included with your internet. and over here i'm having my birthday party. dj fluffernutter, hit it! ♪ dj fluffernutter simple. easy. awesome. ask how to get $300 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile, and purchase a new samsung phone. visit your local xfinity store today. we're americans. and we never give up. we never quit. we never hide from history. we make history. >> mccain's not in it for the wins and losses in politics. he's in it for worthy ps iness e night. >> from p.o.w. to presidential contender. he weathered scandal. >> he was at the point where he

was willing to walk away. >> and stuck by his principles. >> i can't trust obama. he's an arab. >> no, ma'am. no, ma'am. >> to buck his own party. >> he wouldn't let ambition prevent him from doing what he thought was right. >> people say we will not see his likes again. we better see his likes again. >> his true grit, on full display one last time. >> he really showed the power he had to stand up to this white house. >> john mccain's an american hero. an imperfect man like all of us but whose service to america was as close to perfect as his service could be. ♪ i don't mind a good fight

for reasons known only to god, i've had quite a few tough ones in my life. >> john mccain lived a life of intense hardship, patriotism and perseverance. >> in in the end, it matters less that you can fight. what you fight for is the real test. i >> the former navy fighter pilot, prisoner of war and two-time presidential candidate found himself at the center of new fights challenging his old party's president in his last book, "the restless wave." >> never at a loss for words, he's now taking on president trump and others. others that he blames for the growing lack of civility in b politics. >> it was a conflict that often turned personal as his war record and battle with brain cancer had been mocked by the administration. >> people wondered when decencyo would hit rock-bottom with this administration. it happened yesterday. >> his life has been about

decency and honor compared to a president who is unworthy to say his name out loud. >> mccain's clashes with the trump white house pale in comparison to his other fight. >> this disease has a worthy opponent. >> john mccain is very much a fighter. it's a tough diagnosis but an even tougher man. >> in the end, the cancer was i tougher and mccain lost the fight for his life. over his decades long senate career, he made a name for himself with his approach to bipartisan and his inclination to take on his own party. >> i spoke out strongly on several other issues where i thought that mr. trump was absolutely wrong. i've not been shy about it. >> john's at his best when he's fighting as a maverick. at his best is he's happiest. he's most happy when he gets something done. >> at this very moment there's a bill on the united states floor of the senate that would kill

obamacare. >> mccain's health issues came at a critical juncture. a senate vote on legislation to begin dismantling the affordable care act also known as obamacare. the 52-48 republican majority in the senate left little room for margin of error on the vote. july of 2017, less than two weeks after surgery to remove ae blood clot over his eye -- >> how are you doing, guys? >> -- mccain made a dramatic return to the senate. >> the senior senator from arizona is recognized. >> i thank you, mr. president. >> he delivers this roughly 15 to 20-minute speech that's the encapsulation that he wants the senate to be and everything feels like the senate should be. >> let's trust each other. let's return to regular order. we've been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find way to win without help from across the aisle.

>> if there's one person who is not a former president of the united states who has the unquestioned ability to talk about that in way that people can hear is john sydney mccain. >> we're getting nothing done, my friends. we're getting nothing done. >> he's no fan of obamacare. he voted against it. he didn't like the way it smelled. and he wasn't going to put up with it. >> president trump made the repeal of obamacare one of his top priorities. >> obamacare is a total disaster. >> in the hours leading up to vote on what was called the skinny repeal, the usually tightlipped about his decision. reliable republican was tightlipped about his decision. >> i was there the night of the senate vote and john mccain said we should watch the show on thei floor. we had no idea what that meant. >> two republican senators,

susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska voted against the bill. john mccain would be the deciding vote. >> he knew where he was going to vote and there was no moving him. >> he walks back out on the floor and it's almost like a moment out of "gladiator" where the emperor is like thumbs up, thumbs down. there were gasps.p, when he put the thumbs down, when he said no, there were gasps in the chamber. even people who heard he was going to be doing that was, whoa, he actually did that. it's a shock. >> nobody should underestimate john mccain's ability to seize advantage of a dramatic moment like that in politics. he's not uncomfortable on center stage. >> we talked about this. it was not so much a vote against the skinny repeal. though it was. it was a vote against the whole screwed up process that is washington today.

>> for a man like mccain, this moment allowed him to say i put my country before my party. >> when i saw the vote and the fact that john walked on to the floor and john did thumbs down, i said that's my friend. that's the hero that i hod. >> when you came back from arizona, did you always know you were going to do it or at the last moment?ou >> i made my mind up on the way back and what the alternative was, which was a frankly nothing burger, a quote, skinny repeal. whoev whatever that means. that's not why i came back, tomr >> in december of 2017, mccain has he has on the majority of issues did support the n publican bill on tax reform which included a repeal of obamacare's individual mandate. >> the tax cuts and jobs act isb passed. >> his opposition to trump does not mean he's a liberal. and i think when democrats criticize him for

being a conservative, he says c that's who i am. >> it's a fascinating career to see it's not about the victories he's nodged. it's about the worthiness of the fight. coming up -- >> he was held in solitary confinement for two years. that tested his will to live. >> every day was about one thing, survival. to live hi there. this is a commercial about insurance. now i know you're thinking, "i don't want to hear about insurance." cause let's be honest, nobody likes dealing with insurance, right? which is why esurance hired me, dennis quaid, as their spokesperson because apparently, i'm highly likable. i like dennis quaid. awww. and they want me to let you know that, cue overdramatic music, they're on a mission to make insurance painless. excuse me, you dropped this. they know it's confusing. i literally have no idea what i'm getting, dennis quaid.

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♪ i'm not a hero. the great honor of my life was to serve in the company of heroes. >> john s. mccain iii was born august 29th, 1936 to a multi-generational family on the base in the panama canal zone. his father jack mccain became a four star admiral. his grandfather was also an admiral.

present on "the uss missouri" for the japanese surrender in world war ii. for young john mccain, entry into the naval academy was a foregone conclusion. as a naval cadet, he quickly established a reputation as a rebel and a party boy. >> we really did have the most enjoyable times, perhaps i've had in my life, that period in the naval academy when i ran around with a like-minded but perhaps not as assertive group of young men. he was very knowledgeable. well-read in history. he was a strong leader. you knew when he was in the room. he had a lot of energy. always had superb sense of humor. that's what attracted him to a lot of people. >> reporter: upon graduating from the naval academy, fifth from the bottom of his class, he decided to become an aviator. his first experience with combat

came when he was shipped to vietnam in 1967. at the onset of his deployment, mccain was assigned to "the uss four star." and in july of that year it was at the center of one of the deadliest naval disasters of the vietnam war. >> because of an electric malfunction, a very large rocket was fired across the flight deck. hit the fuel tank underneath my airplane from which fuel flowed on fire. >> cameras mounted on the flight deck captured the horrific scene. >> there are explosions. one after another. >> the ship really was completely engulfed. >> mccain escaped the fire with minor shrapnel wounds, but 134 of his shipmates were killed. mccain was given an option.

he could return to the u.s. or stay in vietnam. >> he could have cycled back to the united states after the fire and never returned to vietnam specifically volunteered to go back. >> it would be fateful decision. mccain was reassigned. the missions launched from the deck were the most dangerous. on his 23rd bombing mission on october 26th, 1967, mccain's skyhawk was hit by enemy fire. service-to-air missile and immediately parachuted out. he was injured upon bailout. so both arms broken, a leg broken and knocked unconscious. >> 50 years to the day later, mccain reflected on those fateful hours. >> when you woke up this

morning, did you say to yourself, where was i 50 years ago? >> you know, i did. maybe i zigged when i should have zagged. >> he came deep in a lake in hanoi. an escape was impossible and he was set upon by an angry mob. he was bayonetted in the foot and groin. he was beaten and bloody. he was hauled off to a local prison, known to american p.o.w.s at the hanoi hilton. >> the conditions at the hanoi hilton were deplorable. it was nasty, dirty, infectious. heavy, heavy concrete doors. just a very imposing, scary, du dunge dungeon-like place. >> his north vietnam captors

interrogated him but mccain would not cooperate. >> you were told during your training that the only information you were obligated to give was your name, rank, serial number and date of birth. >> mccain's injuries were left untreated. he developed a horrible infection and subsequent fever. the naval aviator was near death but the north vietnamese had a change of heart and decided to treat mccain once they realized who his father was. >> the knowledge that his father was in charge of all u.s. armed forces in the pacific, made john mccain a valuable prisoner, someone who could be exploited for propaganda purposes. >> his broken bones were badly set. his arms were put in bulky casts. mccain was offered an early release from captivity, but he refused, citing the military code of conduct. >> the code of conduct required prisoners of war to be released in the order they were captured.

>> i understood the vietnamese didn't single me out because of any act of charity on their part. it would be an issue of exploitation on their behalf. there was never any doubt about that. >> john mccain made an affirmative decision that he would stay in prison, and likely die, rather than break the code of conduct. >> mccain was thrown into a cell with two other americans, norris overly and bud day. >> was there a time when you didn't think he would make it? >> i didn't think he would make it the moment i saw him. my description was, his body was saying, let's die and his mind was saying, we're not doing that. >> do you remember that conscious thought almost? >> i remember the incredible joy of seeing two american faces. it gave me reason to live. >> over the next 5 1/2 years in

captivity, he was subjected to repeated torture and experienced frequent bouts of dysentery and constant isolation. >> he was in solitary containment for two years. that tested his will to live and his belief system. >> every day was basically about one thing, survival. >> by christmas 1972, the u.s. increased its bombing runs over north vietnam in an effort to get the north vietnamese to the negotiating table. >> that's what caused the communist negotiator to agree to terms acceptable to president nixon. >> within 60 days from this saturday, all americans held prisoners of war throughout indo-china will be released. >> as part of the negotiations,

the americans held in captivity were released. 5 1/2 years after he was pulled from that lake in hanoi, john mccain finally was freed. >> mccain had aged so dramatically from the young man who crashed his plane. when he came down the steps in california and greeted and limped across the tarmac it was such a dramatic moment. coming up -- >> the notion that anyone would question his honesty or integrity was so antithetical to who he was that i think he was at the point to where he was willing to walk away. alk awayr integrity was so antithet

♪ when john mccain was released in march of 1973, he received a hero's welcome back in the states. free from his nightmare at the hanoi hilton, he returned to his

playboy ways. >> he would acknowledge after he returned home there was a time when he was sort of finding himself again. >> his marriage to his wife carol, whom he wed shortly before leaving for vietnam fell apart. >> i have no idea why i behaved irresponsibly. i did so and it was ip propmpro my part. >> mccain's naval career was also at a crossroads. >> it was clear he wasn't going to become an admiral. he spent his best years of his life in captivity. >> he changed direction but stayed in the navy becoming the naval liaison in 1977, essentially the navy's chief lobbyist. >> it's a job that really opened the door to politics and allowed him to see politics from the inside. >> he was one of the favorites of the the senators to travel with. he kept us laughing most of the trip.

>> on one of those trips to hawaii in the winter of 1979, john met a teacher. 17 years his junior, cindy from a wealthy arizona family. >> she was just a beautiful young woman and great spirit and it was clear to me that he was very much in love with her. >> john and his first wife carol's divorce was finalized in 1980. a few months later, he and cindy were married. he was also ready for a fresh start to his career. mccain wanted to run for congress as a republican, but where? he never settled down anywhere long enough to call home. >> i suggested he would go to the state where his wife was from. he would be new but he would be new any place. >> from the start, mccain's opponents labeled him a carpetbagger, a politician with weak ties to the area he was running. >> he quickly deflated that by saying the longest spot he had

been in was prisoner of war. nobody ever raised that question again. >> mccain won the primary and general elections. as a freshman congressman quickly developed a reputation for not necessarily towing the party line. civil war broke out in lebanon and by the fall of 1983, the situation was a powder keg. u.s. peacekeeping forces were in harm's way. opposing his own party's president, mccain sided with majority of the democrats in calling for the withdrawal of troops deployed in lebanon. >> he has sort of made this a hallmark of his career to try to be a truth-teller on all things foreign policy. and the '83 vote is a first step along that way. >> in arizona this is man we'll all want to watch. his name is john mccain. now elected to the senate seat of retiring barry goldwater. >> after two terms in the house,

mccain won election to the senate. it didn't take long for scandal to threaten his political career. during the 1980s, the savings and loans crisis rocked the country. >> it was the mini version of the wall street street blow-up of 2008. voters were angry. >> john mccain's old arizona friend and political contributor charles keating's lending institution was at the heart of the scandal. because of his close ties to the embattled businessman, mccain became embroiled in one of the biggest financial scandals in u.s. history as a member of the infamous keating five. >> the keating five scandal was the accusation that members of the u.s. senate had been showered with campaign contributions and personal gifts from charles keating and in turn they had interfered with charles keating to get the government off their back.

>> the senators fought back against charges of wrong doing. >> when he came to see me in march of 1987 and asked me to do something i thought was improper, i said no. >> mccain was criticized for exercising poor judgment for meeting with regulators on keating's behalf. but eventually he was cleared of wrongdoing. >> the notion that anyone would question his honesty or integrity or to think that he could be bought off on a vote was so antithetical to who he was that i think he was at the point where he was willing to walk away. >> but mccain didn't walk away and the scandal helped motivate him to take on the defining positions of his career, campaign finance reform. >> this nation needs to reform a system that's broken and we will continue our efforts to do that. >> john mccain going through the whole keating five issue, saw

money seen as corrupting members of the senate and the house and determined to do something to fight against it. >> mccain reached across the aisle. he had tapped russ feingold to join him on the cause. >> we had really never had a serious conversation and he called me when i was back home and said i've been looking at your voting record and i'd like to work with you on reform issues. >> the pair forged a strong bond as they worked to get soft money out of politics. >> thank you very much. >> the way he treated me was like a mentor, friend, father figure. it was a relationship where i really benefited tremendously from being able to see his abilities and willingness to cross the party line. people didn't talk to us in our respected caucuses because of this. we were not at the cool kid lunch table for many years. coming up -- >> barack obama was beginning to walk on the mountaintops and we're not going to defeat him

with a conventional campaign. >> somebody said have you thought of this republican governor from alaska named sarah palin? palin?

i'm dara brown with the breaking news we've been following tonight. senator john mccain has passed way aat the age of 81 at his home in arizona after being diagnosed with brain cancer last december. shortly after his passing, his daughter wrote, in part, he was a great fire who burned bright. we lived in his warmth for so very long. his flame lives on in each of us. now, back to "headliners: john mccain." ♪ as the millennium approached, john mccain, the man deemed the political maverick

for his bold moves, and father of seven, decided to take aim at the top job in the country. >> because i owe america more than she has ever owed me that i am a capped dandidate for presi the united states. >> from the very beginning, he was an underdog against the son of a political dynasty. >> george w. bush emerged in the summer of 1999 as the most potent political force either party had ever seen in its presidential nominating process. >> short on cash, mccain skipped the iowa caucuses and focused on the new hampshire primary. >> he decided new hampshire liked iconoclasts and that's where he would start. >> he rolled out the straight talk express, his all access bus tour. a 24/7 press conference on wheels. >> the straight talk express of 2000 was unlike anything i had ever seen and i have ever seen

since. >> you had no idea what was going to happen at any moment. you weren't been spoon-fed anything. it was just completely spontaneous. >> mccain held more than 100 town halls in new hampshire and the hard work paid off. he beat george w. bush in the state's primary by 18 points. [ chanting ] >> he comes roaring out of new hampshire. everybody thinks he's not only the next republican nominee but very possibly the next president. >> but the sudden burst of energy in new hampshire faded with a bruising primary in south carolina. >> really malicious rumors were spread about him and his family. >> mccain's daughter, bridgette, adopted from bangladesh became

the focus of one of the campaign's most vicious attack. >> they were accusing him of fathering a biracial child out of wedlock. >> mccain lost south carolina and by march, the straight talk express ran out of gas. >> i announce today on this fine arizona morning and in this beautiful place i'm no longer an active candidate for my party's nomination for president. >> thank you. >> mccain threw his support behind bush and helped him defeat al gore to become the 43rd president. although he was a loyal republican, mccain bucked bush on numerous issues. >> mccain was taking positions on health care, taxes, guns. on the environment, that were at odds with the bush administration. >> during the bush years, mccain scored his biggest legislative achievement, when mccain-feingold, his bill, his tireless work was signed into law in 2002. >> there were times when it seemed like it was never going

to end. but quite honestly, john was so fun to work with, i didn't mind. >> 2004, mccain the maverick, was more public than ever. despite having come up short in his first presidential campaign, mccain's national profile continued to rise. in 2005, he co-sponsored ambitious legislation on immigration reform with democrat ted kennedy. enjoying broad bipartisan support, mccain began to gear up for a second presidential run. >> today, i announce my candidacy for president of the united states. >> he was popular and prominent. he had the bun amoney and the resources and the brains behind him. >> despite a long list of donors and heavy hitting political operatives on his payroll, his campaign struggled. >> the fund-raising estimates didn't pan out. and thus, the campaign was

top-heavy and bankrupt six months after it opened the doors. >> it reaches a point in 2007, where the obituary for mccain's presidential campaign is written. >> i'll never forget. i was walking my dog in northern california and the phone rang. and he said, will you help me, boy? will you help me? he said, everybody quit. they're all gone. i'm not getting out. he literally flew up to new hampshire in the middle seat of southwest airlines with the national press corps waiting like vultures to pick over his bones, when are you getting out of the race? it's all over. and he didn't. >> with nothing left to lose, mccain, once again, made new hampshire his last stand. >> you come to the town hall meetings because you want to see the candidates, you want to examine them and make a judgment up close and personal. >> he barnstormed the state, holding up to ha ining town hal

hall. >> the happiest john mccain was, wasn't on the day he won. the day you knew you could win. the joy of the struggle, as he was surging in new hampshire, as the crowds were building. which was completely improbable. >> on the night of the primary, mccain had a five-point victory over mitt romney. >> i'm past the age where i can claim the noun kid, no matter what adjective proceeds it. but today, we sure showed them what a comeback looks like. >> his expected challenger, hillary clinton faltered in her own campaign. in an upset, a newcomer, barack obama, won the nomination. >> there's two types of elections in america. there's change elections and more of the same elections. i'm not sure looking back in

2008 that we could have elected abraham lincoln as a republican to the office of the presidency. >> as the general election heated up, barack obama built a lead in the polls. >> we always knew we had to take a risk. we had to throw the ball in double-coverage to get ahead in race where the headwinds are against us. really, what the idea was, was that john mccain was going to pick joe lieberman. >> i get a call from rick davis, who is the campaign manager for john mccain's presidential campaign in 2008. he said john would like to put you on the list of people to be vetted to be his vice presidential running mate. i said, are you kidding me? he said, no, i'm not. it was a bold idea. barack obama was beginning to

walk on the mountaintops and we were not going to defeat him with a conventional campaign. >> in his book, "the restless wave," mccain expressed regret over not picking lieberman, being talked out of it by his staff. he was sound advice that i could reason for myself but my gut told me to ignore it and i wish i had. >> then john mccain said where else can i go? somebody said have you thought of this republican governor from alaska named sarah palin? coming up -- >> we surprised everybody. maybe too much. there were a lot of things we didn't know about her. cause let's be honest, nobody likes dealing with insurance, right? which is why esurance hired me, dennis quaid, as their spokesperson because apparently, i'm highly likable. i like dennis quaid. awww. and they want me to let you know that, cue overdramatic music, they're on a mission to make insurance painless.

excuse me, you dropped this. they know it's confusing. i literally have no idea what i'm getting, dennis quaid. that's why they're making it simple, man in cafe. and they know it's expensive. yeah. so they're making it affordable. thank you. you're welcome. that's a prop apple. now, you might not believe any of this since this is a television commercial, but that's why they're being so transparent. anyways. this is the end of the commercial where i walk off into a very dramatic sunset to reveal the new esurance tagline so that you'll remember it. esurance. it's surprisingly painless.

♪ thank you. >> barack obama secured the 2008

democratic nomination before a record crowd of 84,000 in denver. at that moment, the mccain campaign was preparing to announce its vice presidential candidate. the pick was a closely guarded secret. even top mccain advisers were left in the dark until the last minute. >> i walked into a hotel room. and steve schmidt said to me, meet the next vice president of the united states, the governor of the great state of alaska, sarah palin. i had never heard of her. i never met her. i shook her hand and she was lovely. and i walked out. he said, what do you think? i said, i think she seems great. who is she? >> palin, a 44-year-old first-term governor had made a name for herself as a reformer in alaska. >> she had a better than 60% approval rating as a governor. she had an ability to spark interest. >> john mccain looked at sarah

palin as his bold move. the sneak attack that the world wouldn't see coming. >> in dayton, ohio, august 29th, sarah palin made her national political debut. >> as governor, i stood up to the old politics as usual. >> a great speech. and people watching that said, wow. he found a political star up there in alaska none of us had ever seen before. >> he shot up in the polls because it seemed so fresh and dramatic. a woman. this is great. >> we really did steal back the national media attention. we surprised everybody, maybe too much. there were a lot of things we didn't know about her. >> how long had she been governor? not long. and then the katie couric interview was really a disaster. it went off the rails. >> katie curic asked a question that was simple and predictable. what sorts of things do you read? what newspapers do you follow? >> i read most of them.

again, with a great appreciation, for the press. for the media. >> like what ones spicily? i'm curious. >> all of them. any of them. >> that became the unraveling. that was really the moment where her response to a simple question showed that she wasn't ready. >> without question the nomination of sarah palin was a cynical move to try to tap into the republican base. >> i don't believe she's ready to be president of the united states which is the job of the vice president. and so, that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that senator mccain made. >> i think it was seen as a mistake in judgment. there's an old country song. i knew what i was doing, but what was i thinking? >> let me ask you some facts about your running mate, governor sarah palin. you can't to defend her. she lights up republican rallies wherever she goes. >> i don't defend her. i praise her. >> many think she's simply not qualified to be president.

>> the fact is, she is a dynamic person with executive experience, leadership, reform, she's exactly what washington needs. >> mccain was old and had been through cancer. so, the idea of president palin wasn't some abstraction. it was a real possibility. >> heading into the fall of 2 2008, the race was neck and neck. then, on september 15th -- >> meltdown, the american financial system is rocked to its foundation as top wall street institutions topple. >> just before the first scheduled presidential debate, mccain decided to suspend his campaign to hammer out a deal on the economy. but at a meeting at the white house, he was silent while barack obama offered more input in the conversation. as the economy cratered, the campaign struggled to maintain momentum. >> politically, they felt they had to go after barack obama's

early days in politics. sarah palin was much more willing to be the person on the stump to say these things about barack obama. and a phrase, palling around with terrorists took hold. >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> the crowds got angrier and angrier. and really, any mention of barack obama's name would trigger a chorus of booing and vitriol that john mccain was deeply, deeply uncomfortable with. >> i can't trust obama. i have read about him and he's not -- he's a -- he's an arab. he is not -- >> no, ma'am. no, ma'am. no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, citizen, that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. and that's what this campaign is

all about. >> i remember thinking that john mccain has no idea what he just did. but he just stood up against the darkest and ugliest forces in american politics. >> i knew that was the end of the campaign. it was really a surrender to the inevitable by a man who is the furthest thing from a quitter that you can ever imagine. >> in the weeks leading up to the election, obama had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. >> i think it really became a change election on the heels of the wars and the economic collapse. i think the appetite for change was almost insatiable. >> it is now 11:00 on the east coast. and, keith, we can report history. >> barack obama is projected to be the next president of the united states of america. >> in arizona, as supporters waited outside the biltmore hotel, mccain gathered with his

closest advisers. >> john mccain and mark salter showed me the concession speech and i read it with tears streaming down my face. and i said, it is incredible. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans. and please believe me when i say, no association has ever meant more to me than that. me . >> it was in that moment in time that it was clear that at 72 years old, john mccain would never be the president of the united states. >> he sent the secret service home the night of his defeat and drove himself home the next day in a pickup truck. and was eager to go back to the united states senate and pick up the work that he had long enjoyed as a senator. coming up -- >> couldn't believe he had said it. >> i felt rage. wait a minute you didn't serve in the military. john mccain did. ve in the military. john mccain did. welcome to the xfinity store.

thanks, janet. it's my happy place. you can learn how to switch to xfinity mobile, a new wireless network that saves you cash. and you can get 5 lines of talk and text included with your internet. and over here i'm having my birthday party. dj fluffernutter, hit it! ♪ dj fluffernutter simple. easy. awesome. ask how to get $300 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile, and purchase a new samsung phone. visit your local xfinity store today. ♪

john mccain returned to washington after losing the 2008 election, then in his fourth term in the senate, he was soon at odds with president obama. >> john mccain would become a regular antagonist toward barack obama's leadership. >> it's time that president obama woke up to the realities in the world and reassert american leadership. >> mccain kept a lower profile but continued to be, as he had his entire career, one of the biggest supporters of american troops abroad. >> the thing he is most proud of is being able to contribute to the national security of the united states. that's the thing that he feels most strongly about as he described it to me. >> during the lead-up to the 2016 primaries, an unlikely newcomer was about to thrust mccain back into the national

spotlight. at a presidential forum in ames, iowa, john mccain's war record came up between the pollster frank luntz and the republican candidate donald trump. >> he hit me. >> he's a war hero. >> he's not a war hero. >> he's not a war hero. >> i was outraged. i couldn't believe he said it. >> i felt rage. i said wait a minute, you didn't serve in the military. john mccain did. and you're saying that anybody who has been shot down or captured by the enemy and tortured and imprisoned is not a war hero? >> but john mccain's response was, you know, it is what it is. he didn't respond and that's typical of john. >> but as a loyal republican, mccain endorsed trump once he won the party's nomination. >> i think he felt it was incumbent on him to support the nominee. >> that changed after donald

trump's lewd comments during an access hollywood segment were leaked. >> when you're a star they let you do it. >> you can do anything. whatever you want. >> grab them by the [ bleep ]. >> the "access hollywood" tape was john mccain's final straw. that's when he would not vote for donald trump. >> i have daughters. i have friends. i have so many wonderful people on my staff. they cannot be degraded and demeaned in that fashion. >> but on election night -- >> in one of the most shocking u.s. elections in modern political history, donald trump overcame all the odds and defeated hillary clinton. >> mccain wakes up in the morning of november 9th just utterly stunned. trump has won. and beyond all the other things about trump's personal behavior, mccain is most troubled about trump's world view. >> and his concerns didn't subside after the inauguration. >> what concerns me is his views

on national security and russia and vladimir putin and sanctions. >> mccain criticized the trump administration's refugee ban and its handling of a controversial navy s.e.a.l. raid in yemen. also in his book, the restless wade, he defended james comey after comey was fired by president trump. but during a june 27 senate intelligence committee hearing with former director comey, the normally sharp-minded senator stumbled and he appeared to be confused. >> so she was clearly involved in this whole situation where fake news, as you just described it, big deal. >> i was on the air live at the time of the comey hearing, and i was alarmed to say the least. >> in the case of mr. comey, you -- the president comey -- >> no sir.

>> case of president trump. >> a month later, it was announced that mccain underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from over his left eye. >> i was unsettled by that because it did indicate there was some pathology testing to be done and there would be a followup. >> four days later. >> the senate maverick and american hero in the fight of his life after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. >> i was on the phone to john mccain when i heard about it, just almost as an aside. well, i have some chemo therapy coming up. so it was very typical john mccain. let's talk about things that are more important or bigger. by the way, i have this pesky cancer i've got to deal with. >> mccain underwent treatment for his brain tumor, but true to form, in october, 2017, he made his feelings about the current political climate known when he received a national constitution centers liberty medal. >> 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 who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems -- is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that americans consigned to the ash heap of history. >> john mccain is the real deal. he's a giant figure in the life of the united states senate and this country. ♪ >> in december of 2017, john mccain left washington for arizona to continue his battle with cancer at home. >> you've had so many lives. you're the son of a distinguished naval family. >> yep. >> went to the naval academy. a bit of a wild child for some time. >> to say the least. >> fighter pilot in vietnam.

war hero, i'll be the first to say that. spent all that time in that prison, came back and you've been in the senate twice presidential candidate. >> both times lost. >> what do you want to be remembered for? >> he served his country. that's what i like to see. he served his country hopefully with the word honorably on it. that's all. ♪ they're americans, and we never give up. we never quit. we never hide from history. we make history. >> mccain's not in it for the wins and losses of politics. mccain is in it for the worthiness of the fight. >> from p.o.w. to presidential contender. >> the mac is back. >> he weathered scandal.