against the wishes of hanoi. johnson's approach is to fight the insurgents in the south with american personnel. and then to bomb the north for its support of this state of war in southern vietnam. that's significant because, because for the people of northern vietnam. this is all lost on them. as far as they're concerned, the americans are bombing us for no reason that we can understand. and that's one of the reasons why the bombing would actually be counterproductive. if anything inspires northerners to fight more valiantly, once they get deployed to the south. they really eventually buy into the whole narrative presented to them by le zuan to the effect that, that the american war in vietnam is effectively unprovoked american aggression. against our poor, innocent people. >> always keep this in mind, right. we talked about this before on tuesday, as far as johnson and his team are concerned. it's important to do something about vietnam. as a minimum so as to prove that the u.s. is not a quote-unquote paper tig

against the wishes of hanoi. so johnson's approach is to fight the insurgents in the south with american military personnel and bomb the north for its support of state of war in southern vietnam. for the people of northern vietnam, this is all lost on them. as far as they're concerned, the americans are bombing us for no reason we can understand. that's why the bombing would be counterproductive. if anything, it inspires northerners to fight more valiantly. they really eventually buy into the whole narrative presented to them to the effect that the american war in vietnam is effectively unprovoked american aggression against our poor, innocent people. now, always keep this in mind, right. we talked about this on tuesday, as far as johnson and his team are concerned, it's important to do something about vietnam at a u.s. is not a, quote/unquote, paper tiger was mao has been saying about the u.s., and ultimately to demonstrate american resilience in the cold war. you know, if you don't take anything else from today

you come down in your into the hanoi area. laos, and ife is you move over to thailand, the air force bases were up in the vietnamese border. and andike eudora others. and we force would find would have to flight missions and they would be off of the coast. for a long time during the war, vietnam was divided through the air force had the responsibility for those on the thailand side and the western side and eastern side. later in the war, we went on coordinated strikes. that meant this was north and this was south. we have videotape of a b-52 crash site that has become a mini tourist area and hanoi. not many americans have been there. >> i have not been there. the b-52s did not fall north until 1972. there were a number of b-52s that were shot down during that christmas. . it took out the ability for them to defend themselves. [video clip] >> this is a day in april that was 100 degrees. this is in the middle of the swamp with houses around it and it is records from a b-52 that money to getd pay back. that let us shoot this and

very heavily defended the city of hanoi. i counted eight surface-to-air missiles in the air. >> how badly were you injured? >> broke both of my arms and a leg. when i was pulled out my shoulder was badly damaged by a rough -- by a rifle butt. and the army came up and put me for a five minute ride to the present. >> how many years were you in the prison? >> five-and-a-half years. >> how many different prisons? >> three. one was called plantation. the other was the old french prison. and a rough translation for it in english was furnace of fire. inwas built by the french 1943. and then we were taken out to a punishment camp for about nine we weren 1970 because wanting church services. us they would take about 24 -- 24 of us. , in 1969 and 1970, of the prisoners changed dramatically. we went from basically solitary confinement to large cells of 45 or 50 each. many prisoners of war are there in the united states congress? >> peterson and johnson from the house. >> did you know either one? >> very much. p peterson is a democrat.

there are not many cars in hanoi. all of a sudden a 27-car procession came by with the prime minister of malaysia. all for the purpose of setting up a trade relation. the former prime minister of singapore was there also when we were there. does it worry you on the trade side that we are waiting too long to lift this embargo? >> it does worry me. they have shown they are fertile markets. the vietnamese are very industrious people. at the same time, i think we have to face reality. that is that the american people are not prepared to extend that to the vietnamese until there is a full accounting of those still lists as missing in action. it is a very, very poor country. it is one of the lowest per can'ta incomes in the world. when we talk about this market, as you know, there is belief that there is oil and gas. i think american companies can take advantage of that. sometimes we cannot just put commercial interests paramount to all others and they have to be balanced against a lot of other issues that face this country

spent in hanoi in the hanoi hilton during which he was tortured and given the opportunity to leave captivity earlier and he wouldn't do it and it came out. so it was not only the courage, but most of all is this. anyone who had been through that experience for five and a half years, you would expect afterwards to be justifiably angry, they wouldn't be able to operate in life in a way that all of us would like to see. the thing about john mccain was despite that experience this was someone who was gracious, in was someone civil who did have a sense of proportion about life and maybe the best example of that, i think, was as you know andrea and you reported and we've talked about this too, in the 1990s when there was a movement to restore relations with vietnam, another kind of person who had gone through 5 1/2 years in the hanoi hilton would have said absolutely not. i'm a holdout. last country on earth we should restore relations with is vietnam.

let's bring in ivan watson from the hanoi hilton. ivan. >> reporter: i'm at the prison which used to be a french colonial prison. it is now a museum. this is the facility where john mccain spent a substantial part of the five and a half years as prisoner of war. you can see the pilot uniform which he would have been wearing when he was shot down over hanoi in 1967 and the conditions the prisoners were living in during what was a harrowing ordeal by his accounts when he was subjected to torture a and malnutrition. what is remarkable about his relationship with vietnam is after conducting dozens of bombing missions over the country and held as prisoner of war, he was one of the strongest voices for the normalizations of relations here. i just read a rare honor for mccain. i saw a deputy foreign minister of vietnam who had been ambassador to the u.s. a few years ago who described mccain as a good friend. he was mourning the passing of this lawmaker and another official described as a symbol of a generation of lawmakers and veterans who

this time during a bombing mission over hanoi. the north the enemies captured him and moved him to the infamous hanoi hilton prison. >> it was terribly injured, fractured arms, broken knee, left arm was out of the socket. he is often said and basically he was starving to death. >> mccain's captors offered him early release because he was an admiral son but he refused. he endured torture in more than three years in solitary confinement. he said air force colonel day is like. >> he was the most steadfast in the most inspirational and toughest of anybody that i must have something to do with his iowa upbringing. >> mccain released 1973 and awarded silver and bronze stars. a purple heart in the distinguished flying cross. his wounds left him with impaired physical abilities for the rest of his life. he retired from the navy as a captain in 1981 after marrying cindy hensley, a teacher from arizona. he moved to phoenix and got into politics serving two terms in the house of representatives. he was elected to the senate in 1986 redevelop

this time during a bombing mission over hanoi. the north the enemies captured him and moved him to the infamous hanoi hilton prison. >> it was terribly injured, fractured arms, broken knee, left arm was out of the socket. he is often said and basically he was starving to death. >> mccain's captors offered him early release because he was an admiral son but he refused. he endured torture in more than three years in solitary confinement. he said air force colonel day is like. >> he was the most steadfast in the most inspirational and toughest of anybody that i must have something to do with his iowa upbringing. >> mccain released 1973 and awarded silver and bronze stars. a purple heart in the distinguished flying cross. his wounds left him with impaired physical abilities for the rest of his life. he retired from the navy as a captain in 1981 after marrying cindy hensley, a teacher from arizona. he moved to phoenix and got into politics serving two terms in the house of representatives. he was elected to the senate in 1986 redevelop

strangely enough, i landed in a lake in the center of the city of hanoi.ne took the picture of the vietnamese pulling me out of the water, and they were not happy. one of them stabbed me with a bayonet and another one smashed my shoulder. and then some north vietnamese army came and they took me to the president camp that we called the hanoi hilton. >> yesterday, over hanoi, three american planes were shot down and at least two of their pilots captured. one of them was lieutenant commander john mccain iii, the son of a u.s. naval commander in europe. >> i came in from school one day and my mother was sitting at the kitchen table crying and i said what's the matter? she said well, your father's been shot down. and that's all i know right now but i expect to hear more from your granddad pretty soon. >> when i first found out, i didn't understand at all myself. i was dumb and happy. i didn't really understand what it was all about. it never occurred to me that anything would happen to him. he was always kind of invincible in my mind. >> i got a call in the mi

of course, now known as the hanoi hilton. and what we found there all these years later, it was profoundly moving. so many american families deeply effected to this day by the vietnam war. >>> but in the meantime, we do move onto the other news this monday night. new developments in the deadly shooting rampage at a video game tournament in jacksonville, florida. the red laser dot, you can see on one of the victims who was then shot. authorities say david katz was armed with two handguns when he opening fired, killing two, wounding at least 11, as many were watching the competition unfold right in front of their eyes online. the fbi swarming his home in baltimore tonight. and abc's victor oquendo from jacksonville. >> reporter: the shooting began around 1:30 sunday afternoon inside this jacksonville mall, where hundreds of people from around the country came to play in a "madden nfl 19" video game tournament. among them, 24-year-old david katz. on the livestream of the competition, you can hear the shots police say he fired, t

. >> mccain came to deep in a lake in the middle of hanoi.e was impossible and he was immediately set upon by an angry mob. mccain was bayonetted in the foot and the groin, a rifle butt smashed over his shoulder, beaten and bloodied he was hauled off to a local prison, known to american p.o.w.s as 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, dungeon-like place. >> his north vietnamese 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 just who his father was. >> the knowledge that his father was in charge of all u.s. armed forces in the pacific made john

we also went to hanoi, and i don't think it's total propaganda.hen you see these descendants, 13, 14 years old, with mutated limbs largely from the effects of some of the munitions. >> in that context, i've done it a dozen times. and i'll tell you one thing. there is enormous respect for the american marines who fought out there, and from the other side. i bumped into a veteran of a big battle we were in in may of 1969, who didn't know where i was coming from or what -- why i was there. we just stumbled into a conversation. and those are healthy as long as everybody is allowed to participate. >> i would agree with that. the most profound experience i had during that visit was watching clark welch, tremendous leader of one of the companies, walk arm in arm with the commander of the vietcong first division as they went through the battlefield together. two men who didn't speak the same language tried to kill each other 40 years ago and respecting each other the whole time as they walked through the battlefield. >> 1968, a year in turmoil. and of cou

john had left straight from han hanoi, and did not pass through the air base, but i witnessed how frail and ill and pale and battered his fellow p.o.w.'s were as they clamored out of the helicopters and into the glare of the tv lights. well, i was ready to revere any man who had been through that, and to find that this man was so friendly and cheerful and feisty and irreverent, that put me irrevocably into the mccain fan club. i noticed i was not alone. one telling measure of a man is his staff. john attracted people of exceptional talent and ability who became so devoted they would walk through fire for him. john attracted the administrator add -- admiration of foreign leaders, not just from great powers, but from remote and struggling countries. when we traveled in libya, john was received like lafayette. he had been there when it counted, when freedom there was in the offing. he was beloved in ukraine. he had spoken there when freedom there was in the offing. and he spent an icy new year's eve with ukrainian troops on their front line. in vietnam, john was revered. i don't know any c

no one shooting at him that day in hanoi was trying to wound him. they were trying to blow him out of the sky. surviving that fall, that canopy -- that ejection, surviving being dragged out of the water and beaten up and then all of the horrible things that happened to him in captivity, including but not limited to more than one surgical procedure without any anesthesia at all during that famous propaganda interview that black and white film of which we've been showing all evening long. he was a man on the edge of survival right then while being asked those questions. we hear repeat his name, rank and branch of service and he had said often and in interviews as he said with nbc news, he probably should have died back then. >> well, brian i know you'll have a lot of recollections and a lot of tributes throughout this week as john mccain will first be honored in his home state, his adopted home state of arizona. where he made his plit -- political career and joe biden will pay tribute to him. it is a democrat who will be one of the speakers and they w

conditions at the hanoi hilton were deplorable. it was nasty, very heavy, heavy concrete doors, just a very scary dungeon like life. >> his north side vietnamese captors interrogated him, but mccain would not cooperate. >> you were told during the interrogation that the only information that you were obligated to give was your name, rank, serial number and date of birth. >> mccain's injuries were left untreated. it he developed a horrible ineffei infection and horrible fever. but the vietnamese decided to treat mccain after learning who his father was. >> it made john mccain a valuable prisoner, somebody who could potentially be exploited for propaganda purposes. >> his arms were put in bulky casts. mccain was offered an early release from captivity, but he refused, citing the military code of conduct. >> a code of conduct required prisoners of war to be released in the order that they were captured. >> i understood that the vietnamese didn't single me out for an offer of release because of any act of charity on their part, that it

at the hanoi hilton were deplorable.s 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 relea

we also went to hanoi, and i don't think it's total propaganda.hen you see these descendants, 13, 14 years old, with mutated limbs largely from the effects of some of the munitions. >> in that context, i've done it a dozen times. many i'll juts walk out who will and i'll tell you one thing. there is enormous respect for the american marines who fought out there, and from the other side. i bumped into a veteran of a big battle we were in in may of 1969, who didn't know where i was coming from or what -- why i was there. we just stumbled into a conversation. and those are healthy as long as everybody is allowed to participate. >> i would agree with that. the most profound experience i had during that visit was watching clark welch, the they were a member of the vietcong official, two men who didn't make the. >> 1968, a year in turmoil. and of course the driving issue was the slee 'nam. follow us on twitter for c-span history. go ahead, please. >> caller: thank you very much, gentlemen, for taking my call. i'll try to be brief and suck singt but i wa

we also went up to hanoi. i'm sure jim has visited what they call the peace hospital. i don't think it's propaganda when you see the descendants, young girls 13-14 years old with my at a mutated limbs largely from some of the effects of the munitions. >> without having a government handler come in and pre-brief the enemy on the other side so we can do the something, i walk out in the arizona valley and a lot of these other areas and bump into people who would talk about what they did. there was an enormous respect for the american marines who fought out there and from the other side. i bumped into a veteran of a big battle we were in in 1969 who didn't know where i was coming from or why i was there. i was looking at an area where some of my marines had died, and we just stumbled into a conversation. and those are healthy as long as everybody is allowed to participate. >> the most profound experience i had was watching clark welch, the american, the tremendous leader of one of the companies walk arm in arm with the commander of the vietcong first division. they walked

no one shooting at him that day in hanoi was trying to wound him.hey were trying to blow him out of the sky. surviving that fall, that canopy -- that ejection, surviving being dragged out of the water and beaten up and then all of the horrible things that happened to him in captivity, including but not limited to more than one surgical procedure without any anesthesia at all during that famous propaganda interview that black and white film of which we've been showing all evening long. he was a man on the edge of survival right then while being asked those questions. we hear repeat his name, rank and branch of service and he had said often and in interviews as he said with nbc news, he probably should have died back then. >> well, brian i know you'll have a lot of recollections and a lot of tributes throughout this week as john mccain will first be honored in his home state, his adopted home state of arizona. where he made his plit c-- political career and joe biden will pay tribute to him. it is a democrat who will be one of the speakers and they we

take us -- we drove around --are they all called hanoi hilton's? them alldia called that. we had different names for them including plantation. the hilton will for us was the french prison. and there was another large prison also. we called the hilton itself specifically was the old french prison. the one we are called -- driving around out is the plantation. this is a complete around the block of the prison inside. does this look familiar? >> the outside does not. i only saw the inside. when we were taken someplace we were handcuffed, blindfolded and taken at night. in 1984you went back with walter cronkite, what was the purpose? >> a review of the whole u.s.

hilton. >> the conditions at the hanoi hilton were deplorable.ous. heavy, heavy concrete doors. just a very imposing, scary dungeon-like place. >> his north vietnamese 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 just who his father was. >> his father was in charge of all u.s. forces in the pacific. it made john mccain a valuable prisoner, someone who could potentially be exploited for propaganda purposes. >> his broken bones were badly set, his arms 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 that they were captur

john endured the hell of the hanoi hilton more than many, and he served in the senate longer than many. he leaves his mark on this body and our nation. when the issue of torture and detention was front and center before the american people, when we were trying to decide what were the boundaries for this democracy, faced with the threat of terrorism, there was one voice in the senate who was credible. it was john mccain. i had made speech after speech on the subject, but when john mccain got up and spoke about the issue of torture, there was silence on the floor of the senate as we listened carefully. he proposed a resolution establishing humane standards of treatment, realizing that the humanity we showed toward our prisoners is the same humanity we expected if americans were taken prisoner, and his effort was enacted by the senate with over 90 votes, a strong bipartisan roll call. john mccain more than anything was a champion of the united states military. the men and women who serve in our armed forces. they never had a better friend. our nation's veterans and their families never ha

ivan is in hanoi.e affection and respect for john mccain from that country to be fascinating. >> reporter: it really is remarkable. i'm coming to you on a soggy evening, john, from a lake in the heart of hanoi. this is where john mccain splashed down on october 26, 1967. it's when a surface to air missile hit his plane when he was on a combat bombing mission over the city. now, more than half century later there's still this small monument here that's got his name on it because this was viewed as a north vietnamese military victory, shooting down mccain and other u.s. pilots who were bombing north vietnam. but look at this now. after the senator's passing, you've got these shows of respect, flowers, incense, money, cigarettes. we've got a bouquet here from the u.s. embassy here in hanoi. i just saw a south african couple who told me they were taking photos here. they said we're not americans, but we respect the man. the u.s. embassy here in hanoi has opened its annex to the public to let people sign a

we went to the hanoi prison where he spent five and a half years. we saw the cell and we also went to the presidential palace. no matter where we went, he was met with a hero's welcome. i don't know how many people could have sustained and survived five and a half years in that prison with the beatings. it took a man of incredible courage and character and he gained credibility as well as a certainty for his own life. we also went to camron bay during the trip to vietnam and many vietnam war veterans had been through that area and they brought in the s.s. john mccain, the ship named after his father and grandfather. and while there, we had a -- a luncheon on the deck of the boat on the ship and it was -- it was called mccain field, and he was greeted warmly by everyone and he greeted them just as warmly. every senator who ever traveled with senator mccain shared a common experience. it was being approached by someone on the street or in a restaurant and being asked, are you with senator mccain? of course we would say yes. then they would -- they wou

he was shot down and spent more than 5 hellish years as a hanoi prisoner of war in a camp there.th mccain's experience there. >> it was really remarkable, it was powerful to be in that place and to go into a cell and to see the leg shackles or the tiny little barred windows and to realize this man didn't spend a few weeks or few months, but years of his life there. i asked him a question because he had been there several years when a jailer came to him and said, we're offering you early release. now this was because his father was a four-star admiral, the commander of all the american forces in the pacific. and he said no. and i said to him, john, you stayed three 1/2 more years knowing that any day,ny minute you can end the abuse, you could end the suffering by just raising your hand and saying i'll take early release, see you guys back home. high did you not to do that? and he just looked at me and said that would have been dishonorable. >> and that's exactly the man he was. ivan watson joins us live from hong kong. ivan, what's the reaction been from that region with which we

we were actually at the lake in hanoi where he had been shot down and parachuted into this lake. and there is a statue -- there's actually a statue of john mccain coming out of the lake. and the language is in vietnamese, and he said, you know, i really don't like this statue. i can't stand it. you know why, dan? no, i have no idea, john. look at what it says. john mccain -- major, united states air force. then he let a few choice words out that i can't say here on the senate floor. he says, i wasn't a major in the u.s. air force. i was a commander in the u.s. navy! even in the twilight of his life, the wit and wisecracks were as strong as ever. i had the honor of visiting senator mccain about six weeks ago in arizona with his wonderful wife, cindy. we were talking about the national defense authorization act that he was -- we were getting ready to sign -- we were getting ready to vote on that was named after him. and i was getting ready to leave and i said, john, i just want you to know all your senate colleagues really, really miss you. he hadn't said much during the conversati

when i have friends from hanoi government visit me, i like to take them there.s is how we make peace. we bring people together. >> that's still breaking up again, the confederate issue. >> we can do a whole show on that. >> that's another topic for american history tv. we are talking with james webb and david maraniss as we look back at 1968, a year in turmoil and the vietnam war. john from los angeles, vietnam war veteran. thank you for waiting. go ahead. >> caller: yes. good morning, gentlemen. i find the conversation a little scary. i would like to focus my remarks to the senator, who i do believe falls in the category of those who experience things but forget the lessons they're supposed to learn from them. vietnam was a terrible war. we should have never been there. i don't know about the senator's recollection, but most of the people in the field were people that were drafted into the service, and most of those people came back with wounds that haven't been healed and probably can never be healed. my personal experience was i went over to vietnam volunteer

some are still upset about his behavior in the hanoi hilton.he points you just raised is critical. john mccain represented an age of bipartisanship. not complete. the parties have always and will always stand for different things. but he was willing to work for either side. that's why people on both sides, who are in the middle. some people call it establishment, i call it mainstream. a lot of us wonder if we'll ever see it again. howie: thanks very much for joining us on short notice. stay with us as we look at the life and legacy dealing with the death of john mccain. howie: yankee * died yesterday at the age -- john mccain died yesterday at the age of 81. steve, we watched him in the primaries when he came out of nowhere was through the town halls. what do you remember of candidate mccain? >> he had a unique time of campaigning. john elevated it to an art form. and he outworked the bush campaign. he said he welcomes republicans, democrats, independents, vegetarians and reforming socialist. he would take any question from any heckler. people

we also went up to hanoi. i'm short term has visited the peace hospital of their. these descendents, young girls 1314 years old with mutated limbs, largely from the effect. i've done ittext dozens of times without having to have a government handler come in and arrange prebrief the enemy on the other side so you can do nothing. i've stumbled on these, walk out in the arizona valley and deliver these other areas and bump in the who start talking the who start talking about what they did. welsch, theyou one american tremendously -- walk arm and arm with the commander of the vietcong first division as they went through the battlefield together. ,id not speak the same language tried to kill each other some 40 years ago. we are respecting each other. that whole time as we walk the battlefield. host: a year in turmoil. driving issue was the vietnam war as we begin a nine part series part of c-span3's american tv. follow all of it on our website at c-span.org can't follow us on twitter at c-span history. clyde joining us from minnesota. another vietnam war veteran. inc. y

to knock out a power plant in the capital city of hanoi. the north vietnamese have targets, too. >> surface to air missile hit my airplane and hit the right wing, took it off and i went into a very violent spiral downward. >> mccain ejects, breaking both arms and a knee in the process. he descends into the waiting arms of the enemy. >> i came down in a lake near the center of the city of hanoi. as i came to the surface, the vietnamese, a group of them came out and pulled me in. >> he was met by an angry mob of civilian vietnamese who resented the fact that he was trying to drop bombs on their city, as anyone would, and they beat him up and they punched him and kicked him and they were treating him extremely badly. >> then they threw me in the back of the truck and took me into a prison that we know of as the hanoi hilton. >> you walk in these iron doors, it says central house. there's a courtyard and there are corridors with cells. >> they called a doctor in and the doctor took my pulse and shook his head. and the uner the gator in english

, at the hanoi hilton. 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 p

what got him to hanoi and hanoi hilton he's often said to me was the military code.to stay alive and to be honored and to honor their country. john mccain emerged from all ayatollah as a person dedicated to public experience. that experience is who we honor today. >> we know john mccain the politician, john mccain the war hero. he was a friend of yours. what was he like in private? what was he like during those moments when there were no cameras around? >> he was full of mischief. he often recited my book "the greatest generation" when he was running in new hampshire. at one appearance that he made, somebody stood up and said, you know, tom brokaw is at the back of the room. he said, now, i know he's leading bolshevik at the press corps. that brought down the house obviously. what was always striking to me, when i had have private time with him, he would be as critical of his party as the democratic party. he had a larger objective in mind. he was not a partisan tug-of-war. he thought we should do what's best for the country whatever your party registration happened

my dad would have in the editorial that said mccarthy is a vote for hanoi. as a matter fact, he did write that editorial. in it, here is the father's logic, he said that people should not be for johnson because he is not prosecuting the war correctly. they certainly should not be for mccarthy because he is a commie for hanoi. so if the good people for new hampshire and the democratic ballot to do something, they should write in richard nixon. richard nixon did not get a lot of votes on the democratic ballot. however, jean mccarthy got more than 5000 votes on the republicans ballot. this revisionist history that somehow a vote for mccarthy was still a vote in favor of the war, i think somebody at the new york times somebody is drinking the kool-aid. i was at unh when george romney was still in before he made his famous i got brainwashed remarks came down in my newspaper which was great on names for people with: romney chihuahua george. is there anybody in this room besides bill who knows what that means relative to romney? he was born in mexico. 's parents we

flowers have been placed at a lakeside monument in hanoi.s the same lake john mccain parachuted into after his plane was shot down. that began his five years of captivity and torture at the hands of the vietnamese. >> he spent time in the hanoi hilton prison. >> he spoke about his captivity. here is amy robach. >> reporter: october 26, 1967. 31-year-old john mccain is flying the navy's a-4 skyhawk, the mission, to knock out a power plant in the capital city. but the north vietnamese have targets too. >> a surface to air missile hit my airplane, hit the right wing, took it off and i went into a >> reporter: mccain ejects, breaking both arms and a knee in the process and descends into the waiting arms of the enemy. >> i came down in a lake near the center of the city of hanoi. a group of them came out and pulled me in and threw me in the back of a truck and took me to the prison we know as the hanoi hilton. the doctor took my pulse and shook his head and the interrogator in english said it's too late. i thought perhaps i was going to die. some

he was a prisoner of war for five and a half years in hanoi, congressman, senator, a two-time presidential candidate. and always his own man, a maverick as he was so found of saying about himself. and his last moment in the senate came in dramatic fashion. walked on the floor and delivered a now famous thumb's down, defeating his own party's effort to repeal the afortdable care act. this morning we'll talk about the legacy of john mccain and get to the other big news of the week. we're going to begin with two of my colleagues who covered mccain for decades. joining me now, tom brokaw and in washington, my friend andrea mitchell. tom, you had the last interview that anybody at nbc conducted with john mccain. let me play a pretty poignant response when you asked him, are we going to be okay? here's what he said. >> mark twain said history doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes, without american leadership, i'm not so sure we're well off. but could i also say i believe in america. i believe in its people. i believe in the folks in arizona. i'm not a possesscy mist about the future, i still think

some are still upset about his behavior in the hanoi hilton.aised is critical. john mccain represented an age of bipartisanship. not complete. the parties have always and will always stand for different things. but he was willing to work for either side. that's why people on both sides, who are in the middle. some people call it establishment, i call it mainstream. a lot of us wonder if we'll ever see it again. howie: thanks very much for joining us on short notice. stay with us as we look at the life and legacy dealing with the death of john mccain. ok, show me what you got. i am going to vote for myself using nothing but this remote and the sound of my own voice! vote for... wait wait, that's not a talent. any xfinity customer with an x1 voice remote can do that. watch this... i want to vote for... obviously not you. ooh that guy... cast your votes during every live show. just say "vote for agt" into the x1 voice remote. howie: yankee * died yesterday at the age -- john mccain died yesterday at the age of 81. steve, we watched him in the prim

in this time during a bombing mission over hanoi.oved him to the infamous hanoi hilton prison. >> he was terribly injured, fractured arms, broken knee. left arm was out of the socket. he had not been fed. and, basically, he was starve ising to death. >> reporter: mccain's captor offered him early release because he was an admiral's son, but he refused. he endured or torture in morn three years in -- in more than three years in solitary confinement. >> bud day was the most steadfast, the most inspirational and the toughest of anybody that i -- must have something to do with his iowa upbringing. >> reporter: mccain was released in 1973 and awarded silver and bronze stars, a purple heart and the distinguished flying cross. his wounds left him with impaired physical abilities for the rest of his life. he retired from the navy as a captain in 1981 after marrying cindy hensley, a teacher from arizona. he moved to phoenix and got into politics, serving two terms in the house of representatives. he was elected to the senate in 1986 where he

it's a long and winding road that took him from that dirt yard in hanoi to the dirt backroads of hiddenresolute. he was courageous every step of the way. and in arizona, he was our hero. i think you can see from this outpouring of support and love for john mccain that he was america's hero. senator john mccain from arizona. he served his country with honor. he fought the good fight. he finished the race. he kept the faith. now, my friend, we can finish the song. sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. amen. [ applause ] >> well, i had the great opportunity of meeting congressman john mccain in washingt washington. i was visiting and he said you need to meet this congressman, this young maverick, full of energy. i said, oh, yeah? he said besides that, he's going to become president of the united states one of these days, so you need to meet him, so i said okay. so we met in virginia at -- my apologies. it was rough getting up here. alexandria. cindy and c.a. and myself, we had dinner at this nice little restaurant. and we chatted for a while and then all of a sudden with john m

he said, well, the only place i've spent a longer amount of time is the hanoi hilton. that silenced all of the -- >> little bit hard to come back from that. >> end of that discussion. >> you may be seated. on behalf of the mccain family, thank you all so much for being here this morning. as we remember and celebrate the life of senator john mccain. a man loved by this church. a man loved by this nation and this city. a man of courage. a man of faith. a man who dearly loved his family. as we celebrate and get into the service, i want to offer you a word of scripture from the word of god. it comes from the book of 1 the thessalonians chapter 4:13. the word of god says this. brothers and sisters, we not want you to be uninformed by those who sleep in death. so that you do not grieve like the rest of man kind who have no hope. for we believe jesus died and rose again. we believe god will bring with jesus those who have fallen asleep. what a word of promise, hope and comfort from the word of god. let's pray together. father in heaven, the creator and maker of all things. th