captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc ev >> yang: gooing. i'm john yang. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonit, a former top vatican diplomat accuses pope francis of covering up sex abuse allegations and calls on him to resign. why the pope's defenders say the claim is all politics. then, one year after hundreds of thousands ofohingya fled their homes in myanmar, the u.n. calls for top military cmanders tere to be tried for genocide. and the legacy of john main. he served in the u.s. senate for more than three decades and earned a rare reputation for "straight talk" and reaching across the aisle. >> whatever our differences, wee are fellowcans. and please believe me when i say no association has ever meant

more to me than that. >> yang: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshou >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plt s should refle amount of talk, text and data that you use. we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phonelo little, a or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial service raymond james. >. babbel >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build

immeasurably bter lives. at www.hewlett.org. supportwith the ongoin of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the cobloration for broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> yang: the united states and mexico have reached tentate agreement on a trade deal that could replace "nafta," the "north american free trade agreement." l it says st 75% of the content of autos sold in the trade bloc must be made here. 40% must be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour.

president trump called mexican president enrique pena nieto toda to congratulate him and talk up the new deal, with a new llme. >> they used to t "nafta," we're going to call it the united states-mexico trade agreement. we're going to get rid of the name nafta. it h a bad connotation becau the united states was hurt by nafta for many years. and now it's a really good deal for both countries. >> yang: now, the administration has to negotiate with canada. mr. trump pledged to negotiate fairly if canada does, too. the canadian foreign ministry said it's "encouraged" by the progress so far. tributes flowed in the united states senate today for john mccain. the arizona republican died saturday, after a year-lon battle with brain cancer. the senate reconvened with ,colleagues offering prai starting with majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority s leadate chuck schumer. >> he was unafraid to ta on presidents. he was unafraid to take on his

own party. he was equal parts funny and furious; foul-mouthed and statesman-like. he could put the temper in temperament. he was a brave and honest man. he was a patriot. >> he would fight like mad to bing the country closeissi of the common good. but when the day's disputes werh over very same man was one of our most powerful reminders that so much more unites us than divides us. >> yang: senator mccain all lie in stathe old arizona capitol building on wednesday-- which woulhave been his 82nd birthday-- with a memorial service in phoenix on thursday. he will then lie in state at th. apitol on friday. a funeral service is set for saturday at washington national cathedral, and a private burial will take place sunday at the u.s. naval academy at annapolis, maryland. esident trump raised eyebrows today over his response to the bath of senator mccain. the two men had lon at

odds. this morning, american flags over the white house returned to full-staff, after just one day-- while those at the washington monument and elsewhere remained at half-staff. then, after widespread criticism, the white house flags were lowered back to half-staff this afternoon. in a statement, mr. trump saidth -- despite their differences-- he respected mccain's service.fl he said ths will stay at half-staff until the burial. iran has formally asked the "international court of justice" to suspend u.s. economic sanctions that were re-imposed after president trump pulled out of the 2015 iran nuclear deal. at a hearing today, iran argued the sancti treaty that regulates the countries' economic ties. e u.s. says the world court has no jurisdiction over the dispute. i bathis country: investigators in jacksonville, florida are searching for a motive aer a gunman killed two people and then himself at a video game tournament on sunday. ten others were wounded.

police say the suspected shooter-- david katz of baltimore-- was a competitor in the games. the event was underway at ang shopall, when the shooting started. police said today that katz sought out other players, with a handgun.he >>uspect clearly targeted other gamers who were in the back room of chicago pizza, participating in this gaming tournament. the suspect walked, excusee, past patrons who were in other parts of the business and focused his attention on the game. >> yang: katz was 24. the associated press reports that court records show he'd been hospitalized twice for mental illness, as a teenager. a federal judge in seattle today blocked the trump administration from letting a texas company post plans online for 3d printing plastic guns. 19 states and the district of columbia had sued to block the blueprints for the untraceable weapons. the judge's restraining order will hold until the case is resolved. and wall street got a boost from the tentative trade deal between

the u.s. and mexico. the dow jones industrial average gained 259 points-- a 1% gain-- to close at 26,049. the nasdaq rose 72oints. and the s&p added 22. still to come on the "newsho u," pope francer fire amid a claim that he knew about sexon abuse allegaagainst a prominent cardinal. a call to prosagute war crimes nst the rohingya. remembering an american hero, senator john mccain. and muchore. pope francis was in ireland this weekend, and as part of his visit he met with survivors of that country's church sex abuse scandal. it's part of his effort to show that the church takes the matter seriously. but as william brangham reports, francis is now facing an accusation that he, himself, turned a blind eye to a case of

misconduct involving a prominent cardinal. >> brangham: the accusation comes from carlo maria vigano-- the former senior vatican diplomat to the u.s. in an 11-page letter released this weekend, vigano claims pope francis knew several years ago-- and ignored-- allegations against the former washington d.c. archbishop, cardinal theodore mccarrick. mccarricwas accused of sexually harassing and abusing young adult seminarians, as well as sexlly abusing two boys decades ago. mccarrick resigned last month. in his letter, which offered no evidence for the accusationab t the pontiff, vigano urged pope francis to step down. cisterday, in response, fr told reporters to read the document carefully and judge it for themselves. joining me now is dennis coday, an editor for the "national catholic reporter." is, thank you for being here. this is a very serious allegation made by the former ambassador by the vatican. how seriously should we take

this>> ell, i think the pope is t correct points he made on the plane yesterday. like any good source, a journalist is going to look at who whe source is,here this information is coming from and what other motives might be i involv someone coming forward with these kind ofan allegation so, that's -- i'm not sure all that due diligence was done before this statement was released, but thaa is what in the process of doing ourselves right now.or >> bwe get to the questions about the source, can you just tell us a little more about what vigano alleges pope francis did or didn't do? >> i guess the main claim is, in 2013, shortly after ancis was pope, that he related to francis, reported to francis allegations of sexual abuse and assault by then cardinal

mccarrick, and he also said that, previously, pope benedict had posed some kind of sanctions and restricted ministry on mccarrick, t those were never enforced, and he also says that francis did not enforce or act upon those charges. >> a as you touched upon pope franciscies response seems tooe why don't you lok at the substance of these allegation. uhe clearly believes thader scrutiny, they will fall apart. can you tell us more about vigano, the accuser here? >> yeah, he was ambassador to the united states from the vatican froabout 2011 till about 2016. before that, he was a member of the roman vatican bureaucracy. coming to the united states wasn't his first coice, he really didn't want to do that, but he had troubles there before that. he was criticized for being a

stern manager, he was also involved in the uncovering of some financial scandals there in e vatican. so we've reported in the past it was kind of the case of him being kicked upstairs into this ambassadorship to the united ates. >> isn't vigano accused himself of several years ago hav overlooked allegations about another cardinal? >> not a cardinal but an archbishop from st. paul, minneapolis. there were charges against him that he was engaged in inappropriate relationship with men. there were some allegations ere. there's also charges of mishandling of sex abuse cases of other priests under his charen. he evally resigned, but an investigation was done by an outside investigor in minneapolis, st. paul, all of that delivered to vigano in his office as ambassador and he had

suggested, at one time point, an auxiliary bishop who was leading the investigation destroy some that didn't happen, but that report has never surfaced againsharsh bishop neinstat. >> my understanding is within the vatican, vigano isco idered quite a conservative, and the allegations he's making against poancis, many consider to be on the more liberal side. do you see this as a demonstration of the schism within the catholic church right now? >> a schism is a technical word, i don't want to use that word. i would say that there is a definite infighting going on, and there's a power struggle going on. francis has met a lot of resistance since his election because of his reform agenda and me ofhe represents from the hard liners that don't want to see reform come, especially to the vatican burucracy.

vigano has been associated with some of those groups. i know, recently, he was -- a year ago francis released an apostolic exhortation abouth family lifet seemed to indicate a softer line towards divorced and remarri catholics, and vigano has been opposed to that, he joined groups tat had been oposed to that kind of teaching. he's also made apearances in recent months with groups that are, you know, very hard linedai t any kind of abort legislation or same-sex marriage legislation or those kind of things, those are al cultural issues of discussion in the catholic church. >> dennis coday of the naliona catholic reporter, thank you very much. >> glad to do it, thank you.

>> yang: as we reported earlier, the u.n.'s top human rights body accused myanmar's military of "genocid intent" and "gross human rights violations" against the rohingya, a muslim minority in myanmar. myanmar's military launched their crackdown exactly a year ago.or asgn affairs correspondent nick schifrin reports, the u.n.s report cor top military generals to be investigated and prosecuted for crimes against humanity. sh schifrin: one year ago, along the myanmar-banglaorder, the myanmar military unleashed horror. chthe u.n. says soldiers t rohingya villages and, in the aftermath, tortured men, killed indiscriminately, and carried out systematic sexual violence, creating an untold number of yectims of gang rape. the u.n. says for ars, the rohingya have suffered "institutionalized oppression from birth to death." in the past they've been beaten rgeted by myanmar

authorities, but never on this scale. newly released satellite images show a rohingya village full of houses last may... and then today, cleared of life. myanmar's army was responding to attacks by the arakan rohingyaio salvatarmy, or arsa. one year ago, militants assaulted 30 myanmar police posts. but today's u.n. report callsra the subsequentdown wildly disproportionate, said u.n. fact-finding mission member radhika coomaraswamy. >> the scale, brutality and syematic nature of rape an violence indicate that they are part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate, terrorize or punish the civilian population. >> schifrin: the terror worked. hundreds of thousands fled their homes. , shell shocked into sileney trudged through the mud to cross from myanmar into bangladesh, where they set up sprawling, squalid refugee camps. hasina begum's story was all too common. >> ( translated ): the buddhists

burned my village to ash. they shot my father dead in front of me. >> sifrin: special correspondent tania rashid has covered this story for us for nde last year. and over the weeshe saw how conditions have improved, in the world's largest refugee camp. >> many have set up shwhere they're selling belts and clothing for little children. pharmacies have been set up where they're selling an array of medication. like parecetemol for headaches. there are even cell phone shops, where locals are purchasing phones, so they can stay in touch with their families in bangladesh, and even myanmar. more than half of the population are children. a year later, they continue to struggle, where they've taken on adult-like tasks, such as manual labor and carrying heavy loads,e all to supportir family. local doctors say that many of these children also continue to suffer from malnutrition. >> schifrin: and tanhid joins me now from the kutupalong mega-camp in cox's bazar, bangdesh. how far have these refugees

come, one year later? >> rashid: a year later, so much has change during the exodus, i've seen people sleeping on plastic eets on the streets and openly defecating everywhere. humanitarian agencies that have taken over, there is much more organizati in place. th friendly spaces for survivors of sexual violence in pla and i've also seen that many vehingyas have set up home here. they've been doingthing they can from setting up shops and grocery stores, so that they feel they can have a sense of place, unlike before.nd >> schifrin:here's been a question of repatriating these refugees back to myanmar. would they want to go? >> rashid: the reactions have been very mixed.i' been hearing from some rohingyas who have told me, that there's no way they would go back to the people who burned their villages, raped them, and murdered them in some instances. they believe that, n that they're in bangladesh, they'll

make bangladesh their homes. other rohingyas have told me that they do want to go back, there's a sense of nostalgia, of missing where they're from. but the only way they will go back is if their citizenship is guaranteed. >> schifrin: tanya rashid, thank you very much. and i turn now to dan sullivan, here with me in the studio, the senior advocatfor human rights at refugees international. we heard tanya talk about improvements ithe camps but there's still a long way to go especially on sevices, right? >> absolutely. it's come along way from the chaos of the initial influx of refugees, but there are a lot of problems, particularly with the governor of bangladesh refused t recognize the rohingya as refugees and one o places we saw that come across is with gender based violence services and the monsoon season. so there's still a long way to go. >>nother place thre's perhaps a long way to go is back in

myanmar. tanya rashid caulked-- talked about there are some refugees who wanted to go home but have the root causes of these been addressed? >> no, there's been no accountability, so the people hho might go back, they have no guarantees forir safety. you have thousands who have continued to come into bangladesh in 2018, no guarantees oftizenship or basic rights so the root causes have not been addressed in myanmar. >> the myanmar state councilor was faulted by the u.n. fact finding commission who said she committed to the attrition of atrocity crimes. is she patially at fult? >> yeah, it's not a light kind of thing to say, but i think the fact finding mission got it right. a lot of people havme coplained about her remaining silent, but it's worse than that, she hasn't just been silent, she's talked

about -- her offichas talked about fake rapes in the light of this overwhelming evidence of mass rapes. she blocked thet facnding mission from coming in to investigate. yeah, it's a tough thing say, and it's important to remember that the greatest degree of responsibility is with the military, but, yes, she absolutely should be singled out because she's effectively bee an apologist for the military in the face of these really grave crimes. >> and quickly, in the time we have left, the military is, of course, the headline in the u.n. fact finding mission today and they recommend a half dozen generous need to be prosecuted by the international criminal court or an ad hoc crimin t court, ce people in myanmar be heldccountable >> accountability is essential to get at the root causes and there's a lust of thims to add to those they said publicly.

the u.splaced solimited targeted sanction bus there need to be more inluding on the senior general, and there are other meares like global arms embarring o. but what's missing particarly from the u.s. is you haven't heard much from the top levels about what's goingn other than some letters andy secondnunciations, there hasn't really been anything. so in the light of some of the gravest crimes in our generation, the idea that the president of the united states would be virtuallylent is just unthinkable. >> but the u.s. government says that it'about toelease its own fact finding mission, right, so isn't the u.s. iestigating this and doing something about it? >> yes, it's very important thu've srveyed over 1,000 different refugees but they have this evidence that's ready but they haven't released it yet, so it's really important the state depament be released in addition to the u.n. fact finding mission and what other orgazations have found there's

mounting evidence of atrghs sis and a wave of momentum that needs to be used to take action. >> dan sullivan with refugees international, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> yang: and now, the legacy of john mccai today, in phoenix, his former campaign manager read the nator's farewell to the american people. >> do not despair of our present fficulties, but believe always in the promise and greatness of ica, because nothing is inevitable here. americans neve we never surrender. we never hide from history. we make history. farewell, fellow americans. god bless you, and god bless america. >> yang: judy woodruff has thi look back at a life that johnle

mccain called ed." thcheers and applause ) >> woodruff: by time he became the republican party's presidential nominee in 2008, john mccain had built up a reputati in american politics. one he sometimes embraced... ( applause ) >> you well know, i'veeen called a maverick. someone who-- (applause) --someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. sometimes it's meant as a compliment. sometimes it's not. >> woodruff: but it was his life before politics that set him apart. john sidney mccain iii was born in 1936, the son and grandson of navy admirals. cain followed suit. he graduated from the naval academy in 1958, fifth from the bottom of his class. something he would joke about later in life. >> you know, if my old company officer-- ( laughs ) --who'd doubt that i would have made lieutenant, much less be le to run for president of the

united states. i've had the most fortunate life. wa woodruff: as the vietna exploded, pilot john mccain was in the middle of it. in 1967, he narrowly escaped one of the worst u.s. naval disasters since world war ii. a fire aboard the "u.s.s. forrestal" aircraft carrier left more than 130 of his fellows service membad. less than three months later, he was seriously injured, when north vietnamese forces shot anmccain's plane down over. he was pulled out of a local lake, and captured. a prisoner of war. mccain refused north vietnam's o offeearly release when it learned of his family connections. he was beaten... tortured... and held in solitary confinement over his 5.5 years in captivity. until he was finly freed in march of 1973. mccain received a hero's welcome

back in the u.s., but it took time for him to fully recover. he studied at the national war college, then took on a new navy st: liaison to the united states senate. in 1980, he married cindy y,u hensleaughter of a wealthy beer distributor, and soon after retired from the navy. w he ran for a a seat in congress. and after four years there, jumped over to the senate, succeeding retiring arizona senato barry goldwater. icon >> mr. chairman and members of the committee... >> woodruff: as a freshman senator, mccain was caught up in the "keating five" banking scandal. the senate ethics committee held multiple public hearings,he looking intoer five senators-- including mccain-- committed any wrongdoing by. meeting with unking regulators, on behalf of political donor and "sings and loan" executive charles keating.

the panel cleared mccain in the end, only reprimanding him for "poor dgment." still, years later, mccain call the hearings "a public humiliation." mccain's profile re with the first gulf war getting underway, and as he made defensepending one of his signature issues-- alongside campaign finance, and cutting government waste. run this as he geared up t for president in 2000. >> i want reform government as i said earlier, i want to reform the tax code. i can't do that unless i give you back your government-- and take it out of the hands of thea spinterests and give it back to you. >> woodruff: mccain began as one of several underdogs for the 2000 g.o.p. nomination... and ha acknowledgedy on, that the odds were against him. >> barry goldwater, fr arizona, ran for president of the united states. i'm sure you remember that.rr mois udall, from arizona, ran for president of the united states. arizona may be the only state in america where mothers don't tell

their children that someday they can grow up anbe president of the united states. ( laughter ) >> woodruff: indeed, the senior senator from arizona was up that year against the well-funded operation of the son of former president-- >> i am in and i intend to win! ( applause ) --then-texas governor george w. bush. i hink i would be a better leader than senator mccain. i've been in a position of executive responsibility >> woodruff: but mccain's pitch was taking hold in the cruci first primy state of new hampshire. >> john mccain! >> woodruff: he was the "happy warrior," riding his campatrn bus-- the ght talk express" --from town hall to town hall. >> i am spking plainly, and i'm not going to do anything that-- at the end of this campaign, if you vote for me-- that you'll say, gee, mccain told me somethine at the rotary club in new hampshire, anhe was down in south carolina and said something else, and then he was in california and said something else. in other words, i'm not going to

disappoint you. >> woodruff: his win in new hampshire shocked the political world. but as the campaign turned to south carolina, mccain becam the target of false, racist rumors, including one that he had a black child out of wedlock. john and cindy mccn did, in fact, have four children-- including an adopted daughter, bridgette, from bangladesh. all four, from time he time, joined father on the trail. l t that primary, and in his concession speech, derided the smear ca waign. >> i--l not take the low road to the highest office in this land. (applause) >> woodruff: the 2000 campaign never recovered, but mccain plunged right back into his senate work. his passion for reforming the campaign finance system led to the bipartisan passage of a law with hisame on it: "mccain- feingold." >> i think we understand, ded

americans tand as well, if you ban the soft money, you ban the union member, e trial lawyer, the corporation head, whoever it is, from being le to corrupt this process. >> woodruff: he was also part of a bipartisan push for an immigration law overhaul. but it was his advocacy of a more aggressive global posture for the u.s. that led to mccain's calls for a larger american footprint in iraq andgh istan. >> having been a critic of the way this war was fought and a proponent of the very strategy now being followed, it is my obligation to encourage americans to give it a chance to succeed. to do otherwise would be contrary to the interests of my cotry and dishonorable. >> woodruff: mccain' presidential campaoun ran into trble early. his fundraising at first laggeda y behind others. in response, candidate mccaind

trimaff, focused hard on the early states, and almost bsingle-handedly got think on track. >> mac is back! mac is back! mac is back! >> woodruff: after a win in new hampshire he turned the tables in south carolina, and from there, pressed on to thepu ican nomination. >> she's exactly who i need, she's exactly who this country needs. >> woodruff: mccain took a mble by tapping a little-known governor-- alaska's sarah palin- - to be his running mate. the first woman on a republican presidential ticket. >> we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all! >> woodruff: on the stump, she revved up the republican base. and channeled a populist, anti- establishment fervor that competed with her inexperience. >> i reminded people that, no, government is not always the answer. in fact, too often, government is the problem. >> woodruff: and more than her

share of controversy. >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> woodruff: still, her message backed up that coming from the top of t tket. >> my friends, i was not electei miss conity in the united states congress again this year, i'm sorry to tell you. ( laughter ) w n i'm president, the first earmark, pork-barrel bill that comes across my deski will veto it, you will know their names, we will make them fl ous, and we wop this corruption. applausea) woodruff: the 2008 financial collapse hit, but only boosted mccain's docratic opponent: illino senator barack obama, the first-ever black presidential nominee from a major party.de that fall'tes laid bare their differences. as mccain highlighted obama's inexperience, obama nked mccain to the unpopular policies

of the sitting republican president. >> pursing the same kinds of policies that we've pursued over the last eight years is not going to bring down the deficit. and frankly, senator mccain voted for four out of five of president bush's budgets. >> senator obama, i am not president sh. you wanted to run against president bush, you should have run four years ago.in i'm goto give a new direction to this economy in this country. >> woodruff: in the run-up to election day, mccain stood up te ugly rumors f his own supporters were spreading about his opponent. >> i gotta ask you a question. i do not believe in-- i can't trust obama. i have read about hi- and he's no's an arab. >> no, ma'am., 'am. he's a decent family man tand citizet i just happen to have disagreements witl on fundamentasues. and that's what this campaign is all about. he'sot.

thank yo >> woodruff: in the end, mccain fell well short-- losing thevo popula by six percentage points, some 9.5 million votes. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans. and please believe me when i say no assoction has ever meant more to me than that. ( applause ) >> woodruff: after the election, he again returned to be a force in the senate. mccain remained an influential voice on immigration-- though he sounded more conservative during his 2010 senate re-election bid. >> complete the danged fence. >> it'll work this time. senator, you're one of us. >> woodruff: he also took over as chair of the powerful armedic se committee. and he never abandoned his "maverick" reputation, not shying away from a clash with either president obama or president trump and their foreign policy. >> to refuse the obligations of

international leadership and our duty to remain "the last best hope of earth" for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people o would rather find scapegoats than solve problems. h>> woodruff: most notabl was the dramatic "nk" vote that is own party's effort to repeal presint obama's health care reform. >> the senior senator from arizona... >> woodruff: in one final speeches on the senate floor, he ode this emotional appeal his colleagues: >> we're getting notenng done, my f, we're getting nothing done. >> woodruff: resist today's divisive politics, he told them... >> bring bi-partisship back. the senate is capable ofhat. we know that. we've seen it before. i've seen it happen many times. and the times when i was involved even in a modest way with working out a bipartisan response to a national problem

or threat are the proudest moments of my career, and by far the most satisfying. what a great honor and extraordinary opportunity it is to serve in this body. h and it is or to serve the american people in your company. thank you, fellow senators. mr. president, i yield the floor. ( applause ) >> yang: that was judy woodruff on john mccain, the public man. to learn about the private man, we're joined by someone who knew him well: former defensey secretlliam cohen. they served together in the senate, and 38 years ago secretary cohen was a groomsman' at mccwedding. and this weekend he will be onee of his pallb. mr. secretary, thank you so much for joining us. t good to be with you. when you first hn mccain, you were not senate or congressional colleagues. he was the nav liaison to the senate. what drew the two of you

together? >> a call that came from howard baker's office that said he wanted me to join three other senators to lead the chinesen leaderijing. so i went on the trip, and john was the escort officer. and during that time, he regaled us with stories, funny stories, always self-deprecating, always telling kind oirish jokes on himself, and would talk abut the o'reilly twins, in a bar, and i won't go into the details on that, but it was alys just a lot of fun. and when you travel with john, you knew that you were going too the trip, you may be on a very serious mission, but you always knew that being with him in his presence was going to make the trip really fun loving, and that's the way it was with d him, whether halt with the press and called you jerks in as very humor way and meaning as

a compliment, never as a derogatory term. but he wanted to make friends. he wanted to tell u who he was. he wanted you to know that there's a real conscience in there, and when he violad his conscience, he did something he knew in his hert he didn't feel, he was the first one to admit it, not privately but publicly, as a public figure, a national and international figure. and that's something that is rare today or even yesrday. so one thing that really attracted me to him, sense of i'm going to do what i think is right and, if i fail, and i probably will fail, i'll try t make it right. so that was who john mccain was, so who was flawed, and heu loved tote hemingway, and hemingway wrote inne his books, maybe a farewell to arms,

but he said "the world breaks," everyoe said, but afterwards, many are as strong as the brolken paces. to me, that was john mccais he trong at the many broken places he had on his body, but b what was nevoken was his spirit. his willingness to stand up for whatrime, in his mind and those who loved himdbelie was the america of promise, of opportunity, of equality, of doing the right thing, of making sure that we stayed a beacon of light in a world filled with darknesso that's whohn was. he fought that to the end, and, when the end wa no longer inevitable in terms of keeping going, he said it's time for me to rest. so i'll miss him. but as he said, i've had a good life, a long life, and one few could match in terms of his herom, but also his willingness to challenge

authority. i was with him in munich, think 2007, when president putin was invited to the annualre security cone in munich, and most of the people there were eag thave putin come in and say let's be friends, after all of these years, let's be friends. and putin gave an traordinary cold war speech, he stunned everybody in the audience, and john didn't hesitate a moment, when it ce time r him to speak, he really went afterdi putiectly and said, you want to take us back to the asoviet empire, you wnt to take us back to a crold wa? that's something all of us can never and never want to go back to, and he spoke out against it very vigorously that day. once again, everyone applauded him inhe audience for the to your knowled speakut as a c leader who hasolidating power and continue to do so. >> youspeak about the john

mccain, as in public was many times the stern john mccain, questioning people from the pentagon, are there stories you can share with us about what it was like to be with johnccain? >> i can't share the stories on public television, but i can say what iwas like to be with him. he was never really at rest evec whoking burgers in the backyard, even when sailing down the coloradoiver or whatever, he was never really at rest, there was always a sense of i've got to do something, i've got to make every moment count, and we only had to think of how many moments he had alone, five and a half years, two at least or more of console tear confinement, beaten day after day, he had a lot to make up for. so that was thetl ressness he had to continue to want to do good for the country. >> it's been widely reported that two people who will speak at his funeral at the wahington cathedral will be former

president george w. bush and former president barack obama, the two men who defeated him for what does that say about who john mccain was? >> well, it puts an excolamation poinwho he was, but, remember this, he was tortured for five and aalf years. who was the man who joined senator john kerry and said oat's the past, we needo this for the good of the country, i am willing to make ace with the people who beat and tortured me because knits the best interest to have the united states. that tell us who john mccain was. >> former secreta wilam cohen, rememberric john mccain, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. we return to >> yang: we turn now to more on mccain's polical legacy and what his passing means for a heated arizona election, with our regular politics monday team: tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the ook political report." welcome to you both. this back and forth between president obama and senator john mccain went on right up tthe end, and actually beyond the end a little bit.

ta we plyed a little bit of the final message read this morning in arizona and he had some words that could be interpreted as a message about president trump. >> certainly. there was a passage, and i've written it down so i apologize for look doing, but he says we weaken our greatness when we confuse patriotism with tribal rivalries that have zone resentment and hatre violence in all corners of the globe. we weaken it when we hide behinh walls rathern tear them down. president trump obviously talks a lot about wall, and this -- you kno, it wasn't officially a message to president trump, but it certainly reads that way. and this comes as president trump put out a statement on twitter that did not say anythatg nicll about john mccain, at least initially, and then today the was a longer statement, and that

involved lowering th flags to half staff, where tre was half a sentence where he said that he respected mccain's service to the nation. >> amy? i don't know, maybe this is my contrarian side coming hforward, but i think tnor the life of john mccain, it would be best for all of us in the nep media to send time on john mccain and not time on donald trump and what he's eeting and not tweeting and with the int trigue office, was he or not going to say this or that and to suspend it as the "newshour" did -- and to end it as the "newshour" did on a whole retrospective of his life. what i find fascinating about the era we're inow n, it didn't end during john mccain's enure there, it didn't start with donald trump. the senate has become a more

polarizing partisan place. a gr dt piece wasone the other day where john mccain's voter record was examined athat the fice.when he was in of the first decade he voted 88% of the time with repnsubli putting him basically n the middle of the senate. hlf vottied feweres with their party,alf more. now at 87% with the last 27 years, so a point lower, he's in the lower third, okay, so he didn't move, the senate moved to ace. much more polarizing pl >> and in terms of his relationship with his party, it was always a complicated relationship. at times, he was in lock step with the republican party and the republican orthodoxy. at other times, he was out of step wh it. you know, listening to conservative talk radio, there was not a lot o love lost for senator mccain on the far right. >> and a complicated relationship with the party in his own state. tomorrow, they're going to go to

follows, a republican primary there. the candidates for the other senate sear jeff flake's senate seat, the threeic repu candidates, two no big fans of john mccain, what does that say about how pol is moving? >> that's right, i think it's fascinating to say thatum president is much more popular among arizona republicans. i mea a lot more poular. i looked at the last pole that i found was a cbs poll from june thn' mccjob approval rating among republicans in arizona was 20%. so there's a reason that all of the republicans running to replace jeff flake in this primary tomorrow are trying to attach themselves much more closely with president trump than with john mcc aain,nd we're going to, i think, see tha continue in a whole bunch of other places where these "mavericks" who wre retiring are going to be replaced by, if they are replace b a republican, one who fits much

more in the trump mold. >> and the's a reson jeff flake retired. (laughter) >> yang: very good point. and the governor doug doocy, in arizona, will name a replacement for senator mccain, and he won'do it, obviously, until after the burial sunday, but he faces the choice, is it going te omeone like john mccain or is it going to be someone more like donald trump? >> and is it going to be someone who is sort of a caretaker who will be in that post for two years, and then it will be open season and everybody can run for it? one name that has been floated, and who knows if this is the direction he would go, is cindy mccain, john mccain's widow. if they were to go that direction, isowould fall inrt of a long tradition of wives being named toheir husbands' seats after their husbandss have died. in the old days, that was how won got int congress. >> well, and just from that poll that i noted that folks in

arizona and in the republican party do not -- are not embracing, whether john mccain or jeff flake, the maverick hutsider not sticking wit trump, not sticking with the party line kind of persona. so my expectation is doocy's reing to nominate somebody who is going to be liable vote, and that's going to be important for mitch mcconnell ing into these next few months where he will now finally hae 51 votes. >> yang: about a minute left in. florida, another primary tomorrow, one of the gubernatorial cndidates relly wanted president trump's endorsement, got it, is running against a repoublican worked through the ranks, did all theou thingse supposed to do if you want to advance in the party and become governor -- what does this say about where we are in? politi >> that this is trump's party now. if you are on the trump team, it doesn't necessarily guarantee you a win in the primary, but gives you a tremestous boo >> and rhonda sandis, the

republican huggingum president closely, has this ad that is absolutely hilarious with s children and you have to see it to believe it but it's all about how much he loves donald trump and has gotten the endorsement of president trump. there is no doubt where he'sth headed with at ad. >> yang: tamera keith, amy walter, "politics monday," thanks a lot. >> you're welcome. >> yang: finally tonight, remembering e of the country's most prolific playwrights-- and for decades, one of its most commerally successful. jeffrey brown has our look at the career of neil simon, who died sunday at 91.

70s, neil simon lit up broadway markese. >> that is absolutely insane! his breakthrough play in 1963 was barefoot in the parks later vie starringa mo robert redford and jane fonda as newlyweds. >> you're always dressed rght, look right, say the right thing. you're very nearly per >> that's a rotten thing to say. before we were marri, i thought you slept with a ti >> no, just for very formal sleeps. >> the odd couple about two mismatched divorcings was a big hit. >> kindly remove that spaghetti from my poker table.t' >> iling weany, not spa gety. >> mm-hmm. (crashing sounds) >> now it's garbage. in the broadway rehearsals of the show directed by mike

nickels, simon felt the scene had fallen flat. later he told the "new york times" of a lesson he learned. >> i said what happened? he said, it's funny but they don't like what's happening. they like the people and you're making them go in a way that's not go for them. so i changed that and we got less laughs but more cheers for the play. so i started to learn about i that it's not all about the laughter, it's about the feelings that the audience gets. >> brown: in 1966 same uphadad four bry shows running simultaneously, and between 1965 and 1980, his plays and musicals racked up noorn 9,000 performances. he'd honed his comedy chops early as a member of the famous writer's room for sy caesar's your show of shows. simon found new acclaim inhe '80s for a biographical group

of plays. he received four tony ards last for 1991 play lost in yonkers, with which also brought him the coveted pulitzer prize. neil simon died sunday inne york from complications of pneumonia. he was 91 years old. and for more on the work and legacy of neil simon, i'm joined by peter marks, theater critic for "the washingto fpost." than joining us, what made neil simon so sucssful? what chord did he strike in his time? >> well, jeffrey, he was th perfect troubadour for the middle classes in the '60s and '70s. he understood so well that regular people wanted to see their problems portrayed on stage and screen, and i think ha along at a time when no longer was thea of survival barely surviving the question wast americans were worrying about as much as i getting along with the people and their

family. he was from are depion generation that had gotten ehrough the depression and world war ii, and now twould move into a more comfortable world, and i think what he portrayed in esose w06r8 comedies -- wonderful comedieecially was the way in which we can get on each other's nerves and these n be, may to everyone else, as funny as they seem to us and, in fact, dhe ha a skill at escalating those proems into mini operas. >> we just watched a couple of clips. did you have a favorite anecdote or aavorite scene or a favorite play? >> well, you know, you alays go back to the greatest play which i think was the oud cople. that is the seminal neil simon play, and i just member, you know, the war that he crted, this wonderful war between these two divorced men forced to live together essentially. it really was the portrait of a

marriage, the opposite of long day's journey a intthe night or who's afraid of virginia woolf the comic side, and i st remembered the great scene which in the movie version matthau's oscar and lemon's felix are talking about oscar's complete disgust with felix's tidiness, and, at one point, he talksan about leavin he gives the reason to lemmon's unger and says, you know, felix, i really don't think two single men living in an eigmht-r apartment should have a cleaner apartment than my mother. i thought that was kind of, like, you know, that is still for people thece essf what he was getting at, about getting along with people. >> peter, we just have a short time. just thinking about the whole hreer, very prolific, butt meant misses as well as hits, and there's a lot been wrtt about how perhaps the humor taste change, the humor went out of style, the crtical acclaim

that didn't come and then did come, wheredo youe his legacynd thesting impact? >> it's going to be with the comedio . he triedve into more dramatic forms, he saw the changes himself. his audience was moving on and there were more serious forms he wanted to pursue. i think he had somcess with those with loss in yonkers and the drilling ji you mentioned, but he's going to be remembereth foplays that made my mother laugh the loudest. >> brown: peter marks from "the washington post" on the type and times of neil simon. thank u very much. >> you're welcome. >> yang: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm john yang.e join us on-ld again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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joan rivers: medy is masculine. you're out there and you've gotta be in charge. i'm a lion tamer, snap, snap, snap, snap, now we can all be friends because you know, i'm in charge. yes! first wives we were never told what counts. we were never told that men care about looks. we were told that men care if you keep the house clean, which junk. am i right? second wives don't carry on. they d't dust. once a month the go... [exhales]. i mean it's a whole other thing. joy behar: comedy is a defense, i mean let's face it: