thanks four watching this hour of "velshi & ruhle." i'm ali velshi. i'll see you back here at 3:00 p.m. eastern. check us out on social media and connect to our sho show @velshiruhle. now time to hand it over to "andrea mitchell reports." right now on "andrea mitchell reports," heading for the exits. president trump announcing white house counsel don mcgahn will be leaving after the vote on his new supreme court nominee. the announcement on twitter is the president is reportedly still eager to fire attorney general jeff sessions despite support for sessions among some top senate republicans. >> i have total confidence in the attorney general. i think he ought to stay exactly where he is. >> should jeff sessions be replaced? >> i don't think so. i think jeff sessions is a good man. he brings unquestioned integrity to this office. >> coming up here, dianne feinstein. the top democrat on the judiciary committee.

feinstein holds the supreme court hearings in the committee next week. the trump factor. in the florida governor's race, the republican nominee is rewarded for wrapping his arms around the president while an upset victory for a progressive democratic nominee sizes up how the president will play in november. >> talking about donald trump and reminding folks of how bad he is and how unqualified he is for the job that he holds doesn't do anything to ensure that they're able to make ends meet. and american hero. this hour in arizona, the mccain family arrives at the state capitol where senator mccain will lie in state today. on the floor of the senate, a tearful tribute from his long time friend, lindsey graham. >> i do not cry for -- i cry for a man who had honor and always was willing to admit to his

imperfection. >> john mccain's fellow arizona senator jeff flake and democratic partner on the armed services committee, jack reed. and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where the president is confirming on twitter that white house counsel don mcgahn will be leaving after the supreme court nomination hearings for brett kavanaugh. he is said to be still considering firing attorney general jeff sessions. rudy giuliani said the president last discussed removing sessions several months ago and agreed to hold off until after robert mueller wrapped up his investigation. to sort all this out, white house reporter ashley parker joins me now. ashley, you've got some reporting on don mcgahn.

did he know the president was going to announce his departure on twitter today? >> our understanding is he did not know that this was going to be announced on twitter. and i think the key way to understand that, as described to me by someone i spoke with close to the white house, everyone sort of knew don mcgahn was likely to leave after the midterms, near the end of the year, after the kavanaugh confirmation. none of that is particularly new. but what president trump was doing here by announcing that publicly on twitter was sort of boxing him in and saying, you know, look, i'm done with you too, i'm so done with you, i'm willing to announce it in a tweet, that you're not necessarily aware of, and even if you decide to stay or things change, this is over, we're done here. >> that is a breakup, i think we've all been through breakups earlier in our lives, but it's sort of a high school kind of breakup, telling somebody through a social post that you're done. >> yeah, it's not the first time that trump has fired a staff

member that way. i believe he fired his first secretary of state by tweet. >> he did indeed, on a monday morning when rex tillerson was just back from a trip to asia. >> that's how reince priebus, first chief of staff, learned. he was sitting in a staff van on a rainy night, they had just landed somewhere, and they saw another tweet. it's a way of the president showing his displeasure and making something official. everyone on this white house is on their way out, but until the president says it, it's a fungible barrier and now we know it's official for don mcgahn. >> there's a lot of mixed signals on jeff sessions. we have lindsey graham completely flipping from what he had said earlier about jeff sessions, saying the time is running out and the relationship cannot be repaired. we have the majority leader saying he wants sessions to stay but then there's the signal, is it only until after the

election. >> look, the president has always made quite clear, frankly, again on social media that he is no fan of his attorney general and he wants jeff sessions gone. the big question is kind of, when. and there is a sense that people have tried to persuade the president and frankly sessions himself that he cannot leave before the elections because it would be politically problematic, potentially that trump can't fire him even before robert mueller has wrapped up his probe. but what's interesting here, and you mentioned senator graham, but there have been another -- a number of others. jeff sessions is someone who is a former senator, well-liked by his colleagues at least in the sense that they don't think he should be fired. you're now hearing these lawmakers kind of say, look, the relationship isn't tenable, it has to end at some point. >> and a quick question, just circled back to don mcgahn for a moment, does the white house accept the fact that he was appropriately talk to the mueller team, or is there some suggestion by some that he

talked too much and may have divulged too much even though his role is not as the president's lawyer, his role is as the lawyer for the presidency. >> sure. fairly or unfairly, there is absolutely a perception and frustration in the white house that don mcgahn was maybe too free and open with mueller's team and in his role as white house counsel he did not exert executive privilege for other people who were called in the way that he should have, and basically the short of it is he could have done, they believe, a better job of protecting the president. >> ashley parker, thank you so much for starting us off. and we couldn't have a better guest now than california senator dianne feinstein, top democrat on the judiciary committee which is about to hold those hearings for brett kavanaugh, joining us from the russell building. senator, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> senator, i wanted to ask about the suggestion that sessions should go, don mcgahn is about to leave according to

the president's twitter feed. first of all, what about sessions, the attorney general? how do you see that move? >> well, i see that move as a firing out of pique. and it's really way below a president's level. i see the justice department being responsible to the people of the country, not the president, and the attorney general the same way. i see nothing of any kind of misconduct by senator sessions as the head of the department. and again, clearly the president has, as you said many times, can't get over his not recusing himself in the mueller investigation. and of course recusal is absolutely the right thing for the attorney general to have done, it showed me that he had courage and that he had a conviction. and i thought it was a very positive thing. >> and is there any situation

where this could actually play into an obstruction issue, to be trying to push sessions out, which could lead to the firing of rod rosenstein, which could lead to a domino effect that would affect the mueller probe? >> well, i think that this theory is alive and well, and i think we're going to have to wait and see what mueller finds. but if i understand what mr. cohen has said, the president directed him to essentially commit a felony. and that's obstruction of justice. so we're going to have to wait and see. >> under the laws that now obtain, there doesn't necessarily have to be a hearing to replace and confirm a new attorney general, because there could be an appointment under the vacancy act, and he could -- he or she could be the new attorney general and it could be anyone who has already been confirmed to a position from any

department, any confirmed office-holder could become the acting attorney general for at least a year. >> all i can say to that, andrea, is wow. i certainly didn't know that. and i've been here for a while, and i tried to do my work, congratulations. that's a real problem, as i see it, because there should be public hearings on whoever takes this office. i certainly hope the president isn't going to do this. you know, this idea that the president gives the head of the justice department orders is one that i don't subscribe to either. the law is the law, and all these people at justice are there to carry out the law. they're not members of the president's staff. >> speaking of the president's staff, the white house counsel technically is the counsel for the office of the presidency, not the personal lawyer of this

president. >> right. >> and it seems as though he's being punished with his departure, announced on the president's twitter feed today. >> well, i mean, that's just one more surprise in a line of surprises. it certainly doesn't show any grace or thankfulness. it's just, you know, here's my message, you're out. we've had a very good relationship with mr. mcgahn. there's a lot of concern over the ninth circuit and both senator harris and i worked together and have a screening committee, and we have both met with him and discussed various appointments. and i think for the ninth circuit, i think that's very helpful. so everything i know about mr. mcgahn is entirely positive. >> brett kavanaugh, the hearings start on tuesday, tuesday and wednesday. >> yes. >> what do you want to hear from this mnominee?

>> well, this is going to be a very interesting hearing. because there is very deep concern on the democratic side of the aisle about this nominee. and i think let me begin by saying, we've had a great deal of trouble to get the documents that are necessary. and let me give you a point of comparison. we got 99% of elena kagan's white house records. we have 4% of kavanaugh's white house records. these records are important because you look at e-mails and you see where 12 years ago, when he was before the committee for an appellate court position, he said one thing, in the white house he said another, and then he may have said a third different thing. so you at least know that this man is not consistent on all fronts. so i think this is a very big

hearing, our biggest. he will control, most likely, the majority of the court on key issues. certainly issues of presidential supremacy in which he's a very strong believer. he doesn't even believe that the president should be investigated. he believes that there are certain commissions like the fec and others that the president can just remove the head of at will and replace. and so it is a very strong, arbitrary position for presidential supremacy. and here we have a man that a good friend has said he violated the law, committed a felony, gave him instructions to carry out certain orders, and that of course is mr. cohen. >> finally, i want to ask you about john mccain. you're on opposite sides of the aisle, but typically john mccain stood with you on the whole

issue of waterboarding and torture. >> yes. >> he was your partner, he had your back. what are your thoughts about him as we memorialize him this week? >> my thoughts about him are very strong. he's going to be really missed. when the torture report came out, it was very controversial. and i went to the floor. as soon as i finished, i turned around and mccain was right there speaking. we subsequently actually went to gau guantanamo, this is kind of a cute story. as you know, the detention facilities there are very difficult if not deplorable. but the people there are all accused of having participated in terrorist attacks of one kind or another against our country. and coming home on the plane we were talking about his arrest, his detention in hanoi, at the hanoi hilton. and he told us about how he and his colleagues developed a tap

code so they could tap on the wall and communicate. this tap code was like a morse code. and so as we were flying in the air, he was tapping and saying what the tapping meant. and to this very day, he retained that. and that was amazing to me. he was a very independent -- he could have very sobering outbursts, but when the chips were down, john mccain was there with heart and muscle and it made a difference. it makes a difference to the senate. and i know it made a difference to the republican party. and yes, it made a difference for those of us who are democrats as well. john mccain in my book is a great hero. >> thank you so much for your reflections on john mccain.

thank you, senator, it's great to see you today. >> thank you, good to see you. and coming up next, phoenix son. the family and friends will gather shortly in arizona to honor john mccain. fellow arizona senator jeff flake joins me. stay with us. flake joins me stay with us for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. in arizona at this hour, the

mccain family gathering at the funeral home. at the state capitol, thousands are lining up on a very hot day to bid a final farewell to the senator. he will lie in state on what would have been his 82nd birthday today. joining me now is republican arizona senator jeff flake, who will be giving the benediction at today's memorial service. senator, my condolences to you, i know this has been such a difficult time, no matter how long you prepare and the family prepares, and you're part of the extended family, you're never really ready for this. >> right. it's a loss for all of us, all 7 million plus arizonans, 330 million plus americans as well. it's a big loss, to have this on his birthday, it's a special time here at the capitol. >> senator, tell us about the last time you talked to him. how did you say your farewell?

>> thank you, i've been up to the ranch on a number of occasions. the last time being just the day before he passed away. it was a sweet time to be there with his family, surrounding him there. i can tell you, he has a wonderful family, that has supported him so well, and has sacrificed so much for him to be shared by all of us. but by the last long conversation i had was earlier in the year, we were up at the ranch, just sitting out on the deck and watching oak creek wander by. and for over an hour, we sat there and talked about arizona's past and its future and the country's past and future, and reflected on personalities of the past that he admired and his hope and optimism that such leaders would rise up in the future. >> can you share with us why you

think he chose two former presidents who denied him the presidency by defeating him, george w. bush and barack obama, to eulogize him? >> they were friends of his. that was one thing we learned from john mccain, he saw humanity in everybody. his captors, those who tortured him in vietnam, and his political opponents. i think it's perfectly fitting, and i think he wanted a statement made as well that we ought to see the good in our opponents, that these political battles are just political battles and in the end we're all americans, we're all friends. i hope that's what we take from all of these ceremonies, we ought to be kinder and see the humanity in our opponents. >> is it also implicitly a rebuke to the current president, donald trump?

>> i prefer to see it just as a way to say that we can get past -- get past these political contests, this week i hope we can emphasize the positive. the positive is we have people of a different party, and of his own party who defeated him in politics, at one time or another. and they're going to say wonderful things about him at his funeral. that should tell us a lot about john mccain and how we can be better. >> i was very struck by the day after a primary election in the republican party, and in the democratic party out there in arizona, the voters spoke and you tweeted today, and i'm wondering whether it's also in that spirit, where you tweeted to both, congratulations to kyrsten sinema and representative mcsally for winning their respective primary

races last night. so you're congratulating a democrat as well as a republican. >> you bet. whether it's a democrat or republican representing arizona, it's going to be the first female senator in arizona's history in our more than hundred-year history. that's a wonderful thing, we ought to all celebrate that. and i hope that it's a good contest in the next three months. it's a short general election campaign. i hope we can get away from the vitriol that usually accompanies these kind of contests and celebrate the fact that we're going to have a change, we'll have a female senator for the first time. that's a wonderful thing. and i wish them both well. >> there was a little bit of action on that front also on the republican side because the president tweeted after martha mcsally won her primary against two republican opponents who were certainly much more hard line than she, martha mackal see, running in the arizona primary for u.s. senate, was endorsed by rejected senator jeff flake and turned it down, a

first. now martha, a great u.s. military fighter jet pilot and highly respected member of congress, wins big, all caps, congratulations and on to november. you responded on twitter, sorry, donald trump, i made no endorsement in this race, i think the last endorsement i made was in the alabama race, question mark. showing the check, the canceled check there. >> i thought i needed to remind that i made no endorsement in this race. i knew in a contest like this, you know, this is the president's party right now, much to i think all of our consternation, i'm not -- i don't feel too good about our future as a republican party if we just continue to drill down on the base and demonize our enemies and try to win elections without appealing to a broader electorate. i am concerned about the party.

as for me, i'm fine. i've lived a very charmed political life, and 18 years in washington, i've enjoyed every minute of it. and i wish both of those who won their respective primaries well. >> do you see a political future for yourself on the national stage? >> i'll never be too far from it. i do care about politics. i hope we can find a way to move forward and recognize that we've got to find the center, you know, we can't go on simply going to the extremes from both parties. i'm concerned about that. so i'll certainly be around and find ways to contribute. i also am anxious for this fever to cool a little bit. but i'm anxious to play some kind of role. >> senator, we want to thank you. again, our condolences. i know you'll be giving the

benediction and helping to heal at the service today. we thank you very much. >> thank you. it's a day of both mourning in arizona and celebration for a wonderful life lived. so thank you. >> thanks, senator flake. and of course be sure to join us tomorrow for the first interview also with former national security adviser general h.r. mcmaster. his first interview hins leaving the trump white house. he'll be out there in arizona, of course was a great friend of john mccain. he'll be talking about the legacy of his friend senator john mccain. and coming up, sunshine showdown. a stunning democratic primary upset, setting the stage for general election matchup never seen before, pitting a bernie sanders progressive against a trump-loving republican. and of course a lot more from arizona and the commemorations for john mccain. stay with us right here. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. rts" on msnbc. to the junior prom with.

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an historic moment in florida politics, an upset victory for an african-american, tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, narrowly defeating florida

congresswoman gwen graham, a popular politician. and now you have an african-american democratic nominee for governor. >> we together with all of you, over the next several months, are going to make our way across the state of florida, to rural counties, to blue counties, to purple counties, and we're going to unite this state, end the derision, end the division that has been coming out of our white house. right here in the state of florida, we are going to remind this nation of what is truly the american way. >> gillum's upset sets the stage for a major general election showdown with president trump's hand-picked republican nominee ron desantis, who caused a stir already today with these comments about gillum on fox. >> you know, he is an articulate spokesman for those far left views and he's a charismatic

candidate. i watched those democratic debat debates, none of that is my cup of tea but he performed better than anyone else there. the last thing we need to do is monkey this up with huge tax increases and a socialist agenda. that's not going to be good for florida. >> let's take that apart with jim rutenberg and jonathan capehart. let's talk about the fact that he said "let's not monday cank up." ron desantis's campaign manager said, ron desantis was obviously talking about florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies, that's their words, to characterize it as anything else is absurd. we asked ron desantis to come on

but he's not agreed to any interviews. is it fair to call him on on saying gillum is articulate and let's not monkey this up? >> he's in this election now and there are going to be some sensitive topics about race. and, you know, one thing that part of that base has had to deal with were questions like this, for the last couple of years. so we'll see. but first of all, can we just say, it always comes to florida, right? here we are again. that will be an issue. the bigger issue will be how will these two candidates juggle their own bases, and that 3 million plus number for independent voters in florida who may ultimately decide the election. >> in fact, let's first drill down on this for just a moment, jonathan, what is your takeaway from the morning after this election?

>> i was not surprised that andrew gillum would win. i interviewed him on my podcast for "the washington post" back in june. he sounded a lot to me like stacey abrams who went on to become the democratic nominee for governor in georgia. to have his opponent already out the gate with i don't even want to call them dog whistles, at this point it's just flat out blatant racism. when you have "articulate," "perform." to me the whole "monkeing it up" theme, it's the emphasis that he put on that word. his campaign denies what he said, but when you're talking about the first nominee of either party, first african-american in florida, you know, whether you meant it or not, it's going to be perceived that way. if we're going to get away from

this atmosphere of anger and fear and blatant racism, it would be great if the republican nominee would just own up to it, move along and not do it again. >> there's a lot of money also, to both of you, jonathan and jim, spent on this race, you had t tom steyers on the democratic side. and bill nelson being challenged by rick scott, of course a former statewide office holder, that could end up being one of the races that decides who controls the senate. >> andrea, florida is an expensive state to run in. one thing i want to say about base politics, and it goes to your last question is, how much did esantis will play on the mo incendiary rhetoric, it's day

one, we'll see, but if we've learned anything from donald trump's election, it's that money is not dispositive today. it's how strident will each be and, you know, you say certain things and they take off on twitter, and it defeats a $100 million ad buy. so money will not necessarily be everything here. >> and the other thing i want to ask both of you about was the president's comments to evangelical leaders at the white house after the press left, so there was no coverage of this, but apparently, according to all comments, he in speaking to these leaders talked about what if the democrats win in the midterms, they will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently, violently, there's violence when you look at antifa, when you look at some of these groups, these are violent people. he's associating democratic candidates, office holders and challengers, with antifa who has participated in some of these

protests. jonathan, this is, again, more than a dog whistle. >> yes, this is outrageous. the peaceful transfer of power is, you know, one of the bed rocks of american democracy. and for the president to say that people will be violent because if they come into the majority, is -- it's an anathema to everything we are as a people and as a country. but the president has shown he is not averse to a campaign using fear. we saw it with his presidential campaign. i guarantee you we'll most likely see it in the florida campaign between gillum and desantis. one thing i do know for sure, if you paid attention to the race that gillum won, he ran on issues. he ran on gun control. he ran on minimum wage. he ran on medicare for all. >> the environment. >> also the environment. and also, to jim's point, that money isn't going to be a big

deal. he was the one, gillum, had the least amount of money and spent the least amount of money and won the race. >> a lot of lessons learned. jim and jonathan, thank you both so much for joining us today. in detroit, an outpouring of support as hundreds of fans line up to pay their final respects to the queen of soul. aretha franklin as she lies in repose for two days at the charles h. wright museum of african-american history. the funeral is set for friday with guests including stevie wonder, ariana grande, faith hill, and others. franklin of course died on august 16th after battling pancreatic cancer. she was 76 years old. how can we say when you book direct at choicehotels.com

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looking at live pictures in phoenix. very soon the procession will be en route to the state capitol for a memorial service honoring john mccain before tomorrow's religious service and commemorations here and in washington later in the week. senator mccain will lie in it state in arizona today on what would have been his 82nd birthday. the public will have a chance to pay their respects to him in arizona following the ceremony which will begin in about 15 minutes. so you can see the motorcade and you see kelly o'donnell is joining us as well, as we see

white house correspondent kelly o'donnell, who has covered senator mccain for years. joining me here, democratic senator jack reed, john mccain's long time democratic wing man, if i may, on the armed services committee, and eugene robinson, "washington post" columnist and an msnbc contributor. especially to you, senator reed, i know you've traveled the world with john mccain, and this is a very difficult passage for you. you lost your partner. >> he was an extraordinary, generous and kind person to me. he was a dynamic and amazing personality. he was a partner. i had tremendous respect for him as an extraordinary american hero. i think he gave me a little bit of credit for being in the army for 12 years. so we got along. >> two veterans as well. speaking of veterans, our own veteran correspondent kelly

o'donnell, as we can see the beginning of the motorcade from the funeral home. you can see the hearse there, kelly, as the motorcycle escort is beginning this procession. it's a ten-minute drive, wednesdwe understand, and then there will be a ceremony at the capitol where former governors, former senators, arizona political figures are gathering to pay tribute to john mccain, the man you covered for so many years on the campaign trail and of course at the capitol, kelly. >> reporter: so many campaigns, andrea, for the white house and senate reelections and so forth. we're in the final minutes of course before the family and the late senator arrive here at the capitol. you may see a lot of activity around us here as people are getting set. the organizers who have included staffers to senator john mccain across the decades who now have other jobs and have moved on in their life and those who currently worked for the senator have come together as sort of a

team mccain, to try to organize things here as well as extensive cooperation from the governor of arizona, doug ducey. and we are also seeing an outpouring of veterans who are at the perimeter. you may not be able to see them in some of the camera shots that we'll be presenting over the next while, but there are many who have already begun to turn out. and then as a part of the ceremony you will see many men and women in uniform who will be taking part in the formal aspects of this first public way for the family, the state of arizona, and much more broadly, the national community to say goodbye to john mccain. as i have shared with you, he was always a number one fan of the diamondbacks and the cardinals and a huge enthusiast for arizona sports. in most of my hallway conversations with him, which were not the kinds of things that ended up on stories on television, they were always

arizona anecdotes and regaling us with arizona. quite fitting that this is the first place that people will have a chance to thank senator mccain for his service and by extension comfort the family and put in perspective from not the man known around the world but the man known in the city that he loved and among the people and the community. they were very active, of course as you would expect, the senator and his family, in the local community. so the school friends of the children, seven grown children, five grandchildren, an extended mccain family. as we've pointed out, roberta mccain, his mother, 106 years old, is doing well, we're told. she lives back east and will not be here today, but will be part of the services in washington, d.c. and at the u.s. naval academy. i'm sure she's watching all of this closely. hard to imagine a mother losing her son in this way at this time at 106.

the family is big and very irish, which i can relate to. this is a multiday way of celebrating the life, chronicling the public service, and hopefully telling some good funny stories about john mccain, of which there are so many. this is poignant as well to see the hearse moving through arizona. we had a catch you in the throat moment last night when he was taken from his sedona home in the first motorcade when people came out spontaneously with the flag and saluting, and now through the streets of phoenix from what has been his home for a very long time. a big part of this community. and andrea, as you know, he never had a home base, if you will, as a young man, being part of a navy family, moving a lot, born in panama. when he and cindy married, he embraced arizona as his own and they of course have embraced him. he is what they say here is a

favorite adopted son, one they're very proud of, andrea. >> and in fact as you pointed out, when he first ran for the house from arizona after marrying cindy and she came from a prominent family there, when he first ran for the house of representatives, deciding on a political career because he could not pursue his dream of following his father and grandfather in rising through the ranks on active duty deployment around the world, given his disabilities from having been tortured for several years and permanently losing the movement of his arm, he was accused initially, for about a week, of being a carpet bagger. he deflected that very quickly in the first comments, in his first speech, by saying, i'm told, until that moment the longest place he had ever stayed in one place was in hanoi, at the hanoi hilton. so he really did not have a home state, as it were. he was actually raised in the washington area because his

father was at the pentagon for much of that time. eugene robinson is here, eugene, what is so striking also, i was talking to jeff flake about this earlier, is his choice for the -- among the eulogists, two people who broke his heart, denying him the opportunity to be president. george w. bush, that very difficult south carolina race, you're a south carolinian, the race was a bitter issue then, and they made their peace in ensuing years, including his support for the iraq surge, and getting the president to agree to that. and then of course barack obama, and again, the mccain concession speech in 2008 is one of the great political speeches of our time, of any time in terms of grace and mobility. >> mm-hmm, right.

and so these were two men who were important to john mccain, not necessarily in what looked like a positive way at first. but as usual, he's making a point. he's making a point by having these two men speak at his funeral and it is a point about our political system of the way it works and supposed to work. it is also by the way it does not work now or it is not working now. because george w. bush and barack obama can share a stage and have a conversation and can agree on basics of the american system and our democracy of our political discourse, in a way, frankly the current president kan can not.

i am going to mention one issue on which i think john mccain's contributions was irreplaceable and that was torture. he was imposed to what was called enhanced interrogation techniques which of torture and the only congress to my knowledge that experienced torture. it was not necessarily a profitable position in the country. a lot of people believed that end justified the means. he said no, it was wrong and unproductive. i think it was a great thing. >> as we watched the governor ducey and his wife coming out to greet, which you see on the right side of your screen is escorted by a motorcade escort

en route to state capital. the point of torture record, senator reid, i was interviewing di diane feinstein earlier today, she said those difficult times she took on some entrenched opposition, john mccain was the first speech after her speech on the senate floor because john mccain had her back on it. >> john, as she pointed out was incredibly, not only effective but it was personal for him for obvious reasons. he suffered torture and he knew outstanding -- the other factor that prompted that he understood that if we could do this to others, how could we object this in iraq troops and how can we protect our soldiers. that was just as compelling to

him as always was. what effect does this have on the young men and women serving in uniforms in the united states. for principle reasons and very personal reasons protecting the troops, he was there covering diane's back and everyone's back and making it a point. >> we should also point out that we'll see the family through the ceremonies. jimmy is 30 and jack is 32. jacket is an active duty and went to annapolis and is a pilot. jimmy enlisted and ended up in the service as well. so, it is significant. this is a military family. >> it is a great family tradition. he and i were constantly battling back and forth about annapolis verses west point. we had the same jokes, we had

the different jokes. >> it interesting that it goes in the family, i was talking to someone i met the other day that he driven roberta mccain to an appointment in washington, d.c. and, he acknowledged that he was a retired army veteran and she said, let me out of this car. it was so john mccain. that was the way he used to call us jerks in the hallway, kelly o'donell, how many times john mccain in the bus or at the capitol insults you? >> reporter: so often. he's known to be the son of an admiral and grandson of an admiral. he was with his mother far more because they were deployed and serving and so would it be appropriate to call it cranky wit or something he exhibited

and she has teased me about it as well. she to these days referring to her son, her middle child as johnny. when i spoke to roberta mccain, she was never the senator and always johnny. i have been thinking of her so much of what she has seen in her lifetime, a mother who worried about a son who was held captive for which of all those five and a half years were difficult, a son for whom she was so proud and a family that believed in service, she lived it as a navy wife. she told me she moved a lot. two navy move is the equivalent of a house fire. you get rid of your positions and stream down of your things. john mccain often exhibited his mother's spirit even though he carried his father's name and inspired by his father and grandfather's career. >> roberta mccain who had a twin

sister up until they were well into their 90s or if not older. her sister has passed. they used to enjoy summer trips throughout france and used to rent a car. they bought a car and left it in france so they can drive together because they could not get pass the rental clause. i think we can all enjoy these two very spirited ladies. they'll be approaching and greeted by the guard and the governor and then the casket will be brought into state's capitol hill whe capit capitol. the public will be invited in and there will be a public respect here in the rotunda and senator reid. john mccain will be the 31st american, former president's

statement and former senator in some cases, hubert humphrey, who align laid on the rotunda as well. it will be similar to the arrangement for our former president which we have seen and experienced and the interment will be in indianapolis. he'll be in termed with his great friend, he was not fifth from his class as john mccain was. chuck lawson before he died arranged for john mccain and cindy to have burial sites with the lawsons at the naval cemetery and that in terment will be on sunday.

>> is ceremony in washington are well- well-deserved. he's one of the most remarkable americans and senator of our lifetime and american history. i think it is fitting and appropriate that he should be recognized this way and my colleagues feel the same way. we'll miss him. this is the way for america to pay appropriate tribute to a great american hero. there is also talk from chuck schumer and from some republicans, jeff flake, will be given the benediction here today as we see the hearse arriving where his office was for all of those years of 30 years in the senate. that's some what controversial. it would be taking an honor away from the segregationist, richard russell, the former senator from the south. >> buildings and statues, they

honor people that we now honor and we now honor or values have changed. it will be amazing that the republican party can't get rid of a democratic segregationist of yours who fought for civil rights legislation tooth and nail and replace it with republicans any time. >> let's watch as we see the hearse have pulled up to the capital. there is the honor guards as you can see. this is the beginning of the ceremony that will take place over the next few days on both sides of the country in arizona and washington, d.c. paying tributes to the extraordinary man.

if you are joining us, cindy mccain and an honor guard is being greeted by the governor, governor ducey and his wife at the arizona state capitol as john mccain's casket has arrived coming from the motor home. the honor guard there. first we are seeing mrs. mccain who has been at her husband's side day and night for all of these months since december after he left the capitol, his final vote was on december 7th. he then went back to sedona to his beloved ranch as he fought this battle with very aggressive fatal brain