>> ♪ >> off topton night senator john mccainin the fight of his life. the arizona republican is battling brain cancer and today tributes and well wishes for the former presidential candidate are pouring in on capitol hill and across the country. >> as you can see of course it is the top story on the run down on the side of your screen here at 6:30. tweet us what's on your mind on this or any other story using the #5at630. senator mccain revealing yesterday he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. the tumor was discovered during surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye last week. >> tonight we'll take a closer look at his outlook and the impact his illness could have both obviously from the health concerns because that's first and for most but there are political ramifications we have to talk about. let's start with the health issue.

. internist and emergency physician. good evening. >> good evening. >> first tell us what a glioblastoma is. >> well, a it's a highly aggressive kind of a cancer and it also has another characteristic it makes it difficult to treat which is that can infiltrate into the brain so when you go to cut it out you may think you got everything but in fact there are still some cancerous cells left behind. >> so, doctor what is the outlook here? what is the prognosis for him do you think? how is he going to do? >> well, first of all i want to say senator mccain is an american hero and i'm sending him all my wishes for a speedy recovery. what the medical literat

tells us about the cancer is that the prognosis is not good, that people, particularly people who are older and half of these cancers occur in adults who are over 65, tend to do less well than people who are younger. and so the average prognosis is in terms of months as opposed to years, although some experts are reported people living for as long as several years, five years, along that line but that is really the minority of patients. >> you know, i know somebody was diagnosed in his early he- 40's he's hanging in there and it's been years and years and you hope for the same for senator mccain. when you talk about treatment options he says he's talking to the doctors at the mayo clinic. what do you throw at something like this? is that a combination of things? is it

just chemo? what do you do. >> well, standard therapy is that first of all you try and resect as much as you can without causing any neurologic damage and evidently at least from what i've read they've been able to do that. then the standard options after that are to get radiation and a type of standard chemotherapy which is the kind of chemotherapy we're all familiar with that, you know, kills cancer cells. there is a drug that's being used for recurrence, the brand name is evastin and that drug is a targeted therapy, the kinds of new therapies that we're using for cancer but right now it's only approved by the fda to be used in recurrent glioblastoma although of course his doctors could decide to use that drug if they thought it was indicated and if that's what senator mccain wants to have, they could decide to use it in what we

>> okay. doctor, obviously the senator's health is of the utmost concern but a lot of people are wanting to know what level of functionality will he have during this time when he's under treatment because a lot of people wonder what will be his ability to work or what will he be able to to? >> sure. well, first of all he has to recover from his surgery before they can give him whatever kind of therapy they decide to give him whether it's radiation alone or radiation and chemotherapy. so, that's usually a couple of weeks and then there's, you know, five or six weeks in which he'll be undergoing the therapy and he will need to be close to his doctors during that time period. so, he could work at a distance, right, but i think it would be -- for most of us, i don't know, senator mccain's a pretty hard fellow. >> he's a tough guy, yeah. >> yeah, he may find that he's able to go back and forth to washington, d.c. during that time but most of us would probably stick pretty close to where we were getting

treatment. >> sure, sure. aaall right, doctor we and appreciate it tonight. in the meantime let's move on just for now. outpouring of support from both sides of the aisle for senator mccain. >> tom fitzgerald has reaction from some of the lawmakers who are close with him as well. hey, tom. >> reporter: good evening, sarah, jim. we spend so much time up here talking about the political battles that go on that sometimes it gets lost in the mix that this is a workplace and that people build relationships up here over long periods of time. remember, john mccain has been in the united states senate for 30 years. he was in the house of representatives for a couple of years before that so he is a stalwart up here. there are many senators and category men who don't -- congressmen who don't remember a time when john mccain was up here when they were not. factor that into the reaction here. the feelings are very strong. perhaps mccain's best friend up here arguably i think everybody would say is that probably senator lindsey graham. they are

times. graham spoke today. he was at a preplanned event for an immigration bill but obviously the question turned to the fate of his friend right now, which many people are concerned about. lindsey graham got pretty emotional when he started talking about his hope and his concern for john mccain and this is what he talked about when he said and was asked about when he thinks mccain could return. >> it was a -- a really tough operation but john is ready to come back and i ask one thing of the good lord, just give him a chance for what time he's got left and i've got left to be relevant. >> reporter: saying if it's one thing i could ask the good lord. of course this is hitting both democrats and republicans. now, the political aspect of this can't be escaped. you know republicans only have a 52 seat majority in the senate. we saw just this week how razor thin this is and they were unable to advancehe

so, having one of the most well known voices on the republican side sidelined right now is a political detriment to the republican agenda. you cannot escape that. we did hear other stories about john mccain here, about wham role he's played in crossing back and forth amongst party lines. one of the most interesting i heard today was in talking to virginia senator tim kaine. now he told us a story we hadn't heard before about his first day back in the senate after losing the vice president see in the 2016 election. kaine tells me when he was approached by another senator -- the ma and who lost the presidency in 2008. listen to this. >> mccain kind of seeks me out and comes and finds me and says tim, there's only one person in this body right now hoop understands the way you're feeling and that's me. there's other people who have run in the primaries, et cetera, but beingn

national ticket and falling short at least in the senate right now it's just you and me and we know how it feels and he said and my advice to you is just throw yourself back into your work. and so i heeded john's advice. >> reporter: it's no secret the politicians have been at logger heads the past six months especially today was a reminder and although under circumstances that no one would want there's a reason they call the united states the most exclusive club in the world. >> i'll tell was fitz this reminds me of ted kennedy being dagnose the with brain cancer in 2008 as they were right before the election going up through the healthcare battle back then so just the parallels in some regard there is striking. >> reporter: more ways than that, too, jim. senator kennedy and senator mccain were very close both personally and professionally. a lot of times when a republican had to reach across the tale

mccain's hand and kennedy's hand you saw gripped in that embrace. there's a lesson to be learned in this about the legacy he has forged here and what many people hope continues if he's able to get back here in near time. >> all right. tom fitzgerald thank you much. >> meanwhile the other big political headline tonight president trump says he regrets choosing jeff sessions to be his attorney general. >> in a revealing new york times interview and i want you to take keep that in mind, president trump said had he known sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the russia investigation he would have never appointed him. take a look. >> frankly i think it's very unfair to the president. how do you take a job and then recuse yourself. if he would have recused himself before the job, i would have said thanks jeff but i can't -- you know, i'm not going to take you. it's extremely unfair and that's a mild word to the president. >> sessions was one of president trump's earliest supporters and acted as a campaign surrogate but meeting that sessions had with russia's

u.s. led to the attorney general stepping aside from overseeing the russia investigation which opened the door for the appointment avenue special counsel robert mueller who is in the midst of that wide range investigation. >> lana tre. m. >> he did get rid rest acting director sally yates before he dismissed her. is this something -- is this a road you think he would go down again by letting jeff sessions go? >> it's a tricky road here. so, trump doesn't have leverage over sessions or to make sessions resign. he doesn't have any better options so deputy attorney general rod rosenstein has already proven that he's not going to phoned trump's wants and needs and sessions has already been a supporter of trump. he was the first senator to come out and support trump's presidency. and aside from recusing himself in the russia investigation he's

he alliance with trump on most of his policy. he loves cracking down on sanctuary cities and putting the bad guys away and so trump doesn't really want to have sessions resign because he doesn't really have a better option. >> and i know you've heard this a thousand times by now but we're going play it for everybody at home. this is jeff sessions today had a press conference related to something totally different but the topic came up. listen. >> i have the honor of serving as attorney general. it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. we love this job. we love this department. and i plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate. >> assoc-- so elena people are saying why is the president going off message and does this go back to the problem with messaging in this white house where sometimes at this time means the only arbiter who decides what's going to get out there is donald trump. >> right. a lot of people are actually surprised he hasn't tweeted about this

i think everyone in the white house is thankful that he hasn't. deputy press secretary sara sanders said today that although trump is frustrated, he has no plans on having him resign and if he did, sessions wouldn't still be attorney general. and so i think that was the white house trying to backtrack a bit from the interview, the 50 minute new york times interview in the oval office and so that's where the messaging i think they tried to bring it back. >> so o-at this point i mean, it doesn't sound good to hear the president saying this about the attorney general. you know, do they t-, what do they really do now to try to spin this around or can they really recover from this and what is your thought on that? > i think recovery means -- there's been a lot thrown at the trump administration. they have crisesevery day and they somehow always come back from them. i think that there will be a new message tomorrow about something else and that hopefully this will probably past. that's what everyone is hoping

at least in the white house. >> elena treen. any time you hear the president say the failing new york times he sat down for 50 minutes with the new york times and they had it on tape so you heard it right there. elena thanks. >> thank you. >> well, president trump also discussed that second meeting with putin that the g20 summit. he said it was merely an exchange of pleasantries and lasted about 15 minutes. >> other statements he interviewed robert mueller to replace jim comb as fbi director and he believes many others in the justice department may have conflicts of interest. that's all coming out too. you know, you get some insight from the man who really is in charge of the message, he's put himself in the hole position of making sure everybody stays on message here because he is the message. >> exactly. all right. let's get the message out there about what the weather is expected to be like heading into -- i was going the say heading into the weekend. it's only thursday isn't it. >> it's that kind of week isn't it. >> or day. >> gary mcgrady hello

been 12 days long because of the hazy, hot and humid conditions. don't feel bad sarah. i think everybody is feeling that way. let's get to the weekend as soon as possible. uh-oh, just as hot. 98 on saturday. little bit cooler on sunday, almost not noticeable. heat index is still going to be running 100 to 108. next week by monday we're 92 so that kind of starts this transition into some cooler temperatures at least into the 80's by the middle part of next week. that will feel so comfortable right. 93 at 7 o'clock. we still technically have a heat advisory in place for the entire area until 7 o'clock tonight. 88 at 9 o'clock. 86 by 11 o'clock. super, super humid, too. real muggy. lows tonight probably not down into the 70's in the city. i think we'll get down maybe 80, 81 degrees for a low. out in the suburbs looks like we'll be able to get down into the 70's but incredibly mild even warm in spots overnight tonight. here's your seven-day forecast whether you want to see it or not at least for the next few days. heat wave is still in effect. a chance of thunderstorms on saturday and

80's by the middle part of next week. so, sarah and jim at least there's something to look forward to. >> all right. >> nice. >> i love your optimism, gary. [laughter] in thank you. >> thanks. >> way in on president trump. today by the way is the sixth month mark. six months ago today he was inaugurated. we'll break down his best and worst moments since taking office. stick around. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> all right so as jim said today marks president trump's first six months in office. so how is he doing. >> we brought in james norton and fatima to talk about the accomplishments of the trump administration. hello to both of you. >> hello. >> we asked for three and we have some varying numbers. the one thing you both agreed on is neil gorsuch as an achievement. i'll start with you. tell me what worked out in his favor here. >> like for any president getting to slot a supreme court justice is huge. obviously mitch mcconnell went to some great

sort of manipulate the senate rules to get him over the finish line so he owes a lot of that to mcconnell but it was something that was able to happen. >> what do you think he brings to the table. >> for conservatives who maybe didn't love a trump candidacy i think the fact they were able to put. >> they put in it campaign ads already the first hundred days the spot that came out they talked about getting neil gorsuch in. >> tell me what are some of the other achievements. some go in line with -- we were talking about judges here the continuing confirmation of federal judges is something you thought. >> yeah, it's sort of was not as much attention on his justices but i think on mostly getting his cabinet filled out. i know sometimes that can take a little bit of while and it did for him and certainly finding people but i would certainly put that in there. i would also say of the one -- the only one bill he's managed to pass was the veteran va accountability act which allowed him -- allowed the

ineptitude in the va which has been a big concern across both parties. >> one more achievement and you brought this one up in your list. we asked you beforehand. one of the big things that worked in the president's favor were these special elections and having a great track record because they were safe republican seats but the democrats really threw the kitchen sink at them. >> i think that democrats probably overplayed their hand a little bit in the sense that not really understanding what the country is thinking about washington and how they feel about that accomplishments and i think that the specialpecial was a big effort put into it to try to win even the georgia seat i think it shows that that president trump still does have a lot of support out there in some of these districts. >> still a 20-point swing in a district that hm traditionally been republican i would say. that was still a big win for us in that regard to say that we would even get that close. >> yeah, absolutely and i would just say that even somebody can body slam a reporter and still get elected though in my town i guess so you never know what the ec

>> and here we go. [laughter] >> all right. i know you want to unleash your list of disappointments so i can feel it brewing so please let me know what your thoughts are here. >> yeah, i would say couple two things. one of the reasons that trump definitely picked up a lot with conservatives is that he promised to keep jobs here in the u.s. carrier was one of those big deals he sort of worked out indiana with pence being outgoing governor. and a couple of other like, you know, auto industries. but unfortunately, you know, a lot of those places still have exported jobs so he's not really quite figured out sort of the regulation there is to keep those jobs from going away. and that's been an issue for him as well as healthcare. at one point said before he was sworn in i want everybody to be on healthcare and then you have a plan that's proposed that could kick 22 to 32 million off of healthcare. >> for being the deal maker he sold himself on the campaign trail he seems to have that not realized negotiating in washington is different than negotiating in

and it it boils down to things like healthcare. >> that's been one of the disappointment. there was this expectation that donald trump could cross that ever divide and work with people like chuck schumer and nancy pelosi and i think that has been a little bit of a disappointment. >> you would both agree on the healthcare being a disappointment. >> it was a core tenet of his campaign, something he and campaigned along i think that they came into this replacement kind of rhetoric kind of right when he came into office but even so they really need to try to figure out a comprehensive plan. >> about 30 seconds left. i think one thing you put on your list was the travel ban saw a disappointment. i'll start with you on that one. i know that was on your list but let's talk about that. i mean, that's been -- it didn't come out smoothly. >> no, it did not. if that was going to be an accomplishment, addressing immigration and tamping down on that, the execution of that wall very messy legally. and it is still an issue and now lo

go before the supreme court so we'll see what's decided there but it definitely wasn't the rollout that they were expecting. >> yeah and i think that's an issue the reality is that the homeland security department has authority and the administration really needs to come up with a plan. >> good to see you both. >> thanks. >> and we're back after this.

>> ♪ >> it is the web site everybody is talking about that you've never heard of it's being hailed as a patriot pavlovich live streamed audio via periscope. she posted the audio. on twitter not a whole lot of people listened but still people said she was patriotic and she was courageous. we still don't know if pavlovich will face repercussions from the white house. wouldn't be surprised. she likely has a temporary badge they can assign on a daily basis. >> they don't have to let her back in which i was

a lot of reporters in there in thereapplauding that somebodd get that information out there. >> washington can be a divided town. sometimes there are things we really hate and those things can bring us together. we're back after this. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> think about all those things you hate. fidget spinners may be one of them for you tuna salad. tapas. >> how do you hate tapas. >> the app named hater matches people based on what they don't like. in d.c. people hate the idea that everyone has a soul mate. maryland people hate cheap coffee and go figure, people in virginia hate dabbing pizza grease with a napkin. >> i'm obsessed with the fact that people in delaware hate casey affleck. >> little weird. >> interesting list of what things people hate. >> okay. >> virginia dabbing pizza

>> you save about 50 calories. >> that's it for us tonight here at 6:30.

on "tmz" -- harvey: i covered o.j. simpson for 22 years. he is the guiltiest man i have ever seen in a trial in a murder case. that said, he's done his time. he should be able to go back into society and live his life. >> you can't possibly think that's going to happen, that he's just going to go move into a neighborhood and everyone's going to be like hey, o.j. is here. >> i think so. >> move to another neighborhood. >> you know you're safe, you won't go near black men. [laughter] >> beyonce got a new wax figure at madam tussauds he and she looks white. >> it doesn't even look like her face! >> no, this is kesha! [laughter] >> tyga was on "the breakfast club" and they asked him about rob kardashian and blac chyna. he says actually i warned rob. he basically said the rob kardashian he knew couldn't handle blac chyna. h