can't be liable for this. she said how much is the car. according to -- according to

lindsey graham, she bought that car instead renting it. it shows you where megyn and john mccain got some of their toughness. judge jeanine: their determination and perseverance. what a great story. and our heart goes out to john mccain's mother this evening as well as his wife and daughter. you know, i think we are going to be joined by fox news contributor jason coma get. jason -- chaffetz. are you with us? >> yes, judge, i am. judge jeanine: you worked in washington and i'm sure on many occasions hat the chance to be with john mccain. your thoughts on his passing. >> it was my honor to serve in congress at the time john mccain was there.

he's an american original. you could never question his patriotism and commitment to the country. and certainly the military. i didn't always agree with him with his approach and certain things and his votes. but he would put up a vigorous debate. he spoke from his heart and determination and he was very effective. one of the things i got to do was i got to go to street a number. i went to the place where he was incarcerated for years and held as a prisoner. to see that small room and to kind of feel what he might have been going through even though i was there for a short amount of time, it shakes you to think there were americans held there for years. so the degree of respect for sam johnson who serves in the house and a john mccain. it's absolutely unbelievable what he went through. and to have that perseverance

and strength and fortitude throughout his whole career is uniquely player can. judge jeanine: i'm read being his early life. it says mccain's ancestors fought in the civil war within an ancestor captain william young served on the staff of general george washington in the revolutionary war. that's amazing. ed: literally generations of public service. judge jeanine: talk to me, jason chaffetz, what was he like when he wasn't on the senate floor? >> he was a person always in a hurry. there were a lot of issues he had to get up.

he was funny, but he could also be crusty. we were at the capitol hill club and there was some reception and he was in the line and i got in the line behind him. i'm a flair new member of congress. i stopped him on the shoulder and said i'm jason chaffetz here, and he turned around and said i know who you are. he's poking me in the chest with his finger. then he wanted to talk about something else and somebody pulled him out of the line. he was like that. nobody took it personally. a man on the run and a little crusty. judge jeanine: as we sit here tonight thinking about what he has done for this country and spending so many of his life in service of his fellow countrymen, we can't ignore the fact that he was selvesless --

selfless throughout the course of his life. ed: what you have to remember, he was the son and grand son of four tar navy admirals. he was offered the opportunity to leave early because the vietnamese were trying to curry favor with u.s. military officials. john mccain refused to leave early. he said the code was that american prisoners of war leave in the order in which they were held captive. when the vietnamese tried to release john mccain and say we are going curry fair with the americans, he refused. judge jeanine: the whole thing

is interesting, the vietnamese would say because of your grandfather and father, because we are fighting you. ed: they took it as a propaganda coup. john mccain saw through that. any one of us in a situation like that, who knows what we would do. he had his arms broken. he was punished and tortured. judge jeanine: dislocated. and i understand he suffered for the rest of his life with the inability to move. ed: there were times i saw him in the senate russell building and right before he went on one of his staffers would say, hey, senator, come here. he couldn't reach his arm over his head to comb his own hair. those are daily reminders of the scars of war.

jean where i think we are being joined by chad pergram, chad? >> hi, how are you? judge jeanine: how are you, chad? >> it's a sad night in washington. this is a night a lot of people on capitol hill have been expecting for a long time. but this is the inevitable. judge jeanine: given that you have spent your career in washington and working with the congress and you are almost the government historian for fox here, talk to us about how john mccain was held or seen by other members of congress, and your on personal thoughts when you heard he had passed. >> one of the first things i remember about john mccain. he was a man in a hurry. i remember going into the russell subway senate building. there is a subway that runs

between the capital and the senate office buildings, and he was in a hurry and he kept pressing the button to get the subway come faster. he kept precious it and pressing it. years ago my first interaction with him, it was the mid-90s. i worked at c-span. he had a blue pen ehud in his pocket and hadn't put the lid on and there was a big blob of blue all over his white shirt. it was the first day of the congress in 1997. ed mentioned him being a partisan of the arizona diamondbacks. i had a conversation with him about the diamondbacks. they had a big rivalry with the dongers. dodger had beaten the diamondbacks. the dodgers jumped in the

swimming pool. mccain was appalled by that. they said guys, if you win, you can do whatever you want. but don't go in the pool. and he didn't like that. a couple things we should talk about that will come into play in the next couple days. if custom holds, the senate comes into session monday afternoon at 4:00. we expect them to drape a black cloth over his chair in the senate. he has not been there since december 7. that was the last time he had been there. we haven't heard anything. i just reached out see if they were going lowered the capitol flags to half-staff. usually they wait for the order to come from the president and the speaker of the house follows suit. this came from the statement from chuck schumer the senate minority leader. he's going to introduce a

resolution to rename it russell senate office building after john mccain. it's named add richard russell,ing a long-time senator from georgia. there is one part of this if they do change the building name, it wasn't always known as the russell senate office building. when they first built it was it the only senate office building and so they called it s.o.b. one last point, something else i think is important. john mccain found himself caught up in the keating five scandal in the late 1980s. the issue of the lincoln savings and loan and charles keying in arizona. there were five senators. another senator from arizona. john mccain, the ethics committee didn't come down

terribly hard on him. they came down on allen cranston, the senator from california much harder. but mccain said the appearance of impropriety on his behalf was wrong. this set something into motion with john mccain. this was the side of him always fighting back against power and influence. if you look at the famous mccain feingold campaign finance law, that's part and parcel of what they went through. when you hear those ads, we'll tart to hear a lot of them in the next couple months. a candidate will appear on tv and say i'm so and so and i approve this message. the version they ultimately signed into law was the house version. but it's the companion piece of legislation. everybody knows it's mccain

feingold. judge jeanine: chad pergram, senior producer for capitol hill. thanks for sharing your thoughts on the passing of senator john mccain earlier this evening. right now we have on the phone -- senator jeff flake from arizona. senator flake? thank you so much for joining us this evening. your thoughts tonight on the passing of senator john mccain. >> well, just gratitude for having him served for so long and so well. he leaves a huge void in the senate obviously. in arizona there is a huge void, and there is a void in terms of international leadership he has been so active in. he has a huge legacy obviously that we are grateful for. judge jeanine: senator flake,

what were your experiences with him as the co-senator, junior senator from arizona. >> i was just referred to as the other senator from arizona. anyone who served with mccain was the other senator which i came to enjoy. i'll give you one experience early on when i was in the house of representatives i angered a lot of people at home because of opposition to earmarks and pork barrel spending. john mccain approached me on a plane flying back to arizona and stuck his finger in my chest and he said don't back down. you are in the right, they will come around. and i always appreciated that. he just stood as an independent voice. and i think the country has been

well-served by that so for long. judge jeanine: what will you miss about senator mccain? >> the banter on the senate floor. on trips we would take. campaigning around the state. he was not just a mentor and incredible person in terms of his statesmanship, but he was a good friend. and i will miss that greatly as will a lot of my colleagues. judge jeanine: certainly senator mccain will leave a vacuum. such a bigger than life almost figure. senator jeff flake, thanks so much for joining us this evening. >> thanks for having me on. judge jeanine: ed, as we sit here and listen to all of the thoughts. he was consistent in his demeanor. he was a fighter, he was spunky.

i got the sense he didn't care what people thought. ed: he didn't. i recall when cha chad pergram e that motion about the button for the subway. judge jeanine: we are look at the hear -- the hearse going thh the road in arizona. ed: when there were close votes, tax cuts, would he come back to washington and how complicated it would be. he wanted to be home in arizona.

that's where his family was. battles not just with cancer, but battles in the senate. he said arizona would renew him. but i was laughing in a sad moment when you think about john mccain's happy moments and the happy war year was. chad pergram in that image. i saw that a thousand times. john mccain almost punching the button richard russell put in 1962. come on, subway, go faster. he was impatient. impatience can be a difficult thing when maybe a little bit of taking a step back. i understood that sometimes he pushed a little hard. judge jeanine: as we look at the screen of the hearse carrying the body of john mccain it's a

sad evening in terms of cindy mccain. she always seemed to be at his side. when he was running for president, she was on the trial with him, looking stunning. and his daughter also loyal to him. the women in his life appear to be loyal to him. you can see them saluting as the hearse goes by carrying the body of senator mccain. ed: cindy mccain is not just wife of. she wasn't just the wife of. i have gotten to know her a little bit. she works very hard on going and fighting child trafficking all around the world. it's a cause deep in her heart and soul. so she didn't just rest on her laurels and want to be a spouse of. she is somebody who has went in arena and fought very valiantly

on important public policy issues. i mention that because at some point after a few days talk will turn to what happens next, and the republican governor is going to appoint someone on a temporary basis to take the seat. i mention it because cindy mccain's name has come up. she is somebody who might be interested in that seat at an appropriate time after she has had a chance to mourn. judge jeanine: i think people would be comfortable with that concept given the fact she was so much a part of his life. she wasn't someone who distanced herself from politics or the senator. and she is someone who knows arizona, and has lived there and knows the issues, certainly has lived the issues. you have some also recognize a woman who has lived with a man like john mccain, and lived with the stories of the p.o.w. and

history as a fighter pilot. and all of the other components of his career that she was a part of. she is one knowledgeable woman. ed: tough cookie herself. she had to be to put up with john mccain as he would be the first to say all of these years. he would talk about his temper in the senate hallway. he says i get so fired up as he would start throwing those fists down. mitch mcconnell did not want the limits on contributions mccain goth gone. mitch mcconnell thought you should not have any limits. just full transparency. so they had their policy battles. remember in the 2008 campaign when he was struggling against barack obama and the economy was in a free-fall, i was covering

the mccain campaign. i remember being in new york city and heard john mccain abruptly suspended his campaign. he said i'm getting off the trail, we are going to have an important meeting at the white house. i hope barack obama and i can come together with george w. bush. i spoke to then speaker john boehner and told me it was the darnedest thing. mccain announced this there must be a grand plan behind his. boehner called him and said what the heck is going on. mccain literally said to boehner, according to boehner. i don't know, what do you think i should do. then they got to the white house and mccain didn't really have a plan, and barack obama ended up debating him back and forth with george w. bush mediating.

he was impulsive and he wasn't perfect. and he knew it. judge jeanine: we are going to wrap my coverage on the passing of senator john mccain on "justice." but i believe steve deucey will join us from washington. steve: john mccain was the first person to gave me an opportunity to ask a political question on tv. it was 2008. i was a junior at villanova university. he was -- he already locked up the republican nomination for president. but obama versus clinton fight there in pence jane where i was a college student was still really going strong. so he came on to the stage there at villanova university, and he

was going to get interviewed by chris ma these, an an msnbc producer came around and asked if i had any questions. that morning on the front page of the newspaper in philadelphia was a picture of hillary clinton with a whiskey shot. and she was toasting some voters, and i thought it was a funny photo. it was getting a lot of play on the college campus. so i thought it would be nice to ask senator mccain if he wanted to go out and a producer came around and said is anyone questions for the senator and i said yeah, i like to ask the question and told him i like to ask if he thanks that secretary or then senator clinton was just to get the shots because she was trailing obama at the time and i asked if he wanted to go out and i told him i wanted to ask him to go

for a shot with me. they said he would go second. i asked him the question of identity and he laughed and paused and had this great reaction and he collected himself and he eventually got around to saying that it was one of the two best questions that he had brought the entire campaign and for a college junior, that is something that was so cool to hear and something that i still think about all of the time and is also the reason i got interested in political journalism and that i let the l that books that i had from barnes and noble and pennsylvania start collecting dust and ever pursued a career career as a lawyer. years later it's been almost ten years since then, i had the great pleasure of seeing senator mccain a lot on capitol hill and he loved to tell that story to other journalists that were

there and he would say, you know, he would come up to me and put his arm around me and say to the other gathered photographers and producers and writers and reporters and say, you know, this little punk did and tell the story about me asking the crazy question in college but he always made sure to know that if he was calling someone a little jerk or punk it's because he had great admiration for them. senator mccain, until the end, was the senate armed service committee chairman and the person you would want to go to anytime there is anything went on, whether an outside the senate scandal, something going on with the four and he never once walked away from us. not everyone wants to take questions on the hill, senator mccain always did and we are going to miss him a lot there in the hallways because he was the one who always gave us the best

information of anybody and had the best insight based on decades of. back to you. >> peter dc in washington. thank you. i'm john scott in new york where it is 10:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. now in arizona were continuing to follow breaking news right now. if you are just doing as we were remembering the life and legacy of arizona senator where he real and former president of candidate, john mccain. longtime senator died tonight at the age of 81 after a battle with brain cancer that lasted more than one year. president trump offering his deepest cities in respect to the mccain family tonight as a nation are members legendary figure in american politics. dirty me to talk about john mccain's life and legacy former arkansas governor mike huckabee, governor, thank you for being here. you competed against john mccain and you also campaigned with john mccain.