captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc yang: good evening. i'm john yang. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonight, a former top vatican diplomat accusepope francis of covering up sex abuse allegations and calls on himo resign. why the pope's defenders say the claim is all politics. then, one year after hundreds of thousands of rohingya fledheir homes in myanmar, the u.n. calls for top military commanders tere to be tried for genocide. and the legacy of john mccain. he served in the u.s. senate for tire than three decades and earned a rare repu for "straight talk" and reachingss ache aisle. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans. and please believe me when i say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

>> yang: all that and more on tonighs "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshouras been provided by:r >> consullular believes that wireless plans should reflect the amount of talk, text and data that you use. we offer a variety oirno- contractess plans for people who use their phone a little, a lot, or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james. >. babbel >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping build immeasurably better lives.

at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pb statom viewers like you. thank you. te >> yang: the ustates and mexico have reached tentative agreement on a trade deal that could replace "naf," the "north american free trade agreement." it says at least 75%e 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 today, to congratulate him and talk up the new deal, with a new name. >>,"hey used to call it "naf we're going to call it the united states-mexico trade agreement. we're going to get rid of the name nafta. it has a bad contation because 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 johnca . the arizona republican died saturday, after a year-long battle with brain cancer. the senate reconvened with colleagues offering praise, starting with majority leader k tch mcconnell and minority leader senate chhumer. >> he was unafraid to take on presidents. he was unafraid to take on his own party.

he was equal parts funny and oul-mouthed and statesman-like. he could put the temper in temperament. he was a brave and honest man. he w a patriot. >> he would fight like mad to bing the country closer to his vision of the common good. met when the day's disputes were over, that very an was one of our most powerful reminders that smuch more unites us than divides us. ar yang: senator mccain will lie in state at the olona capitol building on wednesday-- which would have been --s 82nd birthdith a memorial service in phoenix on thursday. he will then l in state at the u.s. capitol on friday. a funeral service is set forin saturday at waon national cathedral, and a private burial will take place sunday at the u.s. naval academy at annapolis, maryland.tr presidenp raised eyebrows today over his response to the death of senator mccain. the o men had long been at odds.

this morning, american flagsov the white house returned to full-staff, after just one day-t while those 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 saidte that-- desheir differences-- he respected mccain's service. he said the flags willat half-staff until the burial. f iran hmally asked the "international court of justice" to suspend u.s. economic sanctions that were re-imposed after president trump pulled out of the 2015 iranuclear deal. at a hearing today, iran argued the sanctions violate ty1955 trhat regulates the countries' economic ties.ay the u.s.the world court has no jurisdiction over the dispute.nt back in this c: investigators in jacksonville, florida are searching for a motive after a gunmakilled two people and then himself at a dadeo game tournament on s ten others were wounded. police s the suspected

shooter-- david katz of baltimore-- was a competitor in the games. n e event was underway at a shopping mall, we shooting started. police said today that katz ught out other players, with a handgun.le >> the suspectly targeted other gamers who were in the back r participating in this gaming tournament. the suspect walked, excuse me, past patrons who were in other parts of the business and focused his attention on the gamers. >> yang: katz was 24. the associated press reportsou that 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 dealetween the u.s. and mexico.

the dow jones industrial a prage gained 2nts-- a 1% gain-- a to clo26,049. the nasdaq rose 72 points. and the s&p added 22. still to come on the "newshour," pope francis under fire amid a claim that he knew about sex abuse allegations against a prominent cardinal. a call to prosecute war crimes against the rohingya. remembering an american hero, senator jo mccain. and much more. pe rancis was in ireland this weekend, and as part of his visit he met with survivors of that country's church sex abuse scandal. t of his effort to show that the church takes the matter seriously. but as william brangm 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 mccrick. mccarrick was accused of sexually harassing and abusing young adult seminarians, as well two boyslly abusin decades ago.ic mccaresigned last month. in his letter, which offered no evidence for the accusationnt about the f, vigano urged pope francis to step down. yesterday, iresponse, francis told reporters to read the carefully and judge it for themselves. joining me now is dennis coday, an editor for ational catholic reporter." dennis, thank you for being here. this is a very serious allegation made by the former atambassador by the vican. how seriously should we take

this?i >> well, i tnk the pope is correct on the points made onye the planterday. like any good source, a journalist is going to look at who the source is, where this information is coming from and what other motives might be involved in someone coming forward withhese kind of allegations and, so, that's -- i'm not sure all that due diligence was done before this statement was released, but that is what we are in the process of doing ourselves right now. >> before we get to the questions about the source, canu yo tell us a little more about what vigano alles pope francis did or didn't do? >> i guess the main claim is, in 2013, shortly after francis wash pope he related to francis, reported to francis allegations of sexual abuse and assault by then cardinal

mccarrick, and he also saidat previously, pope benedict had imposed some kind ofs sanctions and icted ministry on mccarrick, but those were never enforced, and he also says that francis did not enforce or act upon those charges. >> and as you touched upon pope franciscies response seems to be why don't you look at the substance of thlselegation. he clearly believes that, under scrutiny, they will fall apart. can you tell us more about vigano, ere accusere? >> yeah, he was ambassador to the unitedtates from the vatican from about 2011 till about 2016. before that, he was a member of the roman vatican bureaucracy. coming to the united states wasn't his first choice, he really didn't want to do that, but he had troubles there before that. he was cricized for bei a

stern manager, he was also volved in the uvering of some financial scandals there in the vatican. so we've reported in the past it was ki of the casof him being kicked upstairs into thi ambassadorship to the united states. >> isn't vigano accused himself of several years ago having overlooked allioeg about another cardinal? >> not a cardinal but an archbishop from st. paul, minneapolis. there were chargeagainst him that he was engaged in inappropriate relationship with men. there were some allegations there. there's also charges of mishandlin o sex abuse cases of other prinestsr his charge. he eventually resigned, but an investigation was done by an outside investigator 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 of the documents. that didn't happen, but that report has neverurfaced against harsh bishop neinstat. >> my understanding is within the vatican, vigano is considered quite a conservative, and the allegatns he's maing against pope francis, 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 wor 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.s frans met a lot of resistance since his election because of his rform agenda an what he represents from some of the hard liners that don't want to see reform come, especially to the vatican bureaucracy.

vigano has been associated with some of those groups. i know, recently, he was -- a year ago francis released an apostolic exhortation about family life that seemed to indicate ao sfter line towards divorced and remcaarried olics, and vigano has been opposed to that, he joined groups that had ben opposed to that kind of teaching. he's also made appeances in recent months with groups that are, you know, very hard lined against any kind of abortion legislation or same-sex marriage legislation or those kind of things, those are always cultural issues of discussion in the catholic church. >> dennis coday of the national catholic reporter, thank you very much. >> glad to do it, thank you.

>> yang: awe reported earlier, the u.n.'s top human rights body cused myanmar's military of "genocidal intent" and "grossn hughts violations" against the rohingya, a muslim minority in myanmar.mi myanmar'tary launched their crackdown exactly a year co. as foreign affairespondent nick schifrin reports, the u.n. report calls for top my generals to be investigated and prosecuted for crimes against hunity. >> schifrin: one year ago, along the mymar-bangladesh border, the myanmar military unleashed horror. the u.n. saysoldiers torched rohingya villages and, in the aftermath, tortured men, killed indiscriminately, and carried out systematic sexual olence, creating an untold number of victims of gang rape. u.n. says for years, the rohingya have suffered "institutionalized oppression from birth to death." in the past they've been beaten and targeted 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 rohingya salvation army, or aa. one year ago, militants assaulted 30 myanmar police posts. but today's u.n. report calls the subsequent crackdown wildly disproportionate, said u.n. fact-finding mission member radhika omaraswamy. >> the scale, brutality and systematic naturof rape and olence indicate that they are part of a deliberate strategy ti inte, terrorize or punish the civilian population. >> schifrin: the terror worked. hundreds of thousands fled their homes. shell shockeinto silence, they 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. >> schifrin: speal correspondent tania rashid has covered this story for us for the last year. avover the weekend, she sa how conditions he improved, in the world's largest refugee camp. >> many have set up shops where they're selling belts and clothing for little children. pharmacies have been set up where they're selling an arrayio of medic 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 ce to struggle, where they've taken on adult-like tasks, suchs manual labor and carrying heavy loads, l to support their famil local doctors say that many of a these childro continue to suffer from malnutrition. >> schifrin: and tania rashid joins me now from the kutupalong mega-camp in cox's bazar, bangladesh. how far have these refugeesco , one year later?

>> rashid: a year later, so much has changed.he duringxodus, i've seen people sleeping on plastice sheets on reets and openly defecating everywhere. now, it seems rith the humani agencies that have taken over, there is much more organization in place. there are toilets, women- friendly spaces for survivors of sexual violence in place. d i've also seen that many rohingyas have set up home here. they'vbeen doing everything they can from setting up shops and grocery stores, so that they feel they can have a sense of place, unlike before. n schifrin: and there's b question of repatriating these refugees back to myanmar. would they want to go? >> rashid: the reactions have been very mixed. i've 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, now 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: tanyaashid, thank you very much. and i turn now to dan sullivan, thre with me in the studio senior advocate for human ri at refugees international. we heard tanya talk about improvements in the camps bt there's still a long way to go especially on services, right? >> absolutely. it's come along way frm the chaos of the initial influx of refugees, but there are a lot of problems, particularly with the governor ofngladesh refused to recognize the rohingya as refuge and one of the places we saw that come across is with gender based violence services and theonsoon season. so there's still a long way to go. >> another placehahere's p a long way to go is back in

myanmar. tanya rashid caulked-- alked about there are some refugees who wanted to go home but have throot causes of these been addressed? >> no, there's been no accountability, so the people who might go back, they have no guartees for their safety. you have thousands who have continued to come into bangladesh in 2018, no guaranteesf citizenship or basic rights so the root causes have not been addressed in myanmar. >> the myanmar sta councilor was faulted by the u.n. fact finding commission who said shee commto the attrition of atrocity crimes. is she partially at fault? >> 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 havaie comd about her remaining silent, but it's worse than that, she hasn't just been silent, she's talked

about -- her office has talked about fake rapes in the lighof this overwhelming evidence of mass rapes. she blocked theact finding mission from coming in to investigate. yeah, it's a tough thing to say, and it's important to remember that the greatest degree of responsibility is with the military, but, yes, she solutely should be singled out because she's effectively been an apologist for the military in the fa of these really grave crimes. >> and quickly, in the time we l haft, the military is, of course, the headline in the u.n. fact finding mission today and they recommend a half dozen nerous need to be prosecuted by the c internationminal court or an ad hoc criminal court, can the people innm mya be held accountable? >> accountability is essential to get at the rot causes and there's a lust of thims toadd to those they said publicly.

the u.s. placed some liited targeted sanction bus there need to be more including on the senior general, and there are other measures like gobal arms embarring o. but what's missing particularly from the u.s. is you haven't heard much from the top levels about what's going on other than some lettersd secondary denunciatthere hasn't really been anything. so in the light of some of thecr graveses in our generation, the idea that the president of the united states would bentirtually sis just unthinkable. >> but the u.s. government says that it's about tose relts own fact finding mission, right, so isn't the u.s. investigating this and doing something about it? >> yes, it's very important they've surveyed ovedir 1,000 erent refugees but they have this evidence that's ready but they haven't released it yet, so it's really important the state department be reased in addition to the u.n. fact finding mission and what other organizations haveound there's

mounting evidence of atroughs 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 mccain. today, in phoenix, his former campaign manager read there senator's ll to the american people. >> do not despair of our presen difficultit believe always in the promise and greatness of america, because nothing is inevitable here. americans never quit. we never surrender. we never hide from hisry. we make history. farewell, fellow americans. god bless you, and god bless america. >> yang: judy woodruff has this look back at a life that john cain called "blessed."

( cheers and applause ) >>oodruff: by the time he became the republican party's presidential nominee in 2008, john mccain had built up a reputation in ameran politics. one he sometimes embraced... ( applause ) >> you well know, i've been 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 art. john sidney mccain iii was born in 1936, the son and grandson of navy admirals. mccain followed suit. he graduated from the naval8, academy in 1ifth from the bottom of his class.th sog he would joke about later in life. >> y know, if my old company officer-- ( laughs ) --who'd doubt that i would have made lutenant, much less be able to run for president of the

united states. i've had the most fortunate life. >> woodruff: athe vietnam warpl exoded, pilot john mccain was i in the middle 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 cahaier left more130 of his fellow service members dead. less than three months, he ces seriously injured, when north vietnamese fshot mccain's plane down over hanoi. he was pulled out of a local lake, and capted. a prisoner of war. mccain refused north vietnam's offers of early release when it learned of his family coections. he was beaten... tortured... and held in solitary confinement over his 5.5 years in captivity. until he was finally freed i march of 1973. mccain received a hero's welcome back in the u.s., but it took f

ti him to fully recover. he studied at the national war college, then took on a new navy post: liaison to the united states senate. in 1980, he married cindy lou hensley, daughter of a wealthy beer distributor, and soon after retired from the navy. ran for and won a seat congress. and after four years there, jumped over to the senate, succeeding retiring arizona senator and conservative icon barry goldwater. >> mr. chairman and members ofe. the commit >> woodruff: as a freshman senator, mccain was ught up in the "keating five" banking scandal. the senate ethics committee held multiple public hearings, looking into whether five senato-- including mccain-- committed any wrongdoing by meeting with u.s. banking regulators, on behalf of political donor and "savings and loan" executive charles keating.

the panel cleared mccain in the end, only reprimanding him for "poor judgment." still, years later, mccain called the hearings "a public humiliation." mccain's profile rose with the first gulf war getting underway, and as he made defense spending one of his signature issues-- alongside campaign finance, and cutting government waste. all this as he geared up to run for president in 2000. >> i want to reform government as i said earlier, i want to reform the tax code. i can't do that unless i giveba yo your government-- and take it out of the hands of the special interests and give it back to yo m >> woodruff:ain began as one of several underdogs for the 2000 g.o.p. nomination... and he tknowledged, early on, th odds were against him. >> barry gdwater, from arizona, ran for president of the un i'm sure you remember that. morris 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 and be presideed of the untates. ( laughter ) >> woodruff: indeed, the senioro senafrom arizona was up that year against the well-funded operation of the son of a former president-- >> i am in and i intend to win! ( applause ) --then-texas governor george w. bush.ou >> i think i 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 crucial first primary state of new hampshire. >> john mccain! >> woodruff: he was the "happy warrior," riding his campaign bus-- the "straight talk express" --from town hall to town hall. >> i am speaking plainlyand 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 e something there at the rotary club in new hampshire, and he was down 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 became the target of false, racist rumors, including one that he had a black child out of wedlock. john and cindy mccain did, in fact, have four children-- including an adoed daughter, bridgette, from bangladesh. onl four, from time to time, joined their fathehe trail.ri he lost thatry, and in his concession speech, derided the keear campaign. >> i-- i will not he low road to the highest office in this land. (applause) >> woodruff: t 2000 campaign ver recovered, but mccain plunged right back into his senate work. hiepassion for reforming th campaign finance system led to the bipartisan passage of a law with his name on it: "mccain- feingold." >> i think we understand, and

americans understand a, if you ban the soft money, you ban the union member, the trial lawyer, the corporation head, whoever it is, from being able 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 and afghanistan. >> having been a critic of the way this war was fought and aon prt of the very strategy now being followed, it is my obligation to encourage americans to give it a chance to succd. to do otherwise would be contrary to the interests of my country and dishonorable. >> woodrf: mccain's 2008 presidential campaign ran into trouble early. his fundraising at first laggedh badly behinds. ed response, candidate mccain trimmed staff, focard on

the early states, and almost single-handedly got things back on track. >> mac is back! mac back! mac is back! >> woodruff: after a win in new hampshire he turned the tables in south carolina, and from there, pressed on to theat republican nomn. >> she's exactly who i need, she's exactly who this country needs. >> woodruff: mccain took app gamble by g 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.ch anneled a populist, anti- establishment fervor that competed with her inexperience. >> i reminded people that, no, government is not always thean er. in fact, too often, government is the problem. >> woodruff: and more than her share of controversy.

>> our opponent is someone who segh america as imperfect en to pal who targeted their own country. >> woodruff: still, her messagea ed up that coming from the top of the ticket. >> my friends, i wasot elected miss congeniality in the united states congress again this year, i'm sorry to tell you. ( laughter ) >> when i'm president, the first earmark, pork-barrel bill that comes across my desk, i will to it, you will know the names, we will make them famous, and we will stop this corruption. ( cheers and applausef: ) >> woodrhe 2008 financial collapse hit, but only boosted mccain's democratic opnent: illinois senator baracobama, the first-ever black presidential nominee from a major party. that fall's debates laid bare their differences. as mccain highlighted obama's inexperience, obama linked mccain to the unpopular policies of the sitting republican

president. of>> pursing the same kind policies that we've pursued over the last eight years is not going to bringown the deficit. and frankly, senator mccain voted for four out of five of president bush's budgets. >> senator obama, i am not president bush. if you wanted to run against president bush, you should have run four years ago. i'm going to give a new direction to this economy in this country. >> woodruff: in the run-up to election day, mccain stood up to ly rumors some of his ow supporters were spreading about his opponent. >> i gotta ask you a question. i do not believe in-- i can't trust obama. . have read about him, and he's not-- he's an aram >> no, m no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, and citizen, that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. and that's what this campaign is all about. he's not.

thank you. >> woodruff: in the end, mccain fell well short-- losing the popular vote by six percentage points, some 9.5illion votes. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans. and please believe me when i say no association has er meant more to me than that. ( applause ) >> woodruff: after the election, he again returned to be a force in the senate. ticain remained an influential voice on immigra-- 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 .s chair of the powerful armed services committ and he never abandoned his "maverick" reputation, not shying away from a clash with either president obama or president trump and their foreign licy. >> to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our

duty to remainhothe last best of earth" for the sake of some half-naked, spurious onalism cooked up by peopleth who would find scapegoats than solve problems. >> woodruff:ost notably, his was the dramatic "no" vote thaty sank his own p effort to repeal president obama's hm.lth care ref >> the senior senator from arizona... >> woodruff: in one of his final speeches on the senate floor, he made this emotional appeal to his colleagues: ge we're getting nothing done, my friends, we'ring nothing done. >> woodruff: resist today's divisive politics, he told them... >> bring bi-partisanship back. the senate is capable of that. 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 waywi working out a bipartisan response to a national problem

or threat are the proudests mome my career, and by far the most satisfying. what a great honor and extraordinary opportunity it is to serve in this body. and it is an honor to the american people in your company. thank you, fellow senators. mr. president, i yield thefl r. ( applause )g: >> yhat was judy woodruff on john mccain, the public man. to learn about the private man, we're joined by someone who knew hem well: former defense secretary william they served together in the senate, and 38 years agowa secretary cohea groomsman at mccain's wedding. and this weekend he will be one of his pallbearers. mr. secretary, thank you so much for joining us. >> good to be with you. whenou first met john mccain, you were not senate or congressional colleagues. he washe 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 thein chese leader in beijing. so i went on th trip, and john was the escort officer. aledduring that time, he reg us with stories, funny stories, always self-deprecating, always telling kind of irish joes on himself, and would talutk abo the o'reilly twins, in a bar, and i won't go into the deails on that, but it was always just a lot of fun. ohn,when you travel with j you knew that you were going to enjoy 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 ltm, whether he deaith the press and called you jerks in a ry humorous way and meaning as

a compliment, never as a derogatory term. but he wanted to make friends. he wanted to tell you o he was. he wanted you to know that there's a real conscience in there, and when he violated his co science, he didomething he knew in his heart he didn't feel, he was the first one to admit it, not privately but publicly, as ali pufigure, a national and international figure. and that's something that isra today or even yesterday. so one thing that rey attracted me to him, the sense of i'm going to do what i thighk is rt and, if i fail, and i probably will fail, i'll try to make it right. so that wamcs who johcain was, somebody who wasd flawed, a he loved to quote hemingway, and hemingway wrote in one of his books, maybe a farewell to arms, but he said "the world breaks

everyone," he said, but afterwards, many aretrong as the broken places. to mat was john mccain, he was strong at the many broken places he had is body, but what was never broken was his tpirit. his willingness tod up for what america, in his mind and those who loved him, believed was the america of promise, off opportunity,quality, of doing the right thing, of making sure that we stayed a beacon of light in a world filled wih darkness. that's who john was. he fought that to the end, an, when the end was no longer inevitle in terms of keeping going, he said it's time for me to rest. so i'll mishim. but as he said, i've had a good life, a long life, and one few could match in terms of his heroism, but also his willingness to challenge

authorit i was with him in munich, i think 2007, when p was invited to the annual security conference in munich, and most of the people there were eager to have putin come in and say let's be friends, after all of thse years, let's be friends. and putin gave an extraordinary cold war speech, he stunned everybody in the audience, and john didn't hesa moment, when it came time for him to speak, h really went after putin directly and said, you want to take us back to th soviet empire, you want to take us back to a cold war? that's something all of us canne r and never want to go back to, and he spoke out against it very vigorously that day. once again, everyone applauded him in the ncdfor the to your knowledge speak out as a leader who has consolidating power and continue to do so. >> you speak about the john

mccain, as in public was many times the stern john mccain, questioning people from thent on, are there stories you can share with us about what it was like to be with john mccain? >> i can't share the stories on public television, but i can say what it was like to with him. b was never really at rest even when cookirgers in the backyard, even when sailing down the colorado river or watever, 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 ments he had alone, five and a half years, two at least or more of console tear confinement, beaten day after dayhed a lot to make up for. so that was the restlessness he had to continue to want to do good for the country. >> it's been widely reported that two people whospileak at his funeral at the washington cathedral will be forr

president george w. bush and former president barack obama, the two men who defeated him for proeidency. whatthat say about who john mccain was? a> well, it puts an exclamation point on who he, but, remember this, he was tortured ars.five and a half ye who was the man who joined senator john kerry and said that's the past, we need to do this for the good of the country, i am willing to make peace with thee pople who beat and tortured me because knits thtbest inerest to have the united states. that tell us who john mccain was. >> former secretary william cohen, rememberric john mccain, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. we return to >> yang: we turn now to more on mccain's political legacy and what his passing means for a heated arizona election, with our regular litics monday team: tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the "cook political report." welcome to you both. this back and forth between president obama and senator john mccain went on right up to the end, and actually beyond the end a little bit.

tam, we played 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. ehere was a passage, and i'v 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 hatred and i violenall corners of the globe. we weaken it when we hide behind was rather than tear them down. president trump obviously talks a lot about a wal ad this -- you know, it wasn't officially a message to president trump, but it certainly reads that way. d this comes as president trump put out a statement on twitter that did not say anything nice at all about john mccain, at least initially, and then today there was a longer statement, and that

involved lowering the flags to half staff, where there 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 forward, but think to honor the life of john mccain, it would be best for all of us in the news media to spend time on john mccain and not time on donald trump and what he's tweeting and not tweeting and with the intrigue in the office, was he or not going to say thios hat and to suspend it as the "newshour" did -- and to t spend it a "newshour" did on a whole retrospective of his life. what i find fascinating about the era we're in now, it didn't d during john mccain's tenure there, it didn't start with donald trump. the senate has become a e polarizing partisan place.

a great piece was done the other day where john mccain's voter record was examined athat the time when he was in office. the first decade he vot 88% of the time with republicans, putting him basically n the middle of th senate. half voted fewer times with thr party, half more. now at 87% with the last 27 years, so a point lower, he's in the loer third, okay, so he didn't move, the senate moved t be a mucre polarizing place. >> 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 with it. you know, listening to conservative talk radio, there was not a lot of love lost for senator mccain on the far right. >> and a complicated relationip with the party i his own state. tomorrow, they're going to go to

follows, a republican primary there. the candidates fothe other senate seat, for jeff flake's senate seat, the three republican candidates, two no big fans of john mcc tain, what dot say about how politics is moving? >> that's right, i think it's fascinating to say that president trump is much more popular among arizo republicans. i mean, a lot more popular. i looked at the last pole that i found was a cbs poll om june that mccain's job approval rang among republicans in arizona was 20%. so there's a reason that all of the republicans running to replace jeff flake in thisim y tomorrow are trying to attach themselves much more closelwith president trump than with john mccain, and we're going to, i think, see that continue in a whole bunch of other places where ese "mavericks" who are retiring now are going to be replaced by, if they are replace bid a republican, one who fits much

more in the trump mold. >> and there's a reason 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't do it, obviously, until after the burial sunday, but hea s the choice, is it going to be someone like john mccain or is it going to be sneomore like donald trump? >> and is it going to be someone who sort of acaretaker who will be in that post for two years, and then it will be openv season andrybody 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 ty were to go that direction, it would fall in sort of a long tradition of wies being named to their husbands' seats after their husbandss have died. in the old days, that was how women got into congress. >> well, and just from that po that i noted that folks in

arizona and in the republican party do not -- are not embracing, whether john mccain or jeff flake, th maverick outsider not sticking with trump, not sticking with the pay line kind persona. so my expectation is doocy'sg go nominate somebody who is going to be a reliable vote, and that's going to be important for mitch mcconnell going into these next few months where he will now finally have 51 votes. >> yang: about a minute left in. florida, another primary tomorrow, one of the gubernatorial candidates really wanted presidentenrump's rsement, got it, is running against a republican who worked through the ranks, did all the things you're supposed to do if you want to advan in the party and become governor -- what does this say about where we are in politics? >> 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 tremendous boost. >> and rhonda sandis, the

republican hugging president trump closely, has this ad that isbsolutely hilarious with his 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's headed with that ad. >> yang: tamera keith, amy walter, "politics monday,"t thanks a >> you're welcome. >> yang: finally tonight, remembering one of the clintry's most pc playwrights-- and for decades, one of its most commercially succeful. jeffrey brown has our look at the career of neil simon, who died sunday at 91.

70s, neil simon lit up broadway mkese. >> that is absolutely insane! his breakthrough play i 19 was barefoot in the parks later turned into a movie staberring redford and jane fonda as newlyweds. >> you're always dressed rig look right, say the right thing. you're very nearly perfect.ha >>s a rotten thing to say. before we were married, i thought you slept with a tie. >> no, just for very formalee . >> the odd couple about two mismatched divorcings was a big hit. >> kindly remove that spaghetti fromker table. >> it's ling weany,ot 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. ter he told the "new york times" of a lesson he learned. i. i said what happened? he said, it's funny but they don't ke what's happening. they like the people and you're making them go in a way that's not good for them. so i changed that and we got less laughs but more cheers for the play. so i started to learn about it that it's not all about the laughter, it's about feelings that the audience gets. >> brown: in 1966 same uphad four broadway shows running simultaneously, and between 1965 and 1980, his plays and musedics rap noorn 9,000 performances. he'd honed his comedy chops early as a member of the famous writer's room for syd casar's your show of shows. simon found new acclaim in the '80s for a biographical group of plays.

he received four tony awards last for 1991 play lost in yonkers, with which also broughh hicoveted pulitzer prize. neil simon died sunday ino new york fcomplications of pneumonia. he was 91 years old. and for more on the work legacy of neil simon, i'm joine by peter mareater critic for "the washington post." thanks for joining us, what made neil simon so successful? what chord did he strike in his time? >> well, jeffrey, he was the 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 he came along at a time when no longer was the idea of survival barely surviving the question most americans were worrying aboungas much as it was get along with the people and their

family. he was from a depression generation that had gotten through the depression and world war ov, and now they woulde into a more comfortable world, and i think what he ptrayed in those w06r comedies -- wonderful comedies especially was the way in which we can get on each other's nerves and these can be, mabe to everyone else, as funny as they seem to us and, in fact, he had a skill at escalating those problems into mini operas. >> we just watched a couple of clips. fadid you have vorite anecdote or a favorite scene or a p favoriy? >> well, you know, you always go back to the greatest play which i think was the odd couple. that is the seminal neil simon play, and i just remembe you know, the war that he created,n this derful war between these two divorced men forced to live togeth esentially. it really was the portrait of a

marriage, the oppositeong day's journey a into the night or who's afraid of woolf the comic side, and i just remembered the great scene which in the movie version mtthau oscar and lemon's felix are tascing aboutar's complete disgust with felix's tidiness, and, at one point, he talks about leaving and he gives the reason to lemmos unger and says, you know, felix, i really don't think two single men living in an eight-room apartment should have a cleaner apartment than my mother. i thought that was, kind like, you know, that is still for people the essence of what he was getting at, about getting along withople. >> peter, we just have a short time. just thinking about the weol career, very prolific, but that meant misses as well as hits,'s and the lot been written about how perhaps the humor taste change, the humor went out of style, thcae criacclaim

that didn't come and then did come, where do you see hs legacy and the lasting impact? >> it's going to be wthe comedies. he tried to move into more h dramatic form saw the changes himself. his audience was moving on a there were more serious forms he wanted to pursue. i think had some success with those with loss in yonkers and the drilli ji you mentioned, aut he's going to be remembered for the plays tt made my mother laugh the loudest. >> brown: peter marks from "the washington post" on theme type and tof neil simon. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> yang: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm john yang. rein us on-line and again 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: >> babbel.

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